Week 8 - Autumn Low Carb Bootcamp - How Many Of Us Are Left?

[BIWI]

Last week's thread was very quiet. Hopefully that's just because you were on half term and were on holiday/doing other things!

Here is the Spreadsheet of Doom Fabulousness

Hope you are all safe from the storm this morning, and here's to a good week for all of us.

Sorry about the treat talk but for me its better to have things I can turn to instead of DPs homemade bread or other carby stuff he has and I'm not talking about having it everyday. My tastes have changed massively and I never really had a sweet tooth anyway (apart from fruit) but actually with xmas coming (and other shitty stuff) work is going to be filled with loads of carby stuff so i think it will be better for me to have alternatives to hand.

PinkPeanuts - but chocolate is sugar! You are addicted to carbs. Your body treats all carbs as sugar.

Have you looked at the spreadsheet and all the resources there? There are some brilliant blogs/websites and videos there about low carbing.

BIWI what I mean is that I previously thought was that my problem was chocolate in isolation where as now I realise that it's sugar/generally. Giving up bread, rice, potatoes etc is never as difficult for me as giving up the sweet treats is so think the addiction stems from fructose etc.

do you mean the sweet taste pinkpeanuts? it's sort of natural for us to enjoy that particularly, because sweetness is usually an indication that a food isn't poisonous. we also have all sorts of cultural associations with sweet flavours - celebration, comfort, rounding off a meal, avoiding boredom, etc - which make it hard to break habits

Well this is it Willie I question whether it's the sweet taste or I assume I would just be happy to get my sweet fix from fruit like a lot of people I know do but I always seem to reach for the artificial fructose filled crap. You're definitely right about the habits, particularly rounding off a meal and comfort. Chocolate has always been my vice in those instances. Having said that, my determination level is definitely engaged at the moment because I haven't had a craving for it in the past two days whereas it's usually an every day craving for me.

Hello Kelly. I've also been feeling whoozy standing up for the last couple of days. will follow the advice about solving that. And I have lost weight on mylegs. I noticed today that I could easily bob down on my heels (like an indian tailor) which I had not been able to do for years. This losing weight is so satissfying - regaining things you never even really realised you had lost. Easy leg crossing, arm folding, squatting, stroking my chinbones rather than my triple chin. It is fab.

BIWI - does the body really treat all carbs the same? Is a gram of pure white sugar the same as a gram of white flour or other carb? I somehow thought that sugar would be more harmful than the rest. interesting.

No the body treats it all as sugar.

here

Right. A new beginning again this week. I visit the MIL from hell tomorrow, who will create an appalling row if I don't eat the carby, badly cooked crap she dollops onto our plates, but I will try not to drink my body weight in wine when I get home. Damage limitation!

The plan for Monday: Weight myself, then buy loads of fatty meat off the market, pick up some veg, get parmesan for crackers/almond shortbread stuff (snacks are a major downfall for me) and no chocolate at all

I promise.

Oooh - VikingLady - you've written that down in ink so you have to stick to it!

I may not stick to the wine part!

Yep - last two weeks of Bootcamp coming up.

Shall we all aim to make them strict ones?

Failed miserably after week 2. I'm going on holiday in three weeks. I need a kick start.

I always aim to make it a strict one....

(It's the reality that doesn't quite match up)

Come on Keepon and Lighthouse you can do it Ra Ra Ra!

You don't have to eat the same as your kids (I usually don't) but if you really want to, here's some ideas:

• cauliflower cheese
• sausages (plus mash for them (swede mash for you))
• fish pie (without the topping for you)
• bolognaise (with spaghetti for them; with veg for you)
• scrambled egg (on toast for them; with fried mushrooms for you)

Pinkpeanuts I am so DEFINITELY a carb addict. That was a revelation for me, I used to miserably think: "I'm addicted to food, I just can't stop stuffing my face. But I can't cut food out of my life, like an alcoholic stops drinking or a drug addict goes cold turkey." So yes, it was a massive revelation for me that this frantic relationship with food was actually an addiction to carbs. And they are really very addictive!! I think now I have quite a normal relationship to the food I eat, as long as I stick to non-carby stuff.

Pinkpeanuts I had spent years wondering why I ate, was it emotion, boredom, anger, etc or was it just greed? I kept expecting to find an answer which was the missing piece of a jigsaw that would solve all my problems. I never found that miracle cure but changing the way I ate made me realise that it was an addiction to carbs.

I spent years eating what I thought was a healthy diet involving low fat processed chemicals, fruit, pasta, etc and getting fatter and fatter, only to realise that I was doing the exact opposite of being healthy. I'm still not out of the woods, I'm like an alcoholic who still has occasional binges and knows I will always have the potential to relapse but I am more in control now than I have ever been before.

Carbs are addictive!

I was doing so well this week, just tried to make oopsie rolls with smoked salmon for dinner and I didn't get the whites stiff enough and it is inedible. Add to post bath and bed tiredness and I've just had a big glass of wine and a very large chunk of montezuma 73% cocoa chocolate . At least it wasn't bread - just made a loaf in the bread maker for the DC this week and I'm proud I resisted that!

I'm up for two perfect weeks to finish!

I have just had roast chicken, celeriac dauphinoise, green beans and broccoli for tea - yummy!
Unfortunately my plan was also to make a rosti of kohlrabi which went wrong in a horrible repeat of the prawn bhaji / oily fishy porridge debacle. Can you all please remind me never to make again anything that calls itself a fritter, rosti or bhaji?

Yes- let's have a strict last two weeks. Not quite fast fat or uber but f'ing close......

xx

Fallen off wagon. Mini rolls. Being tired is a killer.

Am up for a proper push for the last two weeks. BIWI, hope your stick is at the ready!

Good luck with the strict fortnight, everyone! My few lapses/cheats of the last 6 months have all been due to work events/ travelling for work/ eating out for work. Weds - Friday next week brings a 2-and-a-half day work trip for me, where I am in the hands of catering by other people etc, so I can't promise anything! But I will do my best. (previous trips have seen me scraping quiche fillings off their bases, etc...)