General Low Carb Bootcamp Chat

[BIWI]

Although I generally keep a chat thread going at the end of each Bootcamp, I think it would be better to have an ongoing chat thread that isn't linked to a specific Bootcamp.

So here it is. A sparkly new thread, for all things low carb and Bootcamp chat. As well as anything else you'd like to chat about!

Feel free to chat about anything you like here.

I feel that by the time bootcamp proper comes round it will be a fairly painless transition as I got through the cold turkey/carb flu/headachey bit the other day.

I do need to ditch the booze though - I'm having a gin and slimline most evenings but I've got a few days to wean myself off it still.

Decided not to go out for lunch as husband had some work to do and daughter needed a lift so had croque monsier made with seriously low carb bread and fried in butter. It tasted like the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten. @BIWI do you think it's ok to have up to six slices of seriously low carb bread in a day?

I'm not getting weighed until just before bootcamp but hopefully by then the numbers won't be too bad.

@Prinnny

Has anyone tried these? Just picked them up in home bargains 99p each and apparently carb free!

Prinny - you can also buy those under the Bare Naked Noodles brand name, in bigger supermarkets. But they're much more expensive than the ones you've got!

They're a traditional Japanese noodle, made from the Japanese yam, (not the same as the vegetable we know as a yam), and are actually called shirataki noodles. You can buy them in Asian stores as well.

They're pretty good in things like stir-fries and Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese soup dishes. The texture isn't quite like pasta, but they can make a substitute for it. I'm less keen on the rice ones - but that's just my preference. I'm happy with my cauliflower rice if I'm making a dish that needs rice.

@Prinnny - those look the same as the Naked Noodles aka Konjac noodles which work well, especially in stir fries. I've never tried the rice (I'm happy with cauliflower "rice", which helps me keep my veg count up ) - I've heard mixed reviews about it.

Cross posted with @BIWI - but said pretty much the same thing

@byebyecarbs

do you think it's ok to have up to six slices of seriously low carb bread in a day?

Not really! Because when you finish Bootcamp and/or reach your target and start to look at including more carbs again, you'll go straight back to normal bread. At the moment, all you're doing is trying to replicate a high carb diet with low carb products. And 6 slices of bread a day is a lot! Remember, you're supposed to be eating carbs every day in the form of vegetables and salad - if you're eating that much bread, what veg/salad are you also eating?

The bread is great - don't get me wrong - but it's also heavily processed, (and very expensive!)

It would be much better, IMVHO, to develop a range of meals that don't rely on any kind of bread.

Great thanks! For my rice substitute I tend to us this as it comes in at less carbs than cauliflower rice but not been able to get my hands on it recently.

@biwi how do you feel about Hotel Chocolat 100% dark drinking chocolate with almond milk outside of strict bootcamp?
I'm ashamed to admit I've become addicted to hot chocolate

If it's 100% @Oneborneverydecade, then presumably the carb count is very low? How does it compare with the carb count for cocoa? (Although carb counts for cocoa vary hugely! Sainsbury's seems to be the lowest

@biwi it looks like it's 6g per serving That's higher than I thought. Maybe a once a week treat. That Cocoa is very low ay, but possibly undrinkable
Thanks for the help

Ooh, I haven’t seen those green veg rice before. Must get to Iceland.

Thanks @biwi that makes a lot of sense re the bread. I do have a subscription to it which makes it a bit cheaper and I justify it on the basis that if I didn't eat it I would definitely need bigger clothes as bread is the one thing I can't do without!

Also when I go to a work event (quite often) and lunch is provided I take along a seriously low carb rolls and switch the filling from the buffet sandwiches into my own low carb roll.

Anyway you're right re the veg intake so I will restrict myself to four slices a day and up the veg.

Also @BIWI could you give me an opinion on this cola drink please - no aspartame - just stevia?

us.greencola.com/

That'll be a "No" @byebyecarbs : we're trying to educate our palates away from sweet things - and that includes artificial sweeteners of all types, including Stevia.

After the first two strict weeks you can possibly introduce a small amount of a natural sweetener like erythritol or inulin if you absolutely need a dessert (I make one about once a month) but in truth it's bad habit Hence also the warnings even about Fevertree Light tonic. Better to acquire a taste for gin and soda water My local "bar" (aka the rugby club ) has got used to me asking for a large glass of water, no ice (especially in winter when the water from the tap is cold anyway). You do get used to it - and it has the added bonus of being free (says the Scot )

Don't fall for the marketing around stevia - and all the claims that it's natural. It's true that it's a plant, so its origins are natural, but it's a heavily processed food.

