Jan 23 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 6 - just three weeks left!

[BIWI]

Morning all. Sorry for posting the thread late, but I slept in this morning. The perils of being retired!

As ever, here's the link to the spreadsheet

I hope you enjoyed the vegetarian meal challenge - I certainly did, and I loved making the aubergine, spinach and paneer curry inspired by @mimosa1.

So now we're in the last three weeks. Hopefully things have been going well, since we left behind weeks 3 & 4, and you've settled into a good routine, and have found different ways to deal with the temptation of the carbs.

This week, I'm after fish recipes. We don't tend eat much fish, which is something I feel bad about - but it's driven mainly by a poor choice in our local supermarket. So I tend to fall back on to salmon - which is fine, but I need a bit more inspiration. We do have a Waitrose not too far away, which has a fresh fish counter, so will look forward to any ideas!

Good luck for the next week

@AllTheBlackCoffee I never waste any cooking juices/butter/oils in the pan! They all get poured over whatever I'm having.

You didn't actually 'scoff' the choc squares, did you? There's no failing in having a little dark chocolate here and there - it's very good for you and a perfectly reasonable thing to have on this WOL - and it's not helpful to frame it that way. If you did actually scoff them, all you need to do is make a pact with yourself that next time you really want some you'll choose mindfully to savour it as the treat it is and really enjoy it! Without any guilt whatsoever.

Nowt wrong with a couple of squares of 85% chocolate but misses point completely I find the 90% or 95% much nicer, the 85% has a slightly funny taste in comparison (more like the red wine type taste of cocoa nibs which I'm not really keen on).

Thank you @TangledWebOfDeception and @Baystard ypu are both right and I know there’s nothing really wrong with a bit of dark chocolate. I’m just not liking the way I’m feeling at the minute, a bit like I’m spiralling out of control and clinging on to the wagon for dear life.

In fact, I have just been sniffing DS’s giant bar of dairy milk he’s still ploughing through for Christmas.

I was feeling really good, no cravings but today, I am all over the place, feeling anxious and stressed (no particular
reason). And my usual response to these feelings is junk food. Without that I’m feeling very discombobulated. I am not going to give in and I will no doubt come out the other side, but still it’s bloody hard sometimes!!

@AllTheBlackCoffee I know that feeling.

Here’s my tip: A teaspoonful of peanut butter. Eaten slowly off the spoon.

There is something about it that pretty much always satisfies that craving for things I don’t actually want to eat. It’s good for me, so I don’t begrudge myself it.

But you do need to sit down somewhere and just let yourself really focus on enjoying it.

(The reason why I think sometimes it's important to manage those feelings with something that properly satisfies that 'itch' is that otherwise I think it can easily tip over into disordered thinking and obsessing about food and subsequently disorder in one's behaviour, too. I know that if I know I do need something - if I've tried various strategies/distractions/giving myself a pep talk, and it hasn't gone away or eased, it really does me no good to pretend that I don't need or want that comfort. Sometimes meat, veg, cream, whatever usually works just isn't what my body or mind is asking for. I'd rather satisfy it in a mindful and healthy way than ignore it and fall into a vat of less-than-ideal or god forbid, sugar and trans fats carbs later on.)

🙌🙌🙌

Thanks @TangledWebOfDeception you speak a lot of sense and it's much appreciated. I took myself out for a walk and am feeling a bit better, hoping I'm over this ridiculous mood I seem to be in. I have a PT session after work too which always helps to sort my head out!

Craving chocolate. Can someone talk me out of eating a packet of dark chocolate buttons please.

@AllTheBlackCoffee
I feel the same today.
Haven't craved chocolate since starting this WOE but this week (I have time off and am writing up some work related research) I am ravenous for the stuff.
Trying to resist the banana bread I made for DD and friends.

@Gingerwarthog what’s the % on the buttons? Also what’s the carb content for 1 piece?

If it’s good quality dark choc, and low enough on carbs, you could mindfully have two or three with a little bit of peanut butter on top.

However, important to decide what’s more important to you at this stage - successfully overcoming the craving and using strategies to work around it, or, mindfully having a few. Would you rather say to yourself that you will leave it ‘til tomorrow and see how you feel?

