Summer 23 Boot Camp, Week 4: we (might) enter the doldrums

[prettybird]

Here we are in Week 4 already - nearly half way through . By now, most of us should be seeing some good results - but not necessarily all of us to the same extent as our bodies are all different.

Remember that many of us experience a few weeks of doldrums over Week 3, especially Week 4 and even possibly week 5, where the scales will resolutely refuse to move - or even move upwards slightly . This is normal as your body adjusts to this WoE, so keep the faith , follow the rules , KOKO and the scales will to move again. In the meantime, concentrate on the NSVs, like better sleep, better skin, more energy and/or looser clothes.

Remember that this is a marathon not a sprint, and try not to get too fixated on the short term. All healthy weight loss regimes will eventually settle down to a rate of 1-2lb/week but at least on this WoE, you can enjoy healthy, tasty food and not be hungry all the time. Concentrate on what you can eat, not what you can't

I’ll get our lovely Spreadsheet Monitor @FinallyHere to link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Here's to another good week - onward and downward

@Random789 have you tried intermittent fasting? I've found it incredibly useful for weight management now that I'm lighter and need less food because it means that either I'm eating joyfully in whatever quantity I want, or I'm just 'not eating yet'. I never "artificially" restrict any individual meal.

My weight is also stuck (and I need to try to stop weighing as often) but I'm sure it's water, even my shoes are feeling uncomfortably tight this week. I've eaten a few lowish carb but much higher UPF things than I'd like this week in my quest to clear out the deepest recesses of our freezer and they're really not agreeing with me. I'm not quite behaving like a dustbin as they've been used to make a meal, but I've not done myself any favours. Arthritis also playing up more than usual which I'm sure is connected.

Clean eating is the name of the game today. I am in the office with back to back meetings all day so will likely skip lunch altogether (and probably barely notice) and then I'm planning roasted Mediterranean veg traybake with a whole block of feta, followed by clotted cream and stewed rhubarb.

@Newlease welcome back! I've been the opposite with clothes in the past and have thrown them away regularly as I've yo-yo'd and then been doubly depressed when I've gained weight because I had nothing that fitted me. This time I've kept them but have packed them away out of my normal wardrobe and, having not fallen disastrously off the wagon since last October I'm now a bit superstitious and too scared to throw them away [face palm]

@FinallyHere thank you!!! @prettybird thanks for taking up the job, I am
carrying a big stick myself for now, so hopefully will be avoiding yours @Baystard haha I know what you mean! I would be the same. Right now I am living in few very big clothes, I have decided not to size up. When I say throw away, it would be mostly at my sisters ( so I can grab back in case I need it ) but the clothes I worn last year after Jan and May BC is nowhere near fitting for me now!! Which makes me very sad.
As PP said looking back, I was perfectly fine and was wearing nice clothes, but never satisfied as my mum tum sticks out and now I have the whole 10kg to loose to reach that point! (dh and others see that tummy first, so I have decided to ignore other people’s opinion🙄)
I have been in a better place since my first diet probably 12 years ago food relationship wise. I have started eating a lots of veggies, specifically leaves, drinking water ( used to be only coffee) and also stopped eating chocolates. I don’t have to restrict myself from grabbing a choc but that’s part of my life now. Can’t eat anything very sweet. So good things as well

Hey guys, have been following for a while but I'm a week behind in boot camp. Have been sticking to less that 20g daily for the first 2.5 weeks and have nearly lost my goal of 5kg. Currently having a bit of a blip and I'm not sure whether I've got a bug, eaten something dodgy or knocked myself out of Ketosis. Wondering if anyone could give advice?

Basically Tuesday I consumed no carbs during the day (not sensible I know) it got to the evening and I was feeling hormonal so I had 2 strawberries, 2 tsp double cream and 1 square 85% dark chocolate. I woke up during the night feeling dreadful, sick, diarrhoea, sweating, stomach cramps. I managed to rally myself up and continue low carbing yesterday as I was concerned it was due to all the carbs consumed in one sitting and didn't want to make it worse. But I'm still suffering today with awful stomach cramps and diarrhoea, plus feeling sick. I'm not sure if it's due to knocking myself out of ketosis or due to the cod that I ate for lunch on Tuesday (which smelt a bit suspect). I'm trying to add in a few more sensible carbs but I'm struggling to eat anything. I just don't want to make it worse!!

I made myself a lovely huge stir fry last night with FLGV and a had a bit of dark chocolate after from one of those little choc bars from LIDL. They're a great size to not overindulge. I only ever have a sweet tooth when I'm changing my WoE or on a diet of sorts. I did have a G&T (slimline / low cal tonic) but after my huge stir fry so it didn't put into a ravenous frenzy. I should have drunk it whilst cooking.

My stir fry was chicken, white cabbage, onion, bean sprouts, mushrooms and broccoli 🥦 cooked in sunflower oil with ginger and garlic, bit of sesame oil, soy sauce and some oyster sauce.

I've been buying bigger and bigger clothes every year it seems. I keep them all so I have to bag them and put them up in the loft depending on the season. I'm good at restricting my purchases to the bare minimum.

