Low Carb Bootcamp Ordinaire - Week 3

[BIWI]

Morning all!

The start of a brand new week. Hopefully it will be a better week - emotionally/psychologically - for us all.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you to record your progress.

Hopefully we've all had a good couple of weeks, food and weight wise.

Be warned that we're now in week 3. Many, many, many low carbers (not just Bootcampers) find that the weight loss can slow or stop in this week (and also week 4)

If this happens to you DON'T PANIC! If you've been losing so far, then you know it works. Just KOKO (keep on keeping on) and things will get going again soon.

Good luck to us all [ flowers]

Brassica totally get it. I love a drink, have had two thirds of a bottle of wine every night for what seems like forever, but it was creeping up and I was getting scared... lockdown made it worse, no routine etc.

I stopped one day and then kept going. I’m making it sound like years, it’s been 25 days now and feels like it’s become more normal to have something AF.

I’m not giving up, but I had to give my body a rest. Can’t get away with what I used to. This boot camp has made it easier for me to cut down because as I think BIWI said, it becomes about being healthier in general.

Sending

Oh and Brassica if you haven’t tried Cheesies, please do! I also have a crisp addiction and discovered them on here - they really do fit the bill.

I did the 30-day alcohol experiment and really liked it. I haven't had alcohol for the last 3 weeks, and I've decided to stay off for the last two. But I know when I start again, it will creep up slowly but surely. It feels like an ever-present danger. The 16:8 does help, because I try to wait till DD is in bed before hitting the bottle, but with 16:8 my eating window is closed by then. I would like to be a sherry at Christmas/glass of champagne on a special occasion type of drinker.

Poor bored Brassica

I've been off the booze for this bootcamp - did a dry Jan and Feb as well. Has to be none at all, as am absolutely not, in no way, a moderator.

It pushes every single reward button in my brain, so I find it incredibly difficult to start doing the wonderful feeling thing (one glass), and then just... stop (not having another three).

I do have far more periods - of months at a time - when I don't drink at all, so progress, progress.

I had these greens www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/vegetables/spring-greens-with-garlic-chilli-and-yogurt as a side to some roast pork shoulder and cracking earlier. Delicious and a bit unsual.

On the subject of alcohol - I have to admit that at the beginning of this bootcamp I found it very difficult to drop my nightly wine, and I didn't try very hard - I'd often factor the calories in to my count for the day so I could 'justify' it despite the carbs. I wasn't even drinking for pleasure, I was drinking because I needed to sleep better at night and I've been really suffering from a scary sleep issue.

So anyway, I wasn't seeing as much progress as I'd hoped, and I knew that BIWI had mentioned more than once that our bodies burn alcohol first so I was really keen to drop the drink so that I could see better results.

I don't know what switched in my head but when I ran out of my bottle I refused to buy myself another one. For the first couple of days after I stopped drinking, my weight didn't go down and I was thinking what's the point.

But now I've been doing daily weigh ins and every day I'm down by anything from a few ounces to a pound. It feels amazing and it's such a big incentive to try to ignore my wine cravings.

So that's just my perspective for anybody who is struggling to say no to that glass of wine - it is SO worth it for that magical feeling when you stand on the scales.

Thanks for reading my long post

I'm definitely an abstainer. All or nothing. I've managed all of bc without booze (pre bc it was rising and rising, like being on an extended holiday) and fully intend to stay off for the remainder. I can't even allow a single thought of 'maybe just one'.

In a way, the lack of socialising has helped, as I have very strong connections with social occasions and booze. I'm also pleased with my progress - I have lost almost 12 pounds, and that is, at the moment, more important to me. I also think that because bc is only 5 weeks this time, I need to make the most of it.

💐 to all struggling.

I'm also an abstainer. It's much safer to just not have the things I tend to binge on in the house. I managed to just have 1/2 a glass of wine the other night because it was the end of a bottle my DH was drinking, and I resisted buying myself a bottle of prosecco for next week even though I was considering having it for BC lite. I tell myself I'd just have one glass a night but I probably wouldn't stop at that. Cheese is becoming my new problem, I had a huge plate of several different kinds one evening... This is why I think I may occasionally have to go back to counting calories for a week if I'm not losing, that seemed to help me keep it under control. I know this WOE is supposed to suppress my appetite but I'm not really noticing it yet!

