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!

20bloodypounds in this context Lyrata uses cheat day to describe a day where she hasn't stuck 100% to low carb. A few people are using a calendar tick system to record which days they eat optimally as a method of keeping themselves on track.

Well done Nailslikeknives three stone in 11 months is fantastic!

20bloodypounds and StuntNun it’s an interesting point and it’s great to hear how long-term LC people think about it.

I agree that “cheat day” possibly isn’t the most adult way to think about food!

I wish I didn’t need to think about “cheating” but I think with cutting sugar, I do. To compare it to alcohol - I often drink too much, but I’m not an alcoholic and as such I don’t enforce rules on myself. I very rarely drink in the mornings but if I do (Christmas Day, Bottomless Brunch...) because of very rare circumstances I don’t think of it as a “cheat day” because I know I’m not going to do the same the next day once the circumstances are back to normal.

I would like to get to the same place with sugar but I’m not sure if that’s possible. Perhaps I will be able to eat intuitively and include occasional carbs (and use the scales as a guide for when I need to do a few weeks of LC) or perhaps I’ll keep some rules and the concept of some sort of “off day” which is limited to 1-2 times a week. I suspect the latter given everything StuntNun has said about re-setting set-points and your body getting grumpy at six months. But maybe I should call them “carb days” or even “gain days” or something to avoid that sense of gleeful naughtiness or “getting away with something” that “cheat” connotes.

Well done @nailslikeknives that's fantastic

Well done nailslikeknives, that’s amazing. I lurked on the May bootcamp too.

I was really looking forward to weighing in this morning. I was full after my lunch yesterday so only had a light dinner, had done a lot of walking and yoga, drank all my water... put on 1.2lbs! WTF. I know it’s transient, but still aggravating. My pattern over the last 6 months has not been to fluctuate in that way so it’s a shock to the system. Makes me wonder what post-Christmas is going to look like, but I have been extremely strict in following the rules since May and need a break. But I also need to not throw away everything I have achieved.

The Seriously Low Carb crowd now do brownies!
seriouslylowcarb.com/collections/seriously-low-carb-food/products/seriously-low-carb-chocolate-brownies
4.6g carbs for one but may help see out all the sweet temptations about!

Nooo EarlGreyHot I'm totally broke otherwise I would love to try a low carb brownie. I'll add them to my letter to Santa!

That's so frustrating Burning but if you've been on track then it will show on the scales sooner or later.

Lyrata when we first started maintenance, DH and I had a "cheat day" once a week. It wasn't go crazy on carbs though, it was have a dessert (probably a low-ish carb one like cheesecake or panna cotta rather than a sugar-fest like pavlova) or have a small portion of rice with curry or have a jacket potato. Over time it became less and less important and we stopped bothering. Now we might have an occasional high carb food for example a piece of cake on a DC's birthday but generally we pretty much follow Bootcamp Light all the time. The big exception is that when eating out we don't bother about the little things such as sauces and gravies, or whether the sausages in a fry up are low carb.

I'm on track to get below 12st before Christmas after refocusing on the rules this week. I don't think I've weighed less than 12st since having my middle in 2012. I'm 2lb off 50lb. I fluctuate between feeling incredibly proud of myself and feeling disheartened that I still have a stone to go

@stuntnun you strike me as so well educated and grown up about all this that I can't imagine you ever being overweight

I learned the hard way Oneborn! I was a low carb coach running an online low carb weight loss program for several years so that's why I know so much of the science.

Yaaaaay - my case has pled guilty to one of the 3 charges (and the Fiscal accepted that) so I'm free

Took up half an hour of court time - but I'm not going to complain. The 20 minute walks to/from the cinema were good for me

Now going to go across to my dad's for lunch (and pick up our Christmas tree at the same time) so I'll still be making use of my frittata packed lunch as dh and my dad share a Lidl de luxe pizza.

Morning all (just), glad your free prettybird. thanks stuntnun for your explanation.

Ive set today aside to sort through all the christmas stuff, and try to make a start on wrapping. Helps that I have got my teapigs limited edition gluhwein tea, in place of the mulled wine and I'm having my range cooker cleaned by an oven cleaning person for the first time ever, so I won't be able to go in the kitchen. Im looking forward to seeing the results, will let you know if it is worth the expense.

Today
B Greek yogurt
L cauliflower soup
D Pot roasted pork joint with swede mash and brussel sprouts

Spooks it's brilliant it will look like a brand new oven.

I did jury service for a money laundering case. It was a looong process with 12 accused and loads of technical detail (and lots of breaks while there was legal wrangling over technical stuff). There were 10 poor souls who had got caught up in it all and 2 real shits masterminding everything.

My dd was on jury service for a murder trial when she was only 19 - that was harrowing, and I think it lasted about 5 weeks. However she found parts of it fascinating, and after she'd completed her science degree she went on to work in forensics.

My dh was on jury service for a teenage abuse case. He had his eyes opened to the ways of teenage boys and girls. I think it was good for him, but a definite loss of innocence.

After several years of this woe I've pretty much lost my sweet tooth, half a spoonful of dessert is enough, it just seems too sickly. So I'm fortunate that over Christmas I don't feel I'm missing out if I don't have sweets or mince pies or cake. I'm more troubled by the salty fatty carbs - goose fat roast potato, sausage rolls, actually pretty much any savoury thing in pastry...

