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!

Grand if you're only having coffee for breakfast then I would go for unsweetened almond milk because then it counts as fasting.

VenusStarr welcome. You can add your name to the end of the spreadsheet if you want to track your progress on here. Link is in the OP. 3 months will be easy peasy!

Wh0Knows – that’s great news! Worth persevering!

TheWayOfTheWorld – it’s hard when you aren’t being supported at home.

BREAKING NEWS: did you know you can buy frozen slices of avocado? I’ve just got one of those Lynas Food Outlet leaflets, and they have 500g for £3.49. Who knew?

In other news, I have gone up 2kg from this day last week. I had lost so much when I was ill with flu, so I think some of it is the 'false' weight I had lost coming back on. I also suspect I need to knock dairy on the head.

I was feeling a bit down and sorry for myself yesterday for some reason, so when DH came home he suggested we went out for dinner. I prevaricated for ages 'well, there won't be anything I can eat, it's not as if we will even have a glass of wine' etc etc. (We live in a small village about 25 miles from a town so the choice is limited.) Eventually gave in and hauled my sorry arse into gear and then managed to have a nice time. Passed on the starter as they all looked quite carby but then had braised lamb shanks, passed on the potatoes and ordered extra cauliflower and broccoli. Was really lovely. Passed on desert but had a coffee with cream and a square of 90% Lindt. Also drank 1.5 litres sparkling water while we were there. Don't know why I'd been feeling so miserable yesterday, but much better today.

I can’t imagine what frozen avocado would taste like! Wouldn’t the texture be a bit weird? Maybe you could use it in smoothies or desserts?

Not having the best start to the day. Cycled into work for the first time in ages. Last time I got on the bike, and did most of the same route, it was easy. Barely slipped down a gear. Today it was very hard going. Think my legs were objecting to three days of exercise in a row. However, just when I was dreading the journey home this evening my chain snapped! Grrr! Luckily I only had a hundred yards or so to go, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Plus, a friend then approached so I waved my chain at him, and got an offer of a lift home instead. Silver linings! But it does mean that both my hands, and my jeans, are filthy. Never mind!

In other news, I had a great time last night. Remembered the other day that I had two short skirts I bought years ago, which might now fit, and as it's my birthday next week and I'm going out for once I thought I'd retrieve them from the loft. Couldn't find the skirts, but did find three pairs of jeans which are perfect on, and two new pairs (tags on) which are too big, so will be handed to friends.

Then the amusement this morning: I currently have two rabbits in the house who are, slowly, recovering from some mysterious ailment. They're past the stage where confinement is necessary (nor, indeed, what they want) so they now have free range, though they tend to keep to the room they're in. Anyway, this morning I went to the loo and one of them followed me in and had a great nosy around. I'm used to the cat coming in, but it's been a while since a rabbit has questioned my litter tray antics!

Strange question: was looking up the difference between sweet pickled onions and pickled onions for my beef stew tonight (only have sweet pickled at home) and, for some reason, the sweet version have about half the carbs of the non-sweet version. How on earth does that make sense (both values given by 100g drained weight)?????

My dog follows me to the loo, Time. She sits right in front of me with her head cocked to one side and gazes (lovingly!!) at me. It's a tad disconcerting!

I imagine the amount of sugar in the sweet ones is pretty tiny. I guess neither is particularly high. Do you actually cook with pickled onions? I've never heard of that before, I only ever have them as a side.

How cute, ilove but, as you say, disconcerting. My cat doesn't really bother with what we're up to, as the bathroom is her route outside (we leave the window open for her and there's a catflap in the internal door). My rabbit really was rather curious, though. She also did the head cocked and gazing thing at me. Just what I needed!

Iceland sell frozen avacodo halves and they are okay, the texture was fine and always ripe!

One of our cats will sometimes wait for me to get out of the shower, and will then helpfully start to lick my feet/legs dry while I'm towelling myself dry

I've banned the kitten from the loo as she keeps trying to leap onto my lap at inconvenient moments. She also stares at me while I'm in the shower, and leaves little muddy footprints everywhere in the bathroom..

