Jan ’26 Low Carb Bootcamp - week 3 - full-on, light or hybrid?

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Spreadsheet as per:

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

So as I posted in the last thread, you now have a choice. You can move on to Bootcamp Light, which means you can 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.

You can stay on full-on Bootcamp if you want to, or if you feel you’ve been slipping a bit too much recently - as long as you make sure you’re eating plenty of vegetables and salad, for good nutrition. You may, though, want to consider a hybrid - Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

It’s up to you.

Just remember though, that weeks 3 & 4 are infamous! It’s not at all unusual to see weight loss slow or stop. If this happens to you, don’t panic but just KOKO.

Good luck to us all

https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto-pesto-chicken-casserole

This has gone down a storm with the family tonight 😋

That sounds lovely! What did you serve it with?

Asparagus and mushrooms cooked in butter @BIWI

@CointreauVersial I think I've probably got one like that in the pantry... pretend you can't read the date!

That looks like a great find @PunksVersusBrats. I particularly like that it can be prepped before hand to pop in the oven at one's convenience. Useful AND tasty!

Not doing too badly so far. Monday and Tuesday I ate completely on plan. Ruined what was an otherwise good day today by polishing up some leftover fried (in breadcrumbs - naughty) chicken from the children's plates. Am hoping such a sin won't make too much difference in the big scheme of things.

Continue to remain grateful to @BIWI and you all for the support and tips. Knowing I'm doing it "with" others really keeps my motivation going (fried chicken aside...).

Deliberately not weighing but certain I've lost some weight from the look of my face/neck. Energy levels not too bad either. Getting there!

I dread to think the average age of the lesser-used spices in my kitchen @CointreauVersial though my allspice is a spritely Use By 2016 by comparison. I did buy more dried tarragon last year when I finally retired the 25 years out of date (but it still lives on at the back of the spice drawer)

Supper tonight was a hastily thrown together chicken, mushrooms and green beans in a garlic and cream sauce. The allspice got a very rare (see above!) outing inspired by the success of last night's black pudding as an accompaniment to creamy garlicky sauce. It was very good but I couldn't finish it, my appetite hasn't been good today. I did get all the water though.

Lovely looking recipe @PunksVersusBrats I like feta but end up in a rut of roasting it with Mediterranean vegetables, and that sounds like a good alternative.

That looks similar to a creamy pesto chicken I did earlier in the week @PunksVersusBrats it went down really well. I've lost the recipe now but it was pan fried chicken thighs, sauteed shallots, deglazed with white wine, add cream and pesto and simmer. Serve with grated parmesan and green veg of choice.

Vegless meal tonight (Naked sausages and fried eggs) but I did have a MN massive salad at lunchtime and berries with my yogurt this morning.

Could i please have your rut recipe @RightTurnClyde. Feta and roasted veg sounds great.

This is one of our favourite low carb recipies and we do it often 🙂 Served simply with shredded lettuce and sliced tomato.
My DH now makes it without looking at the recipe 😉

Quick check in
L - chilli & salad in school
D - sausages with mushrooms and cabbage cooked with Boursin & cream (one of my favourite LCHF recipes)
poor water consumption today
i really love the look of the chicken pesto thing but literally no one else in the house would eat it because they all hate one or more of feta/pesto/olives. I will have to make it for lunch one day all for myself! Not this week though, as plenty of leftovers in the fridge.

@mumsandaunties I just chop some different coloured peppers, onion, courgette and aubergine (first sprinkle salt on courgette and aubergine, leave for an hour and then squeeze them in a teatowel to remove as much water as possible) into chunks and add a handful of cherry tomatoes and chunks of feta. Drizzle on loads of olive oil, grate on a couple of cloves of garlic, and add some Italian herbs and salt. Give it a good mix. Hot oven until browned.

The trick is to space out the veg in a really big dish otherwise it steams rather than roasts.

One of my favourite aubergine meals uses feta:

Cut aubergine* in half lengthways, and slash across the flesh to create a diamond pattern. Drizzle in a good quantity of olive oil, season and then roast for around 20 minutes till it’s softening/pretty well cooked. (You might need to check after 15 minutes - I can’t remember how long I actually cook them for!)

Fry some smoked streaky bacon** until crisp. Cool.

In a processor, add diced feta and blitz until smooth. Season with black pepper (no salt) and then crumble the bacon into that and blitz briefly to mix.

Take the aubergine out of the oven and spread the feta/bacon mix on top; return to the oven and bake till nicely browned.

Lovely with a green salad.

*Re quantities - difficult to say, but if I do an aubergine per person for three of us, I usually end up with one half left over! Obviously also depends on the size of the aubergines.

Edited to add: this would probably use half a pack of feta, i.e. 100g.

