Week 3 – Keep celebrating the scale and non-scale victories!

[BerylStreep]

Hello Bootcampers and welcome to week 3. Thanks so much to PrettyBird for the previous threads – I hope I can live up to the high standards this week.

Hopefully this WOE (way of eating) is starting to feel easier for you, and you will have seen some good losses in weeks 1 & 2. The exciting thing about week three, is that for those who want to, we can tentatively move into Bootcamp Light.

The key changes are that you can add in some carbier vegetables in moderation, although it is best to stick to those that are 3g carbs per 100g or less for the majority of your vegetable intake. You can add some fruit in the form of berries in moderation, have nuts and seeds in moderation, and can have some alcohol – you guessed it – IN MODERATION. Vodka and soda, dry white wine, or red wine are the best choices. The rules for Bootcamp and Bootcamp Light, along with fruit, veg & nut carb counters are in the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness, kindly organised by SayrraT.

The good thing about Bootcamp Light is that it opens up your menu choices, and hopefully feels sustainable for a lot of people. However don’t be tempted to view this as a free for all – if you suddenly start eating loads of roasted butternut squash, followed by bowlfuls of berries all washed down with a bottle of Prosecco and packet of almonds, it will stall you.

Lots of people find that sticking to Bootcamp during the week, and Bootcamp Light for the weekend works well for them. Others find that they need to stick to Bootcamp in the main, either because their metabolisms can’t cope with the extra carbs (me) or because psychologically they are in the ‘abstainer’ camp (also me) rather than the ‘moderation’ camp. Just do whatever works for you.

Some people find they stall in Weeks 3 and 4, and the initial whooshes of weeks 1 and 2 can quickly become distant memories. Just KOKO (keep on keeping on), celebrate non-scale victories, drink plenty of water, and trust that this will work. Weight loss isn’t always linear, and there are loads of posters on here who have had amazing losses over the last year who are testament that this works in the long term.

So after what feels like an epic OP , good luck on the scale and non-scale victories this week!

I'm sorry if I'm bringing the thread down, I don't mean to and have been trying to be cheerful.

It's not about bringing the thread down! It's about you being unhappy

None of us wants to see that this WOE isn't helping you, and it should be a WOE that allows you to really enjoy your food, whilst also losing weight.

Thanks @blackteaplease I had chicken satay skewers followed by a Thai red curry without rice (and really didn't miss it).

NSV I had an important meeting today and fit into my smart work trousers that I hadn't been able to wear in years 😍

I agree whoknows you are not bringing the thread down. All of us involved in BC (and I mean other participants as well) just want everyone to do well and enjoy it. I know you've posted before about the difficulties you have with this woe and catering for everyone. I was just thinking if BC isn't doing it for you maybe another type diet of would suit. We don't want you to go anywhere but equally we don't want you to be hating every minute!

Would another low carb program or paleo maybe suit?

@ThunderboltsLightning
Great video on LCHF - why will other countries not follow suit 🙄

whoknows I much prefer swede mash to cauliflower or celeriac, and it freezes well so I tend to make a huge batch and freeze it into individual portions which really helps when I'm cooking for the family.
Would curry work for you? Coconut cream and butter are much less noticeable in curry.

Wh0Knows

I've been doing this since October and I've eaten celeriac once and cauliflower about three times.

I cook completely normal food for my family and just don't have the carbs. So tonight we are having meatballs and pasta. I will just have the meatballs and cheese, and I'll make an avocado and mozzerella salad to go with it. Since doing this WOE i have discovered that all my children like avocado and mozzerella!

Wh0 can you bear to use ready prepped veg? There are loads of frozen and fresh LC alternatives for sides that can be zapped in a microwave and don't take too long to add to a meal.
I have v fussy dc and this is what I have to do but luckily DH is happy to eat what I eat and/or what the kids eat.

Yy scabbersly sometimes I just have spinach and grated cheese in place of carbs. Or nothing at all if it's a high veg main such as stir fry.

That is mainly what I do Scabbers but I am getting tired of so much salad. Again, I love swede but everyone else hates it. I cooked some swede alongside potatoes in the steamer a while back and they all complained that the potato tasted of swede. I'm not at all averse to frozen veg and do use them quite a lot but struggle with the fat, I cannot abide butterry or oily veg, am gettng tired of salad dressings and therefore any fat has to be in the main part of the meal or added as cheese. Curry is a good option as I can use coconut milk or add yogurt, but DD won't eat curry at all.

Thank you all for your suggestions BTW, I am looking through the recipe threads.

Sorry you're finding it tough food wise Wh0knows. I find summer much easier as I'm happy to have mostly salads but in winter I find I crave warm hearty meals.

When I'm maintaining I allow myself one planned carby meal a week. I'll have a real think about what I fancy, but quite often I don't end up having it as the craving goes away and it doesn't seem that important to have a potato or whatever. I think it helps mentally though, as you're not saying you can never have those things which then makes you obsess over them less IYSWIM.

