Week 7 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - the last 3 weeks!

[BIWI]

Eeeeek!

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness is here along with The Weight Tracker

Here's to another good week.

Four weeks left, including this one, so chance to lose up to half a stone if you're really focused!

I'm glad to see that we're all thinking about Christmas and how we're going to deal with it. My own personal problem is that I find it too easy to let things slide - well, I've already had that, so I may as well have this as well - and before I know it, I've scarfed chocolates and eaten a sandwich and start to eye up the pasta as well ...

Other people are much easier to deal with than yourself!

Anyway, I have one social event this week to negotiate, but other than that all should be manageable.

Hope you all have a good and successful week

[BIWI]

Bring it all over to the Week 8 chat thread

[SayraT]

Crossed with stunt but saying similar things

[SayraT]

pole you sound quite negative. Do you know why?

Do you not want to lose weight?

Do you think all diets should be difficult and not enjoyable?

Are you worried that you will try this and it won't work?

LC is a fab WOE, you can eat things you can't eat on other diets (ok, not chocolate or cake etc but what diet lets you eat that as much as you want?). At the start I needed to snack, now I don't and sometimes only have two meals a day. LCing helps to regulate your appetite, you do need to stick with it and ignore the cravings, once you are past the first few days you will feel much better.

Snack ideas: boiled eggs, babybel, pepperami, pork scratchings, veg dipped in garlic mayo, kale crisps, aubergine crisps.....look on the recipe thread.

Don't let yourself get hungry, if you are hungry then eat. Just make sure it is LC.

[StuntNun]

Are you eating enough fat Pole? Make sure you have a oil and vinegar vinaigrette on your salad and add butter or mayonnaise to whatever you can. While your body adjusts to low carb you will need to snack, eat whenever you're hungry. I like celery dipped in Philadelphia, olives, pork scratchings, hard boiled egg with mayonnaise with a bit of curry powder mixed in, chicken leg, Peperami. No chocolate for the first two weeks but when you're on Bootcamp Light you can have dark chocolate in small quantities. I melt 70% chocolate with an equal quantity of double cream and a little bit of butter and pour it into Lakeland chocolate moulds to make my own low carb chocolates but they are too carby for Bootcamp, only allowed on Bootcamp Light.

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

Sorry pole I cross posted with you. I will quite happily skip meat entirely for a meal and do something Like egg mayonase to go with a salad as it helps with getting fat levels up.
Beans and carrots are very high in carbs compared to others so watch the amount of them you eat. When I am doing bootcamp I skip both of those but I find them better for adding back into my diet in the light/maintaining stage than the fruit as the fruit can derail me. Others have different opions on that bit though.

The spreadsheet of wonderfulness has a list which shows which vegetables are low carb than others. I must admit I use frozen veg a lot as it is easier and cheaper for me. Again others have different opinions and some prefer frozen.

Pinterst has loads of recipes but you have to watch that as a lot which say they are low carb aren't actually that low carb
The ipd recipe book is supposed to be good and there are other sites on the resource section of the spreadsheet of wonderfullness
I tend to stick to some full fat yoghurt/bits of cheese/hard boiled eggs for snacks. In the past when I have had 3hr intensive training sessions I found that a handfull of peanuts helped but they are not strictly bootcamp friendly.

Recipe thread really does have loads of inspirational recipes if you are stuck which does help to go get lost there.

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

Imo those rules are hard enough without skipping meals and going on to the stricter stall killing things like intermittant fasting/fat bombs etc. And seriously you will see results sticking to those rules if you are new to low carbing. It is those who are very close to their targets or who have messed up their metabolism with previous diets or who have been low carbing for a long time or those who cheat who have seen less or slow progress.

Have you done much reading about low carb pole?

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

Just to be helpful, here are the bootcamp rules copied and pasted from the spread sheet of wonderfulness:

1. Eat three proper meals a day.
"You must eat breakfast. It doesn’t have to be a lot, and it doesn’t have to be absolutely first thing, but you must have something. For the rest of the day, if you’re eating enough food and you are in ketosis then you shouldn’t be hungry between meals. But if you are hungry, eat something. (Hard boiled eggs make a great snack).
After the first two weeks of Bootcamp we will relax this, but these two weeks are critical in terms of helping you switch easily to a low carb way of eating - and if you start to feel hungry, it makes things much harder! Eating this way will ensure that your blood sugar levels are kept stable, which will mean that you are much less likely to experience hunger.
A typical high carbohydrate diet can mean that snacking is a routine part of your day. Once your blood sugar levels are stable, by eating low carb, you should find that you no longer want to snack. But the rule of thumb here is ‘if you are hungry, eat!’. (Just make sure you are only choosing low carb snacks, of course!)"

