Week 6 - New Year Low Carb Bootcamp _ Where I start to wave my big stick again

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here it is - come and confess all

Now. Three things have come to my attention.

1. There is a lot of baking going on. Sweet things and bread substitutes.

Please remember that we are trying to avoid sweet things and that we are trying to avoid using artificial sweeteners.

1. A lot most of you are falling off the wagon - either 'accidentally' () or because situations arise where you have not planned ahead or deliberately.

This is not a very forgiving WOE. Lapses/cheats like this will have a big impact - at the very least you will not see any weight loss for a while - most likely, though, you will see a gain of around 3-7lbs. You really have to plan ahead and make sure you do everything you can to stay focused and avoid the carbs. Going out for a meal or to dinner at a friends does mean that you have to think about what's going to be on offer. You cannot assume that low carb options are going to be available (although most restaurants should be fairly easy to navigate).

1. There is a lot of moaning about seeing a weight gain or not losing.

May I refer you to 1 and 2 above?

Please, please, please go back to Bootcamp/Bootcamp Light rules. They are there for a reason!

I can tell you that almost every time someone posts "I don't know what to do, the scales aren't moving for me/I've gained half a stone and I don't know why, because I'm being really good/have been following the rules" this is a massive signal that, actually, they haven't.

Fat is key.
Water is key.
Too much alcohol will stop weight loss.
Dairy - especially cream and cheese - can be an issue for many (yoghurt is better tolerated)
Artificial sweeteners are to be avoided.
Fruit should be severely restricted.

We have only five weeks of Bootcamp left, including this week. Let's get serious and back on track.

my blog is here, for whoever was asking!

re vodka and lime - I've just looked up carbs in lime cordial and roses has 4.9 in 100mls of diluted, yet Tesco own brand only has 0.4 in the same amount

Does anyone know what sort they serve in pubs if you order vodka with lime and soda?

prettybird clotted cream is sent from heaven

No - it's vodka with fresh lime, not lime cordial, which has far too much sugar in it.

BIWI - lovely blog. Am beginning to think running could really be the thing that stops me shovelling food in. Might make me more mindful.

The problem with reading about how everyone is doing (for me) is seeing what gorgeous food you all have compared to me; not only do you seem to be able to afford or actually locate the good stuff but you all seem to like cooking as well. Insult to injury TBH

My menu for tomorrow is
Hard boiled egg with a smidge of butter melted and water
Water
Water
Fried pork belly & spinach with a bit of full fat Greek yoghurt with ground linseed sprinkled (Chinese 5 spice if it's ok?) on top and water
Water
Water
Soft cheese/ garlic mushroom and chicken legs and broccoli and water
Water.........

One of my favourite snacks is celery and pâté. You have to be careful with sausages though (I noticed someone had a sausage ) they often are bulked up with risk etc.

Today I had the same except with bacon (bit norty) instead of chicken. Plus a crime egg because I have got a bastard of a cold and cannot hear,smell,taste,hear talk or breathe and I am normally pretty good and I feel sorry for myself

Oh and I am going with callanetics

Sorry FurFoxAke but I did snigger at 'you have to be careful with sausages ... they often are bulked up with risk'!!!

My problem is I hate vodka.

But I have cut my wine consumption right back to one to two glasses a week

BTW - clotted cream with a (very of course ) few frozen raspberries is to die for.

lol I reread it and not only are sausages risky but those crime eggs? Kind of appropriate auto correct bloopers

Yes I think we should all be wary of crime eggs in the lead up to Easter

Loving timidviper's scenic route - that's how I feel about it. If I hadn't enjoyed myself at my best friend's fortieth I would have lost three pounds last week and been at goal already. But she's my best friend, and I am very happy with the pound and a half.

FurFoxAke (another gormless one here who didn't get the name, love it though - and the crime eggs ) your meals look very nice to me. Agree though it does really help to enjoy cooking, as one really does need to cook from scratch a lot more on the WOE. That said, there's an awful lot that can be just bunged in the oven and slow roasted with not much prep involved - my meal last night took all of five mins prep to chop up leek and celeriac and arrange it around the chicken in a roasting dish with some lumps of butter, and the chicken will last me for days now in salads, broths etc with little extra prep/cooking.

Ps very impressed by your alcohol cut prettybird - I was having at least a glass most days before the WOE but still haven't managed to cut down as much as that. Well done!

ROFL at 'crime egg' - very appropriate!
I had blueberry pancakes with whipped cream for pudding last night, they were lush! I used almond flour, eggs and unsweetened soy milk. They were probably a bit carby but better than my usual maple syrup laden crepes!
I am doing couch to 5k, my fitness has disappeared after my extended
break from excersize and I think it's going to be a good way to get it back!
It's my birthday today so I'm going to have to try REALLY HARD not to eat cake/ chocolate...

Furfoxake you are not eating much in the way of veg?

Lol at crime eggs

... and there is no point working so hard with your food if you're going to undo it by eating a Creme Egg!

You will feel even sorrier for yourself when you get on the scales ...

Happy Birthday and many happy returns Bullet!

Many apols to all for my moaning yesterday about yet another LC wagon failure. Your lovely pick-me-up support did wonders though, and I'm keeping in mind TimidViper's lovely analogy of sometimes needing to take the scenic route.

I'm nearing maintenance now, so I think that's why the fact that I still haven't got my carb splurges under control just makes me worry that I'll put it all back on again, and won't make a success of the WOE.

(And the fact that a friend called me Oprah Winfrey recently - i.e. weight fluctuates a lot - wasn't helping, and made me feel a bit of a hopeless, destined-to-yo-yo-forever case.)

But the support here really is fab and I need to recognise that I am getting there. So lovely boot campers. You are brill, and this thread is really kinda life changing.

I need to take myself in hand as well, Novelty. I only have 5 or 6lbs to go to get to my target, but just don't seem to be able to get there. I'm going up and down by the same 2-3lbs all the time! Maybe I should try the one night massive carb splurge and see if that gets things started.

Or maybe I should just heed my own big stick and get strict with myself!

It's not that I'm doing anything bad - I'm definitely following Bootcamp Light, and (apart from yesterday when I was told not to by my osteopath) I have been exercising every day, so I'm not losing focus overall.

However, this does seem to happen to me (and I've read others reporting it too), that I get stuck for a while, and then will suddenly - for no obvious reason - just drop another couple of pounds.

Keep on keeping on ...

Happy birthday bullet!

I think the fact that you're exercising a lot and training for your run BIWI must mean you're building muscle too. I have a friend who works in a gym who said that that really does happen, so to take scales with a pinch of salt whilst training.

So I'm sure you're getting there too.... not only losing fat, but getting fit and healthy too! (I have yet to start on the fitness part....but going to SportsDirect this weekend!)

NB. And in a further high five to this WOE.... I work in a health field and was talking to a colleague yesterday about LCing (ironically whilst stuffing my face with the pancakes, but moving on....). She's a physician with a doctor husband too and they said they both were really interested in this WOE and agreed that fat is not the enemy, but carbs were.

She said her problem was that she's of Asian origin and is addicted to white rice, so was struggling with that. But she fully agreed with the concepts and was working on the rice. I should get her to read the thread! (If I wouldn't feel so embarrassed about people who know me reading my whingeing / confessionals!)

Yes you're right, Novelty - but also the mirror doesn't lie! I was trying on some clothes yesterday and had to look at myself in a full-length mirror (we don't have one at home) and it's very evident that I'm still carrying excess fat around my torso.