Week 3 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - the fork in the road ...

[BIWI]

Good morning! (not that there's much good about it, from what I can see out of the window ...)

So we're at the end of the first two weeks. Felt like forever, didn't it?

Come and tell us how you got on on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

... or keep it to yourself on on the Weight Tracker

I hope that you have seen a good loss over these two weeks, because you do need to prepare yourself for the infamous weeks 3 and 4, where it is very, very, very, very common to see weight loss slow, stop or even reverse slightly

IF YOU FIND THIS IS HAPPENING, DON'T PANIC!

Keep calm and Bootcamp on ...

as we might say if we had our own posters Just keep on keeping on, and things will start to move again very soon. However, the rate of loss will now - from here on - be at a more sustainable rate of 1-2lbs per week. (If you have a lot to lose it might be a bit more than this, but please don't expect to see massive losses every week - that way madness lies!)

And now you have a choice.

You can stay on Bootcamp if it suits you (but please promise me that you're getting your carbs from vegetables and salad), or you can move to Bootcamp Light, which means you can introduce a few berries and nuts/seeds, as well as re-introduce alcohol in moderation. Rules for Bootcamp Light are on the spreadsheet (look at the tabs at the bottom)

Or, you can do Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

Whatever you decide, I hope it goes well for you.

for all those still with us!

I sometimes feel I need a little help from this - always feel better instantly and no sweetners if you choose the neutral one

I am trying with the salt, but DH has high blood pressure so for the last 10 years I have been cooking without it and we've all got used to not eating it. I have been putting a little on my eggs and eating salty butter.

Funny best, I've been feeling the same the last few days but put it down to the sinus infection that I have had since Wed (assumed it was my eustachian tubes being blocked that cause the dizziness and slight off balanced-ness).
Is something similar possible for you?

Saturday I had visitors coming in the afternoon. I made chocolate muffins and wholemeal bread and did not touch a bite, despite rave reviews. Also slow cooked a ham fillet and made coleslaw so I have some bits to throw in salad bowls for work during the week.

So yesterday was:
B: None (coffee x 2 and tasting bits as I cooked)
L: Greek yog, blueberries, coffee
D: approx half a fillet steak (meat was not nice), braised cabbage with maybe 1/4 onion and 1/2 carrot. Small portion blue cheese on top of steak.
At least 8 pints of water.
2 glasses of wine in giant glass topped up with loads of soda and ice.

This morning we were swimming and had brunch at midday - 3 egg omelette with spinach and parmesan. Also had an unexpected topping of caramelised red onions which tasted unbelievably sweet so I scraped them off. Gross. About 2 L water down already. Going to make the massaman curry shortly for dinner with cauli rice.

Hope everyone having a lovely weekend!

Best try drinking a hot drink made with an Oxo cube, or Bovril or Marmite instead - sodium is really important

Hello all. Funny, I've been a bit lightheaded too and did wonder if it's the LCing. Anyway, I had two crackers on Thursday, and the scales were down on Friday. So it seems not all straying is punished by the scales gods. And today I had a banana. It just felt right - not like I was giving in to weakness but more like I was giving my body what it needed. I'm very encouraged to read what you say StuntNun about the odd carb feed-up, because it seems to be where I am heading too.

Chester as far as I am concerned you are the hero of the hour with all you resisted, and with your stoicism in the face of the non-budging scales. Good luck for weigh-in tomorrow! Fingers crossed for you.

A miraculous thing happened yesterday. Was hungry, went out for a treat brekkie of a whole-milk latte, creamy scrambled eggs and fried mushrooms. It was all delicious. But here's the thing.. I LEFT SOME ON MY PLATE. This is a first in Note land. I would definitely have hoovered it all up without noticing if or when I was full prior to starting BC. So I'm thrilled that this WOE is helping me to learn to interpret and heed my body's signals. Thanks again to all of you wonderful people who make this bootcamp possible. I'm very grateful.

Hello everyone,

I haven't posted as much this week as it's been hectic, but wanted to share a "proud" moment if that's ok.

