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!

[LittleMissDisorganized]

Thanks you, so much, for all the encouragement Piscivorous, BIWI, gussie and Crabby especially.
Crabby not a BB - my 'bottom' as they say, was very low, and that group didn't want that there - I've found the new thread, DRY, pretty awesome but that's since I've been sober. Life is so much better without it in every way despite still dealing with the consequences of my last drink (eg. this last surgery that I'm only just getting over). I mostly talk about all that under a name change though.

Eating this way is opening my mind to just how addictive sugar is and how much it messes with your satiety levels and how we just get used to that and think it's normal. I'm eating less, less often, less hungry, and now I've got thru the carb flu I feel as good as I've felt in a long time. I'm craving sugar a bit - but partly as there are yummy things lying around as DH lives here too!!

Today:
yogurt with flax, cream and vanilla (becoming more palatable!)
leftover pork, thyme and leek casserole
Making stuffed pork tenderloin with pesto and cream cheese from the aforementioned cookbook
(Chipping I will have a look for non-egg veggie things in it - I really don't know how you do it, in great admiration)

[BIWI]

Not geeky at all, Piscivorus! And yes, I agree. But not sure if Nux needs the decongestant or if she's taking Lemsip for general 'make me feel better' requirements.

Oh, and I always take soluble Solpadeine

[CalamityKate]

Someone give me a slap please!

I've lost 6lb in not quite 2 weeks which is brilliant and far quicker than I've ever lost before.

However because it's been quick I'm now panicking because I weigh the same as I did two days ago. I'm convinced that that's it; I've list all I'm going to and in fact will probably put it all back on again

I know I'm being a twat but hammer it home please?

[teaandthorazine]

Kate, you're being a twat.

Weight loss is not linear.

You will stop and start. You will have weeks when you lose a pleasing amount, and weeks when you don't. Our bodies are complex, amazing things, they are not simple input/output machines. There are a million possible reasons why you may not have lost recently, don't waste your time trying to analyse why, just keep on keeping on. Enjoy your food, enjoy your journey, enjoy having the key to real health while everyone else chomps low-fat spread, crispbread and vile processed sugary yoghurts.

This is not a race, this is a Way Of Life.

[Nux]

Thanks Piscivorus, that is a lot of carbs for one Lemsip! It is the decongestant I need, otherwise I would just have had painkillers. It's been in my sinuses all week but has now moved to my chest so it hurts to cough. On the plus side, that means that the decongestants aren't going to help much so I have ordered fresh lemon from DH who is off to the shop!

Feeling happier now too and sorry for moaning at what I know is a very impressive couple of weeks. Have dyed hair and painted toenails to make myself feel better - also DS is having an epic nap which will hopefully help him and is certainly helping my sanity!

Thanks to everyone for being nice to a whiny old cow and I will endeavour to be positive from now on!

[googoogoggles]

Why would you put it back on Calamity – unless you stop doing BC you'll be fine. Honest! You may get a little increase with drinking a lot of water, but then your body will release the excess water after a couple of days with "unlocked" fat stores. Weight does tend to slow down a lot (in my experience anyway) after the first couple of weeks. I seemed to hover at the same weight for ever at the last BC but my body shape changed dramatically and clothes that didn't fit did again. "Tis a thing of mystery indeed. I doubt I've lost more than a pound or two this week of strict BC –and I still have a lot to lose, but I'm exercising more and telling myself that muscle weights more than fat and what bit I am losing is fat and that's a GOOD THING
Keep on keeping on everyone!

[googoogoggles]

LOL at tea's straight talking!

[Piscivorus]

Try inhaling steam Nux, it is old-fashioned but it works. You can put some menthol or Karvol in if you want but it is the steam that does it. It works for me and I am asthmatic so when I get a cough I really rattle!

Just a warning as we move out of bootcamp for those of you who have done this before and remember Sainsburys Basics peanut butter being the lowest carb - it has changed and now has more sugar in it The carb count has gone from 3.9g of which sugars 1.9g to 10.6 of which sugars 6.8g, the fibre has gone down from 16.2 to 9.1 and the salt from 0.95 to 0.47. Seems like a backwards step and the lowest carb one I could see today was the Whole Earth one which tastes far too healthy and imo is just wrong!

[Nux]

Thanks I'll give it a try :-)

[GermanGirlinLDN]

Piscivorus I am sure they are 'fine' on a low carb diet, but I am more following the Paleo WOE. I use coconut oil and grass-fed butter for frying etc. and olive and avocado oil for salads.

