Week 2 - Jan '25 Low Carb (Dry) Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning

I know that for some/many of us, this is actually only week 1, but as there were some valiant people who started last week, it is now week 2!

As ever, here's the spreadsheet

Just a reminder that if you're using your phone/the mobile app, you'll need to download the Google Sheets app to access the spreadsheet. And when entering your data, only add your weight and - for fear that @FinallyHere will have a coronary, don't touch anything else!

Good luck everyone.

Tried the cheeseburger pie tonight, very yummy. It wasn't a creamy as I'd expected but very tasty. I took the advice of @RatatatCat and added chopped gherkins and they gave it a nice sharpness. I might try adding mustard next time.

For the person looking for lunch on the go ideas, as others have said, M&S do a great range of low carb friendly tapas type things but they're not normally stocked in the sandwich aisle, you need to go looking for them.

I too tried the cheeseburger pie @Baystard and had the exact same thought about mustard! I also wondered about making a kind of cheeseburger bolognese, ie with mince in a tomato sauce at the base.

I enjoyed the pie. It wasn't so over-the-top rich as I had been anticipating. It felt quite normal to eat. I think that the word 'cheeseburger' had somehow called the word fatberg to mind, so that I was expecting something almost catastrophically hefty.

I delayed my dog's evening walk till after dinner, so that I could follow the advice someone mentioned upthread to be active for 10 mins after dinner.

Stick in a bit of aubergine? Moussaka.

Friday evening is normally takeaway night here. But as January is typically a month where there's too many days for the amount of money, we're eating out of the fridge/freezer as much as we can.

We were gifted some amazing cheese for Christmas from my lovely SIL so we opened that. I've also started cooking a ham regularly, so we had leftovers from that too. DH and DC enjoyed it with potato salad that I'd made. I'd also made coleslaw so that was my side.

So I air fried my cauliflower florets which were delicious alongside a chicken breast and half a red pepper. Then I mixed them all up with some mayo afterwards.

I thought they might be too spicy or dry but they weren't at all. I'm glad I marinated them first so the oil spices and a bit of water could possibly soften and soak into them first

Last night I had very strong cravings for a glass of wine. Something about marking the end of the week, perhaps? I resisted, but did have a square of dark chocolate with almonds instead. Not ideal, but I think the lesser of two evils.

Today I have two kids' parties 🤯 at which all of the previous discussions about the perils of brown food apply. With the added danger of lots of booze. As an aside, when I mentioned to a group of non-London-based colleagues that we always have alcohol at kids' parties they were lightly scandalised (and jealous). Would be interested to know if this is only a London thing or if my colleagues are the unusual ones?

I have done well with my mainly veggie (and pescatarian) diet this week but fancy some meat today:

Brunch: bacon and cheese omelette
Dinner: steak with creamy kale and roast tomatoes

@BusyFrizzyLizzie

Ive been to plenty of kids parties with alcohol so definitely not just London.

I've had a few cravings too but not succumbed yet. I also keep forgetting I'm doing this WOE because DD brought me a bar of Montezumo chocolate yesterday and just as I was about to tuck in I remembered and threw it into a drawer

I'm finding coffee and cream is covering that sort of craving for now.

Bacon and cheese omelette sounds good I might have that later

I caved in the same way!! I’m cross with myself (husband guzzling red wine - we always share a bottle on Friday night … I caved into 4 chunks of Tony’s dark almond sea salt, not helped by feeling very pre menstrual) but trying to remember that 4 squares of chocolate in a month will not add half a stone or anything so no need not to just stay on plan and ignore!

I’ve been to kids parties with booze but where I live usually some people are driving (depending on where it is, but it’s often an out of town venue or people are driving into town from villages), so maybe that’s why there’s more booze in London (where parents are less likely to be driving to / from the party)?

I have noticed that London friends have mentioned booze at kids parties before when that's not been my experience 'up North'. I think certain crowds do different party types and then follow suit with each other, and I agree driving is a factor. Here parties are Laser Quest / Ninja Warrior / soft play etc. Whereas my friends in London tended to have more bougie house /park / picnic parties. Which always sound rather lovely to be fair!

We're lucky enough to live in a big house and big garden which could cope with big children's parties (and when ds was older, an attic floor where his room was and where we could let them wreak havoc enjoy themselves in peace without disturbing us )

We always got in bubbly and extra adult snacks while the kids were entertained/were entertaining themselves . This is in Glasgow so not just a London thing

I think legallyblond is right about the driving. It hasn't occurred to me but, on reflection, I'd be surprised if anyone drives to these parties. But before anyone gets the wrong idea, I'll be at a leisure centre soft play, trying to avoid indulging in warm Prosecco from a plastic cup. I dream of bougie 🤣

We don't tend to do booze at kids parties here - missing out! It might be more of a class thing than a particular city? My area is quite working class, but I know a friend on a nicer side of town does. And they often have drinks after the school run (aka a play date).

Just been looking at my bank statement and I have been spending a lot more at the supermarket than normal. Today I am going to look at the spreadsheet for the less expensive options. I had a lovely steak last night, but can't keep that up! As well as losing weight, my plan for 2025 is to become more financially savvy. I suppose if I start cutting down to 2 meals a day, that would help.

Oh, on that point, I wondered why it is so important to have Greek rather than Greek style yoghurt. The Greek I bought was slightly lower carb than Greek style, but by less than 1%. It was twice the price. Just wondering if it makes a huge difference. I am eating it for every breakfast, and my DS loves it too, so we are getting through loads.

Re shopping, Aldi and yellow stickers are my friends.

Re children's parties, I was also going to say that driving is a key factor for rural parties.

