Week 6 - Low Carb Bootcamp - it's all downhill from here!

[BIWI]

Morning losers!

Here's the spreadsheet

So we start the second half of Bootcamp. By now, hopefully you're in the swing of things, and the scales and/or the tape measure are showing good results.

Keep focused. Keep your eye on what you're eating - it's all too easy to become a bit complacent, relax and let the carbs creep back in.

Keep up the water (you are drinking enough, aren't you?!) and make sure that you're eating lots of fat and getting your carbs from vegetables and salad.

But above all - good luck!

evenin'.

I'm with now and shag on the alcohol mindset. If I just give up for a while, my minds says all I'm doing is giving up something for nothing. But if I give up as part of a WOE to lose weight, then I'm getting something for it.

Can someone please tell me what to have for dinner tonight? I'm completely out of inspiration.

I am really struggling with being off for half term, I know I'll cope better when I'm back in a routine, albeit a manic, exhausting, routine!
In work tomorrow, doing a revision day for my exam students, I've ordered in pizza for them. I will resist! I'll take a salad and might have some of the topping. I hope they all turn up or they'll be 4 pizzas going begging.. 😬
Run again tonight, I'm trying to get back into doing 3 x a week. Whilst I've lost weight, I'm so flabby still. Hoping running will get me kick started and undo some of the damage I keep doing to myself..

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea - what have you got in the fridge/freezer/cupboard - give us a bit more to go on than that!

@Youcan'tscaremeihavechildren please don't order pizza unless you're really sure you won't cave in and eat some. Don't fall for the 'just one slice won't hurt' message from the little devil that lives on one of your shoulders!

Panic over @BIWI. I took all the fresh food out of my fridge and made a warm salad with bacon, poached egg and Parmesan savings.

Disaster averted. DH was muttering about going to the chippy.

Oh god, friend is taking me on a run. I might die - haven't run for 3 years and I wasn't good then!

Oh heavens !
I posted my foodie link , and the internet went doollally ( joys of rural life 🙁) so I didn’t read all the posts above
@nowlook , glad to hear your sisters on the mend , but what bad luck to have meningitis twice 💐
@shagme , I’m being very careful with the wine , have bought in some 1/4 size bottles , and allowing one bottle on selected nights
And yes @BIWI , eating out with no wine is cheap as ... errr ... chips
@unexpected , I had a fab dinner , roast cauliflower with spinach , courgettes, mushrooms and garlic , lots of butter and some grilled bacon ( bacon fat drizzled over the top )
@youcantscareme , half term is still strange , even when there’s no DC at home , it’s the change in routine
🙁 DD is off travelling , and FaceTimed me from Vietnam saying she’s a bit homesick

Still on the no cheese or cream ( though a careful amount of wine is allowed tonight )

We have some friends coming for dinner on Saturday , there will be wine
But I’m planning
Starter
Prawn , avocado and tomato salad ( tortilla chips on the side for the others )
Carribean style chicken ( rice and beans for them ) big salad bowl
Dessert will probably be brownies , and I have loads of lovely cheese ( mine , all mine ) which I will share
Will be very cautious , but will not miss out
Life’s too short

We've just had lamb for the 3rd night out of 4! sodding joint was rather large to start with. But this time I made lamb curry. I had it with left over cabbage. There is still one portion left! This means I've had two solid meals today. Call me a cynic but I'm not looking forward to the scales tomorrow!

I've bought a large pack of lo-dough

I like a bit of alcohol chat! I have had a drink every night for ages and ages and ages. I've struggled to find a position for myself but wanting to cut down. I tried abstaining and reading lots of sober lit. But kept falling to give up. I'm now in the second week of not drinking Sunday to Thursday and while I'd much prefer to have a glass (3!) of wine I think I've found myself a new normal which I'm going to attempt to stick too. That said, I had wine Friday and Saturday night last weekend and put on the 2lb that I lost during the week. So I've spent all of this week trying to get rid of it again just in time for the weekend If the same thing happens this weekend I'm going to have to consider total abstinence until the weight is gone.

Yep, booze totally scuppers me when I'm on a weight loss regime, of which there have been many over the years.

My 3lb gain from the weekend was entirely down to over consuming alcohol. That gain has gone now but that's taken 5 days so effectively I've 'wasted' a week. It's just not worth it.

I'm going to aim for at least another 4 weeks booze free before I even contemplate a drink.

Another cheese and cream free day.

Brunch: omelette with spring onions and ham
Dinner: seabass, leftover pesto, broccoli and a green salad. Square of dark chocolate.
Things cooked/doused in olive oil/butter

Hello all, I've managed to make it through the day without dairy - I hadn't realised just how much dairy I was consuming. I think i was getting my "hit" from extra thick double cream and having it far more regularly than I should. Anyway, hopefully this will help shift my stall.

How long have you gone dairy free @SlinkyDinkyDoo

I've bought some lo dough too! Can't wait to try a pizza.

Only on day 2 Dia I took was just reaching for it indiscriminately.

