Jan '23 Low Carb Bootcamp - the (in)famous week 3 ...

[BIWI]

Morning all

Normally I'd link to the spreadsheet, but I'm having an issue with it this morning, as I can't scroll down the list of names and keep getting an error message saying my window isn't big enough to display it. Both on Safari and Chrome, which is odd - so I'm putting a call out for @FinallyHere to see if she can resolve it!

Anyway ...

PLEASE READ THIS POST CAREFULLY!

Welcome to week 3. This is the week where you have a choice. If you wish, you can move on to Bootcamp Light, which means that you can now introduce fruit, nuts/seeds, chocolate and alcohol.

SOME.
IN MODERATION.
NOT AT EACH AND EVERY MEAL!

So with fruit, this is mainly berries - when the spreadsheet is sorted, check out the fruit counter on there, which will show you which fruits are best to introduce. Similarly nuts.

With chocolate, make this the highest cocoa content that you can - certainly 70% should be a minimum - and restrict yourself to a couple of square, not a whole bar.

And as to alcohol - it's dry wines and clear spirits, with low calorie mixers or, even better, soda/sparkling water.

Remember we're still on Bootcamp - so be very careful how much of any of these you introduce.

However, week 3 (and 4 and sometimes even 5) is infamous as this is the point where you may see your weight loss slow, stop or even reverse

It's very, very, very common for this to happen, so if it happens to you, don't panic! It's not a stall. It's all about your body settling into this WOE, and what you'll see once we get through the low carb doldrums is your weight loss will continue, albeit at a slower rate of around 1-3lbs a week. (How much you lose will depend on how much you have left to lose).

Bearing this in mind, you may want to stay on strict Bootcamp. There's nothing wrong with this at all - just make sure you are following Bootcamp rules, and that things haven't started to slip. In particular, make sure that you're sticking to rule 4 - i.e. that the majority of your carbs are coming from veg/salad. And don't forget the water!

Some Bootcampers like to do a hybrid, which means strict Bootcamp during the week, relaxing into Bootcamp Light at the weekend. The choice is entirely yours.

Morning all, still plodding on here, no appetite but eating 2 meals at the very least even if one is yoghurt (and Tesco Finest Greek is absolutely to die for) and having a creamy coffee when I can't face anything at all.

Wise words as ever from BIWI, I used to joke that I wasn't a comfort eater, I ate for every emotion! These days I do something else - Candy Crush if I can't be bothered to move as I am usually too distracted to read, clear out an irritating area of my house even a small drawer, feels much better afterwards! Angry iron! Usually bed linen! Or grab my pup and race around the block, she cheers me up no end!

I am not perfect or I wouldn't be doing boot camp, but emotional eating (and drinking!) got me to 23 stone a long time ago and I am never going back!

Best advice ever and as repeated on here - write the day off and start again. It does work xx

@OrderOfTheKookaburra I see you mention having sugar free lemonade. Any chance that you could experiment with soda water or sparkling water instead? One of the things we try to do on this way of eating (woe) and drinking, is to and reduce our taste for sweet things. Also there are some reports showing that artificial sweeteners can sometimes mimic an insulin response.

I no longer have a sweet tooth at all, I find sugary things sickly and hate the taste of artificial sweetners. You know how your face might screw up if you ate something covered in salt, or if you tasted something really bitter like pomegranate pith? Well I'm like that with sweet cakes and drinks. Now it stops me wanting to put them in my mouth.

Nice sunny day here, and for the first time this year I feel optimistic that spring might eventually arrive.
L - left over shaksukka with avocado and salad
D - FLBGV (cabbage, spinach, courgettes, leeks) with some kind of protein yet to be decided. Probably fish.

Someone said on the last Boot Camp, when we were talking about the potential Christmas excesses, that they were "not a human dustbin"

That's really stuck with me and I remind myself of it too frequently

@TangledWebOfDeception thanks for birthday wishes, I do same with a coffee looking forward to one after work for a birthday treat. I like latte with bit of cream.
Never drank it before I started bootcamp
My normal hot drink now is ginger tea.

Welcome to the 2 newcomers had a wee read during mu lunch break

If you break the rules one day, don't give up start a fresh it will work

Thanks @TangledWebOfDeception onwards and upwards. Happy birthday @Andi2020 . Just having a quick read in my lunch break too. Two scrambled eggs with butter and Parmesan

climbed back up again

@BrendaLee

Congratulations, that's really all that matters. In life as in bootcamp.

