Leaving Lockdown Low Carb Bootcamp - our last week!

[BIWI]

It's odd, thinking back to when Bootcamp first started, how different things were. 9/10 weeks doesn't seem like it's a very long time, but it seems a very long time ago since we began, and we were in a very different place - with Covid-19 - to where we are now.

It is all feeling much more optimistic. Hopefully things will continue in this positive vein, and we can all get back to some kind of normality - or whatever is going to pass for normal now.

I hope very much that this Bootcamp has done what it set out to, i.e. to refocus us all and get back into the swing of a healthier way of eating, a healthier mindset and ways of caring for ourselves.

Anyway, here's the spreadsheet

Next Monday will be the final weigh-in, so I hope that this last week is a successful one for us all.

On a serious note, an allergy to hair colourant can really develop at any time, main culprit bring the hydrogen peroxide. I did end up in A&E, and yet 5 years later my mother was still upset that I wouldn’t cover my grey for a family wedding. Priorities hey...I felt like Bridget Jones!

I’m definitely not ready to embrace the grey. I think it looks good if you have a lot or are all silver, or are fair all over so it blends. On me it looks shit because I’m naturally so dark and have only 15% grey -all in the front and the parting. It changes the colouring of my eyes somehow, when I get the roots done my eyes look really blue/green but when I don’t they just look dull grey.

😂 at brainier shagme!

That’s scary ealingwestmum

Ifeelfat raw courgette is completely different to cooked where some people find the texture unpleasant.

@ealingwestmum

On a serious note, an allergy to hair colourant can really develop at any time, main culprit bring the hydrogen peroxide. I did end up in A&E, and yet 5 years later my mother was still upset that I wouldn’t cover my grey for a family wedding. Priorities hey...I felt like Bridget Jones!

you mum!

your mum. Ffs.

I tried a semi permanent. Clairol Natural Instincts 6g. It was awful. Bloody Russet. 4 weeks on it looks ok

If you don’t want red to show thru then box dyes aren’t good. It’s why I get my hair dyed at a salon now. They mix it extra ashy. In box dyes they use a mix of red and green to get the balance, but the green fades much quicker which is why even when I dye my hair the ashiest brown I can find it still glows chestnut. I now have 3 colours on my hair because I have ombré s. I had a special colourist from Vidal sassoon design the combination for me. She was so good and my hair dresser just follows her notes. It’s the toner that really adds the ash and knocks out any trace of red/orange in the bleached ends. Because my roots are dyed so dark it takes a lot to lift the ends to the right level without going brassy. I also use Osmo shampoo to keep the blonde tones bright - but you must use gloves, otherwise it dyes your fingers and fingernails purple and you look like you should be in the morgue!

Ooh, where does one find a colourist from Vidal to do individual colours? I'm in such a quandary that I've gone for cut rather than colour at my re-entry to the hairdressers. Colour-wise I used to be very dark brown, started to go grey in my 20s, dyed it various shades of brown until I got bored and hit mid-life crisis at 50ish then had highlights all over and went 'blonde'. However, the effort involved in keeping roots a bit brownish and stop the ends looking too ginger has been as much as the brown-all-over but, having made the big switch (and actually being more grey than 'blonde' now) I really don't know what to do!

• and I just had fish and chips with my parents. I left a few chips 😬

Can't remember who asked about the fathead dough as cold leftovers but when I make it I usually make a big pizza and have half cold the next day , it tastes fine to me but as my husband tells me I havent got the most discerning palate

STS today or 300g gain still not shifting but on the plus side, I did lots of waking yesterday. I also did week 3 of couch25k the other day - it's amazing how fast ones fitness declines. I was running 20mn earlier in lockdown but stopped 2m ago. Gaah. So I'm determined to try again. It's funny how being in the right mental space makes such a huge difference. @ShagMeRiggins I'm interested to read your musings if and when you decide to post!

On the topic of hairdye, PSA: Cherry Red John Frieda colour mouse is RED. It looked a lovely auburn colour on the shade comparison chart over my dark brown hair but i didn't consider my considerable greys in the mix, and the first week or so, I glowed.
I rather like it now but I shall be going back to brown!

For the love of god someone come and take these scales away from me please.

@cad186 Brill, thank you!! I may try it. Will report back!

@Takingontheworld Daily weighed too? I'm trying to be really zen about the massive fluctuations in my weight. I'm plotting a little graph to show an overall downward trend to keep me sane in the 'Wah it's up!' moments. I think @StuntNun did this over years and it's a brilliant illustration!

B - chia seeds steeped in chai tea with orange essence, double cream.
L - undecided, loads in. Probably eggs.
D - double burger, cheese, salad, homemade cabbage slaw.

Apparently I just lost 2lbs in the last minutes.

Wtf!?

