Welcome to week 5 - how time flies when you're having fun!
Those of us who have been here since the beginning may be finding the going tough now. You may have found that your weight loss has stopped, or you may even have put weight on
But hopefully you will also be enjoying the food now, and settling into this as a new way of eating. You may also have discovered the other benefits of low carbing - not being hungry, having better skin, sleeping better, fewer problems with conditions such as IBS or even asthma, fewer hot flushes (for those of us of a certain age 
) etc.
A month in, whilst you should be more used to eating like this, you will also have discovered that it's not always possible to follow a strict low carb plan because Real Life has an irritating habit of getting in the way.
But that's an important lesson for us all to learn. There are two key things here:
First, it demonstrates very clearly that you have to plan what food you buy and how you're going to eat. For example, I do quite a bit of travelling for work - going to meetings by train all over the country and sometimes abroad. If I don't plan my meals, then I will end up eating something like a sandwich because that's all that is available. I went to a meeting on Friday where the client very kindly suggested that she order lunch for us. I knew that if I didn't say I was low carbing, then we would sit down to a plate of sandwiches. It feels awkward to have to ask for special food. But - if you had a medical condition that meant you couldn't eat wheat, there would be no issue with such a request, would there?
Dieting is often seen as a trivial issue, and we think it's silly to have to ask for special/different food. But think of the impact/implications of being overweight. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc etc. None of these is trivial.
So in these situations, plan ahead and ask for something that suits you.
If you're travelling - eat properly before you set off. Get to know what shops are available at any station you're travelling through - there are an increasing number of M&S Food shops at railway stations and service stations, where you can always buy cooked meats/fish, small portions of cheese and salads (there are one or two without pasta/rice/noodles/potatoes!)
Second, despite your best efforts, sometimes life seems determined to sabotage things. Even if you ask people to cater for you, few people really understand what a low carb diet is. This has happened to me twice since Friday! My client very kindly ordered me a salad for my lunch. I was provided with a bowl of lettuce - with no dressing. Presumably whoever made it was thinking "this person is on a diet, therefore it must have to be fat-free". On top of the lettuce was sweetcorn (one of the carbiest veg there is), a dollop of coleslaw - presumably with sugar in it, like most is - a huge mound of grated carrot, some sliced cooked chicken, cucumber and tomato.
At least I could eat the chicken! But it was very dry and so to make it palatable, easy to eat, I ended up eating more of the coleslaw than I intended. I also was in the embarrassing situation of having to leave a lot of the lunch that I had specially ordered.
And last night, at dinner with friends, I had again plucked up courage to tell them of my low carbing. Despite being reassured that the meal would be low carb-friendly, it was anything but. And it was (mostly) served plated up, so to not eat it was to have been very rude. And it was delicious, and I was hungry ... 
But this is life. We have to get through these kind of occasions and accept that they may throw us off course briefly, but that this is a longer term process we are involved in. To use a horrible cliche, we are all on a journey here.
So if it happens to you - just accept it. Don't obsess about it. Avoid the scales for a while, and make sure you are super good for the following days. Don't use it as an excuse to jump off the wagon, for that way, surely, fatness lies!
Come and tell me how you're all getting along. How has life changed for you since we set off on this journey?!
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Bootcamp Week 5 - Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Staying Alive - chat here!
BIWItheBold · 13/05/2012 10:26
Week 5 already! Well it's the end of week 17 for me and as of this morning I am down 37.4lb. So I'm pleased, as my target was 2lb a week when I started this, and I'm only 1.1lb away from being halfway in my mission to lose 77lb.
I've been trying to set myself mini-targets, but get frustrated when I fail to reach them. So, from now on, every pound off, however long it takes, is going to be a pound nearer to my ultimate goal, however long that takes!
Sometimes it all seems a bit of a faff, and there's a lot of effort and organisation involved in this WOE; but I know that I'm eating good food, am rarely hungry, and it is working - just slooooowly
I'm definitely losing inches though as I have a pair of Fat Face trousers that fit me better than they did three years ago when I was 9lb lighter than I am now. Woohoo!
BIWI can I ask what is the difference between dairy and fat? (It's probably obvious, but not to me!)
I stopped eating yoghurt because I got sick a couple of times and wondered if I'd developed an intolerance to it. I can eat soya yoghurt without any bad reaction (but should I be eating it? I include it in my daily carb allowance.)
I've just been reading some other threads on the Weightloss Board - there is an awful lot of resistance to LC-ing, isn't there? As someone who's weight has yo-yo'd for years counting calories I can't see any reason NOT to LC if you need to lose/maintain weight. Good, healthy food and lots of it -yum! But then I don't drink (much) so I'm not freaked out by the need to
drastically cut your alcohol consumption
i'm still floating about on here. still not losing anything though 
. think i need to up my fat. have been reading about paleo recently too. very interesting. it's basically low carb rules but eating clean, no processed food and you can eat any fruit and veg. fruit is in moderation though. it brings up some very valid points about how the human species didn't have all the illnesses (diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc) that we do today until they started to farm and eat grains. there is also useful info on how grains have antinutrients that stop you absorbing vitamins etc.
biwi it is very true about how life can get in the way. I have to say though, that if i am forced to eat carbs because of no other option, i feel bloated and quite ill. that is enough to make me ask for options to suit me where i can. for instance, the other day I went into a local sausage shop. I asked the assistant what percentage of meat the sausages were, thinking they would be high percent meat as made by a butcher, and she said they were about 70 - 80%. I then asked if they used any fillers like bread or wheat and she said no, that they were very healthy and that no fat came out when cooked. she also then said that they were ok for people on weight watchers or those on special diets for their heart. (there goes the old low fat thing again!).
I said I wasn't bothered about the fat content, it was the carb content I was concerned about and she then kind of did 
and asked which we wanted.
Anyway, we bought some different types and after eating both lots, I felt bloated and ill. I think from that that I can deduce that there were carby fillers in them and I will not be buying from there again. My body has obviously got used to not eating grains anymore and doesn't like it when I do.
anyway, I will see what weigh in brings tomorrow
Kandinskysgirl hotdogs/frankfurters probably OK, as long as you don't have them in a bun, slathered with loads of ketchup !
Lacka - you are having a tough time of it, aren't you? 
I hope work is OK. And good that you're maintaining.
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