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!

Morning all.

I'm knackered, but that's completely my own fault. Thought I'd be reasonable and went to bed before midnight, but picked up a book instead of sleeping... Must've been 3am before I put it down.

Foods for today:
B: Cheesy omelette and coffee with coconut oil.
L: The smoked salmon I didn't eat yesterday, and salad veggies.
S: ? cheese ? - or just a beverage of some kind with fatty additions.
D: Lamb and feta meatballs (I've only fairly recently learnt to make meatballs that don't fall apart when I fry them!) with salad and/or broccoli and/or cauliflower.

Skin question! Is anyone else finding themselves unusually red, flushed and with a hot skin? My chest and neck look almost like angry hives for c. third day now. It's not itchy or sore in anyway though, and not really bumpy. I haven't been eating or drinking anything "new" and it doesn't really feel allergic, anyway. A low carbing friend suggested it might simply be a side effect of "deeper ketosis" and metabolism speeding up. I really hope she's right, but I don't remember this from before.

Lucy at dropping kids off at the pool!
I think some people just naturally go less often on LC (since you're feeling fine). Make sure you're having enough water and fat, and linseeds (soaked or not) can help. I took some senna last week for this, though, and everything's back to normal by now.

Right, my DA has left, and I'm writing a shopping list. I'm also steeling myself to throw out the rest of the sweets she left here.

My realistic ambition now is not to have gained anything the first week but I'm all-in from now!

I've just received two celerics from the tesco man. I've never cooked them before so instead of moussaka I'll tackle the shepherds pie. I'll have it with stuffed mushrooms I think.

I've never heard it referred to as that before, Lucy :o

I too am suffering a bit - am going daily but only a tiny bit, and very loose (now there's tmi), all the while feeling like I need a good clearout... I normally just get constipated, so this is a bit weird.

In the past I've used psyllium husks in water (H&B do them) but they taste revolting and also make you very windy, ime. It usually takes me at least a week for my body to get to grips with low-carbing, but once it's in the zone (so to speak) it's fine.

You may find that you go less frequently on this WOE anyway - I was told many years ago that your body is using more nutrients from the food so there's less waste there to dispel, if that makes any sense? (waits for BIWI to come and tell her that's bollocks).

Just checking in as I'm a Friday weigher- 2.8lbs down from last Fri but only 0.2 from Mon. Trying not to be disappointed because as a long term low carber I know it's not all about weight etc.... and still 9.4lb off in 2 weeks but I reeeeeaaaally wanted to lose the 10lbs I put on over the two Xmas period
Ah well, onwards and downwards

Steel and Love I am getting concerned so will check out the linseed and psyllium husks (never heard of those before btw!) I'm not eating the mounds of pasta and rice I used to eat, so that does explain some of it.

The euphemism is courtesy of my BIL. I promised myself that I'd use it more in conversation ;)

Lighthouse I love celeriac chips with mayo. It must be lovely as a pie topping too.

Dinner ended up being leftover beef stirfry, and I added extra butter-fried mushrooms.
Then around 10pm I started craving something to eat - I didn't feel hungry as such, just really wanted to eat something, so to stop me eating anything naughty, I had fried haloumi with home-made tzatziki - Greek yog, lemon juice, garlic salt, fresh mint, cucumber and some capers.

Felt better for a while, and am drinking loads of water, but am still feeling the need to eat.

What I would really like to know is, what can I dip in the double cream I have? When we get to Bootcamp light, and I can have fruit again, it will be easy - but right now, what is there? Any ideas? I don't drink tea or coffee and I'm guessing that hotchocolate is off the menu, so can't even have it in drinks.

I will be making cream of mushroom soup tomorrow, but still just want an easy dunker.

Lovecat I got some Argos own-brand digital scales. They're not very heavy. My way of getting no-one to jump on them is to keep them in a drawer! I taken them out on my way to the bathroom in the morning. Then put them safely back...

Gerry I would urge you to keep at it. My view is, I won't lose this weight any other way - it may take 6 months but this is a WOE I can stick to for 6 months, because I'm not hungry.

I wish I could post the graph that shows my weight loss of 18lb (at an average of 1lb per week) over the last 19 weeks. (Tried to upload the graph but it didn't work)

If you could see this graph you would see that there were at least 2 times where I stayed the same weight for a FORTNIGHT. There were at least 2 weeks where my weight increased! But if you can make sure you don't feel despondent and that you just keep following the rules of the WOE (and taking inspiration from these threads) - it works - 18lb gone.

You will also start to feel slimmer at every point of this journey down.

Think that euphemism now has to a BC regular Lucy Love it! I've got some aloe vera tablets – took some a couple of days ago and seemed to work. The husks don't taste great – I've tried them in the past, May work mixed into FF Yoghurt, bit like linseed though?
Yes, Steeleye I've also been getting lots of flushes, redness on face and neck, too. Thought menopause symptoms had returned in force but am now wondering... Didn't have this at all last BC, or the one before.
Anyone else?
Scales don't seem to have moved much for me this week but keeping on...
Meeting friends for drinks and curry this eve. Am going to offer to drive as good reason to stick on fizzy water and opt for chicken shashlick and (hopefully) a cauli-based dish without potatoes!

