January 2024 Low Carb Bootcamp - this one's a dry one!

[BIWIshYouAMerryChristmas]

For one month only - 4 weeks of strict Bootcamp, which means no booze.

If you want to, you can do Bootcamp Light, but with the exception of no alcohol.

All welcome! But please, only sign up if you are prepared to do the whole thing without alcohol.

I'm sticking to low carb and dry food/drink... but have just realised that the 'cold' I have been so struggling with is probably a covid. (No sense of smell this morning despite being able to breath through my nose.)

It was an extra present from relations who arrived for Christmas after a long flight and an exotic winter holiday with 'a bit of a sore throat' each! It is lucky that I love them...

I think I'm deviating from low carb a bit by having 'Night Nurse' and 'low sugar' antiseptic throat lozenges occasionally too. However, it all really helped me sleep last night and I do feel a bit better for that. The deviation hasn't left me craving sugars this morning (I don't crave any food just now) - and introducing sweet stuff usually does that for me.

I'm drinking lots of warm water.

Question to the hive mind please: I'm working away all next week and really REALLY don't want to fall off the waggon. I think I can manage dinner as the hotel does steak and chicken, but a Quick Look Look at the immediate locale suggests none of my usual lunch options. There is a Morrisons though. I don't have one local, so wondering if I will be able to get nice snacks and lunch bits there (of the sort usually found at M&S)?

Alternatively, and very much a long shot, does anyone have knowledge of any LC local gems in the centre of Grays, Thurrock?

I have an upset stomach today. I don’t know whether it’s the increase in fibre or the increase in fat ratio.
If it’s the fibre it will settle or I can cut down on the more fibrous veg.
If it’s the fat that could be harder as it may be due to the fact I had my gallbladder removed in September.

Morrisons meal deal was a staple for me for a while! They do a Mozzarella and tomato salad bowl, then a 2 pack of boiled eggs for the snack plus a bottle of water. Chop egg into salad and grab a small jar of Mayo for the time you’re away maybe? They also have a great antipasti section so I’d sometimes pick up a pot of olives and dump the lot into one of their side salad bowls. It had a lot of olive oil in there and was lovely.

Failing that, Covent Garden soup, the broccoli and Stilton one is good if you have a microwave handy.

They also sell snack cheese in a net, so loads of different cheeses in handy handbag size.

Thanks @Metabolicallycomplicated. Really useful to know. I shall go forth to Essex and eat lots of antipasti!

@RooRooCooChoo but you won't be needing snacks, will you? Because you won't be hungry between meals, will you?!

If I were you - and I used to be, when I was working - these are the things I'd buy for lunches:

Bag of mixed salad. Don't buy a salad dressing as chances are it will be full of sugar, but make a vinaigrette and take it with you (obviously in a well-sealed bottle!)

1/2 cucumber, pack of cherry tomatoes, celery sticks

Pack of sliced ham/roast beef/roast chicken/corned beef

According to their website, they also do hard-boiled eggs

Resealable pots of tuna (John West) - or any other make that you can open without a tin opener

Cheese - perhaps something like this snacking selection?

Small jar of mayo

Take a small cool bag with you, just in case you don't have access to a fridge, and I'd also have a sharp knife with me, and a tin/bottle opener, just in case!

Sorry to hear about the Covid @LiesDoNotBecomeUs Frankly I'd just be focusing on dealing with the symptoms rather than worrying too much about the carbs!

@Saltysausage sorry you're not feeling too good. Hopefully it will settle down in a day or so.

🥴🥴 Of course, no snacking @BIWIshYouAMerryChristmas

Thanks for all the suggestions above. I had forgotten about those John West tuna pots. And how I wish I could eat hard boiled eggs! But to me they are the devils testicles and therefore must be avoided at all costs. But, with olives, handbag cheese and bags of salad I shall survive and thrive!