[Piscivorus]

I have been reading the Scandinavian Diet which somebody else mentions upthread. He suggests when you have a lot of weight to lose or are very carb sensitive (I have decided I am as, despite being huge, I put on weight so easily when off the WOE) you should eat predominantly fat and protein and use leafy veg almost just as a garnish. I don't want to cut veg out but was wondering what is a reasonable portion size? I suspect all the years of SW with their fill up on "free foods" may have skewed my judgement and I may be eating too much of them.

[SteeleyeStan]

Sorry everyone who's feeling less than great today.

I'm feeling pretty great myself, apart from stupid back - some Solpadeine sounds nice, actually... ;) But stomach's fine, head is fine, skin is fine, and no nasty cravings, either.

I'm also waking up early, like some others here said they were. I think it's to do with the extra energy from ketosis. (I don't know if it's related, but I have heard that some people with a bipolar disorder can find it hard and it could even trigger manic episodes, but that's just hearsay and what I've heard from one sufferer, so can't say how common it is.)

I can tell you lovely folks, that the secret to staying on track during the weekend is to have a very boring, very chore-filled weekend, as like any other day of the week as possible.

My foods today have been:
B: Cheesy omelette, cucumber, coffee with coconut oil.
L: Green pepper, a coule of cherry tomatos, slice of cheese, a few minisalamis, more coffee with coconut oil.
D: Fried pork loin steak and The Bubble and Squek (with added leek, yum).

[MrsPnut]

Afternoon, I've moved passed lethargy into I can do everything :o
I've been steam cleaning everything this afternoon and I'm about to tackle the ironing.

b - scrambled eggs with cream, 2 rashers of bacon and mushrooms fried in butter.
l - roast chicken (I ate all the skin), cheesy leeks, mashed swede, broccoli and brussels sprouts.
d - will probably be curried cauliflower soup.

[BIWI]

Piscivorus - have you read The Diet Delusion, by Gary Taubes? There's a bit in there about meat-only diets. Two scientists went to live in a culture where the diet was meat and fat only (I think - this is from memory). After a year, they repeated all the health tests they had done before they left, and found that they their health hadn't changed - with the exception of an improvement in gum disease.

Worth a look at.

The only thing about using veg as a garnish is that your meals could quickly get very boring!

Have you tried eating only salad with meals for a while? Lots of different lettuces you can eat, which will keep things more interesting - and you can dress them with lovely oily and/or creamy dressings, of course.

[holmessweetholmes]

I have succumbed to various carbs this weekend with our guests here, but I am properly back on the waggon tomorrow, and with even more reason, it seems. Someone upthread mentioned the article about lc diets by a neurologist in the Times yesterday. It was amazing, and just adds to the weight of evidence that lc is the healthy way to go, for your brain as much as your waistline.

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

Afternoon :)



Have carb cravings I'll not deny...

[CrabbyWinterBottom]

You're welcome LittleMiss. Sorry to hear that you didn't get the support there when you needed it; that surprises me as it's always seemed to be a very supportive place. I guess it depends who's there at the time. I've had a look at the DRY thread and did see that some people found the controlled drinking on the BB thread too triggering. It's good that there are different threads for different needs, I think.

at Woolfey's DH's 'death on a plate'!

I'm currently feeling sick, having just eaten over a packet of pork scratchings. Dp is currently roasting a chicken and simultaneously prepping braised pigs' cheeks to cook in the slow cooker overnight. Enough free range pigs' cheeks to make a dish that will feed us for two nights cost... £1.47 Normally they're around £5 a kilo (so still dirt cheap) but they were reduced. One of the last truly cheap cuts of meat now that lamb shanks and beef shin have become popular and therefore more expensive, and if you slow cook them they are incredibly, meltingly tender.

[CalamityKate]

Thank you for the pep talk TAT!!

I think the fact I haven't had a decent poo (sorry TMI) for about 4 days doesn't help. Iam quite literally dull of shit

Yesterday I had a bit of a runny bum but that's fine now.

Oddly though I don't feel bunged up or bloated at all!

[CalamityKate]

Full of, not dull of.....

[captainmummy]

Where did you get pigs cheeks, crabbY? And will you slow cook them like a stew?
Pisci - I went from eating about 8 portions fruit and veg a day, to 1-2. I've had celery and cauliflower today - I do try to eat more salad leaves, but it is difficult this time of year. (I had no veg yesterday, other than spinach in the curry )
I've got a huge roll of pork for dinner - with roasted cauli and gravy. I'll use the rest in something tomorrow (like the Sainsburys ad - 'why not use leftovers for monday and tuesday? Better than throwing it all away i suppose! Idiot advert) Anyone got any ideas for leftover pork shoulder?

Breakfast - 3 scrambled eggs and 2 slices bacon
Lunch - celery sticks with stilton