Summer Low Carb mini-Bootcamp - week 1

[StuntNun]

Welcome to the 2021 Summer Low Carb mini-Bootcamp lasting for the next six weeks and run by myself and @Oneborneverydecade. If you're an old hand at eating low carb then please do chip in with your experiences to help motivate our newbies. Every Monday is weigh-in day and you can log your weight on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness to keep track of your progress. If you can't add your weight for any reason then please post it on here and someone will add you to the spreadsheet.

Make sure you've read the ten Low Carb Bootcamp rules on the preparation thread either for strict Bootcamp or Bootcamp Light depending on which one you choose. There are also some meal ideas and shopping suggestions on the preparation thread if you need some tips. As always, if you have any questions or concerns then please do ask. We have lots of experience between us.

A quick reminder of the rules for strict Bootcamp (first two weeks):

1. Eat three meals a day (plus snacks if hungry)
2. Avoid processed foods
3. Eat lots of fat
4. Eat plenty of vegetables and salad
5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter which is unlimited)
6. Drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day
7. No alcohol
8. No fruit
9. No nut/seeds

10. No sugar or artificial sweeteners

And for Bootcamp Light:

1. Eat when you are hungry
2. Avoid processed foods
3. Eat lots of fat
4. Eat plenty of vegetables and salad
5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter which is unlimited)
6. Drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day
7. Alcohol is allowed occasionally
8. Up to one portion of (low carb) fruit per day
9. Nut and seeds in small quantities

10. No sugar except dark chocolate, and limit artificial sweeteners

It's the Lidl Greek yogurt in the big pot. Pushed to the back in my local!

@Kerplunkk you can buy almond extract which I like with yoghurt.

This thread is moving fast so sorry I cant keep up!

@StuntNun as always so much detailed info which is helpful so thank you.

@ditavonteesed I would have the chicken and chorizo skewer and swap the chips for brocoli or slaw.

Food here today will be something like
Yoghurt with nuts and berries (I am doing bc light)
Salad (maybe sardine?)
Dinner will be tray bake of roasted veg with monkfish and chorizo with green veg on the side.

@ditavonteesed I had a hanging kebab last time I went to the botanist and they were very happy to swap the chips for a salad. It was gorgeous

Your food sounds amazing Bestbees

My supermarket delivery is arriving this morning so I am properly starting today (after putting on 2lbs since Sunday ). Nothing so exciting on my menu yet but I'm a litre of water down already and will have boiled eggs for breakfast if I get hungry before lunch.

Tea will be chicken fajitas in lettuce wraps for me and tortillas for the rest. Lots of soured cream and homemade guacamole

Have added you to the spreadsheet @ElasticFirecracker

@Random789

I think grating might help me, Okaygreatthanks. It might make it easier to fry a vast quantity at once. I usually fry them as discs, but that makes it hard to get them all in the pan.

I will try grated monster courgette fry-up with cheese tonight.
The other day I baked some courgettes and french beans with a keto cheese sauce (which was basically just cheese, plus cheese, plus cream cheese as I remember). That was nice.

Could you make some sort of courgette rosti or are they too wet? I love courgettes, I'm jealous of your stash!

Thanks @ouchmyfeet I am very much a fan of what can be wedged in the oven and that the non lc people in my life can eat. My mum has just suggested a fry up for breakfast so will swap for that!

Ooo I love the hanging kebabs never thought of asking to swap things. Broccoli would be lovely all covered in the drippy butter from the kebab. Mmmmmmmm.
We are on pretend holiday this week, dh finished his job last week and was supposed to be on leave this week so we are just pretending he's on holiday not unemployed. Might do that all summer.
I've had a good big breakfast of sausage and egg to make sure as I'm as unhungry as possible today.

I have lost 3lbs since Monday. That is normal for me as weekends are my downfall. This weekend is going to be difficult. I have a couple of functions with set menus and from experience they will be high carb. Just had a piece of low card toast with homemade smoked mackerel pate for breakfast. Delicious. I have been mostly low carbing since the October boot camp. My waist has reappeared and I feel great.

On holiday at the moment with only one tiny shop available, doing the best I can but will start properly when I'm home. And maybe change my username to something more LC friendly!!

Ooh good call on the almond extract Bestbees that sounds lovely.

Ditavonteesed you might find the chippy has half-chicken on the menu. My local chippy does a "lightly battered" fish but I don't know how common that is.

