Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - week 9/the last fortnight

[BIWI]

Evening/morning all!

A very late/early start for me (it's become a weekly 'thing' playing Trivial Pursuit with DH and DS1, which goes on, and on, and on ...)

So as I'm only just going to bed, wanted to start the thread now, so it's ready for all you eager beavers to declare your losses. From what I've read so far, there are some really good results, which is fantastic.

here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you to declare all.

We have two weeks to go before we get to the end of this Bootcamp, which will take us right into Christmas week. I know that already people have been sharing their strategies for dealing with Christmas, and I encourage you all to have a really hard think about this. It's so easy to let everything go 'because it's Christmas' - but I'd really counsel you to seriously consider what your plan is going to be. I doubt that anyone is going to stick to low carb throughout the festive period, and that's not a problem - but please think about when/how you're going to go 'off piste'.

There will be another Bootcamp starting in January (probably mid month), but just think what a shame it would be, to be starting that Bootcamp having regained a lot of the weight that you've worked so hard to lose in this Bootcamp!

I would love to hear more Christmas strategies.

I am considering totally letting go vs. keeping some rules on the day. I have slipped multiple times over the last few months and managed to get back on track - and I wonder if it’s because I only ate homemade desserts when I slipped and not shop bought stuff that is basically designed to make you want to eat more (and more and more).

Ideally I would have two days off (Christmas and Boxing Day) and then return to following the rules. I know the lead up to Christmas will be okay (my family are very into the idea of ‘saving’ oneself for Christmas) but after Christmas I expect some resistance if I go back to being healthy.

It's important to plan your approach to Christmas Lyrata like they say "to fail to plan is to plan to fail." I have Christmas Day "off" as it were but even then I eat mindfully. It's all too easy to fall off the wagon otherwise. Then I'm straight back on to low carb. You need to work out what's best for you. I like to think of it as making the carbs count. What you don't want to do is eat carbs because they're there or because it's Christmas or because "the diet starts in January." For example in my mum's house there's a big tradition of making turkey pie from the leftovers on Boxing Day. So if I were having Christmas at her house then I'd probably stick to low carb on Christmas Day and have Boxing Day as my day off. I know I can't handle two days of carby food without it sending me into cravings and hunger. Other people may be able to eat higher carb for a week and get away with it, albeit with some weight gain. But then look how hard people have been working to lose their ping pong pound, sometimes taking several weeks. If you've worked that hard you definitely don't want that ping pong pound back!

2.6lbs off this week - now less than a pound away from the top of the healthy BMI band.

StuntNun that’s very true. The stuff from my behavioural science degree is all too relevant to food - the problem (weight gain) feels all too distant (e.g. ONE more chocolate won’t do any damage) and we move away from that “dieting” identity.

I think you are right that mindful eating rather than “fuck it, it’s Christmas” will be important as it keeps your mindset/identity as “I care about my body even when I indulge” vs. sliding into “fun mode” where I adopt a new identity which is more: “dieting is boring and I am a person who has cake and wine and fun.”

Well done @VeryLittleOwl. I’ve lost the 2 lbs I put on last week so I’m happy with that especially considering my period has arrived this morning and that usually spikes my weight. Am looking forward to smashing a few pounds for these last 2 weeks!

I've put on half a pound, which is my own stupid fault. Am cross with myself for undoing a week's work in one weekend.
Still, it has brought home just how very easy it is to put weight back on over a very short time and with that in mind, I will be very careful over Christmas. There are a few things I'm really looking forward to eating, but not tubs of quality street!

3lbs down today! I drank wine on Friday so was worried about the big reveal, but other than that I had a good week food wise. Can't believe it's week 9!

That’s amazing VeryLittleOwl! My husband hit the healthy band this week (I am half a stone away) and it’s given him a real boost going into Christmas.

2lbs off for me this week, which I am pleased with.

We’ve decided which days we’re taking off for Christmas and what our meals are going to be, rather than indiscriminate grazing. In stocking up we’re buying only enough stuff to use up in those days so there’s no issue of waste/tempting things hanging around.

Morning, I’m a pound down, but was 2lbs down yesterday, not done anything different so maybe it will be gone by next week. This gives me a BMI of 26.2, so another bit closer to the BMI of 25 goal, which is currently about 6lbs away.

