Week 4 - Leaving Lockdown Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all!

here's the spreadsheet . If you haven't already seen it, check out the new info for veg/nuts/fruit that @AthelstaneTheUnready has added to it. Updated (and hopefully now the most accurate) data for all three categories, and all grouped into traffic light categories - green to eat freely (when allowed, in the case of nuts and fruit), amber to be more cautious about and red to avoid as much as possible.

If there's a particular ingredient that isn't on there, just let me know and I'll find the data for that and add it.

And now to week 4

A reminder that this week is also one where you're unlikely to see much loss - and possibly may see a gain. Just remember that THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL! Don't panic, but just KOKO and things should get moving again from next week.

Off to catch up with the end of last week's thread now. Hope everyone has an enjoyable bank holiday Monday

wotcha @Ninkanink!

@Andi2020, I'm in your corner. My cooking is either:

a) put everything in one pot, put in oven for 2 hours
b) put everything raw on plate, eat
c) microwave it for 4 mins (if i'm getting fancy)

I look at pictures of other people's, and go "ooooh, I could... No."

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery

Erm, that’s meant to indicate you are all amazing and fun on here and you must be equally fabulous in RL - not how it sounded 🤦🏻‍♀️ there’s a reason I’m not supposed to talk to people

That made me laugh. You are definitely my tribe Midnight

Thanks all for empathizing about the French inglorious bastards.

Wot you waving at @Ninkanink? (hope you're well and will be back on the next BC).

Well done on the result @prettybird. Your own food looks better than that (albeit I'm sure it was delicious).

@Andi2020 COLLEGE FUND?! Is she living in Saved By The Bell?

B: buttered stewed rhubarb
L: aubergine and chorizo stew
D: aubergine and chorizo stew

MIM: a 45 minute swim!! Pools have only just opened here. It was a women only session with restricted numbers and I have never seen so many beaming faces.

Really really need to get my arse into gear with the water.
It’s all gone to the wall the last 5 days. Hoping being back at work from tomorrow will help.
On the plus side, my size below jeans were back in today and only felt a bit snug after lunch. Not hungry between meals but as I said, really need to get the water sorted.

The renpho scales of truth are here and as expected I have a BMI of 24 and a body fat percentage of 33% which is obese. Not really sure what to do about that, I’m guessing I need to do a bit of weight training. Losing the 8 pounds I want to will also help as hopefully that will be all fat.

@prettybird well done on getting into the 10s. But more importantly you're a great example of sticking to it. Your weight went up over your birthday celebrations, and some people would have responded to that by turning away and eating more and more off plan. Not you! You accepted the consequence and got right back to what you know works for you. And look where you've got to now

Plus you post photos and descriptions of your food which illustrate that this woe is not one of deprivation. stops before I sound like the cheer leader for the pretty bird fan club

My MIM was Level 1 of the Shred (finished Level 4 of Ripped last week) this morning and then this evening walked 1.5 miles to the rugby club, followed by 1 and a quarter hours of rugby training

Not bad for 60

Had such a lovely lunch which took the whole 2 hours "allowed" that I've not done everything on my "To Do" list today after 3 days of ticking everything off - but I feel ok about of that (most of the things I "didn't" do were gardening things).

I've ticked off the "Clear a fridge shelf of stuff that's been there for months " and still have to do the "Tidy a bathroom shelf" (which I've already half started ) as my contributions to "Muck it out May".

We're also seeing the guy who will probably fit a new bathroom for us tomorrow so hence why I'm trying to sort out what we have in the bathroom. I've going through bathroom catalogues noting what I like. Any advice about things I should/shouldn't consider? (As you lot are such a multi-talented group ). I suspect it's going to cost a lot more than dh wants to pay we think

Aaaawww shucks @venusandmars

After defrosting a slice of cheeseburger for lunch with the remains of celeriac dauphinois and a handful of spinach leaves I really wasn't hungry for supper. I made the Caesar salad I planned to eat and just didn't want any of it.

