Week 2 - May '18 Low Carb Bootcamp - my favourite week!

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet

I love this week, seeing how much weight people lose, and especially as it's always such a surprise for newbies and those who feared that this WOE wouldn't work!

I hope you've all seen good results.

If you haven't - don't despair, but have a think about the week just gone. Look at what you were eating/drinking and consider how well you followed Bootcamp rules.

Any problems, as ever, post them on the thread.

BlackMozart, I understand it's tough. I was really upset the first week last May when I clocked about 1.5 lbs and everyone else was reporting 8-12 pound losses. I've discovered though that the upside with small losses is consistency and (so far, even after 70lbs on a post menopausal body), my skin is shrinking with me. Even in the last three months, when I've only lost about 4lbs, it's given my skin a good opportunity to play catch up as I thought I was starting to look a bit crinkly at new year, but it's gone again. I feel quite emotional when I look at my before and after pix, because it has made me realise how easily I could have been a year older, and as bad or worse off than I was last May, if I'd let myself be derailed by those tiny loses. But they added up. Now at nearly goal weight, I'm devastated to realise that according to the US Navy calculator, I'm still considered obese because of my body fat percentage. So I can look great, but may still be a fatty :(. I need to think about the next step for me now, given I'm at my limits for physical activity - it's made me realise though, that this entire process is a journey. Goal weight isn't, it appears, the destination, but it's a way-marker - and one that brings many positive benefits, both mental and physical. Just hang in there, one good choice at a time. Those 4 stone you want to lose probably took a lot longer than a year to put on, so getting them off in only a year is a win. You've got this :)

Morning

A very quick check in. Todays food plan....

Black coffee
B - Full fat Greek Yoghurt with double cream, vanilla extract, mixed spices.

L - Spicy chicken drumsticks with sweed mash (mixed with butter and dash of cream), green beans.

D - Probably steak, mushrooms cooked in butter with Boursin melted over and some veg.

Have a good day!

BlackMozart if I recall correctly then Cherries spent her first Bootcamp utterly convinced it wasn't going to work for her. Now she's the poster child for weight loss on a low carb diet! My own weight loss journey was frustrating at the time, it's only looking back at my weight loss graph that a convincing pattern of weight loss emerges.

The other thing I do is shamlessly change the units on the scales so I can set tiny but meanful mini goals. Some weeks I'm weighing in pounds, others in stones, sometimes in kilos. It stops me being obsessed by a particular number, and it provides lots of opportunities for goal setting. Two pounds off may not take me to a significant milestone in pounds, or example, but that same weight in kilos might take me into a new kilo range. I know in my head the loss is the same, but there is something very encouraging about knocking off milestones!

BlackMozart, don't forget that it won't be a year of being 4 stone overweight, and then suddenly 'fine'. If you are thinking lineally, then remember that for the last few months of that 'year' you'll only be a few lbs away from goal.

@ilovecherries I do the same! I'm weighing in kilos at the moment because I'd love to be below a certain number (and it doesn't seem as scary as in stones!)

The scales in the gym are broken so god know what I'm at, but if I've lost anything, I reckon it will be minimal. I'm on my third week and lost about 1/2 stone which I'm happy with.
B) x2 pow carb sausages (Sainsbury's 'the peppery ones', x2 rashes of bacon, x2 poached eggs and mushrooms.
L) gammon steak and a cauliflower and broccoli bake with some cheddar melted over.
T) chicken salad. Salad normally contains lettuce, cucumber, pepper. Think I have some hallumi so I'll throw that in.

Some really inspiring posts in here, thank you everyone .

For anyone who shops at Aldi I've found that they now sell 100% almond butter & coconut flour for bootcamp lite. Also their Greek yogurt is 10% fat & 3.9g of carb and very tasty! Avoid their mayo though, I've just realised it nearly 4g of carbs so I'll be switching back to helmans once the jar is finished. They do some really lovely olive oil at a reasonable price too.

I'm slightly envious of those who are a bit constipated, I'm having completely the opposite problem & it's leaving me quite nauseous in the mornings. It's also making the hour commute into work a bit tense! Any tips at all or will it settle down?

I'm off to Dorset next week so trying to get my head in the right place to forgo the carbs! As someone said it's not a treat if it leaves you fat & tired! I may have paraphrased slightly!

Have a fabulous day!

yippee do -4 lbs off for me this week . Really pleased as a long term low-carber/ cheater I thought it just wasn’t going to work for me . But as we all know if you follow the rules it works . Its all about laying down new habits , like not raiding the fridge as soon as you come home from work , and being able to cook and prepare meals with out inserting food into your mouth every 30 seconds . I’m a shocker for that - think I may have cracked it by a) not coming home starving and b ) having a large glass of water on hand and making myself drink it rather than pick at food . Well done everyone, especially the ones that have had minimal / no loss this week because you are not going to let that put you off because it IS GOING TO WORK . Think of a life of a good relationship with food and our bodies. We can do it !

