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

Oh if we lived by the coast I’d have seafood all the time! Well a lot more often anyway. Sigh.

There is a place that delivers frozen fish here; I’ve been meaning to try it so maybe I’ll give it a go in the budget for this coming month’s shopping.

Placemarking. I'll read back over the thread properly tonight. Hope everyone had pleasing results or other NSV's to celebrate this morning.

Congratulations all you losers, some great losses this week. I'm another 1lb down (well, 0.9lb, but who's counting 😁). Tricky start to the week as visiting my mum for a few days. I think she lives on biscuits so need to go shopping. Will stick to plan as much as I can, then go full bootcamp from Thursday to reverse any damage before next Monday. I love fish but tend to keep it simple, pan fried or oven baked. I did do a fish pie last week with swede instead of potato and enjoyed that. Smoked mackerel pate (smoked mackerel mashed up with butter and mayo, lots of pepper) is handy to have in the fridge for snacking on crispy lettuce leaves, or celery.

Thanks for new thread @BIWI. I bought some paneer to try that recipe from the last thread, and am also keen to try the halloumi and aubergine one. All the fish ones so far are making me hungry. We tend to eat fish at least once a week but normally just pan fry it with some veg. Our fishmonger shut down but there's a delivery service - recommended to anyone who lives inside the M25 area - Osolocal that get their stuff from the fish market each morning so it's really fresh.

I'm pleased to be 1.4 pounds down this week after no movement for the previous two. I'm wearing a pair of jeans that definitely felt too tight before Christmas so a good NSV.

A friend is coming for lunch today and am planning on making Shakshuka. None of my frying pans have lids so think I'm going to use my Creuset casserole dish to cook it. Hope it works.

@Stokey I use ours all the time for that, if I’m cooking bigger portions, and it works brilliantly.

Oh yes - hake! Every now and then, Sainsbury's do sell it - and it's much cheaper than cod. It was delicious the times we had it - I think I just did the simple pan-frying.

But some lovely ideas here. I especially like the idea of using leeks, as a) I love them and b) I think they go especially well with fish.

The thought of eating fish skin, crispy of not, makes me feel <--- not envy

Oh @AllTheBlackCoffee it’s delicious!! DH is like you though, so I get a double treat every time!

@AllTheBlackCoffee

Mmmm, all the more for me #greedy

I'm not a great fan of fish skin, either. Although I wish that the shops would stop selling it without the skin, as it cooks much better with skin on - and very easy to remove before you plate it, if you don't like it.

I love the fish thread, we too don't eat enough of it. My "recipe" is for haddock gratin - put a piece of smoked haddock in an oven proof dish, pour some LC cheese sauce over, top with grated cheese and bake until fish is cooked. Serve with finely shredded shoogled cabbage. Not fancy but very tasty.

Bought a spiraliser to try some courgetti, I just need to remember to buy courgette now!

Only 0.5 lb loss in the last 2 weeks which is less than I'd hoped but it's still a loss and I've not much left to lose. In spite of good eating habits (didn't succumb to toast craving last night) my watch is slightly tight today so I think it may be hormones and I'm retaining a bit of fluid. Will up my water intake today and KOKO, with luck there'll be at least a mini whoosh later in the month.

Ooo here’s another one we love too actually!

Amy Shepard food on instagram, I have a budget cookbook of hers from years ago

Hi Everyone, thanks for the new thread @BIWI and I dont blame you for having a lie in, I did myself today as on annual leave this week.

Bad start to the day for me. I noticed I had my blood tests results back, first the good bit, my BG is another 10 lower so still in remission from my diabetes, a not so good result with my cholesterol, its 7.4 (needs to be under 3 in diabetics) and my Alkaline phosphate is elevated (160) should be under 130 although it was 177 3 months ago. All other Liver enzymes are normal which could imply the elevation in this one enzyme could be related to bones (thinking osteoporosis) Reading up on good old google but have a telephone appointment booked in for 9th March to discuss these results. I chased the lipid clinic referral (I was referred on 30th June for genetic testing for my high cholesterol) told it was an 8 month wait at the time, now they say 12 months so probably June or July.

I will probably have to take statins in the end but worrying as my mum was on these and ended up with Alzeimers, not saying there is a link but there has been mention of them leading to memory loss and speeding up dementia if you are likely to get it in the end

I have stayed the same this week but feel very slim and my clothes are all feeling too big so now looking at size 10, except my bust is still a bit too big to be comfortable in a 10, My stomach is mainly saggy skin now too :( so may need to have it removed although I have been advised to wait 12 months to see if it improves.

Hope all are well, I will be reading through this thread now xxx

Im, the same with anything that swims in the sea, I can tolerate salmon but thats more of a meaty fish, the other bits and bod, like crustaceans and fish make me feel queasy. I was once given a scallop to eat by someone I didnt know well and it felt like an Im a celeb eating challenge, I was so proud of myself but others see scallops as a delicacy to be enjoyed. I actually need to eat oily fish as it will help with my good cholesterol but have to have it as Cod Liver oil capsules instead.

A small loss for me this week, which I'm happy with after a previous gain. Also, I had the toast and jam problem last week, so I'm just relieved that didn't throw me off track.

