Jan 23 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 6 - just three weeks left!

[BIWI]

Morning all. Sorry for posting the thread late, but I slept in this morning. The perils of being retired!

As ever, here's the link to the spreadsheet

I hope you enjoyed the vegetarian meal challenge - I certainly did, and I loved making the aubergine, spinach and paneer curry inspired by @mimosa1.

So now we're in the last three weeks. Hopefully things have been going well, since we left behind weeks 3 & 4, and you've settled into a good routine, and have found different ways to deal with the temptation of the carbs.

This week, I'm after fish recipes. We don't tend eat much fish, which is something I feel bad about - but it's driven mainly by a poor choice in our local supermarket. So I tend to fall back on to salmon - which is fine, but I need a bit more inspiration. We do have a Waitrose not too far away, which has a fresh fish counter, so will look forward to any ideas!

Good luck for the next week

Morning!

another 1lb down on the scales this morning but that's not what matters - I put my work jeans on, fresh from the drier - and didn't have to lunge to fasten them! This is worth so much more of a celebration than the scales!

We're off to Center Parcs on the 17th March and I'd really like to be in the 10s by then - that's about 5lbs to go so hopefully not too much of a stretch.

We don't eat much fish at home @BIWI as DH not a fan, but we go to a local Thai place which does the most amazing Thai Red Mixed Seafood curry - it is king prawns, squid and white fish chunks with carrots, mange tout and broccoli in a Thai red curry sauce and it is my favourite meal ever.

Thanks, @Biwi. I'm not very inventive with fish - mostly a fish pie or salmon person, so looking forward to recipes as well.

Reporting in at 79.3kg, a 700g loss this week, which I'm pleased with as this weekend involved champagne to celebrate a relative's good news, hosting a bday party for DD and having a small slice of cake and some general carb creep. I've seen lower on the scale this week so doubly motivated to make it stick this week.

It's interesting how strong the connection is btn food and celebration. I was thinking about this today as I was toasting hot cross buns for the children and explained what the cross meant. I suppose back in the "olden days", birthdays, feast days, high holidays, etc. really were just a handful of times a year, whereas now, we have access to these sweet carby foods all the time... When I get to my goal weight, I want to be able to celebrate like this, as long as it is rarely. Lots to think about!

That's a really good point @mimosa1. Also, certainly growing up in the 60s/70s, eating food between meals was very rare, and going out for a meal or getting a takeaway was really only for special occasions. Whereas nowadays, everywhere you look, on every high street, are places to drink coffee/buy sandwiches/get a takeaway/eat out (relatively) cheaply. And most of the options that are easy to grab/afford are high in carbs.

Great going @QforCucumber! Clothes fitting/fitting better is much more meaningful (and rewarding), really, than a number on the scales

Half a pound back on this week but I'm on the first proper day of my period and have been eating a bit much too. I had two glasses of Wine on Weds and one glass on Saturday so better than usual but not as good as I have been, and picking particularly at peanuts so not ideal, or "just a mouthful" of this and that slow cooker rice pudding which I made to use an oven excess of milk, a couple of dark nalteasers etc! Will be need to be careful this week especially as out for a fancy meal tomorrow, and away with work Weds-Thurs.

Place marking with a really simple salmon recipe: season the skin side of salmon fillet with sea salt and black pepper. Fry skin side down in a hot heavy based pan (with a little olive oil) for about 3 minutes until the skin is golden/just starting to char. Turn over (carefully) for about a minutes until cooked. Serve. The skin is lovely and crispy and has converted dh to salmon skin.

I have a nice recipe for white flat fish (probably plaice) with a cheese, cream and mustard topping but I'll need to look it out.

My favourite low carb fish dishes are cauliflower topped fish pie and kedgeree. I also like salmon or sea bass with FLGV but don't have much other fish. Maybe once a fortnight, once a week at best. I do eat tuna or mackerel at least once a week generally at lunchtime too.

Timely reminder to drink like a fish- water water water!!!

@TwoBigNoisyBoys hopefully you've found your way over here now!

As @prettybird has said, if you have a good read of the spreadsheet you should get plenty of information - but also, here are two threads that might help you get going:

The thread I started before we got going on this Bootcamp, which has lots of information about Bootcamp and how to prepare for it

and

A thread of FAQs

Low carb fish and seafood recipes http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/3171876-Low-carb-fish-and-seafood-recipes

Some good stuff here!

Morning everyone, just half an lb off here this week which I am a bit disappointed with, as I had hoped for a post period whoosh. I know a loss is a loss and I am averaging an lb a week or thereabouts so shouldn't really complain too much.

I'm going to try a bit of a carb refeed tomorrow (thyroid related - not for everyone) with a chilli and brown rice for tea to see if that boosts things a bit. I'm desperate to get into the 12s and would have loved to have done it before we go away next week for half term. It's looking unlikely now, but I'll keep plodding on.

On that note, does anyone have any good ideas for picnic type food? When we're away we tend to buy deli type sandwiches etc to eat on our walks (with pop and crisps!) but that's obviously out of the question for now. I don't mind doing a bit of a batch cook before we go, but other than crustless quiches, I've not got any ideas.

Sorry I've been a bit quite on threads of late but I'm plugging on. I've put on this week but have started my period today and didn't drink enough over the weekend so I'm not surprised.

I've had some great NSV's lately including a whole outfit in a size 18 (the muffin top is unreal but the jeans are cut really well for me), my horsey coat is feeling a bit looser and yoga felt easier last week.

3lbs off this week.

