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!

Quick question, what does everyone do when invited out to lunch/dinner at a friend's house? We are going to dinner tomorrow and I know that the menu with be potentially carby. It's with a few other people so we didn't feel it would be at all fair to mention low-carbing.

The lady in question always makes two desserts. The main will be fish or veggie. Ask for small portions and skip pudding and potentially offend the hostess or just write it off as one of those days?

@catwithflowers I’m probably the wrong person to ask , but when we go out like that , I tend to avoid potatoes , bread and crackers with the cheese etc , if I can , and have dessert as I love a pud

I wouldn’t want to offend a good friend whose been slaving over a hot stove all day

@catwithflowers probably too late now but I usually tell the host that I'm not good with pasta (OK with a sheet of lasagne, but not a whole pasta based dish) or risotto. That usually avoids the worst offenders. But it depends on how well I know the host and how familiar I am with their style of cooking and serving - does it all come plated or is it help yourself to potatoes, veg, etc?

Do you know the format? Last time I was at friends I ate the pate with a bit of salad and left the oat cakes; I ate the meat and lots of veg but had only a tiny piece of potato and left most of it; was too full for pudding. I don't think host noticed.

'Writing it off as one of those days' depends on the occasion. A rare extended family dinner which has to cater for nut allergies, lactose intolerance, vegetarians - I try not to add to the complex load and just eat around what I can. Other friends I might offer to bring a starter or nibbles (which I will make low carb), or a cheese board.

I aslo find that people are more aware of pre-diabetes and can understand why you might swerve a sugary desert. Depending on how close you are, have a quet word with the host beforehand and say you are reducing sugar. They probably won't notice if you don't eat lots of potatoes or parsnip or sweetcorn.

I also have some friends who know my food preference and are entirely on board.

I tried a new recipe tonight. JO Mediterranean 5 ingredients: mixed peppers and leeks fried gently, nestle cod pieces into the veg, add juice of 1/4 orange cover and steam for 7 minutes. Make a dressing of crushed oregano (in pestle and mortar) add 1/4 orange juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil.

It was delicious served with mange tout and broccoli.

I have super sensitive skin @Magnolia82 so you have my sympathy. No advice, apart from simple skincare while it's flaring up, but just so you're not alone.

Made cauli pizza tonight. Was nice but what a faff!! Also far too much mozzarella so it was quite soggy but filled a hole. It's been a while since I made it and now I remember why, will be a while til the next time!

You don’t have any other symptoms bubbling up, do you @Magnolia82 ? There’s a horrid cold/flu going around, which comes with sore skin for some.

That sounds very unpleasant @Magnolia82 - I hope that the painkillers help. I really don't think it's from low carbing, more likely either an allergic reaction to something, or something viral. I'd definitely go and see either your local pharmacist or your GP (if you can get an appointment).

@catwithflowers that's always a difficult dilemma. I know you've said that there are other people going, but why aren't your needs important?

If the hosts are good friends, I see no reason why you can't tell them what you're doing, and therefore what you can/can't eat. Have they not asked you in advance if there's anything you don't or can't eat? Any good host would surely do that! If you can't make your needs known because talking about 'dieting' can seem trivial (even though it really isn't), you could also reframe it as a health-related requirement - pre-diabetic, blood sugar issues, etc.

However, as you posted your question yesterday, all of this is probably a bit late!

In circumstances where you can't avoid it, just go with the flow. If you can, avoid the really carby stuff, or just eat a small portion - but if you can't, e.g. if it's all plated up, or it's all carby (like a pasta dish or a rice dish), then just enjoy it. And then be super strict for the next few days.

But never forget - your needs are just as important as anyone else's!

I’ve really struggled this bootcamp and every bloody bootcamp but this week things have come together and I feel really good about myself.

Two things I read/head helped my mindset, I’ll share them in case anyone else finds them useful:

1. I heard someone talk about some dietary changes they had made and they said they no longer feel guilty about eating crap. Something clicked in me along the lines of, the guilt and shame I feel really isn’t worth any food item
2. I read a book that has itching to do with food but it is about loving oneself and ai found this quote relevant to making changes for the better “your self-confidence sky rockets when you make and keep commitments to yourself”

I'm glad that you're feeling better about yourself

Finally, the carb cravings are subsiding and I'm getting on quite well and consistently eating well. It's taken a while.

I too find that it's not a problem to skip pudding when being cooked for - "that was marvellous I really couldn't manage another thing" never gets a second glance in my experience. But if cheese appears I miraculously find a tiny space!

