Week 4 - Pre-Christmas '24 Low Carb Bootcamp: almost halfway through!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Here's the spreadsheet

Some really good looking losses so far, which is brilliant. It also looks like the 'curse of week 3' hasn't affected everybody, which is very pleasing. Let's hope the same is true of week 4!

I'm going to try a veggie recipe this evening, which was one featured in the Guardian's Feast food magazine a couple of weeks ago, for a paneer curry. It does use cashews in it - and they are very carby, but as there's only 25g in a meal to serve 4 people I think that's OK. I love paneer, but have only really ever had it in a spinach dish, so I'm looking forward to it. (There's also a teaspoon of sugar, but I'll see what it tastes like without it before I decide if it's really necessary!)

What's everyone else cooking this week? Anything new/different?

A small loss for me this week. I think this bootcamp is going to be more of a marathon than a sprint!

has anyone successfully made the low carb bread (the one with flaxseed and ground almonds from the Londoner website)
tried this evening but it was crisping up around the edges, took it out at 20 mins and it wasn’t cooked properly in the middle.

Yes I have several times, usually needs between 20-25 mins in my oven. I've been experimenting with slightly more almond and less flax to make it a bit lighter

Succumbed to the temptation of a very crumbly gluten free fruit slice at a meeting this afternoon having had nothing ( foolishly) since swimming. I was hoping my brunch time breakfast of fried egg, bacon, cherry tomatoes ( just three ) and mushrooms would see me through but was hungry by 3pm with a longish drive home afterwards so it seemed the lesser of several evils. At least I resisted the millionaire shortbread! I will sort out some emergency mini packs of nuts for the rest of the week to keep in the car. And I drank a whole jug of water during the meeting, no- one else touched the water. Spot the boot camper!

Saw a very pleasing 123.4 on the scales this morning (just under last Friday's number) and my lowest weight in over a year. I doubt I'll improve or even maintain that by Monday, sadly.

Lovely kebab style chicken with peppers, shallots, mushrooms for dinner yesterday, with some garlicky lemon yogurt on the side.

Swam this morning, ok on the water.

For a change breakfast was a sort of chia pudding/porridge pot: ground flax, chia, ground almonds, with a few sunflower and pumpkin seeds and frozen raspberries, with whole milk to make a solid goo (after 4hrs).

I’ve finally got around to updating the spreadsheet with my readings from the last 3 weeks. Lost 4lbs in total which I’m happy with. I’ve been a bit scared to post in case @BIWI tells me off, I haven’t been following bootcamp to the letter, more using it as a kick up the bum to get back to eating a mostly LC diet, and it’s working. I started at 10 stone, and my aim is to get back down to 9.5 where I was when I finished bootcamp almost a year ago. So I’m playing around with how many carbs I can get away with to lose and also to maintain weight, as that’s what I need to stick to going forward.

We are a similar weight @VeryGoodVeryNice and I would also like to get to (or under, ideally) 9.5 stone by the end of bootcamp. Then I'll undoubtedly gain some over Christmas, and then a reset in January. I think my "happy weight" is about 9st3lbs, but it has been a few years since I've seen it.

I'm starting to wonder about what carb level "modest loss" or "maintenance" is at, I'd be interested in your experience so far, appreciating everyone is different.

I would love to be able to eat a mince pie or drink a Baileys at some point in December and know that - if everything else I have is low carb - the worst that will happen is scales wobble up then back down to where they were! (I am talking as Bootcamp ends, not about going off plan before then)

The difficulty with maintenance is being able to know how many carbs you can tolerate without seeing your weight increase too much. First, you need to accept that your weight will fluctuate - quite naturally - and that an increase of carbs can lead to an increase, albeit that it's not likely to be a sudden dump of fat! Second, everyone has different levels of carbs that they can tolerate, so it's not like we can set a daily amount as a guideline. (Which is always one of the difficulties in defining what a low carb diet is!)

The best thing to do, when you reach a weight you're happy with, is to experiment, by gradually introducing some carbs. And see what happens. Unfortunately this probably means you have to be more vigilant about counting carbs than when we're on Bootcamp. But you may also find that you can tolerate some foods more than others. I'd suggest that falling face first into biscuits, pastries and chocolates may have more of an impact!

I'd also suggest that you give yourself a range of weights that you deem 'acceptable' or your maintenance range. You'll never see the exact same weight on the scales every day anyway, given natural, daily fluctuations. So I'd suggest that you give yourself some flexibility - say, 5-7lbs above your desired weight. You'll need to be vigilant and keep on with regular weighing, and if you see a creep upwards, then you have a few strict days till that reverses.

Maintaining is harder than losing! (BTGTT-S!)

