Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - the final weigh in!

[BIWI]

Good morning everyone!

I hope you're all still with us, to come and add your final weigh-in to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Or, on the Weight Tracker

It seems like there have been some really good losses on this Bootcamp, and so for you all!

Hope you all have a very good week

Talking about it's about the only thing I can do! Grr. Another night where I haven't actually slept, not even a wink. The wind howling around really hasn't helped. Do I get up now or do I have a short nap? Both options are problematic.

I should be grateful I'm not in a foreign country in a darkened room I guess. I'd end up snoring and embarrassing myself hugely!

I enjoy travelling on my own & tend to end up in some random places. I'll tell you my scary KL story sometime . I quite like the adrenalin rush of 'interesting' road laws!

Sometimes you just have to go with 'experience' over 'diet of choice'. At least it was nice and not stodgy, horrible carbs...plastic food.

In Korea they had both western & Korean breakfast options. I didn't have the Korean food though as I couldn't see anything obviously vegetarian. I speak no Korean and they didn't speak any English...too much room fir error and I didn't fancy spending the entire time in the bathroom! The rest if the day was fine, there was always someone to help.

Love the 'egg station'

Much sympathy over the not sleeping. I hate it. I don't get it very often, thankfully. I know that this is down to the time difference/jet lag.

Two more interviews and I'm done.

Unfortunately I'm checked out of my hotel room, so I can't go and have a kip - although I could go up to the pool and lie on one of the loungers there!

Problem is if I did that BIWI I would sleep through the last two interviews. Sorry you had such a bad night.

Ds' sleep meds have to be stopped for a while as they aren't working atm so he is going to have to come off them for a while. It is going to mean not much sleep for either of us. Which is a shame but necessary. Really going to test my over tired resolve, and I can say that my stress resolve is rubbish. But stick on how to get rid of my chocolate is the answer response to stress. Not fussed by any other carbs any more but that one is lingering :( I suspect the answer is chalk it up to progress and keep plugging away. Although any ideas would be good.

Problem is if I did that BIWI I would sleep through the last two interviews. Sorry you had such a bad night.

Ds' sleep meds have to be stopped for a while as they aren't working atm so he is going to have to come off them for a while. It is going to mean not much sleep for either of us. Which is a shame but necessary. Really going to test my over tired resolve, and I can say that my stress resolve is rubbish. But stick on how to get rid of my chocolate is the answer response to stress. Not fussed by any other carbs any more but that one is lingering :( I suspect the answer is chalk it up to progress and keep plugging away. Although any ideas would be good.

Are you done yet?

Snoozing on a lounger?

Bugger about being checked out of your room your initial plan sounded much better.

Bitchy. Bugger about DS's sleep meds :(. Let's hope he doesn't have to be off of them for too long! Dark chocolate & coffee? It's not the same, but desperate measures?!

I'd like to sign up please for the forthcoming bootcamp. But I've started already. On day 3 now and going well. No carb flu thankfully but I've been using plenty of salt and drinking plenty of water (thanks to the very useful tips).

Yesterday's food:
Breakfast: Bacon egg and mushrooms.

Lunch: Avocado with prawn mayo and rocket leaves

Dinner: Belly pork with creamy green peppercorn sauce with a big serving of broccoli

Bitchy theres nothing worse than being tired for setting the brain nagging for food and its usually chocolate that seems most attractive isn't it? As Chipping says, I tend to go down the route of least resistance if it gets too bad and have a bit of dark chocolate and a coffee. the two intensify the flavour.

Years ago I read that when we eat a bar of chocolate we actually only taste the first couple of squares properly. After that our taste buds start to get accustomed and we tend to just carry on out of habit. When the need for chocolate is really intense I have my coffee and 2 squares telling myself that I will have another coffee and a little more chocolate in a little while when I will enjoy it more. Often I get distracted by other stuff and forget. Maybe it just gives the whole satisfaction thing time to kick in. Either way I often get away with just the first two squares. Worth a shot!

Will have to give it a go. Ideally I would like to not resort to it. But I used to eat a chocolate bar for breakfast, chocolate bar for lunch and 1 plateful of salty pasta when stressed. At my most disordered eating it was just 1 bar of chocolate and some coke for the entire day for weeks. I have to remember how far i have come. And that this was not something curable over night. And I love both yours MiffY and Chipping's advice, it is the next step really. Cut it down.

Not had the best lunch carb wise, but I have eaten lunch and breakfast and it was soup not wheat based. Am going to have to concede and take a nap though as I am so tired my lungs are forgetting to breath. Stupid fibro.

Actually BIWI is it better to succumb to chocolate craving or would something like soup that is a little higher than ideal in carb levels and avoid soup be better?

I have dark chocolate and coffee as well; usually at work in the afternoon or in a coffee shop. You really only do need one or two squares otherwise it is a bit much. I used to eat a lot more chocolate and sweet stuff than I do now to cope with stress and lack of sleep.

I do occasionally melt dark chocolate into almond milk. It is very yummy.

I also found the gingerbread tea in the end; that had quite a sweet taste, it is actually a bit too strong a taste for me so I make it weak, but that fills the need for something sweet too.

Fibro is the pits Bitchy. I've been know to fall asleep at the sink washing up! I've also fallen off the toilet in the night! Got that one solved now as the cat comes with me and sits watching. If he thinks I'm nodding he pats my knee! Bless him!