ElasticFirecracker if I'm making stew in the Instant Pot, I grate in some swede which thickens the sauce up really well. A small amount of onion isn't too bad or you can use shallots which are lower carb.

Random789 I've added you to the bottom of the spreadsheet and our resident Spreadsheet Mistress TM @ouchmyfeet sorts it into alphabetical order every so often.

I haven't been keeping up on posting my menus. I don't eat breakfast as I'm a long-time low carber - eight years and counting - and I've been doing 16:8 intermittent fasting for a while too as it helps with my insulin resistance. If I eat breakfast then I end up hungry and snacking all day whereas if I skip breakfast then I can manage fine on only two (big) meals. When we're further on into Bootcamp we can have a chat about intermittent fasting if anyone is interested in giving it a go but not until you've been eating low carb for at least two weeks.

Tuesday lunch was two almond cheese muffins, two burgers, salad and coleslaw; dinner was gammon, celeriac and leek mash and green beans. I was still hungry in the evening so I had some salt and vinegar pork scratchings. Monday lunch was the same as Tuesday; dinner was beef rogan josh with cauliflower rice. I'm not sure what I'll have today; I have some cream of chicken and courgette soup in the freezer that I could defrost. Due to bad planning I have burgers on the menu for dinner tonight but the kids love them so I'd better not rock the boat by changing the menu! I don't usually eat burgers three days in a row!

I'm going to add some recipes on to this thread as people have been asking about them but I think they're all on the individual recipe threads if you need to find them another time. I take screengrabs on my phone of the ones I like.

@ditavonteesed I would have the sea bass without the gnocchi, I’d ask them to leave it off and have the broccoli side instead. I have on occasion thought I would avoid ‘making a fuss’ and just resolved not to eat the carb when my meal came but it takes more determination than I sometimes have so now I try to ask for it to be substituted out or simply left off. If I can’t see a low carb starter on a menu I will ask for side or house salad as a starter. Enjoy your night out!

Really starting to feel the benefit of boot camp and this thread for eating more mindfully and tweaking various bad habits that I have been developing. Thanks to @StuntNun and @Oneborneverydecade for running this.

B black coffee (long term 16:8 here)
L avacado, mayonnaise, cheese, lots of raw veg. Greek yog
D baked aubergine with miso and flgv

Thanks for putting me on the spreadsheet.

Pork belly in salt and chili for dinner tonight and it's going to be so nice I could cook it now and have it for breakfast

@Bryonyshcmyony

It's the Lidl Greek yogurt in the big pot. Pushed to the back in my local!

Be careful though: it's not the Greek yoghurt style in the tall big pot (which only has 5% fat and doesn't have as nice a mouth feel and is more tart); it's the Greek yoghurt in the big squat pot (like a Fage Total pot) which has 10% fat (and is lush ).

You also need to be careful to pick the pot with the blue lid, not the pink lid which is the zero % option The display mixes them up in the same display packaging

Celeriac dauphinois

Ingredients
1 celeriac, peeled and sliced into 4 mm thick slices
300 ml double cream
100g mature cheddar, grated (optional)
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
Optional: 2 cloves garlic

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Mix dried mixed herbs plus salt and pepper to taste into the cream.
3. Layer the celeriac with the cream.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and add a layer of grated cheese (can be omitted.)
6. Return to the oven until the cheese has browned.

Celeriac dirty fries

Ingredients
1 celeriac, cut into chips
1 white onion, sliced thinly
Half a pack of bacon, sliced thinly
1-2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or paprika if you don’t have any)
50g grated cheese
Sour cream or mayo to serve

Method

1. Either coat the celeriac chips in oil and bake at 200C for 30 minutes, or deep fry them at 190C for 8 minutes.
2. Fry onion and bacon in butter until browned.
3. Toss the celeriac chips in Cajun seasoning and salt.
4. Mix the celeriac chips, onion and bacon in an oven dish.
5. Top with grated cheese and either return to the oven or grill until the cheese has melted.
6. Serve with sour cream or mayo.

