Week 4 - Low Carb Bootcamp - already a month!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Here's the Spreadsheet

The link should open on the rules rather than just the spreadsheet because I rather think some of you need a reminder!

@Dia12 - you asked about water. Do you not know how much you should be drinking? If you don't know, then that tells me that you haven't read (or remembered) the rules!

Seriously - drinking the water is really important. That's why it's one of the rules.

So we're in week 4 - remember, this one has a reputation (along with its evil twin week 3) for being a week where weight loss is limited or even unlikely. Don't despair if you don't see any loss this week. As long as you're following the rules, you will be fine.

And remember - it's not all about the scales! Take your measurements, or try on something that was too tight a month ago, and you'll get a much more realistic idea about your progress.

I'm away for the next three days, visiting my best friend, so don't really know a) what's going to happen on the food front and b) how often I'll be able to post. I should have wifi on the train, but after that - who knows! I'm travelling first class though, so looking forward to my fried breakfast this morning.

I hope you all have a very good week.

Morning all. Thank you so much for all your kind wishes. I am still feeling unwell but 4000% better than I did yesterday morning. I am so grateful for antibiotics! I even managed to sleep and breath at the same time last night which felt pretty amazing (those little things you don’t appreciate till they’re gone )

DH drove me to the dr yesterday and came back this morning to do school runs. All I have to do is pick up dd from nursery at 1.30 which I should be able to manage – I quite fancy some fresh air. DH is back in the office tomorrow and says he’s going to sleep here tonight so we will see how FIL goes.

I don’t want to cancel the party on Saturday because the kids are really looking forward to it. It was one of their challenges this year to celebrate Chinese new year and document it. Every week for the past month 7 kids have been coming over after school and making decorations and learning stories. On Saturday we will have fireworks and games and a dragon piñata (something I am bizarrely excited about).

DH will go to M&S and pick up spring rolls and bits (which I will not even look at!!) and I will do a slow cooker braised beef and ginger and roasted pork belly in five spice, Jasmine rice and a few packets of stir fry veg so it shouldn’t be too arduous. There will be about 10 kids and about 12 adults and they’ll be gone by 9pm. Sunday I am going to rest as DH is off to Japan on Monday for a week.

I weighed myself today as was worried the lozenges may have sent things in the wrong direction but I’m 2lb down so the not eating seems to have counter balanced any blips. I have hardly been drinking water tho and last night did a wee like a pint of bitter so today I am going to be drinking gallons.

Had 2 soft boiled eggs and butter for breakfast – I know there is no veg there but I couldn’t face cooking anything else. Will do better at lunch time with chicken and veg soup.

I was wondering about supplements @BIWI are we allowed to take anything? My knees have started to make crunching sounds when I go up the stairs so thought some joint tablets might be beneficial.

Roasted cauliflower and tahini sounds lovely. Is it just as straight forward as that?

Glad you're feeling better MrsKoala and your menu for Chinese new year sounds delicious. Are we all invited?

Yesterday I had a big lunch (friend over for her birthday) all high fat, low carb, and then I didn't feel at all hungry in the evening. That was a surprise.

Food today:
B - avocado
L - left over moussaka with salad
D - beef stroganoff with buttery kale

Just checking in late - gain of 5lb this week: I won't lie- I'm disappointed. That said, I upped my number of steps this week, and I know I'm not drinking enough water. The plus side is that I'm a tiny bit fitter than last week.

Looking at MFP, I don't think I am having enough fat, and probably far too much dairy, so I'm working on tweaking this week. I've also dropped out of the habit of reading and posting, so I am planning now to have a read and catch up from last week and this, for some motivational inspiration

@Haworthia

Whoa @BIWI, I thought you said last week you were going to berate people a little less harshly. Christ

Harsh? No. Honest? Yes. You were the one who was concerned about the lack of weight loss, but it was obviously just from your one post that there could be several reasons why it's not working for you. I can just sympathise with you, and say it's all going to be alright, but what is the point of that? Because it won't be alright, and it's not working for you right now!

Bootcamp has to fit around life, yes?

Of course it does! But you're doing Bootcamp because you want to lose weight, do you not?

So I was posting about struggling to fit in drinking lots of water whilst also wanting to avoid frequent toilet trips when out and about. I hoped people would sympathise. The only place with toilets on my entire high street is a Waitrose, and there are only two cubicles, and one of those is usually out of order

Sorry, but this sounds more like an excuse. Are you in the high street all day, every day? Drinking the water is really important.