Change of cheese sauce plan here since the cream I was going to use up is sour. I'm contemplating what I could do with some clotted cream, cream cheese, or even eggs and butter to make something for my fish pie. Hollandaise might be the answer, though I've never tried it with cheese.

I feel a bit less bloated today happily but too scared to try on work trousers yet, fortunately don't need to until Monday.

I mean who in their right mind wouldn’t want to do this WOE??

I’m hungry this evening so sacked off the kebab and salad idea and went with chicken in a garlic mustard cream sauce with green beans and spinach cooked in butter. DH said it should be illegal to cook food that smells this good just for yourself and I have to agree, it’s divine! I’d forgotten how much I enjoy LCHF food.

It’s not that you shouldn’t snack Roo, always always eat if you’re hungry, but if you’re getting enough fat in your diet and keeping your carbs low you absolutely won’t need to snack, you’ll be amazed.

can I join late please?
have a good 3-4 stone to lose 😳

Right my day is done now I've just read the term handbag cheese. Love it.

With handbag cheese all things are possible

Handbag cheese is nothing, Wait until you hear about forbidden sofa sprouts. These are fried Brussels sprouts in butter you make in the microwave after a night out because you’re peckish and they (dipped in garlic Mayo, obviously) became such a ‘thing’ in my house that DH banned them because the bed time farts were becoming a problem

That looks amazing apart from the green beans which should never be allowed on this earth, hope it tastes as good as it looks!!!!
Spiced roast chicken here with wraps & salad for the carbies and just salad for me. Finished my omelette at lunchtime and had the last of Sunday's roast beef as a snack 😋. Almost done 2l of water and also had 2 big cups of herbal tea and one coffee. There will be more tea at bedtime so should make 3l, although I could have happily dived into a bucket of gin and tonic earlier this afternoon after a mock-induced meltdown 😭

Evening all. We've just had our weekly family favourite tea of jacket potatoes with assorted toppings. I had a baked aubergine, loaded with salted butter and cheese and it was utterly delicious! Honestly, I think I'd actually choose it over a cheesy buttery baked potato when not low carbing, and I LOVE a jacket potato!

That sounds good @pinknsparkly, can I ask what is the texture like?

You're on the spreadsheet @Kettlebellend!

Still using up bits and pieces from Christmas here. Yesterday was lamb curry (we had slow roasted pulled lamb shawarma for NYE). DH and DC had rice with theirs, I had mine on a bed of charred savoy cabbage.

Tonight we had cauliflower cheese - didn't have enough cream (thanks DS1!), but did have some ricotta that I'd bought for a recipe I didn't cook. So melted that with the cream I did have left, a splash of milk, lots of cheese and some mustard and lemon juice.

Added some lightly boiled leeks to the cauliflower, and then in the oven dish, added some fried onion and diced (leftover from Christmas) ham, before pouring over the cheese sauce. Then scattered graded Parmesan on the top and baked and grilled it. Served with pan-fried celery, courgette and more cabbage, with a bit of red chilli and a large dollop of butter on the top.

Today's summary:
2 cream with espresso
Breakfast: half boursin, 3 celery, 2 large ham slices
Lunch: 2 eggs, dollop butter, quarter spicy chorizo
Middle of day: 3 strawberries, 1 lindt ball, 3-4 semi milk in tea
Dinner: 1.5 chicken breast, 150g bag kale, chicken stock cube, dollop butter
Half gallon water

Total 1622 cals, 20g carbs

I need to move more...

Ooh how long do you do it for?

This sounds fabulous.

I'm definitely going to try this

This also sounds amazing. And easy!

Ricotta cheese sauce sounds good @BIWI.

I deconstructed my fish pie and the hollandaise-with-cheese worked quite well but it was very rich even for a low carber.

@Baystard I would say soft, but not squishy or slimy as I feared! You don't get the crunchy skin of an oven baked jacket. And the flavour is irrelevant once you've loaded it up sufficiently with topping 😁