Feb '24 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 5 (and I'm off!)

[BIWI]

Morning all!

My last day before jetting off to sunnier climes. I'm leaving you in the more than capable hands of @prettybird

As ever, here's the spreadsheet

The challenge for this week - should you choose to accept it - is to create a great low carb dinner party menu. Bonus points for not raiding the recipe section for ideas!

DH and I are great fans of The Great British Menu, and for the last couple or so of series, the starter course has to be vegan - I'd love it if they insisted that one (or more!) of their courses had to be low carb, which inspired this thought.

Look forward to what you come up with

The scales have moved. 3 pounds off. 11 to go. Mother’s Day lunch out to negotiate

Anybody got any good easy stuff I can chuck in the slow cooker? Next week is booking hectic and I need to plan. Off to have a look at the recipe thread but any idea's gratefully received.

Excellent news @Pleaseandthankyou

Sorry, can't help you @AllTheBlackCoffee as I don't have a slow cooker. From memory, Armenian lamb would be suitable for a slow cooker, but might not fit the "chuck in the slow cooker" criterion. The pork belly and chorizo casserole would also work (as it's cooked long and slow in the oven) but it might also involve too much prep for you.

I like lamb mince with courgette, aubergine, leeks and anything else you have. A bit of harissa paste or whatever else you fancy. Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt. Or beef cheeks with shallots and a tin of tomatoes. Check the tin for carbs. Serve with roasted cauli and broccoli

Thank you both. I spotted the American lamb and thought it sounded nice so might give that a go. Also loving the mince as it sounds easy. I rely on my slow cooker so much and have loads of recipes but I'm getting a bit bored. Should prob start a thread on the recipe section...

@AllTheBlackCoffee I've got a chicken, chorizo, red pepper and garlic 'thing' in the low oven of the Aga so kind of like a slow cooker. I'm thinking of adding some mozzarella as a kind of crust and wacking it in the hot oven for 10 minutes. Served with steamed broccoli. Trying to fix my pizza craving.

The Armenian lamb is very tasty I really should make it again

Weighed myself today and I'm 2lbs down. So this means I've gone from 11 stone 6 to 10 stone 9. I'm so thrilled! I've done low carb before but struggled a bit this time, so I'm really pleased that sticking to it has paid off.

Made a roast chicken dinner tonight, with creamed spinach, sprouts and a sausage wrapped in bacon. Was lovely, and although I LOVE roast potatoes, the weight loss is SO worth it!

If anyone is near a Waitrose, they have seeded crackers and beetroot crackers, both v low in carbs. Very good for having cheese, pate, peanut butter on.

Have you tried fathead pizza?

Oh great, I'd make a special trip for crackers!

@AllTheBlackCoffee pretty much anything to do with chicken thighs is good in the slow cooker, I tend to do a curry which is onion, garlic, ginger, ground cumin, ground coriander and a little chilli powder. Then add some chopped tomatoes and coconut milk and leave on low - if you prefer a bit more spice you can add cayenne, garam masala and a bit more chilli but it's a chuck it all in and see recipe. About 1/2 hour before serving add spinach, courgette and cauliflower florets.
If it's not curry then my other go-to is chorizo, onion, peppers, cherry toms and cajun spice - makes a sort of stew that is extra yummy the next day 😊

@Appalonia drat, I was there today! Will look out for those next week. I really miss that crunchy texture.

Great recipes again and I will be looking for those crackers!

I still have no scales (wobbly floors seem to wreck them) but am happily sticking to the eating plan. (Wine or Gin and soda water at weekends. )

I feel well -and light.

Is that the Dr Karg protein crackers? They are delicious.

Well, overall today was pretty good following the illness induced toast intake of the last couple of days.

Yogurt/berries/rhubarb for breakfast

Ended up at Starbucks at lunchtime and they had some little egg/cheese/ham patties.

Then out for a meal tonight (Italian). Had a started of avocado and smoked salmon baked in a cream sauce, followed by aubergines baked with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Didn't touch the bread that came with the starter. No pudding but a glass of red wine. I feel much, much better tonight.

Best of all I felt completely full after the Italian meal but not in the least bit bloated. The old me would have been chowing down garlic bread and pizza and probably pudding too.

@Appalonia actually no I haven't tried the fathead dough yet. I used to make the cauli crust pizza but it was such a faff. I do have all the ingredients in to make the fathead one though so will give it a try on Monday 😊.

