Pre-Christmas 22 Boot Camp Week 5: in the 2nd half

[prettybird]

Here we are into Week 5, the 2nd half . Hopefully you’ll have got beyond the “Stall” period of Weeks 3 and 4, but be aware, it sometimes it lasts into Week 5.

Keep the faith, keep focussed, keep drinking the water and you will see progress. Remember all the other benefits you're enjoying

The challenge this week is to start doing little things in preparation for Christmas . That way, we can relax when Christmas arrives as we’ve got every ready in advance in our dreams . If you don’t want to do that yet because it’s too soon, why not do something that has been on your list of “To Dos” for ages and you’ve procrastinated so never quite got round to it. You’ll feel so much better once you’ve done them

@FinallyHere will be along shortly to link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness and also to the sparkling new thread that links to all the recipe threads. There are sooooo many tasty recipes, so we can enjoy our food

@ditavonteesed When I make fried veg I chop the veges nice and small - mostly brocolli and cauliflower. Also use lots of the stalk cutting it crosswise. Then I heat up a frying pan with enough macadamia oil to cover the whole thing a few mls, add some salt, throw the veges in and wait for them to go crispy.

@prettybird I have a nephew coming from U.K. to me (in Australia). I managed to find a passport cover online which I thought was fun.

Taramasalata has bread in it? Who knew! I’m currently in Cyprus so will avoid. Can’t weigh but home Wed eve so will weigh Thurs am. I don’t think I’ve lost anything. Nothing feels looser. I’ve been playing 3-4 hours tennis a day for four days and eating LC but the only table available was a pizza place and someone ordered ahead so I had to have 3 slices of pizza - there wasn’t much salad and I definitely had the largest portion and finished it off. Worse still the First night I had way too many G&Ts (they only had full fat tonic too) and 3rd night too many wines. I’m really annoyed with myself. Had zero alcohol 2nd night and last night and it’ll be zero again tonight despite it being our last eve and a bit of a celebration. In fact I’m thinking of going alcohol free until Christmas. The alcohol and pizza could have undone all my good LC food I have stuck with and tennis I’ve played. Grrr! I’ll find out on Thurs.
Im not remotely organised for Christmas!

Make sure to keep drinking all the water @NotDonna and KOKO when you get home. It's always difficult when you're on holiday and not in complete control of what you can eat. (Although you can control the alcohol )

Water, water, water - although I'm sure you're already having plenty if you're playing so much tennis

Morning @NotDonna Glad you liked the look of CLS. If holidays mean playing 3-4 tennis you would fit right in there :-)

I wondered how the food options would work out, as it seemed a tad geared to tri-athlete levels of carb consumption but it turned out brilliant. There were low carb friendly options and the staff were perfectly happy to 'hold' anything non-compliant including the potatoes, which appeared in everything.

Who knew potatoes were a speciality of the region?

@agnesmartin Brilliant NSV victory there

Would love for taramasalata to be low carb but every recipe I've looked at includes white bread ... I only have it very (very) occasionally but I do love it. :-(

Could you try making it with some stale low carb bread?

I can't eat low carb bread as it tends to be full of nuts and they bring me out in cold sores. It's not a biggie really, I just thought I had nailed a low carb meal out, and then was disappointed. 😉

I'm trying to think of something easy to pack for the 12 year old twins but am struggling. Have you had any ideas? I'm too old and all I can think of are books, merino thermals and fingerless gloves!

No nuts that I can see in the ingredients- unless flaxseed also sets you off Caveats: a) it's expensive and b) I've never actually tried it myself but other people on here swear by it

https://seriouslylowcarb.com/products/the-low-carb-loaf

@agnesmartin - thanks for giving it done thought I've come up with one present for the boy twin - a Size 4 Scottish rugby ball (can be deflated for taking back to France). Now just need to think of something for the girl twin.

Thanks for checking. Seeds have similar effect, which is a pain.

@prettybird does the girl like art, if so maybe a nice set of pens.

It is common to have a change in taste with LC? Since yesterday everything tastes far too salty, I usually love Parma ham and halloumi but since yesterday they just taste of pure salt! I guess it will stop me eating processed foods!

I absolutely can control the alcohol prettybird that’s why I’m annoyed at myself. Im learning that I’m not great at just having one, so best to abstain. I am drinking lots of water. Easily 4 litres a day but need the extra litre as it’s warm. We bought our 13 year old some Uno cards recently; there’s now ‘wild’ ones and ‘flip’ ones if they’ve already got the classic uno card game. Useful for waiting at airports too.

@Skiphopbump and will make you drink more water!

@NotDonna yes, certainly need more to drink now!

Uno is a great idea, DD took both Uno and Dobble to uni with her and they are played often.

Dobble is a great game too. Small games like that are such a winner!

@prettybird what about some jewellery, can be quite reasonable, especially if they have ears pierced, or you could buy a charm bracelet from Pandora and then give a charm at birthdays or Christmas. If you want more Christmas themed, I have just bought some fun stocking fillers from Oliver Bonas , they do light up necklaces, hair lights and Christmas tree earrings .

