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've only lost .05 lbs this week but when I weighed myself this morning I've gone up another pound.
I'm sticking to the plan, why won't it work?

What have you been eating and drinking, Sometimes?

I have to say, based on experience, when anyone says they've been sticking to the plan, it's usually an indication that they haven't

List out what you've been eating and drinking over the last few days and let's see if there's anything we can spot.

Thanks to the poster who set me right on the cups of (milky) tea not counting for water after 2. Sorry I can't check the name as I'm on my phone.

Blacktea i also have a non sleeper, it's really tough, let alone two. I keep telling myself it's not forever.

Im a daily weighed as well and i know when I stop tracking it's bad because it means I've properly fallen off the wagon. My last track on last bootcamp was 73.9 on Dec 8th. I'm still 0.5kg away from that and really want to get it off so I feel like I'm properly in my way!

EeeSheWasThin – the only person you are sabotaging with the pain aux raisin and the latte is you – but you don’t need me to tell you that. Instead of me brandishing the stick, try to work out why that happened. Was it lack of planning? Or a ‘fuck it’ moment? What can you do differently next time?

SometimesMyArmsBendBack, looking at the spreadhseet, you have lost 5lb since bootcamp started. Sounds like it’s working for you. As I said in my OP, weight loss isn’t always linear – sometimes it plateaus for a few weeks, sometimes it fluctuates up and down a bit, but it is the long term trend you need to think about. That and NSVs – how are your clothes fitting? How do you feel? I think one of the things is that the first couple of weeks on this WOE are so impressive in terms of weight loss, even though we rationally know that it can’t keep that rate up, I wonder do we subconsciously create high expectations that it will continue? 'Just' half a pound a week would amount to about 2 stone over the course of a year. I'd be thrilled if I thought I would be two stone lighter this time next year.

Interestingly I’ve seen some weight loss programmes that say people shouldn’t weigh at all during the first 30 days because it is so easy to become fixated on a number on the scales and miss the real benefits.

Now, if you had just scoffed some pain aux raisin and asked ‘why won’t it work?’ it would be a very different answer.

B 2 x creamy coffee
L reheated Indian butter chicken with French beans
S celery
D beef casserole with celeriac and a mountain of buttered leeks.
W hmmmmm

Hello all! Thank you for the new thread @BerylStreep and for the last two weeks @Prettybird! @BIWI thank you for all the hard work on the recipe threads!

Lost very little this week, 0.4lb to be precise which does feel a little disappointing after the heady first week's 6lb loss! I didn't measure at the start but looked back to a medical report from last year (partly the reason for starting this several months later) and I've lost 7 cm from my waist since then (and I think I put more on over Christmas!).

I'm sticking to strict BC for this week, made it through another weekend without any booze which I'm very pleased about! However, I have a party on Saturday so probably will have a drinkie or two then and its DP's birthday on Tuesday involving a tasting menu at a very nice restaurant... So I'm preparing now for the Big Stick next Wednesday and will do another strict week on BC afterwards in penance!

NSVs - my skin is clearer than in ages shame about the wrinkles and clothes feel a bit looser. Will KOKO as it worked brilliantly in the first week and I'm loving how I actually feel day to day with more energy and a clearer head!

The vegetarian recipe thread is now stickied!

I'll start doing the meat/fish ones over the next couple of days.

Interesting to see so many old names on the Bootcamp recipe thread. I know some/many are probably name changers, but I do wonder where some of them are now

Thanks beryl for the deserved beating...😔

Partly I think it had gone so well the week before - I’d found it easy - that I’d relaxed a bit, and partly a fuck it moment as I was cold and hungry.

I’ve looked up the snack recipes on the new vege thread, and have some baby bels and cauliflower ready in the fridge. Having sausages with celeriac mash and broccoli for dinner.

I need to take snacks shopping...or go somewhere I don’t like the cakes. I’m fine with normal cakes, it’s pastries I find hard to resist.

BIWI - hopefully the old names now absent from the threads are merrily low-carbing through life and no longer need the Big Stick.

A bittersweet NSV for me: have a funeral to go to on Monday (friend of the family, I'll be going to represent my dad who won't be back; he was in his 80s and had been ill for a while but just "went" while clearing up after lunch. Dad says that's the "no fuss" way he wants to go).

