Week 5 - Leaving Lockdown Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Welcome to Week 5!

Here's the spreadsheet

Hopefully we can now put the horrible weeks 3 & 4 behind us, and get on with the serious job of shedding the pounds of fat

By now, hopefully, low carbing eating should feel like it's the 'new normal', and you should be getting used to it. However, there's also the opposite danger, that you're seeing carbs creeping back into your menus.

This is a good time to take stock. Have a think about the things you've been eating over the last week and ask yourself if they are really 'in the spirit' of Bootcamp. Are you really keeping your carbs low, and focused mainly on vegetables and salad? Are you really eating enough fat? And, perhaps most importantly, are you drinking all the water?

From now on, you should see the scales move again - albeit that the weekly loss should be in the range of 1-2lbs a week (possibly more if you have a lot to lose).

I really hope that you are finding that you're settling into this WOE, and that you're enjoying the food, not feeling deprived, and are seeing the scales/tape measure reflect your commitment.

At the end of this week we will be half way through Bootcamp!

Of course that's OK @NigellaAwesome. And sorry to hear about your continuing troubles with DD.

We've just discovered - we think - that DS1 has been self-harming too. Not quite sure how to deal with that

@BIWI I am so sorry to hear that, youngminds can be a good support and I know it is counter intuitive and it is obviously an awful coping mechanism but with the right support it can be a short lived thing.
Do you have any outside help ? It is sadly more common than most people know.

@Angliski my pumpkin soup recipe was a total bodge I am afraid. I had a quarter of a tub of Sainsbury’s roasted carrot and parsnip soup (weirdly low carb, apparently, so I hope that isn’t a mistake). I chucked in a handful of pumpkin that I had cubed and roasted the other day, plus the dregs of the Thai red curry from last night. Blended it all together and then chucked in some more leftover turkey.

Not yet @Timetobuckup - it's all a bit new, and we're not quite sure if it's actually happening or not. I need to have a conversation with him first, and I'm debating just how I'm going to go about doing that.

Oh I am so sorry to hear about this self harm amongst your teens. I don’t have any experience to add but I remember listening to Caitlin morans new book and she talks about the challenge and trauma of it. Sending

www.familylives.org.uk/advice/teenagers/health-wellbeing/self-harm/
Some insight here and on the Young Minds website.
to all supporting their children through this. Look after yourselves and know that nothing lasts forever.

Good luck @BIWI it is so difficult for so many just now . A head on conversation is so scary but also can be a great relief to get it out in the open.

Yesterday's food:
B: poached egg, broccoli, cheddar cheese.
L: prosciutto cream cheese artichoke hearts in oil lettuce
D: Beef curry with spinach & lettuce.

Today:
B: slices of Gouda spread with cream cheese.
L: broccoli and blue cheese soup
Din: pork , fine green beans, roast aubergine courgette tomato onion

I have hardly had anything to drink I was pre-lockdown level of busy today and I'm just not up to it!

Self harm is endemic in young people, and it’s awful to know it’s happening and to know how to tackle it. In my experience it tends to be something young people keep private so can feel very shamed talking about it. I’d mention that you noticed it @BIWI and let him know you’re worried about him and want to help him but won’t force him to talk about it - when he’s ready you’ll be there for him.

It can be good to try and talk when you’re doing something together so the focus isn’t fully on him - I have tricky conversations in the car with my two (albeit they’re younger), because it can be hard for them to talk face to face. Young minds is a good resource, the Childline website has some useful information but I’d use caution because some of the chat in their forums isn’t great in terms of peer “support” which can be unhelpful at times.

@FusionChefGeoff I nearly fell out of bed laughing when you complimented me on my discipline!

I am the most disorganised, chaotic haphazard person. It doesn't come naturally or easily to me but I am making a supreme effort to get on top of my food/eating, and forcing myself to think about it rather than just randomly eating all the time. And it is getting easier. I've not had snacks this week and I'm learning more about carb and fat values. I think as the carbs leave the body, the cravings decline and maybe some sort of order creeps in.

I got my hair dine today!!!!!!!!! First time colour in about 15 months, and first cut in about 6 months! I feel amazingly glamorous.
Dinner was late as a result,, but hey ho.

B. 3 eggs, cheese and mushrooms, on leaves with tomatoes.
D. Sausage (it was an emergency) FLGV, leaves.
Herbal tea & chocolate.
Vaccinating again tomorrow so I'll order the salad for lunch - this does actually have veg.

Sorry to hear about teen troubles @biwi and @NigellaAwesome and others. Difficult stuff 😔

@Angliski I recall hearing about Caitlin Morans book too. She talks about her daughter who I think self harmed and had an eating disorder. Good recommendation for Youngminds. They offer brilliant information, advice and support. I think they have a parent helpline too.

@Angeleski good luck hope all goes well.

I’ve achieved my second goal weight (under 10st) which is great and now I’m on the last stint. I’m finding it harder to be as strict/focused with lockdown easing. I still want to lose but can’t quite muster the same drive as jan Bootcamp yet disappointed when my daily weigh-ins don’t yield much progress. 😳🤔 I relax a bit on the weekend & then spend the week catching up.
Today....
B: Just coffee (16:8)
L:x2 flaxseed crackers (Tom kerridge) with pate, slice cheese and chicken thigh.
S: x2 teaspoons peanut butter
D: aubergine parmigiana & watercress salad
Almost all the water

Youngminds parent helpline/support

youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-helpline/

@BIWI when I suspected dd was self harming I took her bra shopping just so I could confirm. I made it clear that I knew but didn't make her talk about it right then. Cahms were useless but we found an amazing local charity called gold digger trust which helped her so much, I wonder if there is something like that local to you. They did group work focused on self esteem but In a very relaxed way and she actually loved the Sessions. Also second young minds great source of information. If you want to chat privately with me about this stuff you can do me, we have been through the ringer with it for a few years.

