Week 2 - January ’26 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all! Spreadsheet as per:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gsWvWpGzTSJld1avBi9-uLJveFZes9Qa2ORKthPMl8E/edit?gid=1415293539#gid=1415293539

Very glad to see that there are some great results already!
On the last thread, there was mention of pulled pork - there’s a really good recipe in one of the Fast 800 books, which I shall search out. I may already have posted it in one of the recipe threads, so I’ll check that too.

I make my own - it’s so much nicer, and not difficult if you have a food processor.

Having a very down few days, struggling with kids and ex, trying not to reach for chocolate...

Had my weird day where I can eat at crack of dawn or 10.45 or nothing really, left work, food shop, parents evening, then cooking dinner for the kids after clearing up the mess DD makes of my kitchen every bloody day, then putting food away... finally sat down, having prepped dinner, will wait for DP to get here and we will probably eat late as then it'll be bedtime battles with DS. Have had a creamy coffee with collagen powder, that'll keep me going.

Managed to squeeze in some yoghurt and cinnamon which is made for breakfast yesterday..and a boiled egg. Oh and beef jerky in between appointments.

Dinner is roasted Mediterranean veg and pork loin steaks, will crumble feta on it. Difficult because DP is on statins, high cholesterol and history of family heart problems. So he has to avoid fat. He only eats with us twice a week at most so I'll just have to make sure it's something I can add fat to. DS eats nothing that isn't beige or broccoli/peas/sweet corn...and DD is a law unto herself. So still cooking three dinners most nights.

I'm going to make pulled pork and coleslaw tomorrow, bought mayo today, found the aldi own brand in the squeezy thing is only 1.7 carbs for 100ml, whereas the jar of the same is 3.4! Why?!?

When he gets here I'm off for an extended trip round sainsburys to get Chipotle past for pulled pork as I need to get out of the house for a bit and Aldi didn't have any.

Still not drinking enough water, but trying to make myself on the drive home, trying to fit in loo breaks is still a massive issue. Either because I'm teaching or because I don't let myself go until I've finished a task...I've got an iron cast bladder until I get a cough!

theghostofchristmasarse just made coleslaw with the Aldi jar mayo , that’s interesting! Will get squeeze next time. I’ve also heard that the « Greek style » yoghurt has more carbs than the regular Greek , so will swap that.

punk so pleased you like it!
the Mediterranean veg soup is good too, I’m enjoying it for lunch at work.

just had beef casserole for dinner

I’m back to report in on the Aldi black bean spaghetti, and the one small thing I allowed myself from the SRSLY bundle that arrived today (I’m determined to hold off the rest until the weekend).

Black bean spaghetti was, frankly, a bit like eating string. But you know what.. I was really happy to eat some string. I don’t eat spaghetti for the taste, it’s a texture and a carrier of sauce. I had it with halloumi, mushrooms, fresh basil and a few tomatoes, cooked in plenty of olive oil. I only had the recommended 50g portion, but 30g would have done the trick because..well.. string!

Then today my SRSLY bundle arrived. This stuff is a game changer for me, or at least it was last time I successfully lost weight this way. It means I can just have a big old sandwich when I need it.

My bundle today included croissants, sesame bagels, seeded rolls, plain rolls and fruit bread. It’s all gone in the freezer for now…so I’ll update on what the bagels and fruit bread are like over the next couple of weeks.

I allowed myself one of the croissants for lunch, with cream cheese and cucumber. First thing to say is they’re just tiny things. That’s ok.. I’m low carbing. My halved croissant was like two tiny bits of the finger food that smartly dressed servers offer you from a plate at posh events.

Taste wise, it was ok. Again, it’s just a carrier.. in this case for a spoonful of cream cheese. A little stale tasting, but I didn’t mind it at all. I’ll have to recheck the carb count before I say whether I’d buy them again, as if it’s much the same I’d just have one of their bread rolls.

Snap!

Hi,I tried to catch up with a thread and almost done but didn’t have time to write anything so thought I post un update as it's now Tuesday evening...
Pleased with the results of week one!
3.5lbs lost
This only takes me to my pre-Christmas weight 🫣 but happy regardless
Might have gone in the opposite direction.
It's been a long time since I managed a whole week without sweets and it definitely paid off

I’ve felt tired and sluggish today, but I think it’s TOTM related. I realised I haven’t been eating enough veg, so digestion has slowed down, that might be part of it.

I did the salmon laksa for dinner this evening, with cauliflower rice instead of cabbage. It was tasty, but I’d have liked more heat to it. You just never know how hot supermarket chillies are going to be. Not very, as it turned out. I do have a lot of the broth and some cauliflower rice left over, so I’ll blend that all together as soup for lunch tomorrow.

I feel better for having a good meal, but I am craving something sweet. That’s DEFINITELY TOTM related. I shall resist.

Craving comfort food today so homemade cheese burgers and celeriac chips with salad. Hit the spot! Sated but still struggling a little with the chocolate voice in my head. Sticking with it. Having mint tea to fill the void. 🤞

Thanks for the alternative bread recipe @CointreauVersial ! I really like the other one for (open) sandwiches, but I might try yours if I get bored of them... I don't have a bread maker though.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to pop in and say hello. I signed up to start last week but life got in the way. I also have a wedding this weekend so I have parked BC but will start next Monday. I also signed up for a menopause exercise programme through work which starts next Monday also. I am looking forward to a bit of discipline and getting rid of the Christmas bloat.

Congrats to everyone in the losses. See you all next week.

@TeamToeBeans I thought the same about the laksa, will add more spice to the broth next time, Maybe we are hardcore!

