Week 1 - May 22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Just getting the opening of the thread started, as there's a lot I want to post before we get into tomorrow!

Firstly, here's the all-important disclaimer:

I'm not a medic. I'm not a scientist, nutritionist or dietician. Everything that I write here is based on the reading I've done over the last 15 or so years. You sign up and take part in Bootcamp at your own risk - although I fervently hope there are no risks!

Please note, if you're taking any long-term medication, especially for hypertension or diabetes or high cholesterol, you should consult your GP; low carbing (for most people) will bring high blood pressure and cholesterol levels down, and will help regulate your blood sugar levels - so the dosage of your medication may need to be reviewed, if not reduced
............................................................................................................

A note about weighing

Each Monday I'll re-post the spreadsheet for you to add your weight. Weight is the most conventional way that we monitor progress, but it isn't the only way, and actually isn't always the most accurate way. It's not unknown for people to see no change on the scales, yet to know that they've lost weight as their clothes are fitting better.

You don't have to weigh (and nor do you need to be on the spreadsheet), but it is always helpful to know how you're progressing, as this helps to keep you focused. There are two other important ways to do this:

1 - take your measurements. Hips, waist and bust, as well as upper thigh and upper arms.

2 - find an article of clothing that currently just a little too tight - a pair of jeans, or a blouse - and try them on each week. This is the most tangible way to see how things are working for you.

You can do these as well as weighing of course!

............................................................................................................

Also, before we really get going, a plea for good thread etiquette!

The threads will move very quickly (especially in the first couple of weeks). But please, please, please read everything that's been posted. Use the bookmark facility so that you don't lose your place. Don't just jump on the thread to post your own stuff without bothering to read what others have posted

It is very wearing when we have to keep answering the same questions, because posters haven't bothered to read what's gone before!

My diet was very carby - best friends!

I'm 5'8" so I don't have a huge amount to lose. Probably 1 stone or so.

It sounds like you're making great progress.

Just been to shop in a new Lidl which has opened this week near me. It took me ages because of having to look at every label and I'm sure I was a nuisance to all the other shoppers!

But I've come away with some new items I've not tried before / bought in my usual shop. Some full fat yogurt that's lower carb than my regular, some Serrano ham, interesting cheese, chicken slices...I resisted the berries this time because of BC and I don't want Biwi waving her big stick at me, but they were so much cheaper!

Can I ask about lactose-free milk? I see someone mentioned it in their post above too. I've been buying it for dh for years because he's lactose intolerant, but I always bought semi-skimmed ordinary milk for me. But the lactose-free has half the carbs so I've started using it in my tea and coffee. Is it low enough for that to be a long term thing? I can drink cream in coffee sometimes but I can't stand black tea so I need a splash of something in it!

Im not too sure about lactose free, how many carbs per 100ml?

I've not posted due to being busy with work but I can honestly say I have got my groove back! I have not been tempted by sweets/crisps, bread etc even when Dairy Caramel Buttons were placed on my desk yesterday

Had a slight headache this week but have just upped my salt and magnesium intake.

I've had resistant thrush in my mouth that I am currently on my 4th treatment for in as many weeks and has not shifted at all. But can definitely see a difference with not eating sugar/ carbs

Just need to keep working on the water intake.

@ZiggZagg lactose free milk seems to be about 2.5g of carbs per 100ml depending on brand, so about half that of ordinary milk.

I suspect it will still be too carby. Sainsbury's gives their semi-skimmed lactose-free milk as 3.3g carbs per 100ml - and it would be very easy to use that much or more in a day.

Remember - the majority of your carbs should be coming from veg/salad.

@Lucienandjean I use lacto free milk. I've checked the amounts of them all pretty much and the Arla semi skimmed is the lowest I've found at 2.6/100. They all vary massively. I can't do cream in my coffee or have it black. I used to drink almond milk which is better carb wise but it's like water.

I'm not one to drink endless cups of tea so I'll work it into my allowance but for this to work it also has to be sustainable. If I'm giving up wine and pizza I'm not giving up my cup of coffee with a little milk in the morning.

Afternoon all, food today:
B: couple of rollitos
L: prawn and chorizo salad with olives and oily dressing
D: aubergine gratin with spinach and broccoli

Well done @ZiggZagg for resisting the caramel buttons!

B eggs with mushrooms and cheese
l salmon
d shepherds pie with cauli mash

black coffee, water, cocoa made with pure cocoa, salt and cream.

