July '22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Welcome everybody!

Here, thinks to @FinallyHere, is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

This Bootcamp will last for eight weeks, with (as ever) the first two weeks being the most strict.

I'll post again tomorrow, but just wanted to get things underway for now

....oh and seasoning of course They need a surprising amount of salt!

It can might just be my prejudice, I tend increasingly to see 'beige carbs' to be padding used to stretch food further. Great when you have lots of hungry mouths to feed, much less helpful at my stage in life when I'm trying to shed rather than grow.

Likewise, cheaper food are more likely to include padding.

Sigh.

I agree with you about cheap beige "padding" @FinallyHere

The good thing about this WoE is that even though you can't stretch meals with pasta/rice/bread, you also reduce costs by not snacking and eating when you're not actually hungry.

Later on in the Boot Camp, I'll do an extended fast, which I find I can do very easily once I'm ketogenically adapted. That's very cheap

Question for any BCers in Ireland.

Can we get low carb bread here anywhere?
Also 10% fat Greek yoghurt I can only find Greek Style.

@BIWI - Thank you - I do know that weight fluctuates naturally - and going to try to stop weighing until next Monday ( 1st week in)

Thank you for comment about giving up smoking at the same time. Not smoking ( apart from one very small blip -11 days ) Bootcamp is since Monday. To be honest BIWI I did think that bootcamp might work with the stopping smoking as 2 weeks no alcohol might stop that glass of wine and a cigarette feeling. As it turns out for nearly 4 days I can give up both. But early days on the stopping smoking and this ( the stopping smoking ) for me is my health priority opposed weight just at the moment ) So I am going to try my best with both & we'll see how we go. It may be one has to give for a while but I hope not.
B - 2 scrambled eggs in butter
L - Chicken mayonnaise salad ( ff mayonnaise - Hellmans FF) - did have 3 tiny vine tomatoes - other than that green salad & avocado ( I think I am keeping our local Tesco in avocados at the moment )
D - TBD

One thing I have found if I feel is bit hungry - celery - - don't tell me that is no good. I love it - crunching on celery I love and I thought I might pack the concave bit with goat's cheese tomorrow for lunch ( I do realise celery is one of those things some people cannot abide - & indeed for technical reasons )

Thank you all & Thank you @BIWI

@BIWI thanks for the tip on low carb bread! I tried cloud bread once and considered it a waste of time, food, money and tastebuds. Bleugh. At this time of year I can do without bread as I love a good salad, but in the colder months I like soup for lunch but find it a bit blah on its own - a LC roll may well solve that.

Still no Diet Coke!

B- scrambled eggs, latte, 2 raw carrots
L- whipped feta with crudités, green salad, olives and sun dried tomatoes, some cold meats
D- not sure. Maybe some tuna mayo with cucumber and avocado

Is there any alternative to crisps!?! I miss crisps

Try Golden Crunch - a puffed pork cracking - if you're looking for a bit of crunch . I buy the bags in Sainsbury's, but they're always in weird places - on hanging strips down (usually) the crisps aisle

Or you can make cheese "crisps" - piles of Parmesan cooked for a while on parchment/silicon and left to cool. You can also do it by microwaving quartered babybels, each quarter in a silicon muffin mould (if you have one )

@Bunce1 I love kale crisps - toss sliced kale with oil and salt, spread on a baking tray and bake at 180ish. Keep a close eye on it as it goes from raw to black quite quickly! I know some people add other seasonings e.g. chilli powder but I prefer just salt.

Kale chips! Yes. Ok. We are back in business. Thank you both.

I do not possess a silicone thingy as I can’t bake for shit but I might have a go at the Parmesan crisps things.

thank you!

I think I'm one of the weirdos, @Bunce1, as I love celery! I love it raw, and I also love it cooked - braised in beef stock it's fantastic.

It makes a fab low carb snack - you can fill the groove with cream cheese or pâté as well.

Celery dipped in peanut butter has been a go-to for me in the past once on bootcamp lite. I shall try to remember that once the first two weeks are up 😊

@ChairOfInvisibleStudies once we're into Bootcamp Light there's a cheese almond muffin recipe that goes very well with soup.

I adore celery in all forms.