I have definitely found that drinking different herbal and fruit teas has really helped to keep me on track, however I have found that some of the T2 teas have sugar in them so it’s worth looking on the box to check. I’m going to try to add some variety to this weeks meals as well.

I too have found that my DH loves all my LCHF options, sometimes I feel like swotting his hand , so I now just make extra in anticipation.

Well done @VeryLittleOwl - I was desperate to get into the healthy BMI band and it felt like a massive victory when I got there. I bet you hit it next week.

I appear to be about 0.5-1lb down but my period is extremely imminent so I’m going to do an official weigh in a couple of days after it starts because I’m always heavier before and during the first two days of my period.

1lbs on for me this week. Gaah. Some carb creep, but also, now I've got down to a roughly 24bmi, what was working for me before doesn't really seem to be working. I've got 2 more weeks so I want to be more safely away from 70kg...

Really interesting discussion about Christmas. Fingers crossed, we're going to stay with family abroad (travel corridor) assuming we repeatedly test negative, we will be able to go out (all within the rules). However, the fact that it's 1) Christmas 2) a holiday in the sun and 3) after a year of no travel or seeing wider family, it does feel like it's a lot of excuses (and I do mean excuses) not to stay on plan. That said, if will be hot and I won't be in control of any of the food. I shall do my best but it's 2.5 weeks away. I've lost 1.5kg this BC and it's been hard fought. I could easily put it back on while away so lots to think about.

Morning all and well done to everyone for losses / sticking at it.

I am 3lbs down this morning - that's 21 in total. I am so so happy I feel like a different person!
I am closer to my first goal weight than I dared to imagine there is a small chance I could make the elusive 11s before Christmas.

I hardly posted last week and was pretty nervous that I hadn't done well enough as we had a chaotic week with PIL house move and I started my new job.
My reflection though is that this WOE is well embedded enough now that even under pressure my deviations were not as bad as I feared.
This is good news I hope for maintenance as I relied too much on seriously low carb bread and had two takeaways but everything was on message and am I think learning to stop eating when I am full .

This week I need to focus on FLGV and ALL the water.

I have been keeping up with all the chat it's brilliantly motivating seeing the photos VeryLittleOwl . I haven't seen any major clothes differences as I have been living in baggy clothes / joggers etc for years !
My NSV though is my rings that felt tight are now the perfect size again.

I am another one who used to drink far too many alcohol calories and am so glad to have ditched my daily wine habit !

Two more weeks to go KOKO everyone .

@Mimosa1 your Christmas holiday sounds amazing !

Hope you can find a way to manage the diet conundrum.

Slow progress downwards this week - hoping to build on that for the final two... I'll only be with other people for 3 days over the Christmas/New Year period, so I'll therefore have complete control of what I eat/drink most of the time. I will be getting in some lovely but low carb treats (smoked salmon, charcuterie, decent cheese) but will also allow myself the occasional pudding, and a drink or two. I'll be back with you in January, aiming to get more weight off before spring - I don't want it to be the same weight I'd already lost in the autumn!

1lb off for me again this week but again it was lower a few days ago and it was tantalising to see 170-something, but 171 will do for this week. sooo close to my pre christmas goal of under 170, its looking realistic for the next two weeks even if it means not getting to 12st (168) before christmas.

Im planning a gluten free christmas as it doesn't agree with me anyway and i usually find it means i can avoid lots of the worst high carb stuff, pies, cake and means im more limited on what i can just go and buy to stuff in my face.

Im on the fence about a low carb christmas as i admit its the thought of getting this far and then rewarding with nice food which has kept me on the straight and narrow for all these weeks (which i know is stupid to reward weightloss with food but its worked for me).

I think my general plan is to take one full week off but not go crazy, im hoping that planning this way will avoid a massive bingy fall off the wagon. It helps that we are having a small, 4 person christmas so i'm doing all the buying and cooking. When i think about the food i would eat if i could, the brown sweet stuff features a lot so there will be some of that. also booze.

I've been either pregnant or breastfeeding most of the last 4 years and i've just stopped bf dd so yes there will be wine. Im such a lightweight these days though that it will need to only be a couple of glasses or oh will be peeling me off the floor!

