Pre Christmas 22 Boot Camp: Week 6

[prettybird]

Hopefully, the one where you get beyond the Weeks 3, 4 and 5 doldrums. And if you don't, then KOKO, drink all the water and maybe post what you've been eating so we can see if there is anything you can tweak. We're all here both to support and be supported.

@FinallyHere will be along shortly to post the link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousnessf. It truly is fabulous to see the results coming in

Christmas is in 5 weeks time - that's certainly an incentive for me to keep focussed.

So, in reality... I am having an amazing few days retreat with a very dear friend. We are in the most stunning 'cottage' in the Cairngorms.

Over the past few days we have walked and talked, we've eaten well, we've put the world to rights - have any of you noticed the difference?

Today we walked for 9 miles, then spent 2 hours in the hot tub gazing at the stars and the milky-way... (and contemplating the universe and our navels).

Dinner was peppers stuffed with lamb Keema curry, cauliflower and spinach.
Happiness

@venusandmars that sounds wonderful. Thanks for fixing the world.

Dh and dd2 are away at his parents so my friend came round last night, had a few drinks but didn't do any eating. Dinner last night was lamb chops and sprouts. Lovely, I eat too many sprouts.

That looks and sounds amazing @venusandmars 💖

That looks fabulous @venusandmars

You deserve to spend good time with a good friend

Hello everyone, I'm still here!

Thanks for the breakfast ideas- I think the crux of the issue is that I have 3 kids and a partner I think of first and just run out of energy when it comes to feeding myself! I need try to do something for myself- but it just seems like so much effort.

I ate 2 chocolates last night as well just because I wanted a treat- I did really enjoy them, but I understand that was a response to not putting myself first :(

Everyone is ill here as well- my 11 year old had a sleepover Friday night but had been throwing up ever since, and we all have colds as well. It's not much fun.

Sorry for the moany post. I know what I need to do. KOKO in the meantime.

Sorry to hear you've got an ill household @debka

Why not make yourself a batch of the low carb muffins (either cheesy/savoury or vanilla)? That way you've got something to grab and go for yourself.

When I used to get overwhelmed when I was working FT, I used to write down my menu plan for the week (rather than keep it in my overburdened brain). Why not include on that plan the things that you need to prepare for yourself (like muffins or low carb granola).

But you really should try to value yourself more. You are just as valuable - if not more - as everyone else in the family

Thanks @prettybird , we do an evening meal plan and shop for it weekly, so I'm good for dinners, it's just the breakfasts that I'm so bored with. LC muffins is a brilliant idea- I already looked at the recipe thread and saved the recipe. I'll make some this afternoon.

@debka I hope everyone is feeling better soon.

I have this week survived a works Christmas do - managed to kerp everything LC except dessert- even left the amazing looking potatoes. My only concession was a creme brulee but hopefully I danced that off.....

I have decided already that I am just going to have carbs on Christmas Day and not worry too much about the one day. What us everyone else doing? X

BtW don't know if any of you caught Tim Spector (of the Zoe app) talking on Saturday Live R4 yesterday - very interesting info on gut biome. Worth having a listen on BBC Sounds.

Basically our LC WOE sounds like it is doing a good job for our guts. He recommends eating a fermented product every day (yoghurt and cheese count) and a wide variety of plants (includes nuts, seeds, herbs) - I might buy his book, it sounds a good read.

V interesting about coffee- apparently research is showing it really is beneficial. I am normally a tea girl so might make an effort to include some coffee in the day.

KOKO

It sounds like a lovely and well deserved break @venusandmars

@comfortablyfrumpy I'm going to find that programme, I find gut biome fascinating since I read Michael Mosley's Clever Guts book which is well worth a read.

My plan for Christmas day is to stay relatively low carb, there'll be any amount of meat, nice veg, cream etc available. Not because I want to be virtuous but because one previous year I ate healthily in the run up to Christmas and then overdid the carbs and processed "food" on 24/25/26. It was too much for my system, I had terrible indigestion and felt horrible (both body and mind), and knowing it was self-induced made me feel disappointed with myself too. I think that for me so much of wanting to eat carbs at Christmas is because of nostalgia. I only think I must have 3 types of potato with Christmas Dinner for it to be festive, or eat my weight in quality street etc.

