Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Here endeth the first half!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

I hope that the start of week 5 puts to rest the troublesome weeks 3 & 4, and we can get on with the job of losing weight from here on in!

Just remember that weight loss from now on will be slow and steady. Unless you have masses to lose, you should expect to see around 1-2lbs a week loss.

I hope that the scales, or the tape measure, are kind to you!

Here's to a great week

Just made cauliflower mash-added Boursin to it. Needs quite a lot of salt but yum

It's been a good day, tough but good. Colleague messed up on Thursday but I only found out Friday pm so have stressed all weekend. Sorted problem today and director is less pissed off so just need to use this as a learning for colleague must not yell "what the fuck were you thinking!" at him!

I have not turned to food!

Thanks for that granola recipe @BIWI
Have made a shopping list , really missing a bit of crunch at breakfast time , and I think this might do the trick

This could be a long few days! The only LC option on the menu at the small hotel where I'm staying is chicken Caesar salad. I've had it for lunch and dinner today. It's a work thing with lots of presentations etc in the same hotel so not easy to slope off to a more HFLC friendly restaurant in town. I'm hoping to have at least one meal out tomorrow though!

@m0therofdragons well done for not shouting at your colleague! And for saving the day :)

Another day another menu (apologies if these bore people but I like reading what everyone is eating - helps keep me focused/motivated!)

B - almond milk coffee, herb cream cheese on avocado slices
L - rare steak, homemade guacamole, salad greens, crazy bandito grated cheese blend (Aldi)
D - chicken, chili, broccoli & green bean stir fry

The scales have been kind - dropped a further 500g this morning - still have 20kg (min) to go but am pleased!!!!

whatthefronti I like reading other people's menus too. In fact I've stolen your guacamole idea for tonight.

B - boiled egg
L - business meeting, but I've looked at the menu and I think I'll have pan fried hake with sautéed spinach, Leek and truffle foam. Maybe with a side of broccoli, toasted walnut and blue cheese. Yum, yum.
D - a very small portion of chicken baked with mozzarella and some guacamole and salad on the side.

@venusandmars omg your work lunch sounds delicious!
Glad I'm not the only menu fan!

Yesterday was a struggle for me. I just wanted to eat constantly. I'm at the tail end of a cold, had a really crap night's sleep and had lots of little annoying thibgs to do that I didn't really want to do.

I did stick to low carb but meals were just wrong in one way or another. Breakfast ruined by the addition of 5g of hempseed - stomach ache within the hour.
Crappy processed lunch of kabana and babybel.
A good dinner of chicken sausages, green veg and mushroom cream sauce but had to bolt it down in 5 minutes as needed to go to go out. Made me feel like shit.
Then later I ate a bag of really salty pork scratchings.

But at least I didn't fall into a vat of hot buttered toast.

Will do better today, starting with boiled eggs mashed in butter.

I had a good day food wise yesterday, did two exercise classes and drank 3 litres of water. Today is mainly chicken as I have a lot to use up!

B: fried egg and roast chicken
L: roast chicken salad
D: not sure yet, might try those tuna burgers which cavelo nero

More NSVs on my legs and bum but my nemesis, my sticky out stomach is still very sticky-outy.

• which = with

My DH is doing this alongside me, but he keeps stalling, he's not really on board with the drinking loads of water - to be fair its really hard with his job but knowing the science behind why we need to drink so much would totally sway him, can anyone enlighten me to the science behind the water intake please?

Morning all, could someone enter my weight -136 please. Thanks very much.

Happy to stay the same, the weekend was difficult. I was 250 miles away at the hospital bed of my grandad. I don’t know what the immediate future holds and I’ve been pretty upset as you can imagine. Now I’m home again and feeling so far away I’m just trying to keep busy and hope for the best.

I’m out having a coffee at the moment with my study books.

Lunch - eggs in some form and oily salad I think

Dinner - steak with peppercorn sauce, big oily salad.

Loads of water as usual

Hope you all have a good week x

Gained a pound this morning, which is up 3 from Saturday. I was quite annoyed until my phone pinged me to say my period is due. Hopefully it’s just bloating and will all drop off in a couple of days.

Morning ladies, hope u are all well! I dont post much but read all the posts. started 231lbs on Jan 1st, and I'm currently 212. I have a long way to go but im so happy that I got on board with this. I've never been so determined and dedicated!

