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.

A loss is a loss even if small.Whether you want to do your own recordings or use spreadsheet is another matter.
No one will judge you and it's not a competition.
The way things are going(as it's Saturday) I may be facing no loss in week 2 despite following rules to the letter 😐
Hope things get better in rl very soon

Sorry to hear you’ve been poorly @Lollipopsicle - glad you’re on the mend. I suppose weight loss is a silver lining though?!

Sorry to read of various illnesses and life challenges.

@Clomid1 If you're having to eat out all week then looking at websites is a real help. You can then plan one or two options that are as close as possible to this woe. I find that making my mind up beforehand helps me stick to my decision rather than getting derailed by the smell of fries or pizza. It also helps me if I make those plans and look at websites when I'm not hungry, so first thing after breakfast plan you M&S or Pret lunch. And as soon as lunch is over plan your dinner.

Im struggling a bit with how rich everything is with no bread, rice etc to dilute it now. I haven’t touched the butter dish since week 1 when I felt yuck after buttery scrambled eggs so have been using cream and olive oil for fat, as well as probably too much cheese. Sweet things I can take or leave by and large, although I have got some 70% chocolate in for next week, which will be nice with a bit of cream and frozen berries. But I’m just as happy with a cube of cheddar after a meal.

Just sipping a cup of fresh mint tea after dinner as suggested earlier in the week, very nice, went to the market to stock up on different veg today (supermarket selection gets a bit repetitive) and they had lovely big bunches of fresh herbs. It’s weird how different it tastes to mint herbal teabags, which I absolutely cannot bear.

To those that have slipped a bit, I have this week too, but I think the main thing is to put it behind you and get going again as soon as you can, so long as it doesn’t set you off on the “a little bit won’t hurt” slippery slope. Almost certainly you are eating far better than you were before so that is a positive.

Sending positive thought to those struggling with housing, illness and other difficulties

This looks good, is there a link to the recipe please? Sorry if you’ve already linked and I missed it.

Well said @SprinklesofRain.

Survived my restaurant meal tonight - we went Turkish, which turned out to be an excellent choice. Many low carb options on a meat-heavy menu. I had halloumi to start, followed by some sort of aubergine thing, topped with yogurt and roasted lamb. Delish.

I agree with the overall sentiment of your post @SprinklesofRain - but it’s really important to remember that this is BOOTCAMP*! It’s supposed to be hard (although designed to be easy to follow, hence the no counting/weighing.)

It’s hard for a reason - the lower intake of carbs means we’re encouraging our bodies to switch to burning fat for fuel, instead of carbs. The higher your carb intake, the longer this process is going to take.

My general advice to all those of you who feel you have been slipping, would be to view next week as an extension of Bootcamp rather than moving into Bootcamp Light.

*i.e. pick yourself up and get back on the wagon as soon as you can!

Sounds lovely! We have a really good Lebanese restaurant near us, which is perfect for low carbing (as long as I manage to swerve the hummus and flatbreads!). My Bootcamp go to is grilled halloumi, which they serve with tomatoes, cucumber and a wedge of lemon, grilled chicken wings and spicy prawns - all from the hot mezze menu.

I hope your week is going in OK @Clomid1 and you get home soon.

Well done for keeping going @Eskimodesert. I find it so tempting to write off the whole day if I've slipped.

I don't think I'll do another week of strict boot camp but will try to be a bit stricter than normal week 3 as I'm starting to get into the groove now and want to keep up the momentum. That said, I'm making roast lamb this evening and plan to have roast carrots and swede, which I don't think are on the green list. I bought a celeriac to make dauphinoise with and I'm looking forward to trying that.

@SprinklesofRain can you try more veg to dilute the richness a bit? Or salad? I know what you mean though, I struggle to have scrambled eggs without toast and don't even attempt on BC. Inexplicably I can eat mountains of egg mayonnaise with a spoon, I think the mayo has just enough sharpness to prevent the ick feeling.

Today's challenge for me is to drink more, it's easy to drink lots at my desk during the week but much harder at the weekend.

Yummy some delicious recipes on here
I survived a birthday not mine but I made the most delicious chocolate mousse cake
It's an Emma Porter low carb recipe and probably not allowed on bootcamp however I have to come off this plan
I am going away for three weeks for an impromptu trip abroad to visit family
I will try to keep to low carb but it is likely that I will lose weight inadvertently through stomach upsets despite my valiant attempts to stay well
I won't be touching the dairy or gluten or sugary things anyway due to my other health issues so I hope I can maintain my weight loss.
I will delete myself from the spreadsheet
Thanks 😊

I can eat egg mayo with a spoon a couple of times a week (two eggs worth) after that it gets a bit much. I put lots of black pepper in and use a hefty dollop of Dijon mustard in my mayo. I'm the same re water, much easier at my desk during the week. But scrambled egg without toast is hard work. I can't stomach plain hard boiled eggs either, they are so dry. I did enjoy fried eggs, mushrooms and bacon last weekend.

@BIWI I was planning to just add a few nuts, seeds and berries for BC Lite, maybe the odd square of chocolate but I haven't missed it so far so that won't be a regular thing. I can't remember what the other allowed changes are but I will be following here.

@Clomid1 I hope that you are back in your house soon, that must be so very difficult on all levels. Let’s hope it is just for a week.

