Week 2 - Leaving Lockdown Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Sunday night here is games night, so better that I start the thread now, before I forget as I've gone to bed so late!

I truly hope that this link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness works!

Apologies if it doesn't, but hopefully someone will come and post a working one if it doesn't!

I love week 2, as for those who haven't low carbed before the results are often spectacularly incredible!

But even for those of us who are more used to low carbing, hopefully this first week has seen you make a good start.

It's looking like some warmer weather is heading our way, which always makes things seem more positive - but also focuses our minds on things like skimpier clothing, so hopefully will help to keep us toeing the line!

I hope the scales have rewarded your hard work, and here's to a good week ahead

The eyelash tinting sounds lovely. I can imagine how effective it would be at lifting appearence and mood.
I have alopecia and lost my eyelashes and brows a few years ago, so I have tattoed eyeliner and brows. It was a huge relief to get it done because I am not really a make-up person and applying it every day (badly) got me down.
The process of having the brows done was quite relaxing.But my god tattooing the eye liner was horrendous , absolutely terrifying to have a needle scraping right by the eyeball. It will need to be renewed at some point in the future and I'm not looking forward to it!

Fabulous tulip pictures, how lovely. No matter how I try to grow them the rabbits get any I plant but they’re beautiful flowers.

Food today

B. Greek yoghurt
L chicken salad
D chicken Alfredo

Need to up my water intake today so will keep focussing on that.

Popping in briefly to chuck a cute calf pic into the mix …

Also I think it was StuntNun asking about the fajita mix. I don’t know if this lady (recipetineats.com) has one for that (imagine she does) but I’ve found her website really great for all sorts of interesting tasty recipes from a variety of cuisines. Makes me drool just looking through her home page! Love her chilli, slow cooked ribs, stroganoff, crustless quiche ...

I lost a couple of pounds this week - so I’m pretty much back to where I was last bootcamp. Didn’t lose much then as was mostly pingponging between 86&85kg but am 84.4 now so hopefully will continue downwards.

For the measurers amongst you, don’t know if everyone does this but I measure around my belly button as well as around my waist (thinnest part). My waist has stayed the same over the last month, BUT I’ve lost another 1.5 inches from around belly without any overall weightloss - I weighed the same a month ago as I do now. I’d recommend adding the belly button (paunch) measurement into the mix as it’s very satisfying watching it reduce. Hoping my waist will follow suit at some point …

Still feeling pretty grotty this morning. Hugging the bottle filled with warm water, wrapped in a towel, which is what we use for a hot water bottle. (Somewhere I have a long soft microwavable thing but I can't find it at the moment )

@Oneborneverydecade - no, that's not our house behind the rose arch, that's the house next door. Ours is very similar though - but we only have the top half of it (1st and attic floor). Dh calls it a "horizontal semi"

We share the garden with our downstairs neighbours, split left and right, with dh looking after the grass in the middle as he loves caring for and trying to achieve a nice lawn difficult with generations of boys playing on it

When the tulips on the raised bed come out, I'll take a picture of "our" half.

Hello, may I join? I have finally stood on the scales and it's a whopping 2 stone on since I stopped lchf a year ago because of zero eggs, stress, panic, shopping queues crazy workload and full time kids.

So if some kind soul could put me on the SOF at 202.5 pounds, I shall go scramble some eggs and try to catch up on the thread before work.

Good shrinkage one and all, and thank you kindly Spreadsheet Custodian.

Morning all.

Feeling grumpy. Weighed in again as the same weight as last Thursday. Am I eating too much? Breakfast and lunch are v small, dinner last night was prob larger than it needed to be...

Hmm

prettybird hope you feel better soon.

Sharing some daffs from a nearby garden for everyone on this thread x

So after a weird hungry day yesterday I’m hoping for a less craving-filled one today.

B: Greek yog
L: homemade chicken and veg soup
D: the famous chicken alfredo

@Random789 I cannot imagine the eyeliner thing - mind you I was rejected for contact lenses by the optician because of my panicky super strong blinking and wincing. Apparently they don’t like it when you react like they’re trying to remove your eyeball when they’re doing a lens trial.

Welcome @MrsBertBibby!

Loving all the flower pictures. We're not very successful gardeners here, even though we only have a typical, London, handkerchief-sized garden. We did have it 'sorted' by a landscape gardener about 10 years ago and have managed - mostly - to keep that going. Some mature shrubs now, and a lovely cherry tree and apple tree, but very few flowers. Every autumn I keep thinking I must plant some bulbs, and every autumn I forget!

Made a really tasty sort-of frittata last night. Sautéed sliced onion, a sliced red pepper, a diced courgette and about 12 balls of frozen whole leaf spinach (defrosted) in butter and olive oil, with some garlic, a little nutmeg and dried oregano. Once soft, added six beaten eggs with about 4oz grated cheddar. A couple of minutes on the hob to set, and then 15 minutes in the oven for it to puff up and brown gently.

Re eyebrow tinting - I've wondered about microblading, as mine are so thin (thank you 80s fashion!), but every time I see pictures of them, they always show women with hugely artificial-looking, bushy brows, which isn't what I want.

Hello everyone, loving all the photos of 🌺.

Food plan for today is

B eggs mashed with butter
L chicken salad, or courgette soup
D chicken tarragon in creamy sauce with veg.

