Week 3 - May 22 Low Carb Bootcamp - moving on to Light?

[BIWI]

Good morning!

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness once more

So today you have a choice: you can move on to Bootcamp Light, if you wish - which means you can re-introduce some fruit, some nuts/seeds and some alcohol. Note the use of the word 'some'!

If you wish, you can also now introduce/re-introduce intermittent fasting - most people drop breakfast, but it's up to you how you want to do this. @StuntNun has a thread about how to combine fasting with low carb for anyone who is interested in this approach.

You can, if you wish, remain on Bootcamp, if it suits you and it's working for you. Alternatively you can adopt a hybrid - so Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

Whichever route you decide upon, good luck!

Feeling inspired by those starting wardrobe clear-outs. Really need to do do this!

well done on the loss @Mercedesbenz2022

I'm making the most of the warm weather with a low carb frappe. Put a cup of crushed ice, 100 ml whole milk, 50 ml double cream, 2 tbsp whey protein powder (optional), 2 tsp vanilla extract and a scant 1/2 tsp xanthan gum in a blender and blend until smooth, thick and creamy. Approx. 2.5 grams carbs per 100 ml. You need the xanthan gum to make it a thick milkshake-like texture, otherwise it would be runny. I don't add any sweetener; I find that between the double cream and the vanilla extract it's sweet enough.

That looks really good @StuntNun

That recipe looks great @StuntNun . I wonder if it could be frozen to create some sort of ice cream. I'm on the hunt for a low carb ice cream for the summer time!

I really need to do a wardrobe clear out too. I've lost a smidge over 30lb since starting my first bootcamp in August last year and haven't actually got round to buying new clothes yet... It's definitely now getting to the point where some of my clothes are comedicaly (is that even a word??) large on me. Particularly as I like my tops and dresses loose to start with!

B: the insides of two pork pies... we'd gone out for brunch to find that they weren't serving food as the chef hadn't turned up for work! The choice was that or crisps....

L: poached eggs with cucumber and peppers

D: We're having takeaway tonight, so have gone for greek and I'm having a large kebab, minus the carbs, with a large feta salad and loads of tzaziki 😍

Evening all. I have a full on confession to make. I fell off the wagon on Monday and it carried on until yesterday 🙈 However, for some miraculous reason I have lost a further 3lbs so must have made better choices than I thought I did!

Back to it today

IF
Lunch was chicken drumsticks (with skin) and a piece of cheese
Dinner was lamb chops (and fat 🤤) with baby tomatoes sautéed in chili and garlic infused olive oil

Not great on the veg today, will work harder on that tomorrow.

Currently, 3.5l of water drunk, 1l left before bed!

I am incredibly grateful I stepped on the scales this morning or I would have kept eating and eating until Monday when I'm positive the scales would not have been so forgiving 😊

I'm in full admiration of you @mimosa1 and @ZiggZagg for getting back on the wagon.

Sorry you're feeling ill, @colouringindoors

I'm doing ok today. I'm finding my portion sizes are getting smaller as I realise that it will keep me full, which just shows how much we can eat for the sake of it.

B - mushrooms cooked in a mix of belly pork fat, olive oil and butter. ½ avocado (other half had gone brown 😕)
L - salad: iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives, fet; olive oil and cider vinegar vinaigrette.
D - 2 lamb chops, veg medley fried in butter and olive oil (dwarf beans, leeks & red pepper fried in olive oil and butter, then parmesan cheese on top and into a hot oven for 10 mins) - picture below.

Fluids: 3 X 750 ml water, 6 cups of tea with almond milk and one cup of tea with full fat milk.

I need ideas for exercise to tone my tummy. Also posture tips - half of my 'size' comes from the fact that I've got anterior pelvic tilt so I curve my back and stick out my tummy. So hard to break!

