Jan 2023 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 1!

[BIWI]

Welcome everyone! We have over 160 people signed up this time, so things are going to move quickly.

Here's the link to The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness which has been carefully and lovingly curated by the very lovely @FinallyHere

There are a few bits of admin that I need to post before we get going. The first of which is the usual disclaimer:

I am not a medic, a scientist, a dietician or a nutritionist. Everything that I post here is based on my reading and my own experiences of low carbing gained over the last 20 years. You follow the guidance here at your own risk - although I very much hope that there are no risks!

Very importantly, though, if you are on any kind of long-term medication, please talk to your GP/nurse about low carbing. This is especially important if you're on drugs for hypertension, cholesterol and/or diabetes, as a low carb diet should have a positive impact on all of those conditions, which would mean that your dosage may need to be decreased, if not removed altogether.

The second is about etiquette:

Please, please, please read all the posts on the thread before you make your own post. These threads work so much better when we're all here interacting with each other, as that means we can offer help and support when it's needed. Don't just jump on the thread to plop down your meals for the day, your weight that day and then just fuck off. That doesn't help anyone.

More than anything else, it's incredibly irritating when someone posts a question which has already been answered early in the thread. I, and lots of other Bootcampers, spend a considerable amount of time responding to people's questions and concerns, and it's pretty insulting when it's obvious that these haven't been read.

(Oh, and it's very obvious if you haven't read the thread, so take that as a warning )

I fry my cauli rice from raw @BergamotMouse . In oil or butter, with a good bit of salt and pepper and a sprinkle of garlic and onion powder/granules.

@BergamotMouse I don't use water in it at all - I just fry it.

Tonight I'm making cauliflower egg-fried 'rice' and will make it like this:

• chop a couple of shallots and sauté them gently in plenty of coconut oil, with seasoning, till they soft
• turn the heat up, and add in the cauliflower, and then stir-fry for around 5 minutes till cooked through and starting to brown a little (you don't want it to brown very much, so stop cooking and/or turn down the heat when that happens)

I will also be adding some thin egg 'pancakes/omelettes', which is one egg per person, lightly beaten, and seasoned, and then each fried in oil in a side frying pan to make a thin omelette. Let them cool and then stack them, and roll them up, and slice thinly. Add those to the cooked cauliflower rice.

I also add some light soy sauce too.

Great minds @prettybird

Also noticed your "splash of water" re microwaving. I used to add a splash of water to veg when microwaving but now that I use slabs of butter , I never do as the butter adds enough moisture for the steaming process to start (which is essentially how veg cook in a microwave) and the veg themselves release water as they cook.

Went for 4 mile run yesterday and felt fine after it. Had chicken salad with spinach and a litre of water.
Hungry this morning and ate my Greek yoghurt for breakfast, chicken and feta cheese salad with cucumber and tomatoes for lunch and am going to make us sausages for dinner with salad (rice for the rest of the family - extra salad for me). Strawberries and cream for after.
The good thing about this WOE is I don't feel deprived of good food.
Have dropped a kg and am 65kg now.

Thanks both, I'll give it a fry tonight!

Prawns with tomato and moserella salad for dinner. Off to work in a bit and desperately hoping that someone has eaten all the crap that was sat in the office last time I was in.
Running is going well, did 6.8km yesterday although I'm still walking a lot.
I have a night away on 18th Feb for my 20th anniversary and I would like to shift some before then as I intend to wear a very slinky dress.
For Christmas dh bought me a weird little Japanese figure that only has one eye, you are supposed to set a goal and when you reach it draw on the other eye. I have decided the goal will be to get a visible 6 pack, I don't know if that's even doable at 48 but I would very much like one.

I have also been on the receiving end of @BIWIs big stick before and am always grateful. This woe is so unforgiving but I feel so much better when I stick to it. If you deviate you don't get all the advantages like lack of hunger.

@Gingerwarthog I hope the strawberries are for the family and not for you?

I normally fry cauliflower rice and I try to pimp up a bit with spices too.

@BIWI
Just the cream for me!

For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me to put butter in when microwaving veggies! I shall start immediately…

On the 'adding water' topic, the key to me liking cruciferous vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, kale, all the cabbages) was keeping them away from water! They all taste so much nicer roasted, sautéed or stir-fried with oil or butter.

@TheMagicSword - butter is essential for the infamous shoogled sprouts (and all other shoogled microwaved veg)

Definitely don't need any water

Give it a go - it will be a revelation.

