Feb '24 Low Carb Bootcamp - week 4. Back on track?

[BIWI]

So it looked like many of us had slipped off the wagon in week 2. Hopefully last week saw people getting back on again?!

Here's the spreadsheet to record what happened!

Sainsbury's sell it @Thesoundofmusic23

It's not cheap, but one bar lasts me a week. The whole bar comes to 8.1g carbs, so it's a good Bootcamp option.

@pinknsparkly you genius you!!!! Yes, the peppermint and liquorice tea will most definitely help. I haven’t drunk it for several weeks as was finding it a bit sweet.
I wasn’t really thinking of making the puds for boot camp @BIWI 😱😱 but if this is going to be a woe for the rest of my life then I do wonder if some here and there would be ok once I’m maintaining. The chocolates I had were Lindor… I know, I know!! I will resist!! I didn’t have wine though. I’ve now been reading around the ‘after dinner needing a sweet thing’ and some say it’s lack of carbs, not enough magnesium etc etc. Well, I’m not introducing carbs, but my sleep is shocking so think it’s definitely worth introducing a magnesium supplement to see if it helps. That and the liquorice tea.

I love the diet doctor dark chocolate cake recipe as it doesn't use any sweeteners at all and is just lovely with a load of cream (clotted if poss) and a few raspberries. The recipe makes 16 portions which I think works out at less than 3g carbs a slice, depending on the chocolate you use, and it freezes really well too. Deffo worth a look.

I've got a bean-free chilli in the slow cooker which I'll serve with cauli rice fried in butter, lunch was on the fly so a pack of ham, chunk of cheddar and two squares of dark choc, breakfast was Greek yog and cream. Got such a busy week, with stuff every evening, so think my slow cooker is going to feature heavily over the next few days.

KOKO everyone and drink all the water too!

Ooh I may pop a Montezuma bar in the fridge for emergencies - they have a shop in my nearest city.
Im just wondering though what’s the difference between making/buying keto bread, muffins etc to making keto puddings - if they’re all keto?

That does look good @AllTheBlackCoffee theyve also ‘lava cake’ that’s cocoa powder, eggs, cream and vanilla. No sweetener. I’ll wait for a special occasion but I do think it’ll be handy having some options up my sleeve.

Step back a bit, though, @NotDonna and question why you feel the need to plan for sweet things.

Obviously in life after Bootcamp (is there such a thing?! ) we have to be able to include higher carby foods - partly as we may want to and partly because we can't avoid them sometimes, but planning on them would suggest that your brain hasn't quite let go of the need for sweet things just yet!

And

Im just wondering though what’s the difference between making/buying keto bread, muffins etc to making keto puddings - if they’re all keto?

The difference is that the former aren't sweet whereas the latter are. It's all about the desire for the dopamine 'hit' from sweet things.

I like the Montezuma 100% chocolate with orange too - but I can only eat one maybe two of the small squares at a time and it really helps to have it with a teaspoon of clotted cream

I get mine at Sainsbury's

For some reason, the whole thread hadn't loaded when I posted so I hadn't seen that @BIWI had already said that she got it in Sainsbury's

Please don’t think I’m arguing with you @BIWI you certainly know your stuff. I’m just trying to understand. You said ‘The difference is that the former aren't sweet whereas the latter are. It's all about the desire for the dopamine 'hit' from sweet things.’
ok, but if I made sure there’s no sweeteners? Is that any different than 100g of the montezemu choc a week? Nutritionally or otherwise? The lava cake for example is 4g because it’s cocoa powder, eggs etc. I don’t mean in boot camp but as a way of eating forever? For me, I think it’d actually help prevent diving into a crumble at the pub or Lindors that someone buys me.
Im wondering if it’s like stopping alcohol. For some the fake stuff makes them want the real thing too, but for others the fake booze is a good replacement. Iyswim? Please don’t think I’m being argumentative I’m just thinking aloud.

You're always welcome to argue with me!

It's nothing to do with the sweeteners (although it will always, even after Bootcamp) be a good idea to avoid those, as they mess up our gut biome. It's about the sugar and the sweetness level.

Sweet things give us a dopamine hit. Just like alcohol or drugs might do - it's the reward centre of the brain. Which is why we crave them. I'm guessing that there aren't many of us who regularly crave broccoli in the same way!