Catching up before it’s on the next page like venus whose weekend in the Cotswolds looks blooming amazing! I also love your idea of a pepper stuffed with keema!
biwi I gained a pound with those two lattes on Fri but off again this morning. I’ll be avoiding lattes!!
super well done with the wine tasting prettybird must have been an emotional time too 💐
@debka Ive also 3 kids (DH, dog, elderly parents) so know what you mean putting everyone else first. And when they’re ill our own needs do take a backseat don’t they? You’re self care could be ‘organise bfast’ 🤣 I HAVE to write a menu plan for lunches and dinners as kids take packed (which is such a faff) but my youngest is 2 stone underweight and doesn’t like what school provide so I prefer to give her a flask of high cal lunch & a pudding. It’s a lot of effort and temptation. I tend to skip bfast as busy and eat around 11/12 which is either a typical lunch or a brunch - I eat a lot of spinach and eggs as it’s quick.

I MADE THE MUFFINS!! Just had one as a snack this afternoon- it was great!

@comfortablyfrumpy would you just have black coffee? I used to drink a lot of coffee (with milk) but haven’t since starting boot camp (bar the lattes on Fri). Given the carby lattes added a pound I’m wondering if milk is problematic.
Im also beginning to think about Christmas baystard we are going to Australia (DH aussie) so whilst food wise it’ll be fine with lots of fish, seafood, salads etc, there’s a few wineries planned. My mouth will definitely not be wanting water.
finallyhere, BIWI & prettybird do you only ever drink water (flavoured with lemon, ginger, mint) and never anything else? Also whilst we’ve said earlier that herbal teas are fine I had a liquorice & peppermint tea pigs the other day and found it disgustingly sweet! It made me wonder if that would also cause an insulin spike. Some herbals teas say ‘ginger, lemon & honey’ which I’ve avoided as I’m questioning the honey. I suppose they’ll be less problematic than a carby latte but they could be as bad as Diet Coke/lemonade/Fanta etc, couldn’t they? 🤔

@debka - good for you for making the muffins. I like @NotDonna 's idea of doing it as part of "self-care" but TBH, making sure we're eating properly should be a minimum of appropriate self-care

NotDonna - even though the peppermint & liquorice tea tastes sweet, I don't think it is actually sweet - it's just the way that the mint reacts on our taste buds. Peppermint/mint tea is the same. I'll admit to occasionally "treating" myself to a peppermint (with or without liquorice) tea with a square of 90% Lindt chocolate. It feels like having a mint chocolate.

I now only ever have water (rarely need it flavoured) or a herb tea (I have a range). I also like rooibos (red bush) tea as it's the only "ordinary" tea that I can thole without milk (we usually drink a blend of Darjeeling & Earl Grey but I need milk in that). I also like black coffee (and our new bean-to-cup machine is going to make that dangerously easy )

We have a Sodastream @NotDonna, and so I make sparkling water. I sometimes add a splash of PLJ , but I don't add much as I don't like a strong flavour with cordials

@prettybird great idea about chocolate with a mint tea - I'll be trying that tonight 😊

I do keep looking at sodastreams biwi

Yep. We bought ours so that we could cut down on the amount of plastic bottles we were buying - I used to buy 4 x 2 litre bottles of sparkling water every week.

No idea if it saves us money (as the gas canisters are quite expensive), but it makes life easier - not just less plastic but also less weight to lug home from the supermarket

Tried some cauliflower mash tonight for the first time in ages. Big handful cauliflower finely diced and well shoogled for 5 mins in microwave, with butter. Blitzed with hand blender and a tablespoon or two of leftover grated cheddar. Much quicker than I expected and a firmer consistency - I should do it more often.

I loved my soda stream @BIWI but my local Argos closed and I haven't found where to get the canisters from easily since then.
@NotDonna I drink black coffee, herbal tea, so many varieties of herbal tea I have butter mint or one of the selections of loose ones I have in the day, I make them in a 500ml mug so really upping the water. Water with high 5 zero tablet in in a 1.5 litre bottle and then in the evening I switch to camomile tea have about 3 cups in massive cups.
So last night another meal out got added to my itinerary for the the next 2 weeks, so that's 4 meals out and 2 drinking nights out. Plus 5 12.5 hour work shifts. I'm slightly worried as I had the week off last week and was so tired I napped every day. I know for me tiredness can be a huge junk food trigger.
Menus
Thursday https://11u653.n3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Canteen-menu-nov-26.pdf.
Saturday https://thebotanist.uk.com/locations/sheffield/menus
9th and 10th will be bar food, will try and make sure I've eaten plenty before I go.
Works meal on 14th is set menu, cheese soufflé, duck, dessert and cheese board.
Meal on 15th https://www.enversturkishgrill.co.uk/files/ugd/42ae0cc_7f342fbff2ef4bedbff6b007a9c19800.pdf
I never go anywhere, why can't these be spread out over the year 😂

Good morning Campers. Link to new thread:

Week 7 Pre Christmas BootCamp: the home straight http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/4686862-week-7-pre-christmas-bootcamp-the-home-straight