Summer '23 Boot Camp, Week 7: only 2 weeks to go

[prettybird]

Good morning Campers!

So we are on to the home straight with only two weeks to go before the end of this Bootcamp. Still time to shed a pesky pound or two, especially if you're super strict. Perhaps for these last two weeks you might consider doing full-on Bootcamp, rather than Bootcamp Light?

@FinallyHere will be along shortly to link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

We might into the final fortnight but we'll still be around afterwards for support or to continue following the Rules If you've only just started, we’re still be here to advise.

It’s 6 weeks tomorrow before I’m off on holiday - so that will help focus me

Still not feeling a 100% so I suspect it will be day vegging in front of the TV.

Hopefully you'll find it much easier to go without the snack, once your body has adapted to low carbing.

Please don't worry about calories at this stage! This WOE is not about deprivation.

Thanks @BIWI the problem is that the classes I go to aren't till 7.30 / 8 and I'm always famished after work (I eat lunch at 12 partly because that's what my friends at work do and partly because my breakfasts don't fill me up for long either). I do understand about the fat-burning thing but at that point in the day I just want to eat and its hard not to succumb to eg eating toast. I could meal plan better, it is tricky working round the others but I think that's what I need to do, I find I'm always ok for a couple of weeks of LCHF eating but then it falls by the wayside again. Willpower needed! I am keen not to eat too much processed meat but I do do bacon bits sometimes.

My thoughts on the creamy coffee.

Firstly, we don't need to add cream to our coffee. It is not mandatory. There are plenty of other ways to add (healthy) fats to your diet, the suggestion of adding cream is because is has fewer carbs than milk. Several milky coffees throughout the day and carbs can significantly add up. I'm ok with a small black coffee, but others can't stand it, hence the cream.

Coffee with butter and cream is very rich, and very full of calories. It may leave you not hungry for a proper meal. I look at @Goodiewhemper's delicious list of spinach, avocado, courgette, asparagus, cauliflower etc. and I think it would be a real pity to fill up on bullet-proof coffee and miss out on any of those.

The same with mct. People on some keto diets swear by it, but it is essentially a meal replacement and they are probably recording their macros (which is tedious) and looking for ways to up their fat without increasing protein, and while keeping their carbs very, very low.

The beauty of this woe (Thanks @BIWI ) is that by following the 10 rules we don't need to weigh or count carbs or calories. Trust the process, and make fine adjustments to suit. Also, and most important I think, is that this woe is long term healthy - much less processed food, lots of healthy veg, drinking lots of water, changing our tastes so we have less liking of sugar, sometimes adding in intermittent fasting.

However, there is also 'dirty' keto - full of bullet proof drinks, processed meats, fat bombs, artificial sweetners, keto bars etc. It will induce ketosis (not one of our targets necessarily) and those following it will burn fat and loose weight. But for me it wouldn't feel very sutainable and I don't think I could call it a healthy diet.

Having said all of that, sometimes in winter, if I've been out in the cold, I love a hot chocolate made with cream and coconut oil

Food today:

B - black coffee (I finished the cream yesterday)
L - green velvet soup: all the left over green veg, plus spinach, blended with chicken stock. Crunchy snacks of celery and cucumber with St Agur blue cheese cream dip.
D - Thai pork burgers with fennel and cabbage slaw

I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but have frozen some cream in ice cube trays for when I do want one. I have successfully transitioned from milky tea several times a day to herbal or rooibos or decaff black and only have a tea with milk once or twice a week now, that is one part of the WOE that I have found easy.

@EvenlyDetermined

I'm always famished after work (I eat lunch at 12 partly because that's what my friends at work do

I'm not really surprised that you're famished by 7.30/8.00 if you're eating so early. Can you not eat your lunch a bit later?

But also, looking at what you say you're having for lunch, could you look to increase this? Don't know how large your portions are, and also you say: salad with fish or meat and lots of mayo - what fish? what meat? Are they fattier cuts? How much meat/fish? And re the salad, are you using an oily dressing?

and partly because my breakfasts don't fill me up for long either).

And looking at what you've had for breakfast, it looks like there's some scope for eating more then too - are you really just eating one hard-boiled egg?!

I do understand about the fat-burning thing but at that point in the day I just want to eat and its hard not to succumb to eg eating toast

In which case, you need to have to hand some low carb snacks that will tide you over till you're home. So chunks of cheese or hard-boiled egg or cooked, low carb sausage. But don't use this as an excuse to dive into the toast/biscuits/crisps - or whatever else is to hand.

My FFGY is my afternoon snack, or I take in some nuts, peperami, rollitos etc. The 12 o'clock lunch is not negotiable, I don't want to eat on my own after everyone else has finished and it suits my working day pattern much better. The salads feel enormous to me, lots of greens, either have a tin of tuna, two smoked mackerel fillets or a chicken breast with skin on, plus usually two heaped teaspoons of mayo, no other dressing as that really is enough plus oily dressings are messy. I don't tend to have smoked salmon as I find it too rich in anything other than tiny quantities. Breakfast is harder to eat much more (its eaten as soon as I get to work).

It's the evenings I need to sort really, one snack when I get home and cook properly later even if it is just an omelette after classes.