Hi all, not having a good day. Had a long day at work - I have to travel 2hrs each way once a month and because its so far away I try and plough through without a break so I'm back early. So 4.30am start, ate my greek yoghurt with berries (yay!) when I got there. Forgot my rollitos in my rush to leave so had no food on the way home. But managed OK. Had 2 creamy coffees and all my water (stopped at a lot of service stations!). Got home at 6.30pm to eldest son having a complete meltdown. He is having the first of his autism assessments on Mon, we've been waiting 2 years for it. Myself and DH are at rock bottom with him tbh. Had great plans of getting a sushi takeaway tonight and got avocado to have with it, but we are so tired and exhausted we've ordered a burger instead. Mine has fried egg on top and won't have bun. Will go to bed then as will be up again at 6am for another day of trying to manage him and also care for our other 2
Sorry, just feeling very tired and worn down. Don't mean to rant or sound ungrateful. For those who've had kids, when does it get easier?!

@Lougle Ive been doing 100 sit ups daily using an ab roller, it's definitely having some impact on my stomach, it looks flatter to me! It takes about 5 minutes and I'm hoping to increase it over the next few weeks!

I also have a vibration plate which wobbles my belly a lot, not sure if it helps much 🤣 I can't do anything more high impact due to having Fibromyalgia and pain/exhaustion but it helps me to think I'm doing SOMETHING!

@IveNeverTriedThisBefore sending hugs to you, it's so hard!

DD is 15 and awaiting neurodevelopmental assessment and she just exhausts me so much with her little eccentricities. She is also doing GSCEs at the moment so much fun for everyone

DS who is 4 has clearly got ADHD but cannot be assessed until he starts full time school in September, so exhausted sometimes haha!

Love being mum and they are great kids, it's just so hard at times

@IveNeverTriedThisBefore how old is your eldest? I have two with ASD (16, 14) (and tbh I think the youngest (12) is but not in the system yet).

I think once they have the dx and you have methods of dealing with them, it does get easier.

Having said that, DD1 who has always gone to special school developed an eating disorder last year, so that was tough, and DD2 is currently out of school while we try to sort out her provision. So not easy, easy!

I find that I've developed a whole new language with them (each of the 3 their own). For example, I asked DD2 to take a bag of washing upstairs to put on a shelf and automatically added 'but only the stuff inside the bag, not the bag itself' just as she asked 'and the bag itself....?' 🤣🤣

The biggest thing for us is that their needs all clash at times and they don't have the theory of mind to understand that they're different from each other

Very cool! I'll give it a go. We have an ab roller in the loft, I think....

@IveNeverTriedThisBefore major sympathies. My dd has ASD. It can be seriously exhausting.

@StuntNun I read the other thread with 'interest'. It's like some people have got their fingers in their ears going "lalalalala - can't hear you." And I get frustrated that so many don't understand that LOW carb is not NO carb. When you look through a days worth of posts on here it's bloody amazing what people are eating and enjoying. And how much of the food is low-processed. The number of discussions about celeriac or sprouts (shoogled or otherwise), the use or cinnamon or vanilla on yogurt as an alternative to sugar, sharing of recipes. Doesn't seem faddy to me
@Jollyholibobs agree 100% with the horror or this year's summer dresses, small flowery print, elasticated bodices that accentuate your boobs, then flounce out over your tummy, then end in a frill at the bottom, about an inch above my ankles. They were just about OK in the 1970's Laura Ashley I'm looking at you when I was teeny-tiny and only 15. Now age 60 they are just hideous.

@pinknsparkly my dgc is allergic to dairy so last week I made a coconut milk and lime icecream. Added a tiny bit of erythrytol 'sugar'

@lougle me too on the anterior pelvic tilt - I didn't know it had a name. As a child my Mum used to make my dresses longer at the back and shorter at the front to compensate!

Visit to PILs today. I took creamy prawn cocktail and salad, then everyone else had huge plates of chocolate trife and raspberries, I had mixed some greek yogurt with cream, and added rasps and some chopped hazelnuts. I honestly didn't feel as though I was missing out.

