Week 8 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Last Three Weeks!

[BIWI]

I'm starting next week's thread a bit early as I have to be up and out of the house at sparrow's crack tomorrow.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

And don't forget the weight tracker

It may seem like we're nearly at the end, but still the chance to lose up to another half a stone, if you can lose 2lbs a week!

Hope everyone has a good week. Mine is a bit of a minefield - out tomorrow night to celebrate both of my DCs' birthdays, and then out on Thursday with some MNetter friends, and I don't think we will be drinking sparkling water!

Good luck everyone.

Re nice jeans for the ahem more mature figure that are still suitably fashionable skinny: I got a nice pair of black jeans from Hobbs. Would never have thought to look there but I had a session with the personal shopper at John Lewis (I had £250 to spend: £150 won from Mumsnet and £100 Christmas present from my dad) and she brought me a pair. They were £95 but I have worn them non stop since then!

too knackered. hello all lovelies. hahhaha 'whitish'

Yeah it will be, maybe I should record my pretend heavy weight?

He is very slim (he's 5ft 10 at that weight) but it's just his build, we are opposites, he can't put weight on and I can't lose it until now! We always ate the same except he ate more crap than me but he never put any weight on. Sometimes I hate him!

Sorry Kefy and good luck to you.

And good luck too with the medical tests Whooshfairy

Sorry its all a bit tough Humph - when they are babies it really isn't easy.

Its like a cafe here (different food on different family member's plates - and the kids had a friend round for tea who also had a further different variation ...) but at least they are all old enough to amuse themselves while I juggle the cooking times and gas rings.

Evening.

It is many days now since I last saw the dust of the receding wagon in the faint distance. Along with my BT connection. And half my furniture.

I am not enjoying being anything-goes-carb this week; am bloaty, sluggish and disgruntled. Am glad I have no idea where the scales are.

Will be un-connected again for the foreseeable, at which point I will attempt to catch up with all your fortunes! Best wishes to all...

Enjoying reading - sorry I can't contribute much. Went out for dinner on Thurday and seem to have been poisoned since. Cant keep anything down. Had some hulas yesterday as it was all I could face. Not good.

DH taking girls to ballet and I am going to stay in my bed. Bleurgh!

Kefy - sorry to hear that. I'll post something about cholesterol which might help you if I can find it.

By the way here's a really interesting rebuttal of that story about protein being as bad for you as smoking, by Zoe Harcombe. For all those of you who were a bit spooked by the story, this is a really good piece.

Here's an interesting film about statins/cholesterol

Kefy - I'm aware that your situation/condition is genetic, but you might still be interested in this. Just to give you a different perspective on cholesterol's dangers and the issue of statins.

... and this is his book which is also worth a read.

plus a piece by Zoe Harcombe

By the way, Kefy, I think your plan is great. If you've lost the weight you needed to, then no reason why you can't look to introduce more carby veg and some pulses anyway. I'd still avoid white/processed/refined carbs like pasta and bread, but equally no reason not to eat some of these occasionally if you wanted to.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Those two reports are very interesting. A family member sent a concerned email after seeing the protein / smoking one.

And I am getting tested for cholesterol just in case. If it's high I'm not sure where to go from there. I think I could be overloading in eggs, I know advice has changed a bit, but still I have them each morning.

There is no problem with eggs.

Have a read of the Zoe Harcombe stuff on cholesterol as well - cholesterol is a healing agent, and we need it. As we get older, we need more healing, therefore our cholesterol levels will go up (massive simplification there, but hopefully you get my drift). Evidence shows that women with lower cholesterol have higher mortality rates.

And while I'm on a posting frenzy here's another report about saturated fat, and growing awareness/acceptance that it's not bad for health

That does help because prick test at GP says it's high. Having full blood test with fasting next week. She said something about 'good fat and bad fat' and listed all the things I should change - low fat yoghurt / milk etc. I don't eat any yoghurt / nor milk and not much cheese or butter. So those are not possible changes.

I've been eating like this for ages and it's thrown a curveball. I couldn't contemplate high carb but could introduce / swap some stuff for the best carbs.

