Week 6 - Low Carb Bootcamp - welcome to the second half!

[BIWI]

Evening all

I'm starting the new chat thread this evening, as we're going to be away tonight, and I won't have an opportunity to do this tomorrow morning. And I know how you all start chomping at the bit after about 5am on a Monday, waiting for me to start the new thread

So here is the Spreadsheet

Hopefully now we've got through weeks 3 & 4, things are starting to go well for you all. Although I have noted the various lapses

Look forward to hearing how you've all got on

Serving per person was half an aubergine (I had the second half for my lunch)

Those aubergines sound lovely BIWI My biggest ever cooking mistake (some years ago) was making aubergine soup. Followed the recipe exactly but it looked, and tasted like wallpaper paste - grey, sludgy, slimy...

I made moussaka for dinner yesterday. Mince / mushroom / shallot / garlic base was already in the freezer (just added some cinnamon and tomato paste). I mad a dish in two halves - sliced part cooked potatoes for dh, fried aubergine for me. Then topped with the ipd egg/cream/feta mix. Delish!

I used to rarely make moussaka because it was such a faff - all that béchamel sauce making... Now, with the easy topping (and pre-cooked mince) I have time to enjoy the whole aubergine frying fandango. I see them soaking up olive oil and think 'yeah!' And I even sneaked a couple of longer friend aubergine crisps with a grind of salt and pepper (cook's privilege to make a wee snack).

Food today:
B - avocado
L - butter spinach soup, strawberries and cream
D - needed to use up some left over beansprouts so making a sort of asian pork ramen dish (below).

Slow cooked pork cooked in chinese 5 spice, garlic, ginger, chilli, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, sherry, lemongrass. Pulled the pork apart. Strained the bits out to leave a wonderful fragrant broth. Will put it all together: (noodles for dh) beansprouts, broccoli, kale greens, spring onions in a bowl. Covered with broth. Topped with shredded pork, chopped coriander, soft cooked boiled egg and a sprinkle of crushed dry roast peanuts...

… all because of some left over beansprouts!

fried aubergine crisps, obviously - but they could be my new best friend!

There is indeed some sadness - but more for regret and grief for the mother that she wasn't.

Dh and his younger sis are currently meeting the sister that had been estranged for nearly 30 years (for the exact same reason that he should himself have gone No Contact) - so there is one positive that has come out, as he'd been close to her before. Oldest sis, who dh and youngest sis doesn't get on with (for good reason) is going to be getting a shock.

A whole load of further skeletons are coming out of the closet.

I'm getting the popcorn out You've got to laugh or you'd cry

We've worked out the stock reply for tomorrow: "She was many things to many people."

for you @prettybird as a reminder to be kind and gentle to yourself (and your dh). Sometimes these things feels harder, more abrasive when it wasn't a great relationship and it's not softened by love and warm recollections.

Plus, I think that any grief connects us with other sadness in our lives. I've found myself inexplicably sobbing at the funeral of someone I wasn't close to, only realising much later that a piece of music had connected me to something unfinished from many years before.

So be gentle, be nourishing to yourself. Care for your body and let your spirit and emotions ride on that.

Wise words Venus

You're right - I've been moved to tears at funerals I've gone to where I've not really known the deceased purely because it brings back the grief of my mother's untimely death

for prettybird, families are tricky things sometimes. I’m estranged from my dad and I sometimes wonder how/if I’ll hear that he’s passed away. Sounds like you’re well prepared for the funeral.

Today’s food
B scrambled eggs avo salmon
L massive salad, chicken tikka fillets mayo
D pork meatballs, small amount of tomato sauce, cauliflower rice

So much water!

Struggling!!! Have had too many client days in a row, cannot cook tonight so ordered pizza for children, leftovers abound! I’ve made time to produce a simple Tina mayonnaise to be eaten with raw spinach, but damn I want some hot food for myself.

Will eat the tuna. Planning! Water!

 @prettybird for you and your DH. It's such an emotional upheaval for you both.

Be kind to yourselves.

Pretty decent day today:

B: creamy coffee
L: green salad with prawns, mayo and olive oil
D: roast pork and crackling, buttered leeks and mange tout fried in butter

G&T

I cross posted with your news prettybird. I’m sorry for your loss. Whether good or bad, it’s still a loss. I know you’ll be looking after others, but look after yourself, and I hope someone will look after you as well.

Ps—I didn’t have the pizza. I’m eating the cold tuna salad. Yay me! KOKO!