B - left over sausages, coffee with cream
L - prawn cocktail, salad; yogurt and cream with raspberries and nuts
D - cheese and vegetable omelette

I've been searching for a new recipe. Meanwhile I made my regular Bolognese - mince, onion, garlic, herbs, Worcestershire & Bovril are my secret ingredients. No matter how much I make my family clears it. DH has about 3 portions! I'm threatening to put in mushrooms ( which they all hate but I love).

I've done loads of exercise this week. My thighs are sore and I wonder if it will effect the scales. Slightly in a food slump here so I'll keep at the recipes.

Binful of old knickers and socks thrown out. Yeah.

D. Eggs, mushrooms tomatoes avocado.
L. Coffee, protein bar.
D. Bolognese with sprouts.

3L drank.

Have a read up on transverse abdominal muscle exercises, and youtube videos. They're the deep core muscles that act like a corset, and lie behind the abs. I'm really trying to work on them after my pregnancies. Pilates is quite good for them I think.

@Lougle

Joining you on the anterior pelvic tilt bench.

Finding a yoga teacher fanatical about careful alignment who knows when to push me and when to let me do the best I can today has been really helpful for me.

Strangely the changes for me started not with the pelvis but my breastbone (soften the breastbone) because I was 'rib thrusting' or sticking my ribs out. That shortens my next and pokes my head out.

My pelvic tips forward to balance all this happening up top. Thinking of softening my breast bone with no tension and lengthening my neck I feel my shoulder blades sliding back down my back and the pelvis hangs in neutral.

Gosh that was long to describe. I hope it makes some kind of sense to you and you find what works for you.

Thank you all!

@FinallyHere that's interesting. I slump my shoulders horribly (I think low self-esteem as a child and being relatively tall, probably trying to shrink!). I can hold myself in a good posture for a minute or two and my tummy virtually disappears but as soon as I let go, it all swings forward.

@venusandmars it's so frustrating to see all the same arguments over and over on that other thread. It's all about calories in versus calories out; I'm slim and I eat carbs; it's cutting out an entire food group; fat makes you fat but carbs don't etc. etc. Misinformation like this stops people from giving low carb a try. My only regret about low carb is that I didn't discover it sooner. I started Bootcamp in June 2013 and I can't even contemplate what weight I would be now without it. Instead I've had nine years of a normal BMI, enjoying my food and not having to be hungry all the time to lose weight. I don't have any trouble managing my food intake day to day, or eating out; it's all extremely sustainable. On the other hand, I don't think Mumsnet Bootcamp is representative of other approaches out there because of its focus on real, unprocessed foods. I'm in low carb/keto groups on Facebook and the crap they will eat is astounding. I saw a post yesterday praising sugar-free Jolly Ranchers for being "keto!" It's all about making keto versions of carb-heavy/processed foods. Whereas on here, @BIWI would only suggest something like sugar-free sweets for someone that was struggling with severe constipation! IMO just cutting carbs on its own isn't enough; you also need to eat "real" food, drink plenty of water, exercise, sleep well and have a good social network to have optimal health. Now we may not be able to manage all of those things at this point my sleep is diabolically bad but anything you can tick off from that list is going to make you healthier.

@Lougle I had an anterior pelvic tilt which was only discovered when a physiotherapist was investigating my persistent neck pain and realised my pelvis was contributing. I find the Pilates or Yoga cat exercise is good for working out how to reposition the pelvis. There are also clock exercises where you lie on your back and move your pelvis to north, south, east and west then try and move it around an imaginary clock face and then backwards. It's something you need to be conscious of all the time. Whenever you're standing, e.g. if you're washing up or brushing your teeth or waiting for a train, then try and move your pelvis into the correct position and hold it. Eventually it will become habitual. I would also pay attention to how you sit because if you're sitting with the pelvis curled under then you're relearning that bad posture. Try to sit with the back and pelvis in proper alignment which might need a cushion or, if sitting at a desk, an angled footstool to make it easier to keep your back positioned correctly.

