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!

Some will know me from the Toast thread in Style and Beauty: yes, it does indeed refer to the lovely (but expensive) Toast clothing and not the food!

Roasted cauliflower and shallots (serves 4)

600g cauliflower* (any variety) pre-prep weight
150g echalion/banana shallots - pre-prep weight
olive oil
salt & black pepper, ground cumin (optional)

• Cut the outer leaves from the cauliflower and then cut the head into quarters, rinse

• Top and tail the shallots and peel, then cut lengthways into quarters

• In a small roasting tin (i.e. one that will hold the veg snugly) add a generous sloosh of olive oil; add the cauliflower, and turn it in the oil so that all sides have a thin covering of oil

• Add the quartered shallots

• Season with salt & pepper, then sprinkle with around a teaspoon of ground cumin if you're using that. (More if you like!)

• Roast in a hot oven (160 fan/180 conventional) for 20 minutes, then remove and turn the cauliflower over and stir round the shallots

• Put it back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes till it's all nicely brown (just watch that the shallots don't burn)

Carb count - 8g per portion

Will catch up properly later but I just have to share this - couldn’t resist the call of the scales this morning and got a 2lb loss on old faithful scales and a 1lb loss on the new mean Renpho scales !
Am now going to clearly have to keep the old scales in use !
I am 11lbs down since 1 October on that basis.
Cheered me up no end !
I will not be weighing again for at least a
Week.

When I made this, last night, I also added more olive oil at the halfway point of the cooking.

Stayed the same this week so 301. I was lucky i think as i did eat more chocolate than recommend and had a gin and tonic and a few glasses of wine. (which leads to a few crisps) So i am going to stick to strict bootcamp. Am guzzling water today!

Biwi I did indeed have festive water! I got DS to go with his brother instead so I could avoid temptation.
StuntNun, thank you for the tip about sugar free syrup. I don't really like milk (always used to swap it for coconut or almond milk in cafés pre bootcamp) so black coffee with sugar free syrup and cream sounds lovely.

Morning, a blue sky ish morning, so have walked the dog along the river which is a really good spirit lift.

I was really lucky to get a haircut yesterday, I really felt for my hairdresser who will be existing on furlough for the next month, he was remarkably positive though and said he was going to try to use the time mindfully, get in regular exercise and not put on weight. I realised again how lucky we are to have this thread, biwi and all who contribute.

For today’s excitement I have a slot at the dump 😀

biwi I know there are lots of vegetable recipes in the vegetarian thread, but I wondered if we could have a FLGV recipe thread, that we could look at for inspiration of side dishes, Please? I realise that some would be repeated, but there have been quite a few really good ideas for veg lately and it would be great to just be able to scroll through them if at all possible and it might help people add more veg in. For example, you suggested that you add leeks to mashed celeriac to make it more like the consistency of mashed potatoes (a small but brilliant addition), the lovely green bean recipe and one of my favourites shoggled sprouts, I now add a couple of bags in to my weekly shop.

Today
B Greek yogurt, Tsp double cream, 2 frozen raspberries crushed & 1 heaped Tsp linwoods flax seeds mix
L Cauliflower soup,with grated cheese on top
D roast beef, Broccoli, shoogled sprouts, celaric & swede& leeks mashed together

2 or 3 coffees each with 1 tsp double cream
3 litres of water, drunk by 1 cup hot, herbal teas & sparkling water

Thanks for the veg and water reminder @BIWI it’s good to be kept on track.

@NotwatchingSpooks I did think about doing a separate thread. However, there's a limit to the number of threads that can be stickied, and we've already exceeded that - so you'll see that if you go to page 2 of the Bootcamp topic the stickies are different.

Plus also it's a lot of work to do it and I'm a lazy arse

@Redsparklybucket

Stayed the same this week so 301. I was lucky i think as i did eat more chocolate than recommend and had a gin and tonic and a few glasses of wine. (which leads to a few crisps) So i am going to stick to strict bootcamp. Am guzzling water today!

@Redsparklybucket

More chocolate
Gin and tonic
A few glasses of wine

... did you miss the 'in moderation' message at the beginning of the weeks 3 & 4 threads?!

And crisps are definitely not allowed.

Honestly - if you can't keep the alcohol and chocolate to small, moderate amounts then you'd be better off swerving it altogether. Because otherwise, all you're doing is sabotaging your best efforts.

... and I've just seen from the spreadsheet that you've lost a stone since we started - which is amazing!

Even more reason not start sabotaging yourself.

You're really lucky that you haven't seen a weight gain.

Small victory (or whatever it’s called!) just had to tighten my belt, that’s three belt holes I’ve gone down in 3 weeks!

Honestly - if you can't keep the alcohol and chocolate to small, moderate amounts then you'd be better off swerving it altogether.