I've downloaded an app which records my weight on a graph. You can set your target weight to your next goal. I weigh daily and it encourages me enormously. Numbers on the scale decreasing is great, but I find the graph very helpful.

This thread is so inspiring! For those that have had smaller losses, where are you in your cycle? For me this makes a big difference and I suspect that the week before my period I won’t lose anything!

A foodie question : I fried mice with courgettini and spring onion last night and it was very bland. What can I add to cheer it up a bit? I’ve loads left.

Btw, thank you Athelstane for the headings...and BiWi for making me feel less stupid...

Iamnot, i don’t know how old your mother is. But mine was brought up on “ carbs and sugar are for if you are doing a manual job, like gardening, building, cleaning, where you need the calories. If you don’t, you don’t, so cut the potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and sugar, reduce the fruit”. How I wish I’d listened and taken her advice.

Itchy knees are you back into Roman cookery, then?

Spices. Curry powder. Or herbs: oregano, thyme, rosemary, black pepper and salt. Or chilly plus oregano plus black peooer.

If you go down the first or third of these, some yoghurt with cucumber in it, like a raita, will make it even nicer.

mice? Not sure I can help with that, but bland isn't the word that springs to mind.

I'd suggest loads of ginger and garlic and a bit of chilli powder.

Hmmm - I seem to be incapable of entering my 4 lb triumph onto the spreadsheet.Athelstane could you possibly do it for me ?

@MyShinyThing Thanks for the heads up on Aldi foodstuffs 👍🏼 i bought their full fat greek yoghurt the other day and was impressed. Will be stocking up on the other bits, ready for next week!

@BIWI on Bc lite will we then be counting carbs/fats/protein? How will it differ? Thanks

@Iamnotacerealkiller i realised yesterday that when i have been trying this in the past i wasn't eating nearly enough fat as i think subconsciously thinking 'its even better if i can reduce the fat too'
I think I've been thinking like that too, after decades of being told fat is bad it's a hard habit to shift.
I sympathise with you about your mum, my MIL is very rigid in her ideas and is totally unforgiving to the point of actually reducing me to tears and not caring about it. She's lovely in many other ways and we all have our faults/blind spots. I simply avoid the subject at all costs (pretending my sparkling water is g&t for example!) and maintain the peace that way. Sometimes the harder you try to be heard the more determined people become not to listen. Our proof will be our in our success in a few weeks time 😀

itchy - sounds like a dinner my cat would like, without the courgettini and spring onion!!!!!

MyShiny, I love the Aldi Greek yoghurt, and yesterday I was raving about their good olive oil (the Sicilian one is the one I love). Very grassy and peppery, perks any salad up. I add a sprinkle of smoked salt for an extra kick.

I need to cut back on cheese, which I seem to be eating multiple times a day. Had yoghurt and ground cardamom for breakfast. Tuna salad for lunch - would be boring if not for the above-mentioned oil and smoked salt. Roast broccoli and a burger for dinner.

@summerrayne17 thank you, I've got good support from DH, I've warned him he is solely in charge of feeding himself and the kids for the first two weeks so I can concentrate on my own food and not get tempted. He's doing really well, although I think I'm going to have to step in soon before they all get scurvy!

Well done to everyone with big and small losses. This is the first attempt at weight loss I've done without weighing myself, it's really quite freeing. Rather than being a slave to the scales I'm thinking more about the health benefits, I generally have less aches and pains, sleeping better, feeling less groggy in the morning and am not ravenous when I get home from work meaning I can take time to cook a good healthy meal.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Oh and today's food:
B: scrambled eggs and smoked salmon
L: salmon and green veg cooked in butter
D: Steak, mushrooms in boursin and asparagus

So, I go on holiday beginning of next month. I may as well go and try some clothes now mightn't I? I lost 3lb last week so most likely most I will lose in next 20 days is another 3lbs isn't it (I've never been a big whooser).

Any clothes I buy now will still fit me in 10 days.

God I need some clothes that fit. I have bags of clothes I am too big for which means I hate buying clothes but I can't go on holiday without a costume, summer dress, shorts. I've got running gear and two work dresses and baggy black pants and t shirt that currently fit and that's it

I haven't tried that one bibliomania will try to get it next time. I've currently got the pug loan one which is quite light but also nice & peppery. Before that I had the Kalamata which was really rich & quite strong. I think I've switch good wine for good oil .

Their cheese selection is also amazing. I've currently got mozzarella, halloumi, feta & cheddar in the fridge!

Also love their mint & liquorice tea.

Can you tell I'm a recent Aldi convert 😁

Have you tried supermarkets for some interim summer clothes farine? There's normally a good selection without having to spend a fortunes unfortunately Aldi haven't branched out into fashion yet!

Pug loan!! Puglian.

@farine, Sainsbury's Tu clothing is 25%off just now. That includes sale items. Might be worth a look if you're in the UK and near one.