I am a couple of pounds down, am finding drinking warm water much easier.

Thanks again BIWI for running this.

I’m not sure exactly what terms I googled for my “Chaffles” @TeamToeBeansbut my recipe to make 4 was:
3 eggs
1 cup grated cheese (I’d suggest at least half of this should be the pre-grated mozzarella)
1/4 cup almond flour (interchangeable for this with ground almonds- that’s 4 level tbsp, you can swap one of these for ground flaxseed if you like)
1/2 tsp baking powder

You can definitely scale down for individual waffle makers but I’ve frozen some to warm in the air fryer (grill/waffle maker/dry frying pan should also work).

They were really nice and fluffy, definitely a hit! I think stronger cheddar into the mix will be nice, we’d bought some mild in an attempt to get DS more into cheese (that’s not mozzarella).

@SprinklesofRain and possibly others may need this public service announcement, you don’t have to HARD boil eggs to eat them cold; a bit of squidge in the yolk is delicious, they shouldn’t be dry.

I put my (medium ish sized) eggs into cold water then start a 4 min timer once they start boiling. Put them straight by into cold water to cool.

@Rayna37 I know that and I don't but it's the white that is most unpleasant, the yolk isn't as bad. If I do have to eat them a good sprinkle of salt and pepper helps but definitely not something I would want to eat more than occasionally.

Same weight but stomach flatter (noticeably) and my clothes are looser.

OK so we have a decision to make now. Do we move onto Bootcamp Light, or do we stay on Bootcamp?

Bootcamp Light means that you can now add in:

Some nuts and seeds
Some fruit - mainly berries
Some chocolate - 70% cocoa (and higher)
Some alcohol - clear spirits and sugar-free mixers, dry white/red wine.

… all in moderation and not at every meal time! Try to avoid the sugar-free mixers as much as you can, if you’re drinking spirits, given how artificial they are.

If you want to do strict Bootcamp for another week, it’s entirely up to you - as long as you’re eating plenty of veg/salad, to ensure good nutrition.

Alternatively, you could do a hybrid - strict Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

AND

Please remember - or take note, if you haven’t low carbed/Bootcamped before - weeks 3 & 4 are notorious for little or no weight loss. It’s perfectly normal and nothing to panic about. But it might help to keep you focused remembering that.

The thing I’ve enjoyed most about this first two weeks of Bootcamp has been the variety of food I’ve had. It was a good excuse to get out the cookbooks and find some lovely recipes to try. I’ve enjoyed roast pork with crackling, sea bass with cerleriac mash and green beans, frittata, lemon sole in a buttery sauce with a homemade salsa, scotch eggs, bolognaise, chilli, a range of curries, and loads of really nice salads. Not a single UPF has crossed my lips and I’ve definitely had my 5 a day each day. I probably haven’t lost a huge amount of weight but I am really loving the virtuous feeling of being super healthy!

I think I’d like to do a hybrid, I’d like to add a few seeds and berries to my greek yogurt in the mornings, happy to set the chocolate to one side for a bit longer and I don’t really drink alcohol.

Finally got round to the laksa recipe from last week just now. I modified it by using bare naked noodles instead of cabbage (I don’t think DH and DS would have eaten the cabbage), king prawns instead of salmon because we had them in the freezer, I used frozen chopped chilli so the quantities were a bit of a guessing game but it came out perfect heat-wise. I was worried it might be bitty because my mini chopper left the lemongrass stringy but once it was all cooked it was fine, and it was absolutely delicious.

Yes I think that recipe will have found its way into my regular repertoire!

Thank you for the recipe @Rayna37

Thanks @BIWI for the heads up about weeks 3 & 4. I think I will probably introduce a few nuts and seeds, but otherwise stay as strict as possible.

I’ll definitely be doing the laksa again, with additional chilli 🙂

Thank you @BIWI

I'm in the same camp as @SprinklesofRain - planning on adding in some nuts now and then, but chocolate and alcohol will continue to remain firmly off the menu. I can take or leave fruits anyway so that's not a huge issue for me either way.

Deliberately not weighing but definitely feel like my face is thinner and clothes less tight. The real test is my coat, which I can't currently do up. When the coat does up I'll be delighted! By that time it'll probably be spring and I won't need a coat at all 😂

Unusually I just was not hungry today and a busy day meant I didn't eat until dinner time. Had some baked salmon with ratatouille and halloumi, and some plain greek yoghurt for "pudding" but couldn't manage to finish so the yoghurt (a first for me!).

Wishing you all positive vibes for your weigh in tomorrow. We know that even if the numbers on the scale haven't shifted, other parameters may show improvement so don't lose hope if it's not exactly as you wished!

Wow the celeriac dauphinoise was a huge success, it made a beautifully creamy garlicky accompaniment to roast lamb and vegetables.

Good luck all for tomorrow.

I’m going to do hybrid as well. A teaspoon of Linwoods milled seeds & some raspberries on my yogurt in the morning and a square of dark chocolate after dinner.
I remember that the scales seemed stick in weeks 3 / 4 and then there was whoosh (I think that was the term) and the scales started to move again. I remember that you just have to stick with it and not allow it to distract you.

Sending positive vibes for the weigh in tomorrow.