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

@Whicker are you officiating at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham?

B - avocado
L - sardines and salad
D - keema curry with broccoli rice and courgetti

@ChairOfInvisibleStudies I make 20 almond cheese muffins at a time using the following recipe and they keep for ages in the fridge (although my DH does eat them as well.) Don't forget they're not suitable for the first two weeks of Bootcamp so you'll have to wait a little while to try them.

Almond cheese muffins
200g ground almonds
60g butter from the fridge
6 medium eggs, chilled
2 generous tsp baking powder
180g grated medium or mature cheddar
Fresh or dried oregano or chives
Salt, pepper, paprika/smoked paprika

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (it's the shock of cold ingredients going into a hot oven that makes the muffins rise.)
2. Mix the almond flour and butter (I use a food processor.)
3. Add the eggs, baking powder, herbs and seasoning to taste and mix.
4. Add the cheese and mix.
5. Spoon into muffin papers or a silicone muffin case (makes about 20.)
6. Put in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 180C then bake for 14 minutes.

If you use paper cases then you need to wait until they've cooled down as they stick to the paper. You can take them out of the silicone muffin case right away. I usually cut them in half, grill both sides and top them with butter.

Belated happy birthday @venusandmars , sounds like a lovely day

today open omelette with feta and spring onion , omg it was delicious. ( and an at home Pilates class ✅)
feeling ready for the day

water peeps , don’t forget !

Belated birthday wishes @venusandmars!

Feeling good this morning- am waking up from very deep sleeps, taking me a while to come around in the mornings!

On the water, about to eat my yoghurt, salmon and avocado salad with home made oily dressing for lunch and omelette for dinner. Have feta in the fridge so good shout @Mercedesbenz2022! With add mushrooms, bacon, tomatoes and mozzarella - yum!

Weather is lovely here and have an appointment to donate blood later so will walk there and back which should be an hour or so gentle exercise in the sunshine.

Off to drink more water. Happy Friday everyone- working week has gone quickly this week.

I have a non-stick mini muffin tray, so I make lots of small ones. I find they keep well, even not in the fridge, so I take them if we're going away in the camper van. I find that a mini muffin, cut in half and each half spread with butter and peanut butter keeps me going for a loooong time after the first 2 weeks of bootcamp of course It's the kind of 'snack' I might eat if I know I'm heading to a very carby event, or if there is a sandwich lunch at work.

Thank you @catwithflowers and @StuntNun for the cheese almond muffin recipes.
I started BC a week early so next week when I am in centerparcs will be my week 3. Debating whether to make some of these to bring with me or whether to try a 3rd week of strict BC while everyone else is on their week 2.

I weigh on a Friday traditionally and 2 ibs off since Monday
Although I did finish my period and usually get a whoosh
So in 7 weeks I have lost 9 ibs which I'm really happy with as only have really a stone to lose - imagine it will get harder now for the last few
Jeans are getting baggy and muffin top in suit trousers getting smaller so massive non scale victory as well

I had a paddle boarding lesson this morning. Terrifying but sort of exhilarating as well. I hadn’t eaten before I went as when I’m nervous I can be prone to a little - ahem - intestinal hurry. (Aside: is it normal on bootcamp to find yourself discussing bowl habits with complete strangers?). Anyway, the water sports school has a small cafe attached so the class went and had a full cooked breakfast afterwards, which was lovely. I swapped my sausage for an extra egg as I wasn’t sure if it’s provenance, and the baked beans for extra mushrooms. I donated my hash browns and toast to the group 😁

its provenance, not it’s. I swear that was autocorrect!

on the downside I’m not sleeping that well, and I seem to have developed an awful itch. Don’t think I’ve eaten anything unusual, or had contact with anything new. It was there before I put my wet suit on so it’s not that.

@ChimneyPot if it were me, I'd stick with strict bootcamp for a third week. Two reasons: - sometimes in week 3 and 4 weight loss can stall (even though you might still be losing inches and fat), and sticking to strict bc might help you over that hump; - and for my psychology if I was surrounded by lots of choice and having the 'on-holiday' feeling, PLUS a sense of being released from strict bootcamp, then I think I'd be tempted to have lots of berries, and lots of nuts, and possibly the odd indiscretion. For me it's easier just to say no.

Belated happy birthday to @venusandmars

I made a lovely supper last night, inspired by a bit of a Simply Raymond Blanc programme I watched at the weekend. Couldn't find the recipe so made/adapted it from memory:

Courgette salad: ribbons of raw courgette (cut with a cheese slice), some olive oil, sea salt, a wee bit of white wine vinegar and lemon juice, a finely chopped/crushed garlic clove, a lot of sliced basil and left to marinade for at least 15 minutes (about an hour or so in my case). Just before serving added a few handfuls of "hot" Italian salad (ie with plenty of rocket), tossed it and then crumbled some feta over it.

