Week 4 Low Carb Bootcamp - Keep on keeping on

[BIWI]

Morning.

I see that some of us are struggling.

I see that there is a lot of cheating.

Hmm. I wonder if there is a connection

Seriously folks, this is not a terribly forgiving WOE. The idea of Bootcamp Light was to give you a bit more flexibility, but not to send you spiralling into a chocolate and alcohol-fuelled frenzy!

Come and confess all on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness or on your own personal Weight Tracker

Remember that weight loss may stop in weeks 3 and 4 - sometimes 5. It takes this long for your body to become keto adapted, i.e. to switch fully from carb-burning to fat-burning.

And if you're continually pushing up your daily carb intake, all you are doing is delaying this process

Hope you all have a good week.

Oh for fucks sake! UP TWO POUNDS

I said I had suspicions about dairy. I think I may have to avoid it all together and see what the scales say next week.

On the plus side - dp is fully on board, and he is also a couple of pounds up, BUT we can both see a physical difference in our visceral fat and around our little chubby faces! Couldn't find the tape measure, but we'll start to tummy measure as a 'belt and braces'

Also, I haven't had a poo yesterday or this am. That could account for a few pounds.

Ooh, and also, I could very possibly be on the last week of the 3/4/5 week blip thingy. I started bc on 3rd Jan.....

I do believe in whoosh fairies, I do, I do. I do believe in whoosh fairies, I do I DO!!

What do you think BIWI? I've posted most of my grub, I think it's been on point, and I have not cheated - infact quite the little fanatic when I get going.

Entering week 4 feeling full of the joys of life, and utterly committed!

I might even post a picture of my tummy later!

Chester I think it would be very sad if you left us! Dp nearly went mad in the beginning, but we both agree that if you do NO CHEATING at all for three days solid, your cravings disappear, and then you don't want to cheat. Sounds like your bits of cheating have just extended your misery for days/weeks on end - no wonder you're feeling low I hope you feel better soon!

Gatorade I'm so pleased to see another bcer who's in my weight range. You are my special friend, whether you like it or not!!

Thank you BIWI for the thread.

You are all so lovely! Thank you for all your kind words (again!). Yes I suppose last week was a bit of a full on week. I then expected to get straight on with all the stuff I've got to do, but found myself feeling rather empty and lacking in motivation, getting worse over the weekend, and was starting to feel cross with myself and panicky. Missing DD and fed up with feeling physically bleurgh too.

Anyway... Onwards and upwards. This week I'm going to...

Be kind to myself and not let that critical needling voice get a hold.
Measure and drink 3L of water a day.
Do some stretches and exercises for my back every day.
Try some new recipes.
Write up and post some more recipes up on the blog.

Trashcan am at your cleaning efforts. What to come round to my house and continue the trend?

Oh Athel that is a truly shit week! Have some and the hope that this week will be a lot better. I commend you for resisting gin under those circumstances - I wish I'd been half so disciplined with the wine.

Am very pleased to have spawned the super reply and also that you all like the crumble (Sayra yes that's exactly what my recipe is). I've got lots of photos ready to go up on the blog as soon as I get it together to write up the recipes.

Chester noooooo you can't go - you gave us Chester's Chicken!
Obviously do what's best for you; this WOE isn't for everyone and it does take forward planning, but then doesn't any weightloss plan?

I promise everyone that it does get easier. The longer you do this WOE, the more recipes and low carb treats you accumulate in your cooking vocabulary/library/whatever, and the easier it gets to eat this way automatically. These early weeks are about your body adjusting and you finding your feet with what you can and can't eat, and about finding dishes that work for you and your lifestyle. As wiser people than me have pointed out, it didn't take a few weeks for your excess weight to go on, and it's going to take more than a few weeks for it to come off. I also do believe that for folks who have tried many diets, their bodies must need some time to readjust and start to 'believe' that this isn't a feast/famine situation again and to let go of the fat. That sounds a bit wooly and unscientific but I hope you know what I mean.

1lb on for me this week. Unsurprising but still a bit disappointing. I've not got that much to lose this time though, and last week was a bit of a disaster wine-wise and with all the cake etc. I'm going to be stricter with it this week.

Very sorry to see you go Chester! The door is open if you want to come back (or even just lurk)

Calamity I would have thought your 3lbs on from sticky toffee pudding was the glycogen stores replenishing themselves. Some people have big losses in week 1 when glycogen stores are used up so it stands to reason. So HOPEFULLY if you are back on strict bootcamp it should only take a few days for those 3lbs to get used up again, give or take mysterious processes around water retention.