What's helped today and yesterday is adding herbs to my food. Also I'm in the right frame of mind for it. Not forever but am going to try at least 3 cheese and cream free days to give myself a little push.

3 a week

@BrassicaBabe please don't start thinking that you can't eat meals without gaining weight. That's madness.

The whole point of this WOE is that it becomes a WOE - that you're eating 'normally'

I have had to ban cream completely Dia12 because it is giving me the same reward feeling as carbs. Cheese can do as well but cream is the strongest hit. Plain yoghurt fortunately does not
Before I read WHY WE GET FAT I didn’t realise dairy could do that.

@BIWI I'm holding firm and drinking my water for now!

Yep @Siameasy, that sounds just like me. Was thinking all this double cream was too good to be true. So are you keeping some yoghurt in your meals or just avoiding all dairy?
I did some shopping on Wednesday and have a couple of tubs of double cream, mascarpone and cheese galore in the fridge 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm now on day 13 of no alcohol. Had been around 11.9 for 3 weeks - down in the week to 11.6 and back up on a Monday after just fri and sat modest drinking

After 13 days of no booze I'm at 11.3

And resting HR at 59 from low/mid 60's

Dilemma tomorrow as I'm seeing a very old friend and also have some life shit to sort out so am going to take some fizz and try to limit to 3 glasses and then straight back off on sat. We shall see if that plan comes to fruition.....

Lovely dinner tonight (even if I do say so myself )

Pork fillet, cut in half, rolled in sea salt, black pepper, dried oregano, chilli powder and ground cumin - panfried for about 10 minutes till browned and just tender inside

Sauce made from leftover ratatouille (DH made a massive vat!) - I drained it in a sieve over a bowl; used the oil that floated to the surface to fry the pork (on a griddle pan), and then blended the rest with crème fraîche and lemon juice to make a thick-ish sauce

Green salad - mixed leaves with asparagus (chopped and simmered until just tender - with finely diced shallots and a garlic and Dijon mustard vinaigrette.

Checking in with my food for today

B - 2 slices of low carb toast (3.8g each) with garlic and herb Boursin (so delicious but omg your breath after)

L - veggie bolognese "soup"

S - slice of cheddar, handful of almonds and slice of cocked chicken

D - Chilango low carb box, 2 squares of 90% chocolate

Plus a few teas with milk, I'm trying to take it black but I don't really like it.

I read an interesting article about putting on muscle to increase your metabolism. I'm very flabby and definitely want to get fitter. Some of the exercises in this thread have been very inspiring. I start a new job next month and ought to be able to walk to work (about 30mn) so hope that will be a good start.

@Mimosa1 have you tried unsweetened almond milk in your tea? No carbs to speak of and I find it drinkable.

Managed 2 miles without stopping which is a big achievement for me. Not fast either but I did it and didn't feel dreadful.

Downside is I've not really eaten enough today so will be better tomorrow. Cheese and bacon for dinner wasn't the plan.

Dia12 plain yoghurt seems ok eg I made some spicy chicken and had it with plain yoghurt on the side and I don’t really get that rush
Omg mascarpone is just like cream! And creme fraiche too. It’s the texture as well-melting, smooth. Who knew dairy was addictive. What are u gonna do with them!! Wail!!

Ps for cream avoiders I used coconut cream to make my curry yesterday and felt virtuous with all those lovely saturated fats contained within. Then I started eating it out of the packet😂

I can only assume that I have been out of ketosis for a while, because after cutting out cheese this week (er, mostly) and not changing anything else (still had some raspberries, even) my keto sticks have shown me going further into ketosis as the week progressed. I've now started experiencing keto flu again.

I've had some carbs tonight on purpose because I'm driving 4 hours to HP studios with DD tomorrow and really can't be dealing with nausea, headaches and general malaise this weekend. I'll get back onto it in a day or two.

I think I need to keep a closer eye on my ketosis level with the dipstick things. Cheese might be my downfall.

Yesterday my plan of chicken fajita salad for lunch was scuppered by the DCs insist insisting that we ate at Bella Italia after bowling. Was a bit worried by the menu but chose chicken Caesar salad without croutons, which was fab (it has some crunchy pancetta in it too.) Today went to a friends house for tea. I told her I was eating low carb and she asked if that meant I could eat a Jacket potato! It was fine though, she had cooked pasta for the adults bit there were leftover meatballs from the kids tea and I had those with salad. I'm feeling much more confident about politely asking for food to be served the way I want it and not feel apologetic for it.

Re alcohol this is an important factor for me too. I was drinking a lot before BC and I've really cut down, but this week, being 'on holiday' it's been much harder to keep up the discipline of no drinking during the week. Interestingly food is much easier. I recognise what PP have said about both not feeling deprived and also being able to limit myself - I did eat some pretzels on Monday because I really wanted them, but whereas before I would previously have eaten the whole bag with loads of wine, I ate a few, really enjoyed them and then stopped. I really feel that I've broken the cycle of eating carbs and then feeling hungry for more carbs, but drinking is a much more complex habit.