Feb '24 Bootcamp - Week 2

[BIWI]

Mixed messages so far it would seem - some gains and some losses.

For those of you who are new to Bootcamp, or low carbing, don't be discouraged when others talk about a gain. Remember that some people here are longer-term low carbers, and so they're really 'practising' for the maintenance phase of their lives.

But it's also a useful reminder for all of us (myself included ) that this WOE does require focus. Little slips here and there can soon add up!

Anyway. It's the start of a new week, so be pleased by your losses and put any gains behind you.

Onwards and downwards!

Here's the spreadsheet

Afternoon all. Just placemarking to get the new thread on my watch list. Back later after work

Right I'm all caught up. 1.75 lbs off for me negating last weeks gain and a smidge more. I'm chipping away slowly at the averages week by week by Koko.

I tried a variation of aubergine bake last night. Fry off aubergine, slices in butter. Then spread each slice with pesto. Fry up some mushrooms. Layer together and add a mid layer of mozerella. Top with some tomato sauce and more mozarella then bake. The rest of the house had homemade pizza and I didn't even feel like I was missing out with my delicious dinner.

Hi all, I'm now 6lbs down which is great! Had steak with a cream and mushroom sauce and some asparagus yesterday which was delicious.I went to Waitrose today to get their low carb bread and also got their seeded crackers ( was v sad when M&S discontinued them). Will have them with pate and avocado for lunch. Well done everyone with their losses, and KOKO!

I can’t update the spreadsheet but I have lost 1lb. Not a lot but now 13 to go. I made a celeriac dauphinoise last night. I am not a great fan of celeriac but this was delicious. Sprinkled some mixed herbs, garlic powder and Korean pepper flakes between the layers. Just used whipping cream poured into the dish. Topped with grated Parmesan.

Fabulous losses all, I forgot to weigh this morning so will do it tomorrow. I think the best I can hope for this week is a maintain. Scales haven't shifted all bloody week.

Piri piri chicken and corn on the cob here tonight. Chips for the carbies.

I love celeriac dauphinoise @Pleaseandthankyou , it's surprisingly nice with turnip too

@PurpleWhirple I have a turnip. I must give it a go. I do like roasted turnip. Sometimes I buy a pack of mashed turnip. I fry it with some chilli, leeks, garlic and then stir in some sour cream. You could add bacon or any leftovers.

I failed to weigh in this morning, and given that this week is half term its possible I'll continue forgetting but will try! We had a lovely and cheap day out at the local RHS garden (membership paid for using tesco clubcard vouchers) and I took a full packed lunch for us to avoid temptation of snacks, lunch, or even a take away coffee!

Stayed the same this week , which is not unexpected as I seem to be a slow but steady loser
Need to go shopping tomorrow as the fridge is looking bare , I fancy a hearty beef stew ( which is unusual for me as I’m not usually keen on red meat , but , hey , I’ll roll with it

Down almost 4lbs for my first week. Very happy. It’s so good not feeling hungry very often

@pinknsparkly we live near a RHS garden and have membership too. Well done on taking a picnic. You wouldn't belive the amount of times I've justified buying cake as we didn't pay to get in.

Morning all, delighted to report an all-time low today and that I've finally dropped into the next lb after weeks of losing and gaining the same half lb. And I've now lost more than 10 lb since January.

I've got a potential tricky one one coming up that I'm trying to plan for. We're catching up with friends when we're away over half term who live near where we're staying who've suggested we go to theirs for a takeaway, only options nearby being pizza and a chip shop. There is literally nothing I'll be able to eat if we do that. I've suggested a local pub might be nice instead but they've not come back to me on that yet. If we go with the pub, I'll be fine but if we go to theirs, the only option I can think is I eat before I go and let everyone else have the takeaway as planned. Is there any other way round this? I'm (half) happy to tell them why I'm not eating ( but would rather not if I don't have to), just wish there was something I could order without feeling like the fussy, difficult one. I know that looking after your health should be a priority but sometimes it's just nice to be able to fit in and not look like the 'difficult one'. Sigh!

Anyway, today is looking like:
B: yogurt and cream
L: HM chicken soup
D: spag Bol with courgetti fried in butter

I know that feeling, I'd rather avoid the questions but couldn't get around it in the work environment as our place is so small. I've kept it vague and short.

Could you say that you're having to avoid specific foods at the moment so just want to make sure you've got options? That doesn't explain why you're doing what you're doing.

Why dont you want ro tell your friends you are low carbing @AllTheBlackCoffee ? Lots of people eat a range of diets nowadays and I'm sure your friends will be supportive.

What are the menu options like from the pizza/chippy? Off the top of my head from my chippy I'd have fish with the batter off or half a chicken or a bunless burger.

I know it's daft not to talk about it but I just hate having conversations about diet and weight. I think it's because I'm fat and have been for a while I don't want to draw attention to my weight, especially if I fail and remain fat, then I would feel like a complete nob as people would know I've failed. At least if people don't know I'm trying to lose weight, if I stay the same, there's no pride lost. Eeuuuuugggghhh, I don't know.

Hooray @AllTheBlackCoffee congrats on the loss and here's to keeping that pesky lb off!!!! If there's no option to swerve the takeaway could you say you're avoiding certain foods and bring your own? That way you could eat with everyone else and still stick to LC (I'd struggle not to nick someone's chips but that's another conversation!).

