Summer 23 Boot Camp, Week 3: (maybe) you can relax (a bit)

[prettybird]

Welcome to week 3 . This is the week where you have a choice.

PLEASE READ THIS POST CAREFULLY

If you wish, you can move on to Bootcamp Light, which means that you can now introduce fruit, nuts/seeds, chocolate and alcohol.

SOME.
IN MODERATION.
NOT AT EACH AND EVERY MEAL!

So with fruit, this is mainly berries - check out the fruit counter on the Spreadsheet, which the lovely FinallyHere will be along shortly to link to, which will show you which fruits are best to introduce. Similarly nuts.

With chocolate, make this the highest cocoa content that you can - certainly 70% should be a minimum - and restrict yourself to a couple of square, not a whole bar.

And as to alcohol - it's dry wines and clear spirits, with low calorie mixers or, even better, soda/sparkling water. Your body will choose to use alcohol rather than its fat for energy but some of you have already seen how the disinhibiting effect of alcohol can result in falling into carb consumption

Remember we're still on Bootcamp - so be very careful how much of any of these you introduce.

However, week 3 (and 4 and sometimes even 5) is infamous as this is the point where you may see your weight loss slow, stop or even reverse

It's very, very, very common for this to happen, so if it happens to you, don't panic! It's not a stall. It's all about your body settling into this WOE, and what you'll see once we get through the low carb doldrums is your weight loss will continue, albeit at a slower rate of around 1-3lbs a week. (How much you lose will depend on how much you have left to lose).

Bearing this in mind, you may want to stay on strict Bootcamp. There's nothing wrong with this at all - just make sure you are following Bootcamp rules, and that things haven't started to slip and I've seen talk of quite a few slippages . In particular, make sure that you're sticking to rule 4 - i.e. that the majority of your carbs are coming from veg/salad. And don't forget the water!

Some Bootcampers like to do a hybrid, which means strict Bootcamp during the week, relaxing into Bootcamp Light at the weekend. The choice is entirely yours.

All the best! And remember, if you're not seeing the scales move as quickly as you'd like, then look at the NSVs: looser clothes, better skin, better sleep - and simply no longer being in thrall to carbs

@TheOnlyMrsW - how annoying about the Toby Carvery not looking at your dh

Drink all the water to help with the sluggishness

Staying off the alcohol is a good idea. I've seen too much alcohol creeping in, slipping up and resultant falling off of the wagon over the last week not that I'm accusing you of falling off the wagon

REMINDER TO EVERYONE : while you can now have the odd glass of wine/low carb alcohol (eg certain spirits), your body will use the alcohol for energy first rather than your fat. So while it won't knock you out of being ketogenically adapted, it will slow your weight loss .

We might not count calories on this WoE but alcohol really is the epitome of "empty calories" AND the resulting loss of inhibitions can mean a slippery slope into carbs

@NotDonna - hopefully the lovely @FinallyHere has managed to sort the issue with the Spreadsheet

Your goals sound achievable - and I know that you're able to be focused when you need to be

I love halloumi - will probably be eating it more often now that ds' veggie girlfriend is staying with us.

I'll carry on with BC and start BC lite at the weekend where there will be lots of alcohol and lots of food around but I know some of it will be BC friendly.

Wine esp red wine 🍷 makes me ravenous like in a frenzy unlike other alcohol so I'll wait till Autumn to touch any. Till then gin and slimline tonic and prosecco. I rarely eat chocolate but do get cravings. Lidl do those small bars that come in a pack of 5 so one of those is a great way to not go mindlessly through a massive 500g Dairy milk.

Sunday

B - coffee FFGY
L - pork and vegetables and urm a couple of bites of dessert
D - 6 egg Omelette with onions and tomatoes - I made it large to put in the fridge to curb hunger but ended up eating the whole thing yesterday for D then a few hours later for S.

I'm just so so very delighted that I can still fit into my size 16 swimming costumes. They were tighter around the tummy but they fit because they stretch.

I've got a Paris trip coming up and an AI but I can work around that. I will probably go a bit overboard with the fresh fruit but I will swim a lot as I love to swim. I should do that more here really. I used to swim all the time.

@OldandTired66 - I agree with @NotDonna - maybe try to cut out/cut back on the creamy coffee, but good news on the dresses now fitting a bit better.

Make sure to keep drinking all the water.

@MilsonandJim - as long as it's just a small one

@Random789 Sounds like you've given yourself a good working over with the Big Stick You've illustrated too well the risks and challenges of alcohol and the slippery slopes it can lead to

This is a new week: stay off the alcohol and drink all the water. That will help minimise the damage.

@Passtheturkey - sorry about the worries about your dh's health . You're right though to try to break the automatic reaction to reach for comfort food and alcohol when stressed. In the long run it doesn't help and can itself cause more stress as you beat yourself up

@StuntNun 's suggestion of soda water with some wine for a spritzer is lovely and refreshing.

I also like soda water with a slice of lime as an alternative to a G&T - although it is now permissible to have the occasional small G

@Baystard - I know you're pretty close to goal, so I love your attitude to looking at your progress in relative terms.

@prettybird in the interests of full disclosure I did fall off slightly, glass of wine on Friday and pinched a couple of DH's onion rings over the course of the weekend but reasonably committed to staying on it this week!!!

@pangolinfan - you've made fantastic progress since 5 May - you deserve to be pleased with it I'll pretend the jelly bean incident didn't happen

I've not yet managed to get below 12 stone (my next intermediate goal for this Boot Camp) - might be another week or so

I couldn't weigh this morning as I'm still away from home. I'll update the spreadsheet tomorrow. I'm hoping for not too much damage - I've stuck to BC lite but probably have eaten more than I would at home.

