Week 4 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Sorry for the late posting this morning. I had a bad night but managed eventually to get to sleep and have only just woken up!

As ever, here's the link to the spreadsheet

The plan for this week is as for last week, i.e. strict Bootcamp during the week but relaxing into Bootcamp Light at the weekend (if you wish).

Hopefully by now it's becoming more of a habit to eat this way, and the urge to snack has receded, and you're finding that you're no longer hungry between meals.

And channelling @ShagMeRiggins, I hope you're remembering the WATER, WATER, WATER! As well as all the fat

Here's to a good week for us all

Morning all, thanks so much for the fat cells holding water explanation, it has really helped me understand the week 3/4 slow down.

Out for dinner last night, really struggled to get a table anywhere, but stayed on plan, helped by having checked the menu before hand , salmon starter, tiny steak (no chips) and green beans and a glass of champagne. I had a look at the desert menu, but just had a herbal tea. Was hideously expensive to leave feeling hungry, as not enough veg. But lesson learned

Hi everyone, had salmon, mushrooms and sugar snap yesterday. Out for Sunday lunch today, had a look at the menu and I will simply dodge the potatoes and yorkies and have extra veg (I will trade with the teenagers). I am day 12 of my period, don’t want to frighten the younger bootcampers but yes still going age 54.5 years! I usually gain 3 lbs during my period but I don’t think I have this month, fingers crossed, I will weigh tomorrow.

@NotwatchingSpooks I am now Queen of the Sides and often have a starter alongside my meal or order extra veg etc. Often places fill the plates with carbs and once you remove them it's a depressing sight!

Thanks for the suggestions, @FusionChefGeoff and @Jollyholibobs. I will try them both.

@FusionChefGeoff that was exactly it, for £27 I literally got a small fillet steak, no sauce included, that was extra and no veg substitute for the chips 😫🤭 it did make me feel a tad aggrieved. However as there were no tables available at any of our chosen restaurants I had to just go along with it, to make matters worse, green beans was the only low carb side !! Which I also had to pay for.

I knew there would be smoked mackerel fans but to me it is just boak.
I am sleeping really well - probably due to no booze.
Thinking about my goals: I was down to 76kg last July when I broke my collarbone. No excuse really, but subsequent to that I went off-piste & ended up at 85kg+. So it took me 3 months to gain that, so it should take at least 3 months to loose that. I will need to keep reminding myself of this.
V busy with decorating. We are re-carpeting house - in dire need- so logically decided to re-decorate throughout beforehand. Carpets scheduled for early Dec, a plasterer arrives tomorrow to do 1 room.
Furniture is now piled in centre of nearly every room in house, so have to walk around sideways, a la Charlie Chaplin. It will look great when done-not long now.

@JunieSpoony

Had a good start to the day (boiled eggs, Greek yoghurt) but got a migraine around lunchtime. The prescription meds worked (seems to be about 66% success rate) but they leave me feeling woozy. My usual recovery food is toast with marmite and a can of coke. Had the toast but didn’t ask anyone to buy me a coke. Not sure if I can find an alternative to carbs in that situation, and it really helps the lingering nausea. Anyone else in the same boat?

Sorry to hear this. @JunieSpoony . I only ever suffered from migraines during my first pregnancy, and I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy.

I have no idea what would help you, but I wonder with the Coke if it's the caffeine or the sugar that's helping you? Could you try a strong cup of coffee and see if that helps? (Although given the time that you posted, hopefully you're sorted by now!)

I love Sarti's Italian restaurant in Glasgow. When you ask for a substitute to (say) mashed potatoes (which is what they normally serve with their scrummy oven baked Italian sausage in a red wine sauce), you get fabulous garlicky greens at no extra cost.

The meal at friends' house (with a group of friends) was not too awful. Just had olives for nibbles avoiding nearly all the pastry wrapped goodies that were on offer, although I nibbled the corner off a spinach and feta filo parcel and ate the middle out of it (disretely dissposing of the remainder of the pastry when I refilled my water glass).

Main was gluten free vegetable lasagne, fortunately with loads of salad). I tried to eat the veg and avoid the pasta and bechamel, I'd forgotten how 'claggy' pasta and bechamel is, bring back courgette strips, topped with BIWI 's excellent and easy cheese sauce (cream, cheese, squeeze of lemon) - so much nicer.

Deserts were pavlova, blondies, plus a bowl of mixed berries. I had a small helping of berries with sour cream.

There was a big argument about rental properties (as an additional income / pension plan) so no-one noticed whether I was eating or not. The argument continues today on WhatsApp

Got other friends arriving soon and we're going to a seafood restaurant - nice lc options there. And I had green veg and stilton soup for lunch.

How are you feeling today @prettybird?