We’re off on holiday today ( first , the long trek to LHR and a Sunday morning flight to Barbados 🏖️)
I will update in advance the spread sheet for the next 2 Mondays as STS , and I’m hoping there won’t be too much excess baggage on the scales on my return !

Wow @LilianaVikavanovich have a fab time, I'm so jealous!

Up early for footy training, dog walked, house tidied, washing on already and just having a quick coffee before I jump in the shower and head out.

Not sure on breakfast/lunch but tea will be fajitas in a SLC wrap with all the fixings. I bought a few pizzas from SLC this time as I'm desperate to find something to fill the pizza shaped hole in my life (and to have something I can whack in the oven on CBA nights). They aren't cheap but if they're good I think they will be worth it as an occasional treat. I'll report back.

Morning all. I'm having a lazy start and can't be bothered to tackle the laundry pile of doom. I've had poached eggs and avocado on toasted liv life bread, coffee and water so far today.

@AllTheBlackCoffee please share your review of the slc pizza. I've tried fathead pizza but it's too rich and I can't be bothered with cauliflower pizza.

Also @Appalonia what's the cracker brand please?

Have a fabulous holiday Liliana, sounds the perfect antidote to the greyness here.

I discovered the Waitrose seed crackers a couple of weeks ago ( sorry don't remember the brand) and they are delicious. I had them with some whipped feta and baba ganoush - felt like the old days of crisps and dip.

Quite excited by the prospect of these crackers but I won't be allowing myself to eat anything like that yet. I have, once again, fallen off the wagon once I allow myself to do BC lite so I'm here for my confession. It has only been about a week, but honestly this week I've eaten pizza (more than once), quesadillas, rice with my curry, and a bowl of pasta 😳😳😳

All of it has just been convenience crap which I should have been more organised to avoid. So this is me today, back on the wagon for a couple of weeks of strict bootcamp. I've had 2 pints of water, a black coffee and bacon and eggs so I'm ready for Saturday 💪💪💪

Hopefully owning up will spare me the worst of @prettybird's Big Stick but I'm ready for it if not. I have my excuses but they're not really relevant are they, I just need to get my shit together and stop pissing around eating pizza just because I like it. My weight really is more important to me than pizza. Has anyone here had any sort of counselling to help with weight loss? I'm so frustrated with myself. I wonder if I need to explore why it is I can't just fucking crack on and stick to the plan. I had hypnotherapy for weightloss once which worked pretty well while I was listening to it daily, I might try that again.

I need to pack today as I'm going to a concert by Fleetwood Mac Legacy tomorrow night and we're flying to Madeira at 9.30 on Monday morning (lovely SIL will pick us up at 6.30 to take us to the airport). I'll post the next week's thread at the airport.

I've also got a cut 'n' colour this afternoon

In really good news, I was 11st 7.75lb this morning - so 3/4lb less than when I went on holiday last September What are the odds of me losing another 1lb by early Monday morning so that I can get under 11.5 stone?

I'm going to be drinking lots of water today and tomorrow

Happy holidays to those who are jetting off. 3 weeks to go for me and I'm targeting half a stone off by then.

@PurpleWhirple - sorry you fell off the wagon.

I've never had counselling/hypnotherapy for weight loss but I do occasionally fall off the wagon for no obvious reason (hence me having been on course for a great new low and then putting a lot of it back on and having to work really hard to get back to last year's holiday weight ).

I think there's a degree of self-sabotage on occasion. You'd been doing so well so do you think subconsciously you're not worth it? Because you are worth it.

This WoE is unforgiving but if it's just this week, provided you drink all the water, you may find that the "new" weight comes off quite quickly that's what I found

Here comes the Big Stick You quite rightly identify that part of the problem wasn't being organised. You know the answer to that

If you feel hungry, eat But make sure it's HFLC snacks or meals. Make sure you have plenty of them in the house - even if it's just babybels or salami (I know salami is processed but at least it's not carbs). Slices of cheddar spread with butter and bovril/marmite (if you like them, if not just butter) also make good snacks. Boil some eggs so you've got them available (I boil 6 at a time: have 2 as hot slightly running boiled eggs and leave the others to cool down in the water to eat later when required).

Also, are you hungry hungry or just mouth hungry? Often we're not really hungry, just bored or habituated to eating. Have a glass of water first and leave it 5 minutes, go and do something else and then check with your stomach * Are you really* still hungry?

Glad to hear you've started today well.