Getting into the, um, details here…does your body ever adjust to managing the amounts of water necessary? I try to have 1.5-2 litres before lunchtime, but that means I have to stay at home in the afternoon or only go somewhere I’m sure I can get to a toilet, as the need to pee is constant. It’s a bit limiting!

Stayed the same but not surprisingly really , koko , it’s hard to drink all the water as the weather turns , does camomile tea and the like count ?
well done Biwi on the Christmas prep , I’m not far behind you as I have to get it done before 6 Dec as after that I’m away @prettybird your cake sounds great , I always think about making one , a nostalgic notion lol but too much temptation to have around when only dp and me like it
have a great week everyone

Yesterday I discovered I'm more prepared for Christmas than I'd realised - found a big jar of homemade mincemeat in the back of the fridge from last year. Between that and a bar of Christmas cake from a shop I'm proving quite the festive domestic goddess

Still haven't weighed. I suspect I'm at the point where on previous occasions I've started to plateau and lose momentum but this time I'm still going strong. I'm back into many of my slimmer clothes but either my Levis have shrunk or I'm not as slim as I feel I want to wear them at Christmas though so they're motivating me to keep going!

@humancalculator it definitely does, I drink 1.5l at the gym, I have to wait until half an hour after before I go anywhere but then I don't need to wee anymore than normal. I do always wake up absolutely desperate for a wee though. When I first started used to get up a couple of times on the night.
@Mercedesbenz2022 camomile tea counts, I drink at least half of my water if not more as herbal teas. Butteremint in the day and camomile at night. I have a massive 500ml mug, much more pleasant that pan cold water.
@prettybird very impressed with the cake, I once tried to make one, it cost £££ and tasted awful decided shop bought was the way forward.
@Baystard keep going get in those levis, last Christmas I bought myself a pair of Levi's as I'd wanted some for years but I was never small enough as an adult and as a slim youth I was a goth who wouldn't be seen dead in jeans. they are actually a bit big now which is sad as I had them embroidered in the shop, they have a little baby pumpkin on the pocket.
Christmas prep is going well here thanks for the motivation. Going to do some wrapping today. I have all in-laws presents, dh visiting them in a couple of weeks so no further thought required.
So what is everyone asking for for Christmas I have no ideas at all.

Lurking here again...have managed to put on all the weight I lost on boot camp last year. Feeling rubbish, so am determined to do something about it.
My diabetes has come back and is full blown, the doctor has given me a serious talking to which has given me the impetus I need to crack on.

So I'm on week 2 and 8lb down. My DH is doing this with me and he's keeping me on the straight and narrow as well so I don't fall headfirst into a vat of wine!

It's all about planning for me, if I know what I'm having I'm fine. This will become increasingly more important for me as we head into December!!

Enjoying reading all the updates on Christmas and feeling quite festive!

Have a good day everyone

@moleeye well done for getting back on it. I had GD and am high risk for developing T2 and this way of eating suits me really well.

Incredibly busy and stressful week this week. My 19 year old stepson moved in which is great, but an extra, slightly depressed child who needs a bit of parenting. We're having new windows fitted with all the resulting chaos. Plus DP's contract is almost up with his current (temp) job and we're waiting to hear if he's got a great new job he's been interviewing for.

Food wise plodding on, I'm at work 12 hours today and normally take leftovers, but the 19 year old ate them last night so I've got abit of cauliflower cheese left from Sunday for my tea 😬😬

@NotDonna the important thing is that you had pizza ONCE, not every day.

@FinallyHere the Canarians in general love potatoes. They have 2 special sauces to go with them - green sauce and red sauce. I think they claim that the volcanic soil adds a special taste to the little potatoes...

@moleeye Good on you! Coming back here is a great step to take, don't feel bad, feel happy that you know a place to get some support and lots of resources. 8lbs down is amazing, see how well this works for you. And eating this way will stablilise your insulin response. This is not just about weight loss this is an investment in your health for the rest of your life.

I've just returned from a few days on Islay - the home of whisky. The good thing is that I can only drink whisky in small amounts.

My challenge this week is to make low carb naan bread. It's part of my Christmas seasonal prep. Our Christmas is spread out - dsis is coming to stay for a few days in early/mid December; dds and dgc will be here 22nd/23rd; 25th will be a day-visit to 93yo pils; 26th will be dh and I having our own wee Christmas.

The naan experiment is in preparation for dsis coming to stay. I'm going to make naan-izza. It's like pizza but with Indian flavours. So my low carb naan base (if it works) spread with a masala tomato sauce, a sprinkling of grated haloumi (I know it should be paneer), then various toppings - keema lamb curry, chicken tikka, cauliflower and spinach. All topped off with little cubes of haloumi. Served with an asian slaw.

Then my next challenge is tidying my office - it has become a dumping ground for everything.

Today the sun is shining, there's beef casserole in the slow cooker and this afternoon I'm off to get my vaccinations.

And thanks for the Club La Santa recommendation. I'm dreaming of a little bit of winter sunshine and that might just be the perfect answer.