My inlaws laugh at me when i say i'm doing my yearly pre-christmas diet then i explain and say i would rather lose it before christmas then afterwards and then they look thoughtful before nodding and saying that actually that's very clever.

Dear lord alive - I've STS again!!!!
Considering the amount of wine I drank on Friday night that's a bloody good show.
I'm not sure I will see the 10s before Christmas now - but hey I'm 9lb lighter now than I was 9 weeks ago and that matters.

Lowest weigh in for decades this week! I weight less today at 45 than I did at 25. Don't think I've weighed this little since uni.

I jumped off the wagon for my birthday and because I was close to target weight. That was a disaster and I bounced up by 3lbs.

But a week back on lchf has dropped all that and more and I'm definitely ready to stop for Christmas on Friday.

I'll probably be back in the New Year to undo the damage and I'll try to eat much more mindfully over the break but feel good knowing I can afford to relax for a few weeks.

Thanks for the support, I've mostly lurked but this thread has been hugely useful in keeping me on track and losing 2 stone this year. In Feb if you'd told me I'd lose 2 stone this year after so many failed attempts, I'd have been sceptical.

Mind you, there's a lot about this year that I wouldn't have believed possible in Feb! 🤣

Good luck everyone for the last couple of weeks & staying on track through the Christmas temptation. It's worth keeping going, promise.

I've officially reached my target (but not my goal ) as I'm now under (by 0.5lb) where I got to last Christmas at 11st 6.25lb - down 2lb from last week.

That's 1.5 stone since we started give or take a quarter pound

I'm going to try to get close to my 2018 achievement which was 11st 2lb by Christmas.

I was also wearing my good black trousers last night and felt good in them - and am currently wearing my jeans with my pretty belt in the next hole. I wouldn't say it was comfortable but it's tholable

I've taken some pictures and will montage/caption them when I have a bit more time.

Well done to the losers and congratulations to everyone for KOKO!

I have lost a pound this week which I didn’t expect as I had added a few carbs in. I am quite tall and back into size 12 so happy to stay here for a while. My bmi is 26 however so I am slowly going to work towards 25. The difficulty now is not creeping up. I have lost a stone since the summer but at that point I was at my heaviest. I don’t want to go there again.

12st. on the nose this morning. last week and the next two will be frantic, trying to pack everything and work around boxes. Flat needs cleaned and its all getting a smidge busy!

Movers called this morning, to ask if they can come on Friday morning at 8am instead of 8am on Saturday morning - which wasn't planned, but doable. At least it gives me two whole days at the weekend to deep clean the flat. then just five days working from laptop on bed before I head away.

Beginning to hit me now - 7.5 years in London, and I'm leaving it. Can't wait to head back to Scotland but I do love London.

Food today:
B - Greek yogurt & blueberries
L - Green Soup and a babble
D - Steak and FLGV
W - four litres
Coffee - 2 decaf - using Azeera and cannot tell the difference taste wise!

Great losses out there - and only 2.5 weeks to go - definitely coming back for Jan - need another 1.5 stone off!!

Roughly where are you moving to in Scotland plumstone ? There are quite a few of us up here!

After mentioning behavioural science, I decided to do a little COM-B diagnosis on myself to try and think about how I could increase the chances of succeeding.

(COM-B is a behavioural science framework that thinks about Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour. Capability is about your physical/psychological skills so unlikely to be changed by Christmas - but your motivations will change and your opportunity - the environment - will also change).

Anyway, I wrote down all my ideas and I’m going to use them to make a plan that allows me to enjoy myself while not sliding into a month long binge. It also helped me realise that my biggest worry is socialising - other people. That was the one I struggled to think of ideas for. My family do tend to nibble/graze on left-overs through to January and it feels unfriendly not to do the same. My mum, in particular, I think takes it personally (she has struggled with ED in the past) and can apply a bit of pressure. (She doesn’t mean any harm by it and I do understand - indulging alone isn’t as fun). Does anyone have any ideas for navigating that awkward situation when you’re back to eating LC and everybody else just wants to indulge?

Here are all my ideas - if anyone fancies reading them (apologies for this mega post).

