Week 4 – Is this the new normal? Because it feels great!

[BerylStreep]

Welcome to the week 4 thread of Bootcamp. I enjoyed the power of wielding BIWI’s big stick last week so much that I am staying on for another week. Normal service will be returning next week.

So week three was great – as well as lots of impressive scale victories, there were loads of NSVs – bras moved to the next hook, colleagues commenting favourably, feeling as if there is more energy, along with err, some less orthodox NSVs such as smaller earlobes and re-emerging pubes.

The thing that has really struck me is the number of posters who have lost significant weight over the last year, and are sticking with it and still seeing progress. That’s a fantastic inspiration to us all, and really shows how this WOE works long-term.

There are a number of posters who have committed to doing dry February (along with a few who are kicking a diet coke habit). This starts on Thursday, but it goes without saying that this is not an excuse to put as much away as possible before that! note to self

Thanks to BIWI who has been working hard on creating the Bootcamp recipe threads. There are loads of great ideas there to avoid menu boredom.

So KOKO, and good luck for the weigh in, but also remember the scales are only one indicator of progress. Here is the link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness.

Thanks both. I did notice in each night I felt incredibly sick. Part of that could have been stress and suppressed emotion etc. But I am sure it was also carb overload that my body didn’t want.

GrandOldDukeOfPorkiness I'm so sorry to hear about your week.

Today's food:
B. Coffee with almond milk and a dash of cream. Emmental and ham roll up
L. Mushroom soup. Ham, 1/4 avocado, coleslaw
D. Courgetti with chicken meatballs in tomato sauce. Grated cheese on top.
S. 2 Coffee with almond milk. 60g macadamias

grand** that sounds like a rough week.

Today:
B - tea and coffee with almond milk
L - leftover sprouts and broccoli with halloumi and bacon
D - chili in the instant pot with all the trimmings (grated cheese, sour cream, avocado, spring onions, coriander and lime) so nice. I use this recipe minus the beans and sugar www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-chili/ it's seriously good
S - a LC sausage, spoonful of almond butter, one seedlip and diet tonic/soda
W - 3L

Sorry for your loss Grand’

for grand

Congratulations abbey

Today’s food
B - mushrooms cooked in butter
L - Ham and cheese salad mayo
D - deli meats, cheese, cucumber

Evening all! I saw 169lbs on the scale this morning, expecting a weekend bounce but hopefully it will stick over the next week!

Well done and fingers crossed grimbles
I am wondering whether to try cutting out dairy. I think I need to look up what the intolerance features might be but I am eating a lot of it and I’m a bit tired, uncomfortable and ahem...windy.
If I do it I will keep butter in and move to almond or coconut milk, unsweetened obviously. The only thing that feels like it will be a struggle would be giving up cheese but I prefer goats and sheeps milk cheese so perhaps I could use those and cut down on the amount. Of course it could be something else but obvs not having wheat so I don’t know. Also v itchy arms, hands and bizarrely ears. Could all be peri menopause perhaps? What a wreck. On the bright side my skin is good 🙂

duchess sorry to hear about your family member.

Sorry for your loss grimbles

I've not posted since Tuesday as had a bit of a week of it (but not sad like a funeral). Our carbon monoxide alarm went off on weds night , had to call the emergency gas number and boiler was condemned (old and the flue was fucked). So new boiler fitted today, a very expensive January surprise we could do without
Food wise thought pretty good, today's has been lchf but probably too much of it....
B: eggs, bacon, sausages, mushroom at a cafe. Asked for no toast and no beans, camomile tea and water
L: smoked salmon, chicken thighs, loads of cucumber and salad
D: lamb curry with green beans and spinach ( I actually felt full halfway through and so stopped unheard of for me, and the rest is in the fridge for lunch tomorrow)
S: one glass of wine, yogurt, low carb choc (3 small squares)

I've trying not to eat so much yogurt with cream but I can definitely feel that weekend pull of 'treating myself'.... I think I'll try to find those mint chocolate teabags or the butter mint ones people were mentioning. I need something that feels treaty but that isn't going to derail me.
Oh and I had a sneaky weigh yesterday and the pound I'd put on last week has come off again so really trying to focus on a loss this week.

grand - what a horrible week for you.

Just logging today's food (which is actually pretty similar to what I've had most days this week)

B: Cheese omelette
L: Coffee with cream
D: Stir-fry celeriac rice with courgette & broccoli (dash of soy & some chilli flakes too - bloody delicious!)

Water - up to quota
Only an hour's walking with the dogs today (slacking).

