Jan '20 - Week 2 Low Carb Bootcamp - How did you do?

[StuntNun]

We've already seen some fab results, especially from those who started early. We do expect a big variation in the first weigh in. Some of you will have lost several pounds, some a more modest loss. Others won't have lost anything yet either because some healing is needed before weight loss begins in earnest, or because they didn't quite manage to stick to the rules during the first week.

So please check in with us to reflect on how your first week has gone. Try not to compare yourself to others because weight loss is a very individual thing. If you have any concerns about your progress then please do ask. We have had thousands of people through Bootcamp so make use of that collective experience.

Add your weight to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness or tag the rather wonderful ShagMeRiggins with your weigh-in if you can't access the spreadsheet yourself. If you're only just starting then please tag the very lovely AthelstaneTheUnready to be added to the spreadsheet. And to anybody that suspected they couldn't lose weight while eating lots of lovely food, and without feeling hungry... I hope you enjoyed being proved wrong!

Well I am mostly feeling a bit suspicious of my scales, tbh, but, well, yes! Couple of work skirts getting a try out today I think!

Wow mrsbert!

Holy moly mrsbert!

I'm feeling a bit worried as have gone up a pound (after losing 5 last week) - but not had a morning poo yet and I'm due on, so hoping it's that combo!

Fingers crossed there will be a whoosh!
BF: Egg mayo
L: Ham and cheese spinach salad
D: Massive pile of buttery sprouts!

Water, water, water, coffee and herbal tea.

Cheeky mid week weigh in (I normally try to only weigh once a week because it makes me fed up otherwise) and I've lost another pound. Was last at this weight in July so feeling really happy.

Today:

B - scrambled eggs with cheese
L - ham salad
D - cream of tomato soup

Snacks - natural yoghurt, cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes.

I definitely didn't drink enough water yesterday so back on it today.

Away from home so took advantage of the cooked breakfast option - mushrooms, bacon, fried egg - yum

L - possibly not much as rushing between meetings on a challenging schedule, will try a pick up some M&S greek salad
D - chicken, veg

Off to Skye tomorrow for 2 nights to visit previously estranged SIL (met her for the first time at MIL's funeral in November - she cut herself off in 1990 ) and I've deliberately booked a proper hotel rather than a B&B so that I can get a proper cooked breakfast

I'm on a train on my way to a meeting - (bad day to be out as I'm missing roast pork at school) and realised I've forgotten to bring herbal tea bags which was my plan for avoiding milk in coffee/cakes. Bah! Plans today

B Creamy coffee
L Pick up a salad at Pret on the way to the meeting - that lovely one with chicken and olives and Parmesan
D prawn and fish curry with either roasted broccoli or stir fry cabbage.

Roasted broccoli is my new fave GV. Especially since stuntnun told us about slicing up the stalk - delish! But therefore a danger of having so much of it that DH is sick of it, so may be helpful to have something else!

Could you have plain hot water instead 1stMrsF? I was offered tea or coffee at a school meeting in the evening and when I asked for just hot water a couple of other people declared they would like the same so it's not that unusual.

HouseTornado I always gain 2lb when Auntie Flo is due so that is probably the cause of a small weight gain.

Well done MrsBert you must be delighted with yourself.

@Hagbeth I’m in the same predicament and I’m also going to stop having creamy coffee today - there’s enough left in the pot for one more then that’s it. I do intend to still have creamy coffee when I’m out and about as a treat - it won’t be that often. I’ve been low carbing for a long time and I also know that cream / dairy is my nemesis - it’s taken a long time to admit it though!!
I’m going to try whizzing my coffee up with some coconut oil in the blender, hopefully that’ll be tasty and satisfyingly unctuous ... good luck, be strong 💪 and may the scales appreciate our efforts!!

Hagbeth, I'm so sorry for you.

I'm inordinately emotionally attached to my creamy coffee. One of the best things about going to bed, is that soon I can get up and have loads of creamy coffee.

Congrats Bert and Sayrra! I do love these stories of unexpected lurches downwards.

Food plans today: no plans. Had a dodgy egg last night and not sure how the day will unfold (the night unfolded entirely predictably )

@MrsBertBibby that is brilliant!! I had quite a high loss in the first week too and am also giving my scales the side eye & feeling a bit sceptical about this week. Though I am doing what StunuNun suggested and just sticking do the plan and doing what I did last week again.

quick trip to tesco this moring for a few bits and some more herbal teas. Turns out many of the Pukka herbal teas have liquorice in them though not all have warnings as I guess the amounts can be low. I will need to go to proper health food shop for nettle tea.

