16 st Low Carbing part 2

[ProfYaffle]

As the first thread is full, I thought I'd start this one to dip a toe in the water and see if anyone else is still around. At the end of the last thread I think a few of us had decided to have the summer off and come back to it in September - so here I am.

Hope a few of the old gang are still around

I'm not old gang but have been low carbing since sept 1st

Few years ago I lost 5 stone following biwi. Put 2 back on during and after marathon training but I'm now 11 pounds down since day 1

Have forgotten some of the old rules and tricks so I'm kind of muddling along

I'm not the old gang either, but have been waiting for the second thread so I didn't take up precious space on the last page of the original thread, so hi all...

I'm currently about 4st overweight and miserable about it, but am following a low-carb diet (albeit hit and miss, muddling is the best way to describe is MissFitt) but I've also just started exercising and for the first time, am getting that buzz that has always eluded me.

I go on holiday in five weeks and am determined to make a difference to how I look and feel. I've had enough of feeling like this and I want a new me, so here's hoping...

Oh fab - welcome both, it's nice to see some new faces

Bit of background about me: I started low carbing back on 5th Jan this year. I did Atkins induction which is 20g carbs per day though I also calorie count (I aim for 1500 atm) I do kettlebells 3 or 4 times per week. So far I've lost 3.5 stone, probably another 1/1.5 to go before I'm happy.

Dreaming - what's MissFitt?

I think she was referring to me, I'm missfitt and muddling along!

11 pounds this month so far

Sorry, my typo Prof, I was referencing how the poster before me had said she was muddling through low-carbing, which is pretty much what I'm doing!

Thanks for the welcome, and wow, what a weight loss - you must feel fantastic, even if you're not quite where you want to be yet. I need to get to grips with the whole science of low-carbing, rather than doing what I'm doing which is cutting out all obvious carbs and just eating salad, some vegetables, lean meat and fish.

I'm weighing in tomorrow and hoping for a decent loss giving the amount of food I've not consumed and how much exercise I've been doing. If I've not lost half my body weight I'll feel almighty strop coming on...

Oh I see! Thought it was some exercise programme like Jillian Michaels or something!

I found Atkins induction really helpful at the beginning because following their portion size guidelines puts you on a ketogenic diet, it took the mystery out of it when I was still finding my way. There are tons of books around on Amazon that explain the science of it in great detail - though I can't say I'm that au fait with it

Hi Prof -I am back under a new user name (maybe? with site stuff its hard to keep up). I am a massive fatty, I totally fell off of the wagon - all my ideas that I would just keep on keep on keeping on thru the summer went out of the window. I am so glad I found you and welcome newbies.

I have FINALLY moved house - got internet back today ( no internet is like being back in the dark ages, how did we cope lol). My Gran is on the mend and has had the last round of chemo - hoping for a diagnosis of remission in 8 weeks. Yay!!

But I have put on so much weight! I haven't been to the gym in ages, I have eaten nothing but carby rubbish - how I wish I could be one of those women that get fabulously slim in times of stress!!

I haven't weighed myself but my loose fit boyfriend jeans look like skinnies! I am off on holiday to wales in a week or so but I have a mountain to move work wise in the interim - big sigh.

Still hope to be slim(mer) by Christmas and I have been cutting down my carbs in the last few days so hoping for a smooth transition into ketosis come next week as who starts a diet on a Friday night?

Good luck everyone and Mac where are you, come back x

Hey! Welcome back, great to see you! Great news about your Gran, you must all be so relieved. How long have you been without the internet? Not sure I could cope with that!

I think it's inevitable that things will go a bit wonky in times of stress. The important thing is to get back on it. What approach are you going to take on holiday? Watching the carbs or not?

If you're interested, the next Bootcamp starts on 12 October!

It's a date!!!

Bootcamp's not for me I'm afraid, I need to count carbs and calories to make it work.

This thread's open to anyone on the low carb trail with a long road to walk, Bootcamp, Atkins, keto, roll your own, whatever, we can koko together!

I do BOOTCAMP and log calories and carbs.. It's easy!

I was without internet for nearly a month! I had a tiny bit on my phone but it just wasnt the same, it really was torture! I had to talk to my husband instead of MN-ing!
When i needed to find directions to somewhere i had to go up the loft and dig out a dusty road map and i had to look in actual cookbooks rather than google recipes. When the man and i disagreed on something we couldnt just google the answer.