@venusandmars - I have a sodastream so can make my own soda water so happy to give it a go! Worst case scenario I can use a smidge of natural stevia instead.

@prettybird - no sugar, just the mulberries soaking in vodka. It's a little on the tart side which is why I usually use lemonade as a mixer but happy to re-educate my taste buds and use soda water instead. I froze quite a lot of mulberries from my tree and it seems a good way of using them up.

That should be fine then in moderation on BootCamp Light @OrderOfTheKookaburra

might be nice with Cava/bubbly

Zesty lamb meatballs with ricotta and speedy mint shatta

From Olive magazine, February 23 edition, serves 4

Ingredients: meatballs

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
50g breadcrumbs I'd probably leave these out as, IMVHE, meatballs don't usually need a binder, if treated gently
50ml whole milk only use if you're using the breadcrumbs
400g 20% fat lamb mince
1 orange, zested, plus extra to garnish
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes, plus extra to garnish

Ingredients: shatta

100g pickled jalapeños, drained Sainsbury's sliced green jalapeños are only 2.5g per 100g, and are lower carb than Old El Paso's
10g mint, plus extra to garnish
small handful of coriander leaves
15ml orange juice*
pinch of caster sugar*
25ml light olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons
150g ricotta
150g Green yoghurt
1 garlic clove, grated
1 tsp lemon juice

Method

Heat a small, dry frying pan over a medium heat and toast the cumin seeds for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic, then roughly crush

Tip the breadcrumbs (if using) into a large bowl along with the milk. Leave to soak until the milk has been fully absorbed, then add the lamb, orange zest, garlic, toasted cumin seeds and chilli flakes. Season well. Mix well with your hands, then shape into 16 meatballs. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes or ideally overnight

For the shatta, pulse the jalapeños to a rough paste in a mini food processor. Add the mint and coriander, and pulse again briefly until the leaves have broken down. Scrape into a bowl and stir in the orange juice, sugar and 25ml of olive oil. Pour over 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil and set aside

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, fry the meatballs in two batches for 8-10 minutes per batch, turning often, until browned and cooked through.

Whisk the ricotta and yoghurt with the remaining garlic, lemon juice and some seasoning until smooth. Dollop this over a large serving platter and arrange the meatballs on top. Drizzle over some of the shatta and garnish with mint leaves, chilli flakes, orange zest and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with more shatta for drizzling over

Per serving:
580kcals
46.1g fat (saturates 17.9g)
14.4g carbs (sugars 5.5g, fibre 1.9g)
protein 25.9g
salt 1.1g

*these are such small amounts I wouldn't worry about using these - divided by four the carb counts will be minimal

... and obviously the carb count will be significantly lower if you don't use the breadcrumbs/milk

Pork and rhubarb aromatic traybake

From Olive magazine, Feb23 edition, serves 4

Ingredients

50g runny honey*
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1 orange, zested
1 red onion, cut into slim wedges**
2 star anise
250g forced rhubarb stalks, sliced into 3cm pieces
4 bone-in pork chops
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp Chinese five-spice
small handful of coriander, roughly chopped
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6

Combine the honey, soy, sesame oil, ginger and orange zest in a bowl. Add the red onion and star anise, and toss together. Season lightly. Pour onto a baking tray then roast for 15 minutes. Add the rhubarb, tossing to combine, and roast for a further 10 minutes

Meanwhile, drizzle the pork chops with the vegetable oil and toss in the five-spice and some seasoning. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and, once hot, fry the shops, fat side down, for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown

Nestle the chops into the onion and rhubarb mixture and roast for 8-10 minutes or until the pork is just cooked through. Remove and discard the star anise, and garnish with the coriander and sesame seeds.

Per serving:
521 kcals
34.7g fat (saturates 10.5g)
14.1g carbs (sugars 13g, fibre 2.3g)
protein 37g
salt 1.3g

*Although I haven't made this recipe, from the outset I probably wouldn't use this much honey. I think I'd use half this quantity, which would reduce the carb count
**I'd also use shallots here rather than red onions, which will also reduce the carb count

Lidl protein bar details for anyone interested in portable snacks. Half a bar is plenty and only 7g carb. Come in 4 per box packs.

