Week 9 - Low Carb Bootcamp - only 2 more weeks left!

[BIWI]

Evening all!

I'm away again tonight, and not going to have access to a laptop/ipad until later on tomorrow, so I'm starting the week's chat thread a bit early.

Here's the spreadsheet

Sounds like we're seeing some really impressive results, and I'm looking forward to the 'scores on the doors'!

God Im so nervous about this election I’m not going to sleep tonight.
Today I had
Salad with salami and mozzarella and three cream coffees.
Catching up with water now.

Morning all!

Weigh in day for me and I've lost 5.1lb, taking me to 13stone 5lb (187.5) I wanted to be 13.7 by Christmas which was very ambitious. So I'm over the moon!!!

That's amazing @moleye! Well done! Fingers crossed for that last wee push!

I weighed myself this morning and have finally had a whoosh! I've gone from 203.8lb on Monday to 198.8lb this morning. So chuffed to be under 200lb. That's 11.2lb off this bootcamp.

Hi all, I've lost a lb and got my period a week early. Woohoo?
Yesterday I had ham and cheese for breakfast, nothing for dinner and pork belly and spinach for tea, plus my 3 litres of water.
Today's plan is...
B: egg
D: lime chicken and courgette fried in butter
T: sausage, mashed Swede and spinach.
Plus my 3 litres

Hope you're all ok today, and have a good weekend 😊

@absopugginglutely

^Today I had
Salad with salami and mozzarella and three cream coffees.^

Please don't tell me that's all you've eaten today?

... sorry, yesterday!

Today's plan:

B: very buttery scrambled egg with avocado and green tea

L: homemade broccoli and cauliflower soup with some cheddar added at the last minute

D: ribeye with flat mushrooms and Savoy cabbage.

I need to be very careful not to comfort eat today

Although we did get a positive result in Scotland

Was also up most of the night (only went to bed at 6) which probably won't have helped my hormones - but I can reset that tonight with a nice early night.

I know what you mean prettybird - dropped the kids at school and really struggled not to go to my favourite cafe for consolation hot chocolate and pastries.

Came home and had buttery scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and a creamy coffee instead.

3lbs to go before Christmas. I am drinking ALL the water.

Slopes back in after at least a week of being AWOL...

Lost the will to be strict so close to Christmas with so many lovely meals out and treats lying around. I'm largely eating bootcamp meals still (as this is the norm for us) but have had way too many wildly inappropriate things between meals and a few off plan meals out too, though never a dessert. All the beer though, on Weds.

Lots of travel with work, toddler not wating to go to bed, weird ear/hearing thing going on, excuses excuses. Will try and rein it in until Christmas Eve now.

Eggs for breakfast, nuts, tuna mayo salad for lunch, haven't bought anything for dinner yet but hopefully steak.

Currently about 2lbs above my lowest this bootcamp.

However in a "helpful" do as I say not as I do post for Down Udderer, both spinach and avocado have more potassium than bananas and even sweet potato would be better than a banana (though not bootcamp). I don't really like spinach as a vegetable but I eat baby spinach as a salad leaf for my lunch most weekdays.

Rayna Downudderer I put spinach in lots of dishes - curry, casseroles, blitz it with coconut (and thai spices and coriander) in thai green curry, blitz it in soup...

prettybird I only managed till 4pm, but feeling decidedly flat today, and resolutely avoiding any gloating news or radio.

B - butter coffee with cream
L (didn't have it till 3pm and even then wasn't feeling hungry) - creamy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, mushrooms
D - steak, buttered leeks and sliced sprouts with cream and parmesan, kale crisps

@RudolphIsMySpiritAnimal I feel the same. My sister sent a massive tub of Cadbury Heroes and it’s taking a lot of thought to not use them to heal my sad soul today 😢

I’m not going to but usually I’m not tempted.

B: cream coffee
L: salad leaves with saint agur spread as a dressing mozzarella slices and some salami slices
D: meatballs in tomato sauce, FL broccoli and loads of buttery Brussels.

It’s quiet! Everyone must have hands full with glasses of WATER.

Haven't posted for a while but I'm still here, still KOKOing and still drinking water

There has probably been more with all the Christmas build up than is strictly boot camp but am managing to swerve the carby snacks!

About to head out on my Christmas night out. I suggested the Brazilian steak place where the steak is brought to your table and you choose your own sides from a buffet. Low carb heaven!

I'm planning on drinking a fair whack of booze though! And, of course, WATER!

LittleSwede I think that is the important thing about this way pf eating and living - bootcamp gives us the rules and the tools, then its up to us to use them.

