Week 4 - just got to KOKO

[SayrraT]

Morning everyone as BIWI is away I have the honour of starting the week 4 thread.

I going to give you all the usual reminder that in week 4 it is PERFECTLY NORMAL for weight loss to stall. So you may sts or even see a gain.

Do not panic! Just KOKO

spreadsheet

Just catching up from earlier.

very thanks for sharing. That insight is the key to understanding and preventing bad food choices in the future. So the experience wasn't wasted! Well done for getting back on it.

carby you are not a dick, you are an emotional eater! This happened with your vein surgery if I recall. What else can you DO when under stress or worry? don't say the wine Call a friend for some support/Go out for a walk/Angry clean the kitchen/play with the cat/meditate for 5 mins... there must be a hundred better solutions/coping strategies than bingeing on carbs. Plan out your strategy for the next time this happens. Because life is stressful. And you deserve better than to sabotage all your hard work. I've been there with the boobs too and I know how stressful that is. It will be fine.

I think there might be a low carb onion Bhaji recipe in the India knight book.

Really looking forward to a Lidl protein roll but have the fear that I will realise how much I miss toast

Nah you'll be ok Alma protein rolls are not like toast, even when toasted - it's more like they singe. It's like eating dense, chewy German bread. Good though.

Oh dear.

Today most of my calories have come from prosecco

B- fasting
L- chicken fajitas no wraps
D- mostly prosecco. A few crudités with dips and a couple of goats cheese wontons.
S- some peanuts

I fear this may not have been the healthiest day!

I need to sort some quick lunches put for home days, they are really busy and I enstill up making bad choices.
Yesterday I had
B: yogurt with frozen berries and two coffee
A third coffee at playgroup but no biscuits (yay!)
L: a lot of cheese, slice of ham, teaspoon of peanut butter, celery and a spoon of hummus ( fridge raid whilst starving)
D: fish pie with swede mash
S: more cheese, ham olives

Morning

Didn’t post yesterday’s food
B - bacon mushrooms
L - rocket lettuce feta avo couple cherry tomatoes mayo
D - chicken swede brussels broccoli splash of gravy

Today
B - ff total yoghurt
L - tuna pate cucumber
D - not sure

Black tea. I find the easiest (and usually) tastiest way to eat lunch is have left overs from the night before so (dh) nearly always cooks extras, two mins in the microwave and it’s ready to eat nothing to think about, ( a surprising amount is good cold too). My favourite quick to prepare meal is avocado chips and fried eggs, as quick to prepare as making a sandwich. Dh also makes regular pans of soup. If I’m unprepared I tend to use a lot of cheese which tastes lovely but I personally find I need to keep cheese reigned in.**

@BrassicaBabe this low carb onion bhaji recipe is pretty good: goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/onion-bhajis/

They're ever so slightly eggy if you eat them fresh but I find that any egginess disappears and the texture improves too if made ahead and reheated in the oven (they keep a few days in the fridge). I also add nigella seeds which makes them taste really bhaji-like, and I leave out the green chillies because I'm a wimp! Btw half a batch makes plenty.

Now we no longer have ravenous teenagers living with us, we tend to still cook for 4 (unless it's something like steak or chops). The spare two portions go in the fridge for lunch - DH takes his to work. I don't tend to get ambushed by hunger any longer, but in the early days on this woe I used to keep a few boxes of foods in the fridge that I could use to quickly assemble meals or snacks: some deli meats, hard boiled eggs, olives, pre-washed leaves, cooked chicken drumsticks, sliced cucumber, HM tuna mayo, cooked salmon, snack size cheese etc. Now it's colder, I regularly make soup, and that does a few lunches.

Ravenous teenagers are a problem here, not only do I have to have bread on hand for them which tortures me, they snaffle my healthy snacks the minute I turn my back. Not to mention they like cooking yummy carby foods.

I am normally more prepared but I am very time limited at the moment. I must carve out some time to batch cook.

Yesterday was particularly bad as I was out 8.30-12.30 and had literally 2 mins for lunch before having to collect youngest dc from my friends house and then off outo again.

cleareyes really good advice about the wagon and the fear.

whoknows a large Tupperware or one of those fridge organiser trays is your friend here. Labelled with "mum's food. Keep out or pay the price"

Of course with more than one teenager in the house, it's always a case of "It wasn't me, it was [name of sibling]" but it is worth a try.

And generally for those who struggle with structure and planning, get lots of Tupperware and overcook a portion of dinner each night as ilove and very suggest. You just pick it up in the morning and shove in bag to take to work. It's so easy. And your colleagues will ALL be jealous of your lovely lunches. A cool bag is a good investment too.