I made courgetti last night to have with my meatballs and I was really happy that it turned out ok. I know it’s not hard to make but I’ve never done it before, will definitely make it again.

Tulips! Here's my first of the spring. Plus a bonus ranunculus. Morrisons £2 for 4!

Umm, bonus ranunculus twice for no reason at all!

Oh, dear, makegoodchoices, that sounds horrible! I was a bit afraid that i would get rejected too. The woman doing it kept saying encouraging theings like 'No, no, it won't go in your actual eye so long as you don't jump, blink, or in any way let the needle see that you are nervous.'

Inspired by @cheeseisthebest I had scrambled eggs , and spinach for breakfast , a really nice combo
I used 2 frozen blocks of spinach ( note to self , use 4 next time )

Gardening duties today ( ruddy creeping buttercup getting everywhere)

Morning everyone. Sunshine and photos of tulips are definitely helping me through a sleep deprived morning!

I have literally no stomach for breakfast this morning, made scrambled eggs but eurgh just don’t want them. Anyone else feel like this? Not wanting any kind of food is brand new for me . Had a coffee and think that’s all I can manage.

@Oneborneverydecade I would definitely recommend Penshurst (they filmed some of wolf hall there). It’s less well known than Hever and smaller but similar. As is Ightham Mote. But that’s not got formal gardens.

@Bestbees that’s amazing about your grandmother. Doe that mean you too are related to the family? If you visit at Christmas they do half the house in Tudor decorations/traditions and then the wing that the family lived in more recently in 50s style, it has their original toys and motorised train going round a track. Maybe your Grandmother saw it like that when she was there?

@prettybird sorry to hear you are feeling unwell. Hope you can rest and feel better soon.

@Random789 that is so brave of you with the eye tattoo. I thought the lvl lashes were bad enough. @Doilooklikeatourist I totally agree, I’ve missed having my lashes done but actually realised I can do my eyebrows (a few white ones are appearing now) myself. My eyelashes are already black but still look better a with a tint on.

@CowGurl I love the calf. I think cows have such pretty soft faces.

@Rshard I also dream of the tulip fields in the Netherlands. We were thinking of going on the Eurostar this spring but that will have to wait till next year, along with the Northern lights that we were meant to do for my birthday. So many places to dream about...

Yesterday was
B - spinach omelette
L - leftover beef shin casserole
S - cheese
D - roasted pork belly and peppers, courgettes, mushrooms and purple sprouting broccoli.

Does anyone have any suggestions for smoked mackerel that isn’t cold or pate? I suppose I could just warm it with veg or salad, but it doesn’t seem substantial enough for a dinner.

@Random789 the eyeliner tattoo sounds so scary , hopefully it doesn’t need doing too often

Thanks for the recommendation CowGurl that recipe website is drool-worthy.

@Makegoodchoices when I first got contact lenses (about 30 years ago) I put them in OK, but it took me about 3 hours to get them out again. Now it seems like second nature to stick my finger in my eye

dh - who isn't normally fussed about what he eats - has made his second food request of the week: Mushroom RISOTTO So there will be 2 pans on the go, one with rice and one with cauliflower. Don't know how that will go, mine will probably be more like a cauliflower and mushroom stir fry.

B - creamy coffee; sausage patties with salad
L - poached egg on spinach with avoado
D - mushroom 'risotto'

Glad I inspired you I had the same again today, love those frozen blocks of spinach. It's a really filling breakfast too, kept me going until half 2 yesterday.
Prettybird hope you feel better soon.
Anyone else feel like life is getting really busy again? Back to school, my children doing lots of activities, meeting up with people a bit. Definitely a change!

Can I ask something of the runners here? I saw a podiatrist yesterday as I stopped running years ago due to pain in my shins. He has diagnosed me with swollen tendon near my shins. Something like that? Going to get some exercises and insoles.
Has anyone had experience of this and can I run again? Should I get new running shoes and start couch to 5k once podiatrist has given me the go ahead? My fitness levels are shocking atm!

Loving all the eyebrows stories no beauty or hair open in Roi yet
No sunshine here yet either but hopefully end of week
@BIWI love your food from yesterday
@prettybird hope your better soon

@cheeseisthebest I do a similar go to breakfast. I fry quartered mushrooms in a tiny drop of oil for 2 mins so they go nutty, while defrost 4 chunks frozen chopped spinach, then beat 2 eggs and s&p into the spinach, add a large knob of butter to the mushroom pan till it’s melted and bubbly, add the egg mix, scramble together then serve with a good grating of pecorino. I’m eating it as I type

Mrs koala that sounds good!
I'm not a massive salad person but love cooked spinach.

@MrsKoala I’m inspired by that breakfast. Making it now!

@prettybird sorry you are feeling poorly

Plus here’s my tulips in today’s sunshine.

@cheeseisthebest
I'd recommend seeing a physio regarding your shins. You don't want to injure yourself by going too hard, I'd say, but with the correct footwear and exercises running should be possible.
I did C25K 18 months and have run regularly since then. The only hiatus I had was when I injured my hip and had to rest and strengthen the muscles around it (arthritis from being very overweight for much of my adult life, boo!). That was last summer and I saw a physio through work (I'm a nurse). I've run regularly since then without pain or injury, and it adds so much to my life.

Thanks debka. The podiatrist is going to give me some exercises and looked at my legs and way of walking, do you think I would need physio too?