@VeryGoodVeryNice I won't be cross with you, as I know what you're doing/trying to achieve! (And use of The Big Stick does not = cross )

Thanks @BIWI , that's really helpful. I quite like approaching things from a methodical take, so will be quite happy (when i get to it) to do a bit of modest experimentation with different carbs and observe the results. Rather than falling face first into a heap of crap! Fairly certain a scientific approach will prove that no good comes of a large Bailey's, but of course it will be important to test the hypothesis 😉

Yep I agree maintaining is the tricky bit. I finished bootcamp last Christmas, was pretty strict with staying on track until maybe about June, then slowly descended to eating hardly anything LC. But only piled on half a stone, which is better than I expected 😂. I’m finding now I’m doing my own version of BC, and eating maybe 80% LC…that’s still enough for me to be losing at least a pound a week so I could probably get away with a few more carbs to maintain my weight when I get back to 9.5. I have had 3 McDonald’s since BC started, just for full disclosure. Along with a few biscuits and other things I shouldn’t really be eating. I think the main thing is that I am just being a lot more aware of what I’m eating, and I’ve found that now I’m back on the wagon the majority of the time, my appetite has gone right down again so I’m just eating a lot less than before BC.

@ReconstructionSite if you can get hold of a copy of Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, it's really worth reading the explanation of the four different phases of the diet, as that's essentially what we're talking about here.

Will do, thanks @BIWI 👍

Still on the BC as started late.
Am down 8lbs since starting on my scales today.
Was 1/4 of a lb over the next stone down this morning which I am finding really encouraging. Hope I don't get another wiggle up tomorrow.

Interesting to read about the challenge of maintenance.
Am a long way off my goal weight still so a while to worry about that!

Just tea & coffee for breakfast today as was in a rush.
Salmon and creamy sauce for lunch.
Stirfry with tofu & prawns for dinner.

Heartily recommend Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution too. It's what convinced @Comeonyoublues to start us on this WOE last year. And such helpful thoughts on maintenance, thank you @BIWI. Realistically, it might be Easter before I'm nearer the weight I'd like to maintain but I'm much further on- or my brain is much further on- in understanding what I need to do to achieve that. I'm going to have to accept that pasta is a treat rather than a staple part of my diet for example! Lunch after swimming today was my favourite avocado, tomato and mozzarella salad with avocado oil. Tonight will be fish friend in lots of butter with lemon and capers. And lots of green veg. Looking forward to making the delicious orange keto cake with almond flour that was on the thread last time. We will try it out on our guests for dessert tomorrow served with optional creme fraiche and blueberries and raspberries.

What's fish friend @islandtiger?
That cake sounds delicious!

Ah sorry ignore me - read it again and realise you meant fried 🐟
Thought it was some kind of fish product I didn't know about 🤣

@NoCarbsForMe 🤣 I'm sorry. I did try and correct it but you can't edit once posted, or I can't figure it out. I'll find that cake recipe and add a link. It always collapses in the middle so I turn it upside down and ice it that way up.

Thanks @islandtiger 🍊🧡

Thank you for whoever mentioned Dirty Celeriac Fries in a previous thread. It inspired me to serve a bean-free chilli con carne on top of celeriac fries, topped with cheese, soured cream and jalapenos. Most successful family meal so far on Bootcamp!

Desserts and other sweet things Recipe thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/low-carb-recipes/3409598-Desserts-and-other-sweet-things-Recipe-thread

Orange keto cake at the top of the thread as I couldn't find it anywhere on that thread after all. There are some delicious ideas on that thread.

Bit late to update , but I am still here plodding along
I stayed the same weight
Bought the Christmas Good Food magazine , and recommend this
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/kale-leek-cheddar-goats-cheese-gratin
but obviously make the sauce without the flour ( and I didn’t use goats cheese , but Parmesan )
we also made it with the addition of cauliflower , and it was lovely , in fact we’ve had this or a variation 3 times so far !

I can confirm that the paneer recipe was a success. A bit faffy, making it for the first time - once you know what you're doing (i.e. how much of each spice/which you're using) I'd bet it would be quicker.

It was very tasty. I served it with rice for DH and DS2, but I had mine with a portion of diced courgette, sliced shallots and some red chilli, all fried in butter.

Will put the recipe on the recipe thread.

Good afternoon everyone. Sounds like there's some great progress!

Does anyone have any low carb ideas for when feeling nauseous? I've been on 2 types of quite strong antibiotics since Sunday and they're making me feel really nauseous. I'm only really fancying things like toast, crackers, digestive biscuits, potatoes (none of which are low carb!).

To complicate things more - one antibiotic has to be taken on an empty stomach and the other one has to be taken after food. I'm on them for at last 10 days, but could be longer.

For strong antibiotics you also need pre/pro biotics - so some FFGY might help you there (assuming it has all the good bacteria in it).

You could also try something like Actimel (not the fruity/flavoured ones) and see if that helps.

If all else fails, then a slice of wholemeal toast!