My gran is doing really well but she now has some kind of ptsd thing, she was very brave and strong willed throughout her treatment and if she could have beaten it by willpower alone she would have - she is a remarkable woman!

Her levels werent low enough for her to be in remission yet but they should keep continuing to drop in the next few weeks and they might be low enough at the next test. This will probably come back but as she is in her mid 80s there is a good chance she will die with the cancer rather than from it.
She is looking good ( didnt lose her hair ) and is back to her usual self - full of plans. She lost alot of weigh due to the treatment and sees this as her silver lining and is determined not to put it back on! I think i would rather do bootcamp.

Good to hear bootcamp is back BIWI - i shall be back from my hols the week before so perfect timing. I like the support and stick waving as i have proven i am rubbish on my own!

I know on bootcamp esp we dont have to count calories but i am going to keep an eye on mine as my weightloss felt very very slow last time around. Its interesting to see others also have to keep a watch on calories.

On holiday i will be self catering so i will keep carbs low but in all honesty i wont be strict. I have managed to steer clear of pasta and rice, i still make courgetti and cauli rice but its the sodding bread that gets me. They sell the best butter where we are going and i am taking the coolbox and will be stocking up on way home.

But there will be loads of walking, cycling and swimming and there is an indian summer predicted and hopefully it will find its way to wales.

Now i have a week to unpack a zillion boxes and find everything we need to take on holiday and then pack it all up ready to go.

Good luck everyone

Just found an amazing recipe - perfect for low carbers so i thought i would share. Might have to source the ingredients tomorrow.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/warm_courgette_and_mint_37569

Warm courgette and mint salad with feta and lamb-fat dressing by Tom Kerridge

This throw-together salad is packed with delicious summer ingredients and given a flavour kick with lamb dripping.

Ingredients

2 Little Gem lettuces, leaves washed and separated
½ bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks chopped
bunch fresh mint, leaves only
100g/3½oz pitted black olives, roughly chopped
1 green pepper, seeds removed, diced
½ green chilli, seeds removed, sliced
½ red chilli, seeds removed, sliced
100g/3½oz feta, crumbled
100g/3½oz leftover lamb dripping, warmed (or extra virgin olive oil)
4 courgettes, cut diagonally into 0.5cm/1/4in slices
sea salt
25ml/1fl oz sherry vinegar

Preparation method

Mix the lettuce leaves, coriander leaves and stalks, mint, olives, pepper, chillies and feta together in a large bowl. Arrange the mixture on a large serving platter.
Heat a little lamb fat (or olive oil) in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Fry the courgette slices in batches until golden-brown on each side (about 1-2 minutes on each side). Sprinkle a little sea salt over each batch.
Add the cooked courgette slices to the salad platter.
Drizzle the sherry vinegar and the warmed lamb dripping over the salad, then serve.

Aww....literally jumped for joy when I saw this thread is back.

So pleased to see you again my old pals

Welcome along dreaming and missfitt!

Well first I must apologise for falling off the face of the earth...you'll probably remember we had a family bereavement, well that was closely followed by my brother in intensive care and so life just changed overnight and I forgot about mumsnet for a while. Brother survived and normality has resumed, so I've been lurking and thinking about coming back, thank you prof!!!

I started at 18st 10lbs....weight loss was down to about 15 st 6lbs I think last time I posted, well now I'm just into the 14s (14st 13lbs) and cross at how long it's taken, but pleased I haven't returned to carbs. I've really just eaten too much dairy as treats and too much alcohol and big portions, which slowed everything to a negligible loss. Also exercise (apart from the walking) came to a complete standstill! Still, almost 4st off and now in a size 16.

My target now is to be a size 14 by Christmas and then continue into next year until I hit the magic size 10.

So I guess our mottos are still SLIM (ish) BY CHRISTMAS and ONWARDS AND DOWNWARDS....feels good to be back. Love the sound of that recipe Desperately...I'm in a proper recipe rut so much appreciated. Great to hear that your gran is doing well - lovely news.

14 weeks until Christmas, so we have our work cut out.

Does anyone else have a Christmas target in mind?

Yay! Great to see you back again Mac! Sorry to hear about your stresses too but thank goodness your brother's OK.

Weight wise I've been very similar to you, kept low carb over the summer but with bigger portions and lots of booze. I'm the same now as I was back at the end of the last thread and I'm really pleased with that. I had a great summer, didn't feel like I was dieting at all and haven't put any weight on despite living the high life!

