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.

Lovely dress and a great victory @prettybird

oh my gosh that doner recipe! And with the whipped feta (which I’ve yet to try) sounds delicious. Think I’ll do that for Saturdays dinner as I’ve got both DD1 & DD3 home plus DH. I may have mine in a lettuce wrap as since I gave up bread a couple of years ago I can’t deal with the texture of wraps, paninis etc. What veggies? Don’t want cold salad/slaw. Peppers?

Squid 🦑 oysters 🦪 I can see why he struggled 🤣 @venusandmars

I'm making that kebab this weekend.

Just made a lovely frittata with courgette, feta, egg and pesto.

Love the dress @prettybird. And the planing ahead! Dropping a dress size great motivation to keep going.

Loving the cat adventures @prettybird and I hope the lovely dress gets an outing before Christmas!
Second day in the office in a row today so two days of no snacking.
B Greek Yogurt on the very early train.
L homemade red cabbage coleslaw with olives and tuna
D big mushrooms with a pizza style topping. DH will have carby pizza.

Still feeling very fragile. Was good at lunch with salad and tuna mayo but at dinner all I wanted was to fall face first into a bowl of pasta. And I was about to do it. Had told the other half I'd given myself a pass and he agreed (he is also feeling sub-optimal). But then I read the updates on this thread and saw how hard everyone else is trying and my resolve stiffened. I ended up having scrambled eggs and cucumber for dinner. I don't feel great digestively speaking, but I do feel smugly pleased with myself, which is almost as good as a bowl of pasta... right? 😆

How did you get on today @Metabolicallycomplicated? Hope the review went well!

Sorry you're still not feeling so well @RooRooCooChoo - but very well done on resisting the pasta!

Well done for resisting the pasta @RooRooCooChoo that's amazing!

I've just had the most wonderful meal - I made @Almahart meal of
Leeks, with cumin seeds and lime juice with grilled Halloumi (I topped mine with Greek yogurt and a drizzle of sriracha) and was really delicious!
Would highly recommend it!

As you said @Almahart definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Thank you!

I'm going to make the kebab next!

That looks amazing @lurknolinger on my plan for next week.

@NotDonna if you don't want salad/ slaw with your kebab, peppers would work and maybe long slices of fried aubergine with the lamb and whipped feta on top then popped in the
lettuce (someone said they made mini pizzas this way too so not entirely my idea!).
Or maybe some lightly fried cauliflower rice which you could bind with the whipped feta.

That halloumi and leeks dish looks fabulous, I'll add that one to my list.

Whipped feta sounds like an inspired addition to a kebab fakeaway, I might give it a go this weekend. Bought feta last week but haven't managed to get around to it yet.

Had a couple of awful work days so I've been glad of all the meal planning and batch cooking I did last Sunday now as the food hasn't required any brain power from me as it's all written down and mostly prepared in advance. Pasta sauce is all ready to go for tomorrow, mine will be on a bed of mushroom and cabbage 🥬

Lovely dress @prettybird, I can't believe you are planning for Christmas 2024 already 😱

Ooh I missed the Halloumi and leeks! What else is involved please?

I'm not really: it was just I saw the dress via a FB ad and thought it looked really nice. And this year, I'd worn a c25 year old dress at Christmas (which dh bought me for Christmas before we got married and which we call "Old Faithfull" as it can be dressed up or down: a charcoal grey knitted Merino Laura Ashley dress) as I hadn't managed to find a "new" dress this year, after wearing a nice green Hobbs dress the last couple of years.

I'm happy to wear the same thing two years in a row - but not three

Screenshot from last weeks thread:

Found these in co-op today- delicious!

@prettybird the dress is lovely. Will you wear it before too or it save it to Xmas? It's def weather appropriate for now! Still do freezing here.

I have to swerve a bday party tonight do fingers crossed it wont be too carby. I havent been to a dinner party for ages. My parents used to throw them all the time. Did they go out of fashion? I'm going to start brining them back, low carb style!

@blackteaplease would you share your frittata recipe please? I’m eating way too much meat and not many eggs at all atm. I weigh daily and am 0.4lbs (so half a pound) from bootcamp goal of 150lbs (10.10). I’m so so pleased. My ultimate aim is 140.
Had a good day yesterday no exercise other than a dog walk but it was lovely and sunny. Freezing but sunny! I was busy doing paperwork and forgot to eat until around 3pm - had a butternut and spinach curry from the back of the freezer. Dinner was salmon and veg with mash for carbies - I’ve started buying wild line caught salmon but it was quite dry; maybe because it’s much firmer.

@Mimosa1 no one does dinner parties do they? Maybe we should both start!

@NotDonna for 2 people I used 2 courgettes, half a pack of feta, 4 eggs and a tablespoon of pesto. I winged it whilst wrangling kids so it's s not exact.

Cut courgette into thin rounds fry in batches in olive oil until brown.
Whisk eggs
Finely chop feta then whisk into eggs with pesto.

If you have time layer into a tin. Or throw all in together if you are in a rush. I baked it for 30 mins but you can probably cook on stove and grill in the traditional way

@blackteaplease when I click ‘thanks’ on the post do you actually get a thanks? If not, thank you!

Yes I did. It pops up as a notification

Hi BIWI, review went well and I stuck to boot camp as planned all day, scales still stubbornly at 20st this morning but I’m trying not to think about it and just crack on.

16:8 with protein is no breakfast, but I have 20g whey protein over 4 hours in a litre of water. It helps with my energy levels (given the anaemia it’s one of the few things I’ve found that seems to help me get going in the morning).

Im not sure why my kebab would cause a gain so it probably is coincidence but even happy scale seems to think this is a gain and not on my normal trend. I have almost stopped bleeding (huzzah!) for the first time in 4 months so possible my hormones are doing something odd that’s causing some retention or something. Who knows!