Well done @ShagMeRiggins! That's quite a test on the old resolve!

Sly mid-week G&T thrown in there, Kondo!

It's the 6-year-old's swimming night. Half an hour of managing the 4-year-old and the 19-month-old in the sauna of a changing room. The thought of the gin was the only thing that got me through 😂

I’ve found you! Ha!

I’m down four pounds this week I think. I’m surprised by that because I’ve been feeling annoyed at not loosing anything the last few days! Whoops.

I’m really trying with the water, I’m really trying to remember to keep on drinking it!

I’ll have bolognaise sauce tonight with mince and heaps of Mediterranean veg, served with broccoli and a sprinkle of cheese.

I’m down to a pre children size ten! My daughter is nearly 9! So it’s been a while!

Was extra good yesterday and drank lots of water. Shocked and appalled I wasn't a stone lighter this morning

I didn’t check in yesterday.
I have been intermittent fasting and got all muddled up because normally when I eat at 10am after a 16 hour fast, I am then not hungry at “lunch time” but really hungry by dinner time anyway blah blah I had
B: buttery two egg omelette, cream coffee
Lunch: salad leaves, left over kale with creamy cheese sauce, beef slices and salami.

Dinner: beef (very buttery) Bolognese and FL broccoli

I had a litre of peppermint tea which felt weirdly scratch in my throat so will stick to liquorice from them on, then three more litres of just water over the course of the day.

I was nibbling on the Bolognese over the full two hours I was cooking it so felt a bit like my old self with food.

Another cream coffee.

I was too full having crammed lunch in too which wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Does anyone know if having a cream coffee knocks you out of your fast on intermittent fasting?

Sorry for chaotic post, I’m pretty menstrual so feeling a bit more bloated than I want to!

Thanks all.

@DownUdderer that's great on both the weight loss and the reduced size! It's very motivational to keep going.

I am down to a size 14 in tops, dresses and skirts, which I'm really chuffed with as even when I was a stone lighter I was still a 16! I'm 5'11" though so I'd be delighted at a 14 all round, including trousers.

Hello all! I'm still here, still KOKO-ing - but I think I'm going to stop updating the spreadsheet, as I don't actually want to lose any more, and just want to maintain this weight and WOE.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal I cannot WAIT for this day!!!! Well done!!

That is fantastic DownUdderer. And great about the size 14 kondokonvert. Wow Greebols that is amazing!

I'm still KOKOing, will be 4 weeks for me tomorrow. Down nearly 8 pound and nearly into jeans I haven't worn for 3 years. I can do them up but a bit tight sitting down!

Hope you are ok prettybird

@absopugginglutely yes, I'd guess the creamy coffee will be interrupting your fast, as you will have been consuming calories. Black coffee (or tea) would be fine though

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal - well done. I'm similar, pretty close to target, at a weight my body seems to like. I have a +/- 4-6 pound range that I keep in, so that I don't have too much carb creep and rebound. Last week I (rather inexplicably) got to the top end of that range, but I felt like I knew what to do: limit dairy, watch portion size and snacking, a bit of intermittent fasting, and I've lost almost 3 lbs of that. I love these threads to keep me focussed and for all the lovely recipe ideas. It's a bit like a lovely foodie topic but without having adjust the recipes to make them low carb. Plus it feels great to see other people getting to grips with this way of eating, and making progress

Even after I stopped loosing weight, it seemed like my body continued to change, sort of consolidating itself. So much so that people were commenting even more than when I was losing a couple of stone!

B - avocado, st agur cream, salad leaves
L - coconut curry soup
D - big omelette with mushroom, kale, cheese

Hellooooooooo

I've missed you guys!!!

Managed to leave my phone in a field overnight on the 10th, so in the process of trying to recover it and I've had a rather enforced internet detox since!! Poorly today so a day off work to recover and I've found a tablet I can access the thread on, hooray! Just shouting about me then going back to read about all your fabulousness.

Crashed break down through the 80kg barrier to 79.6 - I make that 175lbs. Could someone update the sheet for me please? Very pleased as I've been bouncing at 80.xxx for weeks now but felt slinkier. Only 3.5lbs this BC but feeling marvellous. Work left a free chocolate bar on each desk this week - I didn't fancy mine at all, and delighted a young chap I work with by giving it to him!

Also, 5.6kg to go until I move down a BMI bracket - maybe a goal for the next month!