Low Carb Bootcamp - our final weigh in (but ongoing chat thread)

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Another wet and dreary day. What happened to summer?!

Anyway, for its final outing, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

It's not the end, of course - and I know many of you are keen to keep going until whenever the next Bootcamp starts. So post here for all the usual chat, banter, recipes, etc.

Loving the bathrooms, so relaxing to have a lovely bathroom. Mine is a kind of light sage green but not very relaxing due to the amount of stuff teenage girls have in it. I would like to get it done with a beautiful massive claw foot bath but decided I'll wait till the girls leave home and it can be a real sanctuary. @Rayna37 I prefer the darker grey. I always think darker colours are more relaxing.
My eating has been terrible, I'm kind of doing day or 2 on then day or 2 off but my days off aren't healthy they are all the junk I fancy then I feel awful about myself afterwards. I need to break the cycle but I seem to be struggling emotionally at the moment (teenage girl constant stress plus dh hates new job and appears to be having a break down of some sort added to dental abscess and usually work stress).
I really want to get into some sort of expertise but the gym still seems like to much pre planning and hassle. I need to do something though because my back is hurting most of the time and I feel so good when I do.
@FusionChefGeoff I have no idea about the fodmap stuff sounds hard, I know when friends have done that it's everything we usually eat that they have to cut out. I feel a lot of planning in your future. Hope you get it sorted.
@venusandmars what an insightful post about bp (and life in general) I think that balance is what we all let slip in modern life and does good for your mental health as well as physical. @StuntNun impressive bp although at work I'd be making you drink constantly to increase it 😂.
Going back to the constipation discussion I have now found if I don't go for a day I take a dulcolax before bed probably only every few weeks now but definitely worth not letting that situation get out of hand.
I have the week after next off work and I'm thinking I want to redecorate the lounge. It's currently really dark purple. Chairs and sofa are dark teal, bright teal and navy blue. No idea what colour to do the walls. I will just end up with purple again if I don't come up with ideas. I love fancy wallpapers but I also have loads of pictures up and would worry it would look too busy. So colour ideas welcome.
Again sorry for the lack of posting I don't want to be that person that just takes and doesn't contribute.

@ditavonteesed I find I have to go to a class to get regular exercise. I can mean to do a video workout at home but then not get round to it. I've been doing Pilates for years and it has done wonders for my back pain. You could do what you like to me and you wouldn't get my blood pressure up, for example I already drink loads! When I was in labour with my DS1 the midwife told me off because my BP was 90/60. She told me I was supposed to be stressed! It never goes low though: I don't get faint so I don't think it's anything to worry about. My mum was exactly the same but by the time she got to my age she had developed high blood pressure. I've been trying to persuade her to cut carbs but she just can't do it so she's on several medications and having some unpleasant side effects as a result which then require more meds to deal with the side effects. Honestly this way of eating is really miraculous for staving off a lot of these chronic conditions - high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance - and therefore non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

On a related note I was chatting with a friend yesterday and she was telling me how she keeps her weight down by skipping breakfast, having a small low fat salad for lunch and then a child's size portion of dinner and only snacking on "healthy" foods like grapes. How could I tell her I that subsist on butter, fatty meats and plates piled high with veggies! Her diet sounds so restrictive and miserable compared to mine.

@StuntNun thank you so much for the pep talk! All I could see yesterday were the negatives and the problems - enhanced by the prospect of trying to eat out yesterday which would normally be such a treat but instead turned into a load of stress which I did not need at the end of a very full on week!!

You're right in that a lot of the 'nos' are already against bootcamp rules so that's definitely a good thing. But a lot of them are also real
bc stalwarts which panicked me.

BUT as you said, this bit is short term so maybe I just eat pretty much the same thing in a short rotation for 2-6 weeks (!) and accept the fact I'm cooking 2 meals rather than trying to find something that works for everyone.

Eg my normal lunch salads are mostly ok as long as I remove the avocado and use a bit of garlic oil in my Caesar dressing rather than actual garlic.

Then just stick with a set of veg and plain meat on the side.

Keep it simple for a few weeks.

We're off to Camp Bestival end of July though so it might have to go out of the window then or I do some serious thinking for store cupboard, low carb, low fodmap food!!!!

Fantastic posts @StuntNun and @venusandmars - thank you both so much. You always manage to sum things up far, far better than I ever could.

@FusionChefGeoff thank goodness there isn't anything more sinister. Glad you've found out what the issue is - although I understand you might be feeling a bit negative/down about the prospect of FODMAP!

Yes really really helpful posts and I am appreciating all your advice /help/tips etc so much so thank you

I am beginning to relax into this woe

Have days where I don't really think about it at all. Can imagine it just being the way I eat. If my BP goes down as well I will have to concede it really is magic

Oh and I weighed 12.7 yesterday which is the least I've weighed for a while. Another stone to go and 11lbs lost.

I discovered my local Lidl had a jar of njuda yesterday and have had a few dollops on my spinach and cheese omelette wow its good stuff

Nduja

This one is 3.9 carbs per 100g

I've lost the plot. Feeling very very low over the last few days and have been binging again. Had a couple of handfuls of crisps on Weds then the chips on Friday due to lack of planning / other options.

Apart from that, it's been low carb but not enjoying my food just shovelling in vast quantities of ham, cheese and Mayo mainly with the odd mini bar of dark choc too. The IF has gone out of the window and I've put on lbs and lbs and creeping back towards my pre bc weight. I feel sluggish, moody, headaches, teary, fat and demotivated.