I went shopping today & it was packed so I didn't really feel like sitting in a restaurant on my own for lunch (need to get over this - I used to love eating out alone before I split with XH) anyway; I'd had bacon and eggs at home at 9am, but by 2pm I was getting hungry. Went into Tesco and right there is a display of Krispy Kreme doughnuts which I love and can't get in my local town. They were calling to me! I even picked up a bag ready to buy one, but then I reminded myself it is weigh in day tomorrow & forced my legs to move towards the chill sector!! I ended up buying some cucumber sticks with tzatziki and roasted seeds (2.4g carbs/100g) and a pack of Tesco finest sliced chicken with stuffing (1.6g carbs/100g and surprisingly tasty!)
I went and ate outside in the sunshine by the cathedral and it was lovely. And now I'm feeling really motivated and pleased with myself, whereas I know I'd have felt bloated & miserable if I'd given into temptation!

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend too. Will try to catch up with some of the thread now before DCs get back in 15 minutes! Hoping for a calmer week this week

When I was feeling grim, sick and faint a couple of weeks ago the teaspoon of bouillon in chicken stock really sorted me out.

Have ingredients for meatzza and gyoza meatballs!

I also picked up some tiny pots of potted beef, chicken and salmon from m&s today. Never had them before but the carb count is v low and they look like they'd survive nuclear holocaust so they're going in my handbag!

Oh fuckety fuckety fuck. What's the best carb calamity strategy? I'm on the way back from staying with friends, great cooks, so I went with a bag full of LC snacks, expecting to easily eat round the carbs and top up as needed. Maybe I should have said but i didn't want to be the food fad guest putting everyone out. First lunch was easy, ate the bacon out of bacon sarnies, had coffee with cream instead of cake in local cafe, but no polite way to avoid rice jambalaya and bread and butter pudding for dinner, and pancakes for breakfast; I'd basically have refused everything they'd cooked.

What do I do? I'm drinking tons of water, but is there anything else I can do to compensate now? Gaaaaah...

Feeling very trapped, obviously friendships are more important than a diet but I really want to do this, and I lose weight so painfully slowly (8lb in 4 months of some form of LCing) tthat setbacks really matter... Booo

I'm in the same boat Mo as my MIL just turned up with SOS (socially obliged sugar). Drink lots of water and get back on track. I always find the carb cravings hit on the second day afterwards so make sure you have delish low carb snacks available.

So for the meatzza do you just use the Nigellisima recipe and miss out the breadcrumbs?

Mo - don't fret, this will happen to us all, and all you can do is the best you can at the time. Think about the lovely weekend you had, put the food part behind you and move on. Tomorrow is another day.

However it does raise an important issue here.

obviously friendships are more important than a diet

But they shouldn't be mutually exclusive! We do all end up in situations where it's SOS - but if they are your friends, surely they will understand? No harm in letting them know (in advance, obviously) that you're low carbing. You needn't tell them it's for weight if you don't want to (for some reason we all seem to think that's a trivial idea!), but you could say something about wheat intolerance, doctor's concerns about diabetes, or some other such stuff.

You are important, and I'm sure that your friends will agree.

I just find a stern 'my doctor recommended for my to try a low carb diet' works wonders.

It's even sort of true, in my case yes, my doctor is google

Went out for breakfast today to an all-you-can-eat place.

Normally, I would be trying to get my money's worth and shovelling as much on my plate as humanly possible, but today I just had a plate with three bacon, two eggs, one sausage, mushrooms and half a (small, not beef) tomato. Totally satisfied - diet, what diet?

I appreciate that the sausage will have had carbs in it ('twas why I only had one!) but I resisted all the toast, pancakes, waffles, hash browns etc. It was nice having a guilt free Sunday breakfast.

The meatzza was delicious! And very easy to make. I used oats instead of breadcrumbs and about half what the recipe suggested.

Not too bad day here. I was out at a friend's for lunch so ate what I could of the meal. Here's my food:

B: coffee with cream, total yogurt with a bit of cream, vanilla extract and cinnamon
L: chicken breast with bacon and leeks, a few sliced steamed carrots, a teaspoon of mascarpone and a few strawberries, about an inch and a half of red wine
D: 2 egg muffins, one sausage (Bkack Farmers).
W: not sure but I've tried to drink it frequently throughout the day

I've recently also gone faint when I go from kneeling to standing. I tend towards lowish blood pressure so I guess something about low carbing has lowered it further.

