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.

Thanks everyone - I guess I've only ever done this when I've had complete control and it feels very daunting to step out of my zone!!!

I’ve just got back from Legoland and the food options for lunch were terrible as predicted. Shockingly expensive and shot quality too. Yesterday we went to a chicken place and I ordered a bunless chicken burger with cheese and bacon. It was very heavily battered tho in a kfc style coating. Then today the kids were sick of burgers/ chips (as the boys had that for dinner in the hotel restaurant last night) and the only other option was an all you can eat pizza and pasta place. I had a big plate of bland salad leaves, cucumber, tomato, black olives and peppers and a small amount of pasta and bolognese. There was a couple of ice creams too as it was hotter than hades and a pint of lager.

I’m feeling bloated and sluggish now. I feel bigger already as there has been too many treats and cheats - probably daily things, mainly fruit and pulses and oat crackers with cheese. Finding the balance at maintenance is so hard. I feel like I have to keep strict or it starts piling on very quickly.

I will weigh tomorrow to see the damage. I’ve got just under 4 weeks to go till Malta so I’ll go back to BC till then.

I was wondering how you got on at Legoland @MrsKoala! I bet your kids loved it. I'm definitely finding this WOE easier now my kids are grown up. We used to go camping in France in the summer and I'm not sure how in earth I would have stayed on plan with all the boulangeries and creperies!

My supper last night: tzatziki, a (home grown) courgette salad with anchovies, lemon (juice & zest), (home grown) basil and good Greek olive oil, the (home grown ) broad bean & feta salad that I made on Saturday and a Greek salad (minus peppers as I hate them - although put some into dh's one).

The tzatziki wasn't made with home grown cucumbers yet nor did the Greek salad use home grown veg yet

@Bryonyshcmyony the kids enjoyed staying at the Legoland hotel (we had aNinjago room) and they loved the pool there which we swam in Monday & Tuesday- which was very refreshing given the weather. But they didn’t really enjoy the park. It was too hot for them and the queues were ridiculous. 90-120 mins for most in the beating sun. There was no ride they would think was worth that so my oldest (8) only went on 6 rides over the 2 days and the younger 2 only went in 4 rides in total (2 of which were the carousel which they go on regularly at the beach anyway). There was very little shady or covered areas, which crazy considering our weather (rain or shine). And again the food was terrible and the cost of everything extortionate - their carbonated drinks machine was broken, so for soda I had to buy small bottles of sparkling water at £3 a pop. All the free games in the hotel were closed/cordoned off because of touching and spreading COVID but the machines which required £1 per go were all still available as obviously COVID doesn’t spread when you pay! 😡

So jealous of all your homegrown stuff @prettybird - I’ve given up growing my own as our garden has lots of rodents due to neighbours putting sacks of bird food and water out. The first year here 5 years ago I had a real bumper crop but the following year everything was gnawed. Then last year I just gave up as the amount of effort was not paying off.

Weighed this morning and I’m 12st. which means I’ve put 7lb on since the end of boot camp. ☹️

Quick snapshot of last night's dinner as it was my first home grown ball courgette which spiralised into pappardelle style ribbons. I did add some Parmesan on top after I took the pic! Meat from the freezer having made a big batch a couple of weeks ago so a simple weeknight meal!

Yum! Must buy a spiraliser

12.6 and three quarters today

According to MFP that's the least I've weighed for three years

Great news @Bryonyshcmyony!

I did a fast yesterday and ate really well. I feel so much better and less bloated today and I weighed in at 11st 11lb so that’s 3lb of bloat/water gone. Eating crap food really makes you feel crap.

@MrsKoala

I did a fast yesterday and ate really well. I feel so much better and less bloated today and I weighed in at 11st 11lb so that’s 3lb of bloat/water gone. Eating crap food really makes you feel crap.

You are so right. I've eaten so much bread lately and feel bloody awful for it. Bloated and just yuck.

I made the crustless quiche this morning and had two slices at 12

Then made moussaka and had that with lots of salad.

That's me done I now have to drive dd somewhere and won't be back until 9pm so won't eat anything else.

You are so right. I've eaten so much bread lately and feel bloody awful for it. Bloated and just yuck

Same. And still I go back for more. I need this next BC

Well done @MrsKoala

I've eaten and will be eating mostlywell today (Boursin omelette with left over courgette salad for lunch; a braai of low carb sausages, some cherry tomatoes, some asparagus, griddled homegrown courgette brushed with chilli oil and (home made) tzatziki.

But I had a small glass of beer with lunch, went for a walk to get a Magnum as it was so hot (what have they done to them ? The chocolate is now so thin on them), had two G&Ts with peanuts while relaxing/sunbathing in the latter part of the afternoon and am now enjoying a lovely bottle of South African Sauvignon Blanc

Lovely ending to a fab day although we did end up opening another bottle of red wine

@Oneborneverydecade

You are so right. I've eaten so much bread lately and feel bloody awful for it. Bloated and just yuck

Same. And still I go back for more. I need this next BC

Well done @MrsKoala

Me too. Really need it.

@prettybird sounds like a great day!

