Week 4 (or 5!) Jan '25 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Spreadsheet, as ever

Although we're coming to the end of this particular Bootcamp, you'll see that @FinallyHere has added enough columns to the spreadsheet so that you can keep going, should you wish.

We'll also keep this thread going too, past the end of the week, for general low carb/Bootcamp chat and support - although I won't be starting a weigh-in thread each Monday after this one.

I know it's only been a short one this time, but looking at the spreadsheet, it looks like there have been some great results, even before today's weigh-in.

I just asked it to create a 7 day low carb high fat vegetarian meal plan, excluding a few things I didn’t like. It churned out the first lot of recipes and some I didn’t like the sound of, so I asked it to do a new plan but without more things that I don’t like (I’m fussy!). The second lot was much more to my taste. Just about to make roasted vegetables on a bed of cheesy cauliflower mash, with sliced hard boiled egg on top. The egg sounds random but I’ll give it a try! So if there’s certain things you don’t like the sound of it will suggest suitable substitutes.

That's great, thank you. Might make meal planning slightly less onerous!

Here’s tonight’s offering (plus daughter’s steak). It’s actually really nice.

@Baystard thank you. @NotMe1981 that is interesting, I never think of that sort of thing, let us know if you find something particularly tasty!
I'm hanging in there and things are still going in the right direction. I feel like my face looks thinner already - I liked what was looking back from the mirror this morning 😂
Lunch today was bolognaise on salad (leftovers from last night) and dinner was leftover lamb chops and chicken from the weekend BBQ with salad, so no cooking required!

I feel absolutely stuffed

I’m obsessed with making cold brewed ice tea and I’m drinking far to much of it along with ice coffees I make from what’s left in the coffee jug at the moment

Today I’ve eaten, small peppadew ricotta stuffed peppers, blueberries, pineapple and Osso Bucco which I made for the first and was delicious . I also had a spoon of apple butter which far too rich and heavy.

tomorrow will be leftovers and a salad of chopped up celery, tomatoes, feta, onion and cucumber with some herbs, lemon and olive oil. I’ve been eating loads of this recently. Also very filling.

@NotMe1981 I’ll be trying the AI thing now ( I’ve already had a colour consultation , and asked AI what colour to paint the render on my house , didn’t think about food ! ) thanks for the tip
Going Out , Out tonight , first a long coastal walk , then a nice dinner and a night in a hotel
will definitely be taking water and sunscreen 🌞

I’m also discovering as you try the recipes on chat gpt you can decide whether or not to add them to your collection, and then you can ask it to give you a printable version of your recipe cards once you’ve built up a collection.

Yesterday’s AI lunch was really good, cucumber and cream cheese roll ups. Use a vegetable peeler to slice half a cucumber lengthways, use kitchen towel to drain excess moisture. Then in a small bowl make a mixture of 3 tbs cream cheese, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt, pepper and a fresh herb of your choice (I used parsley). Spread a thin layer of the mixture on the cucumber strips and then roll up. Drizzle with olive oil and more seasoning (optional). Would be a handy one to take to work or out and about in a lunch box.

I’ve been using AI to come up with recipes and cocktails with what I have available.

ive only had tea to drink today and some coconut milk because I was so full yesterday. I’ll have leftovers when I get hungry later and or a chopped salad. I love a chopped salad but it’s been cooler today so I’m back to normal hot tea not my iced teas.

@SemmaLina your walk and hotel night sounds glorious

That salad sounds good @KittenPause- a bit like Greek salad but more crunch.
L - cold sausages, dressed leaves, hm coleslaw, boiled egg and a few slices of cold chicken.
D - meatball stroganoff with stir fried peppers and courgettes. I feel that I’ve posted this recipe on one of the threads under a previous name but I cant find it so I’ve made it up again

Tonight’s AI recipe was possibly my favourite ever LC meal, highly recommend. I used the optional extras (cream cheese and fresh basil). Also used a sachet of frozen cauliflower rice rather than making it.

This evenings basic chopped salad which I had with last nights left overs. I added sweetcorn for a change. It’s just celery, gem lettuce, onion, tomato and cucumber. No Feta or chopped herbs today. You can add anything obviously but my favourites are olives, gherkins, beetroot, pomegranate seeds, roasted veg, sun-dried tomatoes, avocados, goats cheese, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, ham, chicken, bacon, mayo.

