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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Bootcamp Week 5 - Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Staying Alive - chat here!

419 replies

BIWItheBold · 13/05/2012 10:26

Welcome to week 5 - how time flies when you're having fun!

Those of us who have been here since the beginning may be finding the going tough now. You may have found that your weight loss has stopped, or you may even have put weight on

But hopefully you will also be enjoying the food now, and settling into this as a new way of eating. You may also have discovered the other benefits of low carbing - not being hungry, having better skin, sleeping better, fewer problems with conditions such as IBS or even asthma, fewer hot flushes (for those of us of a certain age Grin) etc.

A month in, whilst you should be more used to eating like this, you will also have discovered that it's not always possible to follow a strict low carb plan because Real Life has an irritating habit of getting in the way.

But that's an important lesson for us all to learn. There are two key things here:

First, it demonstrates very clearly that you have to plan what food you buy and how you're going to eat. For example, I do quite a bit of travelling for work - going to meetings by train all over the country and sometimes abroad. If I don't plan my meals, then I will end up eating something like a sandwich because that's all that is available. I went to a meeting on Friday where the client very kindly suggested that she order lunch for us. I knew that if I didn't say I was low carbing, then we would sit down to a plate of sandwiches. It feels awkward to have to ask for special food. But - if you had a medical condition that meant you couldn't eat wheat, there would be no issue with such a request, would there?

Dieting is often seen as a trivial issue, and we think it's silly to have to ask for special/different food. But think of the impact/implications of being overweight. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc etc. None of these is trivial.

So in these situations, plan ahead and ask for something that suits you.

If you're travelling - eat properly before you set off. Get to know what shops are available at any station you're travelling through - there are an increasing number of M&S Food shops at railway stations and service stations, where you can always buy cooked meats/fish, small portions of cheese and salads (there are one or two without pasta/rice/noodles/potatoes!)

Second, despite your best efforts, sometimes life seems determined to sabotage things. Even if you ask people to cater for you, few people really understand what a low carb diet is. This has happened to me twice since Friday! My client very kindly ordered me a salad for my lunch. I was provided with a bowl of lettuce - with no dressing. Presumably whoever made it was thinking "this person is on a diet, therefore it must have to be fat-free". On top of the lettuce was sweetcorn (one of the carbiest veg there is), a dollop of coleslaw - presumably with sugar in it, like most is - a huge mound of grated carrot, some sliced cooked chicken, cucumber and tomato.

At least I could eat the chicken! But it was very dry and so to make it palatable, easy to eat, I ended up eating more of the coleslaw than I intended. I also was in the embarrassing situation of having to leave a lot of the lunch that I had specially ordered.

And last night, at dinner with friends, I had again plucked up courage to tell them of my low carbing. Despite being reassured that the meal would be low carb-friendly, it was anything but. And it was (mostly) served plated up, so to not eat it was to have been very rude. And it was delicious, and I was hungry ... Smile

But this is life. We have to get through these kind of occasions and accept that they may throw us off course briefly, but that this is a longer term process we are involved in. To use a horrible cliche, we are all on a journey here.

So if it happens to you - just accept it. Don't obsess about it. Avoid the scales for a while, and make sure you are super good for the following days. Don't use it as an excuse to jump off the wagon, for that way, surely, fatness lies!

Come and tell me how you're all getting along. How has life changed for you since we set off on this journey?!

OP posts:
MmeLindor. · 16/05/2012 21:57

Thanks, 2bay. Will get that.

BIWI
I made your lasagne with the courgettes instead of pasta sheets, and used some left over broccoli soup with added cream to make the bechamel ersatz. It was the BEST thing I have ever tasted. Absolutely delicious.

Even the kids (who had the normal version) said that it was the best lasagne I had ever made. And they didn't even notice the leeks that were in it, which would normally be picked out and moaned about.

Next time I will make the bootcamp version for the whole family and trick them into eating courgettes.

BIWItheBold · 16/05/2012 21:58

Whilst Id love to take credit for it, Mme - that's not mine! But it does sound lovely.

OP posts:
QueenStromba · 16/05/2012 22:14

Has anyone got any recipe ideas for using up mayo? I want to start making my own because I can't find any commercial mayos that aren't made with vegetable oil which is highly inflammatory and so not compatible with my view of healthy eating. My problem is that my DP doesn't like mayo and I'd normally take months to get through a jar of the stuff so I don't know how I'd eat a whole batch in 3/4 days.

londonone · 16/05/2012 23:12

If you just make a one egg yolk batch it isn't that much and will keep for a week in the fridge. Only takes 5 mins to make a one egg batch, I know as I made some last night!

QueenStromba · 16/05/2012 23:33

I thought it only lasted 3/4 days. It's still more mayo than I'd normally get through but I suppose I could make celeriac chips a couple of times and maybe some coleslaw. I normally just have it with tuna but I suppose I could mix it with some chicken pieces - I've got some basil olive oil which would probably be really nice with chicken.

smokinaces · 17/05/2012 06:55

Struggling this week. Has taken ages to lose the water weight for my Saturday blow out and everything is so slow. Week 5 though, so to be expected. I'm not struggling with the food, just lack of movement this week. Roll on week six....

teaandthorazine · 17/05/2012 07:27

Did anyone watch Secret Eaters last night? Whilst it was quite interesting re: how much food we eat compared to how much we think we eat, I was still rolling my eyes and muttering at the tv all the way through.

