Low Carb Bootcamp challenge - lose half a stone before Christmas

[BIWI]

If we start next Monday, there are 6 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Hopefully that means that we can drop 7lbs in those weeks - but only if we're properly strict.

It's entirely up to you if you want to do strict Bootcamp, or Bootcamp Light across those 6 weeks, although I'd suggest that if you haven't got too much to lose, you veer towards a stricter approach.

It's also, we need to bear in mind, a more difficult time of the year to think about losing weight as there are likely to be more social occasions, so a stricter approach around all of those events is probably a good one!

Who's in?!

Had a bit of a nightmare yesterday

I made some tablet for the Christmas lunch with my Pilates friends' lunch on Wednesday (Scottish tablet is pure sugar with a wee bit of milk and butter ). I've mentioned before that I've managed to make multiple batches without having a single piece because I can't have a single piece

Well, dear reader, I had a single piece......

Anyway, I've been drinking a lot of water today and blaming the increase on the scales on having finally changed the battery after weeks of them complaining and having to be coaxed to display a weight

I've had a terrible day too. Too bad to list. I'm starting again tomorrow. The only positive thing I can say is that I'm drawing a line under it and not allowing it to be the start of a slide backwards.

That's the right attitude to have @LadyBird1973

I've had a good day today after being shocked by the figure on the scales this morning .

Dh and I are planning on doing a Christmas shopping recce tomorrow morning snow permitting and we'll have breakfast at Sarti's (Glaswegians will know where I'm talking about ) and I'll have scrambled eggs while he gets the toast that it should be on. It's much more expensive than their breakfast of Italian bread toast, OJ and coffee which is brilliant value - but fortunately they're part oc the Amex Shop Small scheme so we'll get £5 off

I tried the sprouts with halloumi suggested up thread for lunch yesterday and OMG it was good - and only took about 10 mins to cook in the air fryer. Have another funeral tomorrow (seems to be the season for them), so will actually eat before I go so I don’t end up scoffing sandwiches again.

Morning all. I had a bit of a day yesterday too. My engine started making strange noises on my way to work so had to drop car off to the garage and take the train instead. It was 7am and -3 so by the time I finally got on the train and I was freezing and miserable and stressed about the car (think it might be a problem with the hybrid battery. I didn't warm up all day and had to wait two hours at the train station after work for my husband to collect me so it was after 8pm by the time I got home. My daughter had made fish and chips for dinner and I was too tired and miserable so I had the chips (homemade and actifry) with a big dollop of coleslaw. Instesd if the battered fish I had some monkfish baked with olive oil, lemon, capers and butter. I then had a a few squares of whole nut chocolate.

Today is another day but I have a Christmas party this evening but that should be ok. As a coeliac I never have deserts out and it should be easy to get a low carb friendly main course. My dh also has his and I will be collecting him so I will just be sipping water.
Fingers crossed for a better day than yesterday. Have a great Saturday everyone.

I haven't posted all week because it has turned out to be phenomenally busy but just checking in. Things are going OK, I decided at the outset that I wasn't going to go totally strict this time and the strategy seems to have worked in the sense that I have had various deviations from the WOE but not major derailments, so I have eaten eg one small slice of sourdough bread at a brunch out yesterday without it turning into a carb-munching frenzy for the rest of the day.

I am feeling really motivated this time, just want to say to anyone who is struggling, hang on in, I have been there many times and thrown myself off BC threads in despair but if you stick around and do your best (and most importantly start afresh again every day without dwelling on past failings) your motivation may well come back again. Fingers crossed!

I'm still here but work been mad! Not tried my Keto shake yet seen about the ingredients but will have for emergencies.

Had what I would consider a treat dinner last night but no carbs! We had picky bits with pigs in blankets, Camembert, some pickled onions, chicken satays , Boursin and cucumber sticks!

Sounds great @thehoundschicken!

Well my round of very-difficult-to-navigate social events has calmed down for a while, so it's got to be some very strict days for me now.

Even though so far my loss (overall since I started, which was before this challenge) has only been just over half a stone, people have noticed - as well as me noticing that my clothes are fitting better - which has been reassuring and also is a real incentive to keep going.

I wore a dress yesterday to our annual big Christmas piss up lunch that was definitely too tight last time I tried it on, so again - more motivation.

It sounds like lots of people are really starting to experience the busy-ness of this time of year.

I've had a couple of not great days food wise due to various reasons and really realising afresh how much better I feel when I am sticking to LC (feel sluggish & generally pretty rubbish this morning).

Has anyone tried doing a day (or more) of a longer fast to re-set after some bad days or do you think that's a bad idea?

@BIWI you say you are going to have some very strict days. What does that look like for you?

Very strict days:

• no breakfast, only black coffee until lunch (between 1-2pm)
• lunch usually 2 boiled eggs, or a cheese omelette; sometimes a sandwich made with low carb bread (usually cheese, sometimes ham & mustard)
• dinner some kind of protein, with different green veg - tonight we're having roast pork, which I'll serve with celeriac chips, buttery leeks and (I think) some cabbage.
• I try and include a couple of vegetarian meals every week; often cauliflower cheese, but I have come to realise, over the years, that cream can impede my weight loss, so my other 'go to' is aubergine and courgettes, layered with a garlicky tomato sauce.

No/low alcohol (trying to avoid artificial sweeteners, so if I'm drinking it will be either dry white wine, or a spirit with sparkling water).

Some form of exercise - gym on Sunday with my PT, a trip to the gym during the week and a couple of visits to the pool for a swim. I'm building up the amount of time I swim - from an initial start of 20 minutes, with a break at the end of the pool after a few lengths, to 20 minutes without a break - and now starting to do a 25 minute swim, adding in more lengths of front/back crawl for more intense cardio.

