Bootcamp Week 4 - Come Whine With Me

[BIWItheBold]

Welcome everyone!

Now we're into the difficult weeks - those of us who are actually in week 4. You may have found that your weight loss slowed down last week or even - as for me - has gone back up again.

Don't panic!

This is very common. Keep on keeping on (my mantra for this WOE) and things will start to happen for you again soon.

Don't think it's all falling apart and 'treat' yourself by cheating. That will only exacerbate things, and you will very definitely be reporting back here with a weight loss or - worse - disappearing altogether, thoroughly disenchanted with yourself and the whole low carb thang.

If you're gaining, or not seeing any weight loss, have a long, hard look at what you were eating last week. Did you relax too much, if you moved to Bootcamp Light? Have you allowed carb creep to happen?

If you're doing as I suggested and keeping a food/drink diary, compare last week with your first week. Why not go back to what you ate/drank in that first week - especially if it was a week when you definitely did see a loss?

And remember, weeks 1 and 2 are weeks where you are primarily losing fluid. From weeks 3 onwards, we are now dealing with the fat - and the going will, naturally, be a lot tougher.

Reasonable, long-term and sustainable weight loss is 1-2lbs per week. I know that doesn't sound a lot, but that's 2-4 packs of lard.

Come and share what's working for you - how are you feeling about this WOE now, now that you're a bit more used to it? What tips can you give to your fellow MN Bootcampers?

What's frustrating you? How can we help to make it better, or work more easily for you?

BIWI - on the allowed veg list, carrots feature twice - once with 6 and once with 2.5.....

::hugs:: Lacka can you do the carbs and no fat one meal and fat and no carbs the other?

Do u have RA? I have fibro and it has been a tough week and am at home r
'resting' between baby jobs.

I have found not drinking my 3-3.5Ltrs has made sleep hard to fall into and also not going to bed before I am yawning means dropping off is very hard and the more I try the more my body hurts and my restless legs appear in full force.

Maybe 'normal' carrots and sweeter ones like 'chanterey'? Perhaps.

BIWI - I'll tell him you said he can have fish and chips followed by a jam doughnut, a couple of hours before the match. He was thinking along the lines of a bowl of pasta and a banana. But a bowl of porridge is a brilliant idea. He cycles 6 miles on work days and he says his legs are weak on the WOE, but he has only just finished bootcamp so perhaps it will improve.

Lacka - Sorry you're having a tough time.

I still have a fat tummy but that bit under my boobs is no longer thickly quilted. Kerrr ching. I'm so pleased as I thought that was a feature of perimenopause and was going to be a permanent feature from hereon in. That and my beard.

I have mixed connective tissue disease which, for me, has symptoms (so far) of lupus & Sjogrens syndrome, but I'm also currently under investigation for RA and Myasthenia Gravis. And they reckon there's fibromyalgia in there as well. If I were a car, I'd have been consigned to the scrap heap by now!

I'll chalk this up to a bad few days and move on.

And thanks :)

Oh Lacka I'm sorry you've had such a shitty time. Hang on in there - you CAN do this x

Lacks, you poor thing, it sounds horrendous :(

I really hate this time of day, the kids are manic, I am hungry and I have lots left to do but no energy or enthusiasm. Just want cake.

Re carrots appearing twice on the list - one is young carrots and one is older carrots (but I can't for the life of me remember which is which!).

I always assume they are higher, to be honest - as I'm never sure what a young carrot is - and I don't think they mean that an old carrot is the one that's withering away at the bottom of my fridge!

sorry you're not feeling so great, Lacka - don't beat yourself up too much - just get back on the wagon and start again.

LF - if only low carb dealt with the beard issue, I would be a very happy woman!

The fatty roll underneath my boobs has almost disappeared, and I have had to buy myself a new pair of gym shorts, as the size 12 ones I had are all wrinkly and baggy. Hurrah! My new pair are a size 10. I didn't notice until I took the label off my new ones that they are described as "tight fit, to show off your muscle definition". Oooh er!

I love this WOE - I love all the support we have here - and I am so loving feeling that I'm on my way to slim and fit again. If I could only end up being 27 all over again, I would be even happier!

Tonight I have my bargain basement dinner. Lamb Ribs reduced to £1.15 roasted in salt and pepper. Asparagas reduced to 45p, stir fried with courgette and shallots and a handful of mangtout.

Yum.

I think I'm liking the IPD cookbook - second thing I cooked from it was lush (creamy blue cheese leeks).

MrsN - I struggle at that time too! I wonder if it's really cake we're craving or do we need to break the habit of stuffing our faces when the peace is shattered? It's the only time I ate biscuits.