This reminds me of a few bootcamps back where there was a long and interesting conversation about how some people are Abstainers and some are Moderators with regard to food.

RedSparklyBucket a stone is a great loss but it might be worth asking yourself which of the above you are.

If you’re a Moderator—as I generally am—it means you can have a single square of chocolate in an entire week and not be tempted to repeat every night or have more than one square, for example. It is very, very rare for me to “fall face first” into anything.

Having certain ‘indulgences’ such as toast potatoes—for me that would be half a roast potato and I’d be fine leaving the other half for someone else or on my plate. If it’s crisps I could eat two crisps and not the bag, then certainly wouldn’t crack out another bag.

For people who struggle with that, it’s best to be an Abstainer and simply stick with pure Bootcamp.

Sometimes Moderators can moderate everything except one or two trigger items, in which case it’s best to abstain.

Sometimes Abstainers can learn to moderate but I advise starting that in an item-by-item basis, not all at the same time. That’s madness and will up the carb total in a ridiculously short period of time.

I’d be interested to hear others’ thoughts on this. And KOKO—you’re doing well. It’s clear this works for you, so stick with it, enjoy your Bootcamp food, and see the great results.

As my southern grandma used to say, Oh Lawdy, L’il Shag, you do go awn and awn and awn, dahlin’...!

Okay, okay, here by unpopular demand are the new knockers. I’m now a 36dd which is just right for my size and shape - if a little small (the surgeon was trying to convince me to go bigger but I want to still fit into my clothes and don’t feel bigger is very me)

Love how week 4 is the “Show Us Yer Tits, Koala!” thread.

You look great. Splendid figure, hope it’s everything you wanted, and hope you’ve recovered well. Mwah!

I also realise I’ve become a woman of a certain age who says ‘splendid figure’ (with an implicit yet unspoken ‘dear’ at the end) rather than the younger me who would’ve said “smokin’ hot!” or similar.

Basically decorum overtook me as I didn’t wish to sound like the Thread Perv.

With a name like ShagMeRiggins you've always been the Thread Perv!

(And we love you for it)

It’s weird because everyone I see regularly has had a conversation with me about them. Even school run dads ‘have said, are they all recovered now’ and then done the eyes to the boobs look. I’m just ‘yeah, all fine’

I need the nipple on the right raised by a cm so they match again. But have to wait 6 months for that. You can see in the picture that I still haven’t had that ugly lump of blue veins in my neck removed. I expect that will be on hold again now because of Covid.

I have totally given up on exercise and am so wobbly round the arse now I really need to do some squats or summat.

Food yesterday was Lunch of 2 egg omelette with chorizo, leek and green pepper. Dinner was pork chop with roasted green beans broccoli and garlic and swede mash and 3 spoons of Greek yogurt.

Caught up finally.

Half a pound off today so 8lb in total. Slightly annoying as it was a whole lb off for the previous two days.

I've been planning for the end of bootcamp foodwise and finding it's helping me stay on plan as it won't be as good if I haven't abstained until then. I don't know if I wont stay low carb but it's helping for now.

Is anyone interested in an almond porridge recipe I have developed? I tend to find nice liking recipes but then get turned off by the long list of exotic ingredients, then I have a play to simplify as much as I can.

This imo tastes better then porridge and has a slight natural sweetness from the almond. It also cooks quicker.

2heaped tbs ground almonds
1 flat tsp phyllum husks (the husky ones not powder)
About 50-60ml milk or milk alternative

Just cook it like porridge. Works in the microwave too. I add cream/a knob of butter/raspberries at the end but is fine plain. It has a slightly gel like texture but otherwise like semolina in look and feel.

@BIWI recipe is up now.
I actually thought half a savoy cabbage would have been plenty veg
Will serve extra in future and have added recommendation to recipe

Your boobs look fab mrskoala.

I’ve also managed to secure a prelockdown hairdresser appointment so won’t be scaring my colleagues with my cruella streaks of grey which they will undoubtedly appreciate.

Reading everyone’s progress, scales and off is keeping me on track - what a lovely lot you all are

With a name like ShagMeRiggins you've always been the Thread Perv!

That did cross my mind. .

For the record, for those who haven’t seen me explain it before, the username is from Friday Night Lights and my appreciation of the character—character is important here, not just the looks—of one Tim Riggins, a Texas high school footballer.

I do not generally pash on celebrities, characters, anyone other than my own husband. But Tim Riggins stole my high school heart.

Ps—we would never have worked out as a couple but would have held fond memories of one another over the years while being completely happy with our lifelong partners/true loves #texasforever

Pps—FTR the user name is absolutely nothing to do with pirates

Ppps —off now for a last hurrah lunch with my friends to local pub serving Greek food, before this upcoming month of zero social life

WATER!!!

They look fabulousMrsKoala