For me, having clear guidelines means that I look at a mince pie and think "No! No! No!" plus my tastes have changed radically and if I do have a nibble I have half a bite and grimace at the sweetness, the cloying flour. Then I have to spend half an hour drinking water to wash the sugary taste out of my mouth!

I've made two batches of tablet within the past week and not only did I only feel the soft ball test with my fingers, but I then threw it away ....and I haven't eaten a single piece myself

Off to drink some more water. Only at least 1.5l so far today

Am up to 2.5 litres - but am about to start on the bubbly while watching Strictly and BitchPodding

@prettybird Well done- that’s amazing! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I had my 3 litres today and always feel so great for it!

I had a roast dinner for tea and it was so very delicious,
I made a roasted cauliflower cheese with BIWIs creamy cheese sauce with lemon juice in, buttery asparagus, Brussels and broccoli and Loads of roast chicken with skin.
It was heaven although I couldn’t manage to eat it all.

Can I ask (as this is my first boot camp) what happens after boot camp? Do you (if you’re happy with your weight) have a few “treats” here and there or do you just stick to boot camp rules?

I know there’s one in January so do folk just become less strict until they join the next boot camp?

I have been really strict for the whole thing and for the most part just stuck to week one rules, I started two weeks before the official start date too so I’m just wondering if it’s okay to have a few sweet things over Christmas Eve, day and Boxing Day?

Thanks, Abso 😊

Can I ask when the first boot camp of 2020 will start? I did so well earlier this year and felt amazing, then got into a new relationship which has involved many meals out/after dinner treats and I’ve massively fallen off the wagon 🤦🏼‍♀️ Keen to get back to my low carbing ways on the new year

@prettybird tablet... ooh I can almost smell the sweet caramel

I know I'd hate it if I ate it, but the imagination of your kitchen is intoxicating...

@absopugginglutely after Bootcamp finishes, we keep a chat thread going, so there is always someone here for support (as well as general wittering!). The next Bootcamp will start some time in January - it's entirely up to you what you do in between times. If you haven't reached your target, then best to keep going!

@Turnedouttoes Not sure of the date of the next one, because I' not running that one - the very lovely and knowleadgeable @StuntNun is taking over, as I'm on holiday. But keep an eye out for a prep/sign-up thread from her.

@absopugginglutely I guess the next bootcamp will start mid January (headed up by @stuntnun )

There might be continuation thread from here but the key thing is not about the threads, but how you decide to live your life. You KNOW what is OK and what is not, you know what makes you add weight, what makes your digestive system smooth and quiet.

So, I think you probably know the consequences of excess sugar / carb.

On Christmas Day I WILL have roast potato. But I won't also have Christmas pudding or mince pies. And the day before, and the day after I won't have trifle or crisps or toast. Instead I will plan. I will plan to have eggs, bacon, mushrooms. I will plan to have broccoli with butter. I'll have pigs in blankets. I will pick and choose all the best things.

And over the whole 2 week carbfest Christmas period I will look at canapes and choose the mozzarella, basil and tomato and reject the bruschetta, I will choose the olives and reject the popcorn. It is my choice.

OK It's Christmas-time but 2, or 3 weeks of cake, pastry, sweetcorn, pasta, potatoes, chocolate... that's going to have a big impact.

Abso most people stick with Bootcamp Light in between the ten-week Bootcamps. If you've reached your goal weight then there are a few different approaches to weight maintenance. I prefer to keep eating low carb but I don't worry about things like flour in gravies, or I might have a latte without worrying about the milk sugar, or have a beer at the pub. I might occasionally have something carby as a treat but even then I stick with the lower carb options, for example the top part of the cheesecake rather that a doughnut. It's still a rare occasion though because I personally just can't handle carbs well. My DH is much more tolerant of them and they don't send him off the rails so he could quite happily eat a bacon sandwich and a piece of cake once in a while and get straight back to eating low carb.

Another approach to weight maintenance is to reintroduce the healthy higher carb fruits and vegetables. Maybe you've been missing apples or carrots? Potatoes and rice can be reintroduced but in smaller quantities than on a standard diet, i.e. a couple of roast potatoes with your Sunday lunch but not a huge pile of mash.

The final approach is the cheat day approach where you eat low carb most of the time but have one meal or day each week/fortnight/month where you can eat whatever you like. Some people can do this, some can't - you'll know your own mindset.

With any weight maintenance strategy it's best to set a target weight range that you're happy with. If your weight range is 9st to 9st 6lb then keep weighing in every week and if your weight gets to the higher end of your target range then go back to strict Bootcamp or Bootcamp Light until you're happy with your weight again. Then re-evaluate your strategy for weight maintenance.