Week 8 - Summer Low Carb Bootcamp - two months almost done ...

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness once more

So the finish line is almost in sight. I see from the last thread that some of you have been struggling to stay on track - just three more weeks to go, so stay focused.

That 'it's only one piece of bread/one glass of beer' moment really isn't worth it. Been there, got the t-shirt.

If you're bored with the food - there are two things that could help you. Firstly, think back to the last time you were doing a low calorie/low fat diet - how awful was it to have to scavenge the shelves looking for something low calorie enough, and how often were you eating food that didn't actually taste that nice, but delivered only on the basis of being low calorie? Rice cakes that might as well be polystyrene ceiling tiles, for example!

And then go and read the recipe thread for some inspiration, and find something new to cook. There's nothing on there that's difficult to do.

I'd also say that I see a lot of you are trying to recreate things that are high carb - pizza or bread, for example. These things are very unlikely to be the same, or as nice, as the high carb versions. And all the time you're trying to recreate something you're missing, you're just reminding yourself that you're missing something!

So try not to do this, but focus on things that are beautifully low carb and that you can enjoy for their own taste and benefits.

Here's to a successful week for us all.

style I would definitely love to have the body on the right. It's curvy and feminine. The left one looks like a 12 year old boy's catwalk model's body to me.

Yesterday I had a cup of coffee for breakfast and a salad and 2 bits of tofu for dinner.

Much cheating yesterday as had double triggers of insomnia and stress. I need to find a better way of handling high stress moments. Will get back on it today. This bootcamp is the first time I've been able to recover after failing instead of giving up. I'm not sure we should be mocking other dieters as I'm sure there's a lot of failed bootcampers out there.

Morning all!

C4 - Glad to hear the wee one is doing ok. And by breakfast - really relived to hear you ate it. I just want to come and give both you and your DH a hug - you're both going through horrendous times. (((Hugs anyway)))

Went off piste yesterday. I asked DP for a small pot of yoghurt at the weekend so I could start making my own, using the milk I'd carried home from work last week which was nearing it's end of life. He brought back two large pots, one 0% fat, which, considering I already had a large pot left wasn't overly helpful. Was wondering how to use up 'his' pot and decided to make a lemon-drizzle yoghurt Bundt cake. Well, I cleaned the bowl of the mixture, and then had a slice of the finished cake as well.

However, it was my decision and if I continue with the woe infinitum I'm going to allow myself the odd wander off the path. Or not, considering I had a headache half an hour later, and am fuzzy headed this morning. I swear it's the sugar.

My other reason for having the odd carb this week is that I'm going to stay with friends next week and my diet's already contrary to what they usually eat at the most 'normal' of times, and I don't want to add any other problems into the mix. I'll avoid the sweet stuff, but I'm not turning down every fresh baguette.

Sorry, BIWI, do I have too many excuses to hand?

So in total, yesterday, I had:
L - Salad of cucumber, tomato, pepper, ham, olive oil; yoghurt
D - Roast chicken, mushrooms, leek and cream cheese (splash of milk) cooked in butter; small slice of cake with yoghurt
Dr - 2 coffees and lots of water

jim it's so true what you say about body image. I haven't been slim since I was a child, and I was a skinny little Mowgli at that. Then hit puberty at 11 and filled out by the time I was 13. Puppy fat became eventually obesity. If I think back to when i was 15 or 16, I had a lovely curvy body with big boobs and shapely legs. A body i would love to have now. But i thought i was fat then. I was certainly heavier and fatter than most of my classmates. But some of them were either really sporty or hardly ate at all. Eating tissues was also a thing then to stave off hunger .

I have done various diets over the years but never managed to get "thin". The alcohol diet was the most effective! Ha I'm not advocating that though. Was fun at the time. . I think my proper body shape is curvy even though i have a small frame. And I've always thought I should be skinny like I was as a child. And because that is what the stupid outdated and hideously flawed shitey BMI scale tells me. I always get the rage at the BMI thing. It's plain wrong and causes distress more than it helps.

Just caught up with the thread, have struggled to rein in the carby twattishness after my birthday macaron. Still not in Ketosis.

Anyhoo....
c4 sounds like you're on the up, great news, and the NZ pics are amazing.
Dust
Old Amaaaazing pics, legs and bum all look smoother too. Definitely inspirational
Clear I like both, but maybe the coral edges it for me, have a fabulous time at the tennis. Fizz, strawberries and cream are BCL!
Cherries Time for an interim pair of trews? Is it worth a pair from Ebay as they'll be too big for you soon ?!

To all the strugglers, I feel your pain. I am back on it now and feeling more determined. My face looks baggier and older, when I've had carbs. and I need to look my best for a work thing next week, so today:
B: Egg muffin
L: Oopsie rolls with butter and marmite
S: Cheese omelette
Buckets of water

Style and Stunt you may have spotted an eggy fast thing going on. I'm not fully egg fasting but I am going to have no more than 7 non-eggy meals this week ( just so I can get some fibre in too)

C4 this one is just for you. Feel free to print and stick it to your fridge!

where your skids can see it

YoLo I love the saying "I wish I was the size I was the first time I thought I was fat" - it's so bloody true!