Ingredients
500g celeriac, cut into small chunks
25g butter
2-3 echalion shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Twin pack of smoked lardons
1-2 bay leaves
100 ml white wine
Sloosh of double cream
200-250g Reblochon cheese, diced

Method

1. Boil the celeriac in salted water for 15-20 minutes until tender.
2. While the celeriac is cooking, fry the shallots, garlic, lardons and bay leaves in butter until soft and tender.
3. Add the white wine and cream then continue to cook gently until reduced.
4. Drain the celeriac, mix in the onion/bacon/wine/cream mixture, stir and then add the Reblochon. Stir again and season with black pepper.
5. Bake at 180°C in a lidded dish for 20 minutes then remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes until browned.

Cheeseburger pie This is a perfect packed lunch or picnic food

Ingredients
500g minced beef
50g finely chopped onion
150g chopped mushrooms
100 ml double cream
2 heaped tbsp mayo
150g strong cheddar, grated
3 eggs
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Jalapenos (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Fry onion, mince and mushrooms together until cooked.
3. Season with salt and pepper, add the Worcestershire sauce and stir.
4. Put in a shallow oven dish and flatten the top. Add the jalapenos on top if required.
5. Beat eggs, mayo and cream then stir in cheese.
6. Pour over the top of the mince.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set and golden brown.
8. Either eat immediately or leave to cool.

Wrap individual portions in clingfilm and freeze if desired.

@LittleDoritt

Thanks for putting me on the spreadsheet.

Pork belly in salt and chili for dinner tonight and it's going to be so nice I could cook it now and have it for breakfast

That pork belly sounds delicious...what’s the recipe?

Cheese muffins (only on Bootcamp Light)

Makes approximately 9

Ingredients
100g ground almonds
30g very cold butter
3 medium eggs, chilled
1 generous tsp baking powder
90g grated cheese
Oregano or chives, either fresh or dried
Black pepper
Smoked paprika

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C. N.B. it’s the shock of cold ingredients going into the hot oven that makes the muffins rise well.
2. Grease a silicone muffin tray and/or use paper muffin cases in a metal tin.
3. Mix the almond flour and butter.
4. Add the eggs, baking powder, herbs, pepper and paprika then mix.
5. Mix in the cheese.
6. Spoon into the muffin tray/cases.
7. Bake for 14 minutes.
8. Wait until cooled to remove from paper cases or they’ll come out of a silicone muffin tray straight away.

Keep in the fridge. I cut them in half, grill them, and top them with a ridiculous amount of butter. They’re about 300 calories each so one is probably enough!

I’m currently eating breakfast and it’s amazing- toasted a cheese muffin. Added butter, marmite and topped off with boiled egg.

I'm just going to have to write today and tomorrow and start again Friday. Staying with friend who's just done a massive move and has enough on her plate.

Not to worry.

@Random789 you're back hello!!! And instantly your posts are putting a smile on my face . I pinched an awesome courgette fritters recipe from the chat thread recently which was great for using up tonnes of courgette. I'll see if I can find it in a sec.

@ditavonteesed could you take a packed lunch to the seaside instead?

I've got over myself (worried about looking like a killjoy!) and now have a collapsible silicone lunchbox which travels with me full of delicious salads usually and a small pot of dressing and also mayo to dump on just before I eat.

My trick when eating out is to mix and match so there's broccoli, kale, spinach and chestnut mushrooms named as sides for other dishes so you could have eg steak but swap chips for your preferred veg / salad or the chicken kebabs - maybe ask if any of the other kebabs could be done without the marinade as they sound sugary. I often have naked burgers with salad and tend to ask, with a smile on my face, for the most ginormous portion of salad the chef can fit on the plate and then ask for vinaigrette / oil / mayo etc.

@Pleaseandthankyou can you contact the organiser and say you're following a restricted diet so could they share the menu with you?? Or put a request in for a "no wheat / rice / potatoes - extra veg or salad instead" version which could get rid of the main culprits?

We're between holidays so don't have masses of food in but DC are with grandparents so I can indulge myself - probably today:

B: fasting
L: prawn mayo and avo salad
D: roasted veg and halloumi salad

@Random789 can't find fritter recipe but basically grate 3 courgettes into a sieve, add salt and leave to drain for an hour or more. Then squish them through a muslin until as dry as poss. Add feta / other cheese and basil or mint, maybe some fried crispy bacon bits then one or 2 eggs (sorry can't remember exactly but probably 2). Heat oil / butter then dollop mixture and flatten gently with spoon whilst shallow frying.

Colouringindoors sometimes all you can do is make the "least worst" choices you can. Don't use it as an excuse to eat sugary stuff but don't sweat it if you can't avoid some grains.