Has anyone had any luck with the zozo suit? I still need to download the app and get started, I know I'm going to look a right sight in it lol

Anyway, i dont know whether or not this is even low carb related, but for the past 3 days I have had quite bad headaches, but it's just on the right side of my head at the back? Sometimes the pain radiates down my neck? Does anyone know what it could be? I have enough salt and water it's just come out of nowhere.

Does anyone have a good chilli recipe? I generally don't use packets. But I really like the Schwartz packet chilli mix. It's got 45g carbs! 18g per portion! And I know it's really only a mix of spices....

Samii I did the Zozosuit measurement this morning in a slight panic that someone would ring the doorbell while I was wearing head to toe Lycra! The measurements look pretty good but I'm not convinced about the clothes. They're not tailored to you so much as your measurements are used to put you in the most appropriate size. I can't help thinking it would be easier to take a tape measure into a clothes shop and use the measurements to find e.g. which brand of jeans is closest.

@samii1989 that doesn't sound like anything to do with low carb, I'm afraid. It's either a migraine-type headache, or perhaps you've tweaked something in your neck/shoulder?

If it persists any longer, I'd check with your GP.

Another 2lb down today. 12 in total since the 8th Jan. Slow but steady. I could lose more but I do enjoy a few glasses of wine now and then —and the occasional chip off my husband’s plate—. I need to keep things sustainable as I’m in this for the long haul.

Strike through fail! 🙄

@BrassicaBabe, it's probably full of sugar and thickeners!

This is how I make chilli:

• sauté sliced shallots (at least 4 shallots per 500g mince) in a large pan, to which you add 2-4 cloves of garlic, either finely chopped or using a garlic press. (Number of cloves depends on their size!)

• chop at least one chilli and add to the pan. The number of chillies obviously depends on how hot you like it - I'd generally use one large green and one large red chilli

• season with salt and black pepper, some dried herbs (I use oregano) and also add some chilli powder - again, the amount depends on how hot you like it, and whether you have mild or hot chilli powder. I like my chilli hot, so I'd add at least a teaspoon. (Chilli powder adds a different flavour dimension compared with fresh chillies, as it often has other flavourings. Sainsbury's has garlic, cumin and oregano in theirs - but double check your chilli powder doesn't have any sugar added to it!)

• stir together and fry till everything is softened

• add 500g beef mince and fry till the meat is browned and separated

• sprinkle in one Oxo cube

• add chopped or sliced mushrooms (as many as you like), and then a tin or carton of tomatoes

• if you're making for others, this is the point at which you add your beans

• if it's too dry, add half a tin of water

• cook gently for at least 30-45 minutes

(I have a feeling there's also a recipe on the recipe thread)

Am 238.5 today.

Aiming for 180.

I've had to accept that I don't do breakfast. Instead I have a coffee then lunch is on the early side, dinner at 6pm ish and a small evening snack. I've come to the conclusion that to succeed I need to fit the diet with my brain in this sense. I'm losing weight so will keep with this for now.

Menu for today

B - coffee
L - lettuce, cucumber, creamy ranch dressing, cheese. Yoghurt
D - chicken in creme fraiche with curry powder mixed in, baby spinach leaves and cauliflower.

Snack ? Nuts? TBC

I think that's good advice @m0therofdragons - this has to be a WOE rather than a diet, so (now that we're past the first two weeks) if you don't want/need breakfast, then that's fine.

My only observation on your menu is that your lunch doesn't look like very much! And have you checked the carbs in the ranch dressing?

Ranch dressing is low carb (can't remember what it is but I discovered it on summer boot camp). I will double check though!

I usually have meat with salad but shop comes tonight so it is on the light side.

Dinner does tend to be my bigger meal and will be earlier today as dd needs to be at school for 6am tomorrow so I'll be in bed early. Overall today is a lighter day so snack will reflect how hungry I am later in a planned and controlled way. Not hungry at the moment so we'll see. Off to drink more

To whoever said that the greens around a cauliflower are edible, thank you very much! I hated finding a substantially smaller veg inside all those leaves, but now I feel like I'm getting my money's worth. :)

I roasted the cauli with its leaves and olive oil, salt and paprika. Covered it with a cheesy sauce - very rich and filling. Had that for dinner last night and lunch today.

So far my favourite lunches are an egg mayo or tuna mayo salad with lots of chopped up veg and leaves (spinach or kale). Easy, refreshing and filling. (probably quite cheap, too)