Jan '24 Dry Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 3

[BIWI]

Morning all.

So I've put the Big Stick down, and let's start this week afresh.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Remember, this is only a four week challenge, and we're now half-way through. For the next two weeks, if you want, you can do Bootcamp Light (which simply means that you can add in some fruit (berries mainly), and some nuts and seeds. In moderation only, please.

But NO ALCOHOL!.

Whether you started on 1 or 2 January, we've now completed a whole fortnight without booze. Hopefully you should be feeling the benefits of this beyond just it helping with weight loss. Having moaned about not sleeping better, which is supposed to be one of the key benefits, last night I did sleep very well (having had the worst night's sleep the night before!), so hopefully it's all kicking in now.

Get well soon @RooRooCooChoo and what a bugger @Metabolicallycomplicated I think the best of us struggle when we are exhausted. But maybe pop a list of fast foods inside your cupboard - omelettes etc? And maybe batch cook a few things that you can freeze & then microwave (without defrosting for hours first). To be fair a doner without the wrap and chips is still in keeping isn’t it? To go up 2lbs seems a bit harsh.
It’s sooooo cold this morning. Think I’ll walk the dog this afternoon once it’s warmed up a tadge. I’m forgoing tennis as too slippy.
I’ve aubergines and minced lamb so thinking I’ll make a moussaka - would you mind pinging yours please @Metabolicallycomplicated? DD3 does like aubergine (slimy texture apparently) so not sure what I’ll do her.

@LowCarbingIn2024 avoid the grated stuff unless you've checked the carbs!

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-grated-mozzarella-250g

This one is 7.1g carbs per 100g

@Metabolicallycomplicated a lot of excuses going on with you, it would seem. You really need to work on that, otherwise the scales are never going to go the way you want them!

Seriously. You've done so well and worked so hard. Why would you want to undo that?

@NotDonna there's a lovely recipe for low carb moussaka on the meat recipe thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low_carb_bootcamp/3148498-Low-Carb-Meat-recipes-beef-pork-lamb-venison?reply=75063781

@NotDonna the lamb was steaks marinated in olive oil, harissa paste, dried mixed herbs, salt and pepper for 1/2 hour (could probably take longer) then pan fried in butter, leftovers tasted even better yesterday!!!

Much herbal tea here yesterday as well, and it's colder today so will be more of the same. I seem to be getting into a bad habit of not eating with the carbies if they're having something that can't be adapted - ie. last night was risotto and garlic bread (they're both slim enough and metabolically blessed so double carbs makes no difference at all!), and couldn't be bothered to cook two meals so sat with them but didn't eat - at least I wasn't tempted by the garlen bread ends! Tonight it's tomato soup and toasties as a quick tea before training and band practice respectively so need to work out what to have myself that's just as quick. Doesn't help that our downstairs is open plan and quite cold so not conducive to spending a lot of time in the kitchen when it doesn't get above freezing outside - it's a project to be sorted in the summer! Will think on today and plan some batch cooking for the weekend.........

Despite my fidgety day yesterday and surcoming to some 90% choc the scales are down this morning and my goals are beginning to feel achievable. A good feeling! Keeping on keeping on,

today will be

ffgy and cream with cinnamon
moussaka and cold beef
maybe a fancy fry up with lots of veg

needing the warm food this week. Not feeling salad in this cold. Husband has been doing this with me and that’s def made it easier although he’s away for next two days.

A list of quick foods is a great idea, I'm stealing that for lunches for me on wfh days.

Weird question, has anyone else's fat bits gone squidgy? What's that all about?

Morning everyone, scales seem to be going up in daily increments of 0.2lbs this week but I'm trying not to panic just yet. I am being a perfect bootcamper so absolutely no reason for it to be proper weight gain. I am trusting the process and telling myself it'll all come good in the end.

I've not planned very well as lunch today is a salad and it's bloody freezing here. Still it's a hot salad with bacon, mushrooms and blue cheese so at least some components will warm me up. Team is chicken in bacon with a creamy mushroom sauce and veggies in butter so not too complicated.

I am sleeping so well after years of insomnia (comes and goes but even when it's gone I never sleep that well). Last night I think I actually slept through from 10pm til 6.15am for the first time in forever. I genuinely think it's the lack of wine and I am coming more and more round to the fact that I need to limit my drinking going forward, not just for weight loss but for my overall health and well-being too. Not entirely sure how I feel about that though, one to mull over for the next couple of weeks.

Oooh @blackteaplease squidgy fat is the sign of an impending whoosh. Drink all the water and hopefully you'll see the rewards on the scales!!

Aldi grated mozzarella is 5.2g per 100g for everyone's info

Talking about temperatures, I'll tell you lot a funny story from yesterday (completely Off Topic ) . Our cats were due to get their booster vaccination yesterday at 11 (absolute last day it could be done as I'd delayed booking them in). One cat was as usual on my lap in the morning, but the other cat was nowhere to be seen (normally he's trying to "dig" into the side of my dressing gown to sit beside me before I get dressed).

It's a freezing cold day, so although they both go out regularly, we assume he'll be back in shortly. But at 9.30, he was still nowhere to be seen.

We checked the whole house and even went outside shaking the cat crack Dreamies bag, to no avail

I suggested to dh that he might be in the house next door as the owner had mentioned to me that he sometimes goes in to their boiler room via their cat flap (had let him do so before they themselves got a pair of cats and didn't feel they could stop him). Dh went round but said no one was in.