Anyway for sure, whether its true or not, my mantra is:

weight off = real fat burned away
weight on = merely temporary glycogen or water

Do stick around Cider. I know all about emotional eating... I am scared of whether I am able to manage "maintaining" weight after this bootcamp.

Chester I too would be sad if you left us, especially after creating that amazing chicken recipe.

And I'm glad you're going to be lurking, Buda, what you're doing sounds interesting, especially if it helps tackle emotional eating - which is my downfall, and I'd love to know how you get on. Even on this WoE, when I'm not hungry, I find myself going to the fridge when I'm bored/low and thinking 'what can I eat?' - in the past I would shovel down easy carbs, but thankfully low-carbing means I have to prepare stuff, so my inner lazy cow thinks 'meh' and I go and find something else to do - but I am worried that as time goes on I will slide, as I have done in the past. I've found I can stick to any diet as long as it's in the strict phase - it's when I try and return to 'normal' eating that carb/calorie/whatever creep sets in and I think 'oh what the hell' and buy chips... Whilst I fully understand that lc-ing is a WoE and not a temporary diet, once I've reached my goal I don't want to collapse into a frenzy of 'better' carbs and from there go rampaging through the crisp and cake aisles...

Ah! I was including my week one weight gain fail in my overall results, so it's actually a 6.6 loss in two weeks. That's a bit more respectable

Sorry you're stopping for now Chester, I understand how it feels when it's hard to commit to a diet 100%. Maybe try bootcamp light this week or next and give it another go? Honestly once it 'clicks' it's such a good WOE, cravings go, appetite gets smaller and then it's cruise mode really!

I'm happy to be your special friend trashcanjunkie! I was told that it takes 6 weeks to see a physical change when dieting and three months!! before anyone else notices, but my tummy has definitely shrunk. The jeans that were trying to cut me in half at the waist three weeks ago are actually quite comfortable now!

I've stayed the same this week. I know it's my own fault, had wine this weekend and a cinnaman bun at ikea (drools).

I'm going to keep trying. Sigh. I like that this WOE has made my sugar cravings much better.

Same weight this week but my trousers are less tight so I'm sticking with the plan. Thanks BIWI

Lovecat you put it better than I could, that's exactly what I feel. I also love the idea of an inner lazy cow!

I did a one-person experiment in the last 3 days and cut out cheese, cream and nuts. And also I ate 3 good meals a day but no snacking. (before I was eating a meal's-worth of cheese as a "while-cooking" snack!)

OK that's not a novel idea, its basically the ubercamp that is on one of the tabs of the spreadsheet.

But its worked, 1.8lbs off this week, I've bumped myself down to a new lower level of fluctuations.

I won't be keeping it up... I have meals I'm planning to make that involve cheese for instance! But its something I can turn to if I do want to bump the scales down a bit.

Morning all.

-1lb for me, which is fine. 5lb off now in total, which I'm ok with. I'm back in my "lowest weight ever while low carbing" now, so it'll all be new territory down from here.

I'm sorry some of you are struggling and thinking of stopping this WOE. I know it can feel restrictive when you're getting used to it, and I know you need a fair bit of commitment, but like Crabby says if you do stick to it, it'll just become a new norm. It won't always feel like such a struggle.

Trashcan is welcome to come and clean round here too!

I'm feeling pretty rubbish still, but nothing to do with LC. I'm just worried about tomorrow's hospital appointment, and having a panic morning about our house buying, which is stalling without any indication of an actual exchange date, while our mortgage offer is time limited... Sigh.

Anyway, food plan:
B: Fried eggs and coffee with coconut oil
L: Avocado, fresh spinach, olives, more coffee with coconut oil.
D: Cauliflower mash, and some kind of mince sauce.

morning losers! haven't been able to read or post all week thanks to RL getting firmly in the way, and had a dreadful week bc wise which is reflected in a 3lb gain

just skimmed the thread and see that i'm not alone in slipping - and feeling there are emotional issues to address besides just sticking to eating the right food.

but i'm still here, going back to basics and sticking to bootcamp - and hoping for a better week this week - and wishing all you other losers the same.

