Welcome to 2022's first Low Carb Bootcamp!

[BIWI]

Almost 200 of us signed up, so it's going to be a busy one.

@Runninghorse
@missfliss
@MercedesBenz
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@MrsGarethSouthgate
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@StuntNun
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Here's a link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness lovingly managed by @ouchmyfeet.

I've added a couple of names that I've spotted this evening, but they're at the bottom of the list not alphabetised - if your name isn't on the list, add yours at the bottom, and we'll re-alphabetise it once we get going.

Morning everybody. Some wonderful recipes and food suggestions throughout the thread.

I feel as I am only half-bootcamping. I've cut out all the forbidden food, and I'm eating plenty of fat, but I am being a bit snacky, and failing to eat three regular meals. Also, Im not meeting my water targets, though that is improving.

I just feel so stressy, forgetful and disorganised that I am 'afraid' of forming ambitions to plan meals, cook nice things, etc. Every vow is a snare for sin, as I think Dr Johnson or some such person said. So I shy away from vowing.

I don't have very much weigh to lose, and perhaps as long as I have lost something this week I can keep on being a fainthearted bootcamper? IDK.

On the upside I have just left my car at the garage for its MOT and jogged home via a beautiful route in the Durham countryside, part of which is Woodland Trust and very very lovely.

Thank you lovely people, such an interesting (and fast moving) thread.

Yesterday was
B Longtime IF, 1st l water
L Caesar salad
D shoogled cauliflower and spring onions, two rashers bacon, scattered Parmesan and grilled.

Only 2.5 litres of water, my target cf spreadsheet is 3.5l shall get on it.

After the first few days (started 10/1) my number of nighttime 'visits' had settled down to max once. Last night, after not enough water, I was up several times. Shall hope that the full 3.5l today lets me sleep through again in future.

Caesar salad was delouis Mayo plus garlic and anchovy, ruby gem lettuce, spring onions and avocado, plus left over chicken and two rashers bacon. Only after I'd eaten it did I remember how smug and prepared I felt the previous night boiling eggs in readiness

I'm inspired this bootcamp to a new approach for me. I shall ' fess up' to anything off plan, rather than distracting myself by falling head first into a vat of ice creme and beige carbs I don't even really enjoy and quietly leaving the thread.

So, not enuf water yesterday and two and a half cashews eaten absentmindedly from a bowl which has been there since before Christmas, while waiting for the microwave to ping. My first thought when I realised was 'oh, but I don't have to mention them' so realise that this level of accountability is good for me.

I'm all about taking responsibility and doing it for myself and my health, then tempted to lie by omission at the first hurdle. Sigh.

So good to find other emotional eaters on the thread. It seems I use pretty much any excuse to eat: bored, too busy and OMG anytime I step on the scales the urge to distract myself from the 'verdict' esp when bad can feel overwhelming. It's been so much easier to distract myself from anything by just eating, and there have been a few things (pandemic, DH's health )seemingly needing distraction. Now here I am heavier than I have ever been. Glad to be back LCHF

Onwards and downwards, KOKO.

And oooh Stuntnun

homemade pork scratchings

@StuntNun

To make your own pork scratchings you need pork skin - I buy mine from Morrisons. If you're cutting it off a joint yourself then bear in mind you only want a very thin layer of fat on the back or they'll end up chewy rather than crunchy. Using a sharp knife cut the pork into half inch cubes, spread out on a baking tray and bake at 90-100C for 3-4 hours until dry and hard. They'll be very small at this stage. I let them cool and keep them in a box in the fridge, they keep for weeks. To make these "pellets" into pork scratchings you can deep fry them at 190C for about a minute or air fry them at 220-230 for a few minutes or even microwave them (in a container with a piece of kitchen roll to absorb the oil that comes out) for about 1 minute 45 seconds. They puff up much bigger when cooked. You can flavour them with salt or use a spice mix such as Cajun.

I'm in.

My instant pot can air fry so that's a mission for this weekend!

I know it's not easy @CoffeeChocolateWine and it wasn't really a serious suggestion! But you did ask for strategies ...

So much of what we do is either habitual/ritual or emotional or, worse, both! It's about breaking those associations and behaviours as much as we can - being realistic and practical.

But I think the acknowledgement that you can do it comes first - rather than just giving in to it, IYSWIM?

Morning all! I've tried on my ski gear again, and at least the poppers on the salopettes briefly do up.

I've taken photos so that I can track progress. I don't really want to fork out £££ on new stuff, so here goes. We go in 3 weeks.