@venusandmars I'm seriously tempted by the MCT powder because I was also trying to do 16:8 in conjunction with this woe and the MCT powder doesn't break the fast. I'm also concerned that dairy is slowing me down and if I'm only going to have a small amount, I'd rather it was cheese! Or cream as part of a sauce, not wasted on coffees.

I do buy flavoured coffee which I can tolerate black, but it's nowhere near as delicious.

Have just had a fabulous lunch though - I found that rare thing, an avocado which is perfectly ripe at the time I want to eat it
Had this with smoked trout, which was on offer in Waitrose yesterday.

@LadyBird1973 but do you need the MCT at all? Can you fast without it?

I suppose I mostly think about what constitues a 'natural diet'. And MCT is a man-made fat (usually from coconut oil and palm oil). In the same way, we could get our protein from a protein powder, many of our vitamins from manufactured sources. My choice is to eat mostly things that are real foods, or extracted directly from them - eg olive oil or avocado oil - in the belief that overall I will get a balance of what I need over the long term. Some exceptions such as vitamin d in the long dark Scottish winter...

I've always enjoyed the bootcamp ethos and the recipes because it is not about supplements, or sugar replacements, or manufactured low fat products. Apologies, I'm not trying to lecture or to prevent you from trying something, it's just that MCT has never been a mainstream part of low-carb bootcamp.

@EvenlyDetermined I have just made a batch of almond muffins (recipe is on the recipe thread). I'm just testing one now with butter and peanut butter. They are easy to make, last for a good while in the fridge and you can freeze them. As easy as grabbing a slice of toast.

PS (for all) I usually make them with cheese and herbs, but catering for someone with cmp allergy tomorrow so it was: a cup of ground almonds, 3 eggs, teaspoon of baking powder, 30ml olive oil, but they worked OK, and would be good for anyone on a vegan diet.

@LadyBird1973 smoked trout, the perfect avocado - bootcamp heaven

@venusandmars I think I would struggle to do 16:8 without anything tbh. A cup of creamy coffee is one of my little joys on the morning. I was hoping this would taste as nice as cream, but just be less dairy. I have looked at the contents of the willpowers one and it does seem to just be coconut oil and butter, not palm oil, which I avoid. But I do get it's not strictly a bootcamp food. Idk, I'm curious as to whether it actually works to reduce cravings.

Re supplements, I take a B complex, Vitamin D, magnesium glycinate and a willpowders supplement that is supposed to support in natural testosterone production (since I'm on a waiting list to see a menopause specialist and my dr won't prescribe until I've seen one). I'm in 2 minds about whether to continue supplements - I read the Chris van Tulleken book on Ultra processed food and he seems to think supplements don't work anyway since you need the cell structure of the actual foods in order to get the benefits. I would save lots of money if I stopped buying them and I am eating a lot better than when I first started with supplements, so maybe I don't need them anymore.

Your almond muffins sound lovely. I think I will have a go at making those tomorrow - are they cake like in texture or more eggy?

@LadyBird1973 the muffins are cake-like, definitely not eggy

Thanks @venusandmars I will try that.

@venusandmars thanks. I'm going to have a go tomorrow. Quite excited to make something cake like

@LadyBird1973 don't want you to be disaapointed, but need to let you know that I don't actually like cake

Please don't take my recommendations for something that is cake-like!

Don't worry @venusandmars , I'm not expecting traditional cake - I just fancy making something that isn't eggy, as I'm getting a bit bored of all the omelettes and boiled eggs I've been eating. And I have a big bag of ground almonds in the cupboard that I bought to make a quiche with, but now don't fancy!

I make mini-muffins, mostly because my mini-muffin tray is more non-stick than my big muffin tray. Even though they are tiny, I cut them in half and spread them with cream cheese, top with smoked salmon and a few capers... OR just butter and lowcarb peanut butter.

@BIWI thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow! I have picked my food options already (chicken salad in both restaurants- I love a chicken salad!) and will be having a spirit based cocktail in one restaurant and a slice of birthday cake in the other. Obvs cake is not low carb but I draw the line at refusing my own birthday cake!

I don't really like cake, so it wouldn't be an issue for me!

@venusandmars - how about mini smoked salmon rolitos? Smoked salmon spread with cream cheese and then rolled into bite size pieces.

Also Parma ham rolled around manchego cheese.

Oops - just noticed the need to be dairy free and meat free

Mini cheesy & herby almond muffins are a good shout. I've also recently tried the vanilla version which were much too also nice. Could top them with a dairy free "cream" or spread and some raspberries or strawberries.

Me either, I did once get a cake made entirely of cheese which was awesome 😂

I've just made a load of the muffins, using a mini muffin tin, so I've got 24 little ones for tomorrow. Really nice and savoury with cheese, oregano, smoked paprika and black pepper.

I'm also serving little mozzarella pearls, dipped in pesto and sandwiched between two halves of cherry tomatoes, and some cheese 'crisps'.

I have allowed a carb element, which will be mini pork pies, cut into quarters, and some tortilla crisps and dips.

I'm going to make sure that I have a larger lunch than usual, so that I'm not hungry when the neighbours come round.

@BIWI sounds delicious!

Yesterdays food was

B- pounced egg x2 bacon x2, halloumi and guac

L- leftover chilli and salad sour cream and guac

D- chicken leg with skin, creamed spinach, cabbage

Snack low carb sausage x2