Week 2 - Jan 22 Low Carb Bootcamp Thread

[BIWI]

As I'm doing more and more often, I'm starting the next week's thread on a Sunday evening.

This is because, since I've retired, I am no longer controlled by the tyranny of my alarm clock, and so will often sleep too late on a Monday morning for all the keen Bootcampers!

I love the first post of week 2, because for all those who are new and/or are sceptics about low carbing, this is the point at which they may realise just how effective a low carb WOE can be.

Anyway, here is the spreadsheet, and I really look forward to seeing everyone's progress

for us all

@2022sucksalready

My teenagers are asking for one of these grills . Is it the Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill Air Fryer & Dehydrator? I’m not a kitchen gadget person so I’m reluctant to get it unless it’s really useful.

@DearZoom I agree with your bra measure - it's what I notice first!

@venusandmars
«how do you cook your duck? Is it a whole bird? It sounds delicious and I love duck…»
Duck is so lovely isn’t it !
At this time of year we have a word burning stove on permanently. At night it’s turned down low and I make duck confit. It’s really easy to do and I imagine what I do would be easy to replicate using a slow cooker.
I buy the cheapest cuts of duck which is usually the legs. I place them fat down, sprinkle them with salt and leave them to simmer all night. Basically, the fat slowly melts and then the meat is cooked in the hot fat. In the morning, I turn the legs over so the meat soaks up more fat and doesn’t dry out. Once it’s all cold, It will keep like this, sealed in by the melted fat for quite a few days. Sometimes I do a lot and put some in the freezer. When it comes to meal time, the legs are slowly heated up in a frying pan. The meat just needs to be warmed through and gradually the skin and fat become a little more crispy.
When all this is done, there’s usually quite a bit of left over duck fat which can be used for a good number of things - not the least cooking mushroom and shallots in to accompany the duck ! Yum

Thanks for your cabbage recipe. And thanks to @Hopeislost and @Jezzballs2000 too. I’m looking forward to trying them out.

So sorry you’re having a hard time with your mental health @pinknsparkly. Do take care of yourself. And well done for KOKO with bootcamp in the meantime.

I agree - your shepherd's pie looks absolutely wonderful !!! Thanks a lot @prettybird

I promised that I would look for/create some low carb meals that won't break the bank.

Here's the first one, which I have put on the spreadsheet (and will add to the recipe thread:

Baked Aubergine with 'Feta'
Quantities for one person - but easily doubled

1 aubergine*
1/2 jar pesto (whatever flavour colour you like)
1/2 pack 'feta' (if you use 'Greek-style salad cheese' this will be much cheaper; it's the same recipe, just can't be called feta unless it's made using sheep's milk with no more than 30 percent goat's milk from animals that graze on specific flora and fauna in Greece.)
juice of a lime
Optional: 1/2 pack smoked bacon lardons (Oakpark brand)

• Slice the aubergine into rounds, and then fry in olive oil (doesn't need to be extra virgin) till lightly browned, seasoning well with salt and black pepper, then put to one side

• If using the bacon, fry this in the same pan you used for the aubergine, till cooked and crisping up

• Take the cheese out of its pack and pat it dry with kitchen towel, then crumble/cut into small dice

• In a small bowl, mix the pesto with the lime juice

• In a small baking dish, layer up the aubergine slices with the bacon, cheese and pesto; you want the top layer to be cheese/pesto, then bake in a hot oven for around 20-30 minutes till the cheese is nicely browned.

• Serve with a green salad or a green veg of your choice

*if your aubergine is large, you may find that this makes enough for two people/two meals

COST:

I costed this on products on the Sainsbury's website (28/1/22) as follows:

1 aubergine = 69p
1 pack 'Mary-Ann' Greek-style salad cheese = 75p
1 jar Sainsbury's pesto (green or red or roasted pepper or chilli variety) = 90p
1 lime = 19p

TOTAL = £2.53

If you add the lardons, (Oakpark Smoked Lean Bacon Lardons 130g) add £1.30

TOTAL WITH BACON = £3.83

This recipe will leave you with pesto, bacon and cheese for another recipe - or you could use two aubergines and all the cheese/bacon/pesto, to serve two people or eat over two days

Obviously the cost for that assumes that you have oil/salt/pepper in your cupboard!

I'm still struggling to get back to Monday's weight after my feast on Burns Night Nothing whatsoever to do with the five bottles of wine we shared amongst four of us I'm still 2lb up!

I'm also now in Week 3 so that's no doubt also a factor.

Thanks for the aubergine recipe @BIWI. I leuurve aubergines !!

In the cabbage recipe I talked about upthread, I forgot that I also add stock. So I've written the recipe again out properly now. Here it is:

Braised Cabbage in White wine
In a large pan with a lid on, melt some butter and gently fry @3 diced shallots.
Add a whole cabbage which has been chopped and mix together.
Add a pint of stock - or a pint of water and a stock cube, a glug of dry white wine, salt and pepper and mix again.
Add chopped smokey bacon on the top. Mix a little, ensuring that the bacon is not all stuck together, but doesn’t fall to the bottom either.
Turn down to the lowest heat and leave to cook for around an hour or more. The cabbage needs to be really tender.

Oh dear @prettybird. Burns is now in the past. We're here whilst you keep putting one foot forward again. Here are some to cheer you on your way.

@WitchWand would you mind adding that to the recipe thread, please? TIA

Will do @BIWI. I'm working now so I'll sort that out asap.