The most weight I've ever lost in a previous attempt is 2.5 stone and that was WW. I started at 15st 5lbs and finished at 12st 12lbs... I started LCHF at 18st 5lbs and I was 15st 10lbs last time I checked a couple of weeks ago so I'm very nearly back to that point!

My periods are going out with a bang ilove. Hot flushes/night sweats a-go go here . Although the terrible pains in my hands and fingers have eased whilst on this WOE which is excellent.

Does anyone have any amazing ideas of what I can do with white cabbage, apart from coleslaw or send it in to the Home Ec teacher? The almost month long running saga of DS's Pizza with Salad in school cookery has ended and I am now left with a white cabbage .

C4 I worked in NZ for a year (10 years ago now ) and I absolutely loved it, I wish we could go back as OH never came over. He went to Canada for a year after I'd left then I joined him over there for a few months before we both had to come back to real life!!

Heman - what about slicing it finely, frying it gently in butter, add some cream cheese, cream and mustard and throwing some crispy bacon bits in? Usually use green cabbage for this but surely it would work?

Or donate it to my rabbits?

@GoodBadOrIndifferent

^Well I've crashed out of bootcamp spectacularly. There was a wedding at the weekend that I ate dessert at and too many biscuits yesterday.
I hate to say it but I feel so much better. The awful fuzzy head has finally gone.^

Have you been eating an especially low carb diet recently? If you were still feeling odd, then this would imply that you haven't been eating enough carbohydrate - have you been eating plenty of veg and salad?

So I'm unsure what to do now. I like the satiety of bootcamp, but it doesn't seem to suit me.

Same question as above - it also could be that if you've been eating lower carb and drinking the amount of water that you should be, that your electrolytes are out of whack - so you need sodium, magnesium and potassium. Without seeing what you've been eating/drinking it's a bit hard to know, but this would also be something to consider

Stuntnun or BIWI can correct me but LCHF is associated with higher cortisol levels, and i know that affects my blood sugar quite profoundly. Mid gestational diabetes my BM went from 5 to 12 after a horribly stressful event at work.

I'm not sure about this. This link would seem to suggest that it's not true

Cortisol is definitely raised with stress, but the impact of low carbing on cortisol isn't necessarily so clear

I haven't been the best with avoiding alcohol either, but to be fair I'm talking about a couple of glasses of wine a 2-3 times a week, with 2 occasions where I drank far to much.

I have already pointed this out to you! And depending on the size of your glass, a couple glasses can be as much as half a bottle - and if you're doing this 2-3 times a week, that's a lot - and also all the time you're doing this, your body is only burning the alcohol, and not fat.

My plan at the moment is to add in some lower GI carbs (black beans, flagelot beans) etc and moderate the fat slightly and see what happens. I may go back to bootcamp proper if it doesn't work out.

Why not try and make sure you're doing Bootcamp properly first, before you start introducing things like this which will be much carbier?

I'm sorry that you don't feel it's working for you - but then I'd say that it's not working because you're not doing it properly!

Herman I saw a recipe, maybe on diet doctor, where you shred it, fry it in butter with meat (think they used mince, but chicken or bacon would be good too), and add grated cheese and spinach and I suppose anything you like really. Then sprinkle with cheese and bake until crisp on top.

@HemanOrSheRa

White cabbage:

Slice or chop, which ever you prefer, and boil till soft - probably 3-4 minutes.

Drain in a colander, and then in the pan you used to boil it, add a generous amount of butter.

When it's melted, gently sauté some shallots (tailor the amount you use to the amount of cabbage - if it's a whole cabbage I'd probably use 4-6).

Season generously with black pepper, then when it's softened and starting to brown, tip the cabbage back into the pan.

Stir it so that it's coated in the butter, and the shallots are mixed in, and fry on a high heat for a minute or so.

Then add the juice of a lemon. Cover the pan, turn the heat down to its lowest setting and let it braise for around 20 minutes.

You can serve it like this, or sometimes I tip all of this into an oven dish, sprinkle a generous amount of mature cheddar on top, and bake till the cheese is browned.

Time - Drooling at that idea.... ((( dribbles only had pepperami for breakfast)))

Books - Bonchicka wow - looking good! Such a difference well done you!

Cathy.... Where;s the salad and veg??? Norty!

Oliversmum - it must be so hard with such limitations on your diet. I would second insisting the GP does some proper allergy tests. They should be a lot more open/willing about it these days. Would you be able to go private otherwise?

C4 - Wish you could be my twos GM, My PILS cant really be bothered!

Jim - Sounds like you're smashing the exercise! You go girl... Your PT does sound amazing.

YOLO - that made me snort at my desk.... Yes I got looks.

right:

B - two sad tiny little pepperami sticks (must be more organised)
L - Leftover dinner - Pork belly slices, courgette and Cauli cheese
D - summat with chicken and summat and summat....

I've two chicken breasts, any ideas?

KOKO #namastebitches

@Cherrypi

Sorry if you thought my posts were mocking. I'm frustrated - not trying to mock! - when people won't listen and when they insist on posting stuff that simply isn't true, that they're just re-gurgitating.