Had a good day food wise today, bacon and eggs, cheese and meat for lunch, chicken Kiev (without crumb) roasted med veg and creamy leeks. Bit low on the veggie front I think.

And I have completely caught up with what is going on with Steps and their reunion tour.

I'm having sausages (waitrose pork and herb chipolatas 0.5g carb for 2!) and More Kale. Protein shake with flax for brekky, nuts and water for lunch (I know, not great - am so not hungry though!)

Have also just had a text from dp who said I've scared him off carbs

Fry up for breakfast today, mini sausages for lunch, as wasn't hungry at all. Just had gammon with poached egg, roasted carrots, green beans, broccoli and celeriac chips for dinner. Bit of a wierd mix, but threw all the veg in a roasting tray and left them to it! But I have discovered I don't like celeriac. That's the first time I have tried it, and I couldn't finish it. Bad enough in chips, think the flavour will be even more concentrated in mash.

If you don't like celeriac then cauliflower makes a wonderful mash substitute. You don't even have to pair it with a particularly strong flavour to make it seem just like potato mash.

Tea: 2 x high quality burgers with celeriac chips. I liked them, but they needed another 20 minutes in the oven. Loads of Mayo added biwi.

Snack: handful of nuts, glass of red.

In london tomorrow so taking a packet of macadamia nuts and a couple baby bels in my handbag....

roasted salmon with salad and celeriac remoulade for supper

Can anyone point me in the direction of a recipe for Belly Pork, please? I've scanned the recipe thread but can't see one.

Our butcher (Trev) has got it in vair cheap.

Have started drinking Green Tea, attempting 3 cups a day to begin with....it doesn't taste as bad as I'd expected and it's hot and doesn't need milk, fingers crossed it helps me burn some fat too! Does anyone else find this works?

Brunch - Prawn & Coconut Stirfry followed by Total Yoghurt with Natural Maple Extract & Stevia

Dinner - Tomato & Artichoke stew with broccoli dressed with chilli & garlic EVOO and parmesan - really enjoyed it, as did the dcs, clean plates all round!

Snack - Cheddar - tasted a bit odd by itself, so I might snack on parmesan in furure.

Have ordered IPD cookbook from ebay.

Breakout I've found celeriac tastes better when you make crisps with it.

Lack hope you feel better soon

DoUntoOtters - this is how I cook it:

(Make sure that the butcher has scored the skin - roughly at 1 cm intervals)

• Take it out of any packaging and leave it out uncovered so that it dries
• An hour or so before you put it in the oven, sprinkle the skin with salt and leave - this draws out more moisture
• Wipe off as much salt as you can with kitchen towel (it makes lovely salty crackling, but you don't want it to be too salty)
• Do not add any fat or water - just put it into an oven baking dish and straight into the oven
• Put into a very hot oven for about 15 mins, then turn it down to a medium heat and cook for at least a couple of hours
• Keep an eye on it to make sure that the bottom isn't burning

If the skin hasn't puffed up and crackled, put it under a hot grill for a few minutes (but keep an eagle eye on it as it can burn very quickly)

Otters - you can have my recipe if you like (it's basically the IPD cookbook one tbh!)

• Make sure the butcher has scored it really well otherwise you won't get cracking crackling
• Get oven to 230/gas mark 8
• Ensure the meat is dry - I just give mine a good 'blot' with kitchen towel before putting in oven
• I grind up fennel and cumin seeds with plenty of maldon sea salt - they don't need to be finely ground, just bashed around a bit to release the aromas!
• Rub generous handfuls over the pork fat, making sure you get into all the crevices
• Cook for 30 mins at 230/gas mark 8, then turn oven down to 160/gas mark 3 and cook for at least 4 hours. You can give it a blast again for the last half-hour if the crackling hasn't quite worked, but this is pretty failsafe ime.

The meat will fall off the bones, the crackling will be amazing. I serve it with celeriac dauphinoise and green beans (and Madeira gravy but don't tell BIWI )

haha, x-posts (my crackling is v salty, to be fair!)

Doh - I mean coriander seeds, not cumin (though cumin might work...).

I've also done it with a load of fresh sage leaves just shoved under the pork while it cooks, which helps to make amazing gravy...

I find I'm having to do a lot of ignoring of parts of people's posts at the moment ...

I've had a FANTASTIC result this evening!!

I'm applying kerastase oil to my hair before my shower and ting!!

My wedding ring came off!

Back at the start of bootcamp I said that being able to get the ring off would be great as it was wedged since getting fat

and now I can finally leave him