Week 3 Low Carb Bootcamp - Where we stand at the crossroads ...

[BIWI]

Morning everyone.

So, we enter the fabled week 3.

This week you have a choice. You can either continue with Bootcamp or you can move on to Bootcamp Light:

Rules of Bootcamp Light

Or you can do a hybrid - Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend. Totally up to you and what you find is working for you the most.

Don't forget to enter your weight on the weight tracker - today you should see your graph appear! Or if you prefer, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

And now - a word of warning!

It is very, very, very common for weight loss to slow down/stop altogether in weeks 3, 4 and/or 5. This seems to be entirely normal. It's probably to do with your body adjusting to low carbing. You will have junked the glycogen stores and a load of water, and will now be burning fat. From here on, weight loss will - and should be - around 1-2lbs a week

Good luck everyone!

Ho there!!!
I know tou all are in week 3....but pretty pleaae can I run and jump in???
I am on day 5 here!!! And just wanted to say hi really!

Thumb banana is about the worst fruit you could possibly have. have some berries instead!

Captain that was me about the yoghurt and flax seeds. It's great isn't it!

LittleMiss about your leg. Hope the swimming limbers it up.

Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's lunch pics. I'm quite proud of it actually, especially as I prepared it all with a stinking hangover from the all day drinking at the wedding! I was making it for pescatarian friends who know nothing about low carb, so I wanted to give them a really lovely lunch without them realising that they were eating low carb until afterwards. I had a bit of the fish stew left so I served that as a starter in little ramekins, then the tart with rocket leaves as the main, then the little chocolate tarts. All with bucketloads of prosecco. They seemed to really enjoy it and were very surprised that the pastry was wheat free. Cider I'll put the recipes up on the blog this week but the pastry bases are from this Rose Elliot recipe and I've just adapted that recipe for the filling (I use 3 eggs rather than 2 + 2 yolks, and different fillings). I ground my own almonds for the cheese tart as it gives a nuttier texture, but used ready ground almonds for the choccy ones as it's a bit lighter.

Half a pound loss for me this week so not showing a loss on the spreadsheet. I'm pleased with that as am very lucky not to have put a load on considering my various transgressions and bucketloads of wine.

I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to BIWI and Willie for all their hard work, and also ALL YOU LOVELY BOOTCAMPERS for the support and advice and humour that flows through these threads. I find it really motivating to post on here and it keeps me focused on this way of eating.

haha whoknows, i know the problem. this is the 'carbohydrate ladder' which atkins recommends as the order in which you should increase/reintroduce carbs to find your maintenance level at which you don't gain or lose weight. They are roughly ordered by glycaemic index:

More salad and other vegetables
Fresh cheeses (as well as more aged cheese)
Nuts and Seeds
Berries, then melons
Dry wine (and other spirits low in carbs)
Legumes
Other Fruits
Starchy vegetables
Whole grains

(note sugar doesn't feature at all ) so you can increase quantities or reintroduce carbier veg, fruit, etc and test to find out how much you can tolerate without it provoking sugar cravings or giving you a blood sugar spike (weight gain not being an issue for you)

you're right it's not the case that sugar Will Never Touch Your Lips Again, and nor should it necessarily if you're in a situation where you have a one-off opportunity to eat something really delicious (e.g. your birthday cake, a special meal out in a restaurant) and really enjoy every mouthful

but it doesn't have to be every day, or even every week, or every month. re the 'sod it' thoughts, i think to myself 'do i know what this tastes like? will i have the opportunity to eat it at some other time' - chances are there won't be a world shortage of whatever it is any time soon

also, how much reading have you done into low carbing, long term health benefits etc? if you read some of the literature and understand the theory beyond just weight loss, it can help to override the cravings because you know what is going on physiologically

I stayed the same from friday so a 4lb loss for me this week and 8lb overall.

I did have to take codeine both days at the weekend because of my stupid migraines so am quite constipated, which may lose me some more weight when it shifts. I am attempting to drink 4lt of water at work today as well.

B - scrambled eggs with cream (eaten out of the jug I microwaved them in )
L - leftovers from yesterday, roast chicken, celeriac dauphinoise and broccoli.
D - no idea yet, need to meal plan for this week.

