Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - time to get rid of all the Valentine's treats!

[BIWI]

I rather suspect that a lot of us have been so far off the wagon this weekend that it's disappeared over the far horizon!

having to post on the spreadsheet may sober us all up, in more ways than one!

I hope any cheats were enjoyable. There's nothing worse than deciding to cheat and then not liking it.

But from now, it's time to buckle down and get back into the swing of things. If you did cheat, please don't complain that the scales aren't being kind to you. It's an inevitable consequence.

So let's focus on a really strict week, recognising that this is the end of our first half of Bootcamp.

Good luck to us all

You're on, @Dreamqueen!

Thank you

@Dreamqueen you could use this bootcamp to practise leaving something on your plate if you start to feel full. That’s what’s so nice about this way of eating - it isn’t a diet, so there isn’t that desperate need to eat every morsel of something nice just because you don’t know when you’ll next be able to have something other than depressing diet foods.

Weighing revealed that I had indeed wiped the week’s loss out in a single night! But back on the horse today.

@Lyrata feel free to run screaming but I love pork chops with tuna mayonnaise and capers. I got it from a sandwich recipe book and it’s a fab combination. A version of vitello tonnato basically. My whole family enjoyed it, much to our surprise, and it’s now in our repertoire.

Also maybe try a Germanic approach with mustard and caraway?

[quote CisMyArse]**@BIWI* and @Ninkanink*
Thank you both, very much! Feeling a little teary.

I started the week before the 11th so assumed I'd be past that stage.

I'm a recovering bulimic (suffered for 30 years) and avoiding carbs has been a saviour.

I tend to avoid measuring because I don't want give myself any reason to start obsessing about it. I'd love to know my BMI but I avoid too much scrutiny just in case. Don't want to go back to those dark days.

I'll keep plodding on. Will increase water - maybe 3litres isn't enough![/quote]
Yes, please don't start anything that will encourage obsession!

Just be proud of yourself for what you've achieved this Bootcamp. I'd also suggest that you need to alter your mindset a little bit. Surely with all the lovely food you can eat it isn't plodding along?!

3 litres of water should be plenty, so I wouldn't worry about more than that.

Just make sure that all your meals/drinks are genuinely adhering to Bootcamp rules, and you will be fine.

But above all, I want you (and the rest of us) to enjoy this WOE.

Morning one and all!

2lb off this week taking me to 12.6 since Jan 1st.

Happy with this but would like to hit the stone soon, but.. slow and steady and all that jazz.

Some great loses and for those who are feeling it this morning KOKO - we are all in this together!!

@Dreamqueen

Thank you for your comment Ninkanink My meals look huge & I'm one of those who eats everything on the plate. Another recovered bulimic here ( 30 years now) but I still have the binging tendency in my head.

Would someone be knd enough to add me to the spreadsheet please? Started 2 weeks ago at 161, weighed in today at 153. Thank you

It can be very hard not to eat everything on our plates - years of being told we should be grateful to get the food, think of the starving Biafrans (giving my age away there!), etc.

Two things that can help:

• don't serve directly on to a plate but put serving dishes on to the table, and start with small amounts. If, when you've finished that, you're genuinely hungry, then you can have more.

• look at the size of your plate: the diameter of the average dinner plate has increased by about 2 inches over the years, and this does encourage us to eat more. Perhaps you could try a smaller plate?

Also, don't forget the old Slimming World technique of drinking a glass of water 15 minutes before you eat!

@Lyrata I did roasted pork chops last week (I think, or the week before?) and they were fantastic. If you have beetroot that needs using it would be a great option. I used this recipe from Diana Henry and just swerved the apples (DH was happy to oblige on that front).

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch

I feel fine! Only thing I've had is a little bit of soreness/stiffness in my arm. Otherwise, not a problem - thankfully. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Thank you @BIWI

Just realised the photo probably won’t show the recipe very well...sorry!

That recipe is what I had in the back of my mind but couldn’t remember the provenance! Those pork chops are indeed lovely. Diana Henry also has an easy as anything pork chops in creamy mustard sauce too, but probably a different book (and tbh you can work out something along those lines easily).

Morning all - well done to those who stayed on the straight and narrow and have losses to show for it.

Some incredible looking food being consumed at the weekend. I am in awe of the effort some of you went to .
I am 1lb up this morning which was to be expected after a Chinese New Year Chinese with kids on Friday and Valentines meal last night. I did try to stay on plan with the menus for both but I found the Chinese food so sweet I am not surprised to see a gain at all. I also had gin and Prosecco !

I had a roller coaster week last week as I have 'parted company ' with my new employer after only a couple of months. Disappointed that I am back to job hunting at this time but it wasn't really what I had hoped which had been very stressful and I was doing stupid long hours - so I am also massively relieved to be able to focus on my DC for as long as they are off school.