(See also: sore puffy hands in photos)

For anyone who is mindlessly snacking on the wrong things try these cheesies - not cheap but better than falling off the wagon I think:-

www.cheesies.co.uk/products/new-variety-pack?variant=33176475926581&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAiA0KmPBhBqEiwAJqKK47D046bc_Y49sL00Ir0vlY1E3yyxMojMi5r7BAuLcH5wJfwE0fr9MxoCLPgQAvD_BwE

For anyone is stalling in week 3 or 4, I used to be part of the Pig2twig forum years ago (hello to any former pig2twiggers) based on the book by India Knight which was basically this diet. If anyone was stalling everyone would 100% endorse having creamed mushrooms as often as possible. Really easy to do - cook mushrooms in butter (and garlic too if you like), add cream (and herbs or bacon bits) and reduce. That's it!

It's not a stall though @byebyecarbs - it's a quite normal phenomenon on this WOE. (It gets reported a lot on the Fast800 FB pages as well).

That's not to say eating creamed mushrooms wouldn't be lovely though!

And it's only a stall when you haven't seen any weight shift for much longer than a couple of weeks.

Quoting The Diet Doctor (again! I should get commission ) a stall is when you haven't seen any movement on the scales for 3 months or so

@CoffeeChocolateWine

Some good ideas on strategies for avoiding the mindless etc eating already on this thread.

Another approach came from Gillian Riley, who started with a book to help people give up smoking then noticed how many went on to gain weight. Next up, a book about https://eatingless.com

Treating over eating esp processed foods as an addiction which can be broken by eating good, fresh and yes low carb food is really helpful for me so long as I remember the techniques before I fall into that vat of ice creme and think oh well, I might as well now... then it takes ages, years even, for me to climb back on the waggon.

And I think it was Stuntnun who suggested drawing a line after a single transgression in order to keep going.

All good strategies, which seem so simple almost easy so long as I am not in the grip of a sugar rush, or perhaps the reason for me to avoid sugar is exactly because once in its grip I stop thinking straight, just like any addiction.

@EwanHoozami

I made an absolutely banging turkey thigh ragu last night. I didn't take measurements but it was basically...

1 big shallot
2 sticks celery
1 small pack mushrooms
1 aubergine

brunoise all the above and gently sweat in butter for 10 mins or so. I added 1 tsp Italian seasoning at this point and deglazed the pan with some elderly red wine

fry off a big pack of turkey thigh mince (higher fat than breast)

combine the two, add a couple of tins of chopped toms, cook down for a while

DSs had it with pasta, I had mine with fried shredded cabbage. Lush.

Today's meals:
B: pack of bresaola on the run
L: mushroom omelette
D: lemon and caper tofu, cauliflower mash, green beans

You had me at ^brunoise*….

God I love a cooking term.

WATER WATER WATER y’all!

" noted and then ignored the pastries and crisps" Jollyholibobs. I love this ! When I'm around people who are eating things that I might have scoffed down mindlessly in the past or if I'm in places where these things are staring me in the face, I think you've summed up what I do. I note them and then I pass them by. It's like training myself to go on a different course.

Also, in answer to CoffeeChocolateWine, one of the ways I stand up to the types of temptations you've mentioned has been by really tuning into what I want long-term. I ask myself what I'm doing this for and where I'm really wanting to go with all this. Then, the answer pops into my head. And I deal with the situation accordingly.

Sometimes I just toddle off on my own - away from the thing that I'm struggling with. Sometimes I have a drink. Sometimes I realise I'm actually hungry and respond to that in a way which is good for me - maybe I'll eat something I can or maybe I'll realise I'm nearly at mealtime and I only need to wait half an hour or something. Mainly though, I remember that I want to be slim and that this is really my goal. I've found that the silly talk in my head tends to be drowned out when I often bring to mind what I really want for myself. HIH

EwanHoozami ShagMeRiggins

Frantically googling 'brunoise' - every day's a schoolday

Another thing for mindless eating: eat more fat with meals. If you're eating enough fat you won't be hungry. It took me AGES to get my head around this because I was so used to feeling starving all the time from the blood sugar crashes on a high carb diet. If you're eating enough fat, you don't 'feel peckish' in the same way and you just dont think about food!

Banging headache for me today, I'm on track with my water so it's paracetamol and just riding it out unfortunately. I'm going to add salt to my lunch too.

@FinallyHere @WitchWand, thank you for your advice. Really helpful and I will try and be mindful of this from now on. I know the less sugar I eat, the less I will crave so I need to stick with it and visualise what I want long-term to get there. And find a distraction. And yes to drawing a line under my slip-ups, being kind and forgiving myself, and moving on.

@Benvolio

NSD (non-scales defeat): sat down heavily (well duh) on the sofa and my PJ bottoms split all along the arse seam.

Clearly they were old and worn pj bottoms, plus the cat had a go at them. Those damn cats.

Hang in there, Benvolio. And thank you for your peacekeeping ways. The world needs more peacekeepers.

I really like those cheesies @byebyecarbs . Especially the goats cheese ones. They satisfy a need for something crunchy, and I’m finding that I don’t mindlessly plough through a whole bag in the way I would a large bag of Frazzles or something.

