Week 1 - New Year 2014 Low Carb Bootcamp - And We're Off!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

I see several of you have already weighed in on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

As of today, though, we also have our bright, shiny, new Bootcamp section on Mumsnet, including our own Weight Tracker, which will only show your own weight/progress.

You can either use the Spreadsheet as we have done before, which everyone has access to and can see, or you can go here and enter your weight.

Obviously you can do both!

When you're in the new Bootcamp, if you click on the tab that says 'more info' that will take you to a section which has loads of information about low carbing, as well as Bootcamp Rules

Before we get going formally, I have to make an important disclaimer:

I am not a doctor, a medic, a scientist, a nutritionist or a dietician. I have no formal training in food, dieting or low carbing. The information that I provide here is based solely on my reading on the subject, as well as my own experience. If you have any kind of medical condition and/or you are taking any kind of ongoing medication, you should consult your GP before starting a low carb diet

That done, good luck everyone!

That's great news Pistey

I am a confused.

I understand the low carb and protein bit, but it seems from reading this thread that the more fat you eat the quicker the weight loss ?

I would have thought moderate amounts of fat stop you being hungry but surely if everything is loaded with butter and cream it will make the weight loss slower.

Is it a case of minimum amount of fat to keep the carb cravings in check or the more fat the better ?

What Wakeme asked...yep, I'm wondering about that too.

Morning everyone, I too fell asleep early last night before I had time to post my day. I took a friend out for lunch for her birthday, she chose a lovely cafe which is famous for its delicious moist Guinness cake. I know it well in a former life ... And was thinking, this is going to be a TEST of my resolve! Anyway, got there and what was their daily lunch special? Pork belly! Result! It was delicious and I felt no need for Cake at all (though my friend did have it and enjoyed it).

Yesterday
B Omelette (shared with DH) 4 eggs, cream, bacon, mushrooms.
L (cafe) pork belly with crispy bacon and veg (included carrots but very tiny), coffee with cream
S ff yoghurt
D salmon baked with feta on top, spinach and sweet corn

Hope everyone has a good day.

Hello everyone. I've not had chance to read the thread properly, but just wanted to check in and say how much I'm enjoying it.

I did the slow warm up last week, and seem to be (at point of Monday's weigh in,) at least half a stone lighter than NYD.

I made it to Lidl yesterday and came away with with lots of greek yoghurt and my new favourite - green olives with garlic. And goats cheese (which I'm having in moderation)

But the revelation of the week for me (amongst all the other revelations like having more energy and no water retention,) has been some cold sliced pork belly I bought as an emergency lunch yesterday. It is just as good as a pork pie - better

I went back and bought some more for lunches, and am trying to work out how to recreate the exact recipe myself.

It's got fennel seeds on it.

wakemeupnow and gussie - this provides more detail (do have a look at the low carb resources page on the spreadsheet too. it's worth getting hold of a copy of briffa's 'escape the diet trap' from the library as well as some of the other books suggested as they will explain far better than i ever can

generally it is 'the more fat the better', in the sense that, the greater %age of your diet that is fats the better (and the better your weight loss), but that has to be balanced wtih sufficient vitamins, minerals and protein so it needs to have greater variety than just butter and coconut oil

you will also find though that a higher fat diet (combined with lower carbohydrates) will be self-limiting in that you will feel more satiated for longer, and the hormone leptin is being used properly so you are likely to stop eating when you've had enough and not want to eat again until you feel proper hunger (more here)

initially you really, really don't need to worry about the overall quantity of fat you are eating provided that your carb intake is low enough, but you may find that after a few weeks/months/years you need to look at portion size, particularly if you have relatively little to lose or are getting close to your goal, because you are simply meeting your energy needs (NOT the same as calories in, calories out - the body is not a computer). for many people though i suspect that increasing fat %age and further reducing carbs would do the job, but most people want more variety in their diet than that!

i find that now that i've been low carbing for nearly two years, if i eat more than a certain amount overall i don't lose weight, but i don't gain it either, but then bear in mind that (a) this usually means that i'm eating quite a lot of dairy, which can stall people (b) it also usually means that i'm eating more protein than usual, which can be converted into glucose and (c) given that there's variety in my diet i'm usually eating slightly more grams of carbs than usual as the overall ratios of fat:protein:carbs remain the same. i haven't experimented with increasing both calorie intake and %age fat intake, but from reading around on low carb forums i suspect it might increase weight loss rather than decrease. however, i can't be arsed with the measuring and monotonous diet required to check this!

i really would urge you to read up on this if you are curious, because it's important that you understand the principles and are satisfied with the research and resources that you're looking at. none of us on here can prove our credentials and there's a lot of nonsense on the web, so do read around - there are some initial pointers on the spreadsheet of placed to start

gravity

1. no
2. no, it's a Way Of Eating

Hello all. I'm finding bc a bit easier this time, maybe because of the soft start. But I'm a bit surprised to see no sign of the lc flu yet. Obviously it's nice not to have it! But just wondering why... I am doing much better at drinking lots of water this time around - could that be it?
Anyway - put on 2lb at first, but am now 1lb down from starting weight.
Today so far...
B: tea with a splash of milk, Total yoghurt with cinnamon, a spoonful of coconut oil
L: broccoli soup, tuna mayo and salad, black coffee
D: not sure yet.