Facilitators
COM-B Component: Motivation
Influence: Intention
Relevance: My behaviour will be shaped by my intentions.
Intervention: set a clear and realistic intention for the festive period in terms of amount of cheat days

COM-B Component: Motivation
Influence: Goals
Relevance: I will be less motivated if I do not maintain goal-setting.
Intervention:

1. Keep my ‘tick’ sheet of successful diet days going, record cheat days, to remind self of previous progress and ultimate goal.
2. Set a realistic weight goal for the Christmas weeks (e.g. lose 1lb between 21st of Dec and 3rd Jan) to make cheating less appealing

COM-B Component: Motivation
Influence: Role/identity
Relevance: I may lose healthy/diet identity and go into “fuck it”/fun mode and actively reject dieting ideas
Intervention:

1. Wear clothes over festive period that show off weight loss and are flattering (I.e. not Boxing Day pyjamas) to remind self that I want to be fit, healthy and confident - not a pyjama-dwelling pig
2. Try and continue some healthy behaviours on cheat days (e.g. go for a run in the morning) to maintain healthy identity
3. Avoid ‘fuck it’ by consuming mindfully (e.g. eating home made desserts but not endless amounts of selection box chocolates) on festive days

COM-B Component: Motivation
Influence: Belief about capabilities
Relevance: I will be more motivated if I believe it is possible not to fall into a Christmas pit
Intervention:

1. Check any in-between BC thread on Boxing Day to remind self other people are managing to enjoy themselves mindfully
2. Pick some of the interventions on this list to reassure self that there is a plan

COM-B Component: Motivation
Influence: Belief about consequences
Relevance: Will be more motivated if I remain cognisant of the consequences of binging
Intervention:

1. Set clear intention to weigh on the 3rd of January so consequences feel ‘close’ if continue to cheat for whole of festive period
2. Consider weighing on 28th - (probably too depressing)

COM-B Component: Motivation
Influence: Emotion
Relevance: Will be hungover and on a sugar low
Intervention:

1. Plan indulgent LC food for the 27th onwards so have good options that aren’t left-over chocolate
2. Plan activities for 27th onwards that don’t revolve around food so not sitting around with selection boxes

COM-B Component: Opportunity

Influence: Environment
Relevance: My behaviour will be shaped by my environment.
Intervention:

1. Throw away/freeze unhealthy food post-Christmas (not possible, family would revolt)
2. Ensure there are lots of tempting LC options for post-27th
3. Put carbs/chocolates in cupboards to reduce temptation as not visible
4. Reduce amount I go into kitchen to avoid temptation? Set goal of 5 times per day?

COM-B Component: Opportunity
Influence: Social context
Relevance: My behaviour will be shaped by the behaviour of those around me.
Intervention:

1. Tell family will be returning to low-carb WOE on X day and focus on nice foods that I can eat to try and frame it as a positive they can share if they want vs. being joyless.

Holy cow Lyrata that is AWESOME! I'm sure almost all of us can draw some guidance from your analysis. I would add/expand one thing: focus on enjoyable and fun low carb Christmas foods. I can have pigs in blankets, naice cheese, leftover roast meat, delicious cured meats, make myself a special meal etc.

Wow @Lyrata that's planned!

On the social situation I would just keep it super light. 'Back on the diet, I'll enjoy x instead'. I have similar with my kids. They want me to try sweets or biscuits etc they are having or have made and don't understand my refusal to have even a bite. But now they're just used to it.

Bless them they still offer me stuff but don't pester.

Although for them I think the benefit of more for them to enjoy is quite high!

@prettybird I'm moving near Glasgow - I will still be traveling for work so need to be near an airport!! Family is all in and around there so it makes logistic sense. Will be staying with my DF till I get myself sorted and he believes in two meals a day, lots of walking (he's 80 and does between 12k and 15k steps a day) and a glass of red every night, and a couple of dram's if Liverpool are playing!

doesn't keep junk food in the house and is a staunch believer in meal planning - a treat for him is some stilton on an oatcake. He also keeps the place at a chilly 18 degrees and lots of windows open, if you are cold you need to wear more clothes. It will be an "interesting" few months!!