Week 1 - Back-to-school Bootcamp!

[BIWI]

Morning all. I hereby declare this Bootcamp open

Here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

... with many thanks to the lovely @FinallyHere for creating (and managing)

I know you're all keen to get going, so will post this now and then come back with some important housekeeping notes

Great idea @BIWI , thank you. I usually do the opposite when I'm eating outside the house to keep carbs low but a belly full of bacon should be enough to keep me away from the carbs!!

@PamPooveysCow sorry to hear about the tummy issues and headache - definitely sounds like carb flu, so you should be over/through it by now, or very soon. At least you can feel it all working though, which is brilliant!

@HappiDaze I hope you're feeling better today as well - and manage to avoid all those coughs and colds. I know you were eating the yoghurt because you weren't hungry, but just beware that's a lot of dairy - and more importantly, there was hardly any veg/salad in your day!

Hopefully the fatigue will pass quickly (for everyone!) and you'll come out the other side feeling much more energised.

@BIWI no it’s pretty boring, I’ve had it since 2015 and usually I’m a bit better in the warmer months but this year that just didn’t happen. Started an amazing job in February and had to make the decision not to return this term as it was killing me. Hopefully that’s B12 related, will be interesting to see if I perk up. I don’t feel any more exhausted than usual since LC, and I think the health benefits outweigh any negatives. Losing weight around my middle and lowering my blood pressure has to be a good thing. And had a call from DD’s new school this morning to say not to come in today and they’ve just had all her notes through from her last school, and realised they need to put a proper transition plan in place for her, so that’s brilliant as it’s been so stressful watching her struggle for the last week. Oh and I’ve lost another lb 😊. Today is a good day.

Thanks @BIWI , the coolbox is a great idea. I'll do that.

Unfortunately pizza is all that is available and non-negotiable due to tyrannical children. However, I will just have to put on my big girl pants and exercise some self-control, which is my least favourite type... 😁

was it a good bakery or scary one, trying to tempt you off piste? @fruitstick

I know what you mean about the whole 'not being regular' & how miserable it leaves me. When I first started bootcamping, I went a bit overboard on meat and didn't bother so much with veg with predictable results. Never again.

Apols if this is 'granny sucking eggs' scenario, how about adding

• fresh baby spinach leaves to the salad with mozzarella and Parma ham
• finely chopped cabbage to the chicken thigh fajitas with red peppers
• celery sticks to the Parma ham (if im not in a rush i wrap the hap round the celery stick :-) and probably id add cucumber too

Most weeks i also buy celeriac root, roast in chunks and add chunks (cold to salad and reheated to veg) to whatever else I am eating.

Happy Bowels r us :-)

Thinking about flavouring FFGY, I'm a big fan of savoury flavourings, a small tin of tuna in oil, or tinned salmon or diced cucumber, garlic, mint leaves, dried coriander to make it into my favourite tzatziki dip. Little Gem lettuce leaves, celery sticks and cucumber slices all make admirable scoops.

creme & cinnamon, too, occasionally.

It cheers me up to think that I am thwarting the manufacturers who use padding in the form of sugar alongside bright packaging to fool us into thinking there are so.many.different flavours when really...

So far so good!

yesterday I had:
B - FFGY & cream
L - leftover chilli (no beans) & cauli
D - belly pork, celeriac mash & runner beans

I ran this morning for the first time this week, had loads of energy, but disappointingly, low carb was not the magic bullet for my runner’s tummy. It has solved things in the past, hopefully it’s early days & it will settle soon.

I'm still ravenous! Help!

I woke up in the night hungry, despite huge dinner.

B - FFGY
mid-morning snack - leftover fajita chicken
lunch - scrambled eggs with 2 eggs and butter, tin of tuna with mayonnaise, whole avocado. Essentially eaten as a 3 course meal.

Still starving.

I've also drunk 3 pints of water and I'm on my 4th. Also feel thirsty.

do you think I had too many carbs in the fajitas? I know we're not supposed to have onions and peppers is an orange on the sheet so it might have been too carby?

B: Cucumber and cream cheese
L: Tuna melts - using slices of courgette and pepper as the basis
D: Think it will be bacon, eggs, spinach and mushrooms

I do feel better about eating more veg and I think that I am getting better at finding meals that can include carbs for the children (my DS10 could do with putting on weight) as well as meeting what I need. The children are eating more veg too.

@fruitstick if I had to guess I'd say you were feeling hungry because your body craving sugar and it's wanting more food because it's looking for the missing sugar/carbs. So maybe not real hunger.

@fruitstick

I've also drunk 3 pints of water and I'm on my 4th. Also feel thirsty

Did you mean pints? Or did you mean litres? At your weight, you should be aiming for 3.5 litres

If you feel thirsty (assuming you're drinking the correct amount), this is also a signal that you need more sodium.

I doubt you'd have had enough onion/pepper to add that many carbs, and the rest of your day - so far - is pretty low carb, so that doesn't seem to be a problem.

I suspect - as @LadyBird1973 suggests - that you're suffering more from emotional hunger.

One thing, though, I'd suggest that you have something more substantial for your breakfast and knock the mid-morning snack on the head. Every time you eat, you're raising your insulin levels. Better, if you can, to stick to three meals and try not to snack.

But overall, I think that this is just a transitionary thing for you, till your body gets used to low carbing as a WOE.

@dimples76 good news about the veg!

Thanks @BIWI and @LadyBird1973

Today was the first day I'd had a mid morning snack to see if it made a difference.

