Jan 24 Dry Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 2

[BIWI]

Morning all

I've started a new thread as the first one was taking so long to load (and also because I kept forgetting to change my Christmas name each time I posted!)

Here's the spreadsheet

@TheSoundofMusic23 you are definitely on it! I've put in your 8lb loss, as I can't see why that wouldn't have been a real loss, but feel free to change if you need to.

Great to hear that things are going well for you @MetabolicallyComplicated - especially re the bleeding.

I had no idea onions weren’t allowed. I’ve been merrily eating them most days. I will switch to shallots. You learn something new every day!

I’ve been using onions too. Shallots are more fiddly to peel so I don’t bother with them unless I buy them frozen and ready
chooped.

@Saltysausage if you buy the echalion/banana shallots, they're a lot easier to peel. I never buy the little round ones!

And have you and @CharlieHadAPigeon not read the veg carb counter on the spreadsheet? You'll see that veg there is classified into green/amber/red - and onions are on the red list.

That's not to say you can't have them, just that you need to be aware just how carby they are. Unlike other veg in the red zone, though, I think onions are pretty essential in most recipes.

Talking about the spreadsheet - a couple of things:

Firstly, just have a look at the column showing the losses in week 1. They are truly amazing!

And second, if you haven't already, go and have a good look around the spreadsheet, using the tabs at the bottom. There's some really useful information stored on it - hence why we call it the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness.

If you get echallions (also known as banana shollots), they're not too fiddly to peel. I chop them in half lengthways and then peep off the skin, before slicing/chopping them. Depending on the individual shallot, that may or may not be just the skin/brown layer or the layer below it too. I no longer bother with soaking them in boiling water (as I had to do with the small round shallots).

They're not too expensive in Lidl.

I've got used to thinly slicing an onion for dh and a shallot for me and then frying them on opposite sides of the frying pan, when I'm doing steaks for the two of us. A wee bit of salt sprinkled on them helps to o stop them catching.

@BIWI I did read the spreadsheet but clearly glossed over the part about onions. I’ll study it again to make sure I’m fully following the rules.

Banana shallots do work in dishes where onions are required and they are easy to prepare.

However, a dish for 6 often contains one onion - even if the carb count is high it is likely to be a small proportion of your meal.

I had a dreadful day food wise yesterday but onwards. I'm back and posting again and will carry on as I know how good this woe eating is. That halloumi and Brussels dish sounds fab. I'm going to order the bits now!

@BIWI thanks- I did get out (twice) with the dog today although vitamin d intake will be limited to around my nose and eyes!

have had a relatively productive day work wise and a good eating day just about to round off with pork chop and stir fry greens

Well I totally lost my voice today in front of 300 people including my boss and CEO

I made a joke about sounding like Dot Cotton’s butch sister but after about 20 minutes my voice got worse and worse and my boss had to come on stage and finish my presentation for me . I’ve been looking forwards to it all week, it was a great opportunity to showcase the work myself and my awesome team have been doing and I feel like I’ve let them down.

Usually a crap day like this would mean a cheer up takeaway but I’ve got a tomato sauce reducing on the stove top and I’m making chicken breast pizza because I know a takeaway is just going to make me feel worse.

My boss was fine about it and ‘these things happen’ but I LOVE public speaking, and I only get the chance to address a crowd like that a couple of times a year if that. BAH!

Oh my goodness. I very thinly sliced an aubergine, spread it on a baking tray with lots of EVOO and salt and roasted it until a bit burnt and unappetising looking. It was superb and might be my new favourite thing. Slightly crunchy, but also a bit fudgy, and sweet and salty. It would be amazing with whipped feta.

Has anyone seen the new Netflix documentary with 4 sets of twins testing healthy omnivore V healthy vegan. There were carbs everywhere btw and some of the detail is definitely missing but the whole environment element still gets me and I would like to cut down on meat & fish ideally. I’m just wondering if anyone has managed to combine a vegan diet with low carb?

I wouldn't even try @NotDonna! It's really difficult.

And that show was really compromised - the people who produced it have massive interests in vegan food production.

Have a read of this link

Just one of many that are talking about how poor and unscientific this programme was.

Or this one

I was floored regarding the cashew cheese as that’s definitely not environmentally friendly! I’ll read your attached articles but it was ridiculously glib.

Good day today. Played tennis this morning when it was still 0’c but at least blue skies! Big dog walk too. And I’ve signed up for cardio tennis tomorrow. My tummy still feels uncomfortable but I think it’s ok and best to just crack on than spend too much time ‘resting’.
Bfast - peppermint tea (2 teapots!)
lunch - leftover Tuscan chicken with added tomatoes, peppers, cauli, cabbage
dinner - chicken curry with green beans and cauli
snacks - chunks of cheese
lots of water!

I watched it @NotDonna i thought it was really biased towards vegan and guessed it was sponsored by a vegan food company

I’m feeling dreadful from cold that’s brought on my asthma which doesn’t happen often to me ( luckily ) DH is flapping round insisting I have a lemsip and as I have a shocking headache , I’ve given in

Hooefully better tomorrow

had bacon & eggs for brunch , and sausages , mushrooms broccoli for dinner
bit heavy on the processed meat today

Instead of Lemsip, you'd be much better off just taking straight paracetamol!

... but sorry you're feeling so rough

My grilled halloumi, broccoli and caper dish was somewhat compromised by finding that I didn't have any halloumi

I always have halloumi in the fridge

Made do with half of the tray with feta chunks and the other half with thick slices of white Cheshire cheese. Dh and I agreed that the Cheshire, which had completely melted and gone crunchy was better than the feta, which had just gone soft. 'Twas tasty though

That sounds absolutely delicious. Will give that a go at the weekend 😋

Thanks for the onion clarification. I'm v happy with shallots even though they are a bit faffier to peel. Can't believe you fry half onions and half shallots prettybird, could your DH not handle shallots with his steak?!

Have stuck to proper meals today but I made brownies for the family and licked the spoon 😳

Hopefully the big stick isn't on its way. In my defence, I didn't eat a brownie. And I won't. The spoon was actually in my mouth automatically before I even realised what I was doing, I didn't consciously put it there.

No breakfast
Lunch: harissa sprouts
Dinner: chicken gyros with salad and tatziki. I had mine in lettuce wraps. Delicious.

www.mob.co.uk/recipes/healthy-chicken-gyros-with-fresh-tzatziki

@PurpleWhirple - I'd do three shallots (in fact I used to but he does prefer onions) so it's no big deal to do one shallot, one onion I'm not overly fussy if they get a wee bit mixed as I'm frying them

Reasonable day here I think!

Breakfast - coffee with cream

Lunch - Rocket salad with pate, tomatoes, cucumber, olives and mayo

Dinner - aubergine stuffed with mozzarella with green yogurt and crispy chilli oil. Had a few macadamia nuts too. Scraped the cheesy sauce from the kids Mac and cheese pan too. Who needs pasta?!

The veg box had a cabbage in it (which no one else in my house will eat) so my goal for tomorrow is to be able to put the baby down long enough to make coleslaw... We'll see how that goes