By going low carb, we're aiming to cut/reduce the hold over us that sugar has. And, as countless Bootcampers have said over the years, you will find that your taste for sweet things does wane. A good example is the Montezuma chocolate. If you'd told me years ago that my regular chocolate consumption would be 100% cocoa I would never have believed you. Now, if I eat ordinary milk chocolate, I do find it very, very sweet.

You're quite right that it's good to have low carb recipes up our sleeves - and desserts can be particularly challenging. I was just trying to point out that at this stage, planning for sweet things suggested to me that perhaps you're still craving sugar/sweet things.

Good tip re the orange montezuma, I have found it hard to find.

I have worked out why I am not losing as quickly as I'd like - I am eating a LOT of food. Yesterday I made two portions of aubergine parmigiana and by picking at is I ate both over the day, as well as breakfast of yoghurt and a few walnuts and dinner of bolognaise with grated cheese.

I seem to be grazing an awful lot, I usually avoid that on BC

Thanks @BIWI I know in my head that chicken thighs are better in the slow cooker than breast but followed the recipe as it was new. Joining in with the bread crowd, you can add crackers and crisps into that as well! Have tried the SRSLY LC bread and it's ok, similarly the home-made one from sugar free Londoner which was actually really good toasted and have picked up some of the Curators pork puffs which were very good but far too easy to eat so rationing those!

Lol'ing at bread being a gateway drug!

Checking in.

Hugs for those parents supporting a hurting child.

Congrats to those who have lost this week. Some good results.

I struggle with bread too, but I quite like the super seedful from waitrose. It's breadlike enough to have as an open sandwich with lots of LC toppings but doesn't give me that more, more, more feeling. I know there are better low carb options available but not in my rural area.

Today I've woken up made my breakfast and realised I'm not hungry. So I've popped it in the fridge for later. I can remember saying in the Jan bootcamp that I couldn't imagine not being hungry and yet here I am. I could not be more surprised!

Not that I want to be seen as a pusher but those of you who are missing bread might want to check out these sites:

https://srslylowcarb.com/
https://weareheylo.com/products/heylo-artisan-seeded-keto-bread?variant=44679993884980
https://lowcarbfood.co/

I've only tried the first one, but I buy sliced bread and wraps from them regularly, and they're pretty good.

I only came across heylo recently so haven't had time to try their bread yet, but it looks like an interesting range.

@BIWI how does that bread freeze? Is it still good one it's defrosted again or toasted?

Yes I always freeze it - I don't use it often enough to keep it out of the freezer.

I have only tried the SrslyLow carb bread and, sadly, I don't think it toasts that well. Although I have made a cheese toastie (which I made in the frying pan) and that was OK.

Ah ok.
I've just bought 4 rolls and 4 pizza bases from the low carb food co.
I miss pizza a lot.

The SLC rolls are fab, not quite like real bread but close enough when you've not had it for a while and can't quite remember what it was like anyway. I use them for sandwiches, burgers, pulled pork baps etc. I prob have one a week as I worry they will impact my weight loss but I had more than that while away last week with no ill effect so that's probably just me.

The wraps are also great, I use them for cheese and ham toastier in the air fryer (brush with melted butter to get crispy) and stuff like fajitas. You wouldn't notice the difference.

I miss pizza too so would be interested to know what the bases are like. I was going to buy the pepperoni ones for us to take away with us but they were out of stock at the time so I couldn't.

Wow those wraps are expensive!

Had a bad week last week, drank too much wine which gave me a horrific hangover and left me craving carbs. Back on track now and fortunately stayed the same weight. Was v proud of myself yesterday, as went out for lunch and just had steak and salad with a mineral water, whilst my friend had steak with chips, wine and a pudding!😂

Just made a lovely mushroom soup for dinner and am planning on making a rhubarb crumble which I've made before, as a treat!

Oh I always forget that I love creamy mushroom soup @Appalonia great idea.

really busy couple of days here with uni and work and crazy deadlines and even crazier clients, kept to plan though and really finding myself not bothering with anything to eat until 11am ish, stopping after dinner about 7 so falling into a natural 16:8 pattern

They are expensive @Appalonia, but they're great to have in the freezer for occasional meals.

For those of you missing pizza, we make one with cauliflower whizzed up with mozzarella as the base, and then whatever your usual toppings are.

I promise it's delicious

@LowCarbingIn2024 Raw or cooked cauliflower?