PseudoBadger, how gutting! Hope your ds is better soon.

2lb off

Very pleased.

Thanks so much, that really helps.
I'd be really interested to read long term health benefits actually, but I'm not sure where to look for impartial material? Bit of a cynic
Guess I need to detox again back to the carb flu then

People......learn from my error! A little bit WILL hurt

for Whoknows - you sound unhappy with things and unsure where to go. Would bootcamp light for a few weeks help - not so strict leading to less sod it moments?

STS here but think that is the famous week 3 stall. Have lost an inch off my waist and an inch off my hips since last week and I am pretty pleased with that .

I am planning on predominantly bootcamping but putting berries in my yogurt - got a holiday at Easter to aim for and do not wish to be harpooned! Can't cope with no more fruit though - who'd have thought I'd crave that over chocolate and gin?

Welcome notso!

Chester I'm going to be stern with you here...

Also, I really found that the longer I eat low carb, the more recipes and dishes I come up with that I really like. The bigger repertoire of food choices/combinations you have in your head, the easier it becomes to plan and stick to this WOE. I love love love food, so I find it an enjoyable challenge to come up with really delicious low carb meals. I'm glad that this bootcamp has reignited my interest in food blogging. I think that the tide is starting to turn now and low carb/minimising sugar is going to get more and more mainstream, which will make it easier to stick to this WOE in restaurants, cafes etc.

I keep having this fantasy of opening a low carb cafe!

Hi all, congrats on your losses. I'm still up from The Bloat, so am still a bit and . Oh well.
I'm going to stick with bootcamp during the week and see what happens. I'm hoping that by next week I will have been visited by the whoosh fairy though, and then go to bootcamp light at the weekend.

Could a lovely loser please add me onto the spreadsheet at 152 lb?

Hello and wow, some fabulous weight loss well done everyone. Reporting in for the first time after a stupidly busy January.

Only a 0.4 loss for me today but I feel so much better both mentally and physically that I am not disheartened at all. I feel so much more awake in the morning, my hair is getting a bit more shine and weirdly my rhinitis seems much improved. I can breathe through my nose for the first time in years and my sense of smell is back. Don't know if it's linked to cutting out wheat but at the time of year when I am usually really stuffed up it is ace.

I think I will stick to full bootcamp for another week, up the 3lt of water and maybe try eating bigger portions as I have found my appetite has really shrunk.
Thanks Biwi.

crabby please open a low carb cafe your food always sounds and looks lovely.

Does anyone have some good cook ahead recipes that I can make and portion up? I think that is a big part of the problem. OH and our teen lads still want to eat carbs (and plenty of them ) and I find it hard to be bothered cooking separate stuff for me
The first week I made a vat of mashed celeriac which was brill cos I just used some of that in place of the carbs, so I must do that again. Also did a big pan of courgettes,mushrooms and bacon in butter which was versatile.

What do the rest of you do that helps?

Not so much "cook ahead" but "prepare ahead": I make a giant bowl of coleslaw which will then last for a good few days or less than two if dh tucks in to it - the "crunch" is quite good at making you feel full.

Yes please Crabby... I will be your first visitor to your cafe... in fact, I'll even come and work for you!

The works have Annie Bells's 'low carb revolution' cookbook for £4.99 (rrp £16.99) and Daniel Green's 'the paelo diet' cookbook for £4.99 (rrp £14.99).. both look to have some good recipes, the LC book does have some recipes with beetroot/carrot in but those are more for maintenance level rather than bootcamp. Other recipes include Spanish tortilla using celeriac instead of potato; chicken & aub traybake;chilli roast pork belly& meatball gratin. The paelo book recipes include pork & beef cabbage rolls; pizza using almond flour for the base; marinade for BBQ chicken - obv more of the recipes are not very low carb but some good suggestions, my only criticism so far is that carb count is not given yet fat, calorie & sugar is.....