I have a couple of meals out coming up, but they're both in restaurants where I know I can eat low carb, e.g. Flat Iron, which will be steak and salad/creamed spinach, and another Italian restaurant, where they make a lovely beef salad.

I have one meal out where I know it will be difficult - it's a regional Chinese restaurant, which is the specific choice of one of my friends, and has been planned for weeks. There's no website either, so I have no idea what it's going to involve! But that's life, and something we all have to navigate every now and then.

I don’t have a strict day to reset. I probably should! I find I need to ease myself back in

i managed to avoid mulled wine last night when out (win).

I am still getting back on track but made a keto granola this morning which worked well with yogurt. I’m not great with dairy but I need it to stay in track!

might weigh myself tomorrow. Gulp

I am baking this avo with the kids- not sure how good my temptation will be

Gradually starting to feel more human, and the practically iv copious amount of herbal tea has done me some good as I'm another 1/2lb down and feeling much less bloated. Not been eating very much at all so probs contributing to the loss as well. I'm not sure I'll get to the full 1/2 stone this time but if I can manage 3lb more then I'll have lost a stone since June's BC.
DD and DH have their advent calendars, I'm not into sweets or chocolate so have a beauty one and we're doing delayed stir-up today once DD finishes work. Sausage and mash for dinner (vegetables for me) and a beef casserole in the slow cooker ready for tomorrow as footie might still go ahead (😯❄️) so will definitely need something ready and warming!

Trying to be stricter after succumbing to a posh pot noodle yesterday lunchtime. And a glass of wine Wednesday evening. Strangely sweet so not tempted by the rest of the bottle - yet! I made the aubergine, pesto and haloumi bake from the recipe thread last night. This is the before cooking pic, so not the prettiest but very yummy and filling. Thanks for all the inspiration, trials and tribulations.

That looks amazing @islandtiger

I’m away next week but I’ve checked out the menu where I am staying and it looks like it has some nice low carb food choices. I’ve packed my herbal tea for the room.
I’ll weigh in the morning (if I remember/can be bothered) but I feel less bloated and sluggish which is my favourite part of low carb.

A surprisingly good day. I was at a sports thing where the food options are usually very carby, and miraculously there was a hot bowl of chilli on offer! So:

B: FFGY, coffee
L: chilli
D: roast pork with buttered leeks and cabbage

It’s not pretty, but I can do up the button on an old pair of jeans for the first time in a year.

Now I look at that, it’s pretty low on veg…

I've enjoyed the food so far and love feeling less bloated (+having more room in clothes). I just struggle with the water. I've always found it difficult to drink enough.

Up 0.6lb this morning, but it is just a glitch, I have eaten out 4x since Friday and I was able to manage the Friday meals (cafe brunch and pub dinner) OK, the Saturday night one was a formal one with no options and a rare opportunity for me to drink alcohol (I usually drive), and yesterday was afternoon tea. However the difference is that this morning I am looking forward to my healthy packed lunch made last night and know the weight will go again (I was down 1.8lb on Fri morning before all these meals out started). Onwards!

Also I lost a couple of lb the week before before this mini BC started so at the lowest point last week I was actually on -6.6lb so I am keen to get to the half stone this week. Only eating out once and food has been pre-ordered.

Actually, considering not just the eat-out weekend but the fact that I was driving a 50 mile round trip most nights after work last week for a family emergency and necking back white coffee from Costa etc to drive safely I am really pleased with only 0.6lb gain. Sorry, brain dump!

Morning all

Like @EversoDisorganised I haven't been super strict this time around, as i have had too many events socially. But I am discovering that it is getting easier to start again straight away, and also better for me to have dark chocolate in the house (I have developed a taste for 85%) than to not have any and then start raiding the kids supply.

Yesterday I had cheese, ham and tomatoes for bf, roast pork with veg including buttery mashed swede as a late lunch, slice of cheese in the evening.

I have lost 2lb, taking me to 3lb overall for the December challenge and 1 stone since starting the September bootcamp. Traditionally I have tended to go completely off the rails in December so if I manage to stay the same for the rest of the month ready for a big push in January I will be happy. I am away this coming weekend so that might be a struggle, but this week should be OK.

Also, I have been able to get back into a dress that I haven't fitted into for about 3 years which I am very pleased about!

Slightly down again, this cold is a doozy but starting to feel more human again, will update the spreadsheet from my laptop later. Today will be omelette for breakfast with plenty of veg in and dinner is about to go into the slow cooker - beef and mushroom stew.
Feel like I'm very behind on Christmas so will use today to get caught up, we're up seeing DH's family at the weekend and everything for his side needs to come with to avoid postage.......koko everyone 😊

Morning

Congrats on the weight losses or staying the same despite Christmas temptations and socials.

I've stayed the same though I was a lb down earlier in the week. There has been a bit of carb, and wine, creep this week, probably hormonal and getting a bit blasé about preparation, so am going to knuckle down this week again and try and get closer to that 7lb loss (3lb at the moment).

I do feel slimmer and less bloated despite a modest weightloss.

Oooh, on another note which might be missed amongst the weight updates. There was comment about wine tasting sweet earlier. I had a bottle of red (my preference) and found the same.

🙏🏼 Does anyone have recommendations for a delicious (but not v special occasion) red wine, that is quite dry? 🙏🏼

Also forgot, DH has started eating mince pies and I'd've joined him by now normally so even though have slipped slightly I'm still feeling pretty 😇 at not succumbing to those!

Tbh I don't really fancy the bought ones this year, though DH is taking his self-appointed task of finding the best shop made mince pies of the year very seriously 😆 ... but will have one of Mum's homemade ones when we're done here.

There you go. Brain dump here also.