2.Focus on pure, natural protein as the basis for your meals - meat/fish/eggs. Things like sausages, ham, bacon, pre-prepared burgers etc should be avoided as much as possible. You can have them, but just not every day. Avoid foods marketed as low carb, eg. Atkins Daybreak bars.


3. Eat lots of fat.
Eating fat will not make you fat. Honestly! But it will keep your appetite satisfied, and it sustains your body’s energy requirements perfectly. Fat does not provoke an insulin spike, unlike carbs which do (a lot) and protein (a little). Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though, as this is too sweet), add mayonnaise where you can (just check the carb count on your mayo first). Eat fattier cuts of meat – e.g. pork belly, roast chicken with the skin on and/or eat the fat off your lamb chops. Absolutely no low fat/light foods of any kind!

4. Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food.
This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable. But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list. Make sure that you focus on eating those vegetables that are 3g carb per 100g or less, and this will ensure that your carb counts are kept low. You don’t have to weigh/count carbs – this is one of the great joys of this WOE (way of eating), but if you’re new to low carbing it can be helpful to weigh your portions of veg in the early days, just so that you know how many carbs are in the sort of portions that you like to eat.

5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited).
Dairy can impede weight loss for some people. If you are still drinking tea/coffee with milk or cream, try to restrict yourself to max 2 cups per day. There are a lot of carbs in milk, so if you are having several cups of tea/coffee per day, you will quickly rack up your daily carb count (e.g. 1 medium latte contains more than 12g carbs!) You may eat cheese but again, don't overdo it. Full fat yoghurt is the best way to include dairy in your diet - but beware, it does contain carbs. Total Full Fat is the best

6. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.
"The more weight you have to lose, the more water you should drink. This is from www.low-carbdiet.co.uk/. Water is essential to weight loss for those who eat low-carb. The minimum consumed in a day should be:
Your Weight----Litres
140lbs-----2.5
160lbs-----3.0
180lbs-----3.0
200lbs-----3.5
220lbs-----3.5
240lbs-----4.0
260lbs-----4.5
280lbs-----4.5
300lbs-----5.0
320lbs-----5.5
340lbs-----5.5
360lbs-----6.0
380lbs-----6.5
400lbs-----6.5
High levels of ketones in the blood stream can lead to a reduction in ketone production, therefore being well hydrated could aid in keeping the levels low and ketone production ongoing. Consuming enough water can have many other positive side effects: aids your kidneys with the processing of protein, reduces the retention of water, helps with preventing constipation, and reduces the levels of ketones released by your breath, which in-turn will reduce breath odour. However, drinking a lot of water can mean that you also need to keep an eye on your electrolyte balance. You need to make sure that you are consuming sufficient sodium and potassium. On a low carb diet we can eat more salt, so make sure that you are cooking with salt and adding salt to food, if you like it. Good, low carb, sources of potassium are spinach (raw), avocado, mushrooms, courgettes and asparagus, as well as salmon and yoghurt."

7. No alcohol.
Alcohol is the easiest source of fuel for the body to burn, so it will always use this first before it starts to burn any fat - which is why you need to restrict it, especially in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, when we are encouraging the body to stop using carbs for its source of fuel and turn to fat-burning instead. If you really can't do this - at least try and restrict it to the weekend. Vodka with soda is the best thing to drink. Or Champagne, red wine or dry white wine.

8. No fruit.
Really. Seriously. Honestly. None at all. Zilch. Nada. After Bootcamp you will be able to introduce certain fruits, but at this stage fruit is simply too carby. We are also trying to break the addiction to sweet things, so cutting fruit out is part of this process. If you are getting all your carbs from vegetables and salad, you will be getting all the nutrients and fibre that you need.

9. No nuts/seeds.
this is different for those doing a vegetarian bootcamp iirc

10. No sugar or artificial sweeteners.
Sugar is an obvious ‘no no’, but artificial sweeteners are also an issue. One of the aims of this way of eating is to eat pure and natural foods, so including sweeteners is not recommended. Some people find that artificial sweeteners can impede their weight loss, and there is some suggestion that your body can respond to sweeteners as if they were sugar, by releasing more insulin - and therefore laying down fat. Given that the aim of Bootcamp is to help us lose our sweet tooth and addiction to sweet things, then it is a good idea to avoid sweeteners altogether in this first two weeks.