Still feeling rubbish here - felt more human during the day and then awful again last night, think the 10-minute walk to the garage to pick up the car must have been a bit much 😡. Am so fed up now - I'm very rarely ill and now feel like it's been neverending since the end of last year - a cold that lingered for about 2 weeks in December, the sick bug at the beginning of this year and now another rotten cold - it's not like I'm eating rubbish either, in every other way I'm the healthiest I've been in years ggggrrrrrrr

Anyhoo it's having an effect on the scales as I'm another 1/2 lb down this morning. Yesterday was ffgy with some raspberries late morning, along with a slice of homemade LC bread - contrary to the SugarFree Londoner's review it does taste slightly eggy and sweet but very good all the same. I think I'll add some black pepper and a little more salt next time and see what that does. Dinner was steak panfried in butter with swede chips and a "sauce" of mushrooms cooked in butter and a spoonful of ff soft cheese added. DH had haggis with his as he'd brought some back from the weekend I was v good and didn't shout even though I love haggis and can't have it

Not going to the office today so I have food all ready - my normal brunch mix of peppers, mushrooms, cherry toms and spinach fried in butter with chilli flakes. I've got a lovely rip avocado and two egg yolks in the fridge to go with which will easily see me through to dinner which is planned as chicken breast wrapped in bacon and stuffed with haggis for DH and cheese for me, with the rest of the swede and broccoli.

Sorry that's very long! Have a good day BC-ers

Good morning everybody.

Congratulations to those who've lost.

I've not weighed this week. I know it's bad, but I'll weigh next weekend and start again. I've had a load of nice meet ups, but decidedly not on programme!

I totally get it@AllTheBlackCoffee...
It's like you can't just say "I'm low carbing" (or whatever). There has to be a huge great conversation around it, and then those people keep asking for updates, and you just want to get on with it.

Another jump up on the scales today. I wouldn't mention it, but this one is definitely water related. I had a busy day yesterday and noted when I was thirsty (I conflate feeling thirsty with cravings for pepsi max), but I just didn't make the time to keep on top of it.

But I quite like being able to identify the cause and effect, it's the science nerd in me. Carrying a water bottle would have solved it, such an easy fix. So today I will be drowning myself and see what the scale says tomorrow.

Pancakes for the kids today - I'll enjoy making them for them and won't feel too bad for missing out. I need a think about what might feel like I'm marking the occasion for me.

@AllTheBlackCoffee could you be giving up carbs / takeaway / deep fried food for Lent ? You’re all doing a Lent challenge at work and you don’t want to be the first one to give in 👍

Hello Everyone. Great to read the news about the ups, downs and staying the sames.
So, after a bumpy ride myself over the last few weeks, I landed on the 1 lb off.

A couple of days earlier it was more than that. And then it was my birthday. I get where you are @AllTheBlackCoffee and @LowCarbingIn2024 about not wanting to dwell too much on the low carbing discussions with others. I'm going to see what I think about that over time.

Anyway, as a surprise my kids invited me to celebrate my birthday and they’d made loads of effort to prepare a lovely meal. So, I decided to eat moderate carbs. The next day, the scales had shot up. On the whole, I’d expected that, but there again part of me was disappointed because I could tell I’d brought my body out of ketosis. Like you @AIBConsiderate , I like the science part of this and I realise that I was holding onto a lot of water - I suppose that was due to the carbs...

Anyhow, I got right back on with this WOE and now that pound has gone so I’ve taken that !

All in all, this makes me 11lbs down since January. I’m very happy wit this. It means I’ve shifted a third of all the weight I want gone.

All best everyone for this coming week !

@AllTheBlackCoffee whenever we do pizza takeaway and I'm on LCHF I opt for a grilled chicken kebab and salad and lashings of mayonnaise, just leave the pitta to one side, could that be an option for the pizza takeout or a burger if they offer those, again ours does a double pepperoni cheeseburger which is so dirty - but delicious? Our local also does a lovely homemade coleslaw too which I always buy a portion of.

Back on it yesterday and actually got my 2.5l water in, am 1l in today already too and head is definitely feeling less rotten. 30 min yoga session last night and slept so well, need to keep that up as forget how much I love yoga at the end of a day.

I tell people I'm avoiding bread as it doesn't seem to agree with me. They seem much less interested in a potential gluten intolerance than a diet

@PurpleWhirple snap! Bread - it's carb crack to me and makes me pile on the weight not least because I find it completely impossible to resist. It was always my default setting - toast and marmite, sandwiches, thick doorsteps with butter, something on toast, bread and butter with fish & chips etc etc etc. NO MORE. I've completely eliminated it from my diet and am now forced to make better, healthier and more varied choices because of it.

@AllTheBlackCoffee

Completely understand you do not want to talk to anyone about what you eat and why

Faced with pizza, and once through the first few days/weeks, when I had lost that urge to have carbs and was confident that I would just would not have real hunger, I have been known to eat the pizza topping and leave the entire 'crust' , the whole bread part not just the edges.

Easier with a fork than when eating with only hands though entirely doable.

Full disclosure: it gave me a bit of a buzz to be able to low carb under the radar, as if I was invincible. It also reminded me of some things my "effortlessly slim" mother used to do around food which I only ever noticed in retrospect

Hope you find a way that works for you.

@FinallyHere at the stealth bootcamper!

My 'effortlessly slim' dsis has a serious nut allergy so biscuits and cakes are out, she never grazes, wont eat anything at a buffet. If she's in doubt about anythings she just says no. I try to channel her process sometimes when faced with only carby options.

Was out for lunch: some kind of trout sashimi thing, then beef tartare. Tonight was chilli with sour cream, grated cheese, avocado and salsa. Yum.

I need to be better with the water. WATER WATER WATER Where is @ShagMeRiggins when you need her?