Week 9 - Summer Low Carb Bootcamp - Wimbledon Fortnight!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Come and fill in the spreadsheet

Only two weeks to go before we finish this challenge. Time to drop a few more pounds!

But go easy with those strawberries ...

Oh yesterday's food...
B- greek yoghurt 'ice-cream' (berries, double cream, milled flaxseed)
L- lump of cheddar and some tomatoes
D- a not entirely authentic ragù alla bolognese with courgette 'pappardelle'
3 glasses white, one of red.
2 teas, loads water

Morrisons, tesco and asda down here (bristol way) have black farmer sausages. Lidl's have sausages that are lower in carbs but not quite as low as black farmer.

Weighed myself this am (as I could get in the bathroom before breakfast.....) 9st7 so I've gone 9st6 9st9 9st6 9st7... working on upping the water and decreasing the tea and now I'm not hungry, stopping the snack cravings (aka nuts).

BIWI - can I get away with dropping a meal ie breakfast? I'm not hungry then plus my lifestyle is v v v sedentary due to the Fibro so wondering if I can reduce my food intake as perhaps my body just doesn't need it?

Haven't seen Black Farmer sausages here yet (North Yorks) but will try and get to Morrisons this weekend. Need some cheap meals that won't lead me astray for a while as DH out of work as of Monday so will be having lots of mince meals!

Yesterday I had 4 rashers bacon and 1 fried egg with home made mayo for breakfast, ham salad with a slice of cheddar and mayo for lunch and pork chops with asparagus and wilted spinach and lots of butter and salt for dinner plus one snack of natural yog with a sprinkle of cinnamon and 5 cups of black decaff and lots of water.

Thanks Stuntnun. I'm not sure that would work for me - if there was a box of white in the fridge then it'd be a constant temptation, especially if I couldn't see the level descending on the bottle and speak very sternly to myself! Also DP is a bit of a wine snob buff and may disown me if I bought a boxed wine.

We were supposed to have a friend round last night for a drink, so I'd put a bottle in the fridge to chill, and then when we rearranged I should have taken the bottle out of the fridge so it wasn't calling softly to me with its siren song.

Sorry you're feeling fed up, Crabby - don't be hard on yourself. I've switched recently from white wine to G&T as my evening tipple if I need want a mild analgesic sedative. Make it with loads and loads of ice in a tall glass with low cal tonic and a bit of lime. Fine I drink it more slowly and one usually does the job ? and though I know the tonic has artificial sweeteners, don't think it's probably as carb-y as white wine so possibly helps by not awakening those carb cravings (?) Mind you, we're away this weekend and I will no doubt succumb to the lure of a few glasses of white wine too ...
Just did fourth day of shred and have twanged my calf muscle doing the last cardio bit. What a goon. Really as I downloaded couch25K last night and was actually feeling upbeat about starting it over the weekend.

Just seen previous page ? hope you're feeling better soon Bullet

Crabby, I am exactly the same - I can do low-carb food so easily - I think I can honestly say that I haven't had a single biscuit, bread product, potato or scone (yes TooMuch I'm looking at you) or any other carb dense food since the end of March. I have had a couple of squares of 85% choc, and some berries, but that is it.

Wine however is my downfall. I suspect it is because I am actually thirsty, because I know I don't drink enough water. A box of wine would kill me, because there would be nothing to stop me having just one more glass. When I snack with wine, I can stick to low carb snacks, which is something at least, but it does explain why my progress seems to be so slow.

Too much - big congrats re your dropping down to three figures! We are v similar weights and that is my aim too. 151.5 this Monday but my weight loss is so slow, am not really confident will make it by Monday. BUT - you have inspired me to have a couple of strict days and see what I can do. (Sadly being v short person, still have some way to go till reach healthy BMI and then goal etc - are you already there?). Re Sconegate - a small slip up that I am sure you can minimise impact of by jumping back in there!

Crabby - sympathies re the wine situation. I find this hard too. But your weight loss has been fab up till now not like my pound a week if you are lucky situation so I think a week of STS may just be a week of STS and that the scales will move again next week!

Samantha loving that recipe. Must go and buy eggs and make immediately!

bullet feeling grim is grim. Have a rest and build up strength ready to jump back in there.