[NaturalElfYayChristmas]

pole I'm new to this low carbing stuff myself and please collect me if I'm wrong everyone but a few things strike me from your post. I think in the beginning you can eat lots of low carb foods, to make sure you are not hungry at all (and so stopping you reaching for carbs)
The first few days are really hard for carb craving, you need to break the habit first. Then avoid sweet stuff alternatives for a while completely. There are a few low carb deserts but you don't want to do that yet at all.
I'm probably all wrong but I've been trying to read up since I started 4 weeks ago. Finding it really straightforward once I hit my stride as I'm just not that hungry- I hate being hungry.

[polealltheway]

Well I guess the meat and the peparami were fatty.

Tomorrow I am planning on having:
B - omelette with bacon
L - pork loin, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, mozzarella
D - pork loin, cauliflower with cheddar, green beans, carrots

Snacks -

Need ideas :(

Does that sound about right?

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

Only two meals? No wonder you are starving Did you get enough fat? Vegetables? Tbh I always find the first 2 weeks dreadful wrt cravings but if I am stubborn and have nothing what resembles what I am craving then I am fine. It does get better and the first two weeks of bootcamp are designed to kick the cravings into a sensible level.
And before BIWI comes wandering in with her stick this is not a NO carb woe but a low carb woe where the carbs are coming from vegetables. Additionally how much water have you drunk? It really does help to drink the minimum 2ltrs.

[MoJangled]

Well done Pretty ! Sounds like a marathon.

Right. . I had a BPC this morning. It was horrid. Butter on everything, and I mean everything. 10 mile cycle towing 19kg DS on tagalong.

Who's bad, scales? Give me everything you've got.

[polealltheway]

Hi all I started No carbs yesterday, today I haven't stopped eating :( I feel like the meat just is not satisfying and all I can think about is cake and chocolate.

Today I have had:
B - omelette, avocado and tomatoes
D - mixed grill with side salad - went out for dinner
Snacks -
2 peparami
A few olives
Some mozzarella

I still want something but I won't have anything I'm going to bed.

Is there anything I can make that resembles a chocolate dessert?

[miffy49]

Sounds like a pretty good day!

[prettybird]

I was very pleased with myself yesterday - a weekend trip down to London for a Yarnaholics meet up at the V&A: up very very early to catch the 4.26 train. Drank water on the way down and then a much needed coffee once I arrived at Euston. Met some others Kings Cross outside Leon - and saw that they did a poached egg, smoked salmon and avocado pot - which was delicious.
Just had water and coffee at the V&A until about 4.30 when I started crashing - so succumbed to some cake but chose the lemon and almond cake, served with some clotted cream
Evening meal was at Pizza Express: tomato, mozzarella and pesto starter, a pulled duck, mozzarella and rocket pizza - which I scraped off and left the base much to the waiter's disgruntlement
We did have dessert - so I had raspberry and lemon curd sorbet (we'll gloss over that bit) and the meal deal I had included a glass of prosecco and the Christmas cracker won our table a round of Limoncellos so I had to force the glass down

But given this was a girly weekend away, I think I did pretty well!

I had to turn down the breakfast m in the B&B as it was all carby and just have a cup of tea - but fortunately I'd brought some mini pepperami with me to give me energy as I walked 2.5 hours across London to see the poppies

I bought some peanuts on the train back to Glasgow to keep me going - and then drank loads of water when I got in, to supplement the litre I'd had with me not enough

[SayraT]

Ahh miffy I only swilled it round my mouth because I was going to eat it anyway! I'll just carry on eating it instead. Hope you are feeling better soon.

I made an improvement to my spiced almond drink which makes it nicer, instead of using cocoa I used 6 squares (20g) of G&B mayan gold chocolate, does make the drink more carby but less than 10g carbs.

[miffy49]

Would cinnamon maybe drown out the coconut Best.

SayraT I did oil pulling for awhile but it was too much hassle for what returns I got. I just eat the oil now and hope it works from the inside! You shouldn't swallow it. Its supposed to be full of bacteria and toxins from round your teeth! YUK! You are also supposed to spit it into some tissue and bin it rather than down the sink as it can block the waste pipe.

Feeling really rough today. Had an awful night. Woke up with bad stomach pains as though I had eaten gluten but can't trace it to anything. Found a pack of Buscopan on the cabinet and took some of that but woke late with the pain still niggling on. Got to try and get a chicken dinner cooked but I think Hubs may be eating alone!

