2021 Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Welcome to the last Bootcamp of 2021!

This Bootcamp will last for 8 weeks, which will take us up to Monday 13 December.

It's slightly different from other Bootcamps - firstly because it only lasts for 8 weeks (rather than 10), but also because there are going to be different stages.

So ...

Weeks 1 and 2 will be, as ever, strict Bootcamp.

Weeks 3-6 will be strict Bootcamp during the week, but relaxing into Bootcamp Light at weekends

In weeks 7-8 you will have a choice - either back to strict Bootcamp or full-on Bootcamp Light for the last fortnight

Thank you for all the replies! I make cheese sauce quite a lot so will give that a go. I’m definitely not drinking enough water. Better today just thinking about it but more tomorrow.

Catwithflowers if you like that you'll love using up broccoli stalks which I learned here too! I keep them in the fridge and chop into stews, roasted veg, and chopped one up fine to go into my cheeseburger pie tonight! I think it was Stuntnun who first got me into roasting them in discs with oil and salt but I don't do that often because I then just eat the lot!

I confess to feeling very envious reading tales of cauliflower cheese. There's apparently cauli in my Chicken Alfredo, but you'd need a map to find it. It looked big enough in the shop, but was all leaves which I am not using to thicken anything other than a bin bag because life's too short

Busy day today with cinema, bowling and football for DS2 and his school pal. I had nowt but a sparkling water in the cinema and not a single solitary compliment from staff or fellow customers. Rude.

So many lovely new faces! Glad you all delurked, even if you won't be

Ooh cauliflower cheese, so lovely and perfect for this time of year.

I really love how busy the thread is, reading about everyone’s food is making me feel so hungry

I'm also loving having new posters and most especially long time lurkers. I try not to think to hard about the amount of over sharing I do here, clearly not only to the names I know and think of as my imaginary friends, but also those I don't even know are here!

Day 2:
B: 2 boiled eggs
L: beautiful leftover roast beef, in mayo and wholegrain mustard plus salad of spinach, tomato and cucumber. Yogurt.
D: chunk of Lincolnshire poacher cheese while cooking...
Cheeseburger Pie- half will be frozen to eat in a couple of weeks time. Sautéed kale.

Out for a (free) lunch tomorrow, not sure what to expect! Will do my best.

@HappyLion2021 I like the idea of chorizo with cauli cheese! DH is a meat fiend so this could be a good step towards making cauli cheese the centre piece rather than a side.

I keep all the stalks etc in a bag in the freezer along with leek tops / parsley stalks and any other random bits of green then when the bag is full I use it to make my green soup.
Zero waste, zero carbs!

So if anyone is thinking of doing the curried celeriac recipe, here are my comments:

• the celeriac cubes are supposed to be roasted for 30 minutes. I don't think this is long enough, as some of the cubes were still a bit hard in the centre. I'd definitely roast for at least 45 minutes

• when it was cooked, there was quite a bitter taste. I wonder if the roasting of the celeriac with the spices resulted in the spices being a bit burnt? Or possibly the quantities were a bit high? I ended up doubling up the amount of lime juice and also then added some single cream.

Sadly probably not a recipe that's going to make it into my ongoing repertoire.

@Nutsaremynemesis thank you for that, tapas instead a set meal is a good idea too!

@prettybird you look incredible for 60 and Rugby is not an easy sport - I can barely run up and and down the pitch when watching my DS

@FungalLurkins welcome! I lurked a bit as I like to have an idea of what I’m doing but everyone has been lovely since I started posting, and it’s helped me be accountable for some choices.

(Ps I’m having a mega busy week, trying and failing to keep up with the thread, currently up to page 4, will try and read the rest tonight!)

Also I have totally given up on digital scales as they seemed to run out of batteries so fast and gave such varied readings.
I’ve bought a set of supermarket classic scales and I feel better seeing the arrow moving (especially when the numbers getting smaller )

It is amazing how you just don't want to eat so much isn't it. I was inundated with chocolates and wine when our 4year olds left for school but it's all in the Christmas cupboard, not touched any. Apple crumble is my weakness though. I try not to be around when that's on the menu!

I'm trying so hard with the water but it's so difficult at work. Water bottles have to be kept on a high shelf and as I'm constantly on the go, often outside, I just don't get a chance. If I drink it all in the evening I'll be up and down to the loo all night!

