Jan ’26 Low Carb Bootcamp Week 4 - coming up to half time!

[BIWI]

Morning all

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

Spreadsheet as per - and I can see there are some really great results already, and some good losses even though we were in the infamous week 3!

Brace yourselves for week 4 being potentially challenging too. (Sorry
But from now on, weight loss should be steady and consistent - not necessarily every day, but you should see a satisfying downward trajectory.

I do realise that @BIWI but my brain says if I’ve done exactly the same on week 3/4 I should still be losing 3lbs a week ! Anyhow , I shall plod on , hope everyone else continues to lose .

Thank you @BIWI for the new thread. I’m away but have got scales, I’m down 1/2 a lb, so that’s 6.5lbs in 3 weeks. But all my ski clothes feel looser, which is great.

Dinner tonight is a homemade salad with Parma ham, eggs, avocado. I’ve got some leftover homemade (to BIWI’s recipe) cauliflower cheese, and I may even knock up a celariac based coleslaw to give it a bit of crunch.

Good luck all with week 4

Well done to everyone for KOKO, even when this week the scales are not always kind to us.

Every time I try to post on the spreadsheet my tab crashes (a me/my pc problem not a spreadsheet problem). Could someone record me at 128.6 which is 0.4 down from last week.

I was at a funeral today and ate one small sausage roll (at the thing afterwards, not during the actual funeral!). I'd prepped with eggs for breakfast and a coffee with cream en-route. That tiny sausage roll was delicious - perfect flaky pastry. Not on this plan at all, but it was at least worth breaking the plan for, and a million times better than the limp and dismal looking sandwiches.

Before @BIWI has to come in and do it, I thwack myself with the big stick for even that one demenour. This is not a forgiving woe. It's not like a calorie controlled diet where overeating in one meal can be easily balanced by undereating the next. I know I will have to be extra careful on every meal for the next couple of day, and extra vigilant on drinking ALL the water.

Which reminds me @shagmeriggins are you here in some shape or form? (no need to answer or share your current name).

Well my scales definitely are up to something, went down to 134lbs Thursday and now back up to 139... random. Oh well, still downwards at least. 5lbs overall, which is mad when you see that photo.
Started to feel a bit more energy, been decluttering stuff in advance of moving in just over a year, got to downsize to half the house we have now, so I'm hoping I can downsize a bit too!
Still waking up at crazy o clock, 5 am this morning... would be ok but I'm a night owl so not asleep till gone midnight most nights.
Shopping day tomorrow, must plan some meals..have loads of leftovers in the freezer as DD keeps turning her nose up at my food, but she is actually trying to help lots, suggesting food to buy and remembering I am avoiding some things...it's definitely helping my IBS, not had a bad day in a few weeks. Hopefully she'll start to follow a bit, she's very overweight since being at home after school went tits up a year ago, she's got various issues with her digestion and when she eats potatoes they make her oddly itchy, but she loves her sugar and gluten free bread..she's only 16 and has had some issues with eating due to anxiety so I don't say I'm doing it for weight loss, just feeling healthier and helping with the IBS.

@Theghostofchristmasarse I believe there is a food allergy that linked is to the potato family, it is linked to nightshades and potatoes are a member of the nightshade family. Symptoms include skin and gastro problems, just in case its relevant to your daughter. I met a young man who had it when we were on holiday last year.

Our dinner tonight was a surprising success, I reheated some cauliflower cheese, added in extra cream, olive oil, mushrooms, a few cherry tomatoes, some lardons and topped with grated cheese. It felt a bit like we were having a pasta type bake, but with no pasta.

Leftovers night tonight - from a kind of egg fried rice (without the rice) dish and a beef curry both from meals at the end of last week. Aubergine in the curry and french beans, courgettes and pak Choi on the side. Tomorrow for lunch I need to make some
soup with courgettes and spinach that need eating up. Plus I have roast chicken- I’m thinking maybe a Caesar salad type thing - with avocado too. Yum.

@Jumperorcardi thank you, I'll look into that, she gets the itching with gluten too, has had constipation since she was a baby. Just assumed it was linked to hyper mobility though, she's diagnosed with HSD.

I’m full of premenstrual rage today. I’ve also apparently put on a pound overnight. (Does sleep contain carbs? I’m beginning to wonder.)

I’m cooking for DP tonight so I was thinking about an easy dinner. I’m thinking poke a hole in a chicken fillet and stuff some Boursin in there, then wrap in bacon and cook in air fryer. I’ll sauté some leeks in butter and add loads of black pepper and some cream, and serve with broccoli.

The butter is homemade. (Smug face 😂) I had loads of double cream left that had gone past date and was goopy but not off-smelling. A few minutes in the mixer with the whisk attachment and it all separates out. You then rinse it in cold water and squeeze out the excess, salt it, and it’s good to use straight away. (You can also save the buttermilk and use it in baking, if your mixer doesn’t chuck it all over the worktop.)

@TeamToeBeans liking your kitchen adventures!