B: fried eggs and chives, BPC
L: smoked salmon salad
D:roasted cauliflower and pan fried broccoli, grilled lamb
and as much water as i can manage

Thanks BIWI for starting week 4.
I'm loving this WOE, although slightly fell off the wagon on my girls weekend away. But, rather than dwell on the downside (eg the wine bucket I accidentally fell face first into...), I am going to congratulate myself that my sweet tooth must be diminishing. When the Gu puddings appeared on the table, I would usually inhale it straight away, but I only managed a third of it and pushed it away. That is unheard of behaviour for a gannet like me. So I genuinely feel like my attitude is changing for the better.
I am 1 lb up on last week, which is not too bad considering I did not exercise due to illness. So, to everyone who is wavering, please don't give up now.... focus less on the scales and more on how you make your meal choices, and feel proud that you are looking after yourselves better. One day at a time, don't look at the end goal as (for some of us, like me) its a long way off.
I sat there this weekend with my three old friends, all of whom ate more than me and all of whom are at least 2 stone lighter than me (and taller, the biatches), and did feel quite wobbly that it was unfair etc. Then I reminded myself that only I can change that and become the best version of me that I can.
Onwards and upwards.....

Crabby - I have been meaning to comment about your DD's trip. Amazing for her but very hard for you. DS is 12 and I wander around like a lost soul sometimes if he is away for a few days! Lack of motivation to settle to anything.

Lovecat - I am actually really excited about starting this process. I have started so many diets over the years. And just gotten bigger. And feel like a constant failure. So I hope this can help with the mental side as I said before. I know WHAT to do. I just can't stick at anything.

And on the subject of that standing in front of the fridge wanting something but not know what you want - the guy I saw initially mentioned that and he said it is a sign of a nutritional deficiency in something. I'm wondering if a good multi vitamin might help with that. However I'm not going to take anything till I have been on Thursday. But I will let you know what they reckon I am deficient in! It might help others too.

Cheers BIWI!

Chester I'll be sorry to see you go. tea's idea about primal / paleo is a good one. Also, if you feel like you could stick at bootcamp for 10 weeks you'll find your body becomes more ketogenically adapted and more forgiving of occasional indulgences.

I'm 1lb down after my second strict week. Very happy with that. I'm not expecting any dramatic losses as I'm just trying to shake 10lb in total to get back to my maintenance weight.

PS have we 'done' cream cheese pancakes yet? You probably have and I've missed it but in case not... hubbahubba

That's impressive re. the Gu, Ambassador :)

I can't trust myself around cake or puddings, sadly. We talked about doing a little daytrip to our (hopefully!) future hometown during the weekend, but I just knew we'd have ended up in our favourite cafe, and they are always wafting of fresh cake and I wouldn't be able to resist, so we just didn't go... I'll obviously need better strategies if we're to live a short walk from said cafe!

Oh you guys are just fab , thank you for all your kind words.

I have decided that I am going to give Weightwatchers a go during February to see if I can lose a bit and I will reassess at the end of the month. We have got a fair few social occasions coming up and I think it will be more sustainable during this time.

I do see LC as lifestyle choice and will definitely back, but maybe it’s better as a maintenance plan for me rather than weight loss so I can cheat and not cock it up too much focus on the health benefits rather than weight loss.

Best of luck to you all, I will check in from time to time to see how you are doing.

chester, you've got to do what feels right for you.

Just don't get sucked into buying all that weightwatchers branded low-fat crap, hey?

No chance, I've learned a lot from this WOE and wouldn't touch that crap with a barge pole!

Chester I'm sure can try to be "carb conscious" on WW, too. Good luck!

Chester - I agree that WW can work well. And they have been focussing on Filling and Healthy foods. So protein and veg and avoid the crap carbs. As I mentioned up thread I lost three stone on it. Then the mental gremlins arrived!

Thanks BIWI.

Chester you'll be missed. Hopefully all goes well for you at WW. If there was one single answer to weight loss there would be no diet industry and we would all be thin!

I've been doing this since the 3rd Jan also so exactly a month now. I've lost 10lb in total, 3cm from my waist, 5cm from my hips and 7 cm from my boobs. In that time I've had things that would've normally derailed me such as friends to stay and a short holiday. I'm like this >

to everyone not loosing - keep on keeping on, as the thread title says!

Posting again - well done to everyone who has lost .

Well I had a shower , a wee and weighed again and was 1.5 lb down so will put that on the spreadsheet . I do normally weigh first thing in the morning but today had a big cup of tea first so maybe that made a difference

FFS! I got The Low Carb Gourmet from the library and within the first few recipes she's recommending fruit juice, maple syrup, oatmeal and a wide array of fruit!

Reading her intro, she's not describing low carb at all, but low GI. I think low GI is a fine and healthy way to eat, but it is not low carb and she shouldn't be describing it as such!

Sarah that's a brilliant loss!

Thanks Cider and don't you dare go anywhere! Stay on the thread whatever your version of this WOE.

Chester good luck with WW.