MrsHP - thanks for the sausage link I haven't seen those? I don't shop at Tesco very often, but they aren't with their other vegetarian sausages in the big one near here?! I've put a packet in my 'online trolley' so will get some next time I do an online shop with them and will have a look for them if I go into the store before then. I have been buying the 'Quorn chicken pieces' & the 'Cauldron marinated tofu' as they are both around 1g per 100g, but it will be nice to have some 'sausages' to take to BBQ's if we ever get the weather for them!!

NewStart - come on, fess up, what's this 'terrible habit' that pulled you off of the wagon?

TooMuch - well done. I ate cheese yesterday (I've been trying to cut it down/out) and I did it in a spectacular fashion - a whole packet of presliced stuff, yep, the whole 250g. Twat. I was hungry, couldn't be arsed cooking or making a salad so had 'a little' cheese for lunch... didn't stop eating it until there wasn't any left Oh well, at least it was low carb and now it's all gone so can't make that mistake again

Bullet - :( that sounds pretty bloody awful. There's a seat next to me with a spare tube of superglue when you are ready to be hoisted back up onto the wagon (I also have a spade if you need a hand putting DH under the patio!!).

KiwiGirl - that's brilliant!!

Crabby - I'm not sure whether to or offer a hand to drag you back up onto the wagon!! I have other health issues which are making me low carb, if it was 'just' weight loss I'd be a carby twat at times too!! Why not have the wine tonight, have a brilliant low carbing day tomorrow, drinking lots of water etc have what you want on Sunday then start again properly on Monday? Alcohol is a weird thing to get your head around (any 'drink' actually) as it feels like it just 'passes through you' - what I find helps a tiny little bit is seeing it like a glass of liquid sugar. How much more do you want to lose?

Toomuch 4lb off by doing ubercamp!! Congratulations. RIGHT THEN maybe I will have to do it too.

Crabby we have to get you cheered up. Don't throw in the towel today, just have your planned cheat on Sunday and enjoy it. Perhaps BIWI can come along with some expert advice.

I can't help with the wine siren call, alcohol doesn't call to me. But (of all things) BANANAs were calling to me last night, everytime I walked past the fruit bowl. With their "I'm such a handy instant satisfying snack" lure. I did (just) resist, had some greek yog& cream instead.

Had a good proper breakfast of 2-egg scrambled egg and buttery asparagus this morning, that will see off any snack-pangs for a good while!

Lily - it was the apples for me yesterday... I could hear them through the closed fridge door!! Little buggers - but I resisted their lure :)

Yes kiwi I am a knitter and on ravelry! I'll pm you my username if you like? I don't really chat much on there I have to admit - much more of a lurker. Well done on your loss too

daisychicken I am very sedentary due to spending so much time in bed with migraines and also have fibro. I don't eat breakfast when I'm not feeling very well. Just make sure I drink loads if I can and have a huge meal later on in the afternoon. I've been doing this for the past 10 days and find it works well for me - I can see this being my WOE even when not trying to lose weight. I have a bowl of greek yogurt with double cream mixed in before bed most days too ... and a tsp of raw lemon blossom honey sometimes but don't tell BIWI. Its my only cheat and such a treat.

its amazing how much my taste buds have changed in the past months. I was thinking last night that when I got down to weight I really don't even fancy eating sugary food again - I'm the girl who used to live on crunchie bars remember!

willie my name is the same as on here. I do more spinning than knitting these day. Have a little electric spinner as found using my other spinning too difficult once the fibro kicked in. I love it - so calming and meditative. Also makes me feel I 've actually achieved something with my day if I produce some yarn!

Kiwi - thanks, I'm glad it's not just me! It's 5 to 12 and I'm thirsty again but not hungry so will have another drink and perhaps a snack in a bit.

Loopylou - sorry to hear about dh's job, we are in a similar position... it's very much hand to mouth atm. I noticed that Iceland seem to be good for meat prices ie a kg of bacon for £5 - might be worth looking at the other meats they have? I will be going in once I've depleted the freezer! Black farmer sausages are 'expensive' at about £3 for 6 but they are filling so you can have less. Morrisons if you have one, seem to be good for cheaper cuts (though our lidl seems to have jumped on the bandwagon with belly pork etc).

Crabby - it's not alcohol with me but biscuits or chocolate that shouts out... I can get through the day but the evenings are bad.... I've swopped nuts as my crave food but I know I need to stop that as well... horrible isn't it? Could you remove alcohol from the house for a couple of weeks and see how you go?