Back down (almost) to Monday's weight which I'm pleased about as those 2.5lb's felt very hard-won, absolutely awful night's sleep again but I'm putting that down to potentially having green tea with peppermint all day yesterday instead of peppermint. I picked up the wrong boxes because I was in a new Tesco nothing to do with peri-brain at all, oh no not me and assumed that they would be pretty much the same, but have now checked and apparently green tea has caffeine (although less than coffee) but as I rarely drink anything with caffeine I assume it's had an effect doh!

No appetite at all again today, last night's dinner was chicken and ham pie with cauli mash and broccoli, there's enough for DH's dinner this evening as I'm out volunteering (another potential banana skin as I'm surrounded by crisps, toast and sausage sandwiches!). Am going to make a small omelette for brunch so I can add some vegetables, then my early dinner will be leftover cauli/broccoli cheese which needs to be used up. Buckets of herbal tea - not bloody green - and will need to go out to pick up more normal mint tea as it's my daytime staple. Feeling very meh about food choices - my own fault as I knew this week would be busy so went for easy but need to make a much more appealing plan for next week!

Hope everyone has a good day!

It’s odd that the laksa wasn’t hot enough, given that it used 2 red chillies! As it didn’t say in the recipe instructions, I wasn’t sure whether to de-seed them or not. And given that I know red chillies can be hot, I de-seeded one of them but kept the other with seeds.

I, too, would definitely use more chilli next time. And would add more lime - I think it needs a bit of sharpness, and more that comes from just one small wedge.

Like the sound of the Laksa. I was out and about in the day yesterday and grabbed some Starbucks egg bites - they're pretty good and around 5 carbs, useful in an emergency.
I did a crispy duck salad- duck leg roasted to a crisp in spices and chilli then shredded over leaves, spring onion and cucumber batons. I do a soy/ rice vinegar dressing. It's a bit like crispy duck pancakes but without the pancakes and sweet sauce! (so not much like pancakes at all!!! 🤣)

I'm planning to do the laksa tonight, I haven't been doing very well with main meals and ending up with salad and cold protein twice a day. Partly because @Theghostofchristmasarse I can't really engage my family with this WOE for a variety of reasons so we all tend to eat separately a lot of the time and partly because I go out to exercise several evenings a week and don't feel like cooking when I get back, so we all tend to eat separately a lot of the time and there's only so many omelettes I can face. I tried the SRSLY breads last time I did BC but found them pretty unpleasant also we haven't got enough freezer space for bulk buying.

One of the reasons I put on weight last year was lack of time for proper cooking, between work, elderly parent care, trying to keep an exercise routine going and ND teenagers with very differing food requirements I just don't seem to have the time or headspace for menu planning and sticking to it. My attention span is really struggling and no matter what I try nothing makes me stick to exercise regimes at home so I go to classes at fixed times but they tend to be evening meal times. But will try again with the planning, it should be easier now one DC has gone back to uni..

I will be trying out blitzed up pork scratchings as an alternative to breadcrumbs for some breaded chicken. First time so a bit nervous that I end up with them too coarse and crunchy and I lose a filling but I've been meaning to try for ages.

The scales aren't moving this week but I'm trusting the process. Tried on some jeans that were far too tight to wear and now are just very snug (albeit it with substantial multiple muffin top).

I'll be joining the Laksa club tomorrow night, because both DDs are unexpectedly coming home for the night (DD1 to see doctor, DD2 to pinch my car for the weekend). Got my Sainsbury's delivery and annoyingly they subbed my nice pointy cabbage for a savoy one. Will have to do....

@SprinklesofRain I totally get you on the evening gym classes vs cooking family meals - requires such a lot of pre-planning. My default is to assemble some sort of traybake before I go, and leave instructions on times into the oven etc. We had DD1 at home for a while, and it was great, as I could subcontract dinner to her.

@SprinklesofRain do you have a partner/husband who could help you out with the cooking? Seems like you have an awful lot on your plate (pun not intended!)

I’ve tried several of the SrslyLow carb breads, but the only two I like are the ordinary brown bread and the wraps. The others I wouldn’t buy again.

Re the laksa @CointreauVersial - I ate the last portion last night, but used Bare Naked Noodles instead of the cabbage, and it worked better, from a textural point of view (as well as carbs!)

https://www.barenakedfoods.co.uk/products/noodles/

Oh yes, I have a good stock of these, as I buy multipacks from Amazon. I think I will saute the cabbage beforehand, and probably do some regular noodles for the family.

And bump up the chilli!

Chillies vary hugely though. Two Birds Eye chillies are going to be way hotter than two of the generic Tesco red ones. It was still tasty, and I’ve blended up the remaining broth and cooked cauliflower as soup for today’s lunch.

That’s very true - but the recipe only specified ‘red chillies’!

I tried that last week leaving instructions for the traybake (didn't pre-assemble as it was the sausage and halloumi one where things need to be added in stages and that resulted in The Tray of Hot Damp Veg when he didn't add any oil). DH is a very basic cook, he has to have EXACT instructions and can't improvise at all if an ingredient is unavailable or similar. He also tends to come home form work later than me and then head off out for exercise too. Young adult DS has limited cooking skills and a restricted palate (dyspraxic and autistic) but we are working on it, might get him to help with the laksa tonight, that's the sort of food he likes. DD is the most useful by far but she's at uni.

@SprinklesofRain are our husbands related? 😆

I’m in repetitive mode here:
breakfast : yoghurt -+ chia seeds
lunch : curry, suede mash and salad
dinner: sausages/ roast meat, salad/veg or maybe an omelette and avocado

Getting very bored here need to try some of the recipes everyone has posted but struggling to find myself time to do this.

I am really struggling with the flavour of celeriac, is there anything you put on it?