How old is your DS @IveNeverTriedThisBefore ? My DS1 was diagnosed with autism at age 8 and is now 19. He was a pretty challenging child, especially at certain ages. I can't imagine what meltdowns feel like but it must be awful for them, especially as they often can't explain or understand what they're feeling. I remember my DS having a meltdown over a lost helium balloon at age 12 and it really rammed it home to me how people with autism can be coping coping coping coping and then it suddenly all becomes too much and a, seemingly minor, incident triggers the meltdown. He loved homeschool during the pandemic because he had to put so much effort in to just being at school; masking is really hard work for them.

Checking in with yesterday’s food:
L - seed crackers with a chilli dip
D- cod with sea herbs and spring greens (out for dinner with lovely friends - talked so much that didn’t even think about nicking their chips!)

Today’s plan is slow cooked pork belly with radicchio and hazelnuts with a watercress and blue cheese salad. Possibly eaten in the garden 😊

Had a sneaky peak and seem to have lost 1lb this week, which makes me happy. Feeling grateful for this thread, the work, advice and knowledge @BIWI puts in and all the inspiration, meal ideas and encouragement from everyone.

I was dead chuffed yesterday. Someone (who doesn't know I am on a mission) asked if I had lost weight :D

I did think about commenting on the other thread but CBA. I am happy that what I am eating under LC is massively healthier than what I would be eating under other "diet" regimes. I don't feel hungry. I still cook from scratch. I eat tonnes of veg and salad.

And last night I was very happy to discover that Aldi little bars of 85% Moser Roth choc are 4.6g carbs each, so that's a nice treat 😊.
It isn't long ago that I was in the havoc of scoffing a 100g bar of choc in an evening, so I think I have come a long way!

@Frenchpoodle how do you make your seed crackers? Or do you buy them? Also nice idea about watercress and blue cheese salad. That's my lunch sorted.

Lazy Sunday morning here, for my favourite mug of cream my coffee and I've made cheese and almond muffins.
30g butter (grated from cold)
Cup of almond flour
3 eggs
tsp baking powder
60g (or maybe more) grated extra mature chedder

Mix, and spoon into a muffin tray. I make mini muffins because that's my best nonstick baking tray. These quantities made 15.

I am generally intermittent fasting but I had to try one fresh from the oven with melting butter on it.. Still about 15 hours since dinner.

S - mini cheese muffin and butter, creamy coffee
Brunch - watercress and blue cheese salad
D - roast chicken, grated courgette, buttered cabbage

@comfortablyfrumpy
isnt it great when someone notices?
I know it was a typo and you meant habit but this made me laugh
‘It isn't long ago that I was in the havoc of scoffing a 100g bar of choc’

i do feel that this woe is calm , no big decisions, pudding or not , oh a few chips or not , just this once I’ll eat banned foods , it is calm and easy and manageable compared to calorie counting and other diets

I think a pp ) sorry forgot who that was ) made a similar comment

happy Sunday everyone

@APerfectlyGoodName I didn't think I was ready to clear out my wardrobe as such (I'm bad at throwing things away) but I do have a drawerful of underwear and socks (and pre covid bras have since been replaced by stretchy crop tops) that I hadn't even considered and you've inspired me!

@venusandmars yes I think people conflate LC with keto, and "Keto" has a significant Big Food type influence with lots of keto bars, keto shakes, keto ready meals, etc which aren't much better than the conventional junk. Maybe LC needs a rebrand - "Nutritious Real Food".

I'm eating out at lunchtime but for once I'm not worried - it's a restaurant i visit quite often and is very LC (or NRF!) friendly. Half of their menu is things served in creamy cheesy sauces, and they serve the veg, potatoes etc in bowls for the table so it's easy to just not take chips and have plenty of veg instead.

In other news, I've worked out why my bookmarks weren't working post re-platform (android) - I was opening the thread the wrong way 🤦‍♀️