As usual, it was all about counting calories, cutting out the fat etc. They showed big takeaway portions of chips and burgers, saying 'look at the amount of fat on these' - I was yelling 'it's not the bloody fat that's the problem, it's the great big bun and pound of chips!' - sooooo frustrating.

Dp is slowly being converted, I think. Its hard not to sound preachy, though. I don't want to become a diet bore. I never tell him what to eat but I couldn't help pointing out that the yoghurt he was scarfing down (after burger and chips!) had a whopping 60g of sugar in it...

MNP · 17/05/2012 07:56

B1: meds
B2: yog
L: meatballs and veg
D: undecided

Thegoddessblossom · 17/05/2012 08:06

Morning!

Pizza Express for tea last night. I know, get me, 2 nights out in a row! Had a voucher for a £10 meal which of course I couldn't use as it entitled you to a bread like starter, a pizza based main, and a glass of red or rose wine. Angry

So shared olives and nuts for starter and had salad nicoise with no dough sticks, dressing on the side and extra tuna. andaglassofred

Breakfast: handful of strawbs and 3 tables spoons of greek yog.

off to gym after school run.

BIWItheBold · 17/05/2012 08:12

tea - DH asked me if I thought his diet was unhealthy recently. When I started to analyse it, and point out that, yes, it was - he got really defensive! Despite the fact that

a) I have been low carbing (on and off) for ages
b) I have been doing a lot of reading up about it recently

He was still adamant that

  • skipping breakfast was fine, because he's always done it
  • fruit juice is good for him because it's fruit
  • he was worried I wasn't getting enough vitamins/minerals in my food

the last point made me Grin and Shock that he would really think that - the man who is often so busy at work that he won't can't make time to eat anything other than a chocolate bar out of the vending machine at work!

So far, I have only been dealing with my own diet, because I want to lose weight. But the more I read, the more I realise I need to change what I'm cooking for the whole family too. So all those meals where I add potatoes for them, I think I will cut those down/out and just serve different, low carb veg/salad.

OP posts:
vnmum · 17/05/2012 08:12

how do you make your own mayo? fancy trying but don't know how

BIWItheBold · 17/05/2012 08:24

mayonnaise recipes

It's easy to make (especially if you have a stick blender/blender), but don't make it with all extra virgin olive oil, as the flavour will be too strong. Also, if you're using lemon juice, it will become quite tart - which is probably why commercial ones are sweetened.

OP posts:
WillieWaggledagger · 17/05/2012 08:27

i saw one of those adverts on tv for sensodyne (or one of those toothpastes that help stop enamel erosion etc) and I thought ha! except for fizzy water i no longer really have any of those foods which are damaging to teeth!

so i felt smug.

re DP's diet he is a bottomless pit and I don't think we could afford for him to eat like this, even accounting for the feeling more full factor on this woe! he eats loads but does lots of rugby and is on his feet all day long (teacher), and he never snacks as he doesn't have time.

he has said though that he reckons he will have problems keeping his weight down when he is older (both his parents are hugely overweight) and he has taken on board some of the principles of this woe. he also appreciates the food I'm cooking at the moment which is really delicious and I'm being much more experimental... we had got into a bit of a rut. he is an excellent cook but I can't yet trust him not to coat meat in flour etc

BIWItheBold · 17/05/2012 08:41

It does make you realise how often we use flour in recipes without thinking why - and without there being a real need for it.

I see it a lot on MN - people giving recipes for things like Bolognese sauce or the meat for Shepherd's Pie, using flour to thicken it, whereas all that is needed (and which would make it taste better anyway) is for the sauce to be reduced further.

OP posts:
BIWItheBold · 17/05/2012 08:41

Willie - once you are able to introduce some carbs, life will be cheaper and easier - but if you can focus on carbs like pulses it will also be better from the blood sugar/insulin point of view.

OP posts:
MNP · 17/05/2012 09:12

I have bought coconut flour to make gravy and cheese sauce etc. my bolg sauce cooks for 6hours so it is lovely and thick.

BettyBathroom · 17/05/2012 09:14

It's a lot easier to stick to this WOE when your partner is in it with you - Dh and I low-carb and the dcs now have good quality slow carbs and no more processed breakfast cereal!

MNP · 17/05/2012 09:18

Agreed Betty DH isn't into it yet but I hope if I loose the excess he will be more inclined, I find he wants spuds/pasta with his and as he is then having high fat and high carb I land up cooking separate portions of essentially the same thing with mine buttered and his in oil with carbs.

BIWItheBold · 17/05/2012 09:24

How many carbs in coconut flour, MNP?

OP posts:
MNP · 17/05/2012 09:30

A quarter of wheat flour BIWI, we have this one and is 21.7/100 so 2.17/Tsp.

BettyBathroom · 17/05/2012 09:34

I had to prove to dh it worked - even though it had worked, he was enjoying his food and he had lost weight, he still didn't believe it wasn't about calorie restriction in a round about way - this morning we reached the end of another test of this WOE and the scales were lower than ever for him - he is now eating humble pie...it'll be the only pie he gets!

I think it's really hard to have faith that this diet works, it goes against everything we thought we knew....

MNP · 17/05/2012 09:40

Only just bought it so not tried it yet. Hopefully this weekend.

MNP · 17/05/2012 09:41

As they say the proof is in the eating Betty :o

BIWItheBold · 17/05/2012 10:03

MNP - you can make gravy and cheese sauce without any flour ...

OP posts:
MsRinky · 17/05/2012 11:12

I have done the experimenting for you with coconut flour and can report that it is completely useless for thickening sauces.

It does make ace crackers with flaxseed though.

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