Summer 25 Boot Camp Week 3: on to Boot Camp Light (if you want)

[prettybird]

Good Morning all .

Two weeks in and if we want this week we can add back into our diet fruit, nuts and seeds, chocolate and alcohol, by moving to Bootcamp Light.

HOWEVER!

All of the above in moderation.

Fruit - keep the focus on berries, and don't go mad by having lots of them regularly. As with veg, there's a carb counter on the spreadsheet which you can use - just look at how few fruits are in the green section !

Nuts/seeds - there's a carb counter for nuts on the spreadsheet too. Again, go easy. While they're very good for us, they can get carby very quickly as they're so moreish. Macademia nuts are good, cashew nuts are very high

Chocolate - aim for a minimum of 70% cocoa. You'll be surprised - if you've been avoiding sweet things for a while - at how easy it is to enjoy higher cocoa content chocolate. It's also actually good for us too. Lindt make a good 90% chocolate, which I like the taste and “snap” of, but according to BIWI Sainsbury's sell a good one, in their Taste the Difference range, which is a Ugandan one - https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-ugandan-90-dark-chocolate-taste-the-difference-100g - which I need to try. 2 squares of this is very satisfying.

Alcohol - be very careful here. Partly because you'll find it has more of an effect on you if you're not eating carbs, and partly because once you start drinking you'll suddenly find yourself easily able to justify those crisps! But mainly because a) there can be a lot of carbs in it; b) all the time you're drinking alcohol, this is the source of fuel that your body will be using, rather than fat and c) even if you choose a spirit which has no carbs in it, chances are you'll be drinking it with an artificially sweetened mixer - and remember we're trying to avoid the artificial sweeteners.

So it's up to you - you can move to Bootcamp Light if you wish. Or, if you prefer, you can stay on Bootcamp 'full-on'. If you do that, please make sure you're adhering to rule no 4, which is that most of your carbs should be coming from vegetables and salad. This means you're getting proper nutrition (and fibre!) from your diet.

As an alternative, which might help those of you who are feeling a bit restricted, you could do full-on Bootcamp during the week, and relax into Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

There is a big caveat coming here though!
You also need to know/remember that weeks 3 and 4 are notorious for seeing weight loss slow or stop. Sometimes you may even see a slight gain, even if you are following the rules to the letter. This is quite normal, so don't panic. Just make sure that you are following the rules (don't forget the water!), and KOKO.

Hopefully you’re starting to see good results while not feeling hungry and keeping full of energy. Keep drinking all the water

Link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hlJKScntZ78g7eAkaR7hF_uiL0t3WGumIFvHvDAvfJI/edit?usp=drivesdk

@BIWI I do love celeriac chips though, with lots of bacon and cheese on top!

I have struggled getting back into this way of eating but have been loads better today! Planning to go full on bootcamp súper over the weekend (payday and better planning) and follow strict bootcamp from Monday!

Grrrr I’ve just remembered we are at our neighbours for dinner tonight. I’m not in the mood at all and was really looking forward to some seared tuna with a green bean & avocado salad (recipe from recipetin eats). The tuna was delivered yesterday and expires today so I’m not sure whether to freeze it and have it another day or if it’ll be ok tomorrow evening. And then tonight there’ll be wine!! With everyone partaking but me. And I’ll really want a glass and then another & do on. DH had a glass last night of lovely buttery Chardonnay but I swerved it. Tonight will be harder!! I’ve no idea what they’ll cook either. Hopefully not pasta!! I’m a daily weigher and doing well so really don’t want this to throw me. I should be looking forward to it but I’m really not. That’s a bit sad isn’t it?

It’s really hard when you’re ‘at the mercy’ of someone else’s catering @NotDonna! Even with very close friends, I find it hard to say what I can/can’t eat - and in the past when I’ve said I’m low carb, that’s not been understood.

Go with the flow - and enjoy it! If things are served in dishes on the table, you can obviously swerve the really carby things. If it’s all served plated up, that’s more difficult.

You can, though, swerve the alcohol!

(Oh, definitely freeze the tuna)

@NotDonna at least you remembered early enough that you be sure to have minimal carbs throughout the day. I've pretty much told everyone I know that I don't eat pasta as it upsets my tummy. I find pasta dishes are the most difficult ones to eat around (and no-one asks too many details about 'upset' tummies!) I remind them all whenever I accept a dinner invitation - in a sort of I eat anything except raw sea urchin or pasta (with a mumsnet tinkly laugh). Most of my friends won't be going to the effort of making risottto, so the rest of the rice things (curry, chilli etc) I can take a small portion, then sort of eat round it and leave a bit. Ditto with potatoes. If there's a few beans in a chill, I just go with it. My gut will thank me.

Everyone also knows that have a small appetite, and that I've not got a sweet tooth. I sometimes offer to bring cheese (which I supplement with celery, nuts, apple).

The wine is harder! As Marion Keyes (I think??) once said re how much to drink: 'There's a line in the sand, but once I've had one glass, I can no longer see where the line is.' If I'm at a boozy event and trying NOT to drink too much, I make sure to be really, really well hydrated before I go, so much so that i have to goo and pee as soon as I arrive. Then I start the evening with a big glass of non-alcoholic soda water and lime ("been busy all day, really parched..."). That way I drink the soda slowly, and don't move on to the wine until much later. By then no one else is noticing how much you're drinking, and your tummy is full, so I don't have the same desire and dopamine hit.