Now, fish recipes! My favourite one is also very simple. Make a foil parcel with a fillet of smoked haddock, some pepper and a lump of butter. Bake for 20 minutes or so. Serve with a couple of poached eggs and some asparagus. It's deliciously buttery and surprisingly filling.

Hello all, lovely weather here today in North London. Blue skies all around - really improves my mood. I even took a break from my desk and went for a long walk in the sunshine which was needed to clear the cobwebs.

I'm up for the fish challenge, am slightly obsessed with salted cod at the moment so I've been researching new ways to eat it (my other half is Portuguese and they use it a lot in cooking).

Lots of great NSV this week, which is very inspiring 😊

Sorry/pleased to read your results @Jenasaurus - I can't help/advise with any of those, although it's possible @StuntNun might be able to comment on the cholesterol issue.

Is there any way you could get seen earlier, via a private appointment? I think I'd rather talk to someone before committing to any new drug regime.

But very good news about the diabetes!

Away this week so no scales but will weigh in when I get home. I’ve been sitting around 11st the last few weeks but really loosing anything but am happy with that (I’m 5’8”) so not too focused on the scales now.

Too many nuts and berries with being away but have swerved all the sugary stuff and had a lot of herbal teas in cafes without being tempted by the cakes not at all like me.

My go to fish dish is cod roasted with chorizo, peppers, courgette and aubergine and a good glug of olive oil. Made prawn pil pil last week and loved it - Olive oil with chilli flakes, paprika and garlic in the oven for 5 mins to heat up then added the prawns for an extra five mins.

@FinallyHere Thanks so much for your help x

@DryWhiteagainW thanks for reminding me about that Delia fish with tomato tapenade, I used to make it but had forgotten about it.

My suggestion is another Delia recipe - Californian Fish

Fillet of flat fish (I use lemon sole)
Top with a mix of mayonnaise, chopped capers, chopped corriander and a squeeze of lime (it's a bit like tartar sauce). Spread it out to cover the fillet. Top that with a mix of grated cheese and ground almonds. Dot with butter and grill.

The grill crisps the cheese and heats the mayo-mix underneath, which very gently cooks the fish. Very delicious. Plus not to difficult and quite quick.

For a real luxury - butter monkfish. Like butter chicken but with fish instead. The fish only needs added at the last minute so it remains really tender.

For lunch today I had a sort of sardine pate (sild actually which are smaller) made with a tin of fish, sour cream, mayonnaise, tabasco. Served with loads of salad and celery sticks.

I'm 1.5lb down today and 3lbs away from my next milestone. I'm going on holiday in 10 days time, I wonder if there's a chance that I'll reach it by then? If not I'll use it as motivation to stick to this WOE while away, there is really no reason for me not to.

@AllTheBlackCoffee the cheese and almond muffins are good for picnics. I made some last week with crushed fennel and caraway seeds. Split in half and topped with smoked salmon and sour cream... I also make mini-meatballs/kofta and sourcream and red pepper dip. Will be doing that later this week for a picnic with dgc.

Hi everyone, great to hear of everyone's progress, and loving the fish recipes.

I'm not very confident in making fish dishes, I also stick to fish pies or frying fillets. I did buy some whole sea bass on Tesco the other day, cut some slits into them, rubbed them with olive oil and seasoned them in S&P. Then stuffed them with a garlic butter and lemon slices and wrapped them in foil and baked for 30 mins at 190 degrees. Came out really tender and the natural juice that gathered in the foil was lovely to drizzle on the fish. I read it's a good source of potassium so good to get some minerals. Lovely with green veg.

I've had a loss of 3.7 pounds this week, which I'm chuffed with. I think having good meals but limiting snacks is making a difference for me. I no longer need a 5g carb almond bar in the afternoons which is great.

Water intake is 2/2.2 litres a day, can't seem to go above that but feel well hydrated.

Thanks for all the picnic suggestions, loads of great ideas. Think I'll make cheesy scones, quiche, marinated chicken thighs (can't do drumsticks - bleeuughh), meatballs, olives, salad bits. That should keep me going all week, quite looking forward to it all now.

I've also ordered some porky puffs for the evening nibbles, I'm a real crisp fiend so hoping they will keep me away from the sweet chilli sensations when we're playing Scrabble!

@AllTheBlackCoffee if you’ve got access to a kitchen while you’re away kale crisps are keeping me away from the crisps, even DH prefers them.

Rub kale with olive oil, put in a thin layer on a baking tray and then roast for 4-5 mins at 200. Best warm they’ve never made it to cold before we’ve polished them off and with plenty of salt. Wish I had some kale now

Thanks for all the good wishes on the last thread. I'm beginning to think I can do this. I'm managing to stay on plan while we are away, having had tuna mayo on salad at a garden centre for lunch, and with the prospect of steak with chargrilled veg tonight.

As for fish recipes, I like fish provencale using white fish with tomato, olives, peppers and lots of lemon. A bed of crispy fried courgettes works well. Or else a very fake kedgeree with lots of spices and cauli rice, although I leave out egg, as I don't like it. The final fish recipe is prawn stir fry using pak choi and plenty of soy, garlic and ginger.

Oh, I'm liking the Californian fish method @venusandmars

Shall try that out later in the week.