Week 5 Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Evening/morning all (depending on what time you’re reading this!)

As ever, here’s the link to The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness.

We now enter week 5. Hopefully we’re through the doldrums of weeks 3 & 4, and you should start to see the scales moving for you again. Remember that we’re still doing strict Bootcamp during the week (you are, aren’t you? ), only relaxing things a little at the weekend.

I’m also hopeful that by now this WOE is becoming more of a habit for you – if you’re new to low carbing – and that you’re enjoying it, rather than feeling that you’re on a deprivation diet. (If ever you’re wondering about this, just pop over to any of the low calorie threads in the weight loss section, and see just how different the posts/themes are on those – very rarely are they about enjoying delicious food!).

If you haven’t already done so, please go and check out the recipe threads, which are stickied at the top of the Low Carb Bootcamp topic. There are some fantastic recipes there, and even if you don’t choose any of them, they should give you some inspiration for your own cooking.

For this week’s recipe, I’ve chosen something very comforting. I’ve been reading various weather forecasts which say we’re in for some cold weather over the next couple of weeks, so this seemed appropriate:

Low Carb Shepherd's Pie

serves 6

3 large/5 small leeks (about the number you will get in a pack from Sainsbury) sliced
1/2 head of celery, sliced
500g beef mince (not lean - go for a high fat mince)
1 OXO cube
1 whole celeriac, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 banana/echalion shallots (Sainsbury's sell these - long and thin rather than round - but I guess ordinary shallots would be fine - you need around 75g)
Grated cheese

• Fry your beef first, in olive oil in a large frying pan, and season with salt, pepper and when browned, crumble in the OXO cube
• In a large saucepan, fry the leeks and celery in butter with a splash of olive oil (Adding the oil helps to prevent the butter from burning)
• When softened, add the mince and then cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes, with the pan lid on
• After 30 minutes, take the lid off and reduce the amount of liquid (it needs to be reasonably dry - but do this to your own taste)
• While the meat is cooking, boil your celeriac in a large pan of salted water, till tender - this will take 20-25 minutes
• Drain and mash - either by hand or with a stick blender.
• Thinly slice the shallots and fry gently till nicely browned, in butter with a splash of oil, then mix into the mash
• Put the meat into an oven-proof dish and spread the mash on top of it. Top with the grated cheese and bake for around 20 minutes in a hot oven until the cheese is browned.

32g for the whole thing; 5.4g carbs per portion if serving 6 people.

The specific weights of the veg I used, if you want to be really anal about carb counts (!) were:

leeks - 427g
celery 213g
celeriac - 596g
shallots - 78g

and an OXO cube is 1.8g carbs.

One final thing

I always make a plea, at the start of each Bootcamp, that posters read all the posts on the thread. Not only is it poor thread etiquette not to, but it’s also very frustrating when people post or ask about things that have been written about, or linked to, earlier in the thread.

I’m not going to name any names (yet!) but it’s very obvious when this happens. And also, by not reading all the posts you miss out on so much key information!

Anyway, that’s it from me. Over and out, and here’s wishing all of us a good, satisfying and tasty low carb week

@NotwatchingSpooks thanks for the suggestion. In present conditions -DP (respectable eco warrier ) might go for it... but he is very anti disposable trays (despite being washer-up-in-chief)

@FusionChefGeoff - hang in there - don't give up yet. The unreasonable craving for additional food does wear off on this WOE, but any slight carb binge will set it going again for some days.

I have filled the fridge with one-hand/low washing-up foods. Sliced meats, avocado crush (sorry again planet), salads and prepared veg to roast (in whatever can be found.) I'm trying not to turn to easy cheese as dairy might be holding me back.

@prettybird hope you are getting better. I had a horrid moment yesterday when I was making the cabbage and leek part of my kedgeree and I was adding more and more spices and couldn't seem to get the flavour I was looking for... EEK!!! I got dh to test taste it, in case it was an overspiced horror, but he was the same as me... 'maybe a bit more salt' he said. I then wondered if we both had some taste/smell problems.

But the flavours blended overnight, as they often do, and today it was just the right mix of spice and heat and warmth.