I had a small swim this morning and was thinking about how I can make my own nettle tea once they start growing in the spring. Also looking forward to my mint plant in the garden recovering a bit as it's pretty raggetty dead now.

What a nice surprise to wake up to @mrsbert

I have a much calmer day today with just a baby to entertain so plan to do some batch cooking for the freezer.

B Greek yog with handful of crushed pecans (BC light)
L Leftover cauli rice with veg and poached egg
D turkey and ham 'pie' with swede mash topping and FLGV

Where do we sit on stock cubes? DH is a bit fed up of having creamy sauces with everything but I will need to thicken pie filling somehow.

Also, I seem to be getting pins and needles in my hands/arms a lot, especially when sitting down. Could this be linked to diet change in any way?

I find the opposite with pins and needles whilst eating this way waspfig. I suspect I have mild carpal tunnel and it’s always better when I’m on this woe.

Interested in the views of others on this.

TheClitterati - I'm not sure mint plants/roots ever die off

Today's breakfast & tea haul.

Prettybird that is good to hear! I am a fairly novice gardener & only planted the mint last summer. Its very sticky & leafless at the moment but I will wait for it to flourish. Maybe I need to prune it - I'll take a google.

Morning all,

I too had a sneaky peek at the scales mid week and not much movement at all :( . I think I'm not adding enough fat plus I'm doing BC light so this morning I had 2 slices of LC bread (3.8g of carbs each) with butter and goats cheese. If nothing moves next week, I'll have to admit defeat and give up or at least massively cut down the "fake-ish" bread - interesting discussion on that today.

Cold and rainy where I am, so will look out for some of those soups which sound lush.

@waspfig re pins and needles, could you possibly have low iron levels? I spent last year being severely anaemic and that was one of my symptoms.

And if you're fed up of creamy sauces maybe try tomato / passata based sauces which you can thicken with ground almonds. Also add feta cheese if you like.

My iron levels were low last year - not seriously so but enough to stop me from donating blood. I suspect I didn;t really recover from the low iron levels I experienced when PG with DD2 back in 2011!! I've been eating lots of iron rich foods the last few months, and now I'm eating loads of meat (instead of lentils) so I hope things have improved. It can be a slow process.

I'm set to donate blood again 14th February so it will be interesting to see if I've managed to raise my iron levels - aside from anything else it will indicate how well I am absorbing minerals - we can eat all the minerals we want but if there is an absorption issue you can't take much up and so they will just get excreted rather than used by your body. Having had issues with my gut for years (much improved the last few months) I'm really hopeful my iron rates are up and my absorbtion has improved.

@CheddarGorgeous interesting! Yes I had very low stored iron levels towards the end of my pregnancy (8months ago) so that might explain it. Although I seem to have noticed it more the last couple of weeks since starting this woe.

I've been taking breastfeeding supplement (which includes iron) and eating lots of green veg and more red meat so hopefully will build up stores in my body.

Remember to take vitamin C alongside iron to aid absorption.

I cannot tell you how unbelievably amazing I feel now I'm full of iron. It's a whole new me!

TheClitterati - it will be leafless and stick-like because it dies back in winter. It will come back with a vengeance in spring . If you can be bothered, you can pull a bit out and repot that wee bit (just needs a tiny bit of root) into a pot that you keep inside for ongoing supplies during the winter I'm never that organised )

theClitterati is your mint in a pot, or in the ground? If it's in the ground, it will rapidly take over the whole bed, mint is a right thug. If so I would commend lifting it in a few weeks and putting it in a pot!

thankfully it is in a pot MrsB. I am known to neglect it but it does OK.

I love that indoor mint pot suggestion prettybird and I will do that. Thing about starting something new like gardening - there is so much to learn. So I do appreciate being able to pick up little tips as I go. I was a gardenless flat dweller for so many years, its a whole new world.

BTW the Tumeric Active PUKKA tea is delicious.

It's great, isn't it? I only started gardening in earnest a few years back, when I was off for months with labyrynthitis and couldn't bear to be indoors. I spent weeks slowly clearing out a completely overgrown bramble infested part of the garden and then we rebuilt it with rocks scavenged from my dad (which he in turn had scavenged from my grandma's garden). It's wonderful seeing plants you grew from seed or cuttings establishing. Even better when you see your own honey bees on the flowers!