Week 6 - Low Carb Bootcamp - welcome to part 2

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness.

We've reached the half way part now, and I hope you're finding it a bit easier - no more carb flu, and getting used to a different way of eating.

If you've suffered from the week 3, 4 or even 5 stall, I hope that this week you'll see the scales start to move (downwards!) again.

I hope you all have a good week

Hurrah for sayrra. 👏💐 That’s great news!

Yay for Sayyra!
I also counted carbs in the beginning as like ASD it helped me feel in control and stopped carb creep as I was more accountable. Otherwise I'm prone to sneaking in too much peanut butter and dark choc and drinking cream!

Today's food
11am "porridge"
2pm DH's amazing chili cheesedog omelette.
I'm still full so didn't have the Celeriac dauphinoise I had planned to make for dinner. If I'm hungry later I'll have some yogurt or nut butter.

Also I've had a lot of emotional stress the past few days and several times nearly had a fuck it moment and gone for carbs, but so far held strong. I can stay strong. I will have a successful weigh in on Monday. I will!

Quick check in with food today
B hot water and lemon slice, 2 fried eggs, on 2 tiny buttered slices low carb toast
S coffee then punting on the Cam with DH and youngest DD - beautiful, sunny and cold.
L 1 coffee, goats cheese and red onion quiche and coleslaw and salad leaves in an M&S cafe. They had run out of salmon Niçoise salad so this was only choice, but I scraped the filling out of the pastry and left most of the red onion too. No dressing as a quick taste told me it was v sweet.
D sea bass, samphire and a lemon butter sauce. Coffee with coconut milk and 2 squares of dark 80% choc.
Not enough water as usual.

Look after yourself and have a relaxing evening if you can, blacktea. Then as leapin said start afresh.

B cup of tea
L mushroom, tomato and goats cheese omelette
D roast lamb and lettuce
W so far under a litre... oops.

Congratulations Sayrra and yes you will Gammeldragz!

Quite a busy/tiring day today. Had an hour of boxing training/HITT at lunchtime and then lots of brisk walking.

B: creamy coffee, mushrooms, spinach and 2 rashers bacon fried in butter
L: chicken salad with mayo and a small portion of celeriac dauphinoise
D: will be panfried chicken in a katsu sauce with cauliflower rice; may have a couple of scoops of Oppo salted caramel ice-cream.
S: tsp extra thick cream, creamy coffee, couple pieces 85% dark chocolate, 1 pink champagne truffle

I also fancy a small glass of fizz but DH is working nights so I bought a mini bottle of champagne when I was in town earlier. Just got to get the DC to bed!

That looks like a load of food compared to some . But actually it is only 1500 cals, so a lot of bang for buck.

It's been interesting reading about tracking carb intake as I am wondering if I am guilty of carb creep. I'm feeling quite annoyed at the moment about the limited results from this woe. It is so restrictive and seems to have very little benefit on the scales or circumference. I am wondering if the problem is that lunch is out of my control (work canteen) and, whilst I am choosing probably the lowest carb option, it may not be as low carb as I think.
Today was a good example, breaded fish & chips; pasta carbonara or fried chicken. I went for the chicken & peeled off as much of the outer layer as I could and had a mound of Greek salad with it.
I'm trying to be strong and am currently sipping a creamy coffee but the Oppo ice cream is calling me as is a twix which DH brought home. I know the Oppo ice cream would be a better choice but I am concerned that I might eat the tub... or find my hand sneaks past the Oppo and gets the Haagan Daaz instead.

B: "porridge"
L: 2 strips pork belly, boring salad of spinach, tomato and cucumber with chilli oil dressing
D: hm chicken korma (Hairy Bikers recipe), cauliflower rice, 2 IPD onion barjias
Not tracked my water so possibly not enough. No beer

I hadn't heard of the Idiot Proof Diet books until I saw mention here but bought both used from the net for about £2 each. The cookbook is worth it for the barjia recipe alone and almost everything looks like something I'd like to cook and eat. I recommend (and thank you all for the tip!).