The last few days I’ve had three separate people comment on how much I’ve lost - must suddenly be noticeable.

Sometimes I feel like it’s not working which is crazy as the scales and my body clearly show it is - my mind is struggling to accept the process.

We're not big fish eaters here - salmon and occasionally basa is my limit. I'm not a huge fan TBH but will see if any recipes tickle my fancy.

Hi @BIWI and all

Starting weight: 165.3

Last week’s weight: 160

This week’s weight: 159

I enjoyed the vegetarian challenge but the dish I tried wasn’t nice enough to recommend so I’m going to keep trying and post at some point when I find a great one!

A fish challenge! Fantastic. We also don’t eat as much fish/seafood as we’d like to/should do for health reasons, also dictated by availability/quality - used to buy from ALDI but their prawns especially aren’t good enough quality or value for money anymore. However their cold smoked salmon is much better than their fresh salmon IME, if anyone buys from there. Generally it’s tinned fish for lunch once a week for us. However I’ve decided we can stretch to getting something for dinner from the Morrison’s fish counter every couple of weeks.

Good luck this week, everyone! KOKO.

Hi all, a whole lb down and I am thrilled.

Does anyone know how to get rid of my error on the spreadsheet?

@AllTheBlackCoffee I LOVE a LC picnic - we take
Chicken Legs
Coleslaw
Chunks of Salami and Chorizo
Chunks of Cheddar cheese
Strawberries and Cream
Slices of Tomato and Mozarella with basil leaves
Sliced beef with horseradish mayo
peppers, cucumber and avocado
Apple Slices with Peanut butter
Pot of Olives

DH isn't a fan of fish so I've got us eating more by subbing fish into homemade curries (Indian or Thai). Just add chunks of fish at the end and they cook in the sauce in a few minutes. The bags of frozen white fish (eg basa, pollock) are usually good value.

@AllTheBlackCoffee I like chicken drumsticks for picnics. Nice to eat cold, can eat with fingers, and can roast plain or add your favourite flavours.

Just over a pound off for me, taking me to a half stone loss so far this bootcamp.

This week (half-term) will be challenging as we're away but am will stick to bc rules as much as possible.

@LadyBiker I think we'll have to wait for @FinallyHere to correct it, as it's something to do with the blue cells WHICH WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH!

Actually, I've remembered that I did make a dish with scallops and prawns a couple of weeks ago - I tend to avoid scallops as they're usually pretty expensive, but Sainsbury's sell these for just £7.50, for 200g which is a decent portion for two. I also had half a bag of frozen king prawns which needed to be used up. From memory, this is what I did, and it made a lovely dinner for the two of us:

I marinated the prawns in a generous glug of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and a sprinkling of chilli flakes (I let them defrost first, and de-veined them)

In a large frying pan, I sautéed some shallot with garlic, then when they were nicely softened, added the prawns and cooked briefly - really just till they turned pink, to stop them going tough.

Added some noodles (konjac/Bare Naked Noodles) and fried those briefly, and then tipped them into a serving dish.

In the same pan I then briefly fried the scallops - again, only 3 or 4 minutes, browning them on each side, and added them, with all pan juices, to the noodles. Then stirred in a handful of fresh, chopped coriander.

I used some freshly squeezed lime juice to deglaze the pan.

Unfortunately, my Sainsbury's seems to have stopped selling the Bare Naked noodles, which is a great shame.

Love fish here!

White fish with ratatouille with olives thrown in, grated cheese on top.

Frozen fish pie mix with lots of leeks (diced cubes of potato for other family members) and cream. Basically sautée loads of sliced leeks (4 chunky ones), add some stock (and a glass of white wine if you’re feeling fancy)to cover, bring to boil, season well (I love loads of black pepper) then add cream and fish pie mix. The fish takes about 5 mins to cook. It’s a kind of fish stew I guess.

Thai fish curry is fab.

pan fried fresh tuna with home made salsa, avocado and salad (fresh tuna is extortionate though)

Salade niceoise

Oven baked trout or mackerel . Put slices of lemon in the cavity, splash with a glass of white wine, season, cover with foil. Pop in oven for 25mins approx, serve with salad/ green beans

Delia did a fab roasted white fish with tapenade which we love and you can freeze the tapenade. I’ll find a link. I’ll be cooking it (for the millionth time in a few weeks for friends with celeriac mash)

I'm on the case @LadyBiker

Well, opening my laptop to look

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/easy-entertaining/roasted-fish-topped-with-sun-dried-tomato-tapenade think this is BC friendly

All hamsters fed and hamster water bowls refreshed with clean water.

That's all it took to sort out the error messages in your row @LadyBiker

Apologies for that. And gratters on your results.

Another fav from Delia (I’d substitute avocado for black beans in the salsa)

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/seasons/what-should-you-be-cooking-in-september/seared-spiced-salmon-steaks-with-black-bean-salsa

We are big fans of fish. Especially these days as DH's mouth is sometimes a tad troublesome.

Loving especially the sound of the 'stewed leeks with fish pie mix' which is new to me.

My all time favourite fish is anything grilled or air fryer so the skin is all crispy. DH isn't keen on grilled skin so I engineer to cook on those days and snaffle the skin from his portion as cook's perks.

There used to be two proper fish shops in our town, now a nearby Waitrose has a great fish counter, a fish shop has opened nearby and there are two vans who deliver frozen 'straight the the freezer' in the garage.

The mobile man encouraged me to try hake by throwing in a fillet for free ... (usual patter) It really was delicious, quite firm but delicate. I've order more for the next delivery. I guess that's exactly why the 'throw things in'