Summer Low Carb mini-Bootcamp - week 3

[StuntNun]

Welcome to week 3 of our mini-Bootcamp. If you have been following strict Bootcamp then you can move to Bootcamp Light this week. This means you can eat when you're hungry rather than sticking to three meals a day, and you can re-introduce alcohol, low carb fruits, nuts and seeds, and dark chocolate in small quantities. Some people choose to stick with strict Bootcamp on weekdays and do Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

Note that there is almost always a weight loss stall between weeks 3 and 5 of going low carb so do not worry if the scales don't drop this week or next. It's caused by a temporary increase in water retention and you will still be burning fat if you keep following the rules. If the lack of weight loss gets you down then remind yourself that this is to be expected and the scales will start moving again.

As always, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness!

Sainsbury's also sell cauliflower rice, in the produce section, and Asda sell bags of frozen cauliflower rice. Both alternatives very good!

I buy a large cauliflower, blitz it in the food processor, chuck it in freezer bags and just cook from frozen in the microwave.

Didn't make the meatballs in the end as didn't get back from work until latish. Made a chicken stir fr instead. So
D: chicken, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage with soy garlic and sesame oil

Hello! I know I’m very late to this 6 week party but just joining the bus if that is ok!
Having checked out the boot camp rules, I’ve been eating this way (or at least the “light” version) since 31 Dec 2019. I’ve lost 3 stone in that time, and have maintained that loss give or take literally only 2 lbs since early July 2020. So I’m keen to join just to keep all that on track and to get new meal ideas etc.
I appreciate it’s a bit off topic, but a couple of months in I watched the documentary Fat Fiction, which has some guff, but inspiring if ever feeling like low carb is hard work…
I’d really love to lose a further 7lbs, but I’ve been this weight now for just over a year eating like this, so I think this is just my natural weight now, but happy to be a bit stricter again to kickstart a tiny bit more weight loss if that possible - if not, maintaining this is fine (for context, my bmi was 25.4, now 19.5 - I’m 5’11” so need to shift a lot of weight to alter bmi, although conversely can gain a few lbs without massive differences I guess!!).
I’m a massive low carb convert / believer in so many ways, but I have found this way of eating to be the one and only way of really enjoying food, including eating out and with others, hosting lovely spreads and even feeding the kids far better with no processed stuff, at a weight I enjoy, after a fairly troubled relationship with food in the past.

Today a very typical day of food for me:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and a whole avocado (grabbed then eaten at desk at 9ish)

Lunch: massive salad - lettuce with tuna Mayo, about 4 cherry tomatoes and lots of celery chopped in, with a very (very - love oil) olive oil-y vinegrette with white wine vinegar / French mustard.

Dinner: the whole family had chicken fajitas. Kids had wraps, we had everything but the wraps, so spicy chicken cooked with mushrooms and courgettes, lettuce, a bit of salsa (it’s a bit carby so not much) and sooo much homemade guacamole. Real result was the kids cooked it!!

Water and black coffee (waaay to much coffee) for drinks…

And grated cheese with the fajita dinner…

I reckon that I’ve probably not been drinking enough water throughout, so it maybe that by making that switch a few last lbs might switch.

Thanks for having me on board!

Welcome @legallyblond. Great to hear how well this WOE has worked for you long term. Great post. The comment about being able to enjoy food chimed with me.

Today’s plan is
B black coffee
L big salad with slice of left over frittata
D shaksuka and flgv from the garden

I have a trip to IKEA planned early evening so it’ll be a late dinner.
Have a good day everyone.

Back down to 12.6 so lost the 2lbs from the weekend already.

Must. Stay. Off. The. Booze

L: tuna salad
D: either meatballs or bolognaise (am making both) with courgettes/spinach

Welcome @legallyblond Sounds like you already understand and have succeeded with the benefits of the HFLC WoE. Hopefully tweaking some minor things, drinking all the water and with the support of this group, you'll get rid of that final 7lb.

I've realised I've not weighed in this week: after my transgressions last week and a strict couple of days this week, I weighed in at 11st 6.5lb yesterday. I haven't checked but I think that's STS or up a 1/4lb on last week. Given the figure that I saw on the scales on Monday morning, im happy with that

Hi @legallyblond totally agree with you on the eating at home, eating out, thoroughly enjoying my food. This woe suits me and my lifestyle and I find there are very few situations where I can't make it work. Then I either just go with what is offered (for the sake of friendship, love or family harmony) or make an excuse and nibble round the edges - after all feeling hungry once in a while isn't the worst thing in the world especially compared to a traditional low calorie diet Like several others, alcohol is my downfall both in terms of it stopping fat burning and also it blurring the edges of which carbs I might like to have to accompany it. But I have a longer term difficult relationship with alcohol anyway, so I always feel the need to be careful.

Next week I will have one of the challenging food events - an 8 course dinner and cooking lesson at the home of an Indian Chef (birthday present courtesy of my best friend). I can focus on the meat / fish / veg dishes, and minimise rice but I'm sure there will be some naan or rotis that I'll want to try (making and eating) and dahl... My plan is to have an extended fast from the previous lunchtime, and then to eat very light and very gently the following day.

