Week 4 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - time to focus

[BIWI]

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Morning all. Sorry for the late start - had a bit of a bad night so slept longer than usual.

I hope that the scales were kind to you this morning, but please remember week 4 is notorious (along with week 3) in that you are very likely to have seen no loss, or even a small gain

If this has happened to you, DON'T PANIC!

This is your body adjusting to a new WOE, and from now on you should be burning fat. So don't change what you've been doing and things will get moving again; you should expect to see 1-3lbs losses each week (depending on how much you have to lose)

However, it's also important to be scrupulously honest with yourself. If you have had no loss, or seen a gain, go back over what you have been eating and drinking. Have you been following the rules? Have you been keeping your fat levels high? Have you been drinking all the water?

Good luck to us all for the following week as we go into lockdown once again. I know it's not going to be easy, and the lure of carbs (and all the alcohol) will be even more ever-present. Post here if you're needing support to stay away from them and together we can help each other. Remember, you're not alone!

Phew, thanks BIWI.

@Takingontheundead lovely halo you have there!

4.8g isn't really too bad - if you'd had potato mash it would have been 17.5g carbs per 100g!

We just made cheeseburger pie but with lamb mince instead of beef, omg it was SO good! :)

to everyone feeling down about lockdown, election woes and anything else.
Loved the advice to focus only on what we have control over ourselves which includes what we buy and what we put in our mouths. As an emotional eater I often have to remind myself of this!

B - black coffee, slices of cheese (while making kids lunches)
L - chicken 'pizza', courgette salad and homemade blue cheese dressing
D - chicken (again!) stuffed with assorted cheese, spinach and wrapped in bacon. Loads of broccoli and some carrot slices too (I know they're higher carb but only had a spoonful)

That's quite a lot of cheese but I had a lot of nice stuff from the weekend that needed using up

@CeibaTree

We just made cheeseburger pie but with lamb mince instead of beef, omg it was SO good! :)

Hm, I wonder how it would taste with pork mince? Kind of cheesy sausages do you think? Might have to try that at the weekend :)

I needed comfort food tonight so dinner was a massive bowl of celeriac mash made with butter, mascarpone, grated mature cheddar and a bit of horseradish. OMG it was so so good. Hoping it wasn’t too carb heavy - I know celeriac is quite a low carb veg but it was half a massive celeriac so not sure if that’s ok or not. It scratched the comfort food itch though.

Does anyone have any experience with diastasis recti? My goal is a flat tummy but I'm wondering if that's realistic after 3 kids. I was just watching a video where a mum lost 60lb but needed a tummy tuck to get a flat tummy - that's definitely not an option. How would I know if I had it?
Oneborn even if you haven't got a diastasis recti I don't know how achievable a flat tummy is after three kids. I've had four and even at a BMI of 20.5 my tummy is still rounded. I'm not sure it's natural for women to have a flat tummy anyway, don't we have more organs to fit in there than men?! My research suggests a very low body fat percentage (around 18%) and a lot of weight training is the only way for women to get a flat tummy and not all women would be able to achieve it. In my opinion it's better to aim for a nice shape/figure and not focus on one particular body area.

I had celeriac mash for dinner too, but made it kind of colcannon-esque, with savoy cabbage softened in butter, spring onions, cheese, splash of cream. 2 rashers of thick cut bacon on the side. Most satisfactory. I wasn’t even jealous when my husband had pizza and chips (he’s struggling to get back on the wagon - I’m not).

I really need to try the cheeseburger pie that everyone keeps raving about. I'm not too keen on cheeseburgers, do you think I'll still like it?
And where would I buy a celeriac? Morrison's and Asda don't have them, not the ones near me anyway, and our m&s did is really tiny so I'm not convinced they'd have one either. No Waitrose or ocado here either. Do you reckon Tesco or Sainsbury's would have them? Bearing in mind that I'm in a very small city in the far North of England where we don't really do "fancy" foods.

I think I've had a pretty good day food wise.
I skipped breakfast because I was too lazy to get up in time running late.
Lunch: creamy mushroom soup.
Snack: cucumber slices topped with cream cheese
Dinner: Bolognese with tons of veg instead of pasta. I really like broccoli as a pasta substitute. It's nice than having proper pasta.

MsAwesomeDragon I got my celeriac from Asda, on my online shop. I had to try for a couple of weeks though. Perhaps a grocer’s might have one, or could order one? When I lived in France I had to get the grocer to order me parsnips at Christmas!

@stuntnun You're right of course. My hang up is probably my C section scar from baby three. I elected for a section after a failed induction so subconsciously I feel like the scar (and overhanging tummy) is my fault. But that's really over thinking things and hopefully at goal weight I won't even see it.
Thank you to whomever responded with how to check for DR

My local Tesco (in the nearest town which is really rough and not the sort of place where you would imagine celeriac eaters to dwell) has celeriac.

That colcannon type celeriac mash sounds pretty heavenly.

@BIWI

Actually that looks really tasty!

It's only because of Mr Kellogg's that we have this strange notion that we have to eat special/particular food at breakfast time.

I completely agree with this.

Our ancestors didn’t have “breakfast food.” They had food. And so should we.

WATER WATER WATER!!!

@MaudesMum

I had my last "live" pilates class yesterday, and I realised that its a lot easier to lie on my tummy - that has to be because there's less there to lie on, doesn't it?? On a day like today, I'll take a really small win like this!

That’s not even a small win, it’s a big win.

I had a much-needed kip for 30 minutes on the sofa this afternoon. Face down. On my stomach/belly.

A year or two ago it would have been with my back against sofa to support my weight, plus I wouldn’t have been able to have belly and legs and breasts in comfortable alignment if face down.

