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

[miffy49]

Yes, Pisses, I'm actually struggling with the catering this year. Not because of any restrictions on what I might eat but simply because I can't see food as the centre of everything the way I used to. I feel I eat well all year so I really haven't a clue what else to get. I feel obliged to offer more to the low fat brigade who will be starving as usual but I'd be happy with a good book or good company! In the past I'd have been totally centred around what I could have in the cupboard because I'd be planning how much I could pack in during two days!

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

Sorry you are having such a tough Day Chester lack of sleep makes it so much harder some times. Hang in there and I hope you can get a good night's sleep tonight.

[StuntNun]

Romey there are huge benefits to eating this way and over time more will become apparent. I started this WOE because I felt I was addicted to sugar and the weight loss was an, admittedly very welcome, bonus. My perennial rhinitis has virtually cleared up - it was caused by milk. My IBS is gone - it was the wheat. My teeth are better, I don't snore anymore, I have more energy especially in the evenings, my menstrual symptoms have gone, my joint pains ceased completely. With the weight loss comes a reduced risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And to be honest I suspect that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are early indications that a ketogenic or low carb diet could be beneficial in the prevention of cancer, Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. I do know when I had a stomach bug earlier in the year I felt I had a much more consistent energy level and recovered more quickly despite not being able to keep anything down for a few days.

[BIWI]

Alzheimer's is being called Type 3 diabetes by some people these days

[EmilyAlice]

We have been discussing Christmas too and feel quite relieved at not having to eat the cake, pudding and mince pies. We have been gently low-carbing for nearly a year and have lost 2 stone (me) and 3 stone (OH), BMI now around 22, so we are in maintenance mode.
Christmas will be:
Breakfast: Sausages with a slice of spelt toast and butter.
Lunch: Smoked salmon and avocado salad with horseradish dressing.
Dinner: Roast goose, carrots, sprouts, two tiny new potatoes each. Stilton, grapes and strawberries dipped in chocolate.

[Pisseslikeahorse]

its odd but I have no want whatsoever for potatoes, actually any heavy carb. The cake, well thats another matter , Ive taken a lot of time to make it and am going to spoil myself with some very nice cheese as well. just not a massive chunk, thats all

[EmilyAlice]

Yes I am not too bothered about potatoes now either, but having grown them I feel a sort of obligation! They are low GI varieties and we only have very small quantities. No cake here though; one of the advantages of deepest rural France is that we would have had to make it, so we didn't.

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

There would be a riot here if we didn't have cake or the usual biscuits. Coffee and cake is a major tradition But potatoes are easy to drop and I might treat myself to a roast parsnip instead. Never want any pudding anyway. What is the point when there is nice meat and veg? I suspect I need to watch my meat intake over the festive period as this could get a little high, but mindfulness and it will be fine.

[NaturalElfYayChristmas]

Evening all, have to agree with above that I'm not fussed about potatoes on christmas either. I'm entertaining and I (hope) have my day planned- only going to have Xmas pud. I'm not a cake person but I love that. Everything else should be ok.
So many illnesses at the moment- hopefully they will be gone for christmas.
I went shopping today for work do dress- how depressing. I've lost 20lbs as of this morning and still can't quite fit into size 16 of most shops curse you vanity sizing
Felt quite flat BUT then found a pretty dress in Asos, so hope that's ok.
I'm the opposite to most, I've lost lots on the scales, not so much in inches.

[BestIsWest]

i could live without eating a potato ever again. Except maybe Jersey Royals with butter.

[SayraT]

Hey best well done on your not weighing and your weight loss, I ended up STS this BC (with fluctuations) but I wasn't as dedicated as I could have been.

I am aiming to STS over the Christmas period then back on it properly in the New Year, I will start as soon as I am back at work on the 5th January. I am not intending on going mad and have planned some treats. I will have my chocolate orange from santa but I'll try not to eat it all in one go but the rest of the sweets I will give away

If I lose the same amount of weight in 2015 as I did it 2014 then I will be very happy indeed.

Well done to everyone and I like the fact that many of us are planning for the holidays, I think that really helps.

[prettybird]

I've found that I can make do with a single roast potato and lots of veg. As long as I allow myself to have a small one when I'm cooking them for others, I won't fall face first into a whole pile!

[BestIsWest]

Thanks Sayra. You did well considering your Brazilian adventures.

[Romeyroo]

Natural, glad you found something for your work do; clothes shopping can be hard sometimes, I tend to find things look nice on the hanger but not necessarily on me!