B - rooibos tea and a walk with dh
L - coffee with cream, avocado and egg mayo, salad
D - chicken livers in cream sauce, cabbage, broccoli, spinach

Thank you! Without wishing to sound like some weird convert, it’s been quite the miracle how this way of eating has helped mentally. I used to (I think like lots of people) be in crazy cycles of massively restricting calories and fat, having huge lows in blood sugar, binging on all the sugar / carbs, feeling awful mentally, skipping meals etc. It was and is amazing that by getting rid of all those blood sugar highs and lows, not feeling hungry and eating food that is actually nourishing and satisfying, like good fats (albeit totally NOT the conventional wisdom I was given of what healthy looks like), mental health has improved. It stated as weight loss but that’s been the biggest prize! It’s fab and excited to see lots of recipes and be a cheerleader!

And I agree with @venusandmars… I certainly don’t have a low carb meal if I’m being cooked for by others who don’t get it. For the sake of harmony and friendship I’d rather just enjoy the meal, although I find that happens very rarely really…

I ate out loads last weekend and beforehand made a "rule" for myself - no puddings and no added or obvious carbs. So I had a roquefort and walnut soufflé followed by sea bass with hollandaise and spinach despite knowing the soufflé would be carby, but didn't have bread/potatoes/rice/puddings. Worked quite well.

@Bryonyshcmyony that all sounds delicious and I'd have made the same kind of choices. There's a difference between being 'a wee bit carby' i.e. more than you might have at home because there would be a small amount of flour in the soufflé (and thoroughly enjoying it and appreciating it), and 'throwing caution to the wind' and tucking into bread, chips, pizza, sickly puds and possibly not enjoying it at all

@venusandmars it's these and they are absolutely amazing if a bit hard to get pysillium husk to start with - ended up ordering online as local health food shop is lots of money for not much stuff!

trinakrug.com/the-best-keto-buns-on-the-planet/

@Bryonyshcmyony a lot of it is making sure that I visualise 2 springs pulling my ribs to my pelvic bone and pulling everything in! I'll pm you an attempt to explain what the exercises are.

My bloody binge head is still with me - I'm hoping if I keep up with this it will get to where you all are!! Ate really well at my work thing then landed into a whole pack of rollitos and 500g of Greek yoghurt when I got home. God know what all that's about.

L: chicken, celery, grated cheese and Mayo (very late for an appointment so grabbed what I could quickly!)
D: salmon and avocado salad

Spent a few hours cooking today and made some date/hazelnut/cocoa energy balls for dd1 - dd3 tasted one and said it was 'weird', so then I ate half of one just to check (it didn't taste weird ) so I'm feeling a bit guilty about that. Don't want to feel guilty as it wasn't like it was full of sugar just the dates.

I am currently prepping some celeriac to make garlic and herb fries with burger and a spicy dip. Quite excited!

B: scrambled eggs and mozzarella, creamy coffee x 2

L: chorizo and cabbage soup with butter melted in

D: Heck sausages with roasted veg

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch: day off do one of my favourites… baked Camembert with celery, radishes, bit of red pepper etc, plus some salad leaves with vinegrette. Also couple of slices of salami abs cured ham. So good… (children also had but they added oatcakes..)

Dinner: stir fry beef strips with Greek salad

I got starving earlier and had a snack of done pork scratchings…. What’s the official view of those?! A no no? I sometimes turn to them as an instant hit if on the floor with hunger.

And yes yes yes to the person upthread who said booze is a bit of a hurdle. It’s not that it makes me eat stuff I’d otherwise not pick, but while I might say one glass is fine, I might then drink a bottle… so being honest I’m probably kidding myself that it’s lack of water not shifting the last half stone. It’s likely too much of the alcoholic variety, isn’t it…

I love pork scratchings but last time I ate a bag I broke a tooth, ended up with an abscess that was so painful I didn't care if I overdosed on painkillers and ended up with a root canal and crown which cost the best part of £800. So I tend to avoid them 😂

Well the dates are certainly making themselves felt I haven't been windy once during three months of this WOE.

I haven't rtft so apologies for jumping in. I'd like to apologise to @StuntNun and @BIWI for my absence. Unfortunately things have been difficult at home. Some of you will remember that towards the end of last year my DH revealed he had lots of debt and we had a plan in place to deal with it. My DH hasn't held up his part of the deal.

I was doing okay carbs wise but PMT plus worry has me fully off the rails. I'm going to catch up with week 3 because I really need bootcamp.

Checking in. I’ve had a lovely day pottering about with the children. 2 year old DS has been an absolute angel, which has made a pleasant change . I weighed myself this morning and looks like I will have a decent loss to report on Monday.

B: berries, Greek yog and keto granola
L: bacon, tomato, burrata, salad and olive oil
D: chicken curry and cauliflower rice
S: strawberries and clotted cream😋

@legallyblond I don't know why you would be 'on the floor with hunger'...?? But if you are, then pork scratchings seem ok . Personally, I've never been able to put even one in my mouth.

@Bryonyshcmyony isn't it amazing how quiet our guts are without sugar... :)

@Oneborneverydecade oh that sounds very tough

@Oneborneverydecade

Sorry you're having such a hard time