Had a delicious soup for lunch: chicken stock, leeks, broccoli, blue cheese. And tonight is the wonderful mousakka that is on the recipe thread. What a great day!

Couldn't be arsed to make something tonight, but had a fabulous meal with M&S beef in red wine sauce, steamed green beans and made creamed spinach, was yum!

to make creamed spinach, fry garlic in butter, add spinach until it's wilted then add cream and parmesan. delicious.

Easy, lazy, but hits all the low carb targets!

Steak (which has been marinading in olive oil and red wine vinegar for the last hour), green salad with shallot vinaigrette and celeriac chips. (Proper chips for DH).

DH is going to open a good bottle of red as well, in honour of the steak!

Has anyone tried baking with oat fibre? I've seen it mentioned on some websites, but never tried it myself?
https://lowcarbyum.com/oat-fiber/

We're having "thyme infused frothing butter steaks" with buttery mange tout, baby sweet corn and fried shallots.

The steaks are the Lidl extra thick 30 Day Aged grass fed fillet steaks that I salted with Maldon sea salt mid afternoon and then get cooked in loads of frothing butter with a handful of fresh thyme, turning and basting regularly.

They're my monthly treat when i have 10% off voucher to use.

Still feeling rough but little children don't care about that. Silver lining is that I'm on track to lose almost 5 lb this week unless that bounces back up. I'm leaving that plateau in the dust.

But the appetite has finally come back and I'm avoiding the mound of leftover pizza from the kids in favour of a pork chop. Don't think I can manage more than that so I will try to squeeze a veggie or two in tomorrow.

I had sweetheart cabbage stirfried in sesame seed oil and sesame seeds with chopped chorizo tonight. And then a small coffee with cream and two squares of 85% dark chocolate. Friends came for lunch so I defrosted bread rolls for them but stuck to a Gouda cheese and a tomato and burrata salad for lunch. DH made an amazing low carb almond flour cake, so we had that with three or four raspberries and cream. I'll put the recipe on the thread if it's not there already. Best day I've had for ages, apart from eating a bit later than I ideally like, as I drank lots of water. Steadily going back down a lb- ish a day, hoping for a better result on the scales tomorrow.

Catching up on all the pizza chat - I do miss pizza but feel like @AllTheBlackCoffee about cauliflower pizza. It's definitely not worth the faff. I may investigate some of the ready made bases for next time we have the ooni out. Would love to find an actual dough recipe but I realise I'm kidding myself. The keto naans someone posted on the last bootcamp might work too, although you couldn't add much cheese as they already have loads of mozzarella in them.

Well done to those of you KOKO, after a decent loss last week I am hoping for a small one tomorrow but will see.

Cabbage with sesame and chorizo sounds like a nice change, I may try that one too. Chicken here today, haven't decided how to have it yet so I'm off to browse the recipe threads for inspiration. Have a good Sunday all

@LilianaVikavanovich @BIWI @venusandmars
Thanks for your input. In the end dinner was nice and nowhere near as disastrous in terms of low carbing as it could have been. A salad with prawn and mango, already dished up so no avoiding the fruit but lots of green there too, an aubergine, pine nut and ricotta bake with mozzarella topping so perfect for this WOE and a very small piece of cake with blueberries. Refused bread and chocolates with coffee. 😇

Will be very strict today, Thai chicken for dinner tonight from the recipe thread with steamed cabbage and broccoli. Might also make the almond cake almondtiger referred to!

@catwithflowers that sounded lush!

Saw my previous low of 184 again this morning. What’s the chances of that sticking til tomorrow? My progress is so slow which is disheartening at times but I’ll keep plugging away. I’m so close to my next milestone of 183.6 on happy scale but it keeps evading me. Grrrr!!

Todays plan is bacon and mushrooms on SLC roll after footy and roast chicken and all the LC trimmings for tea.

Had a massive kitchen cupboard clear out yesterday. Herbs and spices older than my teen, carby stuff like couscous and bulgar wheat that we no longer eat and a load of other stuff that needed chucking. Felt very cathartic. What is it about this time of year that makes you want to throw everything out?!

I really want to go through my wardrobe and clear out all the stuff I hate but as I’m still in very few of my clothes that will need to wait.

@AllTheBlackCoffee the going through the drawers and wardrobe and having a really good clear out is on my to do list this afternoon 😊. Just back from a gorgeous spring walk with the dog. So many bulbs are popping up now and the wild garlic smells amazing!

Sorry, I posted to the wrong thread 🤦‍♀️
I'm still koko!

0.8lbs off for me. Not much but I'll take it. The holiday chat has focussed the mind for me as we're away for Easter, which I realise now is not far away!