I am also hoping to be a bit better at keeping up and contributing to the thread as it's helped me so much.

My NSVs are constant now as I can fit into so many any of my old clothes Willy nilly. On Friday we all wore red for our Chinese New Year meal and I managed to slip into an old LK Bennett dress I bought for my DD christening 9 years ago . I felt so proud of myself ! Even better my DD kept telling my I looked like Claudia Winkleman - I really don't but I was lapping up the compliment anyway !

We are debating doing booze free lent .. is anyone else doing this ? I have seen a couple of you say you are going cheese free - I don't think I could do that !!

Definitely going to get back on strict mode this week - I am about 10 lbs from goal think ( unless I keep going !)

OK - I think it's time for a challenge!

Many of you are probably like me, with collection of all manner of cookery books. I've had some of mine for many years, and have also got a handful I inherited from my parents.

I'm also betting that many of us tend to cook the same things, just cooking from a familiar, easy-to-remember repertoire.

So this week, let's try and find at least one recipe that is either low carb or that we can adapt to fit Bootcamp, so we can shake things up a bit.

Who's with me?

I am @BIWI!

That's quite exciting.

Here's Nink's recipe upthread but in the Torygraph for ease of reference:

Pork chops with beetroot

Morning
I’m 1 lb up, I’m going to koko as I suspect it is just week 4.

Hope your feeling better MilesJuppIsMyBitch, I was quite poorly with mine, but felt myself again after a few days. Glad your okay BIWI

Today
B Greek yogurt
L lettuce and cold roast beef wraps
D chicken casserole

Oh, yes. I like the challenge @BIWI. I am very in a rut with my cooking. Dh is the chef and he's been away a month now. My teen ds is mourning the lack of exciting food! Little two are firmly in the macaroni cheese camp and eating wayyyyy too many lock down biscuits, will try something exotic and family friendly. Half a pound down for me but feeling full of beans (literally and metaphorically) to koko. Have lovely days all.

Great challenge! I have so many cookbooks, I'm definitely in. I had planned to computerise my recipe collection last weekend (lockdown goals) but didn't even get started. Currently relying on old favourites and some Mumsnet screen shots from the recipe threads.

It might take me till the weekend but I will definitely contribute

Forgot to weigh this morning so will do tomorrow. Went for a run for first time in ages this morning (paths have been treacherous with mud post flooding, and then ice) did 4K in a decent time and it’s noticeably easier as I’m not dragging round quite as much excess arse as before.

Reflecting on progress so far is interesting as this time round I’m not just focused on the scales. I definitely have more energy and my concentration (which is crap at best) is better. I’m not having the post carb slumps and incessant snacking, and cutting booze out has been an eye opener in a lot of ways.

Left the sugar out of that recipe, btw! Didn’t need it as beetroot and apple add plenty of sweetness.

@MarmaladeTeepee The meat loaf recipe is on the meat thread, 2nd last item, posted on 5th Feb. I really enjoyed it, and may well do it again this week. It does need quite a lot of seasoning in it. A couple of slices with salad and lots of mayo were delicious.

@CisMyArse just wanted to say well done on keeping going, it's so easy to go off the rails when you feel a bit despondent. But you're not, you are posting here, looking for help, encouragement, support. And in posting you're also helping others. For me, the key thing is that this is a way of eating to be enjoyed. I do sometimes feel cross when I see dh tucking into something I would love (usually something savoury, I can ignore the sweet stuff), but when I focus on being able to enjoy fajitas (without the wrap) with all the avocado, sour cream, cheese, delicious spicy chilli, then I count myself as fortunate. Or tonight when I have Asian inspired duck with crispy fatty, salty delicious skin, and some bright coloured veg - I think, "well, who needs a cheap sausage roll?"

BIWI great challenge! wanders off to look through a mountain of cookery books instead of doing any work

@BIWI we’ve been doing that very thing. But I’ll start posting. We tend to take a cookbook a week and explore it, but recently we’ve been trying to run down our freezer so have been more driven by that - it’s been a little Ready Steady Cook round here.

Didn’t weigh this morning as we had a planned power cut , and I decided that drinking 2 cups of coffee first was more important
Nothing to do with allowing an extra 24 hrs before weighing after a weekend full of treats ( but oh! That chocolate mousse was delicious , and there’s one left for DH for tonight )

@BIWI I’m in for the recipe challenge , I have loads of cookery books , and intend to just look at the pictures , and stick to the same meals week in week out ( wonders what to do with tonight’s turkey steak .... )

[quote Dailyhandtowelwash]@BIWI we’ve been doing that very thing. But I’ll start posting. We tend to take a cookbook a week and explore it, but recently we’ve been trying to run down our freezer so have been more driven by that - it’s been a little Ready Steady Cook round here.[/quote]
That's a great idea!