I could have done with taking my own advice yesterday! dh and I had another lovely city festival day including early dinner at one of our favourite restaurants. I'd looked at the menu beforehand so: oyster; venison carpaccio with herbs and pickles; sea trout with garlic broccoli, foraged sea veg, purple potaotes (I had a couple of little pieces). I was planning a glass of something cool and white with my trout. But because we are familiar faces, they brought complementary fizz as soon as we sat down. Good intentions out the window. I stuck with the food choices, but the glass of wine quickly morphed to a half bottle

Ha ha! Yes that line blurs for me after one glass too! They did ask if we had allergies etc and I didn’t think to say pasta. Like you say, you can swerve rice & potatoes but pasta 🙄 I’m now worried about risotto as I’d not thought of that & I’ve never been keen on risotto. I am beginning to look forward to it though. They’re a lovely couple and the other neighbours they’ve invited are lovely too. DH has but a very nice bottle of fizz in the fridge to take so if they do open it I may have a little glass of that but ensure I have lots of water too. If there’s pudding that will be my downfall as I’ve such a sweet tooth!

Your dinner out sounds lovely @venusandmars 🥰

Inspired by a recipe in Tesco magazone, tonight we had spiced meatballs in veg curry sauce, served with cauli rice and spinach.

Beef mince mixed with some almond flour, fresh corriander, cumin, corriander seed, garam masala, seasoning. Fried gently. Sauce was onion, garlic, ginger, red pepper, tomatoes, courgette. With curry spices: cumin, corriander, chilli, fenugreek, curry leaf. All cooked and blended. Cauli rice blitzed with fennel seed and caraway seed.

Delicious!

Yum!!!
Last night was a very very enjoyable evening but I’m very sad to say I had a bit of a thick head this morning bc I didn’t stick to my one glass. The food was relatively LC friendly. Starter was a delicious burrata salad with leaves, charred peach, caramelised almonds; main was a lovely garlic crispy chicken thighs with mixed veg of asparagus, peas & butternut (I served myself mostly peas and asparagus); BUT there was crumble!! Made with their homegrown apples - the topping was oats & really very delicious - I only had a small portion. They also followed up with lindor (I had none) and a poppyseed cake to go alongside coffee (I had none). The scales are already punishing me!
I’ve had zero alcohol today despite DH having a glass of red. Lunch was seabass, ratouille & crumbed feta. Dinner was BBQ homemade burgers, with lots of bbq veg & halloumi. Definitely didn’t drink enough water today. Really need to work on that!

My mouth is watering with the thought of that lovely food! Are you all making your own cauliflower rice? Or buying it from somewhere?

@Shells I make my own cauli rice (there was a cauliflower in the veg box this week). I blitz it in the food processor, mix it with spices and seasoning, some olive oil and toast it in the oven.

I've tried frozen cauliflower rice fro the supermarket previously, but didn't like it. It was too wet, and it had a 'brassica' smell.

I buy frozen from Tesco. It comes in a few little bags that take 2 mins to microwave. My efforts to make my own have failed somewhat. I do however just cook cauli as a side with curries etc. You don’t have to rice it.

I also quite like the little bags of cauliflower from the supermarket because when it try to blitz up fresh cauli in the food processor I seem to always end up with it everywhere.

That said, I'm really struggling with getting enough veg at the moment. I'm having an aversion to loads of veg that I normally really like, including all brassicas and green beans. I don't think it's texture as I can't even bring myself to imagine eating cauliflower mash. Instead I'm craving blue cheese and satay (not together thankfully) instead. Not sure what's going on.

I had a bottle of wine this weekend, which wasn't great but I'd bought it before I started BC this time and I just won't buy another.

@venusandmars and @notdonna that food all sounds delicious!

@Perimenofullhalt im assuming by your username you’re not pregnant????

@notdonna Yikes, I really hope not but actually I strongly doubt it. And it has happened before, I have had phases when I find all brassicas totally unappealing, without ever being pregnant.

Such delicious recipes, going to make space for those spicy meatballs @venusandmars

Sympathy from me @NotDonna I was feeling a tad delicate after drinking at least half a bottle of champagne on Friday evening to accompany a Sashimi celebration meal.

In mitigation, this week was our silver wedding anniversary (though I count it at thirty five years as we were together for ten years before tie ing the knot)

the actual day was mostly spent with DH ‘s latest check up at Harefield Hospital confirming nothing bad enough to worry about. As we are and drank I figured I could go for it once every twenty five years until I woke up the next day feeling … delicate.

onwards and downwards.

Happy anniversary @FinallyHerexxx

… and fantastic news about DH

Happy anniversary @FinallyHere - lots to celebrate that day!

Tonight we had spatchcock poussin with cauliflower, green beans, roasted radishes, and mashed turnip with cheese. dh had harvested the last of our anya potatoes - they are very special little gems so I had two (each about the size of a marble!) Very tasty.

Link to Week 4 thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low_carb_bootcamp/5398141-summer-25-boot-camp-week-4-beware-the-doldrums?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share