Week 6 - May '24 Low Carb Bootcamp - getting back on the wagon

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Seems like a bit of slippage all round - and I include myself . So let's draw a big fat line over last week, and start afresh this week!

There are three weeks left, so time to undo any damage and drop a few more pesky pounds. Perhaps consider going back to strict Bootcamp for this week?

Anyway, hopefully we all have a good week. The weather - at least here Darn Sarf - looks a bit brighter. Possibly even warmer! Well, at least it's not raining ...

As ever, here's the spreadsheet

Good luck to us all

I'm up just over 1/2 lb, but it was TOTM for me, lots of stress and too much fruit over the weekend. It could have been much worse though.

I'm not really exercising @MissBeck (apart from a reasonable amount of walking) as it makes me ravenous for carbs and that seemed to be setting myself up to fail 😆

Sorry you're finding it hard going @Lougle, but it is at least going in the right direction, and hopefully also a sign that the meds are kicking in?

@MissBeck, Darcey Bussell's 'Pilates for Life' is really gentle and good for toning and flexibility. You can start with the 15 minute mini programme and then graduate onto the full programme when you're ready. I like exercise I can do at home.

Re exercise @MissBeck - while it's very good for us generally, it's of limited value/benefit for weight loss, unless you're doing an awful lot of it, regularly.

Dr Jason Fung would say that weight loss is 95% diet and only 5% exercise.

As an example, when I was regularly running 5K (every other day/3 days a week, usually), the app I was using would tell me that I was generally using around 320 calories per run. That's really not many calories, and would easily be 'counter-acted' by a post-run snack, or larger-than-usual meal.

Two things happen here. One is the psychological - "I've been really good today, so I can have a [x] (insert snack of choice)". The second is physiological - you've expended energy and your body wants you to replace that. It's called homeostasis. So you'll feel more hungry after exercise.

Of course, by being aware of these things, you can try and override them - but let's face it, that's still a lot of exercise (to run 5K takes at least half an hour, unless you're Mo Farah!) for not that much calorie gain.

So if you can't exercise, don't worry about it. Just keep the focus on the food you're eating.

@MissBeck I'm proudly sedentary as well, combination of little time and even less motivation, plus there's not much in the movement side of things that I actually enjoy! Love to dance but that's about it, so I bounce as much as possible at gigs and festivals and that's my lot! Hope your DD copes ok with mocks, sounds like you and your SENCo are on the ball but just in case, the one thing that has made a massive difference with DD's A Levels this time is the ability to take rest breaks. The clock stops on the exam and they can just sit and gather their thoughts or even leave the room (accompanied) to stretch their legs. Extra time has been a boon but the rest breaks have been a game-changer.
@BIWI we had fish pie on Sunday - similar to yours but I add spinach and chorizo, and make the "sauce" with soft cheese. Leftovers for my lunch this week and tasted just as good as a traditional one.
Another busy day at work and another exam down - thank crunchie!

Checking in a day late as busy with work and life at the moment, everything feels very hectic! I'm down just under a pound which I'm taking as a win. I'm losing but slowly, 5lb down since the start. I don't have a huge amount to lose but would have liked to be 10lb off by the end of bootcamp.

Like others I think I need to cut down on dairy. I don't eat much meat so cheese tends to be my go to for lunch.

Does this work with 5:2 at all or not really?

Not really @Stowickthevast - 5:2 is about calorie counting/control, which isn't something Bootcamp-compliant. However, the fasting element of it is. Have you considered either dropping a meal, or having a tight, window in which you eat your meals?

Just popping in to say down 1lb this week. I think (if it's OK) I will post occasionally to keep myself on the threads and hear how you are all doing, try not to whinge and also if I lapse, accept it's happened and move on rather than feeling like a massive failure and that it's all impossible blah blah.

You are allowed to, and perfectly entitled to, whinge @EasterlyDirection!

Afternoon all 😊

@BIWI You are spot on. I noticed that when I stopped exercising, my weight was still dropping regardless, and at the same pace. I'm just paranoid about the flabby bits! 😂

@TheOnlyMrsW That's excellent about the rest breaks! Mine does get the extra time and a reader, but I will enquire about the breaks. She's just said she had about 10 meltdowns in her maths mock exam today, it just got too much!

@Stowickthevast Downwards is downwards! It's all good.

@alwaysonadiet1 Pilates is like yoga yes? I'll have a google.

@EasterlyDirection Good to see you! 👋

Thanks @BIWI and@MissBeck for the encouragement.

I'm not very good at missing meals. But maybe I should try without breakfast. 12 to 8 window may be doable.

