Week 2 - May 22 Low Carb Bootcamp - our first weigh-in thread

[BIWI]

Sorry for the late start.

Here's the spreadsheet for you to confess all!

A quick peek shows some really good early results, with @UnOeufIsEnough and @loopylou3030 both hitting the half stone mark. Brilliant!

Thanks @mimosa1 and @BIWI.

@BIWI I can definitely cut out the dairy. Looking back, it is quite dairy heavy. I am adding oil to my salad but perhaps not enough.

@Lougle how much almond milk and is it definitely unsweetened? How long have you given it without the scales moving along? In Jan BC mine didn't move at all for fully 3 weeks then off they went again. I've lost 8lb this bootcamp already but I'm debating whether to stop weighing for a while now as I suspect I'm due a spell where the scales stubbornly don't move and I might be happier not knowing! I'm on a stone point exactly this morning and can't decide whether to weigh again tmrw in hope I get the thrill of being on a lower stone, or if I shouldn't in case I have inexplicably gained instead.

Montezumas chocolate is lovely, though I'd prefer the minty one a little bit mintier. I like the lindt 90% one a little too much though, I've been on the lidl 95% for months and the Linda 90% is like milk choc by comparison and a bit morish.

@Jollyholibobs the fresh asparagus sounds fab.

I have rhubarb, raspberries and blackcurrants all growing well in the garden and looking forward to having a good crop to see me through the winter. By modern standards they're not very sweet raspberries but I like quite tart fruit with clotted cream - a bit of a fool thing going on - and I assume very sharp fruit is less sugary.

@Baystard it's definitely unsweetened, 0 carbs. Sweetened almond milk is horrible 😄 I must be having at least 100ml per day, though, because I'm having around 6-7 cups of tea. I only add a splash if I make it myself, though.

I love more tart fruits.

I've lost about 2.5" from my waist, so I shouldn't be complaining. But when has that stopped anyone? 😄😄

I tried the 100% peanut butter Montezuma's a couple of days ago and it was inedible bad. The rest of the bar went in the bin. The thing about 100% chocolate is that you don't eat it, you let a small piece dissolve on your tongue. The Montezuma bar was so thick that didn't work though.

Oh right! Might swerve then. Not really much up on chocolate anyway.

@glamourousindierockandroll I'm well impressed by your self-restraint, well done 👏

B: 3 scrambled eggs with cream, spinach and cheddar
L: Rollitos made with ham and cheese, salad leads and dressing
D: went to Italian restaurant so got pan-fried sole, veg and side of aubergine parmigiana. I think it was dipped in flour so I scraped off the coating but it had loads of butter
Have to finish 0.5L of water but will get that done now

Did the grocery shop for week ahead and have made a low carb lasagne for tomorrow's dinner so I'm all set. Good luck to everyone in morning x

Today sausage , egg, mushrooms and tomatoes for brunch

chicken salad with cheese and taziki , a few tiny jersey potatoes ( I’m not in boot camp )

soon to have fruit and cream

tried on dresses this afternoon that are definitely fitting better , ie not squished into them

big focus now for next 2 weeks before my bday ( inspired by @pretty bird )

@BIWI thank you for the encouragement! In an effort to regain my mojo have spent part of the afternoon in the kitchen and have roasted a chicken (nicked the skin before SDH got to it!), made a frittata with leeks, sprouts, nduja and feta for next week's lunches, made a traybake with spiced pork belly slides, pepper and cauliflower and blanched the sorry looking broccoli in the bottom of the fridge 👊.

Looking forward to adding a few berries to yoghurt for breakfast and starting to embed LC into our life so it sticks!

First though an early night as still shattered!

@prettybird - you look amazing in that dress and the colour really suits you too!

@Lougle - I discovered Montezuma 100% dark chocolate last bootcamp (my third bootcamp) and it is definitely an acquired taste. I find it helps give me a chocolate hit without the carbs but you can't eat it the same way you'd eat even a 95% bar as it's just too intense. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing! I put a s square in mouth and let it melt. I ordered the peanut butter filled mini eggs for Easter and they were completely inedible out of the bag. I managed to use them up by melting them in the microwave and whisking in quite a bit of double cream to make a sort of mousse thing. I could easily eat a bar of 85 or 90% dark chocolate in one sitting (before this thread I didn't even know 95% existed!) but a bar of 100% lasts me at least a couple of weeks. It is currently on offer at Tesco for £1.50 a bar if you wanted to try it out.

Ooh need to look up the rule changes for week 3!

B - 2 egg omelette made with double cream, cheese, mushrooms.
L - salad: leaves, baby plum tomatoes, olives, feta, ½ avocado, sesame oil.
D - rump steak fried in butter with roasted leek, broccoli, courgette, pepper and mushroom.

Fluid 4 x 750 ml water. 6 x tea with almond milk. 1 with full fat milk.