There's a really interesting article about it here

... and here's an extract from it:

Is it better for you than sugar?
Unfortunately, many commercial stevia products are highly purified stevia extracts and are not always as healthy as some of their 'natural' labels would lead you to believe. Like with other sugar alternatives, it is the extraction and processing methods that change the properties of the whole leaf into something quite different

In the sense that pure stevia doesn’t add calories, affect blood sugar or insulin levels, or contribute to tooth decay, it is a better choice than sugar. However, highly refined extracts perpetuate the desire for sweet-tasting foods and drinks and therefore over-consumption is not recommended. As the long-term effects of sweeteners are still unknown, there is a clear need for further experimentation with respect to the metabolic processes involved

So on the basis of both of those counts, I'm sorry but it's a big fat no from me!

Huge self-sabotage today. Ate half a tub of ice cream, peach compote and a packet of crisps. No idea why I do this to myself, I wasn't hungry, I didn't have carb flu I just felt like stuffing myself.

I am so frustrated with myself, but also confused as to why I did it.

Consoling myself that bootcamp hasn't started so it's not too late to sort things out

Self-sabotage is a killer @hapusrwydd. But you really need to try and identify why you did that to yourself.

For a start, make sure that you don't have those foods in the house once we start Bootcamp! If there's nothing there to tempt you, then you can't give in to temptation.

Silly question, is fizzy water the same as soda water? (Thinking of my gin and tonic )

I don't actually know what the technical difference is! But as far as I'm concerned, they're the same thing - i.e. water without any calories or carbs.

@hapusrwydd no advice but just know you are not alone. My resolve is high right now but this is definitely my downfall. It's done now though so I'd suggest you just make a real effort to get back in control right now. Don't let it carry on, say you'll start again on Monday or whatever. Just start again right now

Just had an amazing chicken fajita salad with lovely oily limey dressing, sour cream, salsa, avocado and grated cheese. Was so tasty a s we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. Just poured a bitters and soda with a few frozen berries which is really nice too. And the best bit is I won't have a hangover in the morning!!

Evening!!

Just had tacos with cabbage leaves, beef mince, sour cream and jalapeños. I did try to make mozzarella nachos in the oven but messed them up by not using baking paper and they stuck to the foil 🙈 oh well!

Have drank all the water consistently for 3/4 days now and feeling good!

Not stepping on the scales until the 17th though as I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised!

I'm making low carb shepherds pie for dinner tomorrow and my DM is doing dinner for the family and I want to stick to it

Instead of pizza with the dc tonight, I had an omelette with bacon, tomatoes and fried spinach on top, with a side salad. I'm not 100% bootcamping it yet, still eating fruit, but feel like this is a good start. I'm going to stock up on more dark green veg, as I just feel good when eating it.

@AllTheBlackCoffee the fajita salad sounds nice. It is just chicken in fajita spices with lettuce etc?

B black coffee and a dark choc
L/D huge bowl of chilli with no kidney beans, served with avocado.

Had hoped to avoid the choc, but I have got a couple left in a box from Christmas, and managed to kid myself it was ok as this wasn’t bootcamp yet. Which is suppose is true in a way, except really I did intend to treat this as bootcamp rules.

@Moonswimmer I am following a Diet Doctor meal plan this week to get me back into LC and the recipe was on there here I just plonked my portion on a load of dressed salad leaves and added the sour cream, salsa, avocado and cheese. Was lovely and dead easy - never thought of doing them in the oven before but worked really well.

I can't remember if it was this thread or the "who's interested in a January Boot Camp" thread but I promised to post some photos of how to attack "peel" a celeriac

First one shows how I'd cut the end off and the trimmings (the smaller "chips" had already been put on to the tray) plus the round that I'd cut off, ready to trim; the second one shows the "chips" cut; and the third one shows the cooked "chips" (I had cut another round too).

And this was what I served it with: wild venison steak in a pheasant & cranberry sauce (left over and frozen from the roast pheasant I make and to which I added some more fresh cranberries) with Savoy cabbage microwaved in butter and mixed with some crispy streak bacon - plus the celeriac "chips".

Last wine for two weeks