You're right kiwi - I can sit in front of the tv and still be productive

Thanks daisy, I've been shopping at Asda online, but think I need to take a trip to Morrisons as their meat is definitely mostly cheaper. We don't have a Lidl nearby and I haven't been impressed with Aldi's meat so far, although their bacon is ok, no added sugar.

Sorry to hear you're in a similar position. Hope things look up for you soon.

Bullet get lots of sleep and hope you feel better soon.

Crabby sorry you are feeling down. Don't think 'fuck it' though between now and sunday inclusive, I can guarantee you, from experience, that afterwards I hate that I did it, feel stupid for doing it, don't want to come on here and post as I feel like a twat for having no self control etc... and then I put on weight (as opposed to just not losing it) and then it takes me about a whole other week to get back on track so instead of bein the 2/3 days I thought it would be it usually end ups nearer to 2 weeks. Could you try some of those half bottles instead as there would be less to drink when they are open? Would you be able to drink spritzer instead with fizzy water perhaps? Or set an alarm on your phone so that you have something at lunchtime that keeps you fuller and hence off the wine longer? I don't really know tbh as I don't drink wine, I just know that you it have the wine and carbiness all weekend you will feel worse on Monday! You need a good old giggle I reckon, find your favourite tunes (use asolute radio digital 60s/70s/80s/90s/00s) to find your fav era, crank up the volume and sing along at the top of your voice, perhaps into a hairbrush or something for the full effect. You might want to close your curtains before doing so, but this is not necessary!!!!!

Thanks everyone for the lovely supportive comments, they are very much appreciated. I'm going to stop moaning on because I'm boring myself, frankly! Maid I don't drink spirits any more as a rule (after a misspent youth of drinking too much vodka, irish whisky and gin!), but I do love an occasional G&T. I use Fever Tree tonic as I find the Shwepps sort of stuff too sweet. I've looked up the FT low sugar one but it's still 4.8g per 100ml, so almost 10g of carbs per bottle.

I need to ban the white wine again after the weekend as that's my nemesis. Red wine I can drink in moderation and I don't yearn for it, just think 'ooh a glass with dinner would be nice'. It's the thought of a chilled glass of white when I'm hungry and a bit stressed that makes all my good intentions vanish down the plughole. If there isn't any in the fridge then I'm usually fine with it being in the house, it's just that instant temptation, iykwim. Can't clear the house of booze; I think DP would have a heart attack if he came home to find his 'wine cellar' (the spare bedroom) cleared of its treasure.

Koti sorry to hear about your computer, what a nightmare! I'd be gutted if my screwed up as I'd lose all my precious photos. I must back them up more often! Hope you get it all sorted. I know a good data recovery person (DD's dad... He's useful to know!) if you're in the Londonish area.

Loopy sorry to hear that, and daisy that you're struggling for money at the mo. A ragu (bolognese sauce, basically) is a good dish on a budget as you can make a huge amount, bulk the meat with tomatoes and then it's so rich that a little goes a long way so it'll feed everyone for days. I like the squid puttanesca dish for the same reason - squid is cheap as chips, you can make loads and it's rich and full of flavour so you can eke it out. Sorry if either of you are veggie, I can't remember.

Forgot to add lots of olives as a snack to yesterday's food list.

I had a very thin slice of toasted sourdough bread for breakfast, with a mashed avocado with lots of salt and pepper on top. It was gorgeous.

Thank you for the pep talk MrsH!

I know what it is, I think - I reduced my anti-depressants by a very small amount, and within a week of that I started feeling flat and anxious. I'm sure it'll even itself out as I adjust so I'm just going to stop whingeing and keep on keeping on. You are of course absolutely right that I'll only make things worse if I fall completely off the wagon. I shall right off the bread as a minor hitch and try to stick to low carb as much as possible on Sunday.

I'll have a late lunch around 3pm which should see me through to dinner time then.

What's everyone got planned for the weekend?

D'oh, write off not right off!

Thanks crabby, we love bolognese and chilli con carne so will have to live off that! not sure about squid though. Only had battered calamari before?

crabby don't forget the singing loudly though

Deffo want to try that squid dish, we love squid here and I didn't realise it was cheap, I never cook it at home. Shall maybe do it as my dish of something different this week.

We have friends and our baby godson popping over for a visit on Sat, off for a picnic with some friends on Sunday and the rest of the time I'll be GCSE marking - crazy days!