Ended up eating three squares 90% Lindt and the rest of the water this evening. Actually broke off four squares but only ate three of then. It was plenty.

And a line has been drawn, see, here

@nowlook I am incensed on your behalf the fuckers!!!!! You put in such a lot of effort planning for that trip 

@ilovecherries you described exactly what I can see starting to happen to my attitude.

I'm even starting to reduce greed eating and bored eating very slowly. So hopefully the emotions are starting to separate from the act of nourishing and fuelling my body.

Sorry I've been absent but work is very full on.

I'm sticking to plan on BC light now so resisting the urge to look at the scales but I'm also approaching my heaviest moment in my cycle around Monday so might not be a great weigh in.

I had a bizarre revelation when I was internally moaning about 'who is eating the toilet roll this is ridiculous how can we need more already' and I realised it's me managing at least 3L of water / herbal teas and I'm peeing aaaaaallll day so I've started to ration myself.

Anyway food today

L: herby salad with parsley and mint, feta, pickled beetroot and tomatoes. Hm dressing but not enough fat as was hungry just before dinner so
S: 3 small slices of delicious posh cheddar
D: aubergine parmigiana with garlic mushrooms and roasted veg

Tried a cheesy / creamy topping on the veg which was totally unnecessary but very nice and now means it can act as a 'main' as I have leftovers

Woops forgot my almond pancake with Greek yog and 4 raspberries after dinner

Woke up this morning and decided to have a little look.... a whoosh!
Set my day up nicely, can’t wait to KOKO and see what that number could be on Monday!

Congratulations on the whoosh linda!

I’d suggest storage if you’ve room for it prettybird. We’ve got under sink drawers and a tall slim cupboard, so useful for everyone’s products - we have a shelf each. Plus loo rolls, cleaning products and towels all very handy but away.

I think that's exactly the problem @FusionChefGeoff. An embarrassment of effort, so I feel more foolish than anything. Example: the journey from the airport would take us through beautiful Port Talbot, so I'm completely up to speed with what's happening at the steelworks (which completely dominates the skyline, in case you haven't been there) just in case they asked. And the French for steelworks is acierie.

I deleted the renpho app @Chunkymonkey123. Just tell me what I weigh in a unit of measurement I can understand. Stop trying to build your part up.

Have to confess, I've never heard of MIM. Is it a recent thing? I'll start cleaning a drawer a day or whatever when all the menz do and not a day before

How big is the bathroom @prettybird? Our family one is quite small, so we have to have a shower/bath. Tell me that you have the space for his/hers sinks and vanities and can have a massive copper bath right in the middle so I can live vicariously through you! When we did ours a couple of years ago, the thing that really made the difference was underfloor heating and the same neutral tiles floor to ceiling. I wanted marble, but is was too heavy/cold/expensive, so have a ceramic (or porcelain?) tile that looks like marble.

Anyway, just in case you also have a smallish room, we had a carronite bath/shower. I'd really recommend it. Holds the water temperature very well, sturdy and the (optional) shower enclosure stops water going everywhere. I had vileroy and boch for the loo and sink with a fancy vertical ladder radiator in the same colour as the tiles. Also spent a king's ransom on a mirror/cabinet with non-steam function and lights.

I'll attach a couple of pics. It's probably a bit dull for you, but we're at the messy teen stage so everything needs to be wipe down.

Here you go @prettybird

@prettybird well done for getting into the 10s.
@nowlook I hope you are feeling slightly less annoyed this morning. Very rude of them. I suggested a may challenge (move it may) some people are doing muck it out may, a dwcluttering challenge.

Slept terribly last night so hopefully will manage today OK. Not doing very well on the not sna king after having so much success with it last week.

Plan for today
L omelette with lots of dressed salad
D courgetti, bolagnase, cheese. Greek yog and flax seeds.
Mim: swim

@Andi2020 Have you seen Derry girls? There’s a bit in that where one of the teenagers asks their parents whether they have a ‘trust fund’.

We’re on bathroom planning stage before the small becomes a stinky teen and I don’t want him in my en-suite any more. Family bathroom is both small and a stupid shape so that may be a challenge. Doesn’t currently have a shower.