I saw something on YouTube yesterday which was intriguing: omelette parcels. Dip a fish slice in oil, dab it gently on kitchen towel, then dip it in egg mixture. Dip the whole thing in hot oil, turning occasionally, then slide it off the fish slice. It makes an egg pocket that you can stuff with filling, like a pitta bread.

Dh is away for a couple of days, which is good in a way as I can eat what I want without having to take his tastes into account.

B: fasting
L: ham, baby cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pepper strips, rollitos, sour cream and chive dip
D: salmon, prawns, asparagus, boiled egg, avocado, mayo.

Busy day so food was a little more processed than I'd like. Won't make a habit of the burger, but it was v low carb.

B- 3 egg omelette with mushrooms and cheese
L - salad with tofu, cucumber, tomato, red pepper, olives, coleslaw, mayo
D - vegan burger, cheesy cauliflower mash, buttery brocolli, homemade tomato sauce with loads of allowed veg and cream cheese in it.
S - greek yogurt with peanut butter

@BIWI just to respond to your earlier comment about my salads, yes, they always have mayo or olive oil, and any veg is always buttered, I just don't always write it down! Thanks for all the ongoing support!

Where can I find that recipe? It sounds fab.

@BIWI - not sure if that was me but I love celery and filling the groove with goats cheese or something else is fabulous. Also my DH and Ds cannot abide the stuff so I know if I buy it and put it in the fridge it will always be there.

Bless Dh - I asked him what he wanted for dinner ( DS is out late ) and he said Spaghetti Carbonara - Ha ha - said I - no chance . He has some M&S Quiche & I have some chicken and salad

There is

try those ones, and very easy to make

if you want skip oven, you can use frying pan instead

youtube.com/watch?v=tThQvbykDrc

@StuntNun sounds amazing!

@Bunce1 congrats on the no diet coke...I've also managed to avoid it so far. Back in the office tomorrow though and the mid-afternoon "I'm slightly bored and tired" trip to the vending machine will be a big challenge to my resolve.

@BIWI thanks for the high5 zero tip, has stopped my horrendous headache in its tracks.
I fear I have bought the wrong ones though as they have sweetener in them 🤔will leave them unless I get a headache again. Thanks for the info about the 'smell' - felt like I was a bit pongy this afternoon.

@FrenchBoule hope all is OK and well done for sticking with BC despite being manic

@prettybird and @Rshard for the mini goals tip, will be thinking and setting myself some over the weekend.

Today was another good day, only had one small chunk of cheese as a snack
B - greek yoghurt (we have greek style at the mo so need to hunt down some better stuff)

L - a delicious tuna and feta salad with avacado, cumcumber, leaves and mayo

D - ginger and lemongrass beef with veggies stor fried in olive oil. Noodles for the carb eaters. I was planning courgetti instead but didn't
have time in the end, but the stir fry was filling enough.

3.5l of water 💧

Did our meal plan and online shop for next week, and another week of dinners relatively easily planned, especially as I've not told DH I'm low curbing, just "cutting out rubbish" 😳

Woke up feeling much slimmer so did a sneaky weigh abd I am now at 50 packs of butter (25lbs) less than I weighed at Easter. I feel sooooo much better! And my clothes are getting looser abd looser. Why didn't I try this WOE years ago, it is amazing. I just wasn't aware of it.

Today
B/L: had my staple brunch of Aldi 10%Greek yoghurt with 1tbsp frozen fruit, pinch of porridge oats and a generous spoon of chia seeds.

D:Avocado starter, tuna steak, roast cauli and veg.

Just baked myself some cheesey 1g carb crackers (they make great snacks) and, because I am on hols next week, some low carb (3g) coconut biscuits to take with me so I can feel I am having a treat :) (both from Fast 800). I have quality tested one of each.....

My Hi 5 tabs arrived, they are actually quite nice! I am hoping they will help with the menopausal leg cramps.

Onwards and downwards.

@Chocasaurus wow! That’s a lot of water. I have done 2lt so far. Going to go and have some more now!

DC was my little 3pm ish treat too! Gah! But I’ve taken all the cans out of the fridge and can’t drink warm coke!

Made my kale chips- very nice too but I over salted, so tomorrow will perfect. Gonna have them with whipped feta. Can I have baba ganoushe?