Chicken Paillard: butterflied skinless chicken breasts, rubbed with olive oil and then a mix of spices (I used cumin, coriander, turmeric and a tiny bit of hot cayenne), before griddling them.

@WhoAteTheChips the rash could be a side effect of low carbing (it's sometimes called keto itch). This, together with the body odour you've mentioned, suggests to me that your carbs might be a bit too low.

Just had a delicious lunch, partly inspired by @prettybird - courgette ribbons and red gem lettuce dressed with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, wine vinegar and salt, with olives, ricotta-stuffed peppers and cucumber. If I wasn't low carbing I'd have probably just had a cheese sandwich. Instead, my salad was much more delicious and nutritious and instead of feeling deprived I feel great about it!

Glad to be of help @ChairOfInvisibleStudies

I've lost 4.5lb already this week. Dh has lost over 8lb since he started last week (or so) ago, which is great. He's now over a stone and a half lighter than me - but I'm not telling him what I'm currently weighing He's losing weight despite eating a daily banana and a nectarine and the occasional beer, plus sharing the weekly Lidl de luxe pizza and a pastry with my dad for lunch (I have an omelette )

My dh is just the same @prettybird, annoying isn’t it?!

is there any science around the apparently different tolerance levels I wonder

Hm, I’m eating LOTS of veggies so I’m not deliberately driving them very low. Do you think I need to do anything about it (apart from avoid people!)? I’m guessing we aren’t talking toast and bananas here. Will I do any damage by having low carbs?

@WhoAteTheChips you won't do any damage to your body by being low carb, but maybe you need a little more as your body adjusts. Have you done bootcamp before? Were you eating lots of carb and sugar before you started?

Maybe try half a slice of toast and see if the itch goes away. That will only be about 10g carb. This is a low carb approach, not no-carb, so don't get over worried if in the early days you have to make small adjustments to what you are eating. We are all in this for the long term, and you will get there.

It's only taken me 36 hours but I've finally caught up with all the posts!

Happy belated birthday @venusandmars

Thanks for the breakfast advice @BIWI . I didn't have time for breakfast this morning and was with patients all morning so didn't eat anything until 1.30 when I had 5 mins to inhale my salad! And I was hungry by then but not ravenous so definitely an improvement. After being a wee bit jealous of everyone saying they were having great nights sleep, I broke out my fluffy bedsocks in case it was cold feet waking me up and also finally had a decent nights sleep! I've been non stop today and working in areas where we can't have any drinks. So I've only drunk 750ml so far today and am definitely feeling it! It's mad to think that not so long ago, 750ml in a day would be a good effort for me!!

@WhoAteTheChips as venusandmars says, it's just a case - in these early days - of tweaking things as well as letting your body adjust to a new way of eating.

That said, when you say you're eating lots of veggies - are you including only very low carb ones?

I definitely wouldn't suggest a banana <insert shocked face here> but if the rash persists, then I'd agree that a slice of wholemeal toast might be worth including in your diet for a couple of days.

There's a piece here from the Diet Doctor about keto rash and how to deal with it.

@pinknsparkly do you find if you only have a litre now your thirsty, I do. It's so weird when it used to be a massive achievement to drink that.

Today was the first day when I didn't really fancy eating and wasn't especially hungry.

B- greek yogurt and peanut butter
L- leftovers from yesterday's dinner, low carb vegan burger, cauli mash, brocol
D - beef tomato, half an avocado, feta, olive oil
S- a few pistachios

BIWI and venusandmars thanks for advice. I don’t really have a sweet tooth, but I was consuming (clearly to excess!!) the traditional healthy eating diet. So low-ish fat, lots of grains and legumes, lots of fruit etc etc. pasta/rice/cereals/potatoes/bread. I’m sticking solely to the green veg list, but I’m eating them at every meal - with added EVOO. So I’ve probably tripled my veg consumption this week. I’m not a huge red meat fan, but I’ve also eaten lots of eggs, fish, seafood and poultry and some cheese. Am I getting it wrong?

Shit. Yes, exactly this. I thought it was an allergy.

The call of coke zero was so real this afternoon...a warm day in the office and all around my open plan room was the "pshht" sound of fizzy drinks being opened 😮I was SOOO tempted but had the wise words of @BIWI ringing in my head saying "you're only cheating yourself", and remained strong 💪

Food has been good today, did have a mid morning snack of some Greek yoghurt, but partly a bordem snack rather than purely driven by hunger - must do better 😳 3.5l water plus a coffee with a dash of milk, but no sweetener which is unheard of for me!