I manage it by having enough low carb delicious stuff and eating that first. So pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, scallop on a disc of black pudding (bit too carby, but better than a samosa), prawn cocktail, smoked salmon in lettuce cups. Plus I always plan to have two roast potatoes, and a small bit of parsnip mash. And thoroughly and delightedly enjoy them.

My biggest challenge is the Christmas alcohol. Not just that in itself, but the day-after consequences. My hung-over state is where I make the worst food choices. Fat and sugar and carbs and protein. Which in turn leaves me feeling sluggish and more carb driven. We're not staying with anyone over Christmas, so I'll drive and have a clean Christmas drink-wise. That should help.

I did jury service when we lived in London and it was fascinating - a case of wrongful imprisonment where a woman had basically been prevented from leaving her own home because someone had a beef with her partner, and it turned out to be the last in a series of three linked cases so the jury was asked if they wanted to come back into court that afternoon to hear the sentencing for all three. The person in our case got 11 years and we all had to leave via the judges' entrance straight into the underground car park so we didn't run into his family outside.

Now just 0.4lbs away from the healthy BMI band as of this morning, it's so tantalisingly close!!

20bloodypounds I hear ya on the hangover and the carb/sugar cravings! So so tough... I wonder is it due to blood sugar?

Hello everyone

Period arrived this morning and have had the most horrendous sweet cravings

L was Carbonara with Konjac pasta with 30g roasted peanuts

S was natural yoghurt with desiccated coconut

D was a beef burger on slc barm with lettuce, cucumber, shallots and garlic mayo with 2 squares of dark chocolate

I've drank all the water as a positive

Can I ask if anyone has any recommendations for low carb tonics to go with my Christmas gins? Slimline/diet is fine but I fancied a more fancy one and all the fever tree and fentimans flavoured ones I looked at were quite carby.

Thanks!

Checking in with today's food. B and L was smoked pork sausage, which is too processed but is low carb. Had half for each meal. Didn't have a lot of time today. Snack was a chunk of cheese. Dinner was belly of pork slices with the shoogled sprouts and cauliflower, served with hollandaise sauce.
Not ideal today but at least it was low carb.

Superspecs I sometimes mix gin with diet lemonade. I think it's nicer than a lot of diet tonics, although the Schweppes elderflower one is quite nice imo.

Sneaky peak says I'm down another lb or so.

Q : If I slightly chew food before remembering I'm supposed to be fasting and spat it out, does it still count 🤣 slightly lighthearted. Slightly not

@superspecs I have soda with my gin, but add angostura bitters and orange bitters. Each of them are quite high carb but you only need a few drops so overall they are almost nothing. Feels very sophisticated.

@Takingontheundead ah the old spit or swallow question 🤭

Oo I like the idea of getting sophisticated with my bitters! And diet lemonade would also work a treat, thank you both! I will do some experimenting :-)

[quote 20bloodypounds]@Takingontheundead ah the old spit or swallow question 🤭[/quote]
😳😳 howling 🤣🤣

Just seen your weight update, that's amazing!!! Im 12.9 now so fallen behind in comparison but I've really struggled this bootcamp round so my loss has been tiny. I'm not sure why specifically really, mainly mental health I think. But I still can't really believe I've got this far! I'd really wanted to be 11st by end of Jan for my bday, which didn't seem too unreasonable back in sept but I accept that ship has sailed! I'd love to see 12.7 for christmas but what will be will be. I'm no longer weighing weekly, I'm just ticking each day i stick with off on my diary and roughly every 10 days or so I feel brave enough to have a little peak again! This is helping me immensely not to become consumed by it all. Which is a real change from the daily weighing I needed to stay on track in the beginning!

Planning not to weigh again until xmas eve or so now. We'll see! I'm planning xmas day off and given how badly just one day effects the scales It would be bitter sweet to see 12.7 knowing it would be so brief 🤣 but we'll see! Maybe 12 for my birthday? Not sure 9lbs in the next 6 weeks is doable with xmas on the way either! It'll be what it'll be.

Found the conversations RE homeostasis and handling xmas recently helpful. X

Morning
‘Spit or swallow’ 😂😂

On a more mundane level, the lovely oven cleaning man was brilliant, stuntnun it does look fab, a tip he gave me was that he polishes the stainless steel with WD40. I put the fire on, made a teapig gingerbread tea and had a Zoom call with the bereavement charity that I volunteer with. He did his stuff for 2 hours and all was well. Why did I not know this before?

I’m off to meet some girlfriends for coffee, outside, I am rehearsing saying “No Thankyou” to mince pies. Luckily it is not as cold today and it has stopped raining here. I’m not sure how long the coffee will last.

So this has got me thinking more about food at Christmas, as we know this is not a forgiving way of eating. About a year ago I was talking to a friend who had just lost 2 stone, he had had to loose weight as he was having a hip replacement, he said, I allow myself to eat anything but I always tell myself to wait a bit to see if I really want it, so I tell myself I will have it later. Most of the time he found that he actually did not want it later. So I’m going to try that this morning, I’m going to say No to the mince pies today as (As I doubt they will be anything special) and I am going to save myself for a truly delicious mince pie later (in the future).

So today
B Greek Yogurt
L cauliflower soup
D Cook aubergine, spinach & paneer Curry with cauliflower rice that I am going pep with some extra veg etc

“No Mince pies , I’ve only just had breakfast 😀“