Week 9 - Low Carb Bootcamp - only 2 weeks to go ...

[BIWI]

Morning all.

[[Here's the Spreadsheet as always
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18CKhdQ3FlGz_8H53AA2Pqm4xmvGLHO6vBrkNWCkSO48/edit#gid=788946144 ]]

I hope everyone had a good week, and that any Mother's Day treats haven't messed things up too much

So we enter our final two weeks. Still time to shift a couple of those pesky pounds - especially if you keep focused and stay strict. And a reminder, channelling my inner Shag, WATER, WATER, WATER!

Low carb ready meal klaxon

I've just eaten the beef madras that was kicking around in the freezer from the low carb food company. This time, I ignored the cooking instructions and took the plastic film off right from the start.

Reader, it was lovely. I don't know if it tasted like a normal madras, because I've never eaten one. It was like a really rich chili, but sans kidney beans and with chunks of beef rather than mince.

So, for those keeping score, I can now recommend two of their offerings:
The chicken and leek crumble
The beef madras

I might order some more of the curries just for you lot.

I stand by my earlier negative reviews about the rest

No online menu I'm afraid BIWI. The lettuce wraps were no good because DH hates beansprouts but they do have crispy fried rack of lamb with lettuce wraps and hoisin sauce. That sounds pretty good, without the sauce obvs. Then DH has selected a beef and leek main course and an aubergine vegetable side in black bean sauce. I'm really looking forward to it now, we haven't had takeaway for ages. We used to have one every month on pay day but got out of the habit in lockdown.

NSV today campers!! I was clearing out all my "fat" clothes and found a lovely pair of size 16 skinny jeans (I have nice legs but a big belly!) thought I would use them as inspiration and take progress photos but NOOOO!! They fit, a size 16 fits me

Takeaway night in the Listen household too. Burger & chips for DH and a mexican chicken salad for me.
Lunch was a tuna & cheese salad.
Must eat more veggies over the weekend, I just haven’t fancied cooking/eating hot food.

Thanks to everyone for fajita adaptations advice. Despite my deep rooted suspicion of lettuce and hot food, I did what I always do on this group and trusted those much wiser than me.

LUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Lettuce fajita chicken, steak, peppers, shallots, sour cm, guacamole and cheese. Absolute heaven. Didn't miss the wrap at all.

AND as I'm slowly moving away from strict boot camp I had my first bowl of strawberries and cream.

BUT

NSV I guess: Day 1 of my first period since starting this. I usually feel absolutely shocking the day before and now - incredibly tired, swollen, heavy.

I feel GREAT!! Bit bloated but nothing like the usual symptoms I am hoping that it's not a fluke

Posting for accountability. I had a bugger of a day yesterday- didn’t have breakfast, had leftover fajita chicken with peppers and shallots in lettuce wraps for lunch and then had a Lindt chocolate, from there I had two slices of toast 🤷‍♀️ and ended with a Chinese takeaway. Just reinforced my own thinking that I really need to eat breakfast to set me on the right track for the day - if I don’t I fall into carbytwatdom.

I know I need to get a grip of not inhaling carbs because I have a slip in routine, but until then I’ll be doing breakfast every morning.

I’m back on track today, cheese and mushroom omelette and a home made curry with lots of veggies but I know I’ll see the results of my twattery on the scales this week.

Ah well, onwards and downwards.

Stunt I could eat Peking duck for every meal, so I'm not much help! I love Chinese cabbage / morning glory so a side of that without sauce ?

Food today hasn't been great - almost no veggies. Will make a big salad tomorrow .

B - SLC roll
L - SLC roll, Cornish cruncher and celery sticks .
D - Peking duck with a tiny bit of plum sauce scraped on a single pancake, the rest just duck .

Almost out of food - fortunately online delivery arriving tomorrow.

Great NSV Zigg - I am jealous!

to @GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal and anyone else who’s grappling with deeply held and complex feelings around food & guilt/weight & self-image/perfectionism and so on. I’m glad that what I said has been helpful. Wishing each of you peace. It’s an ongoing process for me, and there is still a part of me that is very much of the perfectionist mindset. I just work hard to keep it under control, because balance, well-being and happiness is really important to me.

@FusionChefGeoff I’m glad you tried it despite your dubiousness! It’s a game changer because it can be applied to lots of foods - anything tex mex, Thai, Korean, crispy duck, etc. You can even do burgers wrapped up in lettuce leaves!

Oh and the ease of my periods whilst lowcarbing is one of the major advantages for me - I never have any pains, cramps or anything!

@ZiggZagg Congratulations on your brilliant NSV!👍👍

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

No it isint. I'll try and post it. Mine never looks like on the photos but tastes yum. Not suitable for first 3 weeks of bc though due to the flaxseeds

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

Rest of the recipe

@ZiggZagg well done on your NSV! Fab feeling.

@Jellycatspyjamas these days happen. Tomorrow's a new day and hopefully a better one!

@Jollyholibobs I've realised my 'fake' race date just happens to be the MK half date and I'm only up the road so I've signed up!!! Fake race training has suddenly turned into real race training - I'm excited now

@Jellycatspyjamas There's no need to skip breakfast on bootcamp. I've been doing 16:8 since the autumn and there are still days when I wake up hungry. So I eat breakfast on those days! This WOE is not about deprivation, as it all too often leads to blowouts.

Mimosa never mind making a big salad - you need proper big strong green veg: spinach, broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, avocado, courgette, celeriac, kale, pak choi, chard... go on, your body would love it!