[MrsKoala]

Just the thought of adding butter to coffee is making me queasy. I was feeling my normal mid avo low on Friday so i had a coffee with just cream in it (no coconut oil yet and see above about the butter) and it really perked me up. I'm not really a coffee person but it hit the spot way more than tea with a splash of milk. So i think i will persevere with that. I also bought some 85% choc for a treat after dinner.

The weightloss seems to be working tho. DH has said he is concerned that i am getting too thin too quick as he is seeing a daily difference. But i feel okay and i am not worried. i think when i have a lot of baby weight and a saggy belly it's quite quick to go (as opposed to the stubborn arse and thigh weight i carry) because it isn't my natural shape.

[SayraT]

Lovely luminous green pisses

Hope you are well enough to use your new kit soon.

best when I made BPC before I had flavorless coconut oil if it was just the flavour that bothered you. I've also had just butter and cream too.

bitchy I tried oil pulling with my coconut oil today, I'll give it ago and report back. I didn't spit it out though, I just swallowed it.

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

only just realised that today is Sunday and not monday

It is a weird day as driving through 2 out of the 3 meal times. Have only just grabbed breakfast and will try to out of sync meal times to accomodate.

Will look into the 5HTP Mo thanks for the recommendation.

Remembered my training thing of Epsom salt soaks for achy muscles and did that before bed so whilst my muscles still hate me I didn't have cramping problems. I am supposed to be helping with ds' training on monday which will mean low level training myself as he needs showing the drills by example and keeping on task. Right now my muscles will hate me too much, but it might be good to slowly ease back in. Will have to make those kinda conclusions tuesday onwards as this week is insane and would tire most normal people. But it is competition day for ds so we have a road trip and my car looks more like a travelling changing room rather than a car so will wish you all good low carb onwards and downwards vibes and head on off.

[BestIsWest]

That sounds nicer Pisses. Maybe I will try that tomorrow. I was wondering about adding almond essence too.

Fat boost it is mo.

[Pisseslikeahorse]

everything is luminous green at the moment and all the familys now sneezing but the ability to think is coming back and i got to overspend on some new running kit yesterday.

Think a egg fast might be coming this way after Ive shifted this lurgy but for now am just making sure I eat and drink lots and lots and lots

[Pisseslikeahorse]

Best I just do coffee with butter and cream 20g of each (if I've got any coconut cream open that goes in as well), keeps me going for a morning on my running days. Sorry your caught in a stall but looks like you've got some great advice.

[BestIsWest]

Just had my first BPC and to be honest I struggled with it. The texture was fine, it was the taste of the coconut oil I did'nt like. Maybe I can put something in it to drown out the flavour? Any ideas?

[StuntNun]

Tanukisan it was 23 eggs over three days on the egg fast. I'm not convinced by the egg fast, there's a Facebook group of people that do an egg fast for three days every week which seems really extreme. It was designed for a low carb blogger Jimmy Moore who was having trouble losing weight on low carb because of his diabetes but it has been adapted as a quick fast to break a stall. I used it to quickly shift the weight I had gained on holiday and it worked well for me (2.5 lb in three days) BUT in my opinion it is too low in protein which made me wonder about a possible negative effect on lean body mass. The rules are you only eat eggs with one tablespoon of fat per egg and up to one ounce of cheese per egg. You can add flavourings such as chilli sauce in small quantities. It dropped my carb count down to 10g per day which meant I went into ketosis which didn't feel very nice, it was like the carb flu all over again. I have since recommended it to people that are trying to break a stall, and it is certainly preferable to the fat fast, but it isn't something that most people should need to use in their weight loss journey. If you're following the rules and don't see any weight loss in four weeks or more then I would start with a planned carb refeed to boost your leptin levels before you consider an egg fast.

[MoJangled]

Hello all. Been staying away this week out of glooms as I'm still in my million year stall, but have just had a big read and am picking myself up. Thanks very much for the fat-boosting tips, Biwi, Stunt and Rybka .
I can see a lot more coconut oil in my future – I stopped nibbling it for snacks 6 weeks ago when my liver felt like it was protesting, but I’ll ease it back in! I may even try a BPC...

Chester , how was the birthday party? Hope your DS was happy and you were sane! Have a lovely holiday.

Bitchy , brilliant news about the clear scan. For insomnia, have you tried 5HTP? It’s a plant-based serotonin precursor, which I’ve found semi-miraculous in terms of lovely, refreshing nights sleep and not sweating the small stuff the following day. You can get it from health food shops or online.

Best you have all my sympathies as I’m not going anywhere either. You've lost such an impressive amount though - I'm sure you'll pull through this. Join me on the fat-boost for a week?

Ready hope you had a wonderful day today!