Laughing at everyone basically weighing in with "OMG don't microwave the cauli rice FRY IT IN BUTTER". I have to go out of my way to stock up on frozen cauli rice at Iceland but it's really convenient!

B: scrambled eggs
L: leftover roast cauli and other veg from last night
Ate 3 rollitos as a snack
D: salmon roasted with a bit of garlic and generic Philly, with lots of cavolo nero and shoohked broccoli and sprouts.

B - coffee and cream
L - chicken, chorizo and avocado salad
S - coffee and cream
D - chicken, chorizo, broccoli, green beans, butter and cheese

Haven’t been in a cooking mood today so basically had the same thing twice as it was already cooked…just with different veg.

I can’t remember who was talking about Lidl authentic Greek yoghurt. I went to get some but it’s higher carbs than Tesco finest Greek yoghurt so I think I’ll stick to the Tesco one.

Last night I made carbonara using a pack of pancetta left over from Christmas and sliced Savoy cabbage (microwaved in butter of course but only for 2 minutes). My only complaint was that I didn't make enough of it (which was also dh and ds' complaint, who had the standard spaghetti carbonara).

Tonight I'm making sticky roasted lemon chicken thighs: dh and ds will have rice and peas with it, while I'll have a FLGV (probably the last of a white cabbage - microwaved in butter of course ). Might have some (microwaved ) baby sweetcorn too

Had my taco bowl for dinner, the shop didnt have any sour cream which I was really disappointed about so when it was all plated up I decided to have a dollop of 10% yogurt with it instead, and I honestly didnt notice the difference! Definitely doing that from now on.

Went for an hour long walk this morning too and feeling really good now. I've been sleeping so much better these past couple of nights too. Long may that continue!

@CarbyLite - that's interesting. Out of curiosity (as I won't be making a special trip to Tesco ), what are the carbs on the Tesco Finest Greek yoghurt?

@Hopeislost, and all other waterless cruciferous veg cookers, i don’t know if you have seen this recipe before, but it really is the best cabbage dish I’ve ever cooked (and the only one ever my DP regularly requests). I cook the cabbage longer than it states, really get it (and often the pan) browned. I also often add in some caraway seeds as it fries.

food52.com/recipes/7533-suspiciously-delicious-cabbage

Again I had kale with Chinese 5 spice , after I’d eaten it I saw that the top ingredient in it is SUGAR , awaiting the Big Stick

I will always check ‘ mixes ‘ in future

silly mistake

on plus side 3.5 lb down this morning !

hope everyone is doing ok

No, I ate it directly from the carton with a spoon #classy

I think off the top of my head the Tesco one is 3.4g carbs per 100 (it’s definitely under 4g) and the Lidl one was just over 5g per 100.

B- fasting (as normal)
L- 2 boiled eggs with butter, small double-creamy coffee (using up the last of the cream)
D- beef casserole, veritable mountain of buttery cabbage, small bit of carrot, smaller-still bit of parsnip.
Pudding- table spoonful of clotted cream and sprinkle of cinnamon.

Didn't enjoy the parsnip and wish I hadn't bothered.

Excited about tomorrow afternoon because I've decided to try buttery coffee. I think the fancy name is bulletproof coffee but I'm going to try shaking up a shot of espresso with some butter in a jam jar and see what happens. I've enjoyed the double cream in coffee this week but want to not get carried away with the frequency of double cream.

Sticky lemon chicken sounds wonderful @prettybird, what makes it sticky?

We're weaning alongside bootcamp so tonight DS and I are COVERED in avocado

<not envy or nausea, just guacamole

@CarbyLite - so quite a difference - although the Lidl Greek yoghurt is only 4.5g (I'd checked yesterday ) - but not enough for me to make a special trip

@Baystard - nothing really: you just drizzle the chicken thighs with olive oil, squeeze a lemon or two over them and tuck the lemon halves in amongst them, along with loads of unpeeled garlic gloves (I semi-crush them) and salt and pepper. Roast them (uncovered for 40 minutes). In theory, you add shredded basil half way through and then finish off by taking the chicken out and scraping down and simmering the juices with a glass of white wine on the hob, bug i usually don't bother (and just pour the juices straight over the rice/veg/chicken, bug I might bubble them down a bit.

Because the thighs are "skin on", they go crunchy and a bit sticky from the combination of lemon juice and olive oil.