I keep coming on these threads and posting about being a carby twat. And again! I have no bloody will power at the moment, probably related to stressful professional exams, but I'm a woman in her mid 30s ffs, I'm behaving like a 5 year old.
So I ate a load of haribo. Out of curiosity i checked blood sugar a hour later- 9.4 (I'm not diabetic, yet)
That's not diagnostic of anything, not even impaired glucose tolerance but it's higher than it should be

If it's any consolation Badly I'm in my 50s and also behaving like a 5 year old. I'm not carby-twatting but I am whinging. Are all the haribos gone? If not, get rid, or get someone to hide them and remember how you feel when you see that high blood sugar level.

I'd die for some haribos. It's been 2 and a half weeks and I'm still massively craving them only thing stopping me is how disappointed I'll feel once they're finished.

Sorry to keep going on, but it does help me process my thoughts. I think part of my problem is that by the evening I'm still quite full from breakfast and lunch, don't feel much like cooking, far less like eating yet another rich meal so it doesn't matter whats on the menu, all I really fancy is a bit of toast about 9pm (I am out several nights a week till about 8-9, the DCs eat earlier but I wait till after my exercise classes). I do sometimes just have a Lidl roll. It's a bit like how I feel when I travel on business and eat hotel food for a few days, all I want is something really simple and plain when I get home, toast has always fulfilled that function and is so easy. I miss toast a lot. I don't miss sweet stuff at all on the plus side, and have more or less stopped having tea with milk (probably only 2-3 cups a week now). So it's not all bad.

IASam I'm sorry. If it's any help they've made me utterly feel like shit.

Wh0knows, have you considered the Blood Sugar Diet? It’s a bit more moderate all around, so includes beans and lentils and small amounts of low carb fruit. It does include a calorie counting element, but might be more enjoyable and flexible.

I’ve continued to stick with strict boot camp so far, although I’m starting to occasionally get a little antsy. I am trying to reduce my cheese consumption a bit so have been snacking on olives, but I’m having to fight my toddlers for them!

I’m planning to do a shoulder of pork tomorrow. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make it really delicious?

wh0knows sadly not. The rest are for DDs party bags though, and i don't want to end up going to buy yet more sweets!

@Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es if you were following Dr Charles Clark's diet 'The High Protein Diet' (a misnomer as it's really about low carbing), he does allow a slice of wholemeal bread/toast every day.

If you were to keep your carbs low during the rest of the day, nothing to say you couldn't have one slice of toast on those evenings when you're coming in late.

I've also noticed that Hovis is currently selling low carb bread - it should be called lower, as it's not especially low! - which might also work for you?

Wh0Knows - I think the thing is to find a way to do this that you're happy with. Do you like pork scratchings? That would be one way to get more fat in your diet. I don't like scratchings, chicken skin nor meat fat (other than on bacon) so don't have that option. What I do do is have some olive oil with my lunchtime salad and then ff yoghurt with some double cream mixed in for pud. I've seriously got out of the habit of buttering my suppertime veg, but I should get back to that.Tonight I'll make sure I throw lots of butter and cream into my neeps (we're having Burn's Night tonight as DP is away tomorrow).

Could you cook a load of swede, mash it with cream and butter then freeze in portions (no idea if that would work). Then you could throw some into the microwave when you cook for the family.

There is a recipe somewhere for flaxseed crackers that you could make and have buttered, or with pate.

It would be a shame to carry on if you don't enjoy it. Try and make it work for you but if it doesn't, find another woe that works for you, but stay here and let us know how you're getting on. I have far too many days of carby twattiness that I don't confess here: Sundays are usually my downfall, when I have potato scones with my breakfast then a pudding with dinner (though no tatties, carrots or parsnips). If I'm sensible I'll have a teaspoon of pud with lots of cream. We won't discuss what happens when I'm not!

I know fine well that if I hadn't kept that up I'd be at my goal by now, but this works for me, in as much as I can stick to this for life. If I was miserable, however, I'd have completely given up a long time ago.

basseting. Welcome and good luck. January last year I was 139.6 kg, now I’m 87.3kg all with low carb - I really think if I can do it anyone can!

whoknows. I cook about three different meals each night at the moment and feel like what I cook for myself is just an after thought so tends to be an omelette as it’s quick and easy. 2 members of my family have decided to become veggie, 1 wants meat every night as he doesn’t want to be veggie (has ASD which may explain why without meat in his meal he thinks he’ll be veggie forever), 1 who is less fussy. They drive me crazy! Fingers crossed you can push through this for a while longer and hopefully at some point even enjoy it.

Titus - I just rub the skin with a mix of fennel seeds and salt (ground together in a mortar and pestle) and then cook according to the instructions in the Lidl packaging. Iirc it was 30mins per 500g + 30 mins. In at 200C (fan oven) for 25 mins and ten reduced to 160C (?) for remainder of the time. Leave to stand for at least 10 minutes.

Last time I also poured some boiling water over it before rubbing the fennel mixture in.

ASD WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
can I pm you pls?

wh0knows (appreciate I'm the last person do should be giving LCHF advice right now!)
Livlife bread? 3.9g carbs per slice and it is 'bready' or some of the low carb crackers on the veggie thread? Hovis also do a lowish carb bread which is 10g or all per slice