Plus....many pounds lost on eBay holiday shopping

Dry February going well! (Is it only day 3?!)

Sorry to hear about difficult/hard weeks. It's interesting how food (and often the 'wrong' food) is what we turn to when we need comfort.

There's something about certain foods stimulating the reward centres of the brain, and sugar particularly does this (remembering, of course, that the body treats carbohydrate as sugar).

So it makes sense that when we're down, angry, upset, etc that we look for things that make us feel better.

It's a salutary reminder that sugar is actually addictive.

I decided to have some wine last night, for the first time since the start of bootcamp. I had two glasses of pinot grigo and then stopped, ate a nice supper (lamb casserole including lots of veg), and drank two big glasses of water. Wouldn't say I enjoyed the taste as much as I used to and also woke in the night with a bit of a headache. So, I need to remember this and use it to make me think again next time wine is on offer.

BlackMozart – When I gave up dairy the weight absolutely fell off me. That was in conjunction with giving up wheat and other grains. The itchy ears resonates – for me that’s always a sign of an allergy or food intolerance. At the moment my loss has been fairly slow, and I think I could really do with giving up dairy, but it really is delicious. I love cream and cheese - don't touch milk, and am meh about yoghurt

MumofAPickle ouch to the new boiler. I suppose the bright side is that you now have a new boiler that’s hopefully more efficient – and safe.

Morning.
B: yellow and red peppers fried in olive oil with two eggs. Avocado and mayo on the side.
L: veg soup
D: don't know yet
Will have two glasses of wine also.

maudesmum i also found out that alcohol gives me a headache when I indulged over Christmas. just 1 or 2 drinks and I wake up with a stonker.

Plus the weight gain was SO not worth it.

BIWI I still get the same serotonin hit from 85% dark chocolate! win win on lchf

Why had this fallen off my threads I'm on. Off to a real competition with my horse today. Feeling nervous!

Completely agree, biwi, and I couldn’t articulate why it is I felt that that was the thing I needed. Am trying to talk my brain and body into seeing this WOE as the kindest and gentlest thing for it, rather than the carbs...

Good luck for today Sayrra - hope it all goes well.

BIWI what you say about sugar/carbs being addictive rings so true. I made the connection between stress and bingeing on carbs while I was going through a messy divorce - until then I hadn't twigged how instantly one led to the other. Doing something about it took somewhat longer, but now I find it much easier.

Today's meals (I think)

B: Cheese omelette
L: Coffee with cream
D: More of the celeriac rice (just love it!) stir-fried with green veg

I've got a grocery delivery this afternoon, and having read about the Seedlip Spice I've changed supermarket to the one who can supply it. Oh, and they do the Twinings Buttermint teabags as well, so I'm looking forward to trying both of those.

I’ve really been struggling this week, definitely the hardest since I started this woe. My GP gave me some diazepam to help with my anxiety but about an hour after taking it I just want to stuff food in my face! I’ve stick to low carb but eaten too much. I’m hoping I can get back into the swing of things properly.

I was thinking about the reason why carbs are so much a comfort thing and - apart from the sugar addiction thing - I realised that it's the massive and almost instant whoosh of sugar to the blood that makes everything sort of soften round the edges, a bit like the effect of drinking a couple of glasses of wine very quickly. Maybe because I'm diabetic and the insulin injection doesn't work as quickly as natural insulin does (I'm guessing here), when I do binge on something carby, the effect is very quick and very noticeable. It's like a big hug to the stressy bit of my brain. I wonder if that's what subconsciously happens to everyone or whether it's just my own particular oddity...?

abbey me too. I am a sugar addict. no denying it.

It's the crash an hour or two later that leaves me feeling utterly crap, tired, miserable, and grumpy

ASD Have you tried hypnotherapy for anxiety? I can recommend it. Even guided meditations on YouTube are good fixes for those bad moments. and no side effects like medication. plus you feel much more in control. it might be different for you but anxiety often comes from a feeling of no control and opioids might relax you but can also exacerbate the out of control feeling.

good luck today sayrra !

YoLo. I have downloaded a meditation app - headspace I think. I’m going refer myself to the local mental health team. They have had a lot of money pumped into them recently and are really quick at offering help for adults. If they put more money into children’s mental health services then they wouldn’t need so much for adults as I’m sure a large number of people being seen are parents of SEN children who are being failed!

ASD - my mum was on diazepam for anxiety towards the end of her cancer treatment. She had been slim and had a low to normal appetite all her life. But as soon as she started on diazepam she couldn't eat enough and put on lots of weight. Suddenly every kind of dessert appealed to her.