First day of feeling reasonable. Water is starting to taste ok again. Get very tired if I exert myself at all (dh is the same) so have to sit down after half an hour of housework/cooking such a shame .

We're going to start going for daily walks again from tomorrow - but I'm not going to re-start the Shred just yet. If I go to rugby training on Wednesday, I'll take it very easy.

Careful about doing too much too soon - you don't want to risk getting post-viral syndrome

That's why I'm going to take things very easy. Very conscious of the risk

Thread feels really slow. Wondering if bootcampers are unable to operate keyboards, tablets, and phones due to injuries sustained from falling off the wagon.

WATER WATER WATER!!

Love your posts, @ShagMeRiggins (and the username!)

@BIWI I actually think it’s the caffeine and the sugar and the fizz all combined. But the marmite toast alone worked better than I expected.

Was going out for brunch today so I just had two boiled eggs when I got up (trouble is my DC also think they are a great snack once they’re in the fridge so I have to make vast quantities). Brunch was eggs Benedict but I had bacon instead of the muffin, and it came with a huge and amazing salad.

In laws have just brought a big pot of spaghetti sauce for us (they’re using up all their food before moving away for a bit, quite handy for us!) so I will try out the cabbage-for-pasta idea, maybe adding some buttery leeks.

Had a grumpy few days so sorry I haven't posted. Managed to stay on track but my water has gone down.
Just given myself a kick and I've got 1 litre to drink in the next 3 hrs. Totally doable.

Good luck with the weigh in tomorrow everyone and hope you have all had a lovely weekend.

Why thank you, Junie. By the way, in case anyone is wondering, I am not a pirate and my username has nothing to do with pirates. Not that anyone wondered, but it’s come up in the past.

The name is, instead, an ode to the glorious Texan that is Tim Riggins, American high school footballer bad boy of Friday Night Lights fame. Photo attached for your viewing pleasure.

Anyway, glad to hear you’re feeling better and glad migraine sorted.

prettybird same to you re Covid. And to all who still feel unwell, KOKO.

I got tempted by the mention of the big pot of spaghetti bolognese upthread and might just go and make a batch now so the children can help themselves this week ...

ShagMeRiggins now that picture has perked me up

@ShagMeRiggins I can’t actually not think of you as a pirate, but appreciate the explanation!

Good day here. Toby Carvery for dinner - turkey and gammon with shed loads of cabbage, cauliflower cheese and a bit of mashed swede. Then went to the cinema to watch Dune, which was very good and avoided usual popcorn and ice cream. Four hours gardening as well, so pretty knackered, but in a good way.

I haven’t posted as my days have been so boring I didn’t want to frighten people off
Saturday , Dah went to see his parents , I didn’t go with him and all I wanted to do was eat biscuits , even though I’d had a lovely breakfast and lunch , so that was tricky
Made the chocolate mousse to keep myself busy
Today DH went fishing and I popped to town , but yet again wanted biscuits , managed to distract myself with cheddar ( about a kilo of it )

I’ve just flicked back and can’t find the name of the person with the renovations ( sorry ) but I feel the pain , I had a cold sore from stress when we had windows replaced , so Heaven knows how I’ d cope with anything more
Need another glass of water , and weigh in tomorrow!
Exciting ( she says , hopefully )

Oh @Frenchpoodle, we saw Dune on Friday , loved watching it
Although I think there were only 8 of us in the cinema , I have next to no idea what the story was , Game of Thrones meets Star Wars ( but less shagging and more glamorous costumes )
Took my water bottle and didn’t buy any of the foul smelling snacks

Sneaky weigh in today that's put me 2lb up. I KNOW this is normal and I've stuck to the plan so it must be a hormonal fluctuation but it nearly threw me off the wagon!

Got a motivational chat from DH and had a really nice pesto and parmesan cod with broccoli and Brussel sprouts instead of falling face first into carbs.

@NotwatchingSpooks ah haa, sounds like you also need to perfect your 'and can I have xxx instead of the chips'.

Look at the other accompanying sides from other dishes - if they've got leeks with the fish then usually they can give you leeks with the chicken

I even managed to get this to work in Weatherspoons and got mushrooms instead of chips!

Haven’t posted because my life is so boring right now, I’d put you all to sleep!
I made the almond base tart again today, but did a vegetarian version instead of bacon. Also been busy helping dad find a flat to buy and helping dh prep for his week away with work. Feeling very tired at the moment and lethargic - possibly due to progesterone tablets on my HRT.
Not looking forward to weigh in - haven’t cheated as such, but have had a fair bit of dairy and artificial sweetener in fake g&t! Have decided not to drink alcohol at all until Christmas.
Good luck everyone for weigh in tomorrow

Week 5 chat thread is here