@PunksVersusBrats that looks lovely! Predictably I wasn't hungry when I got back last night but did have a glass of wine (which I paid for at 4am!), I've got the chicken bake leftovers for my office lunch. DD also said it looked "banging" so I'll take that as she is normally a beige fan 😆

Busy day so will help to avoid the multiple temptations - there's always sweet stuff around, plus a Pret, Costa, M&S Food and multiple food trucks within a 2 minute walk of the office (but don't actually have time to go anywhere until I leave!), I have peppermint tea with me too. Feels odd not weighing but my skirt felt much more comfortable this morning and I think I look at bit slimmer than a couple of weeks ago which was the last time I was in the office (don't have a full-length mirror at home). Temperature is finally a little warmer, and it wasn't quite dark when I got here this morning too so mood is looking up a bit 🌞

I love aubergine , I make a big ratatouille every other week or so , as it’s a good lunch ( another lucky retiree here )

My best lunch recently was a bowl of ratatouille ( or ratty tatty as DD called it as a toddler ) with a baby Brie in the middle , popped in the microwave/ grill combo for 5 mins , mouth burningly delicious

Also nice with cheddar and Parmesan , and I’m sure would be lovely with feta .. or any cheese to be honest !

Spookily enough, I unearthed a slightly sad aubergine from the back of the veg drawer this morning, and was about to pop it into the oven for lunch! I generally top with mozzarella while still warm, and douse it in a lemony/parsley dressing, but I like the idea of the feta and bacon.

Feta is such a pain, because I always end up with half a pack in the fridge that lasts about three days before going rancid. Although I saw a tip recently that you fill a glass jar/tupperware with salty water and it keeps leftover feta for much longer.

Hello all and thank you for the not-so-new-by-now thread @BIWI - have found it difficult to check back on this thread as so much going on and exhausted in the evening combined with hardly sleeping at night, but plodding along nicely with getting used to LCHF again and starting in earnest today.

Had a late brunch of 3 eggs, scrambled, half an avocado and a small handful of cherry tomatoes. Also a slice of chicken from the fridge whilst cooking.

I'm not sure I will have lunch today, will see how I feel, and also don't know what I will have for dinner! Going with the flow for the first few days until I get properly into the swing of things again.

Have cut out the sugar from my tea. Was only having a quarter of a teaspoon but I'd rather do without even that - I drink 4 to 6 cups a day so it does add up!

Reading the last few comments I'm definitely in the mood for aubergine for dinner now! One of my favourite vegetables. Luckily I'm going to be in town later so I can pick one up.

@CointreauVersial I found out recently that you can also freeze feta. I have exactly the same issue - I love it but I can't ever stomach eating a whole slab over a few days; I really hate food waste so I rarely buy it.

I've got half a slab of feta to use or lose too. I sometimes buy one from Sainsburys which has two smaller portions separately wrapped to get round this. Although we love feta we don't always want it two days in a row.

The ratatouille sounds good but unbelievably I don't think I've ever made it. Please can @SemmaLina or someone recommend a good basic recipe?

@RightTurnClyde
something like this
https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/ratatouille-with-baked-eggs
I don’t like green pepper , so use red instead , and often add some chili flakes or harissa paste , this is a good base recipe , just customise the extras depending on what you have in the fridge
I haven’t tried baking eggs in it , but it’s a good idea

Freezing feta - genius! Thanks.

I stockpile the fabulous French tins of ratatouille whenever we go there and it brightens up many a dull winter meal. I haven’t made it for a while, there’s a great recipe where you arrange the veg in thin slices like a gratin from Gizzi Erskine, or an oven baked version in the excellent Green Roasting Tin book.

Out on a trip to London tomorrow with 61 teenage boys (work related, not random teenagers off the street!)...I know there's a lovely cafe in the exhibition centre but I cannot remember if they'll do anything suitable and I really don't want to cart round lunch with me, as we are doing loads of walking...think I'll just try to take a few snacks and eat a fairly decent breakfast instead...

Think my appetite is reducing, I just had a little omelette with mushrooms, spinach and tomato and I'm stuffed! Had a tiny bit of leftover laksa for lunch, and a boiled egg, don't feel like I've eaten tonnes today. Still keep getting headaches though, need to drink more water and take my electrolyte tablets, they're massive and salty though, when one gets stuck it's hideous!

Scales today say I've lost 6lb since Monday?!? Which seems mental!

Looking forward to a glass of wine tomorrow night, feel like I might have earned it by the end of the day...

I’m feeling a bit frustrated that I haven’t shifted an ounce since official weigh in on Monday, despite it being nearly five days later. I’m drinking loads of water. I’m sticking to the plan. I’m watching my portion sizes.
B: spinach, 50g smoked salmon, poached egg, 1tb EVOO
L: salad with 100g full-fat cottage cheese and 1tb EVOO
D: homemade bolognaise, peppers, onions, with no spaghetti
Zero snacks.
I track on MFP and it’s under 1200 calories, with macros 60% fat, 30% protein, 10% carbs.

Left over cheese burger pie, salad, brocolli and a slice of v gooey camembert for dinner. Delicious

Leftover moussaka for dinner, plus steamed broccoli, added the rest of the feta to use it up. Was really nice to have the veg just steamed, I have got a bit tired of oily roasted veg this week.