I bought some tester paints yesterday so I'll be trialling them at some point on my living room walls. I'm due a decorative refresh.

@RatatatCat I'd be very surprised if 2 strawberries and a square of dark chocolate made you feel ill - I think it's more likely to be dodgy fish.
I wouldn't worry about eating if you really don't feel like it - just have plenty of fluids till you feel better.

@RatatatCat you should never eat fish that smells. It should smell of nothing. It definitely sound like the culprit

I hope you feel better soon and keep up those fluids

Have felt dreadful all week, so much so that I went to the dr's this morning - very lightheaded and shaky, and not really "there" iyswim, described it to the GP as like being really badly hungover (😳) but seeing as I haven't had any alcohol since Sunday afternoon I'd be surprised (and a bit dismayed) if that was it. It's that TOTM at the moment but never reacted like this before.........did the usual physical checks and described food habits etc and thankfully nothing obvious so have had bloods done which should be back tomorrow.

Breakfast was my favourite cafe breakfast bagel (bacon, smashed avo, fried egg and halloumi) without eating the bagel and a latte as a treat. Just had a snack of FFGY with the last of the sodding blueberries and resorting to one of the zero tabs in a pint of water to try and make myself feel better! Dinner will be leftover roast chicken with salad leaves and roast veg. Back to Monday's weight so hopefully can keep on track for the rest of the week and at least STS (would love a loss to take me closer to 12 stone but not banking on it).

Tomorrow will be a bit of a challenge - driving DDad to a family funeral in Stevenage and back from lovely East Lancs as he's waiting for double cataract surgery and can't drive, planning a huge breakfast but fluids will be an issue to make sure that I don't have to stop at every other services on the A1!!!! Then Lancaster uni open day with DC on Saturday and after that I'm not getting in the car at all for the next week!!!!

Away to that there London next week with DC so need to start planning for that to make sure I don't fall headfirst into the carbs and undo all my good work.................

Had a busy morning in town and acquired a parking ticket, so fuming. Usual on-street parking area but a sign said no parking from July 6th until July 13th (because road works or something). I took that to mean 13th was OK, no sign of any roadworks. Apparently not. So very expensive haircut. Anyhow, boiled egg for breakfast, Chicken salad for lunch followed by medicinal chocolate (tiny piece). Dinner will be pork steak and roast veg. @RatatatCat, definitely sounds like food poisoning, keep up the fluids and rest yourself.

I would appeal that ticket. 'Until the 13th' definitely means you can park there on the 13th.

Thanks guys! The thought of fish is making me at the moment. Plus actually the thought of eggs, bacon and chicken. I'm desperately trying to stay on track though. One of the reasons I started was to cut sugar and I'd normally eat a digestive or butter toast when feeling poorly, but I don't want to start getting the taste for and undoing my hard work. My food today looked like:

B: FFNY and 5 frozen blueberries plus a dioralyte
L: cucumber, spinach and 1/4 avo with tuna and mayo ( could not stomach much of this)
D: halloumi, babybel and broccoli with butter
S: 5 hazelnuts

Very random, it's also pretty much going straight through me, but ish on the right track!

'I'm still standing' 😁
I was listening to Alan Carr on audio book today and he was going on about the importance of making a plan. I never make a plan. Weight loss is like a surprise to me and I never set a target, It's made me think that I need a target and a plan - i used to think that a targt would sabotage me, if that makes sense.
I'm around 168lbs. My next target of 165 would put me into a healthy BMI - I am 5ft 8.
154 lbs would be 11st - I like a round number. It's 10lb less thatn I have been in decades. Think I'll aim for 160lb and see how I am.

Hope you’re feeling better today @RatatatCat

@Eanair23 was that Alan Carr the comedian or Allen Carr the stop smoking/drinking? I had a vague goal when I did BC in October but this time it’s more concrete. I’ve bounced around the 150lbs (10st 10lbs) since end of Oct boot camp - although a couple weeks before bootcamp it was 159 after a very indulgent holiday. That aside, I know I can maintain at 150 but my bmi is only just below 25 and according to renpho my fat 35% and red. Muscle is blue and too low. So my goals are a better BMI so aiming for 140lbs (a straight 10st), and see how this changes the other parameters. I need to think how I can improve muscle - per-menopause is probably not helping here. I play tennis but only once a week term time & do Pilates once a week term time & walk the dog every day. In Sept I’m upping this to Pilates 3x a week, tennis 2x a week and I’ll still be walking the dog daily. I should probs do something over summer though!

Good morning all,
Last night I ordered Davinia Taylor's testosterone support supplements, which are supposed to support your adrenal glands which make your own testosterone. Am in perimenopause and my testosterone levels are low (waiting on an appt with the menopause clinic since the dr won't prescribe it). Testosterone helps with muscles and apparently also the stubborn belly fat that women get post menopause when their levels halve.
I'm hoping this will help alleviate muscle aches and help me with increasing exercise.
I'm a big fan of Davinia Taylor's book about balancing hormones and I think this woe supports a lot of what I'm aiming for in that sense.