Well today didn't go as planned.
B - boiled eggs mashed with butter, coffee with cream
then had 2 hour walk before work meeting with colleague / friend. She'd bought deli food (knowing I didn't eat carbs). I'd not expected her to do this but it was great - salad, olives, cheese, salami, more cheese... herbal tea, sparkling water
Then another walk, then ended up in the supermarket on my way home at 8.30pm.
dh is doing a sports thing this weekend so I bought him all the things that are never usually in my supermarket trolley - microwave risotto, lasagne, pizza, mars bars, bottles of apple and mango juice, sticky toffee pudding, luxury custard. He really is a skinny bugger and needs all the energy he can get... I also bought a bag of baby spinach leaves.

I'd been planning a curry for dinner, but was very late home and no way was going to start on it then... So I resorted to my favourite lchf fast food: melt a big load of butter in a frying pan; add half a bag of baby spinach and wilt; add Worcestershire sauce, a few drops of tabasco, then 2 handfuls of grated mature cheddar, and a big glug of cream. Mix till the cheese is melty. OMG delicious, fast, and million times better than the biscuit that was my alternative...

@ZiggZagg that’s a great NSV!

Morning all. Yesterday was a lovely day here, beautiful sunshine (“taps aff” weather in Glasgow-speak 😆) so was busy in the garden. Then daughters had a couple of hours in park after school with a picnic and best friend. I’d been very organised and made fathead pizza earlier in day and put in fridge so dinner was fast - it’s great that DH loves fathead pizza too.
Today is dog-walking, more garden and nice food...what’s not to love about low carb! Hope you all have a peaceful weekend.
Today’s food: L - spinach & feta omelette & salad, D - mushroom stroganoff & broccoli & cauliflower.

Does anyone know, when you buy a bag of “spring greens” in the supermarket, what they actually are? Are they random brassica leaves?

venus spinach, Worcestershire sauce and cheese sounds scrummy!

jellycat I have to have breakfast. I’m not always very hungry, and can easily wait until lunch to eat, but if I skip it I’m starving from lunch for the rest of the day and massively over eat.

fusion I’m glad the fajitas worked! I’ve found it very worth following the ideas here, even if they don’t immediately appeal. Changing our tastebuds and habits is what it’s all about!

Yes that’s my issue too @Justcallmecaptainobvious I’m often not hungry in the morning but if I skip breakfast I end up really hungry once I do start eating and then start thinking “a bit of toast won’t hurt, I’ve eaten nothing all day”. It’s ridiculous because there’s nothing stopping me from snacking on low carb things - I have plenty of appropriate food in the house - but I reach for carbs. It’s totally within my control both to have breakfast and not get to that point in the first place and to eat properly if I do, I just need to do it.

So I’m off to have some yoghurt for breakfast and start the way I want to continue.

#bigsigh.
So I'm back to my starting weight and really don't know why.
Not a huge amount to lose- 10lbs so I wasn't expecting it to be quick and I really have learnt loads over this bc but this morning I'm struggling to resist temptation to be the twattiest of the carby twats.
I have struggled to drink enough water some days as when I'm out for work I can spend long periods without a drink or access to any toilet - can't change that but it's only 2 or 3 days a week. I've had a couple of proper cock ups but literally a couple. I've kept track of carbs via mfp- I know not totally accurate but they've been between 30 and 50 a day. I think I must be a proper greedy cow as I've never experienced the reduction in appetite that is talked about - wake up starving and have 3 big meals every day.
Just a bit (very) pissed off this morning sorry for moaning!! Possibly need a kick up the arse!

@FusionChefGeoff woohoo! A real event. Let’s hope it actually happens. I’ve done a few virtuals over the last few months to keep me going. There was an real half in MK in Nov which went ahead with social distancing so here’s hoping. Good luck with your training.

Post out what you've been eating for a few days Howdidthathappen so we can get an idea of your meals. You're in the zone where it's hardest to lose weight so you may not have done anything wrong at all. Random fluctuations can cause increases too, especially if your period is due or you've been exercising.

Trying to catch up on the thread, been on nights all week. @GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal 💐 glad people were able to offer some helpful insights. Be kind to yourself.
Reading about carb cycling. Interestingly I was thinking I need to read a bit more about this as I've been freezing for weeks now. I have also found that on the occasions were I have had a carb meal (about every 3 weeks) instead of the slow down I was expecting my losses have actually increased. It's a very fine balance as obviously my thyroid is the most important thing to look after I also struggle with insulin resistance due to pcos. Low carving is the only way I'm not constantly hungry. I think carb cycling may be the long term option for me but I need to work out how you stop the next day carb cravings.

Thanks stuntnun
Last few days. B 3 egg omelette with spinch mushrooms and cheddar. L roast cabbage wedges so half a sweetheart cabbage,with bacon (oil smothered on the wedge). D spinach soup from the recipe thread and roast courgette, aubergine and cherry toms smothered in oil and paprika

B. Left over roast veg with 2 fried eggs
L. Spinach soup
D. 2 chicken thighs marinaded in oil and lemon roasted. Fried up courgette asparagus spring greens in butter

B. Omelette- see previous
L. Fried up sprouts and bacon then few (about 8) rasberries and cream
D. Tiktok pasta sauce (so feta, tomatoes, oregano, lemon juice, chilli flakes and oil roasted) on Fried courgette and aubergine

Those were working at home days. 1 coffe with cream and 3 litres water - sometimes with one of those cold infusion bags in.

On out days I'll have omelette for breakfast- been eating breakfast for years and think my body literally trained to expect it! Lunch will be usually cold roast veg with either cheese or chicken. If I'm home for dinner it'll be something including veg if I'm stuck out it'll be service station special!- so babybel / tub olives/ cocktail sausages or whatever I can find suitable. That doesn't happen too often though - couple of times a month.

Any advice very gratefully received! Reckon I'm eating roughly 1600- 1800 cals per day which is not much deficit. I'm generous with oil and butter. At the start of bc was eating way too much cheese - every meal! So am working on cutting that down
D.