Summer 2023, the final weigh in & ongoing chat

[prettybird]

I started, so I'll finish.

I've agreed with the lovely @BIWI that I'll start this thread as I started the Boot Camp and I wanted to finish it.

She's going to jump back in with her much bigger Big Stick until I feel more up to it.

The lovely @FinallyHere will be along shortly with the link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness.

Thank to both of them for their support - and to you lot too!

I hope you've got what you wanted from this Boot Camp. We'll stay around here for chat and support until the next Boot Camp is organised.

I started Boot Camp early myself in early June at 12st 12.75lb. Having got down to 12st 1.75lb, I then had a massive blip in July for various weird reasons and sent back up to 12st 6lb ( above where I'd started on Week 1 of official Boot Camp ) but had got back to 12st 4lb 2 weeks ago.

Since then, I've dropped to 11st 12.75lb, so that's a whole stone. A bit drastic, but I'll take it as a minor positive but for a sad reason

I might manage to get under 11.5st before we go to South Africa next month

I'm honestly not hungry right now @venusandmars . Not wanting to eat all the time has been one of the lovely things about doing bootcamp. I'm okay with not having dinner if I feel I've eaten loads during the day because i don't get that weak and wobbly feeling I used to get before. I will eat something later though, if I do get hungry. I'm wary of too much cheese because I do use a lot of cream, either in coffee or in cooking and I know dairy can stall weight loss.
I do fancy a baked Camembert tomorrow though, so maybe I'll get one and give the cream a miss instead!

@LadyBird1973 I don't know how you managed to make sense of my post - there were so many typos!

I didn't even notice them @venusandmars

@prettybird thinking of you tonight and tomorrow

Went to visit a very longstanding friend today. She is very disabled and it is hard to see how compromised her life has become in the last couple of years. But she made me a lovely lunch - cold meats, smoked salmon, pieces of carrot, cucumber, pepper, celery with a cream cheese dip; some strawberries. And I did eat a tiny mini-eclair, but took the cupcake home (for dh).

Elevenses: coffee with cream
L - as above
D - green veg chicken soup; a tiny bit of lasagne without the pasta, salad

Thank you for your kind words @TheOnlyMrsW I know tomorrow will be difficult but I'll get through it.

Went to lunch today with my Pilates Pals (one of the others took over organising it and I was under no pressure to go). I didn't have the crushed potatoes that came with my fish but I did have the orange and cardamom parfait for dessert Only a small glass of wine though and plenty of water.

Did a practice run through of my spiel with them - need to do few more "repeat out louds" to make the emotion more manageable.

venusandmars has been a fantastic support - proving that it's possible to make RL friends via Boot Camp

Thinking about you and sending much love for tomorrow @prettybird

Thanking of you and your family especially today @prettybird

Found you all! I haven't been on in over a week as I am on my holidays with intermittent internet connectivity. Also no weighing scales so I will have to wait until next week to weigh in. I would love to hang around as well as I am finding this way of eating sustainable and in truth feel better than I have in ages.

I had started experimenting with low carbing a couple of weeks prior to BC and I joined the BC while sick with shingles. My starting weight was 84kg and the last time I weighed I was 78.2. it has been a really good eight weeks for me and I have learned loads and feel more in harmony with my body than I have in years.

The first few weeks were particularly hard as I had severe post viral fatigue and got little or no exercise in. I also came off HRT (oestrogen patches and daily progesterone) as it didn't suit me and I was really run down. I struggled with drinking enough water initially and while I did ok on food thanks to the wonderful advice on here I realised I was eating too much dairy which stalled my weight loss for a while. I did lose every week though -a few weeks it might only have been 200g but all loss was good loss and I am in this for the long haul.

The obvious benefits so far are that my skin looks great. All that water and fat has really made a difference. I have vascular rosacea and very dry sensitive skin. For the past few weeks it looks luminous and is not as irritated and reactive as it used to be. I am sleeping better - still not enough but the quality has improved. In the past month I can feel my energy levels increasing and am not constantly exhausted. The weight loss is the bonus.

I have been on an island of the coast if Ireland ( my happy place) for the past 10 days and while my diet hasn't been perfect due in part to some restrictions on what is available I have managed pretty well. I have walked, hiked, swam and enjoyed lots of good outdoor activities while enjoying lots of fresh fish, veg and a few glasses of Prosecco. I have had a few potatoes and did indulge in some ice cream last night and feel absolutely no guilt.

I am back to the mainland on Sunday and back to work Monday. I am going for a hysteroscopy in mid September and need to think about whether I want to continue with HRT (Mirena and oestrogen patches). Since I finished my previous HRT regimen eight weeks ago I have some hot flushes back but they are well within the manageable range. I am tending towards not though and continuing with this WOE, doing pilates/strengthening/HIT exercises for bones and heart and seeing how I get on.

Congratulations to everyone who completed the BC. Thank you to everyone on here for the guidance and support and for using the big stick wisely and judiciously.

@prettybird my thoughts are with you. 💐

Nice post @Goodiewhemper I've been following this woe for a long time and I sometimes forget all those benefits that you mentioned.