@cheesenotoast - as I've just mentioned, I'm looking forward to getting back into the 11s but it might be another couple of weeks. 

But I'm going to stay focussed. 

@TheOnlyMrsW - I don't have a recipe for my neep (swede) gratin but I just slice it thinly into pieces about 1" square (rectangular) and layer in a (greased) gratin dish with some finely chopped garlic and a lot of cream. Plus plenty of salt and pepper.

It takes longer to cook though than you think - think it was at least an hour, if not an hour and a half, at 160C fan.

@Coffeeandcherrypie - be careful with the cashew nuts - they're the carbiest of the nuts. although I love them and couldn't stop at just a few

Macadamia nuts are amongst the lowest carb, so maybe roast and salt some of them I even make a special trip to my big Tesco or Sainsbury to get some which reminds me

Your snacking was probably made worse by the carb creep and biscuits that have crept into your diet.

The scales will probably also have stayed the same because of the lack of water. If your throat is still too sore, maybe try some lukewarm (boiled and half cooled) water, maybe with a squoosh of lemon. Or even steep some slices of ginger in boiling water and let it cool.

Thanks for the new thread @prettybird

Fell off the wagon on Saturday for our 28th wedding anniversary which somehow continued into Sunday, feeling blah too but back on track today, was doing so well with my goal weight only 7lb away and clothes fitting brilliantly.

Roast leg of duck with buttery vegetables for supper.

@SummerSazz - keep up the good work. Drink the water and enjoy all the salads of an All Inclusive. You'll be pleasantly surprised when you cone back.

@ListenLinda - see my many earlier comments this thread about the perils of alcohol. I'll leave it there And as you know, water is soooo important in making this WoE work.

@Stokey - sorry you've not been well. You seem to have a grip on the triggers so hopefully it's a one-off and you can be back.

Maybe next time try more of the Lo:Salt and/or proper electrolyte tablets/sachets rather than salt/NaCl. And avoid the processed foods

Bravely bought a pack of almonds today. They are soooo lovely when toasted and thrown into a stir fry or salad for a bit of crunch, but waaaay too snackable. So I must take care.
They weren't the most addictive thing in my shopping bag, though. The dog sniffed his way past minced beef and chicken to detect the presence of Bouncy Balls - even though they were wrapped in plastic. He is on a vigil, now, next to the drawer where I sequestered them. He is not allowed to have them except out on walks, or they would be in pieces within the hour.

@Witsend101 - good on you for de-lurking and welcome

I'm not on the laptop so can't see the spreadsheet to see what weight you currently are. So I can't tell if you are having enough water for your weight. It really is important to drink your full allocation.

Your menu looks good - although unless you are already well into BCing, you shouldn't be missing meals.

Can you jot down a few more days' worth of menus so we can see if there is a pattern? You might actually need to eat more

Caveat: I'm not as good as BIWI at analysing but the combined power of the Boot Campers should be able to help

It may also simply be that you need a bit longer for you to see the effects.

You say that you've not seen any NSVs yet. What about better skin (from all the fat and water) or better sleep? getting up in the middle of the night to pee notwithstanding

@HappiDaze - the perils of alcohol seems to be a common theme in my posts today!

Oh I know @prettybird - and the worst thing was, I didn’t really enjoy them which is why I only had two. Tastes far too sweet!

Another late weigh in here, completely forgot this morning so it will be tomorrow morning for me now. Had a great first week but I'm not expecting much off this week, I can just feel in my clothes that nothing has changed. It will balance out overall though and I won't lose motivation if the result doesn't come in for me tomorrow.

Have a good week all, I'm going to try to stick to proper BC Monday to Thursday with the odd glass of booze at the weekend

@Witsend101 could you be retaining a bit of water which is temporarily masking a loss? If the sort of food that you've posted today is representative of your general diet I'd be amazed if there isn't a big whoosh on the horizon, and it's not unknown to appear to stall for a while. I've lost many stones through this way of eating but there have been some stalls and plateaus along the way. They're frustrating at the time but then suddenly the scales are moving again and all is well.

Just checking in with todays food.
B - 2 coffees with cream. Low carb toast and fried eggs.
L - feta cubes, olives and a few walnuts
D - chilli with celeriac chips.
Snack - 2 squares dark choc, more coffee with cream and a no alcohol gin with low sugar (no sweetener) tonic.

Feel like I've eaten loads today.
Lost 1.5lbs last week.

Now that we're all onto Boot Camp Light at least most of us , I can post up this picture of the lemon posset that I'd made last Sunday night (I'd started Boot Camp over a week early)

It's a low carb lemon posset, served with home-grown raspberries. It was delicious. I've adapted it from a Ketoqueen recipe, so I'll need to write it up and put it on the "Desserts and other sweet things" recipe thread. I had to use inulin rather than erythritol as I'd run out, but although I had to press the insulin to get it to dissolve properly, it worked well.

I am regretting not measuring myself before I started. I don't really need to as I can see I have lost weight from my cheekbones. I tried my jeans on that I am hoping will fit by the end of boot camp. Still seems a long way off being able to wear them.

Today I had:

B: Ham salad sandwich- using the ham slices in place of bread
L: 2 boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes and mayo
D: Belly pork slices, creamed leeks and runner beans
Not enough water today - will do better tomorrow.

Going forward I am going to stay away from chocolate and alcohol but I will probably have some peanut butter and raspberries (not together!)

@prettybird lemon posset and raspberries look lovely BUT your roses!!!! So very very pretty. I’m guessing from your garden? Gorgeous!