Maybe it is dodgy scales! Maybe I've not lost anything at all? MAYBE THIS IS ALL JUST A DREAM

Ok I'm cracking up i swear it

Look at it from a positive perspective @Takingontheworld - I presume (hope?) that daily weighing is keeping you on track? Yes, it might make you cross and irritated and frustrated - but if you go off the rails now, the only inevitable consequence is that the next time you step on the scales, you'll hate them even more!

Chin up. You know it's working for you!

And to channel @ShagMeRiggins who we miss very much

WATER, WATER, WATER!

It's going to very hot over the next couple of days, so make sure you drink a bit more to compensate.

@Takingontheworld and other daily weighers - I recommend the Happy Scale app. I think someone mentioned it on an earlier thread. It plots your overall trends and makes sense through all the ups and downs!

Second the happy scale app. I like that you can set mini targets on it, as well as the graphs that hopeislost mentions

And to channel @ShagMeRiggins who we miss very much

It’s nice to be missed.

Okay, I’m tanning right now—tough life—so will have a whack at my Deep Thoughts post. Probably in two parts.

Because we’re in week 10 and I’ve not managed to get on the spirit, I wondered why.

I know part of it is that I had maintained during lockdown I like so many who put on a half or full stone, so I wasn’t feeling all that badly about myself.

Also my husband has been working from home and has taken on a lot of the cooking. He has low carved in the past but seems to think every meal has to be a family meal—which is nice—and that entails processed carbs for the Hormoaners. I eat very lightly in general but when someone cooks for me and the family I don’t want to be the one making separate food. So the odd few chips at one meal, a bit of rice with a fish stew at another meal. Much how I would imagine maintenance to be, as previously mentioned. And I’ve maintained just fine.

Finally, I feel really good about myself. I suppose that’s having come from 236lbs to 175lbs. More active, looking better, improved energy...

But.

Was this my goal? No it wasn’t. I’ve been complacent.

A few days ago I looked up the Neris & India IPD book, which was my first experience with low carb and which I turned to in desperation because I was so miserable with my weight. And guess what?

My starting weight then was the weight I am now. That was in 2008. It really blew my mind that I’m so complacent now at a weight that made me so miserable then. Really made me think about perceptions.

None of that was profound (none of this is, really), but the other interesting thing to me is when I looked at my measurements from 2008 at the same weight compares to my measurements a couple of days ago, even though I am the same weight, my waist and stomach are 2” bigger now.

Gulp. Thank you menopause.

It is clear to me I should have stuck with IPD/LCHF 12 years ago, reached target, and gone on a maintenance routine.

It is also clear to me that the only way I’ll get the fitness and body shape I want is through specific exercise.

Middle-aged spread happens to everyone so think of this as a cautionary tale. Take your time, but do KOKO.

It’s going to be more difficult for me due to age to get where I want to be. And I might not have the perfect fit body ever but passionately want to make the most of my health and look smokin’ hot. Even screen legends get thick around the middle, I remind myself.

Not sure what I hoped to achieve with those posts. Keep thinking it would have had much more resonance if I weren’t on a picnic table facedown in bikini bottoms on my phone and flapping at flies and bugs.

Shall we all make a pact to resend it was moving and profound? Ta.

*pretend, not resend! Gah.

@ShagMeRiggins, it was actually moving and profound, really.

You describe so many of our thoughts out loud Shag. Can definitely relate to the family food dynamics and not wanting to rock the boat EVERY day at least.

We laugh through the many (and there are many) downsides of being a woman, that are relentless on our bodies. And often keep it quiet because of the uncomfortableness it can create. So whether lying on your tum or back getting some rays in, well done on Part I. I look forward to the next chapter

There are, of course upsides to our ageing bods. Right now, wisdom and experience springs to mind ignoring fog brain as it doesn’t help my speech right now

Having come in from the sun, which I swear fried my brain, I think I wanted to add that it is never too late to do something new and good for yourself.

Also wanted to say that after my last post I turned on my back to get some sun on the aforementioned waist/stomach, which has been woefully neglected during my lockdown tanning, mostly because I never wear anything that reveals that part of my body (and wouldn’t even if I looked like J-Lo).

To maximise stomach, inner arms, and inner thigh sunnage (all neglected areas) I lay on my back on top of our picnic table in what can only be described as a half crucifixion, half plié/frog position.

It is quite possible I scarred my eldest child for life when he ventured into the back garden to dispose of his rubbish.

Taking I use the True Weight app to track daily weighing. It shows your recorded weight on a dotted line but your average weight on a solid line so you can see the overall trend amidst the ups and downs. Even at a stable weight your daily weight can vary by as much as 2lb, particularly if you've been exercise or the weather is warm or at certain points in your menstrual cycle. Basically weighing yourself is just about the worst way of tracking how much fat you've lost.