Veg box just arrived with an enormous cabbage so that will feature on many meals this week. Also nice leeks, some broccoli and all my usual staples (tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, eggs etc). Planning tuna salad for lunch. Then a friend is coming for dinner, we'll have roasted peppers stuffed with tomatoes and anchovy, then lemon sole grilled with a topping of a sort of tartar sauce (mayo with capers, lime juice, corriander) and some grated cheese on top. With cabbage and other green veg.

Veg box sounds lovely - I keep thinking about getting one again but never get round to going into sort. Will put it on the list for next week...........

Scales are definitely being retired, two different readings again this morning 90n minutes apart so have ordered a new set which is supposed to tell me my fat % as well so that's something to look forward to! Desperately hoping that they won't show a higher value than at the the start of bootcamp 😰!

Still not much of an appetite but koko with lots of herbal tea, dinner yesterday was beef and mushroom pie (cauliflower top) with broccoli and my usual omelette for brunch. This is the last (hopefully) really busy week - DH out last night & Wednesday, away Thursday night for a festival til Monday - and then planning to knuckle down for February until we go away

I used to get a veg box but got ran out of patience with it. I always seemed to end up with massive gluts of random things (cue lots of panic soup-making), or forgot to do my "choices" in time, and ended up with a bag of parsnips no-one wanted to eat. Then they put the prices up massively, and quality/quantity went downhill so I stopped it. I like the concept of fresh, seasonal veg, but it was just too restrictive. I'd rather go to the farm shop.

@TeamToeBeans thanks for the reminder about "poke a hole in a chicken fillet and stuff some Boursin in there, then wrap in bacon and cook in air fryer." - that used to be one of my go-to easy meals, but I'd forgotten about it.

And I feel your pain about putting on weight while you sleep....it's weird how that works. Surely the laws of physics say that shouldn't happen? The other day, I weighed myself, took a shower, then stepped straight back on the scales....and I was 2lb lighter. And that was with wet hair. I wasn't THAT grubby!

Back to basics today for me: scrambled eggs and olives for breakfast, tuna mayo salad for lunch and dinner was pan-fried fish with FLGV, and a bit of yogurt afterwards.

I cooked the chicken and feta meatballs tonight, and it was a real success.

I used chicken thighs rather than breast, as there’s more fat (and taste IMVHO). Served it with rice for DH/DS2 - the recipe does yield a lot of sauce - along with roasted Tenderstem broccoli and shallots.

Another one to add to the repertoire!

Photo of the recipe to come

Here!

PMS week but swapped the chocolate binge for half a pound of brie. I'm having a cheese sweat now but still want the chocolate

I’m craving sweet stuff too. Will not give in!
The Boursin-stuffed chicken was good tonight.

Tupperware dinner tonight, as I'm home alone and didn't get back from the gym until 8.30pm. A leftover portion of meatballs from the weekend, plus celeriac mash and a bit of cabbage.

Hi everyone, thank you @BIWI for the thread. Another pound and a half of yellow gloop off for me. Slow and steady. I’m away again, back and forth but making things work…Just! No major fails but a few near misses and tests of will power! Did anyone see the ‘what not to eat’ program on the TV this evening? The guy was talking about putting carby food in the freezer after cooking and having the next day which results in 40% reduction in bad carbs and therefore stops sugar spikes.

Yes I’ve read about cooking, cooling and re-heating pasta, to get the carb count down, but I’ve never really been sure by how much!

its an interesting concept to curb the carb creep in the long term. And worth another watch on catch up re the figures he was talking about. I hope I didn’t have my rose tinted ears on when he mentioned carb reduction!!! I’m going to do some googling to see what else I can find out!

@Sunnysideuptoday we watched that too , I always thought bread tasted different if it had been frozen , now understand why !
But was more shocked at the amount of Diet Coke he drank , a real addiction for him

I’m another one who puts weight on while I’m asleep , I’m a Monday , Wednesday and Friday weigher , and I’ve put 2 lb on since Monday !

Breakfast this week is pancakes , made with a tsp of chia seeds soaked in a little water , some FF Philadelphia, ( I’ve been using the little portion packs ) and an egg , all whisked together , fried in a little butter
I make 2 , and serve with a spoon full of FFGY and a spoonful of raspberries

New scales have arrived and they're showing heavier than the first weight on the spreadsheet! I know it's the middle of the day so would possibly be lower in the morning but not sure by how much so will add that in for this week's weight. Thoroughly demoralised and miserable now..........going away tomorrow for a festival, was really hoping to have lost a few pounds by this point and loosen the reins a little but will have to be super strict now until we go away at the end of next month. GAH!

@TheOnlyMrsW you don’t know that you’ve gained though - because you have no idea how those scales would have calibrated with your old ones! Remember, what we’re really measuring is the difference between first and later results.

I do understand how disheartening it is, though.*

Overall, how are you feeling in yourself? How are your clothes fitting?

*although, to be honest, tomorrow and next week you would still have been on Bootcamp so difficult to let the reins loosen too much!

I'm going to make the chicken and feta meatballs on Friday for my grandchildren, they'll love it.

A sort of fishcake for dinner tonight with loads of veg. Then cheese and celery afterwards.