Thank you again for your kind responses to my question about low carbing and mood. Stuntnun, I think I just realised how addicted I was to sugar after I started low carbing, though I felt my metabolism was off whack. Really interesting about the lack of joint pains (and good). I have had arthritis like pain on and off since I was a child; don't remember the last time I did but will be keeping an eye out for its absence now, if that makes sense.

Really useful thoughts on Christmas. Eating a little bit of what you especially want seems a good plan. I am not overly worried about Christmas as it will just be me and DC; DD has planned the menu and it looks pretty good. The only excursion will be gluten-free chocolate cake which we are doing instead of Christmas cake. I do like Christmas cake, but it would just be me eating one slide= waste. New Year will be a bit more difficult as with family, but I have said I am low carbing; now I will say it helps with depression too, so very important to stick with it!

Speaking of waste, I guiltily chucked a lot of old bread into the food bin this evening. I clearly need to rethink what I buy in terms of bread. A good side effect of this way of eating is that there are less sugary things in the house for DC to eat; but clearly fewer carbs are being consumed overall.

[ChesterDrawers]

Well, unsurprisingly, I took a nose-dive off the wagon into a bucket-load of carbs on Saturday, tried to get back on it on Sunday and found here was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on the pub menu so slipped again. Back on it today, must keep the focus.

My problem is I am all or nothing. I know if I decide to have a potato on Christmas Day, it will derail me and I will go overboard. I'm still debating whether to give myself the day off and get back on it on Boxing Day (when I am cooking) or try to stick with it and see how it pans out. The trouble is then I face feeling deprived like I did on Saturday and risk blowing it for days.

Mood-wise I have been pretty level overall, but I had horrendous PMT this last week, way worse than I can remember. I was horrible and I knew I was being horrible and I knew why I was being horrible but I just couldn't stop. I am wondering if it's linked to this WOE - I hope not because I don't think my marriage would survive many more months like this one!

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

I'm not a fan of the roast potato

My kids think I am weird

[EmilyAlice]

Does anyone else check GI ratings? New potatoes come out on that below parsnips, for example. We will certainly plant fewer potato beds next year though and put in more celeriac and squashes. We have a good crop of Jerusalem articholes this year and they seem OK.

[CharlieSierra]

Ubercamping this week following a weekend which is best put behind me as quickly as possible!

[Romeyroo]

Chester, are you taking any supplements? I am not a nutritionist, obviously, but I think very low carbing does something to oestrogen levels, so it may be worth thinking about. I have been better this month, but last cycle when just started low carbing, I had mid-cycle spotting which I never normally have (and am definitely not pregnant!).

My mood is still low, but I think it would be worse with the blood sugar swings and feeling overweight. Nonetheless, I am reckoning I have lost a stone since I started BC mid-October. I still want to lose maybe another half stone but I am going to BC lite for a bit and see what happens. I have been doing strict BC since I started as I wanted to get weight off; but I am hoping I can ease up a bit without inciting the sugar monster! Then I will do strict bootcamp from19th Jan to work towards me target weight. I need to somehow get exercise into the mix.

[ChesterDrawers]

No supplements Romey, in fact I know nothing about them at all. Do you have any suggestions or can you point me in the direction of any info?

[StuntNun]

How long have you been eating low carb Chester? It can cause a temporary surge in oestrogen levels.

[ChesterDrawers]

Been low carbing consistently since the start of the autumn bootcamp. I think I noticed I was a bit more emotional stabby in the first few weeks, things have levelled off til now. I am wondering if my recent spate of cheats have cocked me up?

[Romeyroo]

I read somewhere that when you start burning fat, it releases oestrogen which is stored in fat. I seem to have levelled off, fingers crossed, as no spotting so far this cycle.

My suggestion re supplements was I realised I had been lax with taking mine and wondered if that was affecting my mood. I started again over the weekend. So I take a calcium/magnesium mix which I think has potassium too; a B complex which evens out your cycle; iron; and a multivitamin for hair, skin and nails. I think Starflower Oil and Evening Primrose are good for PMT; but if you look for one of the women's health brands, you will be going in the right direction.

Also wonder about having some carefully chosen complex carbs in the week before your period is due; maybe quinoa in a salad or something which will not cause too much of a sugar spike but might head off the emotional carb eating?

[ChesterDrawers]

Thanks Romey, gonna get some tomorrow and give them a try.

[ChesterDrawers]

Anybody ever made low carb Bailey's? There are loads of recipes but wondered if there were any tried and tested.

I am thinking of giving it a go as a festive tipple