Thanks for the recipe Desperately - I'm still overwhelmed with summer courgettes from the allotment so it's always good to get new ways to eat them.

I'm hoping to lose another stone by Xmas and I think I'll probably be happy with that but we'll see.

Thanks prof....a stone sounds very sensible. Exactly one pound a week in 14 weeks, it's meant to be I would like to do a pound and a half a week if at all poss, but we'll see. I need more green smoothies and bp coffees and less cheese and cream and I can do it.

Hope some more of our old pals are up for the challenge!

Me too

I find I'm getting a bit complacent at the moment. I'm thrilled to bits with my weight loss and have bought new clothes, feel way more confident etc. It would be very easy to just ease off and accept the size I am now (comfortably in 16s but have just bought new leggings in a 14!) And yet the first time I dieted, about 10 years ago, it was because I weighed the same as I weigh now and back then I was very upset about it. Funny how our perceptions change over time.

But yes, I have to find motivation to keep going and not get too comfy.

Glad to see you back Mac -i also jumped for joy when i saw prof had resurrected this thread. Well done everyone for being far more disciplined than me and loosing or maintaining. Sorry to hear you have been having such a hard time Mac, i am glad things are improved with your brother, it must have been awful.

I would like to lose 1.5st ideally but at this rate i will be just happy to get back on it and stop gaining - i really am a massive fatty and i am far too scared to step on the scales but i am firmly a size 18 where i was mostly a size 16, uurrggh.

I have all the ingredients in for green smoothies and BPCs - i just need to effing do it now! I am tempted to take all my low carbing stuff with me on holiday - i desperately want to be slimmer.

The memory that drove me earlier this year was how i felt when i was trying to find a nice dress for a xmas night out last year. I literally sobbed in the shop, i have let things slip but it stops now (well in the morning!). I really dont want to cry in any more shops this year - although the boobs and legs out dress might have to wait until i am actually a size 10! I would happily settle for a confirmed size 14, this year.

Is it time to dust off 30 day shred??

Yes prof it's funny how perception about our weight changes....I remember thinking 12st was mahoosive, now I'd give my eye teeth to be there!

Don't be too disheartened Desperately, you're still here and you're ready to get back on it. Moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, most would have fallen off temporarily whilst that was going on.

Sounds like we're all ready to wock and woll again!

But the shred? I haven't heard the 'S' word uttered in months. Aargh....I'm scared

My late Nan couldn't comprehend anyone being over 10 stone (she was skinny as a lathe, ate like a bird) If she saw someone who was obviously hugely obese, like Cyril Smith sized, she'd do big eyes and a ! face and say "He must be, ooooooh, 10 stone!"

Mac's right Desperately, with all the stuff you've had going on you're doing well to be getting back on it. Aside from anything else, the practicalities of moving and toing and froing to the hospital together with the difficulty of getting low carb food on the go means it would have been just about impossible to stick to lchf for the last few months.

Koko!

Oh yes 10st was considered obese back in our nans' days....back then they all had 23" waists (imagine all our favourite food being rationed, we'd be skinny too )

Oh dear, I'm still walking when I can in the evenings, but I really can't seem to muster the enthusiasm or energy to get stuck into any other exercise.

Is anyone else struggling to get motivated?

If I started the shred I think I could really improve my shape by Christmas, but the thought of actually starting fills me with dread. I'm now telling myself I'll start on Monday!

On the plus side, my lovely new size 16 French Connection skirt fits beautifully and waiting for an occasion to wear it. Suddenly I can shop in a whole new set of shops, but my credit card may not thank me for it

I'm OK with motivation on the exercise front but the only problem is it's making me more hungry! I've not lost anything this week after going back to being 'good' but it's TOM so I guess that could be why.

If the Shred is filling you with dread, have you considered something else? It's easy to get bored doing the same old same old, maybe time to mix it up a bit?

I'm finding it hard to stop myself buying clothes at the moment. I tried on an old size 14 top yesterday and it actually fitted me - properly!

I know what you mean about the hunger....esp when you can't have what you actually fancy ie: cake

You'd think another kind of exercise might be more appealing wouldn't you, but I'm avoiding the gym too! Lazyitis has well and truly taken hold!

Ooh enjoy the shopping prof...it feels lovely buying smaller sizes doesn't it. And a 14 is amazing - well done!