Sympathy to all those with struggling children. I cannot imagine how distressing and painful this must be.

@BIWI and @ditavonteesed @NigellaAwesome sorry to hear about your children's health. Keeping you all in mind. We also recommend kooth online as well. I hope @biwi you find a way to speak to your ds and that you find a positive path together.

On good processor chat I have one but never use it. I would rather cut up by hand which take less time once you factor in the arse of cleaning the processor! I have. Mixing bowl with grater plates for the b
Top which is useful for cauli rice so it doesn't go everywhere. I use a nutribuller for soups.

Dh birthday today so might have some cake.
L green soup
S cake
D sausages, celeriac mash and green veg.
MIM will be a swim

Am still grateful for and learning from all the food processor chat. THanks so much. Because of the general niceness of buying things for myself, I can feel myself drawn towards the purchase even in the face of the less than glowing comments on them here. I think I will make myself wait a day or two before deciding.

Regarding self-harm, the main suggestion I would have is to remember that for the person who does it, it is (at least in part) a solution rather than a problem. It is compelling, absorbing, distracting, even relaxing. I think it is important to acknowledge that (and not to let the person see too much of your natural "oh my god, why would you do such a terrible thing!" reaction). Although it seems so self-punishing (and it is of course self-punishing) it is also a (paradoxical and dysfunctional) form of self-care.

To stay as relaxed and low-key about it as possible while discussing it, it can be helpful to talk together about alternative strategies that might offer a similar sort of relief without the lasting, scarring damage. That is a way of validating and respecting the person's decision-making around the self-harm without validating the self-harm itself.

Intense exercise is helpful for some people, because there is absorbing, punishing pain whose lasting consequenses are self-improvement rather than self-harm. I've also heard of people putting an elestic band on their wrist ans snapping it to receive a pain that is not ultimately harmful.

We have an app on all our phones called calm half that the crisis team at the hospital recommended. It offers things to do depending on what you want, ie pain, release, relaxation. Things that give the physical sensation of self harm without the associated guilt etc.

I'm sorry to hear of your DS's unhappiness @BIWI . It must be so upsetting and unsettling for you.

That's the kind of recipe I end up creating @Moonswimmer, only inedible

Good luck @Angliski. It is so sad to see young people self harming. I am in the second half of my fifties. I have been thinking about this lately. I don’t remember anyone cutting when I was a teenager. Did it happen and was just not talked about? I know there are a few of my generation on here.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. @Random789 your post was really insightful and interesting - especially recognising that it is, in its own way, a solution. We need to identify the problem, clearly. First step is to help him back into work, which is a process he has already started, which will also add some structure back into his day.

I'm very sure it did, Please but was less spoken of, and possibly less frequent. I know my ex's son, who is now in his early 40s, had issues of cutting. Positively, he is now happily married with two lovely little girls.

My niece (SIL's dd), who is a gorgeous young woman in her early 20s, has cut herself since her mid teens and also made two (or three?) "cries for help" attempts on her life (including one time when the police had to break down the door of her mum's house, as she did it when she was home from Uni)

Various complicated reasons, but they mostly go back to her real dad who SIL divorces when she was small and with whom she only had supervised contact from about age 5 and with whom she stopped contact as soon as she was able (specially once her older db and she were told the reason for the supervision) but every so often he or relatives of his try to make contact again via social media and trigger ever again . Stress times at Uni have also been danger points

She cuts her arms and her thighs She's got a lot of tattoos over her arms and her back and says she has them done as an alternative to cutting herself.

She did get decent support from CAMHS but unfortunately she's of course too old for it now. She graduated a year ago so can't access Uni support services either any more. Her mum broke lockdown rules at one point to take her up to Aberdeen for her to spend a few days with friends on the basis that she was at risk of a downward spiral Good news is that she's finally managed to get a job - one that actually uses her science skills - and even better news, it's back in Aberdeen so she's able to be with some of her old friends. Her mum still worries about her though and keeps an eye out for downward spirals.

We've worried about ds being isolated, especially as he wasn't able to go to the gym and play the sport he loves so much and is very good at but he seems to have been quite resilient: has taken up running (even though he hates it - thinks dh and I are nuts to have run 1/2Ms and marathons ) and formed a sort of bubble with 2 Uni friends who'd moved (on his recommendation) into a flat in the same complex as him (and continued with that bubble even when his flat mate returned who had broken his ankle so couldn't initially come back to the 1st floor flat )

Ds was overjoyed when the gyms reopened as he says it helps give a structure to his day.

My heart goes out to those whose dc’s are struggling

Fingers crossed for you angilski

So sorry to hear of all the young people struggling and suffering. My niece who is 17 self harms and has an eating disorder. She’s been in and out of clinics since she was 13. Her and her twin with Aspergers have been school refuser since about 12. The MH services are stretched so thin that they get very little help. I haven’t seen my sister in 2 years now as the girls don’t like people visiting and my sister has to be with them 24/7. Other niece has now developed Tourette’s and extreme tics that violently shake her head. It’s utterly heartbreaking but my sister has dealt with it by shutting us all out. It’s so sad.

Re Red cabbages, I also have an enormous one which was still the smallest in the shop. I’ve got thru half in a month and am thinking of trying a braise which I’ve not done before, maybe with some sausages tonight.

Thanks for all the salmon recipes. I went with a plain roast with rosemary and lemon juice and made a massive sort of ratatouille as I had loads of aubergines and a huge bunch of basil to use up (my Lidl often do bargain veg/fruit boxes for £1.50 and I bought 2 yesterday and ended up with 5 aubergines and 5 peppers, along with so much other stuff).