Gravity

OK I think I've got some motivation back.

Yesterday I ate
B - ff yoghurt with vanilla
L - 2 black farmer sausages with caulirice and spinach (odd combo but I liked it)
D - spag bol with courgette spaghetti.
I didn't drink enough water at all, so I'm trying to rectify that.

Today has been flax with yoghurt for breakfast (bleurgh), chicken drumsticks with salad for lunch, and i've got a shoulder of lamb in the slow cooker for dinner.

But I'm still spotting. Is anyone else? Is it something to do with estrogen being locked away in fat stores and now it's being released? I've not lost weight for 4 days either. Very confused.

Thanks for explaining Willie I have been so programmed that fat is bad ,it's a little alarming , though pleasantly indulgent , to find that an all the fat you can eat diet helps weight loss

Made the sausage and egg muffins for lunch today - DH demolished 3 with a ton of brown sauce, I had 2 with rocket and dressing and found I didn't want to go back for more.

I am struggling emotionally today, really struggling. I kind of expected it - this is withdrawal and the feelings are real but they don't have to control how I think or behave. I feel down and weepy. I'm not that tempted though to waver eating-wise because this is a realisation of what a power sugar has had over my life and my feelings and how I've never realised. I would never have been brave enough to do this on my own though - really grateful for this thread. I am feeling pangs for carbs and just trying to recognise them as that, and then move on and ignore them. Sorry to witter, just feeling bleak and needing to share it. Had real coffee and cream - rare for me to have coffee after breakfast - but was a lovely way to 'nurture' myself.

I've also had a good day food wise, scrambled eggs for breakfasts and chicken salad followed by Greek yoghurt for lunch.
However I'm struggling, I feel angry, upset and just downright agitated for no reason. I'm not hungry so that's not the reason.
Despite not being hungry I have an urge to eat my box of liquorice allsorts which I've hidden (Christmas pressie which I should have eaten before bootcamp), hoping this passes soon.

Going to drink another pint of water and hope for the best.

Hi all. This WOE has made me a bit sneaky! Was going to a friends for coffee and breakfast this morning and I went armed with a total Greek yoghurt in my bag. Friend had done lovely muffins and croissants and muesli and fruit and yoghurt. The yoghurt was 0% greek style yoghurt but I helped myself to food last when everyone else was in the other room - put my yoghurt in a bowl and just put 4 raspberries on top. I would have been honest if anyone had asked but I don't think anyone noticed. Had that and a lovely coffee and a couple of glasses of water. So I know the raspberries are not ideal yet but given the carnage that it could have been I am ok with that!

Exactly that Plonky, as your fat cells shrink they are releasing oestrogen. It might take a couple of menstrual cycles before your body changes its oestrogen production to suit your new diet. When I started low carbing I had terrible carb cravings for the first two cycles but now I don't and the PMT isn't as bad and I hardly have any pain at all - a dull ache for the first day of two rather than having to dose up on Ibuprofen for three days.

It is absolutely typical of this WOE that the weight comes off in fits and starts. My pattern is to shed a pound then the next week I don't lose weight but I might lose half an inch of my hips and/or waist then the next week whoosh another pound off. It's to do with the way your body uses up fat, as it's consumed it is replaced by an equal amount of water. Then as the weight loss continues your body sheds the stored water and your weight drops.

I always try to have a pair of jeans that's a bit too tight so that I can feel myself getting smaller over time. The current pair were bought just before I found out I was pregnant with DS1... in 2002! It will be a great day when I can wear them again. I can get them on at the moment but the muffin top ain't too pretty!

holmes as this isn't your first time LCing your body may well be adapting more quickly, which is why it's not fighting the carb withdrawal

Durham - are you eating enough fat?

StuntNun - I'm also using pre-dc jeans as my inspiration. Shall we make a pact to upload photos of ourselves in them at the end?

Thanks Woolfey, I will get through this

Pseudo, I don't really know if I'm eating enough fat, I'm trying to but despite what everyone says and understanding the science behind it, I'm still worried about eating too much fat. I don't really like the sensation of having an oily mouth so will have to have 'hidden' fats found in foods. How much fast is enough and how much is too much? I want to loose about 7 pounds, I weigh 8 10 but have always felt better closer to 8 than 9 stone ( I'm only 5' 2")

So long as it's post-muffin top Project!

Durham - please, please, please don't worry about eating too much fat! Willie's brilliant post ^ explains it all.