I hope your taste/smell returns properly. And soon. Some people report that it takes a long time to get back. Oh how I would hate that.

Taste and smell were fine throughout, with the exception of water which tasted metallic (and to a lesser extent tea) - which was of course a real struggle with Boot Camp requirements.

Fortunately my lovely Scottish soft water now tastes of nothing fine again , so I'm getting back into the habit of drinking plenty

Anosmia is only 6th on the Zoe App of symptoms in the Double Vaccinated: sneezing is 3rd (after runny nose and headache).

Glad to hear about the taste prettybird - and that you are recovering.

@StuntNun @venusandmars @prettybird was it one of you who recommends the therapy that creates the 'I don't need to eat right now' mantra as enough is enough I am doing it!!!

If whoever has the info could PM me please I'll contact them to get booked in.

Plan for today:

Lunch: chicken, avo, egg and bacon salad with homemade Caesar
Will also make some Keto rolls
Dinner: freezer harvest think I've got cauli cheese in there with some cabbage and courgettes

Water water water!!!

@FusionChefGeoff I battle the same stuff. Hope you feel a bit better this morning. Cutting the carbs definitely helps me but it takes a few days for the cravings to subside. In the meantime it is really difficult. Hope you can stick with it. The freedom from compulsion to eat stuff you don’t want is worth the uncomfortable journey.

Plan for today

L green soup, salad of a whole little gem lettuce, French cheese and avocado.
D little pizza using portobello mushrooms as the base and served with home made coleslaw. Greek Yoghurt.

Need to watch my tendency to have a small sliver of cheddar which turns into half the block late afternoon and to control portion size and overall intake of Greek Yoghurt. Last year’s Christmas dress was a bit big but no one saw it except DH and DS. Who of course did not notice. This year I am 16lbs heavier. Not likely that I will get back to where I should be by Christmas. But a few pounds might have it at least zipping up.

This is the last week I’m having Avocado every day. I have taken them off my shopping delivery as their carbon footprint is shocking. Thought I’d done it last week but Ocado delivered them.

@FusionChefGeoff I have been brave enough to stand on the scales. I have put 5lbs on too and no longer a healthy bmi. I am working long hours at the minute. 12 hours at my desk. I haven’t time to leave at lunchtime. Plan for the week. Scrambled eggs for breakfast, SLC roll with tuna for lunch. I made a pot of mince and veg so hope that lasts a few evenings. When I am tired I am more likely to be tempted. Posting here to be accountable. Let’s get those 5lbs off again. I do have one square of Lindt chocolate with a cup of peppermint tea every evening in life .

Here's my shepherd's pie that I made last night. I didn't follow the recipe as I had some different veg to use up, so the mash topping is a mix of celeriac and swede as well as the leeks. I also fried the leeks in butter before adding to the mash. (Oh, and I had 3 small carrots which went in with the mince). All in all, this was easily enough for 6 people.

I think next time I make it I'll also put some grated cheese on top of the mash.

Good morning,

BIWI that pie looks amazing.

Pleaseandthankyou, I found my late night snack the hardest thing to stop. I used to have a couple of nuts before bed and it was a hard habit to break, I now have a cup of decaf tea with a dash of cream (from my daily allowance!) and it has helped. I have my peppermint tea after lunch to have a sweet treat.

Today, I forgot to have breakfast and am at softplay so an intermittent fast it is!! I have some fizzy water and some peppermint and liquorish tea and am not actually hungry so will wait for my lovely mushroom and Wensleydale omlette for lunch. Dinner will be cod in a butter and some kind of creamy sauce with roast veg.

Water already at 1.5l

Great pie!

I tried celeriac/leeks/swede/cauli (mashed with butter and cream) as a topping earlier in bootcamp. (what I had left) and it worked well too.

I love rosemary in the mince.

@BIWI great pie.

@Glenthebattleostrich I interesting that you ‘forgot’ breakfast. We’re you just not hungry as a result of this WOE? I wonder if you will find you could IF every day. How was it by lunch time?

I just wasn't hungry @jollyholibobs. I have half a litre of water when i get up and then i just cracked on with my morning!