Also a couple of coffees with cream and a small chunk of manchego. I very much recommend Aldi manchego for snacking, really hits the spot.

@headoutofthesand

It's been interesting reading about tracking carb intake as I am wondering if I am guilty of carb creep. I'm feeling quite annoyed at the moment about the limited results from this woe.

I hesitated about replying to you, because I was worried you'd think I was picking on you.

But, actually, yes you are guilty of carb creep - and I've been pointing that out to you!

It shouldn't be a restrictive way of eating, but if you feel it is so, then perhaps it isn't for you?

However, before you give up - just have a think about what the other options will be. Do you honestly think that a low calorie diet or a low fat one will give you more options?

I love that book rayna and have cooked lots of things from it. All have been great. The only frustration for me is that they have quite a few butternut squash recipes (which I love) but bs is in fact about 12g per 100g of carbs I think so we really shouldn’t be eating it. They do say not to eat it more than 1-2 times a week though to be fair, but I just assumed everything in the book I could eat whenever I wanted and without worrying. Heh ho.

What's the way forward, BIWI? I realise I made some poor decisions of Wednesday, mainly due to ignorance (grapes) and forgetfulness (sweetcorn). What worries me more is, for example, having tuna mayo and thinking that it is fine but, unless I have made it, not knowing how low carb the mayo is. But then I wouldn't be able to actually measure my carbs anyway as I don't know what is in it or how much I have had. Sigh. I suppose I could take lunch to work and control it that way but everyone eats together (it's free) and considered by the management to be an important aspect of the company so it would be odd not to go.

BlackMozart yes that's true, you do have to watch them. The barjias would be quite carby I guess (onions, ground almonds).
I was horrified fascinated to see the carb counts on the SoF, thought I was pretty clued up but had no idea onions, peppers etc were as carby as things I knew to limit like carrots and squash; however celeriac and swede actually lower than anticipated.

headoutofsand - if eating together is an important part of your workplace's culture, is there any way you could talk to the kitchen staff to get them to make a low carb option? Or at least some unbreaded chicken?

@headoutofthesand

I realise I made some poor decisions of Wednesday, mainly due to ignorance (grapes) and forgetfulness (sweetcorn)

This is why it's important to read the resources on the spreadsheet. Look at the veg carb counter - perhaps print it out? - and make sure you know which are the lower carb veg

What worries me more is, for example, having tuna mayo and thinking that it is fine but, unless I have made it, not knowing how low carb the mayo is. But then I wouldn't be able to actually measure my carbs anyway as I don't know what is in it or how much I have had.

Most mayo is relatively low carb - but they will all show the carb count on the back of the bottle/jar! Why not try measuring out a tablespoon (25ml) to get a feel for how much that is, so you'll know how many carbs are in your brand of mayo?

Carb counts for mayo vary hugely, so check them out when you're shopping. From memory, I think Delouis is the lowest, but this brand isn't available everywhere, and it is pretty expensive though.

I suppose I could take lunch to work and control it that way but everyone eats together (it's free) and considered by the management to be an important aspect of the company so it would be odd not to go

Well, just because it's expected doesn't mean that you have to do this. And even if you do, there must be some low carb options? If they don't (or won't - you could always ask the caterers!) provide anything that's low carb, then that's your argument for bringing in your own food.

One of the things that is really difficult about low carbing is the fact that the world isn't made for it. And so this does mean that you have to plan, plan and plan again.

I understand where you are coming from heads because I am not losing much at all BUT BIWI’s words apply to me in some ways too. I have realised that whilst I have dropped wine for now, lowered my dairy - and I haven’t really dropped into carby twatness except perhaps over Christmas - I choose to continue to eat a few squares of dark chocolate every day, and now I’ve made the low carb bread, so am eating that too. The good news is I am not putting on weight and I feel generally much better so I can see this as a way of life, but the reality is to lose even a 1lb a week I’m going to have to change something. I’m dithering about that but am readying myself for some intermittent fasting, starting for real after my birthday (early March) as an experiment at least. Just doing strict bootcamp all the time isn’t where my head is right now.