Yes 3 pints of water but it's only lunchtime!

I think you're right about the sugar. I shall plough on. I added a lot of salt to my scrambled eggs so hopefully that will make a difference.

Challenge for week 2!

As we come to the end of the first week, we should all now be thinking about what's going to be on the menu next week.

So I thought it would be a good time to have a challenge. My challenge to you is to post your favourite vegetarian low carb recipe, so we can all try something new/different.

I'll start ...

Baked aubergine with garlic, chilli & feta cheese

• Take either one large aubergine between two people, or one small aubergine per person. (Aubergine is only 1.9g carbs per 100g, so no need to worry if you want a whole one to yourself!
• plenty of extra virgin olive oil
• one red chilli, chopped (and de-seeded if you don't like too much heat)
• 2-4 cloves of garlic (depending on size/preference)
• block of feta (200g)

Method:

1. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, and then slash diagonally into the flesh, both ways, making a diamond pattern in the fruit. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over each aubergine half, season with salt and pepper and then put them skin-side down into an oven dish, first covering the base of the dish with a bit more oil, so that they don't stick.
2. Bake in a hot oven (180 fan) for about 20 minutes till starting to brown, and the flesh is soft.
3. While the aubergine is cooking, crush your garlic into small saucepan and add the chopped chilli, and pour over a generous amount of olive oil. There should be at least 1/4 centimetre of oil in the pan. Bring the oil up to the boil, then turn the heat off and let the flavours infuse the oil.
4. Crumble or finely chop the feta.
5. Take the aubergine out of the oven and spoon the flavoured oil all over each half, then top with the feta and bake in the oven for another 5-10 minutes or so.

Delicious served with a green salad or other green veg.

@BIWI that sounds amazing!

Today
B: two hard boiled eggs
L: Greek salad
D: probably an omelette! (Just got home).

I felt very farty after my eggs for breakfast which wasn’t perfect as I had an early morning gym session and have been with patients all day

Halloumi and peppers on a bed of rocket

1 pointy red pepper
2 tsp capers
cherry tomatoes
rocket

1. cut the pepper in half lengthways, deseed and remove pith
2. fill with cherry tomatoes cut in half.
3. sprinkle a teaspoon of capers over each half.
4. drizzle with olive oil
5. season with pepper
6. put on a baking tray in the oven at 200 degrees until the edges of the peppers are slightly charred (around 15-20 mins).
7. whilst peppers are cooking, fry half a packet of halloumi, sliced, in olive oil until golden.
8. make a bed of rocket, put peppers in middle and arrange halloumi slices around the edges.

I'm sorry to jump in after the start - I did begin the summer one but holidays got in the way, so I'd like to pick up where I left off. @BIWI @FinallyHere could you please add me to the spreadsheet? Many thanks!

Welcome (back) @Okaygoahead!

(Buttering some cabbage as I speak!)

Ooo.
Challenge accepted.

My actual current favourite is a cheat because no cooking required. 😳
It's Greek salad.
So just
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Shallots
Chopped and mixed with a block of feta (cubed) and black olives
Oregano and a good glug of olive oil and don't tell @BIWI, but the juice of half a lemon brings it alive.
I'm obsessed with it, and eat it at least twice a week.

Alternatively, the other thing I love is stuffed aubergines. We often add mince, but the veggie version is
Tinned toms, or roast some
Mozzarella
Veg of your choice. Currently courgettes are nice, leeks, a small pepper, but you can have whatever veg you like
Aubergines, obvs.

Scoop out the flesh to.made a shell, and gently roast the shells. 10 mins, until softened and starting to brown.

Cook off (fry) all the veg incl the aubergine innards and add to the tomatoes.

Put it all into the shells.
Add mozzarella and sprinkle parmesan over the top.
Add some spices if desired. Maybe oregano, maybe paprika, maybe cumin. Basil works too. Or tarragon.
Bake until browned on top.

Delicious

So, I totally forgot, but yesterday I used the last of my hard boiled eggs.
So that was breakfast stuffed.

I called into local coop on way into work and picked up ffgy and some double cream, because lots of you rave about it.
That was breakfast
It was nice.
But I felt quite sick after not much!

I decided against the omelette and had a picky dinner of spinach, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, olives and cucumber. I forgot how much I love avocado.

Veg recipe challenge:

this is not a particularly exotic one but is really good for a quick midweek evening meal or lunch:

bubble and squeak:

1. basically mush up boiled or roasted celeriac with cabbage or Brussels sprouts. It’s best if the veggies have been cooked the previous day so good for leftovers.
2. form into a large round and fry in oil or butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Later in bootcamp you could use a little coconut flour to stick it together better.
3. Serve with a fried egg on top and a selection of pickles on the side (lower carb ones like picked red cabbage etc) for that authentic Boxing Day feel. Or a teeny bit of brown sauce. If you’re not bothered about having a veggie meal, add cold ham to the plate too.

Today’s meals

Ffgy
Tuna and egg salad with avocado
Chunk of Beauvale Blue cheese
Steak, asparagus with butter, salad

Busy day today so fewer snacks and not so much craving for sugar.

B: nothing because I couldn't face it
L: green salad with evoo & leftover sausages
D: chicken curry with cauli rice

Headache has gone but my stomach is still terrible, I think it's all the fat. The curry was coconut milk and the cauli cooked in butter, the effects were fairly immediate.

I need to go back through recent posts and read properly, just wanted to check in before getting an early night.