I take your point about not getting enough veg on Monday, and snacks not being mandatory/ham being processed (actually, that day I was running on five hours sleep after being up with a three year old with such bad croup I was considering A&E. I was so tired by 4pm it was a toss up between ham & cheese or vast quantities of sugar. I think I made the better choice)

Yes you did, in those circumstances. But just be aware ...

Anyway - genuine question here. If the majority of carbs come from vegetables, and one day we don’t eat quite enough vegetables (for example, Monday I had curry without any accompanying veg - I just CBA because it was gone 9pm and I’d just got back from a Pilates class), why is that a problem/why does that stall weight loss? Because, to my mind, that just means we take in even fewer carbs that originally planned that day. How is that a problem?

I mean, it’s not the healthiest way to eat, or course. But in terms of pure carb counting, it doesn’t seem like the worst sin I could possibly commit.

Veg and salad are where your carbs should be coming from, because that the way you're ensuring that you get better nutrition overall, as well as taking in enough fibre. The carbs you've been getting from processed foods/sauces are most likely coming from sugar, and won't be supplying you with the right nutrition to make this a healthy diet.

Yes, that's just in one day and one day isn't a massive problem - but that's all you gave me to work on!

I'm sorry if you thought my post was harsh, but this is Bootcamp. There are only 10 rules to follow, and if you don't follow them then it won't work - and you, yourself, have said it's not working for you!

I went to a gathering last night, knowing that the host was serving pizzas and all manner of naughty things I bought myself some German smoked cheese and some pepperoni slices to take with me.

Cue one of the male guests at one point in the evening (after eating pizza) telling me to stop hogging the “good stuff” and promptly took it all off me! 🙄

I didn’t have the balls to say that it hadn’t been provided by the host and I’d brought it specially for my diet. I wouldn’t have ate it all anyway but would have been nice to have brought some home! Grrrr...

@hefzi, did anything happen last week for that gain to have happened?

What a cheeky tosser, @Bungalowbeth! I am non-confrontational, so I wouldn't have said anything, but would have been seething and replaying everything I wished I had said for weeks afterwards...

Nothing last week other than being super-busy and so more likely to reach for yoghurt rather than an actual meal. I know dairy is a problem for me, so I'm pretty sure most of it will come off this week - I refilled the freezer with BC friendly food at the weekend, so this week will be easier. It was a mistake to run out - various last minute deadlines and things out of my control stymied me, unfortunately, hence the yoghurt mountain

Checking in. Scales show I have finally returned to last Wednesday's weight so here's hoping for a continued downward trend to the next weigh in.

Shepherd's pie last night was yummy. I made it with swede topping (lots of butter) and added a very small amount of spinach and crumbled feta to the filling to use up some leftovers. It was really tasty!

Today's food
L - chicken and leek pie (without the crust) with fried cabbage and broccoli.
D - planning Prawn Jalfrezi with spinach, courgettes and some ff yoghurt to cool it down and add some fat.
Exercise class tonight but my legs are still really sore and tired from Sunday's class so I'm going to have to force myself to go!

I know @hefzi, I was fuming! Oh well, it is sort of funny today.

Good job you know where you went wrong and know how to fix it this week. Best of luck with it!

Has a crappy day at work and nearly fell of the wagon today.
Ended up at my favourite beach restaurant for dinner only to find they have made several changes to the menu. Ordered fried chicken with tomato sauce which was actually chicken in palm sugar soup. It was sweet, sticky and vile.
I ended up eating peanuts and coming home to eat scrambled eggs with feta cheese.
Dh had wine. We had been planning on staying dry until half term. I really wanted a beer, but managed to get through the evening with soda. I am still a bit grumpy, but tomorrow i know I will be happy I stayed off the alcohol.

Just venting really. I have been doing strict BC since Jan 2 and today is the first day I ate peanuts. No other treats at all.
Think I'm going to bed to avoid talking to anyone. Tomorrow is a new day . KOKO.

Ha @Bungalowbeth what an annoying man! I'm outraged on your behalf! German smoked cheese sounds delicious btw.

Glad you're feeling better @MrsKoala

I'm feeling a bit stupid today as I had a huge serving of almonds, and realised I'd taken in about 500 calories without really realising after I looked at the nutritional info. I am going to need to be more careful when snacking on nuts.

I'm having another go at the pork belly a la boot camp tonight 

I'll also be travelling long haul for work on Sunday for a few days so any tips for food LC snacks on the plane ?