If they're failed Bootcampers then I would hope very much that they have a better idea of low carbing and how it works!

WaaWaaWaa yes i can go private. Dp has private medical insurance through his job.

My issues are that I go to doctors and although I know what I have wrong with me it seems to rake them on average 5 years and me nearly dying before they will actually confirm what it is I have got.
The illness I had as a teen was only diagnosed when they gave me 6 weeks to live. The only reason I survived was because I went as a guinea pig on an untested new drug that was a life saver)
During my first pregnancy, something went in my body and I could only shuffle around, I couldn't lift my right foot to walk. The pain over the years got worse, couldn't sleep, I was virtually housebound, zimmer frame, a couple of toddlers. I was under an orthopaedic hospital that told me I needed a new hip and I wouldn't get one till I was 60. The consultant who told me this never once looked at me. That is he wouldn't know if I was blonde, brown haired, or ginger. Apparently I have an x ray which shows that I have a dodgy hip and arthritis in my back. Reality is who evers x ray that is on my file it isn't mine. I was never x rayed. I went privately to see a physio (I had to pay for this myself. Dp was unemployed at the time) with in minutes the physio decided to take a look at my back. Her words were along the lines of you seem to have bits sticking out of your back where bones shouldn't be. I will send you for a mri but I think you have a slipped a disc. Within 3 months I was free of pain. DD was nearly 6 years old.

cleareyes both nice but I prefer blue. And have serious envy at your bathroom tiles!

Re new clothes and style, I am not a rabid convert but I did the House of Colour course back in early spring to help me refine my wardrobe and have fewer clothes, which suit me better. I really enjoyed it. I haven't actually done much shopping yet, but I would like to do their style course, where they take your proportions (which don't change dramatically whatever weight you are) and tell you what style suits best (I.e tailored, classic, romantic, ingenue etc). Basically my ideal situation would be a capsule work wardrobe and capsule summer/winter wardrobes, where all the clothes go together and I can invest in well made pieces. I'd recommend it!

Hungry day today after two IF days on Monday & Tuesday. Have been a bit too low on fat, too. And I am jonesing for a banana loaf cake.

:(. My instantpot isn't going to arrive till tomorrow now. DPD didn't have it on the van with all the over stuff I bought in the prime sale

@BIWI It wasn't your posts I was referring to but I can see why you thought that. It was further back in the thread.

Nameless I've done the HOC style course (after doing the colour one the previous year) and loved it, a real turning point for me in being able to properly work out what suits me - and I thought I wasn't too bad at that, or at least at knowing what DID'T suit me!

I learnt lots from it and would heartily recommend, esp if you find a consultant that you click with and seems similar to your stage of life.

The only thing I've found now is that by the time I factor in what colours suit me, what style suits me, and what is cut for my J cups and my current size 18 which I'm fervently working on via this BC etc I can hardly find anything in the shops! Unless going to some eye wateringly expensive places, where the likes of Nigella shop...

But it has prompted me to take up sewing, which I am loving as a new hobby. It means I can pick the exact colour, style etc and also fabric. No more sweaty polyester for me, hurrah.

I think I understand what you mean, Cherry because no one undertakes a diet - especially an extreme one, without being in at least some emotional pain and probably already having been through a painful cycle of loss and gain. And when they find something that seems to work, then they do become evangelical about it - whether that's WW, SW, shakes and bars from whatever company, LCHF etc etc. Indeed, for something like Cambridge, you'd almost HAVE to be like that before you could tolerate the awfulness of it, so I've got a lot of empathy for someone who has got to the stage of that seeming like a good option, because I understand the pain that has probably brought them to that point. Having said that, I'm also always a bit meh about any diet that is centred round a product, because it always becomes about the sell rather than the person, and I can't believe they don't cause further disordered eating. While I know lots of people who HAVE managed to lose weight and maintain with all the major clubs, MFP, etc etc, I've never known anyone to have more than fleeting success with product based weight loss programmes. Yet even knowing that, I've sometimes found myself thinking 'maybe it would be different for me'. But the bottom line, I guess, is that no one starts a diet because they feel great about themselves.

mustbe wow, great skills! I own a sewing machine but I tend to end up swearing and throwing things . Glad it worked for you - actually I think I may be going on a shopping day next week with the consultant which is like a dream scenario - someone to tell me what to do! I rarely shop, except occasionally online. I'm also restrictive though - I hate synthetic fabrics so prefer cotton and linen and silk etc and don't mind paying more, but there are hardly ever clothes like that anymore. Or they are lined with polyester or acrylic or whatever which seems completely pointless.

I am a dark blue autumn so fairly hopeless at this time of year. I was buying (instinctively) lots of bright winter but I'm very near to that on the colour wheel, just autumn tones instead. What are you?

Oliver, I was never able to get the tofu love either. I did a vegan cookery course once, years ago, and despite trying lots of different things with it, the only time I was able to stomach it was as the frosting on a carrot cake (silken tofu, masses and masses of icing sugar - which kinda defeated the purpose!)