It looks small but it’s in a large Pyrex bowl and I ate the lot. I make a big bowl so I’ll keep some for later but I always eat the lot so it’s quite filling. This one is very basic but I just wanted to post a photo any photo. I like that I feel full but not sluggish and heavy

Another AI offering - mozzarella and tomato breakfast bake bake - with eggs, double cream and parsley. Easy to chuck together and just stick it in the oven for 15 mins.

@notme1981 the stuffed pepper looks good, I will definitely try that, and you've reminded me to add cauliflower rice to my shop.

I have a couple of days of eating out coming up and will need lots of willpower to swerve the pudding.

Nearly hitting the 10 week mark.

Yesterday i had;

B - a coffee with double cream
L - A chicken breast with white cabbage with bacon, olive oil & parmesan. 2 boiled eggs
D - Another chicken breast, another boiled egg and then Greek yogurt with strawberries and bit of peanut butter.

Haven't weighed myself in a long time now as i don't want to be disheartened.

Weird weighing this week, steady rise up 2lbs over a few days but today they’ve gone again! Was at an event yesterday where there were amazing cakes and pastries and I didn’t have any! I did drink coffee and tea with milk because that’s all there was - it’s so hard to get cream since everyone thinks it’s fat that’s unhealthy. BBQ pork belly, steak, courgettes, asparagus and portobello mushrooms for dinner. Planning omelette for brunch and leftover BBQ meat with some sort of salad later.

Feeling smug as I made a big batch of BootCamp coleslaw yesterday. Had some with (low carb) sausages last night, put the rest in the fridge and have just had a snack/lunch with some of it

@KittenPause the amounts are obviously very small in your salad, but sweetcorn and beetroot are in the red range of veg... so be careful. There's a difference between a large salad with a few bits of sweetcorn, and a sweetcorn salad with few bits of green leaf.

I also find it tempting to 'use up' the rest of the sweetcorn in inventive ways. Still has cards.

@mrsannefourmile that's a lot of protein and not a lot of veg... Spring is the season for so many good things - herbs, asparagus, spinach... We need a really good variety to make this woe sustainable and healthy.

Down another 2lbs this week! Trying to mix up my meals a bit because I've gotten stuck in a rut so it's broccoli and halloumi salad for lunch then a sort of chicken and mushroom with Boursin thing and cauliflower rice for dinner.

Can't do breakfast so it was a pint of electrolytes, all my medication/vitamins, and a black decaf coffee. The breakfast of champions! 🤣

2lb down , even with a night out including aperol spritz and an icecream after a long walk
@KittenPause photo attached from our walk along the Gower Coast , proving it doesn’t always rain in Wales !
Up early , as I’m meeting my sister for a little run as we’re doing the couch to 5 k , and need a bit of a practise ( and the weather is still lovely )

Beautiful @SemmaLina!
I can’t seem to get out of my plateau.
Really need to focus this week.
Will start posting here again I think, it seems to help keep me on the straight & narrow!

@SemmaLinathat’s so beautiful

Morning - can I join? I've been intermittently on these threads in the past and tend to do quote well and then fall off the bandwagon. I turned 50 last year and now am the heaviest I've been.

@NotMe1981 I like the AI idea. I'm pescatarian but we don't have a decent fishmonger near by so mainly eat veg, and find it can be hard on LC. Also trying to cater for dd1 pescatarian but loves carbs, dd2 & dh meat eaters.

Also very interested in a June boot camp - although I have a couple of weekends away that I'll have to try and work round. I'm thinking I can do the strict bit now and then relax a little by the time my weekends come around.

Plan for today:
B: FFGY with added cream
L: mozzarella salad
S: Roast veg with feta/halloumi, added pasta for the family

I had a slice of sourdough for breakfast - I don’t normally eat breakfast, nor eat bread, but I’ve decided to learn how to make sourdough, and my first loaf was ready for sampling. It’s not great though, so I’m not too worried about eating it all.

At lunch I had ham and cheese, and some FFGY. Dinner is pulled pork, with cauliflower rice.