Thanks, BIWI et al. I have just been re-reading the spreadsheet.
The menu at work has improved recently as there is usually a cold protein option and always salad. And they do love to slather the veg in butter. It's just sometimes the protein option is tuna mayo, breaded chicken, egg mayo etc.
I'm also wondering if dairy causes me to stall. I'm just going my online order and leaving out the cream and Total yogurt and will try having eggs or green salad for breakfast next week. Any suggestions for a late afternoon snack? I always used to have a banana and now have a pre-packaged chunk of cheddar. I've tried not having something but get quite wobbly around 5.30, just as I hit the motorway for the best part of an hour. I have stopped having the can of Diet Coke I always used to have just before I set off.
Sorry if this sounds so defensive. I am really interested in getting this to work as it does appeal much more than a more traditional low cal diet and I can't face the hangriness which went with doing 5:2 which is the only thing which has previously worked for me. Yet, if I'm just maintaining my weight, I'd rather eat the odd apple and serving of peas. Or have a proper cup of tea!

BIWI - oh! I checked on the fruit carb counter on the spreadsheet of fabulousness and the blackberries were lower than raspberries and strawberries, which was why I switched to them! I also don't like them as much as cherries so was having far fewer of them. And have had a couple of days without because, y'know, harder work to eat than cherries, even with cream.

I dunno - I haven't lost hope yet but it's still dispiriting. Will keep on going though.

Even if you haven't prepared it, tuna or egg mayo is usually going to be a safe bet, so don't worry too much about that.

Veg slathered in butter is great!

Dairy could be something that's a problem - try giving it up for a few days to see what happens.

And re the late afternoon snack. Well, if you're eating enough, and if you're eating enough fat (and protein) then you really shouldn't be hungry in mid-afternoon. If you are, then chunks of cheese are ideal. Just a green salad for breakfast really doesn't sound like it's going to do the trick - you need something protein based, with fat, so eggs are perfect.

If you're maintaining, then that's a whole different kettle of fish. But you aren't, and you want to lose weight, so apples and peas are definitely out!

You can though, have a proper cup of tea - just not dozens of them during the day.

thumb blackberries are around 5g per 100g. I checked Tesco. I think BIWI might have misread and thought it was blueberries?

So after my mini meltdown I've given myself a shake. Reminded myself quite firmly that the solution to my hair loss is in the wig store, not the fridge, and the solution to my other upsets in the last week is just to breathe through them and let it unfold, while trying to maintain some objectivity.

Also, the breakthrough hunger I was feeling has settled a fair bit - it wasn't (never is in my case!) down to carb creep, but as when it last happened in July, it's down to low-fat creep (and probably also too high protein). For various reasons haven't had much control over my food choices in the last couple of weeks, and have been eating an awful lot of chicken or salmon salads. In most cases the chicken was poached, skinless breast, and the salmon was usually poached as well. Both good choices from available options, but after a few days aren't very filling - I'd have had to eat an awful lot of olive oil to compensate. So have really concentrated on the high fat part of LCHF today, and feeling much better. Have planned some lovely meals for over the weekend to get me back on track.

Also idly asked husband what he thought a reasonable 'wig wardrobe' would be. I'd been thinking two, which is what I have, but he said five at least . He said that when I get used to not having my own hair, I might feel settled with a lot less, but the priority for now should be to reduce all my stress around my hair and have some fun with different looks. Basically, to enjoy wigs so much that I stop feeling so sad about my own hair. So ahem...number 3

You might also note that in this photo I have neck tendons and collarbones

Sayrra. Well done - congratulations!

You might be right, Sayrra - the SofFab says they're about 4.7, I think, so that ties in with what you found.

Yes, I saw the blueberries were up in the red zone too so obvs no improvement on cherries!

Congratulations on getting the job and the better salary!