Shame about the celeriac curry BIWI, that sounded like it would be great.

We've just had a version of this for tea:

https://diethood.com/zucchini-lasagna-roll-ups/

I tried to make the roll ups as suggested but utterly failed so ended up making this as a lasagne with the strips of courgette effectively being the lasagne sheets. I also obviously used full fat fairy rather than the low fat recommended in the recipe. It was bloody gorgeous! DH and the kids weren't impressed by the lack of both meat and pasta in something I had called lasagne but they ate it so I'm calling that a win, plus the leftovers will be all mine so I'll have those for my lunch tomorrow

I'll write up what I did and put it on the veggie recipe thread - there might be something similar on there already but it can't hurt.

I'm very glad the full fat fairy visited your house!

@ouchmyfeet , I feel the full fat fairy will be staying this bootcamp

Had a horrible day today. I have a poorly DD who needs to have a covid test food has been spot on, not drunk enough water.
Feel drained. Hope everyone has had a good day.

Forgot how fast everything moves in the beginning!

Super busy day at work today so only managed 2 slices of cheese and 5 slices of turkey for lunch.

So to compensate, I have had lots of beef mince fried in spices with cheese melted on top. Cabbage leaves as tacos for some veg and I am stuffed!

Have drank all the water today and have visited the ladies soooo much!

Full fat fairy - she definitely belongs in bootcamp!

When I tried to type that it autocorrected to dairy

Sorry to hear about your crap day Linda, my DS has covid at the moment too but it has at least been short lived. Well done for sticking to it, this is when it's hard isn't it

@ouchmyfeet i’m glad my food is something I can control though. Why is it whenever one member of the house needs your attention, the others become very needy?

Hello, I’ve been trying to join the thread for 2 days, but it has been moving so fast that I never got to the end of reading it to post.

Welcome to all newbies, I’ve been doing this for ages and had managed to maintain, but lost my mojo over the summer, so am back with a stone to loose. However as others will say, I do know this woe works as long as you don’t cheat and drink the water.

Thank you also to biwi and others who keep it all going

@Rayna37 sounds amazing! Will definitely give both those things a go. I recycled a beef bourguignon from the freezer tonight for dinner and made it into a pie for family but no pastry for me. With sweetheart cabbage pan fried in butter and celeriac purée. Very tasty.

I'm not on BIWI's list (have lurked for years and learned lots) but have put on half a stone recently which I want to lose by Christmas. I've low-carbed lots in the past, not for big weight losses but to stay at a place where I feel happy and comfortable, and I know this works for me more than any other weight loss plan.

Not sure whether to weigh or not as this has been an issue for me in the past. I'm focussing more on the fact that I feel so much better with this WOE. I don't seem to suffer from heartburn at all when following a low-carb plan which is interesting as all the information about heartburn seems to suggest cutting out fat/fat is the culprit. With me, I'm convinced it's sugar/carbs 😬. Does anyone else find this too?

Sorry you have had a horrid day ListenLinda I hope DD feels better soon

BIWI thank you for such a thorough feed back on that recipe

Prettybird your rugby tales are impressive.

I have done the thing where i have tripped over my own feet and landed on my face (figurative NOT literally)
I now have a list of the triggers that I have to be aware may be the cause of a derailment. i think the train was blown up by C4 never mind derailed today Feeling older and wiser but in need for a strong dose of pain killers as it has been a day. Now to work on my stress related food triggers

Struggling a bit on the fat front as dairy (other than butter) is out, and I really really don't like the texture of dressings on things. makes me gag as I have sensory issues. The dairy did make it easier last time. Any suggestions?

Avocado? Fatty meats like pork shoulder?Fattier mince?

Make sure to cook all your veg in plenty of butter.

How are you with a homemade hollandaise @HillsBesideTheSea? Might be better than the texture of some dressings. Try to have fattier cuts of meat, too (chicken thighs, lamb).

Of course, you'll have a bit more scope once you're having a few nuts (though not all are created equal).

I don't think you have to go down the beef dripping/suet route just yet

What about mayo?

Hello all! What a fabulous thread so thrilled to see creative and delicious ideas.. I jumped the gun somewhat and have been seriously low carbing for several weeks and (hooray!) am officially down by 5kg.. the very 5kg I couldn't shift trying everything under the sun, aside from low carb, during lockdowns. Looking forward to sharing ideas and inspiration!