I was fine at 12 and enjoyed my lunch. I think it's certainly something i can do again as I am eating less for breakfast generally anyway. Ive gone from 3 eggs scrambled to 1 or 2 table spoons of yogurt instead of 4 heaped.

What sorcery did you use to achieve that design on top of the pie, BIWI?

Hi everyone. It's been great reading all your posts. I joined to be part of a club to hit bootcamp max. Some seem to think 0.5lb a week is your goal. It's not me. If this bootcamp worked for you all you would not be back here time after time.
I took the advice and of today have lost 1 stone.
This bootcamp seems more of a clique than determination to reach a goal. I suggested advice on exercise and then got passive advice on cleaning spiders off exercise equipment.

Good luck to all of you.@ @BIWI thank you again x

@Noavocado - as a newbie myself I'm sorry to see that you feel the threads aren't helpful and that contributors are cliquey. The LCBC thread has been going for a long time (I've lurked on previous BC's but only joined this one) so there will obviously be people who return to offer their support (and gain benefit from) new threads/boot campers. I did have a quick look through the previous weeks' threads and can only see support and encouragement from people who have more experience of this WOE.

People have different challenges and they can get in the way of things when you're dieting. I hesitated before posting that I had given into to carbs because I thought that it might send out mixed messages to other newbies - but I did post about it as I wanted to be accountable and truthful, and also get some understanding of why it might have happened in my particular case.

Personally I have gained and lost weight numerous times over the last few years. I've cropped up on various MN weight loss threads full of determination to lose a stone by Easter/Summer/Winter... I've rarely lasted a week before giving up. Thankfully for me this thread is different.

You've had a rough few weeks by the sounds of it and maybe that's affected how you feel about the thread a little? I hope you feel better about things soon.

Also, a 1 stone loss is awesome - well done!

That is amazing weightless, @Noavocado. How long did it take? As another newbie I hope you will stick around.

Weighed today because I thought yesterday's was "wrong" and I am down 1lb from starting weight (last Thursday).

B: mushrooms with scrambled egg
L: not sure yet, will do a spinach salad with boiled egg, stilton and avocado if time.
D: chili with spinach salad and broccoli (I'll make a low carb meat one and a meat-free bean one at the same time. I'll eat the LC, DD will eat the meat-free, and the others can mix and match--it might lead to more of the LC one being left over for me )

Noavocado congrats on losing 1 stone, you’ve done really well and clearly stuck to it. We started at a similar weight (you’ve lost more than me) so I am inspired to keep at it.

JunieSpoony if I’ve read the spreadsheet correctly Noavocado has lost 1stone 3 lbs since 18th October.

Have I read your post incorrectly @Noavocado? Are you leaving bootcamp?

@Noavocado

Hi everyone. It's been great reading all your posts. I joined to be part of a club to hit bootcamp max. Some seem to think 0.5lb a week is your goal. It's not me. If this bootcamp worked for you all you would not be back here time after time. I took the advice and of today have lost 1 stone. This bootcamp seems more of a clique than determination to reach a goal. I suggested advice on exercise and then got passive advice on cleaning spiders off exercise equipment.

Good luck to all of you.@ @BIWI thank you again x

Ouch, @Noavocado

You've done brilliantly well so far, and I'm really pleased that it's working for you.

But everyone is different, and - as often expressed on these threads - weight loss isn't always as simple as just following the rules. There's a lot of emotional 'baggage' involved in weight loss which means it can be difficult for some people.

So I think it's a bit mean to say that people here aren't determined to reach their goal. Also, I should point out that if you don't have much to lose (which many here don't) then 0.5lbs a week is still a good loss. And it's a loss, rather than a gain!

There are many people here who have become regular Bootcampers because they have a lot of weight to lose. And as you will have read on this thread alone, sometimes one Bootcamp just doesn't work for people - for all manner of reasons. We've had bereavements, illnesses, Covid, house moves, work issues etc - lots and lots of reasons why it can be difficult to get your head in the zone. Therefore sometimes people drop out of one Bootcamp but come back to join the next one.