That's so irritating Bungalow. He obviously thought the host had supplied it and you were just eating it all. He's probably congratulating himself and calling you CF on Dadsnet! I really love smoked cheese so for me it would be a case of 'from my cold dead hands'

As I've now lost 10lb i'm going to try on my evening wedding dress from 10 years ago and if it fits i'm going to wear it on Saturday...

@MrsKoala,
The cauliflower was in a restaurant, and was really good
Pic below
I googled , and I think this must be a similar way , though this uses more tahini , ours just had a couple of dollops to dip the florets in , it also had a herby paste on the side
Definitely worth having a go at home

Thanks for the smoked cheese support! 😂 @ him calling me a CF on Dadsnet!

Oh God, I had my annual appointment at the hospital today for a condition I live with.

First off, I had to give the nurse a urine sample, it bloody stank 😱 and she was also 😱 at my ketone levels.

Then I saw my consultant who told me I should really think about losing some weight. (I KNOW!) but everything else was fine.

Have bought some more smoked cheese on the way home.

Won’t be at that tonight though, I’m thinking tinned salmon with vinegar, mayo and cayenne pepper on top of mashed avocado. Nice and easy.

I managed to complete dry Jan, and for the first two weeks, also attempted to eat healthier, the net result was I put on 3lb! Based on that had I not started bootcamp I fully expect I would be well on my way to being another half a stone heavier now...

Thankfully @BIWI and bootcamp came along at the ideal time and the net result so far is that I've lost over half a stone! So by my maths I'm over a stone lighter than I would be without you all!

I'm 100% certain I would not have achieved this without the advice, guidance, support, and the big stick!, and I'm very grateful for it!

I'm starving but friend is coming for dinner in an hour so need to use will power not to eat all the bread. Friend has been doing low carb since July and had lost a few stone (don't like to ask). She's gone from a size 18 to a 12 and must be nearing a 10. She goes to the gym with a personal trainer as she only works part time. I can't fit that in but she's done brilliantly and looks amazing.

Meant to say that this means I can serve low carb dinner and she's happy rather than

Really shitty day and very nearly nose dived into anything that wasn't low carb but didn't so well done me.

Waiting for my beef casserole which I'll be having with buttery cabbage. Yum!

I got a ready made side dish of buttered cabbage from Aldi, had that with leftover pulled prk fried up in duck fat, yummo and so easy.
Had a meeting with dd's orthodontist today, her braces will be 3,600 euro so I guess we'll be living on thin air... That's LC right?

Wow AandL those are some expensive teeth!

I’m having a total Keto mood slump day. DP and I seem to be taking it in turns to have them. I’m utterly miserable. Don’t even know what will cure it. I’m not craving carbs or anything. Just properly fed up in general.

@Condamine We use the whole carb count. It's only the Americans who take fibre off their carb counts.

I'm not quite sure what kind of an expert or low carber you were talking to

Twiglets are 57.2g carbs per 100g, so definitely not low carb! They're actually carbier than ordinary crisps - Kettle Chips, lightly salted, are 51.5g carbs per 100g.

@BungalowBeth - why on earth didn't you say anything?! What a cheeky fucker

@MrsKoala - I'm glad you're feeling better, and that the scales are your friend!

Re supplements, you should be OK taking them, but if you're using anything that's soluble, check that they haven't got sugar in them

@BrassicaBabe - I made two lovely soups recently. I didn't really take note of the quantities, but they were both low carb.

First one was celery, leek and blue cheese. Sauteed some sliced shallots in butter and olive oil, added a head of celery, and a pack of leeks, both chopped (and also rinsed). Sweated them all together, seasoned with salt and black pepper and some dried oregano. When they were softened, added about a litre of chicken stock, and cooked till all the veg was soft/cooked. Then pureed it with a stick blender, added some double cream and crumbled in some blue cheese. I had half a pack of Roquefort that was rapidly drying up, so used that.

Second one was curried cauliflower. Again start off by sautéing sliced shallots in a big dollop of butter. Break up a cauliflower into florets (rinse them first.). Season with salt and black pepper, and then add either curry paste or curry powder and any dried herbs you like. Again, chicken stock, cook till the cauliflower is tender, then blitz with the blender. I was going to add cream, but actually once it was blended it was very creamy anyway and didn't need it

Food today
B - 2 soft boiled eggs with butter
L - ginger, chicken, broccoli and kale soup with coconut oil
D - Salmon fried in butter and cauli and leek in a cheese sauce