That was a year's worth of weekly weighings for me (the time since then has been much flatter). It varies, there can be ups and slower weeks. It's the overall that counts. :)

Wow. I'm feeling great on Bootcamp this time! No lc flu, 2.5 lb down since Monday. It's lucky I'm feeling so positive though, as we've got guests for the weekend and it's going to be really hard to stay on track. I shall be surrounded by temptation, including dh's amazing tarte tatin...

googoogoggles Interesting - glad it's not just me. :) I'm waiting for AF to start any day now, though, so I guess hormones could well play a role for me too.

LittleMiss thank you. I'm feeling more human today, finally. If it's any comfort, I don't get a second wind at tea time - it's my worst part of the day. Last night Dp came in and I told him that I couldn't talk to him until we'd had dinner (which was nearly ready, to be fair) as I was incapable of having a civil conversation. Had to say the same to DD too.

Regarding Waitrose/Ocado, Waitrose is the only place I've found the 1kg cartons of Total ff yoghurt. It's £4.49 which means a small saving over two of the 500g tubs at £2.39 (tesco and waitrose price). They often have offers on frozen wild caught prawns (around £5/6 down to around £3 per bag) so I buy loads when the offers are on. Their frozen berries are often 2 for £4. Don't know if you can buy from the meat counter online, but pigs' cheeks are dirt cheap (sorry can't remember whether you're veggie) and make an amazing casserole.

Light / Nigella this is the current thread afaik.

Lucy and Lovecat another vote for linseed/flaxseed (it's the same thing) here. You can get milled/cracked flaxseed in Sainsburys/Waitrose which means you get the fatty acids too (which aren't accessible in the whole seeds as they pass straight through undigested). I've never tried psyllium but I find the taste of flaxseed quite pleasant. I put it in yoghurt. I used to take Linusit cracked linseed and swig it down with water (drink extra water with it as it absorbs water and swells to form a soft, mucilaginous mass that pushes things through). I even give it to the dog and it's solved her ongoing anal gland stench issue!

Some people have found that flaxseed stalls them but I've never found that to be the case. Someone said that their flaxseed was 35% carbs or something, but I was a bit at that - my Linwoods milled flaxseed is 1.7g per 100g.

I've had my period this week, does this affect weightloss? I haven't lost as much as I expected to, about 2 pounds. Still good though!

DD made cupcakes in kindergarten yesterday and wanted me to share one with me. I told her that I can't eat it because I'm on a diet.... but I didn't want to tell her that it's for weightloss, so I said that I've been grumpy and I'm trying to see if not eating sugar will make me less grumpy! She said she thinks it's working some of the time, but not all of it! haha. Made a special effort all afternoon to play with her!

No more redness than usual for me but my skin looks pretty dull and sallow at the moment. I caught sight of myself in a mirror yesterday and was appalled!

Steelyeye what an achievement! Brilliant to see your dedication visually mapped out like that. I weigh on the wii fit and it's been recording my weight since 2007. The graph is like the profile of a mountain range. Long slow inclines (like gentle mountain meadows!) over long months of not weighing and eating like a pig, followed by steep precipices of weightloss over a couple of months. I'm not a creature of moderation.

pops... out of the mouths of babes and all that!

Pops - most definitely your weight(loss) is affected by your cycle. Hopefully you should see a big whoosh!

Breakfast - black rooibos tea with coconut oil
lunch - leftover shephereds pie with celeriac topping/mash
dinner - dunno, will be something quick as we are going to see Cirque du Soleil tonight (if the trains are running through the floods ) probably cheese slices!

Afternoon, I am feeling quite good today after an early night yesterday.

B - boiled egg, slice of gouda and a couple slices of chorizo
L - curried cauliflower soup and 2 slices of ham rolled up with cream cheese in. Natural yoghurt.
D - not sure yet, maybe burger with bacon and salad or chicken breast and salad.

I haven't drunk my 2l of water before lunch today, been too busy doing actual work so I will need to make more of an effort when I get home.

Another half pound gone since Wednesday!

I'm a bit bunged up too although don't feel bloated or uncomfortable at all.

Re: skin flushing - could it be you're just running hotter?? I'm a cold soul but I'm much warmer than normal. Fat keeping me warm even though I'm getting thinner maybe??

Thanks Crabby . Since 2007 is an impressively long graph!
Also, the bubble & squek was great! I'd make more tonight, if it wasn't for stupid mealplanning and already-bought-ingredients in the fridge...

B- cold cuts of Turkey and roast beef with philli on a celery stick
L- broccolli and bacon soup, 2 leaves of baby gem spread with pate.
D- not sure as we are hoping out with mil.

Steeleye! how did you manage to post that graph?!!?

Plus - well done on a year