Three full meals today as I was feeling rather tired.
B - egg on schneiderbrot protein bread (3.7g carbs)
L (was out for the day and found a delightful little restaurant by the coast) smoked mackerel salad with pickled cucumber and a greek yogurt dip - it came with flat bread which I asked them to leave out. I did have 2 of dh's sweet potato fries. I'd ordered a glass of wine, but realised I wasn't actually enjoying it / didn;t really want it, so after a couple of sips I gave it to dh. He was astonished!
D - wild venison burger from local farm shop butcher, with kohlrabi, kale and fennel slaw

I seem to have been in a daze and missed this thread even though there's a link to it on the week 8 thread

@prettybird

I'm enjoying fitting into clothes properly and a couple of new things I bought in a sale fitting nicely.

I've enjoyed not being self conscious in my swimming costume.

I still need to lose weight but I'm sticking to plan.

B - bacon and 2 fried eggs with tea and coffee

L - FFGY, Tesco pumpkin seed and almond bar

D - lettuce, avocado, cabbage, tomato, spring onion, olive oil, balsamic, mustard. Followed by a Tesco pumpkin seed and almond bar.

I've been cooking a lot of chicken and veg this week which has been delicious. I'm finding I love the texture of fried white cabbage esp cooked in the juices and spices from the chicken.

Hope you are okay @prettybird x

Doing alright here. Had Gruyère fondue for breakfast/lunch with cucumber sticks and low carb toast. And a piece of fish with mayo for dinner. Plus 2 sugar free cookies, but I've accounted for the carbs.

I forgot about the pumpkin seeds - had a tablespoon of those too just to mix up the nutrients a bit.

Thanks for all the good wishes

Thursday went well - only managed to eat two chicken skewers at the wake, because I was too busy talking to all the people There were nearly a hundred people at the crematorium and about 80 at the wake. Not bad for a man of 86 who thought that statistically there wouldn't be many there. Loads of his old colleagues despite having retired nearly 30 years ago plus friends of all ages. A testament to the man he was.

Had a lovely afternoon and evening last night re-connecting with my cousin (more like a niece because of the age difference) who currently lives in the UK but was representing the Australian family. We had a lot of wine - but I didn't dive into the carbs

Ds' girlfriend and I spent a lot of time on Tuesday and Wednesday going through the gazillion photos and albums that dad had to put together 2 A1 sized collages for the way (she did a brilliant layout while I was out at lunch). She's had a crash course in the history of my side of the family

Bad week here - not for carbs but just eating anything really as cold and cough knocked me for six 😢. Mainly herbal tea instead of water so pleasantly surprised this morning to get on the scales and back to pre-holiday weight.

Feeling a bit more with it today so meal planning plus shopping has been done - carbonara today, meat and potato pie tomorrow, meatballs and tomato sauce Monday (I'll substitute the carbs for roast veg on all counts!). Picked up celeriac and a romanesco cauliflower so looking forward to doing something interesting with them - looking through the veggie recipe last night and some lovely sounding things 😊.

My aim is to stick with this woe as much as possible and lose at least another stone.

Day not going as planned. I went for a 'brief' visit to MIL & FIL in their care home, and to take each of them a copy of my dgc's 'first day back at school' photos - annotated with their names, ages and primary class number - it all helps the care staff to engage them in conversation. MIL (93) has had a rapid deterioration since breakfast time and all NOK were out of contact. I had to do a rapid scramble to get dh and SILs on phone/whapapp/text so they could make a quick decision about whther there was any point in sending her to hospital (there isn't). She has no infection, she is just dying

I've returned home now to get things for dh - his phone charger, his book, a toothbrush. He will be there until SILs can arrive tomorrow.

No idea how long this final phase of her life will take. Thay are 'keeping her comfortable' but MIL is no longer able to eat or drink, and to be honest her will to live disappeared some time ago.

End of life. Tough. However it arrives.

Oh @venusandmars you have my sympathy plus love and strength, mum went the same way earlier this year. Successfully fought off pneumonia only for there to be nothing left in the tank afterwards. The nursing home were brilliant but it was harrowing and the stubborn old baggage held on far longer than anyone expected. Not sure what experience you and DH have of these things but please take help where you can*
*I have mum's full permission for the description, one plus if it can be described as such is she was far more lucid in those last days than for a long time previously so we actually talked 💕.
**apologies if it's too familiar as I'm new to the threads.....

I'm very sorry @venusandmars

Very sorry to hear that @venusandmars

It's horrible even though you know it's for the best. We went through that with my mum

Sorry to read your sad news of you MiL @venusandmars

Thinking of you and your family xx

Sorry to hear that @venusandmars

Oh man, came to look for a boot camp but looks like it's just finished. When will the next one start? Thanks

@dandeliondaisy - this 8 week Boot Camp might have finished but most of us still continuing this WoE and will be around to support each other and any newbies.

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness linked to in the first few posts (I think @FinallyHere had to post it again) gives you the Rules, so why not go ahead and do the first 2 strict weeks. While you're doing them you can come on here with any questions or for support.

You can also go back and look at the thread for each of the weeks of Boot Camp to get an idea of what to watch out for (eg the notorious "stall" weeks of Weeks 3 and especially 4 and 5).

Not sure when the next "official" Boot Camp will be. Probably in the run up to Christmas.