Haven't posted any food recently. Yesterday was:
B: Wholemilk yoghurt with 12 almonds (I count them!) & chia seeds
L: mixed veg & chicken soup and a finger of cheddar
S: tomato sauce w celery & mushroom and chorizo over a swede mashed with butter - with grated parmesan
snacks: chunk of parmesan and two teaspoons of peanut butter (not together, obviously)
Water: probably about 2 litres, if you count the herbal tea and (black) coffee
So, I need to up my water, but otherwise ok, I think??

BIWI - my last cat would do that! She'd come next to me on my bed and wash me. I think she thought I smelt dirty after my shower and thought I needed to have a wash!

My mum still moans about the time she was trying to have a nice, relaxing bath only that cat went in and jumped up on the side of the bath, then tried to catch mum's toes (a regular occurrence) which left mum worried she'd fall in. At the same time the house rabbit I had then had found the bath towel, and was busy pulling it out of the room. Not the relaxing experience my mother had hoped for!

Wh0Knows - Mimosa suggested Jamie Oliver's stew recipe, which includes the onions. Have never cooked with them before, but am willing to give it a try. Oh, and well done for breaking that stone down! Woo-hoo!!!!!

Oh, forgot a NSV yesterday. My work colleague told me I looked like I'd lost weight

It’s good you’re feeling better Cherries.

Rabbits are ace! My dogs follow me around Time. When I’m in a bubble bath one of my dogs drops her toys into the water. Before now Ive had to stop her dropping my slipper in

Can I asomething please? Need to slim down but I can't decide between low carbing or the 5:2 diet which does involve counting calories. I've looked at the allowed foods on the low carb spreadsheets - are there limits to how much you can have of say meat or fish or salad? I wish I could make up my mind about what's easier to follow, thanks so much.

No limits Finsbury - no carb (or calorie) counting on this Way of Eating. Just follow the Rules (as outlined on the Spreadsheet) and learn to only eat when hungry .

The hardest thing that people find about this WoE is overcoming the ingrained antipathy towards eating fat and to stop obsessing about the amount of calories that they perceive that they are eating.

Thanks prettybird
I'm wondering if this will suit me better. I don't mind eating fat but I do mind feeling restricted by counting calories.

Is it right that if you slip up while low carbing, e.g. eat a pile of toast, you are set back as if you were just starting - as in your body needs to get used to no carbs all over again?

Finsbury it's important to be strict during the first couple of weeks so that your body adapts to using fat as its main fuel source, rather than carbs. After that then a pile of toast will stop your weight loss and may cause extra hunger/cravings but it won't undo the adaption.

....and the other thing to remember is that if you go back to the way you used to eat, then you will go back to the weight you used to be

A couple of NSV's today- I no longer need my 3" bra extender to do up my bra! And my 'tight' jeans now fit comfortably! Whoop!!!

I've also managed not to hoover up any of my children's carby leftovers particularly in the form of pasta, a major victory for me.

So looking forward to weigh in Monday, really hope to be a few pounds down.

KOKO everyone

I use frozen avocado quite often, its not the same as a lovely fresh one but is good in certain situations such as when you want them mashed up or guacamole type dishes.
I went through a bad patch of buying the fresh ones and eating them when they were dissapointingly unripe, missing the good day when they were just right, and finding them brown and manky a few days later. So I was wasting quite a lot. Its good to have the frozen ones on hand I think.

A possible NSV - Ive got a huge blister on my heel from my trainers, they seem to be quite loose now so my foot is sliding around. I appear to have lost weight on my feet

The scales showed an overnight whoosh too, down to 12st3. We'll see if it sticks or if it's just a sign of what's to come!

I've gone down a complete shoe size Grimbles, from 8.5 to 7.5. The thing is, I never thought I had fat feet - in fact, the reverse, compared to the rest of me.

During pregnancy my feet went up to a 9, with weightloss they are now back to pre pregnancy size 8 - my youngest is 9!