I'd avoid the chocolate and go for the soup, personally. Once you start on the chocolate it can be a bit of a slippery slope. And it's not really a proper meal, is it?

That's what I suddenly thought when i was typing it. And soup with cheese and hard boiled egg in it is rather nice on a miserable day even if the soup itself was a tad carby. Will try an make this what happens.

I wish I could fall asleep. miffy i have the opposite problem and often can't sleep more than a couple of hours for days. Have to admit I was so exhausted I did randomly fall asleep for 2 hrs this afternoon. Can't sleep now though so it probably didn't help. Hoping the fibro specialist team I have been referred to have some ideas to help.

Hope your post means you have safely returned to this land of storms and ice BIWI

Currently in Dubai airport, waiting for my connecting flight back into London.

Not looking forward to the cold, especially as DH has told me that our central heating boiler (which also controls the hot water) is broken, and we have to have a new one - which we haven't got a date for yet.

We do have an electric shower in the main bathroom, so at least we can keep clean! But the only other heating we have is a tiny fan heater!

I hope you are home now?!

Bugger about the boiler, if you lived closer you could have my heaters! I hope it doesn't take long to get the boiler replaced. I hope DH is on to someone today.

Hibernate under the duvet with a hot water bottle or three!

Yes I'm home!

I went out and bought two small oil-filled, portable radiators, which are surprisingly efficient.

We have one going in the lounge, one in our bedroom and DS2 has the fan heater in his room.

I'm also roasting a chicken, so the kitchen is warm as well.

Hope the boiler gets fixed soon biwi

I am tonight; I have been in pain and bloated all day and cannot work out what has caused it. I may have overdone the green veg, but that was two days ago. Yesterday I hardly ate anything as feeling not hungry apart from chicken and salad. Today I had an avocado and crayfish salad at Pret (have had it before, no issues); and half an omelette for dinner as I could not face more. I am drinking fennel tea, but still in pain. Any ideas what could have caused it?

could it just be the crayfish was boardline? It is the only thing that I can think of. Not over enough to cause food posioning but enough to make you feel off iyswim. Sorry you are feeling so ill. Hope you feel better soon.

Even though it's cold, it's nice to be home isn't it :)

I'd guess at the crayfish too. It might have been left out of the grudge somewhere along the line. Hope you feel better by the morning.

Aghhhhh insomnia here as well now (thought it was 5am so got up and it's only 4am) Insomnia and frustration. Sudden weight gain of those 3 pounds on Friday morning are really bugging me. The only thing I went off plan for this week was a glass of wine and a satsuma.
I've worked out that for the 11 weeks I've been doing this woe, I've only lost 18lbs, 8 of which were in first 2 weeks. I've got another 40 to go so this is going to take ages.........
I know it's a marathon (and I plan to eat like this forever) but 1.6 a week when you are this big is disheartening.
It's my 40th in 5 weeks, I really wanted to get into 'overweight' bm I but now I have 9 pounds to go and don't think I'll make it.
Maybe I'll cut dairy for a week, I will be gutted if it's that.
I sound like such a negative nancy - sorry. Think it's the night time blues.

Thank you, Bitchy and Chipping, yes, I was ice skating in the morning, so probably was the crayfish. Hmm, that is my go to food after ice skating because it is the best low carb option in the food mall. Will take my own lunch next time; will be cheaper too.

I am feeling better, though washed out. At the advice of Dr Google, I tried 'colonic massage'. Just in case you ever have a similar predicament.

I hope you night owls are not too exhausted this morning; I had insomnia for a year or so related to anxiety, it was horrible. Massive sympathy to you.

Natural, 18lbs in 11 weeks is great though. Regarding the 3lbs, I put on 4 a couple of weeks ago after eating a bit more carby than usual when I had no choice one day. It was literally an Ear Natural bar and about half a panini. I did several days of strict low carbing (kept the cheese though but not much) and it whooshed down again. I think one of the more expert than me posters said glycogen holds water as well, which adds to the weight.

Really don't be disheartened, you are doing really well and if you stick with the woe then I think (hope) the advantage is that the weight will stay off. As you say, it is a marathon, so steady progress is the name of the game. I know what you mean, though, I am trying to shift inches off my hips and waist and have been stuck at the same measurements for about six weeks. My boobs and arms have shrunk [the boob shrinkage is not good, there was not much there to begin with, but looking forward to wearing short sleeves again in the summer. There is always padding for the other dept!]

As regards the upcoming 40th, being 40 is a year and being over 40 is the rest of your life. You are losing the weight to benefit the rest of your life; so a few pounds off target for your birthday should not cloud your birthday. You are working your way downwards, which is what matters.

Natral - theres no reason you can't reach your goal just keep on keeping on .
If you want list out your last weeks food to see if we can give you any help

NaturalBlonde

First thing to say is brilliant! You've lost 18lbs! And you've kept at it for 11 weeks. So ask yourself these questions:

Have you enjoyed your food?

Do you feel deprived?

Do you feel like you're on a diet?

Hopefully the answer to those questions is Yes, No and No!

And then the killer question:

Are you following Bootcamp rules to the letter?

Specifically, are you drinking enough water? And are you eating plenty of fat?

If you've moved on to Bootcamp Light, are you perhaps allowing 'carb creep'? It's very easy after a while to allow a few too many nuts, or a bit too much fruit, etc

List out for me your last few days' worth of meals and drinks and let me see if there's anything I can help you with

Oh, and here's a picture of a pound of fat. Multiply this by 18!

One pound of fat ...