I've had a delicious weekend of food with hashbrown-free cooked breakfasts, bunless burgers and meat heavy BBQs 😋I've also discovered coleslaw. Ordinarily I'd always ask for it to be left off my plate when ordering out and would certainly never buy it myself but it was out at the BBQ and I gave it a go as there weren't many other vegetable options. I realised how much I've missed out on all this time... creamy, crunchy low carb yumminess!

Thank you @pinknsparkly. I have quite a savoury palate and tend to like desserts to be sharper rather than sweet anyway.

I definitely struggled this weekend. No bread, chocolate or wine 🙁 don't think I can face another egg either!Definitely feel my skin is better, weight is down and mood is good. Going to keep at it but it really is a different way of eating for me!

Eggs are not compulsory @Ollieharriet!

Oh I know but have been having them a lot for breakfast so need to change it up a bit.

For those who like tart fruits, don't forget the glorious rhubarb. And... (for those sticking to strict bc rules for the first 2 weeks, and avoiding fruit) it is actually a VEGETABLE

I made some rhubarb fool today with the zest of an orange and some grated ginger. Mixed with yogurt and double cream - delicious.

It's also the time of year for wild garlic and fresh new nettles. Which means it's time for foraged GREEN VELVET soup. What makes it green? wild garlic leaves, spinach, herbs (mint, corriander, thai basil, parsely), stalks from broccoli / cauliflower. What makes it velvet? Butter. Whisked in. Loads of it.

Green velvet soup, in the pan, and some in the freezer (single portion size, just for me, none for dh)

Heading into Week 3 - be prepared!

It's very, very, VERY common to see little or no weight loss in week 3 (as well as week 4), so you need to be prepared, psychologically, for that.

It's all about your body transitioning/catching up, and is totally normal.

So if this happens to you, PLEASE DON'T PANIC!

Keep on keeping on - KOKO - and all will be fine.

As we head into week 3, you do have the choice of sticking with Bootcamp or moving on to Bootcamp Light - which means you can re-introduce fruit (berries mainly), nuts/seeds and alcohol - all in moderation.

However, if you prefer - and if it's working for you - you can stay on Bootcamp.

But please make sure you're aware that the scales are very unlikely to register a big loss next week!

Apologies. If I could wave my big stick a magic wand and make it drop off, I surely would!

And as a (relatively) long-timer on these threads I would urge caution on how (and how much) you reintroduce fruit, nuts, alcohol.

It is all too easy to add all 3 to every meal (in moderation) But it all adds up. I suggest you have ONE each day - a few berries with breakfast on day one, some peanut butter with celery on day two, a small glass of fizz on day three. Enjoy each one, really savour it and appreciate it. And delight in the ongoing pleasure of veg, butter, cheese, meats...

<waves>
B. Creamy coffee, cheesy mushroom omelette with leaves
L. Greek yogurt and cream.
D. Plaice with FLGV & salad. (Restaurant as family went out for dinner). I probably should have added more butter or olive oil, as I was hungry later, but I distracted myself with thought of the scales tomorrow.

I did a gentle 5k on the treadmill too, so feeling pretty energetic. I'm enjoying all the chocolate tips. I eat the 85% (?) one from Lidl on BC lite. They are little individual bars, that I have with mint tea.
Best wishes to all tomorrow.

Woohooo bootcamp light! Actually am going to try and continue on bootcamp as much as possible this week as I know i'll fall off the wagon on Saturday (school formal followed by a friend's party) )so I will have a few glasses of champagne and all food is provided, it will be carb heavy! I have to eat there (formal diving room) so will pick around the carbs as much as possible. Some will definitely sneak in though). Also going for drink on Thurs to celebrate my DH finishing exams.

Thinking of reintroducing IF as well. I've done it a long time but stopped about two weeks before bootcamp. I haven't been hungry most mornings so it might work. Will try it for a week and see what happens.

Have weighed in for the week. Down another 1.5lb, which added to last weeks 6 makes half a stone in two weeks. When I think of it like that I'm quite happy, although seeing 1.5lb down on the scales seemed like slow progress this morning. I know rationally it's a healthy rate to lose at, and it takes a long time to put in so of course its a long time to come off, but you still hope for more. Am focusing on the half a stone I think! Will try a bit longer, and maybe cut down the diary later on in the bootcamp.

Just for the record:
B: shakshuka, two eggs
L: Salad with egg mayo
T: vegetable stew and halloumi (Turkish restaurant, delicious! I think a few sliver of potato snuck into the stew, but they were tiiiny if they existed at all).

Good luck with the scales today all.

Yesterdays food:
B: Bacon and mushroom sandwich with LC bread
L: Roast beef, broccoli, red cabbage and hispi cabbage cooked in butter and topped with oxtail 😋

Well I'm sad. I've actually put on another ½lb today, which makes my total loss for the week 0.4lb 😣

@Lougle I did the same, I'm up 0.5lb having been on the stone-exactly mark yesterday. I'll just KOKO because if I'd grown despondent and quit when this happened in January bootcamp I'd likely be a full 14lb heavier than I am now. The scales will catch up with you eventually!