Get to 10.30 and we're getting worried Dh goes round again to look for the cat flap which wasn't where he thought it would be , sees one of neighbours' cats through the window, finds the cat flap and shook the dreamies again. He falls backwards, while trying to open the cat flap (which is in an awkward place), hits his head (fortunately on a wooden step, not a stone one), grazes his elbow and lands on his dodgy hip, twisting his back. Our tyke of a cat scoots out the cat flap and disappears

Dh limps home and finds me (shaking another bag of Dreamies on the other side of our house) and we go back into our house. There is the tyke our cat sitting in the hallway as if nothing had happened

We think that he chose - and stay - next door, as their heating was on and ours wasn't we've been coping without putting it on in the morning Oops

I did make it to the vets in time - which cost £108.80!

My scales are resolutely alternating between 11st 10.5lb and 11st 11lb

I had a change of plan last night and didn't end up doing @Almahart recipe of leeks with Halloumi (that will be tonight's supper now) but instead did another recipe (sorry can't credit the poster as I didn't save those details) it was the chicken and broccoli with cheese and bacon sauce bake and it was lovely- tasted much like the chicken Alfredo recipe - but IMO was a lot easier so I'll be repeating that one - so thanks to whoever posted it!

Tesco grated mozzarella is 3g per 100g less than half the value for the Sainburys one!

I've not succumbed recently but I have to confess to having had a kebab (no bread etc) whilst on Bootcamp lite in the past. And I've not experienced a gain as a result, so I think you were unlucky with yours @Metabolicallycomplicated but at least you now know that's not an option for you now (the sauces they use could be part of the issue as the carbs in those can vary hugely).

I'm sure animals know when they are about to be taken to the vets @prettybird! Hope your DH is ok.

I can't, in all honesty, see why a kebab, minus the bread, would be an issue. And we need salt on a low carb diet, so not sure this is the problem either @Metabolicallycomplicated

I think it's probably just 'one of those things' - it's quite natural for weight to fluctuate on a daily basis, which I totally get is massively frustrating. And we try to look for some logical reason why it would happen. Looking for the culprits in our food is the first place that we look!

I'm sure it will resolve itself just as quickly. But please, please, please don't let your review push you off course! (And hopefully, of course, it will be a positive one )

Out of curiosity, you say breakfast is "16:8 with protein" - what does this mean?

Our two boys don't usually mind the vet: they'll even go and sleep in their cat basket when we get it out

We've just come home from a chilly walk and wondered where the cats were.....

As dh points out, this is a disaster waiting to happen

He did manage to get it out by getting the cats out the room and opening the dormer window so that it could fly out with a little encouragement from a broom handle

Oh my! I'm enjoying reading about your cat adventures @prettybird! I'd written a list post this am which I've lost, so will have to catch up again later. Hope everyone is staying warm!

I'm another whose scales are creeping up despite sticking to the rules. Apart from one foray into ground almonds on my chicken I've stuck with regular bootcamp.

I'm not too worried about it, have new batteries in my scales so Monday's wonky reading could have been wrong.

Black coffee this morning as it's too cold to go out for milk. Was hungry this morning (unusually) so I've had eggs for breakfast and now tucking into some leftover and salad with homemade dressing. I also don't understand the issue with the kebab, everyone needs a takeaway sometimes and it sounds like a decent choice to me if no chips or bread were involved

A cheeky midweek weigh in suggests things are moving in the right direction.

I'm scanning the next few days to see what obstacles might come up, and for me it's going to be a Friday night in with OH. I need to plan a fakeaway or a passable takeaway, any recommendations welcomed!

In case it's not immediately obvious: there are two cats on the ground (one in the foreground, the other under the red chair), both watching intently the magpie that one of them must have brought in perched on top of the book cases that dh has converted in to a wine rack

The impressive thing is that whichever cat had brought in and carried it up to the attic floor did so without a single feather as evidence

@AIBConsiderate my favourite fakeaway is actually doner kebab 😳

Recipe below. I serve it with salad, sour cream, pickled chillis and homemade coleslaw. Others will have pitta or naan.

Doner Kebabs

Pack of minced lamb
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp black pepper

Blitz in mixer until smooth, shape into roll, wrap in foil and bake for 30 mins.

Cool then slice thinly and refrigerate

When ready to eat fry the slices briefly to add colour.

You could buy these wraps to have with your kebab. They are really good!

That recipe for doner kebabs looks fab @PurpleWhirple Might try them with the flatbreads from Tom Kerridge's Dopamine Diet book (I put the recipe in the veggie thread), with shredded lettuce and some whipped feta

I've bought my dress for next year's Christmas dinner/lunch etc in the Phase Eight sale (half price £55 down from £110).

Bought the size 14 initially and it was lovely but dh and I agreed that I would be ok with the 12, especially if I were to lose some more weight.

The 12 has arrived and it already looks great

I'm sending the 14 back

I was given Jamie's mediterranean 5 ingredients book for Christmas. Most of the dishes are very carby so I'm picking out the best options. Tonight we're having squid and chorizo on a tomato stew with mint and lemon.

I sent dh to the fishmongers to get squid and he also came home with oysters.