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 made the IPD moussaka this week and it was lovely. Weight is slowly coming off, am finding it much easier to drink hot water than cold. I am going to make roast chicken with cauliflower cheese tonight & buttered spinach. Looking forward to regular bootcamp next week.

You can also drink tepid water straight out of the tap (depending on water quality in your area, obviously), or room temp, and it's usually better on the digestive system. I don't really like water and I find it much more palatable when I drink it just warm. Takes a bit of getting used to the idea but I much prefer it now.

Never mind, it's literally the comment directly above mine!

I drink a mug of hot water first thing every morning, it is a really nice way to start the day. I mainly drink cold from a water bottle after that but might have more hot later in winter.

Ladies! Absolute nightmare. We’ve had to move out of our home temporarily due to it being unsafe to live in. Long story!

insurers have put us in a premier inn and we’ll be here until Friday next week. All meals will be food from outside 🙈. I bought myself a boring salad (from tesco) and some lemon and herb chicken from nandos whilst the rest of the family had nandos. Was that even low carb? 🙈 what do I do…

Have had a good week here but now fearing that will undo all my efforts as away at a wedding this weekend so will just have to make the best choices I can out of whatever is on offer.
Back on Sunday and will do a food shop then so will be able to prep for the week ahead. Look forward to adding in some berries/seeds plus a bit of dark chocolate too!

@Clomid1 nightmare
I have no idea about Nando’s ,
Tesco / M&S deli type food , but you can’t live on that for a week ( well you can , but wouldn’t want too )
is there a restaurant attached to the Premier Inn , steak and veg ?
English cooked breakfast ?

Oh @Clomid1nightmare! And not just for the food!
Focussing on that though, what options can you get nearby? If you say what restaurants we may be able to suggest.
Do you have a fridge? A kettle? I’m guessing nothing else or you would have said.

My low carb takeaway options are: a kebab (no pitta), Wagamama build your own donburi (with cauliflower rice) or the teriyaki soba remove noodles add extra veg. Pizza express garlic & herb chicken wings and one of their salads with no breadsticks.
You can boil eggs in a kettle - put eggs in from cold, bring to the boil, leave a while (overnight even)
If I can think of more ideas I’ll let you know.

Sorry about your home @Clomid1 !
I don't know about the chicken at Nando's but you can get halloumi, broccoli and avocado from there (the sides or extras menu rather than the starters halloumi which has less cheese and more jam). They used to do a big salad but i don't think it's on the menu any more.

Amazing venison casserole last night with loads of veg (onions carrots shallots celery mushrooms in it, swede mash broccoli and red cabbage on the side). Two double portions left to freeser and the mash and red cabbage were both from the freezer that I’d made previously. I made it in the slow cooker using part of our Deer Box delivery which has been amazing. It’s nit high in fat but really sustainable and the mince is great mixed with pork mince for bolognaise etc.

@Clomid1 I’m so sorry to hear about your house
Re food, Nandos is usually pretty good in terms of low carb options. Here’s their menu - if you click on an item, and scroll down, you’ll find the nutritional information, so you can see which are the lower carb options:

https://www.nandos.co.uk/food/menu/

Also, what’s the restaurant in the hotel? Some Premier Inns have a Bar+Block, which is a steak restaurant, which would be a good option too.

I’ve been struggling to find a balance the last couple of days - initially I focused too much on meat, and whilst I wasn’t hungry, I was constipated. So I tried to eat more veg, but found I was getting hungry quickly. I’m looking forward to introducing some seeds and berries.

Argh @Clomid1that’s challenging enough without trying to maintain this WoE! I did spend a lot of time in Premier Inns when working but only for a couple of nights at a time. I ate a lot of full Englishes and Steak with veg in restaurants (Harvester or Beefeater if the location had nothing better to offer) and picky deli bits for lunch but wouldn’t want to do it on my own budget or for long!

Finally tried the low carb waffle recipe in my new waffle maker and it didn’t disappoint! I’ve two left to freeze, I’m sure one with two eggs and cheese/ham/mushrooms etc would make an excellent brunch or lunch.