Another abstainer here.

Alcohol, it’s a tough one. I had a bit of a reality check when dd14 commented on how much wine is been buying on our trips to the local coop. Made me think and extreme bootcamp came at the right time.

That vegetable recipe looks lovely whiteshade, have saved it

I changed at dh's suggestion our menu for last night and have delayed having duck breasts until tomorrow night (had some home made burgers from the freezer instead). That way I can enjoy a glass of wine with the duck breasts

I probably won't have any more wine until Friday and then dh and I will share 2 bottles over the weekend.

I’d not say I’m a moderator particularly as my moderation is usually a lot. What I really am is a dipsomaniac. I try to drink regularly to stretch gaps between binges. I have a huge capacity and tolerance for alcohol so a usual moderation week will be 40-70 units and I won’t have felt drunk or have a hangover. It doesn’t affect my weight as I don’t eat when I drink.

What I have found is the IF really helps with reducing my drinking because when I eat I don’t drink. I only really crave alcohol when I am hungry and on an empty stomach. Because we usually eat dinner at 9pm. When I start to get hungry at 6pm I will start drinking. I will have 3 large vodkas before dinner every night. At weekends we usually have cocktails before dinner and I will have a bottle of wine too sometimes.

But when I’ve been eating separately at 6.30pm I will only have one large vodka first and then move to herbal tea after I’ve eaten.

For me it’s just my way of life. My parents drink like that and all my friends did growing up. It’s cultural. I’m from a hard drinking white British working class trades family. I grew up in pubs. My first boyfriend, who I’d say was the love of my life, was the same. I was with him for 5 years and I realised if I stayed I’d not live long. So I left. But we stayed best friends. He died on 28th December aged 42.

Nice one on the 26 days Ifeel. Not sure what I'm going to do at the end of my 30 days. I do not want to become t-total!!

I agree biblio. I'd like to be someone who just doesn't think about alcohol. Have it, don't have it. What evs

If also looks like I've been constant accounting for 1lbs worth of dehydration every morning

Nigella we locked down on about 17ty March. I opened a bottle of wine that evening and pretty much didn't stop!

Ooh, duck. Love duck.

Feck, MrsK. That's sad

I wonder if it's possible to move from being an abstainer to a moderator. For me I think not.

Got forerib of beef for dinner. Cooking it outside I the pizza oven. Now the test is not the kill it for a second time!!

@Moraxella and @SparklesAllOver, I’ve sent a PM to you both re Zoom today.

WATER WATER WATER, y’all!!!

Blimey, there's a word I haven't heard for a while, MrsK.

Am so sorry about your friend That level of drinking really can obliterate a person long before it physically ends

Am absolutely with you on the early eating - when I get cravings around 4 to 5'ish, I have an early dinner and that does help.

Background, background, hard to get away from: mine was parents who introduced us early to the practice of sherry before dinner, good wine during dinner, cognac after dinner. Every Day. Which is why I have no urges whatsoever to go out just for a drink, or to sit in a pub and have a drink, or do anything that is solely drinking. But get near dinner time and I would often end up not getting past the pre-dinner wine and crisps.

I've accepted that's always going to be my struggle, and will settle for periods of none at all, periods where it creeps up again, and then periods of none at all again.

In food news: freezer eating as going through a few days without motivation to cook - so beef stew with mashed veg for dinner. Probably eggs for lunch.

Morning everyone, just catching up on the thread after a few days offline (but not off diet!).

Brassica I too have a tricky relationship with alcohol and was drinking pretty much a bottle a night, sometimes more, during lockdown, before BC started. I'd tell myself every morning I wouldn't drink that day but by 5pm I'd usually managed to convince myself that just one wouldn't hurt. I was genuinely struggling to stop. I managed 12 days from the start of BC and have only drunk on three occasions since, just sharing a bottle of wine with DH each time, so drinking a lot less than I had been. I am still sticking to IF too so finished my last glass at 9pm last night then went on to chamomile tea. Like you, I'd love to get to a point where I'm just not that arsed, but at the moment it seems to be intrinsically linked to relaxation and reward. Good luck with your experiment and well done for coping with the in-laws sans vino!