After an unprecedented 3lb loss in week 1 I've stalled on the scales and trying not to panic.

B: x2 boiled eggs
L: salad with chorizo and avocado
D: chicken with feta and vegetables. Not entirely sure of the recipe, just using stuff up.

1.5l of water down already.

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea

You haven't stalled! You will not lose weight every day.

Just keep going and - if you're getting het up about no loss on a daily basis, stop daily weighing!

Only just caught to to the thread too!!

Im on week 3 already and lost 3lb and 2lb and now find myself hitting the nirvana point of diminished appetite and weight dropping and highly motivated.

Im planning on low carbing until late may when i have a wedding to go to and im hoping that if i lose 1-2lb per week i will be at or near my goal weight by then.

Does anyone else have this pattern when starting LC? first week loose 5-7lb of water weight, second week a struggle, little to no weight loss and craving are BAD! (usuall fail at this point) but then somewhere in the 10-14day point you hit the sweet spot. suddenly feel like you have lost a stone, energy improves, appettite dissapears, craving go etc??

Ive been skipping breakfast habitually for months, currently eat a decent lunch after that then usually too full for dinner.

For anyone craving fried chicken i can recommend keto chicken tenders.

Chicken thigh fillets cut into 3 flattish mini fillets.
Dip into egg wash
dip into fine parmesan
place onto baking sheet on sillicone paper
bake for 20mins or so at 220 degrees or until a nice deep golden brown.

Fucking fantastic. i usually find that if i try a keto version the second and third visit can't live up to the first try but i've just had this for the third time today.

Ranch dressing to go with it. 50/50 mayo and sour cream, powdered garlic, fresh or dried chives and parsley, pepper.

Photo includes my red slaw, just red cabbage a tiny amount of carrot, mayo, vinegar and a blob of the ranch dressing.

Cheese string for breakfast (not really counting them as any more processed than most cheese, they have four ingredients), lamb shish with lettuce and mayo for lunch, and got duck breast with roasted aubergine and kale for dinner. Got good news about our house purchase so feeling a bit more up to cooking and not just lying on the sofa stressing.

Still struggling with enough water and looking forward to a return to coke zero. From experience it doesnt seem to hurt my weight loss at all, still dropped to 130 lbs relatively quickly while drinking my body weight in coke. Teeth on the other hand...

@Icaru OOooh - watch it ! I can see BIWI getting her big stick ready ...

Managed to put the Cabbage in Dry White Wine in the meat section of the recipes now. I hope it's in the right place. Even though it's not got lots of meat in and is mostly cabbage, it's not vegetarian.

Well done hitting the bootcamp version of "sweet point" @Luckydog7. Your in week 3, so you're ahead of us. That said, even in week 2 my appetite seems to be diminishing. Nice eh !

@BIWI, can I ask if grilled pumpkin seeds in their shells are allowed in the first two weeks of bootcamp or if we need to wait to week 3 ? I've looked on the spreadsheet and can't see anything about these ...
Thanks

It's a seed, so not allowed until week 3 @WitchWand

@Icaru - why Cheestrings though?! I'll allow that they're not massively processed, but what's wrong with a piece of 'normal' cheese?!

(My DC have always hated me because I refused to buy them, or Dairylea Dunkers or SunnyD for their packed lunches )

Reading through the posts are very encouraging. I have done Keto before and have been IF ing for more than a year. I am struggling a bit with everything looks meh!! Week three for me and it is normal I guess. Thank you for posting that recipe @Luckydog7. That is on my list now. can you please suggest a ranch dressing? I think I had one from Costco before, not sure if its keto friendly.. usually at this point I resort to eat whatever meat we have with spinach/kale and then egg for other meal.. But loving all the recipe ideas here and doing with you all make it more fun!! Also I found my weight tracker on myfitnesspal from last time I did Keto, still dreading the NO scale movement for next few weeks.. Lots more to loose this time though, so hoping it would be different than last time :(

And I am struggling with water in take.. I prepare a jug full of lime and salt mix for the day, but then all I want is something hot with the weather staying like this

@BIWI I dunno, I've always liked them, they're fun to peel and eat and not messy at work. I dont like any strong flavoured cheese unless cooked in food (e.g. cheddar, fine over pasta but not fine in a block on its own) and the other cheese I do like are a massive faff/carby, e.g. brie/camembert/mozzarella. Also the small individual portion helps with me not eating an entire ball of mozzarella.

I live on my own and eat like a 10 year old given free reign even normally, it would just be a cheese string and a bag of haribo for dinner. I can cook, but just can never find the motivation to make the snack things like egg muffins etc my mum made me when I was still living at home and doing keto.

Just got an introductory offer on Cheesies- 3 packs for £1.50 postage!

cheesies offer hope the link works...

I am struggling a bit with cheese tbh, I am eating far too much of it between meals even though I'm not necessarily hungry... there's 50 years of emotional snackage to unpick I think.

Today was my weigh in at the end of my week 3 and I have lost another couple of pounds making 7lb this bootcamp. I'm thrilled with that.

I love reading everyones meals daily.

Mid morning I had bacon and eggs fried in butter. I've just had my dinner which was mushrooms cooked in butter, cream, garlic and a mini Boursin with a piece of haddock pan fried with butter and spinach. Delish.

@MotherBuckets I am struggling with snacking. I am not hungry at all, but I had become so used to having snacks all day, that I'm still doing it. I am choosing low carb snacks but they are so unnecessary now. I will try harder next week to cut them out