I’ve loved all the food I’ve eaten this week. I Need to work on shaking up breakfast a bit though.
B: Frittata with mushrooms and spinach. Again!
L: chicken Caesar salad. So lovely.

Dinner is undecided as yet. DH is in hospital and if he’s in for the night I’m going to make cheeseburger pie and keep the leftovers for next weeks lunches (it freezes right?). If he’s out then it might be chicken tikka, or something from the fridge - depending on how he’s feeling.

I’m drinking lots of water.

I’m at home today with a sick 8 year old. I’ve made a batch of mince whilst she napped. My freezer is going to run out of space soon!

Another Cheesies fan here! Also discovered The Curator pork puffs which I bought on Amazon. They are amazing and not as teeth-wrecking or hairy as proper pork scratchings.

Also one of my favourite snacks if I'm peckish is slices of roast beef spread with English mustard and sprinkled with pink salt. Roll em up and away you go. I buy the ready sliced packs of beef for DS' lunches so there's usually some kicking round the fridge. Soooo good!!

@NigellaAwesome I think you could be in them by 3 weeks time (maybe stick with the first-fortnight bootcamp rules) but you might not have much wiggle room (e.g. if you woke up one morning a bit bloated). Can you buy some hideous second hand ones to take for emergencies?!

Another cheesies fan here, although I find them quite rich so I'm never tempted to eat much moe than half a small packet. I also like the wasabi flavoured crispy seaweed thins - not as satisfying but something savoury to put in my mouth if others are eating crisps.

I also reorganised a couple of our cupboards. So now dh has his own snack cupboard with crisps, biscuits and also his cereals, breadsticks, and the sort of baking things I don't have (glace cherries, dried fruit etc). It means I don't have to stretch my hand across the temptation of his stash to reach my own. My cupboard has my snacks (cheesies, seaweed thins) but also nuts, almond flour, psyllium husk etc). Even though the 90% chocolate is also mine, I don't put it in my cupboard because it makes me think "CHOCOLATE" when that's not even what I want.

After a pp I'm now craving silverskin onions and cheese preferrably on a cocktail stick

@NigellaAwesome any charity shops have ski wear? I hate feeling contrained in tight clothes, and you want to really enjoy your skiing.

@EwanHoozami @ShagMeRiggins I've just had to google the difference between brunoise and mirepoiz

Food today:
B - boiled egg mashed with butter
L - creamy mushrooms (inspired by @byebyecarbs)
D - small amount of haggis (Burns night come early) but mostly neeps and mashed celeriac

CoffeeChocolateWine You got this !!

Also, I agree with DollyDingleberry about increasing the amount of fat. I did this and now it's part of my way of eating. I forgot that it made such a difference to my appetite. When I first increased how much oil and fat I ate, I was really surprised that my body didn't hold onto it. I continued to shed kilos. And I could look those beige carbs far more easily in the eye and be left untouched !!

Another thing for mindless eating: eat more fat with meals. If you're eating enough fat you won't be hungry. It took me AGES to get my head around this because I was so used to feeling starving all the time from the blood sugar crashes on a high carb diet. If you're eating enough fat, you don't 'feel peckish' in the same way and you just dont think about food!

This is true. I can eat a whole pizza or family sized bag of crisps, but feel a bit after a small bag of pork scratchings. I keep one in the office for emergencies!

I think I'm going to use an unknown horse as motivation. I have a trip planned [insert covid caveat] in about 18 months to the Steppes of the East. My travelling companion has a romantic idea about riding horses across the vast distances. I would crush one of those tiny Eurasian horses in my current state so to save Dobbins' back, I will swerve the carbs. I hope she's grateful. I suppose she's currently eating FLGV so there's that.

B - yogurt
L - small cheese omelette with bacon
D will be either chicken or beef curry from one of the roasting tin cookbooks. Author adds one tablespoon of sugar to both recipes, so will leave that out for mine and see if I even need to add it to the rest of the families. I’ll report back on how nice it is!

I’m not doing so well, not that I’m eating carbs, I’m finding it hard to eat anything. I ran to the loo all yesterday afternoon, missed dinner last night as I felt really sick at the thought of it, but then looked at my breakfast and lunch today as well and couldn’t force them down either. Not competitive undereating, just feeling really sick. No one else is sick, and I don’t feel ill until I look at food so I don’t think it’s a bug. And I’m joining the itchy bench as well, which was horrendous for me last time. So at the moment I’m just drinking bullion with a pinch of low salt, drinking regularly and hoping it will pass.

Poor you @ilovecherries

I find it's a vicious circle. If I don't eat I feel nauseous, then food makes me feel sick. Can you nibble on something?

I'm sorry you're suffering @ilovecherries. I wonder though - have you done a LFT? In the latest email I had from the ZOE study, Tim Spector is reporting that there are more reports of gastrointestinal symptoms.