Today is looking like:
L: scrambled egg, bacon, halloumi, mushrooms and spinach, all cooked in copious amounts of butter
D: LC sausages, buttery swede mash, mange tout and asparagus dripping in melted butter.

Seem to have a buttery theme going on today - slurp

I used to think I was a moderator - I was moderately drunk most of the time. Which is not actually very funny. Like Mrs K alcohol has always been a part of my life, I think I had my first sweet martini and lemonade at the age of 4 (apparently until I discovered that lemonade on its own tasted just as nice). I grew up in a family where the honestly heart-felt concept was that if you give children small amounts of alcohol in a family context then they grow up to behave 'normally' around alcohol. Nope, didn't work for me.

I know I'm going badly wrong when I feel secretive about what I'm drinking. Early lockdown was such a shake up for my life, my work collapsed overnight, dh working from home so a constant presence in my normally peaceful space, no socialising, lots of boredom. It seemed a good idea to have a little drink with my lunch...

Anyway. Caught myself, kicked myself up the arse, and I'm got lots of strategies that seem to work for me. Brassica you asked about moving from an abstainer to a moderator... I can go long periods without a drink, then enjoy some at a function. But then I notice it re-awakens the desire and I have to deploy my strategies. So I can do it, but it often feels like a bit of a fight...

MrsKoala so sorry to hear about your friend

@venusandmars
I've been lurking for a week on the thread, but you just described me completely.
The only way I don't drink in lockdown is if I don't have it in the house...I was moving towards pub opening hours!

So, food:
creamy coffee (my new addiction)
L - picnic of chef's salad (chopped chicken, cheese, ham, mushroom in mayonnaise, ff yogurt, lots of herbs) with lots of green salad
D - red pepper and tomato soup - a bit on the carby side, but they were leftover from the veg box and made with stock from yesterday's chicken. Followed by leftover courgette, pak choi, spinach with a fried egg.

Sorry about your friend @MrsKoala that is far too young. (Mum's family were publicans -we have lost a few to serious drinking. It is a terrible thing to see)

Venus my parents were the same. Mum had aupaired in Italy and was very taken with the style of parenting there. So I had wine and water with meals, went out to adult pubs and restaurants with them, stayed up very late etc. By 14 I was drinking in pubs with my friends (pints of cider and black sometimes with a shot of Pernod in it). I worked in pubs from 18.

Food wise i haven’t been planning meals so just having an omelette or meat and salad for dinner and then doing a different dinner for H later. But that’s a bit shit so I need to plan a bit more. It doesn’t help that H doesn’t like the bc food much so I struggle with repeating the few meals we both will eat.

@Ninkanink
I'm off to a barbecue this afternoon and thought I might take a coleslaw. Any change you could you tell me the method you use for the red cabbage remoulade thingy you posted earlier in the week?

quite refreshing here to see people talking candidly about alcohol without the usual MN backlash..
I am not a moderator either , its all or nothing with me , although I usually just stick to wine with the odd negroni or G&T at weekends as an aperitif. ( only ever have one spirit based drink though , they are too nice!) .or a glass of chilled white.
the invaribly move on to the red and drink at least half a bottle ..I dont usually get drunk though .. it seems that i can usually take that much .. even though its far too much ,..
In the 18 months since my mother's final illness and passing, I drank every day and that's whats mostly responsible for the 2 stone I put on ..
But since BC Ive not had any! so pretty pleased with myself..
I am in the non alcohol zone again now .but I know when i do start again it will most likely follow pretty much the same pattern.)

pleased also that Ive finally lost another pound! (nothing at all for all of week 3 previously) hoping I can maintain that for tomorrows WI..

I actually want this BC to go on for the full 10 weeks!!
BIWI please, please would you consider extending it? .. I love the support here and am so motivated this time around which I really haven't been in the last 18 months

please please please ....

Hi @nowlook

I always wing it with these things, so I can’t remember for sure, but I know I used red cabbage, carrot, cucumber, a banana shallot, a little bit of fennel. If I had had celeriac I would have added some of that too. Lots of parsley, lemon juice and some wholegrain mustard. Salt and black pepper. No oil because I had chilli and guacamole with it so I wanted it to be fresh and not too rich, but you could add some extra virgin olive oil if you like.