I’m really struggling with motivation to cook at the moment. I don’t care enough about food and I have to cook for the carby twats that I live with as well. Ive been doing them a jacket potato and then running out of steam and just having an egg as I had to talk myself down from cereal.

As a result my huge shop is coming tonight but I haven’t cleared the fridge properly since the last lot. Never goes well when that starts to happen.

B: yogurt
L: fridge clearance salad
D: yesterday’s prawns and all the rest of the bloody veg in garlic butter.

Woke up to lovely Christmassy scene - heavy snow falling, and lying thickly on the ground and pines, robins bobbing... looked positively alpine-wintery. Except it's Summer in 3 weeks.

B: creamy coffees
L: finish salady stuff - have some smoked salmon to have with this
D: not sure - running low - may need to be a last minute cottage pie, with buttered leek topping. I have nothing left I can just roast for 1 hour.

Love the idea of fridge clearance salad. Except that mine would be contaminated by DH's out-of-date sauerkraut and pesto -- a Polish-Italian twist on the clearance salad.

ATROTBV (all the rest of the bloody veg) is a go-to recipe for me.

I did a daft but useful thing yesterday. I dug out a Frnch knitting doll I had bought for th boys when they were small (they never used it!) and began knitting just to give my snacky hands something to do that didn't involve pushing things into my mouth. Worked well. Now I have to work out what to do with the yards of knitted cylinder I am accumulating.

Wow Athelstane this weather really is mad. I am well prepared for this point in May to be erratic though: it's my wedding anniversary on Sunday and also the usual date for the local half marathon and I well know it can be anything from a scorcher to utterly Baltic.

Scrambled eggs and asparagus: seasonal breakfast of champions.

I'm in the process of sorting our bathroom: just a facelift though. New flooring due in a few weeks, need to paint and thoroughly clean/get rid of mouldy bits beforehand. Will be a new lease of life for a few years. My en-suite really does need fully doing but it's behind the garden in the queue, so maybe next year!

@Random789 I looked at ATROTBV and had a sudden inspiration. So tonight it’s prawn paella with cauli rice and other veg, as there was a chorizo looking at me too. Now that I’m looking forward to dinner it might be easier!

Although I have to fit in a c25k run as well. But if I chop everything before I go it won’t take long to cook it.

@Random789 as a child I used my 'knitting Nancy' cylinder to make a lead for my Guinea pig. Not a good idea. The combination of a Guinea pig who wanted to run away and a lead tied with a slip knot... think gp with a red face and bulgeing eyes Fortunately gp was released before any harm was done.

Very poor night's sleep because I stupidly had a very strong coffee yesterday afternoon. I know I can't have it after about 10.30am without it keeping me awake, but it smelt so good...

B - vegetable soup
L - smoked salmon salad
D - left over sausages with scrambled eggs

Move it May might consist of driving our campervan from one place to another plus another long walk on deserted beaches in the icy wind (and sunshine). I find it interesting how simply dh and I can live, minimal clothes and simple food, reading books, enjoying fresh air... Yet at home we're surrounded by crap, piles of things we don't need or wear, too much of everything.

That sounds like a delicious ATROTBV meal, makegoodchoices. Hope you have a lovely run. Weather is brighter here today -- looks good for running.

at French knitted guinea pig lead. Would love to have seen the beast in his/her glorious harness.

MIM is this month's "challenge" - Move it May

Muck it out May is the other one - a decluttering challenge. To be fair, dh who doesn't even know about it is doing more than me as he's allocated an hour a day to clearing things out. My "task" tends to take less than half an hour.

I'll take a picture of the bathroom when one of my cats "releases" me. It's long and thin, not enormous but I think, with judicious use of space, I have space to change the over shower bath to a bath (across the end of the room, under the window) and a separate shower. Ultimately, we'll also do the bathroom upstairs (where ds' bedroom and the spare bedroom are) to a shower room, so I really only need to consider dh and my needs as we're the only ones using it.