Weighed myself this morning and seem to have gained quite a few lbs. Bit depressing as I am sure I've been totally low carb for a good seven days. Maybe croissantgate is catching up with me. Will KOKO.

that's an idea! Unfortunately DS has food issues already (ASD) and although it's annoying for me, I do encourage him to snack on cheese etc rather than carbs too so I can't really go putting barriers up. I just have to buy more!

I was thinking of having a glass of wine tonight but not sure if I will now.

Well hey strangers

Newbies won't know me but I'm Jim and I was on the previous 2 boot camps, trying to lose weight for my wedding.

Well, my wedding was on Sunday and I walked down the aisle 5 and a half stone lighter thanks to you lot

I just wanted to pop on and say keep bloody going, it WORKS and it's awesome and if I can do it, any bugger can believe me.

For the old timers, as promised, wedding photos I've also included a before photo for reference!

Loads of love to all of you, I'll be back on the next bootcamp to shift the final 3 stone but until then, best of luck and love to all Xxx

I roast 2kg chicken drumsticks and/or chicken thighs once a week for dinner and so there are leftovers for low carb snacking or hungry DCs. I make a simple marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and dried mixed herbs. Then roast at 220C for 30-35 minutes (drumsticks) or 40-45 minutes (thighs) to ensure lots of crispy skin.

I also make extra boiled eggs if I'm having eggs with butter for breakfast. Steaming is the best way to make "boiled" eggs. I steam large eggs from room temperature in a fan steamer for 7 minutes then run cold water into the pan to stop them cooking. I take the ones I'm about to eat out after about a minute and they're cool enough to peel without scorched fingers then leave the rest of the batch to cool down before putting them in the fridge for later. I highly recommend steaming eggs as the process is much more precise so you can get hard boiled eggs that still have a bit of squidgy to the yolk.

I have a poorly DD1 here today, she has an ear infection I think and DD2 is coming down with a cold too. They're cuddled up watching a film before I take them to the doctors. So I'll have lots of time to get prepared with lchf batch cooking!

Food today:
L - leftover soup (last bit!)
D - pork belly stir fry

I feel like having a glass of wine later as I was up a lot of the night with DD1, so we'll see if I break my low-vember rules on day 3, haha.

Jim!!!!! Congratulations, you looked amazing & glowing. I miss your posts a lot, can't wait to see you back. Are you going on honeymoon?

Sound words ClearEyes about the wagon. Need to change my way of thinking for rest of my life....

Gammeldragz thanks you were right about the protein roll - I really enjoyed it but it hasn't triggered some massive bread binge. Though when buttering some toast for my son this morning I did hold it to my nose and inhale it like some sort of addict (reformed!)

Wanted to share a recipe with you that Hippa suggested for using up leftover mascarpone. Mix equal amounts of mascarpone with almond butter. I then froze it, cut into chunks (though it's a bit crumbly) then dipped into a little bit of melted dark chocolate and froze again. Really lovely - a good one to have in the freezer if the family are having chocolate or sweets. Almost a fudge consistency - a bit crumbly, bit melty.

Today's plan:

B: 2 scrambled eggs with cheese
L: going to try and skip it before....
D: out for set menu Moroccan potential carb fest- but am feeling strong and committed.

Have a good one everyone!

hippa were on a minimoon at the moment, planning a big holiday in April when our original wedding date was! With FIL being so poorly it didn't seem like the right time to go away too far but we're having a fab time

Jim aww you look beautiful, huge congratulations funny I was just thinking about you yesterday and wondering if it was wedding time yet.

NSV stopped by a mum on way to school, not someone I tend to speak to often, who said "I just have to tell you, you look amazing - well done". Looking forward to showing off my new figure at the Mums' Christmas do next month now. New dress will have to be acquired...

Lovely to hear from you Jim - I was wondering how you were getting on. Congratulations, you look so happy and radiant and beautiful

Really enjoying the threads. I am claiming two NSVs.
My size 14 trousers fit again, which I'm very chuffed about.
And I got ID'd when buying wine! I am easily double the legal drinking age, so seems like this WOE is making me look younger too!! (Or the lady in the shop needs glasses...)
My Low-vember goal is just to KOKO. Onwards and downwards everyone!

You look beautiful Jim, I hope you all had a very happy day. You were a total inspiration to me in May, really helped me believe it was possible, and here I am, racing towards 50lbs down :). Look forward to seeing you again in January!