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 )

Morning all. Very windy outside, but less so under my duvet, thanks to the WOE!

Have been failing badly at water all week - I really need to find a way to get on top of that. Food planned for today:
B FFGY
L Streaky bacon and oily salad
D Pork stroganoff with something to be decided.

Good luck to all those who are weighing tomorrow.

Morning everyone, looking forward to WI tomorrow as curious to see how I've done. I started on Jan 3 and didn't weigh until the start of BC so not expecting the huge whoosh but still hoping I've done enough for a decent loss this week.

Got a busy day of sorting my office which has been used as a dumping ground while we decorated DS' bedroom. We stared in November so it's been a complete mess for far too long now so looking forward to getting straight. Should be enough to keep me out of the fridge anyway.

B: will have some Greek yog and cream
L: smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, spinach and mushrooms in butter
D: beef stroganoff with celeriac mash and broccoli

Just waiting for my Sainsbury's shop to come then I'll head out for a walk with the dog and also want to fit in a run later too.

Good morning! Saw these ITSU Seaweed Thins yesterday @BIWI, can we have them?

@LadyBiker Well, they're fine on the carb front. BUT - they're sweet! And look at the ingredients list.

Remember we're trying to avoid sweet things, so that we reduce the cravings we have for sugary stuff.

You'd be better off with these plain ones instead

... obviously if you've already bought them, go ahead! But try and avoid anything that lists sugar in its ingredients list as far as possible.

(Bearing in mind that the weirdest things can have sugar in them - like one brand of Chinese Five Spice I had in my cupboard!)

@nugg I forgot the lemon juice once and it wasn't very nice, far too rich to have in any quantity. However adding the lemon juice does something wonderful to it and transforms it into a beautiful sauce.

No-one ever believes me about the addition of lemon juice!

But it's true that it does make it much more piquant, and less 'claggy', for want of a better word.

Thanks @Baystard - will try again later! And @BIWI I'm so annoyed as otherwise it really was lovely! Moved the lemon to put some in my water 😆 if it's not in front of me it's not on my radar 🤦🏼‍♀️

Thanks @BIWI, will get the plain ones, they sound delicious!

Yesterdays food.
Brunch: poached egg, bacon & sausage
Snack: avocado prawn cocktail
Dinner: steak roasted swede & salad. FF Greek yoghurt for dessert.
Lots of water. Felt weirdly anxious/hormonal last night so had very unsettled stomach. Started taking some vitamin supplements so hoping that with this WOE will help.

We'll done to people starting to notice the scales shifting or clothes starting to fit better/do you! My dog walking trousers are still tight but less so than just after Christmas.

Busy day with different activities going on so trying to think of replacement roast dinner to suit all......

*well done not we'll done.

The cheese sauce with lemon has been a game changer for cauliflower cheese in this house 😋

I picked up by waitrose deli cheese coleslaw by accident as in meant to get the classic but it's delicious & 3.1 per 1/4 pack @ 300g pack. I'm thinking it's borderline acceptable ??? 🤞

Cooked up a storm here this morning, to avoid studying for an exam tomorrow morning (anything but study atm, ffs!) Lamb shoulder in the slow cooker, steamed the broccoli and cauliflower to go with cheese sauce later, made a vegetable soup, cooked swede and carrot ready for mash, and chopped up my celeriac to also mash later

Had a big breakfast and also realised we managed to not order about 1/3 of the veg and salad we normally get from the supermarket. Dh and I are finding online ordering weirdly difficult atm, as we just can't seem to organise ourselves properly, even with lists!

Morning all.

I hope you are both feeling a little better this morning @Greatly and @ThistlyPerf .

Wow, you’ve been busy @LittleMy77 , my coffee has barely kicked in this morning 😳 just couldn’t get to sleep last night, so I’m all behind.

Looking forward to seeing what the scales show me tomorrow, I definitely feel far less bloated, especially around my “top” tummy.

We have chicken curry for dinner tonight, but I’ve not decided yet what’s for lunch. I was meant to be away this weekend, but plans changed, so I feel slightly disorganised.

Hi - thanks @UnfinishedBusiness and @BIWI

I still feel awful tbh. Achey and depressed! Dragging myself around doing stuff. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Have had a coffee with cream so far. I'll stay on plan today.

Morning everyone!
just about to go out to do the weekly shop and stock up on everything for the week.

I need to up my fat intake. I currently daily have 2-3 slices of Mozzarella cheese, about 250g of 10% Greek yoghurt and cook a few things in butter, like my eggs ( anything I’m sharing with DH I can’t cook in butter since he’s perfectly brainwashed).
Any more ideas on how to up my fat intake? I have 1 cup of coffee a day with full cream gold top milk, but I’m thinking of getting double cream today.
does that sound like enough fat?

another thing I’m having issues with (TMI btw) is an upset stomach. Nearly every afternoon I have to run to the toilet and my stomach is very upset. Then I feel bloated for the rest of the day, and feel like I have to go again but have constipation instead. Hope that makes sense. I’m not sure, maybe having more fat would help with this too?

Get well soon @Greatly 🌺

Sorry to hear about your digestive issues @BountyMultipack - hopefully that's just a temporary thing while your body gets used to a different WOE.