(yes it has ground almonds and ground flaxseed in which I’m not meant to have until next week, dodges big stick as didn’t want DS to think I was missing out totally, he ate one regular and two sweet ones using a regular recipe)

Unfortunately, this week has been shocking and I've been blind-sided by stuff in the real world that is making this WOE pretty much impossible full time 😔 I'm clinging on with around 2 meals in 3 being OK but wondering whether to delete from the spreadsheet and just read along for recipes or whether to carry on with recording my weight, knowing that any losses will be very small.

I didn't want to just disappear and be disrespectful to BIWI and her good work.

Ahh, @Clomid1 that's a nightmare!Low carb Meal Deals and the like are always hard to find.

Fast food/takeaway - if anyone likes Five Guys burgers it's worth knowing they offer lettuce wraps in place of the bun, and really sturdily wrapped too.

Don’t go @PunksVersusBrats - sounds like you could with some support, which I’m sure you’ll get here
Life does have an unfortunate way of spoiling our best intentions sometimes. All you can do is to ride it out and do the best you can.

Thanks @BIWI, that's a good way of looking at it. I can be a bit 'all or nothing' in my thinking but 'I've done the best that I reasonably can' is good enough at the moment.

All the best to @Clomid1as well, sounds a very stressful time.

Raclette for lunch.
made a big green salad with home made vinaigrette and cabbage only coleslaw using the ff mayo with vinegar and oil someone recommended . Great tip.
i avoided the potatoes and bread. Had lots of olives, silver skin onions, mushrooms , artichoke hearts and grelins with the cheese.
filllet steak and lamb steak strips and prawns.
think its all allowed. I’m full and happy.
have a pint glass with slices of lemon that I keep filling with boiling water too. Nice.

@Clomid1 really sorry to hear about your house, I hope it's easily solved and you are back home soon.

@PunksVersusBrats I'm a bit all or nothing too and know if I deleted myself from the spreadsheet, I'd just say sod it and eat everything. Hopefully if you can stick around and at least keep half an eye on your eating, it might help.

I've been pleasantly surprised with how much energy I've got despite the lack of carbs... I went for my usual run this morning and was no slower than usual and felt pretty good afterwards. The only thing I'm struggling with is constipation but I'm used to eating lots of beans, oats and seeded breads so hopefully my body will get used to the difference soon.

Yikes @Clomid1 that’s a nightmare. Hoping things get sorted quickly.

@Rayna37 I am with you on the pudding thing. My fave is a spoonful of mascarpone with a half square of very dark chocolate grated in, or a strawberry chopped up fine so the juice mingles with the mascarpone. Indulgent and delicious, you only need a tiny amount.. but also pretty low carb.

The need for something sweet after meals is one of my biggest bear traps. I’m trying to use almonds or creamy coffees or fruit teas to give me that feeling of “something different”, without it necessarily being sweet.

@mumsandaunties I completely understand that feeling of a need for something sweet after meals. I'm hoping it passes as the weeks go on.

Not a great day for me. Oat latte for breakfast (I know we should be cautious/avoid these but I've gone from every day to once a week and it really keeps me going!). Lunch was at a Japanese restaurant with very little description of ingredients. I had salad with some kind of dressing, miso soup, some kind of pork and veg and skewered chicken. That wasn't so bad but I couldn't help but have a bit the chicken katsu chicken (breaded, fried) which isn't permitted.

At this point was tempted to call the day a right -off and eat some leftover chocolate but trying to just think to myself it was just half a day off plan and right back to it for dinner. Hopefully not too much harm done.

Hope you are all finding it a bit easier!

Eski

So, I've been ill for over a week now and the last thing on my mind has been low-carbing, though as I've actually eaten very little, I have lost a lot of weight, so there's that. I'm feeling much better, but have decided that I'm just going to concentrate on getting back to normal now, and I'll join in the next one with you. I've been totally inspired by the commitment shown by the wonderful posters on here though, and the fabulous recipes being shared, so I'm going to continue reading and following. Thank you @BIWI for your hard work with this and sorry I haven't been able to continue. x