In addition, many who are at or near maintenance use the Bootcamp threads as a way of keeping on track and focused.

There is also always an ongoing chat thread between Bootcamps, and so people do get to know one another that way - a lot of personal information beyond simply concerns/issues/successes about weight loss get shared on there.

All of which means that over time, there are various different ways that posters do get to know each other. (And of course, many of us have been on Mumsnet for quite some time, so have got to know each other from other boards).

I'm genuinely very sorry if this makes it feel like a clique - any of the seasoned 'old timers' will vouch for the fact that I always remind them (on the ongoing chat threads, prior to a new Bootcamp starting) to avoid posting any 'in jokes' or references to older threads for that very reason.

Rather than it being a cliquey place on Mumsnet I've always thought it was one of the most supportive places to be, so I'm sorry that you don't feel that way.

It may well, of course, be that others feel the same way as you do - I'm always aware that many people just lurk on these threads - so if there are any suggestions from those who don't post at all/very often, then I'd be very grateful to hear them.

One suggestion that has been made is that I separate those who are new to low carbing/Bootcamp from the maintainers, and there is some merit in that idea. However, when I was thinking about that, I realised that something that longer term Bootcampers do, (which is massively useful to me in particular,) is that they post to provide newer posters with a lot of support, information and inspiration. @StuntNun is a particular, shining example of that. These threads would be much less useful without them sharing their experiences, things they've learned along the way and their inspiration. (And frankly it would put a huge amount more pressure on me!)

If you have any ideas to suggest how we can avoid it feeling like a clique, then I'd be very open to hear them.

And finally, I have to take issue with this;

I suggested advice on exercise and then got passive advice on cleaning spiders off exercise equipment

I've just spent pretty much an hour going back through the last few weeks' threads. The last reference you made to exercise was on the week 4 thread, last Thursday to be precise.

A general comment about dusting off spiders from exercise equipment was made in this week's thread, on Monday, and in response to a different poster altogether.

It was not at all a passive aggressive response to you at all.

I know you've not been well lately, and you've talked about how it's been affecting your mood, so I'll put this down to that. But on this point I really do think you've taken things completely the wrong way.

(I started writing this thread over a hour ago so things may have moved on since then, but I'm going to post it anyway.)

I’m a lurker and think the whole thing is great. The time and energy you’ve put into it @BIWI must be huge. It’s like a free SW/WW but logical and evidence-based. Thank you.

@BIWI I have taken and read and re read your post. Maybe I have taken it a bit personally. You and me are very different personalities. You are a patient lady.
My point remains a bootcamp is a quick intensive re vamp. But many seem to think it's a little jog. Either re word it or stop making it so lax for some and not others.
I didn't lose a stone eating crap and sitting on my arse.... I did what you advice me to do. Why should I not be proud of it.

Personally I have found these threads to be incredibly supportive and welcoming and I really enjoy the advice and support from the more experienced low carbers.

@Noavocado I hope you don't leave the threads because I have found your posts (and your consistent losses) very inspiring. I have been taking huge amounts of steroids so find losing weight difficult and a .5lb loss is a massive achievement for me, although am losing inches which I am incredibly happy with (7 inches all over so far, including 2.5 each off my waist and hips).

@BIWI thank you for taking the time to organise and run these threads, I am already looking forward to the next one.

I just wanted to say that my experience of the low carb boot camp threads has been really informative, encouraging and welcoming to all. I don't think I'd have stuck with it after the first few days suffering with the carb flu symptoms if it wasn't for the reassurance from others that it would pass. The weekly spreadsheet is a motivator to me. I like seeing what everyone's eating in a day as well as the recipe suggestions for inspiration. I'm fascinated with the science part and the threads have helped me make sense of the positive effects of eating more fats. The proof for me is my increased energy levels and skin improvements. I admit this is probably my 3rd or possibly fourth bootcamp. it works, I lose weight pretty fast and don't feel hungry. As said before I need to work on maintenance as i tend to slip back into eating the wrong type of carbs. I'm going to work on why as I know I feel better without the junk. Thank you BIWI and all of you who put the time in to these bootcamps.