Re the fat - first, you'd be better off having cheddar instead of mozzarella as it's twice the fat content

If you're cooking for your DH, ignore him, and use butter! If he doesn't like it he can cook his own, would always be my standpoint

Cream in your coffee is always better than milk, but you'd need more than one coffee to really have a significant intake of fat.

So ...

• choose fatty cuts of meat or fattier fish - so chicken thighs, with the skin on, rather than skinless chicken breasts.
• choose fattier fish, e.g. mackerel or salmon, rather than lean white fish
• fry food rather than grill or bake, and make sure you use plenty of butter and/or oil, rather than just a light drizzle (or worse, a quick spray!)
• add butter to your cooked veg and avoid boiling or steaming wherever possible; most veg is better fried or roasted in oil anyway! (See especially @prettybird's shoogled sprouts)
• add a salad to your meals, with an oily dressing and a good blob of mayo on the side

How does that sound, and how does it compare to what you're doing/cooking/eating now? It is really important that you're eating a high fat diet - it's not just about lowering the carbs.

@BountyMultipack is your dh OK with you cooking in olive oil or coconut oil, is it mainly butter that is the problem, or is it all fats?

I roast things in olive oil e.g. tomatoes seasoned with s&p and herbs and a slosh of oo are an excellent accompaniment to oven baked salmon. You can serve the tomato drained of cooking liquor to your dh and then pour the lovely oily tomato mixture over your own portion. For veg, add butter to yours when you serve, leaving his dry.

I use streaky bacon rather than back bacon, and again I pour the fat left over from grilling over my scrambed egg.

I make chef's salad (my own variation has chopped chicken, cubes of cheese, chopped ham, chopped raw mushroom all bound up in mayonnaise. Dh might just have the salad chicken, cheese and ham. Both of us have it served on a bed of rocket, spinach, watercress.

Olives and avocadoes have higher levels of natural fats - a chilli with hm guacamole, sour cream, grated cheese served on a pile of shredded lettuce. Looks healthy (and it is) but also good fat content, especially if you use lamb mince at 20%fat.

The ipd recipe for mousakka is fabulous - again high fat lamb mince, aubergines fried in olive oil, cheese and egg topping. It is very rich so small portions suffice.

Celery and cucumber with pate, or St Agur blue cheese spread are a good snack or starter. And (not yet becuse of the nuts) celery with peanut butter, or the cheese and almond muffins - I make mini ones and have them spread with butter alongside a bowl of soup. I whizz butter into soup to make it creamy, rather than adding a swirl of cream.

Or make cheese crisps. A pile of grated parmesan cooked in the oven till golden and melting.

Yesterday for dinner I fried shallot with chopped chorizo, sliced leek and shredded cavelo nero. Served mine over boiled cauliflower and cabbage, dh had the same on top of a bed of rice (and the cauli/cabbage mix).

Breakfast today was the leftover mix, reahted and topped with fried egg. So delicious!! And a damn sight more interesting than dh's cereal and toast.

I've got chicken thighs and drumsticks in the slow cooker with the dual aim of having chicken meat for dinner (and some left over for the next days) and also stock for soup. Will have chicken tonight with green beans and broccoli, and some of the eternal cabbage!!

I have this when I first start Bootcamp, it does seem to settle fortunately but I have linked mine to not having a gallbladder. I can't remember where I saw it but made sense when I read it

I'm glad it settles as I would hate not to be able to join in!

Nothing for me this morning, just not feeling hungry but I will have chicken curry with cauliflower rice for dinner, will be made with lots of fat and fry my rice in butter.

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday!

@BountyMultipack If none of those ideas above work, then how about these ideas for fat bombs (which are based on proper savoury food, not the artificially sweet keto fat bombs that are suggested on many low carb sites)

pepperoni and cream cheese

smoked salmon bites

tuna and avocado bites

I've enjoyed cold baby sweetcorn and Savoy cabbage for "breakfast" and opened and shut the fridge door a number of times and not had a piece of salami or emmenthal

Need to go and drink some more water

I had a busy morning and didnt feel hungry at all so I forgot to eat anything until 11am, had to grab stuff on the go so so far had two chicken drumsticks wrapped in bacon, a cube of cheese and a boiled egg 😬

Happy about not feeling hungry though as usually when low carbing I settle into an 11am-5pm eating pattern (generally two meals a day) so it's good to know this is happening but I'm not forcing it.

Planning on a big dinner later which will consist of: pork shoulder steaks, cauliflower cheese (noted about the lemon 😉) with some sweed and carrot mash with lots of butter.

I saw someone today who I hadn't seen in a while and she said I looked like I had lost weight, I'm pretty sure im around the same weight as I was when I last saw her so im putting it down to my face being less bloated. Nice to hear all the same!

Looking forward to weigh day tomorrow!

I think Bootcampers must've have got to
Asda before me this morning, this was the cream section 😱

I've had a very long lie in so breakfast will be more like lunch.
Today's plan
B: FFGY
L: egg and bacon salad with mayo
dressing
D: low carb sausages with creamed
leeks, mushrooms and spinach.
Snacks will be cheddar and olives.

I won't be weighing tomorrow as I have a bad relationship with the scales and it can make me go off plan if I haven't lost or not lost as much as I'd hoped.
I'll be tracking progress using a pair of too tight jeans and regularly taking photos in my underwear so I can compare. Don't worry, I won't share these with you😁.