Going to try the meatzza next, sounds like it would make good lunch leftovers too.

Good day here including a very long walk.

B - Chia pudding made with almond milk
L - Sausage & scrambled eggs & mushrooms
D - Roast lamb, roast swede & cauliflower, steamed greens

Hello
I have some events this week that will necessitate a deviation from home cooking, so please can anyone help on

• low carb Chinese take away options
• low carb carluccios options

Thanks so much. I don't want to stuff up, but equally don't want to get hung up on the whole thing Tia

Ooh what is this meattza I keep hearing about? It sounds ace.

Having a go at making egg muffins - with cheese and bacon.

Will see how they turn out, and if they're good, might be making some to take to work with me!

Thanks guys (deep breaths). Love SOS Stuntnun ! I forgot to mention the rice pudding they cooked specially for me at lunchtime, my having complemented it in a pre-LC world (in fairness, it absolutely rocks).

And you're right BIWI, getting into these pickles comes from a combination of not wanting to impose and feelings of embarrassment - none of which have a very empowered core. Interesting how many people fall back on a medical excuse to justify eating like this too. It's like it's not enough to just know that this WOE makes us feel better and lose weight; somehow we need back-up to justify all that protein and fat. I think there are feelings of shame associated with being overweight and eating like this looks indulgent, requires a cover story, and certainly doesn't feel like a reason to put someone out.

Enough deep shit.

Guacamole, lime juice, chicken and philly and gallons of water for supper.

Hmm, not keen on egg muffins....it's just like omlette....

(I don't know why I was expecting it to taste any different, as they have the exact same ingredients as an omelette....think I was expecting a kale crisps style revelation)

Tomorrow's going to be tricky, I think. Work in the am, then afo off, driving to bridlington with DH to see jake bugg at the spa and stopping at a B and B overnight.

So will be potentially lunch 'on the go' and a meal out before the gig to navigate.

Don't suppose there's any nice fish restaurants (not the battered kind!)..think I could do something with that.

I went out last night and consumed my own body weight in gin and slimline tonic (bearing in mind my bodyweight is not inconsequential) which has then had a knock-on effect on my eating today. I've not eaten badly just a bit chaotically

I have not mastered those social situations either. I've decided that part of it, for me, is still that food represents so much more than just fuel (it is caring, nurturing, bonding, etc) and I need to change that thought pattern

Clash if you put cream cheese in with the eggs it's more like quiche than omelette - which imo is preferable as I'm not that keen on omelette myself.

Totally agree with BIWI about friends and the diet - I just say this is how I'm eating. I've made a commitment to myself, at times it's hard enough anyway without letting what other people think get in the way. I don't make excuses to myself and I honestly don't see the need to make them to others either. It's only going to be this strict for a few months or so, after that the occasional blow out will be manageable, but right now I'm not prepared to compromise and get set back. You can eat in loads of different restaurants on this woe and at home it's not difficult to cook something with separate carbs so the dieter can still eat the rest. It's also easy to be 'too full' for pudding. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now!

I think it is easy for you to be too full and to stick to your guns Charlie because you have got your head in the right place. I am just struggling a bit to get there at the moment

I know, it's not the same for everyone. My head isn't always in the right place either btw, I lost loads of weight for my wedding 3 years ago and put it all back on again, but I did that myself, nobody else was responsible. I think it really helps to recognise that you are important enough to put yourself first in respect of your eating for this time, as they say 'because you're worth it'. If friends and family get a bit inconvenienced for a couple of months, so be it. I put myself out to cook for vegetarian friends and family all the time, it's frankly a pain at times but they feel able to make that choice and I respect that and I love them, it's no different.

Go Charlie ! You're right, of course. I actually find this WOE very easy to adopt the headspace for, at home, work and eating out, and don't feel tempted to cheat at all. For me, the downfall is in the area Scouse was in, with rejecting people's food paralleling rejecting their love. Obviously all kinds of screwed up to think like that.

3lb up this morning. To be expected but deflating to be back to BC square one.