@ColouringPencils : I'm not sure about the difference in price but I don't think it's that much at Lidl - maybe 99p for 500g versus £1.60 for 1kg. I had to buy some of Greek Style stuff a few months ago when there was a country wide glitch in supplies of "authentic" Greek yoghurt

It was so much more tart than the authentic Greek yoghurt and didn't have the same lovely creamy texture . Once supplies of the "real" stuff resumed, I ended up finishing off the Greek style tub by making tzatziki with it before throwing the rest out ( "I am not a human trash can" )

I'll confirm the prices and carb counts when I'm next in Lidl.

@ColouringPencils check the ingredients (and the nutritional info) on the packaging.

Here's a piece that explains the differences

But in general, Greek yoghurt contains no thickeners - it's naturally thick because it's strained 3 times. It doesn't contain any thickeners, it has more fat and protein, and it's lower in lactose, so should be OK for any who are lactose intolerant.

Not all Greek-style yoghurt is thickened, btw (but it's always worth checking!)

I had a quick look at Sainsbury's website, and their Greek-style is lower in fat (7.6g per 100g compared with 10g) and protein (4g per 100g compared with 6g) than their Taste the Difference Greek yoghurt.

However that said, their yoghurt doesn't contain anything other than milk and it's also much, much cheaper! £1.20 compared with £2.30, so if you're going through loads of it, that's obviously an option. It just may not be quite as satiating for you.

Just remember, whichever brand you're buying, to check the ingredients and nutritional information.

By the way, if you have an Aldi near you, their Greek yoghurt is £1.89, so much cheaper there. And I can confirm that it's delicious!

It's also lower in carbs than the Sainsbury's one too, at 3.7g per 100g, compared with 4.1g per 100g and higher in protein at 6.4g per 100g compared with 6g.

Although we're London-based, I don't recall ever having alcohol for the DC's parties - mainly because parents were not part of the party. Other children would just be dropped off and then picked up later. Regardless of location. (That's not to say that booze wasn't on the menu for me and DH when they were ever held at home!)

Re spending more at the supermarket, I am hoping that I may actually spend a bit less. I have a feeling that my snacky, crave-y way of eating causes me to go to the supermarket more frequently than I need to, because I buy treaty things and then scoff them, leading me to feel that "there is nothing in the house" even though I have the store-cupboard ingredients for two or three meals.

Since the bootcamp began, I have only done one start-up food shop and one subsequent food shop . Even though I was buying quite a few expensive high-qualioty ingredients, I'm pretty sure that not having lots of in-between pop-ins to the supermarket is saving me from lots of unnecessary purchases.

I love the sound of your children's parties, @prettybird . From memory, most kids parties we went to were non-drinking affairs, but I think that was mostly to do with driving, not any big class or geographic divide.

Caught myself fantasising about a giant bowl of porridge as I walked the dog through the ice-hard woods this morning. So I have just treated myself to poached salmon in scrambled eggs as I hoped that such a posh and expensive breakfast would cure feelings of depreivation. Still fancy the porridgebut I won't crack.

If you really want porridge, then (after you've done 2 weeks of strict Bootcamp) you could always try this recipe

I have no idea what it's like - and have no inclination to try, as I'm not a porridge fan! - but if you're desperate ...

Incidentally, if (like me!) you're reviewing your January budget, this book is worth considering.

Monya Kilian-Palmer writes some really lovely recipes, and there are some great ones in this book. (She also has her own recipe for cheeseburger pie, which she calls cheeseburger casserole)

Thank you very much @BIWI . I am an almond flour fan, and the addition of sesame sounds very tasty. So I will try that in a few weeks.

Another reason for the porridge fantasy is that I have been a little constipated since bootcamp (sorry, tmi). Oat bran porridge normally sorts that for me.

What is the bootcamp wisdom about net carbs? Obviously during bootcamp we aren't including carby high-fibre foods but is it really true that in the longer-term a low-carb way of eating could include things like oatbran that are carby but have an enormous amount of fibre?

EDIT: Actually a quick scan of google results is making me feel rather sceptical about the concept of 'net carbs'. It seems like it may be a little overpromoted by businesses that want to flog carby foods.

'net carbs' is an American thing - they include fibre count in their carb counts.

Just go by the actual carb count.

Oatbran is pretty carby - around 22g per 45g serving. But that isn't to say you can't have it, once you've reached your desired weight. It's like everything when you're aiming to maintain - you need to work out what you can and can't tolerate. Some people can tolerate a much higher daily intake of carbs than others. You may find that you're OK with it. The only way to find out, I'm afraid, is to experiment.

This is why it's impossible to give a clear definition of what 'low carb' is - or to give guidance as to how many carbs per day we should aim for.

Movement on the scales today 🎉🎉🎉, only 1lb but I'll take it! Most of DD's parties were at soft play/laser tag style places so no opportunity for alcohol unfortunately - I invariably felt like a huge glass of wine afterwards! When she went to parties at houses it was normally a case of drop off and collect later so no wine or snacks then either.
Pottery day today with decluttering and charity shops, DH is playing a gig tonight but I'll be on soda water as driving. No sign of the promised thaw yet, got everything crossed for tomorrow 🤞🤞🤞

Thanks for the heads up on that book @BIWI I’ve just ordered a copy. Have to say though that personally I’m finding my shopping a bit cheaper than before. I looked at an old receipt and was a bit horrified to find that I was spending around £25 a week on rubbish food, chocolate and wine. No wonder I got so fat!

Fortunately DS was never really bothered about parties. He had a couple at the local soft play when he was small and we did Laser Quest once. He’s an introvert like me though and parties stressed him out.

Breakfast today was yogurt as usual. The rest of the day, I currently have no idea.

Monya Kilian-Palmer has written four books about keto/low carbing now, and they're all good. She used to work with Heston Blumenthal, so she definitely knows her stuff!

She also has a good website where she publishes other recipes too.