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.

Just Placemarking

Qforcucumber your cajun chicken looked great. Is there a recipe somewhere?

My lunch today doesn’t necessarily look great, but it was warming and delicious!

Used some of my lovely reduced chicken stock made the other night, with a little bit of soup base and soy sauce added, plus Japanese herb/spice mix. Simmered some mushrooms and spring onion for a few minutes, then added two beaten eggs and left it to simmer for another couple of minutes. The eggs fluffed up beautifully! Tiny sprinkling of sesame seeds on top, just to look pretty.

Dinner’s going to be a beef and tomato sauce with garlic and chilli, plus a roasted aubergine (will share a little with DH). I couldn’t face another day without a proper serving of veg. Luckily we had to go out today anyway so I got an aubergine and also a bar of 80% dark choc.

@DryWhiteagainW yes and no haha - it’s a pan friend chicken breast, tonight’s also had peppers mushrooms and halloumi. Once chicken cooked through add Cajun spices (I just the Tesco one - there’s no sugar) some veg stock and some double cream and simmer down until thick

I feel like I should know what koko means?

Roasted aubergine is my favourite accompaniment to a pasta sauce - it’s such a natural pairing and makes me feel as if I’m having a complete meal, not just eating my way through a load of sauce without the main element (pasta is another real trigger food for me so I will never be adding it back into my diet, even in small quantities).

@coffeeginandkindness Keep On Keeping On!

Just had the chicken shawarma that was posted on the last thread and it was delicious. Not having read the recipe in advance, I didn't realise the chicken needed to marinate overnight but even with a quick 30 mins it was still tasty. Served with a huge salad with vinaigrette and a Greek yog and crème fraiche dip. Could eat it all again!

@UnfinishedBusiness those chaffles look amazing. I can imagine them now with a fried egg and some fried mushrooms
They're going on the list!

I noticed on the low carb products thread the low carb company
What is the thought over using keto friendly stuff like that?
I mean I know it is ultra processed but as a weekend thing perhaps?
Or is it a big no no?
I was just looking at their website.

It depends which products you're looking at - some of them are OK. But always worth checking the ingredients list.

There are two companies to have a look at (that I know of!):

The Low Carb Food Company
and
SRSLY Low Carb

@BIWI

I was looking at the pasta which is 0.9g per 100g, the bread rolls which were also very low and the cheese crisp things which are zero.
They're all below the carb allowance (at least the ones I looked at)

Was on ' The low carb food company'

The pasta is a new product they've just launched - these are its ingredients:

Psyllium Flour, Bamboo Flour, Whole EGG, Salt.

So not much different from ordinary pasta - just different kinds of flour! But it's hideously expensive, I think!

And these are the ingredients of the bread rolls:

Low-Carb Flour Blend (Contains: Vital Wheat Gluten, Golden Linseed, Oat Fibre, Psyllium Husk Powder, Salt), Water, Pasteurised Whole Egg, Mixed Seed Topping (4.8%) (Sunflower seeds, Golden linseed, Brown Linseed, Chia Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds), Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Yeast, Salt.

So a long list, but these are the ingredients of Sainsbury's wholemeal rolls, for comparison:

Wholemeal British Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Dextrose, Palm Oil, Palm Stearin, Salt, Soya Flour, Rapeseed Oil, Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin; Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid.

The low carb lemon posset was fab-u-lous even though I didn't follow the recipe correctly and added all the lemon juice right at the beginning The only problem with it was that I didn't make nearly enough

https://queenketo.com/keto-lemon-posset-with-italian-cantucci-biscotti/

I used inulin rather than stevia because I had inulin

Will definitely be repeating it with bigger portions . I might even try it without any sweetener as my dad's "complaint" was that I should've added more lemon juice

Ohh @prettybird i think I might fancy that for our anniversary dinner next month! Is there a particular inulin product you can recommend (I don’t like stevia much so try to avoid it if I can)?

I just bought some inulin powder off Amazon. I also have erythritol, also bought Amazon.

Because I'm good I don't use them that often, so they last ages

now we’re talking! LOVE aubergine, and pasta is my trigger food too - amazing to hear you’re hardline quitting it forever… I probably should too but I can’t hear myself say the words yet or else I may jack it all in, in protest!

another aubergine recipe I love: sliced grilled aubergine in a drizzle of olive oil, mix together 2tbsp olive oil, 2tbs fresh lemon juice, x1 large garlic clove crushed, salt and pepper. Sprinkle a (generous) handful of feta cheese ontop! Delish

Thanks!

@amispeakingintongues I’ve had numerous extended holidays from low carbing over the years but it always ends badly and I can’t afford to do that anymore (I actually have to eat low carb for long-term health as I’m type 2 diabetic and want to limit what medications I’m forced to take). I cannot moderate so I’ve accepted now that for me some things will have to stay completely off limits.

Your aubergine recipe sounds good, I’ll definitely try it sometime!

I’m just focusing on the health benefits first of all, but also on not ever having that horrible heavy feeling that I get when I overindulge on carbs (wheat products in particular), not having to cope with awful mood swings and brain fog, and not ever feeling sick like I do when I have to take meds...they’re all worth the trade-off. And of course it’ll be nice to fit into my favourite 10/12 clothes again once BC is over (fingers crossed)!

Well that makes total sense. Go you!

Well done for losses & SSVs & KOKO. Sorry to hear folk have been poorly, chest pains & with boiler problems 🥶

I wasn't feeling great last week so ended up having a few carbs. Banana 🤦‍♀️ & started having berries & a few nuts early. I'm ok with that as it was that or give up completely & I do want to keeping going to reap the benefits. I already feel less bloated but I'm struggling with low energy & poor sleep - this is improving but think it's all hormones. I'm going to weigh in tomorrow morning...

64kg this morning - down 0.6kg. It doesn't look as if the HRT patches are impeding much weight loss - although it's been just over a week since I started on them, so perhaps early days.
Swam last night (club swimming) and had the energy to turn in a decent session. Not ravenously hungry afterwards (which I normally am after a swim).

Well done everyone with their losses. I've stayed the same this week so while disappointing I know why. Felt unwell yesterday, having a really bad period so was in bed very early last night! New week this week so KOKO!

My sleep is shocking and I’m exhausted which is then impacting my day and laziness around cooking. prettybird last bootcamp had a challenge to go to bed before midnight and I’m going to do the same. I’m up at 630am and can’t cope with such little sleep.

Perhaps I need to try some different ways with aubergine. I usually just chuck it in with my roast veg but find it the least favourite.
I used to make a nice baba ganoush so perhaps I'll give that a go again.
I might see whether I really need lunch today, bit of a busy day at work, easier if I don't have to stop so will assess whether I feel hungry.
Is it much better to skip breakfast to get a longer fast in?

BergamotMouse there are some great aubergine recipes in the Green Roasting tin, there's one using harissa that I love and will post/add to the recipe thread next time I make it.
I think it's better to skip breakfast to extend the fast yes, Stuntnun is good with the science, but at least a long break in the day without eating/snacking will have some benefit, not raising insulin levels I think?
I aim for 16:8 or better a good few days a week by eating earlier when I can and delaying breakfast to mid morning. Occasionally I go right through without a meal and eat lunch very early. I make an effort now to try to eat with DS if he has a club rather than just leaving it and having something much later which we would have done previously.