Yesterday I wasn't hungry at all. Had low carb salmon sandwich for lunch and spiced squash soup for dinner. The soup was 20g of carb which is much higher than I'd like but the lowest soup I could find - weirdly just had a craving for soup, which is a win from craving a galaxy!
No chocolate yesterday.
I'm enjoying my alcohol free g&t of an evening, which is keeping me away from proper alcohol.

Today I've achieved (just) a magical number target. The date is 14/7 and my weight is also 147 tbh it is 147.9 and I've have liked it to be a round 147.0 but a night away visiting friends on Wednesday was a tough one to navigate.

Today:
L - chicken, avocado, salad, coffee with cream
D - pizza toppings on a low carb base, more salad.

It's so great to see so many people just a few pounds from their target! It proves that this WOE works, even when there's not much to lose, and that counting calories isn't necessary even then.

I've got a lot to lose still, but today (I'm a daily weigher once on established BC) I passed another milestone. I've now lost 20% of my body weight, since starting to eat low carb in 2022. I'm still fat, in fact I'm still obese, but I look and feel so much better. I've had to buy all new clothes, from underwear outwards! Even my rings are loose now.it's about 20 years since I weighed this amount!

Yesterday's food:
B: coffee
L: cold chicken, leftover salmon, salad, mayo
D: chicken fajitas with no wraps, avocado, sour cream, peppers, salad.
S: cheese

@NotDonna it was the comedian. I'm enjoying his book.

20% is an amazing achievement @Lucienandjean bloody well done you!!
I was planning a salad for lunch but I’m chilly. I’ve got a bit of mince left over so I may make a teeny tiny Babootie. And have a side salad with it.

A midi skirt I bought recently wouldn't zip up or sit well but it did yesterday when I tried it on and wore it, so again I'm delighted that an item if clothing fits properly

It's raining today so no walks but am starting to pack for my trip to Paris next week. I can't wait.

B - coffee FFGY
L - 2 fried eggs and baked beans
D - chicken Thai green curry

@TheOnlyMrsW thanks for the festival tips. We are camping in standard camping. Don’t think we’ll have any access to cooking equipment (other than to heat water for coffees) but I’ll take cold food I can prep and eat at the tent. Food stall options looks ok with some low carb adaptations.

Its great hearing everyone’s successes. Well done boot campers!

Im not sure how much more weight I need to lose now. Ive always carried weight on my legs and I’m not confident in summer dresses yet, so I’d like to tone them up - which will need to be through a combination of further weight loss and exercise. Having said that I need to be realistic about my body shape and what is actually achievable. I’m lighter now than I have been in years and I want to stop and enjoy being this healthy weight rather than yearning for the next target.

@ItsAsIfWeWereThere i agree! I think it’s important to stop and smell the roses, congratulate ourselves and sit with the success before looking at the next stage. Not just for weight loss but in so many ways our lives are a bit next, next, next!!

Love a good karmic number @moderndilemma and also hearing about everyone's successes, when I feel like throwing in the towel they help keep me on the straight and narrow! @Lucienandjean 20% is an outstanding achievement, it made me do some sums and if I lost the same I'd still be at the top end of a "healthy" BMI 😯.
Another fairly stressful week - I really do wish 2023 would p#*s off - and another meal out with carb-hungry family to negotiate........along with a trip to plan very last-minute as I've been too busy this week to get my head round it!

Thank you @NotDonna and @TheOnlyMrsW. Bootcamp definitely makes a big difference to me. Seeing other people's losses and the meals they cook is such an encouragement when it all gets difficult.

Good morning everyone. I have had a bit of a hectic week so didn't get to pop in or post much. Foodwise it has been fine and I think that this WOE is getting easier and becoming more intuitive. I had an extra boost yesterday when one of my colleagues asked me what products I was using as my skin looked amazing. All that water and fat is having an impact in more ways than one. Also had a little weigh in yesterday and my weight was down a full kg since Monday. I had fish last night and made turnip chips in the air fryer for the first time. I have never been a fan of turnips but they were surprisingly good. I may have had an extra glass of wine or two as well but I feel ok about that. I am lying in bed right now sipping my coffee and cream and wishing I didn't have to go out in the rain today but the shopping won't do itself! Chat to you all later and hope everyone had a great day.

@TheOnlyMrsW I’ll help with trip planning. My favourite job. Where you thinking of going?

Lucky lucky me & DD2 going to Wimbledon today. It was meant to be DD1 with DD2 but she is away with friends. Annoyingly I ordered them an afternoon tea basket containing sandwiches, cakes, brownies, scones and jam/clotted cream, macaroons, strawberries & cream. I know! Teen heaven, BC nightmare! Their perfect food and quite pricey, but was a very special treat. It’ll be very hard to swerve (as I’ve still got a sweet tooth) but I’ve booked bfast/brunch at Cote beforehand so will fill up on a proper big bfast although I usually skip it. I’ll take in some nuts too. DD2 is always ravenous so she may eat most of it. And I’ll bring home any leftovers for DH & DD3. There, I have a plan.

@ItsAsIfWeWereThere I don't l know whether you have specific exercise plans but I found the 30 Day Shred absolutely brilliant for toning up legs and arms, and it doesn't take long to make a big difference.