Suffering for it today We're such lightweights nowadays

Enjoying a rock shandy out in the garden - non-alcoholic (angostura bitters with the Lidl equivalent of Feverfew light tonic water, sliced frozen lemon and plenty of ice)

In other news, we've nearly finished painting the bathroom dark blue: the bathroom fitters are coming back on Monday to finish the job. I'm sooooo looking forward to having a shower again!

I looooooove the colour @prettybird so lux and dramatic. It’s the same colour as our first bathroom. So jealous. I’d avoid using white as a contrast. With the rich greens and blues white may look strange and dilute the luxurious feel. I’d go rich and dark all the way (like my men!)

Right. I need help. I’ve realised today I’m not going to get thru this summer hols without some very quick and easy meals up my sleeve and more organised meal plans (and actually have food in the house rather than daily shopping). After being with the kids for 2 days I’ve decided I never want to cook again and tonight have eaten 2 leftover chicken goujons and some cold french fries off the kids plates and a mini magnum (Lidl knock off). Because the thought of going back in the kitchen is making me want to cry. I need to have the meal done and prepped earlier in the day as by now I’m knackered.

I’m thinking tray bakes and slow cooker things. Possibly salads, but h isn’t keen on cold food. I am struggling with the headspace for it all.

What about making up a batch of lamb pieces ready to thread on to skewers and griddle or bbq? Cut up lamb leg steaks and mix with som ras-el-hanout, olive oil and a squoosh of lemon juice. That will keep in the fridge for a few days ready for when you're in the right mood.

Make up a giant batch of coleslaw - it lasts a surprisingly long time in the fridge. Ditto with a big batch of tzatziki.

These are all nice, easy foods to have in hot weather.

Re the bathroom colours, there will be white from the bath, loo and sink (although the vanity unit itself is midnight blue) as well as the tall ladder radiator and our towels. The floor, iirc, is a light grey stone or marble effect click-flooring laminate (I decided that that would be warmer underfoot than real stone or ceramic tiles). I'm going to order some green hand towels though - and probably a green bath mat. The coving and window surround will be white. But no white shelves after your advice In fact, the plan morphed from matching blue shelves (as you suggested) to 3 dookets that I've painted blue (although we seriously considered doing them a similar green to the tiles). We'll see about a blind later (although fitting it will be fun over the bath )

Colour of towels will be a way we can revamp it in future. This dark blue paint is going to have to last a long time as repainting the room once the bath and glass shower panels are in will be a nightmare, given the height of the ceiling (3.1m)

Other easy "hot" foods would be griddled courgettes or aubergines, moussaka (make two and freeze one), low carb lasagne (see my recipe in the recipe thread) with your "half" done with courgette slices or ribbons, pork burgers (minced pork with an egg, olive oil, finely chopped shallot and generous squooshes of Worcestershire sauce (these also freeze well).

Thanks for the suggestions. I always forget how much of my head gets taken up with the kids home. I can't think at all when they are here, im just bombarded with questions and noise.

I don't think the sanitary ware colour really clashes as I think that's always a given that it's white (unless like me you covet a pink deco bath). But I definitely think blue shelves and green towels will look fabulous and way less jarring to the eye than white would. As I said before if I were to accessorise with a few accents of colour (not the towels) id go blush or peach. Hold something corally and possibly pearlescent up against the green tiles and see what it does - it should make it look even richer and more opulent. Or something dusky pink against the blue. You can still contrast as you don't want it all dark. And remember you can always wallpaper the ceiling!

Wall paper the ceiling? Have you actually done that? Even with a coombe ceiling I had wallpaper on my head

@venusandmars - rest assured, there is no way we'll be wallpapering the ceiling

The ceiling has already been painted dark blue and looks good . Once the glass panels for the shower go in, it will be very difficult to reach the corner of the ceiling above the shower to change the colour (we've been told not to put ladders in the shower tray). Ditto with the bit above the bath, especially as there's a shelf to accommodate the pipes in the corner.

That's why once the room had had its plaster skim and the tiling was done, the bathroom fitters left, telling us to let them know when we'd finished the painting and they'd then come back and fit everything (including the flooring, the door and window surrounds). I reckon there's still 2-3 days work to do.

I was a wee bit peeved that dh wouldn't contact them on Wednesday, saying we'd be finished on Thursday (which we could have been), so they could come back on Friday. He only contacted them Thursday afternoon and understandably, they couldn't drop everything and come the following day, so that's why they're only coming on Monday.

We do love that the ceiling is back up to 3.1m (it had been much lower with a horrible fluorescent strip light) - but it is still the lowest ceiling on the "main" floor

Back on topic: had a lovely Greek salad tonight with tomato, cucumber, feta and red onion and plenty of olive oil, along with some left over tzatziki.

I'm having an early birthday lunch with my friend who is home from Singapore. It's taken months for them to get authorisation to come here and then be able to return to Singapore. They're having an emotional visit seeing family again after 18 months. My friend's MIL died last Christmas and they couldn't even come back for that

Anyway we're having an Asian inspired chicken salad for lunch with chilli, lemongrass, thai basil, and mangetout, beansprouts, cabbage slaw. Possibly a bit low on fat but dinner will be cheese omelette.