Is there something bothering you that your mind is wanting you to try to eat away? If I can identify the emotion(s) I’m struggling with I find it much easier to choose a successful strategy. If I’m bored I’ll do something for a little while - cross a small chore off my list, clear out that drawer I’ve been meaning to tend to, something that takes around 15-25 minutes so it’s not an onerous task but something I’ll feel happy and proud of once I’m done. If it’s sadness or something more thoughtful, I often go for a short walk. If it’s comfort I’m looking for I’ll have a coffee/decaf with cream and read a chapter of one of my favourite books. Sometimes I’ll watch a YouTube video on one of the channels that speak to my soul.

Thanks Tangled.
The chocolate is 74%.
That's really useful advice.
I think there are two problems:
I swam very hard last night at a training session and am hungry. I have had a fried egg, Greek yoghurt with raspberries and a banana today. We'll have chicken salad for dinner.
Secondly, the writing I am doing is complex and slow going and feels like two steps forward, three back at times.
Put the two together and it's as if my subconscious is saying 'you deserve choc'....
Have been for a walk already- will distract myself with my book and a jigsaw later.

If it doesn’t go away I personally think it’s okay to let yourself have some.

Your day’s intake of food doesn’t sound like very much, are you almost at target weight? Have you had enough fat today? Otherwise maybe have some butter. The banana isn’t great from a LC perspective. It’s basically just sugar. At this stage you shouldn’t be hungry if your fat intake is high enough (even when training very hard) and you might be getting carb cravings because of that.

Thanks Tangled.
I'm at my goal weight and just trying to keep there!

Ah @Gingerwarthog then I really think you should cut yourself some slack!

A few buttons with some nut butter is not going to throw you off course. And you know that either of those are allowed on LC so you can’t even use the excuse that you shouldn’t!

Also, if you’re hungry (as in ravenous and not just fancying a snack), I think your body is telling you it needs sustenance. You either need to up your fats during or after training, or allow yourself a little more food!

I agree regarding the peanut butter! (Except mine is usually a tablespoon) I have the whole earth one and will dunk a spoon of that with w cup of tea on an evening when I’d have usually have had a biscuit:

another one I’m finding as a nice sit down and de stress treat is coffee, double cream and half a teaspoon of sugar free caramel syrup - in comparison to the caramel latte I used to get from costa it’s a world away in carbs but still hits that spot perfectly. We have a velvetiser we usuallly use for milk lattes but worried about turning it into whipped cream haha

(But I’m talking as someone who always prioritises being well rather than losing or staying exactly on weight. Otherwise I get imbalanced very quickly and I don’t like that. It’s vital for my long-term health that I mitigate well, otherwise a proper binge which sets me off on the wrong path can be much more damaging than it might be to others. So if having a little of something that ‘fixes things’ for me today means I won’t have something tomorrow that might really be bad for me, I’m always going to do that. I understand that you/others might not prioritise in that way. I also sometimes make ‘deals’ with myself - okay, you can have some chocolate/nuts/whatever today, since you’ve decided that you really would like some, but then you can’t decide to have wine/treats tomorrow even though you usually would on a Friday night, and so on. And I stick to that deal.)

Thanks Tangled.
I probably need to eat more after swimming.
Good advice.

Also, if you generally train quite hard, it might be worth picking up a book on the science of low carb for athletes. There’s one on the resources tab (I bought it years ago when I used to train/run a lot and was also low-carbing, and it was very helpful). I don’t remember the exact title now as I don’t do anything athletic these days, but @BIWI or @StuntNun will probably remember it. Might help you to hone your intake a bit!

Thanks Tangled.
Thanks for taking the time to give me such detailed advice. I am training a lot so will look into low carb for swimmers. Xx

This is the book:

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance

@FinallyHere everything you have said makes so much sense, thank you. I do feel better, have more energy and fit into smaller clothes.
I think daily weighing is the problem as the scales move more slowly. I’m losing every week it just feels like I’ve spent a long time around the same weight when I probably haven’t really.
I do need to let go of the numbers a bit.

Thanks @BIWI

Hello everyone,
It's been a manic half term so I haven't posted much, but I've been reading and thinking of you all. I'm also struggling with cravings and carb creep and I think it might be because the early satisfaction of seeing weight drop off has slowed and I feel like a reward for doing well. Even though I know it's unhelpful! And that food shouldn't be a reward. I'm determined to be healthier though, so shall KOKO.

Thanks to the poster who posted the 4/5 pillar cholesterol diet. It's fill of things I like to eat :) (except okra ) and it's one is definitely be keen on trying during maintenance.

Good luck @janasaurus with your medical investigations. I Hope you get helpful and competent advice.

@ilovemetoo - we're on this thread now

Up by 2 lbs on the scale from yesterday... 😭
But down 2 lbs overall in a week