I think I'll try ditching cream this week and cutting down on my go to Babybel snacks.

@Stowickthevast When you snack, is it because you are genuinely hungry? Or is it habit (associated with a certain time) or boredom? Or thirst? At my work, 10.30am is our break time, and this is when I used to get out the biscuits, crisps, cake, chocolate (anything basically) just because it was officially 'break time'! Everyone else was snacking, so I did! in excess! Now, I don't have a snack all day, just my 3 meals, well, 2, not sure my chunk of cheese at 8.30am can be counted as a meal 😂but cause of all the fat, including cream, I'm not hungry, oh, and ALL the water! How often are you snacking?

Just had a really dissapointing dinner. Cooked a largish joint of Pork, but the crackling never crackled properly, and I overcooked it, so it was dry. 😒Now have half a joint of dry pork leftover. 😠

B: Coffee with Double Cream
L: King Prawn salad with Rose Marie sauce
D: Dry as feck pork (I should patent that!), buttered broccoli and sprouts.

You could make it into a curry @MissBeck? Cook it with onions, chilli, ginger and garlic (in lots of fat!) with curry spices and then add a good squeeze of lemon juice and a tin of tomatoes. Cook it low and slow and the pork will soften up.

@MissBeck could you turn it into a sort-of campfire stew? I use the Pinch of Nom one in the slow cooker (sans beans) from scratch but would work with leftovers. Chop the pork into smallish chunks with onions, tinned toms, peppers and spinach with plenty of black pepper and paprika. Very yummy with cauliflower or celeriac mash or roast chunks of the same....

Ooh @BIWI and @TheOnlyMrsW !! I have ingredients to do either of those!! Thank you!! 🙏

Oh the dissatisfaction of a disappointing dinner. Even worse with non crackling crackling... Solidarity.... I'm rubbish at cracking

I had a disappointing lunch today. Just didn't want to eat my mackerel and salad today at all... But I soldiered on. Lol

I dont exercise either. I really should as part of my holiday prep but.... Maybe tomorrow! ..... Maybe 🤔

B yogurt and cream (forgot to put my berries in 😞
L salad and mackerel
D chicken tikka and salad

Just having some pudding, jelly berries and cream

Salad for lunch with feta cheese.
Minced beef cooked up with tomatoes, garlic, courgettes and cheese this evening.
Eating well and don't feel bored with it. Trying to eat a wider variety of fruit (missing chocolate) and had apricots today.
Seem to have more energy?

Forgot to post my weight last week (12st 5lb) which was down a pound and a half, iirc) and now signing in with this week's weight - which is back to 12st 6.5lb

I fell off the wagon badly last week and have worked hard this week to get back on it and to be able to do up my jeans comfortably again

I've worked out one of the triggers for leaping falling off the wagon: it's whenever I've been procrastinating about doing something difficult/that I've been avoiding doing for complicated reasons.

So, I finally did what I'd been avoiding it on Monday (and sent the email yesterday, having given myself time to check it over) so hopefully that's that resolved

@MissBeck - if you've still got that non-crackling crackling, you could try removing it from the meat and then grilling or roasting it to crisp it up.

Some chefs even advise that for standard roasts to finish it off, so that the meat doesn't (as you discovered) overcook and dry out.

I ate it anyway! Chewy bits and all. 😂😂

They both focus on strength and flexibility and are both low impact but in yoga you hold a pose whereas in Pilates you do lots of repetitions. I think that's it in a nutshell, there will be a lot more to it than that though.

@alwaysonadiet1 Ooh, I prefer repititions. Holding poses doesn't sit well with me. 😂Still haven't googled it yet, but I will.

Did you mean dried apricots @Gingerwarthog? Please don't! It's just the same as the raisins - any dried fruit is really high in carbs. Dried apricots are 49.2g carbs per 100g.

If you're missing chocolate, you'd be better off having that and swerving the dried fruit. Dark chocolate, over 70% cocoa is lower in carbs - e.g. Lindt 70% is 34g carbs per 100g.

If you really want fruit - check out the fruit carb counter on the spreadsheet to see what's more acceptable.

Hello all, I’ve had a good start to the week after the last two weeks, planning meals in advance makes such a difference for me.

Re exercise, it’s a really good point that it’s not key to weight loss - you can’t out-train a bad diet! Perhaps somewhat unusually, I find that I’m less likely to reach for unhealthy snacks or food if I’ve been for a run or the gym. Probably some form of psychological thing of not wanting to undo the good work! So I’ve been for two runs this week and plan on going to the gym tomorrow and hope that’ll help me stay focussed on the plan!