I've tried on my black suit skirt (has a nice coat jacket to go with it). It's a c11 year old Next skirt that is a size 14 but which my mum altered to make it smaller (dh bought the jacket and some matching trousers in Size 12, I bought the skirt in the sale and could only get a 14). It fits! ok, it's very so slightly tight on the waist And what's more, I tried it on over my Pilates leggings

Will be seeing some people I've not seen in 40 years : family friends my age who, like me, grew up and moved away - but have since moved back.

prettybird sorry to hear about your family friend dying. good NSV on the funeral outfit though! This thread is literally the only place in the world I could get away with that comment without it being completely insensitive I hope

eeshewasthin a little secret tip I use don't want a Beryl Beating . When in chain coffee shops I often opt for an Americano with pouring cream or an almond/coconut milk latte ^^ It tastes creamy and sweet and luxurious and I don't need the cake any more!!! (I know, reliance on sweet stuff...)

it's better than diving into pastry I figure.

Yesterday
B- kale and mush fried in butter with 1/2 avacado, a hard boiled egg and some Boursin
L out in a pub- pork belly with extra greens
1 small red wine
T- not really happy nary, celeriac mash
1 coffee with cream, 2 cups of tea with milk

Today
B- half an avacado, coffee and cream
L- bus picnic. Radish and celery dipped in 2tbs of mayo mixed with curry powder
T- chicken in cream and ministers sauce with green beans and asparagus
2 coffees with cream, 2 teas

I work for myself, and spend a lot of time in coffee shops with my laptop simply to get some company. I thought I'd need to give it up when I started BC but discovering Americano and cream was allowed made me very happy. I only have one a day (plus a bottle of sparkling water after the first hour, to justify my seat for another hour). If I feel the need for a 'treat' - rare, but it happens - I have a bar of Lindt 90% in my briefcase and I have one square.

YoLo - not at all insensitive - unless I have to admit to being really vain and wanting to look my best for people who haven't seen me for so long

Most of my dad's generation I'll have seen at most 6 years ago at my mum's funeral. It's how I can sate how old the suit is: I must have got it before February 2007 as that was when mum has her accident ....that's also when I really started comfort eating and my wright started yoyoing ever upwards.

....should make it clear my dad won't be back yet - he's actually getting back at the end of next week so it's a shame he'll miss the funeral of one of his best friends. But he's very pragmatic about it. Farmers turned medics are not sentimental

Sorry to hear about your family friend prettybird, I hope he gets a good send off.

@Rshard yes i have lots of mini goals lined up for myself. I like numerical ones so for instance getting to 12st 9 instead of 12+double digits, then 12st 7 and so on. But others i have that are meaningful such as:

12st 4 - last weight i was before pregnancy
11st 10- weight when i got married
11st 3- my 'comfortable' weight.

10st 13 - the weight i was always aiming for! And back into normal BMI
9st 7- lightest ever weight and current end goal.

@SometimesMyArmsBendBack

Mostly looks OK, but there's a fair bit of cream/dairy there - might be worth keeping an eye on that.

I note that @BerylStreep has also pointed out that you've lost a fair bit over the last two weeks!

ignores the red wine

How much water have you been drinking? You haven't posted about that

Can I join in or am I too late?

Weighed in yesterday at 80.6 kg 12 stone 10 basically. Ach!

Sorry, 178 lbs

Oooh Thunder, those are a great bunch of mini goals. Mine are

Get below 73.9 kg, my last weigh in on the previous BC
Below 73.6kg, lowest weight last BC
Below 73.1 (under 11st 7)
Below 72.5kg (into the 150s)

There's a whole lot more below that but that will do for now

I have a question - what’s the difference between green beans (amber on the veg carb counter on the spreadsheet) and French beans (red on the carb counter). I have always used the two descriptions to refer to French beans, but it looks like they might actually be something different.

Re goals: my 20th wedding anniversary is on 16 May. I can realistically get back to the weight I was then but I'm aiming to be back comfortably into a normal BMI at 10 stone 8lb (ie back permanently into "just" 3 figures). That will be c10lb more than I was when I got married. Not sure if I want to go that low - I'm going to review once I'm in the 10 stone somethings as my weight distribution has changed. I'd like to get back into the size 10 skirt I wore to go on my honeymoon though!

It's a good idea to have some interim targets though, so I've given it some thought: if I can lose 8lb between now and the end of February, then I'm on course for my May 16 target (assuming I'll start slowing down).

My birthday is early April so if I can break through into the 10 stone somethings by then that would be brilliant

Can someone explain what the issue with cream and cheese is? I have both and have been losing weight well, not sure what the problem is with it!

Also on C5 at 8 tonight there's a program about diets and low carb is one of the ones they're featuring, wonder if it will be the usual bollocks!

Low carb chocolate cookies recipe here. Not made them yet but will give them a try. They do look nice!

www.ditchthecarbs.com/best-low-carb-chocolate-cookies/

The only problem with dairy is that for some people it can stall them.

I'm fortunately not one of them

It will be interesting to see what the C4 programme says - but from what I've seen of the various diet programmes on at this time of year, the participants (and therefore the analysis) tend only to be following it short term