I’m striving for sleeping on my back, as my chiro suggests. Ah, those were the days...

Well done you.

B - Skipped
L - Goats cheese, anchovies, olives, tomato and cucumber
D - pork in cream and sambal olek sauce plus broccoli and celeriac chips.

First time for the celeriac chips and they were lush!

Have had all the water.

MsAwesomeDragon My celeriac was delivered by Sainsburys and we are in the country.

Hey all, just checking in! Not been fantastic for me today. Had a shop bought tuna mayo salad with cheese, coleslaw and egg.

Had 2 slices of seriously low carb toast and lots of butter when I got home.

Then had half a chaffle (didn't like it), shoogled sprouts, 100g whipped double cream with berries and a square of chocolate. I'm also still needing to drink a litre before bed.

It's not the worst day ever but I feel so much more crappy as I didn't prepare

Re breakfast: Dh and I were on holiday in Vietnam a few years ago and went on a trekking thing where we stayed in local homes (it was amazing and wonderful, but that's not the point). One morning we woke early and even though we had not a single word of common language we managed to communicate with our hosts about their farm and their chickens. They invited us to share breakfast with them which was the most amazing chicken and vegetable soup, full of flavour and herbs. The 'guide' turned up about an hour later and was horrified. We were supposed to eat the breakfast that he had brought - eggs, bananas, bread and coffee. It totally changed my concept of what breakfast could and should be. Every time I have soup for breakfast I am reminded of that wonderful trip.

Tonight I had an asian chicken salad (pad thai recipe posted on the previous thread by someone else). It was lovely but seemed a but low fat because I reduced the amount of sesame oil I used. I had bought cooked chicken breast, so took the skin off and slow roasted it in the oven and made a chicken crumb to cover the salad. omg, it was delicious. So good that dh hardly got any well he had a heap of noodles, all to himself

I also once again can’t find a decent celeriac anywhere - Lidl, Sainsbury’s or Aldi. The only ones I’ve seen are in Sainsbury’s and we’re tiny for £1.70.

@Oneborneverydecade How long ago was your section? It does take time and I found as I lost the weight after both my sections the stomach got flatter. Also Pilates really helped draw my stomach muscles back in and support my back - which was shot after ds2 6 years ago. I know what you mean about blaming yourself - My ds2 was due September 15 but my placenta ruptured at 28 weeks and I had to stay in hospital on bed rest for 9 weeks and they did a c-section at 37 weeks (Because I kept bleeding) on 27 August, which meant he had to start school a whole year earlier. He is the youngest and seriously behind and struggling and every day I blame myself and my stupid body because his life would be so much easier if I hadn’t had the section early. I feel I should have said no and every time I look at my scar I feel I really let him down. But I know logically that I did what was best and I’m sure you did too. Your body had a live human and a little overhang can be worked on, don’t be hard on yourself.

@20bloodypumpkins I made that salad today too, the one from the londonist? I didn't add the honey but thought it was all rather too salty- any idea where I went wrong? I'm not much of a cook but I'd love to love it as I like pad Thai so much!

My weight is still staying the same :-( I know week 3 and 4 can do that but it's a bit disheartening. May you please critique my typical food?

B. FF yog and berries

L. Big salad of lettuce, cucumber, shallot, radish and a protein either chicken, feta or cheese omelette.

Snack. Slice of Gouda (or two) or some cottage cheese.

D. Meat of some sort and veg, eg gammon and sprouts or tinned stew and cauliflower rice with broccoli or cheeseburger pie with salad; then a bit more FF yog and berries for pudding.

Written down I think maybe the FF yog and berries twice a day is too much, though I love having the 'pudding' after dinner. I'm also not sure if it's too dairy heavy. I also have about 4 cups of coffee, some with cream some with lacto free milk (lower carb). Also my portions are big, should I be trying to moderate them down?

Thanks so much!

Is anyone else struggling with sleep because of having to wake up to go to the toilet (because of all the water)? Does it settle down eventually? Once I’m awake I can’t fall asleep again for at least 2 hours and I am so tired.

@Jdhshekr

Is anyone else struggling with sleep because of having to wake up to go to the toilet (because of all the water)? Does it settle down eventually? Once I’m awake I can’t fall asleep again for at least 2 hours and I am so tired.

Me! I’m not the greatest sleeper anyway, sometimes I fall straight back to sleep after a wee but usually not. Doesn’t help that dh is the sort that closes his eyes and immediately starts snoring.

@Jdhshekr

Is anyone else struggling with sleep because of having to wake up to go to the toilet (because of all the water)? Does it settle down eventually? Once I’m awake I can’t fall asleep again for at least 2 hours and I am so tired.

I struggled with that for the first couple of weeks but it's settled down now. I do have the biggest wee ever every morning now, but don't have to get up in the night very often any more. I do need to go at least 3 times during the working day, which is awkward as I'm a teacher and making a dash for the loo between lessons isn't really the best.

Found you! I've been obsessively checking US election results rather than Mumsnet for the last few days

My weight is creeping up and I don't think it's just week 3/4 so I'm going to take myself in hand. Onwards.

Poorbuthappy I'd suggest trying different brands of yogurt to see which you like best as they do vary quite a lot in degrees of sweet/sour, bland/stronger flavour. I'll eat any on their own but there are definitely some I prefer over others.

Last hurrah/early birthday meal for DH at a very nice place last night not really on plan but ok; pate and steak bread and chips. Not the Saturday evening dinner we were hoping for and we had to go early evening with the toddler. He's decided we should try to recreate a "tasting menu" format on his big birthday this weekend so I'll need to give that some thought! Feeling a bit sad he's not getting the party he'd hoped for or even the fancy weekend away with Michelin stars I had! Should be nice though.