Can I ask for some dinner inspo please.............I've got loads of veg which could be roasted (cauliflower, celeriac, peppers, broccoli, leeks etc) and some skinless boneless chicken thighs which need using up. I'm thinking maybe a traybake with chorizo and sundried tomatoes but it's not really floating my boat and I don't want a massive amount of cooking to do tbh 🙂

I use soya milk, (lidl version have hardly any carn in there) coffee looks milky and I use milk frother sometimes, surprisingly it produce nice froth.

Coconut milk is also quite good (those in tins).

Not much veg going on there! And how much water?

I'd just chuck all that in a roasting tin with lots of olive oil and roast for around 40 minutes. Easy!

Thanks to @BIWI @Supersee and @teraculum29 for the advice re milk. I've tried almond milk and coconut milk and couldn't deal with those in tea, sorry, but I've not tried soya milk so that'll be my next experiment!

Otherwise I'll just have to stick to cream in coffee and ration myself to one or two teas per day with lactose-free (in the longer term - I can deal with no tea for a couple of weeks at least).

@teraculum29 I haven't tried Soya milk in years so I'll give that another bash!

B Mushrooms in garlic butter with scrambled tofu and bacon pieces
L Salmon with stir fried courgette and kimchi
D will be mincs tacos in lettuce wraps with cheese and sour cream
S 2X coffee with cream

2.5L Water so far

Struggling a bit after breakfast today - perhaps I ate too much. Feel sluggish and craving something sweet so I went for walk and bought hi5 tabs.

Checking in for Thursday!

Loving all the food ideas and have added a few to my notes for meal planning!

I use a lot of celeriac and swede in place of potatoes and was a bit worried it might be too high carb for BC - it's taken me a long time to convert the family to celeriac and I'd hate to stop using it now!

Today's food:

B: Half an avocado, boiled egg, coffee
L: Lettuce, peppers, beetroot, cheese with egg mayonnaise
D: Chicken and mushroom 'pie' with a mashed swede topping, probably with broccoli and cauliflower sautéed in butter.

Checking in and really hungry now 😋

I've got cauliflower, tomatoes, feta and I'm going to bung it onto the oven and serve with sausages. I have a big lump of gruyer in the boot of the car though and it's all I can do not to pull over and get it (I know it will pass though).

@Lucienandjean I tried all kinds of non-dairy milk for having in tea and for me, only oat milk is OK. The rest are either too strongly flavoured (coconut, soy), add nothing to the tea (almond, macadamia etc) or are just disgusting (rice).

I'm off to bed now but a good day I think, am finding it hard to feel full after lunch though but I think that's just getting used to it. Today I had:

B: boiled egg with kale, soured yoghurt and two tiiiiny carrots for crunch.
D: mixed salad with eight types of veg, boiled egg and cheese, and a French dressing which I think is just oil and water.
T: scrambled tofu, cabbage in cream, broccolini cooked in butter, spinach, and sauerkraut just because it needs using up!
S: tempeh (first time, not wasting my money on that again!) And chinese cabbage.
4l of water.

Three forms of cabbage today; hope I'm not too gassy!

B - hard boiled eggs with loads of seasoning and butter
L - salad with avocado, smoked salmon, capers and olive oil
D - www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto-italian-cabbage-stir-fry a portion of this that I batch cooked this week. Made it a few times, very tasty and with the pre chopped bags of leek and cabbage from Tesco very low effort in terms of prep
S - few spoons of Greek yogurt and some cheddar
2.5l of water so far, hot yoga tonight so will consume a lot more!

Rayna37 there's a fab ratatouille recipe in the green roasting tin

B - Greek yoghurt (bit boring, didn't really enjoy it, but filled a gap)
L - spinach omelette with smoked mackerel fillet
D - BC moussaka with tenderstem and courgettes

All the water. Today is a good day!

A late joiner-inner here, if that's ok?

B Greek yogurt with cinnamon

L Turkey bacon rashers with eggs scrambled with spinach, spring onion and a dollop of soft Manchego cheese

D Homemade burger with fried cabbage and bacon

Oven is on, dinner is in. Inspired by you fabulous bootcampers I have merged a few ideas and thrown some cauliflower, red onion (which i remembered after i took pic), green pepper, tomato and garlic into a roasting dish, crumbled in half a pack of feta and doused in olive oil (and salt). Flung a few 95% sausages on for good measure (also after photographing).

Now I just need to wait! I'm not very good at waiting though so grazing on gruyer.

You're very welcome @SageCardy!

Just to point out though, that you've had processed meats twice today - it's a good idea to keep that to a minimum if you can.