I cannot tolerate carbs at all by the look of it and my attempt to maintain has been a complete disaster.

I cannot find the reset button either - I seem to be fine every day until lunch, have a mega healthy salad then just keep eating.

No advice needed really as this is all my head and not sure what other people can do about that but posting for accountability more than anything.

I need to menu plan today for the next 2 weeks whilst I attempt this elimination diet: 1 for me then 1 for the family. I just have so much other shit in my head there isn't room for all this too!!!!!

@FusionChefGeoff That must all be very frustrating. The first 9 months of lockdown I was feeling similar, I failed on a couple of bootcamps and put on 20lbs+ so just letting you know I hear you.

Can you list the foods you can eat? maybe we can help with some suggestions?

I'm struggling to get back into consistent I/F, I think because I'm working a bit less, and not out of the house so much. But I'm planning a long walk this morning so that should help for today, and tomorrow I'm on a teams call until 10.30. It always feels easier for me if I can plan a little ahead.

L - chicken and aubergine with cheesey baked veg
D - something with eggs, and salad

@venusandmars thank you. I'm sure it's hormonal too as I'm getting increasing symptoms of perimenopause so am keeping a side eye on that too.

My main struggle I think is that I historically plan / cook to a formula of "meat or fish in sauce + carb + plain veg"

Curries, chillis, spag Bol, ocassional roast dinner / gammon, odd beige oven meal or pizzas, lots of slow cooker stews / chicken in sauce etc

Taking out onion and garlic scuppers a lot of those and then the alternative would be something creamy but I'm supposed to be massively limiting that to a couple of spoons max.

I need to get my head around flavouring meat / veg without needing a tomatoey or creamy sauce and using oil as the 'sauce'??

Can have all meat, fish
Courgettes, spinach, kale, green beans, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, aubergine (smallish quantities), celeriac (but no leeks for mash / to take the edge off!), small amounts white / red cabbage, baby corn,
Limited dairy - hard cheese ok, small quantities of cream / cream cheese (could also investigate lactose free options eg coconut cream)

I don't like dry food!

So far, I have

• baked salmon with courgette and spinach and kale with hollandaise sauce
• chicken / steak fried in basil oil with roasted veg and hallloumi in garlic oil
• naked cheese and bacon burgers with salad
• lamb leg steaks with green beans and ????
• prawn / chicken stir fry?? With bamboo shoots, peppers, white and red cabbage, - but how do I flavour it??
• fajitas? But with no onion and without relying too heavily on peppers any other veg suggestions? No guacamole and only small but of soured cream.
• chicken thigh tray bake with olives / feta / courgette / peppers served with ???
• omelette and salad
• crustless quiche with cheese and bacon and salad
• cod wrapped in pancetta with creamy spinach / cabbage, green beans
• fry up! But will be a plate of meat with eggs, spinach and toms (no mushrooms)
• steak, rocket & Parmesan, celeriac chips (don't really like them but needs must)
• gammon, green beans, creamy swede mash, red cabbage, mustard Mayo type sauce??
• sausages with kale / cabbage / green beans and gravy
• meatballs in tomato sauce with ?????

I'm going to do some low FODMAP surfing to see if I can find any adaptable recipes now.

They all sound delicious. No real advice as I'm fairly new myself but I can hear myself in your post about binging. It's very hard. I hope you manage to get through it. Can you have garlic flavoured olive oil?

Sorry to hear that you're struggling @FusionChefGeoff. But it does sound as if shifting to the FODMAP is going to help you get back in control of what you're eating - even if it doesn't feel like it to you, right now!

Those meals sound great to me - I'd happily come round to yours if you were cooking them

One way of cooking celeriac, if you don't want to mash it on its own, is to make chips with it. Cut into chip shapes and bake in the oven for around 40 minutes. They don't go as crispy as potato chips, but they are tasty.

Dh is a real convert to celeriac chips which is a pain as I now need to make more than double

Note of warning: celeriac "chips" shrink a lot so even if you are just making them for yourself you need to make loads

That's very true. A whole, large celeriac only just makes enough for 3 people.

I've just got myself a deep fat fryer (something I've wanted for a long time!) and might try celeriac chips in there instead of in the oven.

DH/DS1 both want me to make potato chips, but that way too much temptation lies

Does anyone have any good, low carb deep fat fryer recipes to share?

I like thin cut celeriac wedges - they go nicely crispy at the edges. Would the celeriac cook enough in the deep fat frier?

I have no idea! But I can't see why not, if potato cooks enough?

Hi, I hope you don't mind me joining your thread. I found this topic four weeks ago and have been doing the strict bootcamp for the last three weeks. It's going really well. I haven't any scales but feel I've lost some weight and my heartburn and indigestion have disappeared. I had accepted being overweight due to medication ( better fat than suicidal) but this is showing me there might be a way to shed the weight and be physically healthier.

I'm 51 and have a full time job in a nursery so need to keep up with 40 preschoolers!!

Hi Katef my heartburn and indigestion also disappeared! I wonder what caused it? Carbs clearly but I wonder which?

I don't know, maybe a mild wheat intolerance. I did eat a lot of bread and too much homemade cake! I'm channeling my love of baking into trying new recipes from the pinned threads.

The only issue I have now is a grumbling gallbladder issue so I have to balance enough fat for bootcamp with not setting off an attack of pain.

@BestIsWest celeriac cooks well in the deep fryer but doesn't go as crispy as potato would.

@BIWI

Halloumi halloumi halloumi halloumi

That is all

Pardon, @FusionChefGeoff?