I got some pork scratching from the pound shop (not gluten free ones for someone who mentions needing GF), 6 packs for 97p and 3.7g carbs/100g but..... eugghh!

whoknows what about currys or stews or chilli? They freeze well, you can all eat them & just add rice for the carb eaters and veg/cauli rice for you. I do roasts with roast pots for 'them' and roast swede/celeriac for me. I refuse to make separate meals, the only time I do is if 'they' have pizza or I will make extra one night so I have leftovers and 'they' have baked potato or pizza. Another option is I do celeriac bake for me (& I have leftovers for the next day) plus a potato bake and then sausages or whatever for all of us. I'll make meals and not have the carb component & add an extra veg for me.

Roughly what is everyone spending on food a week on this diet? I'm just being nosy! I find I'm spending between £60-90 a week, that includes meat, veg, dairy plus bread, potatoes, crisps, flour, cereal for the carb eaters and about £5ish of household cleaners/toilet rolls/toiletries a week.

I didn’t expect to lose weight eating sticky toffee pudding and sausage and mash but I didn’t expect to gain 2.5lbs overnight

Thank you all though, I don’t have a great track record with sticking with diets obviously so I do occasionally need a kick up the arse. I will stick with it and see how I go.

Here’s the menu for Friday. What’s the best option, do you think?

And Crabby please open a low carb café. I’ll be your first customer.

I've put together some information about the week three stall below but as this thread is moving so fast I've put it on the Questions thread as well.

The Three-Week Stall

I'm sure you've heard of the dreaded three-week stall when starting a low carb diet. It doesn't happen to everyone but it is very common. The best thing is to keep doing what you've been doing, an the scales will start moving again.

During the first couple of weeks of your low carb diet a number of things have occurred. You have depleted the glycogen stores in your liver and along with the weight of glycogen lost, you will have lost three or four times that weight in water. So if you have lost 10 lb then approximately two of that is glycogen, seven water and one of fat stores. Your glycogen stores are like a battery when you're eating over 150g of carbs a day: they get recharged every time you eat, and they release glucose steadily into your blood mainly as fuel for your brain. So by using up your glycogen store you are forcing your body to turn to other sources of energy. At the same time your body has been producing new enzymes to process the different diet you have been eating and your brain and muscles have adapted to using ketones instead of glucose.

At three weeks though your body has adapted to the new diet and now becomes more efficient. Your muscles have switched over to burning free fatty acids. And where do the free fatty acids come from? They are released from fat cells. So your metabolism has changed from carb-burning to fat-burning. But don't think you can shed ten pounds and your body isn't going to notice! You have lost a lot of water so your body releases a hormone (vasopressin antidiuretic hormone if you want to be precise) which usually operates to prevent dehydration and causes your body to retain water. So you are still burning fat, maybe from half a pound up to two pounds a week. But your body is hanging on to water and this will mask the loss of your fat stores. One way of helping things along is to keep drinking the water to speed up the process of adapting to your new way of eating, allowing your body to recognise that it isn't dehydrated so the hormone levels go back to normal and the retained water can whoosh away starting the scales moving again by week five or thereabouts.

I've lost a massive 6.9lb this week but my god I've been SO ILL. Constantly nauseous (though never actually sick), joints that feel like they are on fire, now a livid red bumpy rash in patches over my whole body. And so lethargic - I actually had to have two days in bed which is completely unheard of for me.

I've had to force food down - small bits of chicken or a scrambled egg here and there but the smell and thought of any sort of food is turning me right off. To be honest if I wasn't breastfeeding I wouldn't bother eating at all.

I've been googling low carb flu / keto flu / candida die-off etc and a lot of the symptoms match but I can't believe it would be so awful??? Can it really affect you that much? I felt fab last week and now feel so disheartened because I can't carry on like this.

This morning I woke up and for the first time in a week felt like I could eat and all I can think of is lentils! If I think of anything else the nauseous feeling washes over me again, I can't stand the thought of egg or cheese or even plain chicken. Just lentils lentils lentils!

Any ideas BIWI or anyone else? Anyone suffering like this or just poor lonely me?!

Hi everyone

No time to read / post properly but wanted to add myself to the week's thread. for everyone who has lost, for those who are struggling and for BIWI, and indeed anyone else who fancies a glass. I haven't weighed today but will do so tomorrow.

Need to work. Back later. Hope you are all well.

Hello everyone I have just updated spreadsheet 3lb loss over last two weeks, not great but still a loss. Well done on everyone else s losses