Why am I not losing?
Sorry feeling sorry for myself again, it's just I lost and it was snatched away.
If I keep going I will lose in the end won't I?

On a more positive note, babyTwit slept until 5 am last night yay which is a lot better than 2am as normal.
Hope you are all well and stay on the wagon this weekend.

I had a packet of ready salted crisps at 3am. Not good.

Thanks a lot, BIWI.
I was really hoping to prove all these "alternative" theories right but my levels have unfortunately gone up from 8 to 10.
I was on statins until 7 years ago (from the age of 18!) and then stopped as I got really concerned about their side effects and their effectiveness on women.
I am now under pressure from my GP (and family!) to start them again.
I feel at a loss. I do not know which theory to believe any more. Men in my family have a history of heart disease at a young age, although women have done a lot better.
I got a referral to see a specialist so will take it from there.
With all these advanced in science you would have thought we'd have a clear idea about what is good for us by now!
The things I do take from this WOE are:

• avoid sugar
• avoid processed food
• avoid "light" spreads, yoghurt etc
• avoid white carbs

Have you read Dr Kendrick's book? It might help give you a bit more knowledge about it. (I do appreciate that a genetic condition may be different, and obviously I'm no medic)

Gary Taubes writes a lot about cholesterol in "The Diet Delusion" as well - from memory it is a very detailed/lengthy piece about how it's measured, which also might be useful for you.

I think the other thing to say, though, is that measuring your cholesterol isn't as simple as one, single number. I might be wrong about that, and hopefully others who are more knowledgeable than I will come along with some better information!

BabyTwit is well on the way to sleeping through the night, Twit, which should help you. Lack of sleep is something that can impede weight loss - as can stress. Very easy to say don't stress about things, I know, but don't stress about things

What have you been eating? I know we've been through this before, but tell me what you've been eating over the last 3-4 days, if you can remember, and let me see if I can help.

Marsha - have you read any Gary Taubes? "The Diet Delusion" is great, but it's very weighty and takes some time to digest, but "Why We Get Fat (And What To Do About It)" is really worth a read - will explain the whole fat thing. If your doctor is already talking about low fat, then he/she is not going to advocate a low carb diet!

I'm under 11 stone!

Tra la la la la!

And I felt really fat yesterday, and felt like I looked really fat, and thought I'd probably gained because I've been shovelling nuts in my face lately. Sometimes for dessert I have a square or two of dark chocolate with some nuts. Lovely.

Anyway I'm now 10st 13.5lb so only another half pound to go and I'll have lost a stone

Thanks BIWI I haven't but will.

It's been so long the normal language of low fat / light / diet is just all wrong to me now. There's also strong resistance in my family (just went back for a holiday) which is hard to deal with.

But mostly I'm trying to block out the noise and do what's healthiest. In the process of trying to work that out so books, and this thread which feels comparatively safe and nice!, are helpful.

Those articles are very interesting BIWI.

As I understand it, the 'high cholesterol = heart disease' studies are basically flawed. The research was supported and instigated by drug companies (who sell statins) and who obv have a vested interest.

BUT - LDLs and HDLs are not the main factors. Having high Good cholester or high BAD cholesterol does not mean you are at risk of heart disease; the drugs companies will tell you so but the evidence is scarce to non-existant. What is becoming apparent is a vLDL (very low density) which may be implicated in heart disease, but there is at present no test for these levels in blood!

Statins are touted as a cure-all (for a non-existent problem) but they have all sorts of side-effects ; my xdh has had 'high cholesterol' for years, but the dr won't put him on statins, as they carry an increased risk of heart attack!

I do understand. And I know how easy it is to have a wobble. I know that if my GP said I needed to do something/take some medication it would be very hard to go against their advice. There does come a point, I think, where it's difficult to know who to believe.

But I can't see how it's bad for us to eat natural, unprocessed foods - sending people down the low fat route, with the artificial/highly processed food that that usually entails, (never mind the added sugar), and the medication - which is also, in its own way, highly processed - just seems wrong.

That's not to say I think medication is wrong, obviously, but I think the more I read about the money in pharma, and the vested interests/hidden agenda with food manufacturing, the more I back off from 'conventional' advice.