I feel honour bound to point out, however, Rule 4 - the majority of your carbs should be coming from veg and salad (and some fruit).

So those protein bars (or any other similar snacks) should be very occasional. And, after all, we shouldn't need to be snacking at all!

Pah another day of feeling rotten.

Zesty lamb looks great @BIWI I'd never have thought of adding orange, deffo one for me to try. Will need to add ricotta to the shopping list.

Fajitas for dinner tonight, not had them in ages so looking forward to it, getting a bit bored with food recently. I'll omit the wrap and do extra cheese and sour cream.

show me I can't drive a keyboard without telling me I cant seem to drive a keyboard.... (first version of the message reported for deletion - Sigh)

Hello lovely new potential boot campers, I have added @Iheartmysmart @OrderOfTheKookaburra @BonnieBairn @nottoooldtochange to the

Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

This does not oblige to do anything, you are welcome to ignore entirely.

If you choose to log your weight, there is a row for each of you. Please let me know if you are following the slightly different veggie or vegan rules: we highlight those names in green on the spreadsheet, so @BIWI knows which set of rules to use for any advice.

I am one of people who can make the whole process of weighing, and getting a 'score' for my current weight, mean something. For ages, I just didn't weight, a and used how i fit into a too-small item of clothing to keep track. Now that I have had great success with this WOE and feel confident that I am on track to reach and maintain my target range of weight, I'm sorry that i don't actually know just how much I've lost so far. Currently weighing approx once a month, and put in the same weight in the in between weeks. Others prefer to rack only the differences, recording lost / gain against an arbitrary index e.g. 100

Whatever works for you...

@Baystard have you tried wrapping in lettuce? It really works well/tastes great and makes it feel just like you’ve had the real thing!

Just catching up on today's posts. @Andi2020 Happy Birthday🎉Hope you've had a lovely day and enjoy the rest of your evening.
@JustAPony Glad you're back on it today. You're quite right-it's just one day and one day doesn't make or break a diet-it's what we do the majority of the time.
Sorry that quite a few of us are feeling ill or having a bit of a crap time. Keep posting for support. We can try and talk each other away from the biscuit tin!

B: slither of cheese and 3 Brazil nuts(for the selenium) at 12ish
L:FFGY with chia seeds and 15g flaked almonds
D:cheesy bolognese on courgetti

Must do better with my veg but I'm just not feeling very hungry and dairy is what I crave more than anything.

Welcome to the newcomers btw. I always think more the merrier😊

Today so far I've had creamy coffee this morning (decided I won't want it tonight). Then accidentally skipped lunch again as was out and about. Just come home and had a piece of aged gouda and a half teaspoon of peanut butter to tide me over while I cook. Means I've not had much veg today which I'm a little bit annoyed about. Will remedy with a bit extra tomorrow.

Was meant to have a lightly smoked mackerel fillet for lunch along with a fennel salad - will bump that to tomorrow.

Dinner is shepherd's pie for DH. I'll have the gravy filling with some of the leftover squash from yesterday and possibly some sprouts too (I always try to have at least two differently coloured veg at every meal).

Thank you for the lovely welcome everyone. And thank you to @FinallyHere for adding me to the spreadsheet. I’m officially hopeless at Excel so will treat it with great caution!

DS has been back from Uni this week and has been very surprised at the dinners we’ve been having. Last time I tried to lose weight it was with Slimming World where it was all artificial sweeteners and being hungry all the time. I lost 2 stone then promptly put it all back on again with a bit more added!

😁

Happy to help @Iheartmysmart

Happy to add your numbers on your behalf if that would help. Post the number or a message for me to check my PMs and I'll know what to do. Bootcamp has helped me so.very.much it's my pleasure to help in any way

Thank you @FinallyHere My starting weight was 154lbs - eek. Not veggie or vegan but am allergic to almonds and Brazil nuts so will read the recipes carefully.

One message I'd like to pass on, which really helped me, was to choose what I'm going to eat according to how I'll feel after I've eaten it and immediately thereafter, say up to 24hrs later.

Lots of things I still think of as treats really just set up a craving for me to eat more, so that the first is the easiest to resist. If I don't eat the first, I save myself all that angst about whether to have more.

Done @Iheartmysmart