Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - the final weigh in!

[BIWI]

Good morning everyone!

I hope you're all still with us, to come and add your final weigh-in to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Or, on the Weight Tracker

It seems like there have been some really good losses on this Bootcamp, and so for you all!

Hope you all have a very good week

I'm with Stunt on this one Romey. I tried basic 5:2 diet and undid a lot of the good work I'd done with LC. I went back to LC but found that I was now quite happy not to eat quite so often. I eat a keto diet (LCHF + mod protein) and make sure I fast for at least 14 hours a night, occasionally 16hrs if I'm busy and not hungry.

Theres been quite a bit about fasting and women on some of the Paleo sites and on Marks Daily Apple. Full-on fasting seems to suit blokes better as some women find it messes with their hormones. Start BC but once the first couple of weeks are over and you are settled into fat-burning just extend the length of your overnight fast gradually. Work it to suit your lifestyle. I find I need a bed time snack as it keeps my fasting blood sugar more stable but I'm quite content not to eat until around 2 or even 3pm. Others, especially if they have kids to get off to school in the mornings, are better stopping eating after their evening meal and breaking the fast a bit earlier.

Romey was your chocolate cake the Nigella one? I did one last year from a combination of various flourless recipes and it was manky! Sort of flat and horribly bitter. I'd be interested to try it if you can improve it.

My almond butter squares were quite passable but, like you and your cake, I think I'd tweak a bit before I share. The recipe uses a biscuit base made from almonds and coconut which is bound together (like a cheesecake base) with almond butter and coconut oil. You top it with 70% chocolate mixed with a bit of almond butter. The almond butter in the topping is fine but it seems to give a rather bitter aftertaste to the base. I'm wondering if it would work if I used unsalted butter and coconut oil instead. It works out at about 5g carb a slice so its not an everyday item but its certainly healthier and more LC friendly than your average cake or shortbread.

Hiya,

My chocolate cake was originally from the Terence Stamp wheat free dairy free cookbook and in its original form is yummy but uses 3.5oz of wheat free flour and 8oz of fructose. My efforts cut the fructose right down and used 2oz coconut flour. It needs some tweaking as I say, but is definitely edible. Because of the coconut flour, it is not completely flour free. I have another recipe which does not use flour in a different book, but not tried that yet.

I have never tried almond butter but I can't see why normal butter wouldn't work as you suggest miffy

Thank you so much for the replies about intermittent fasting. If I understand correctly, it is not so much missing meals but fasting for a certain time. I thought 10:14 meant ten meals in 14 days or something, I could not work it out, but the explanations make sense here. So say I eat something by 8pm, I would be looking at having breakfast after 10am? To be honest, I struggle to fit breakfast in when it is term time, so usually have something at the office anyway, so that sounds quite doable. I like the idea of being guided by how hungry you feel, but yes, maybe something to add in after the first two weeks of boot camp.

Does the bullet proof coffee count as breaking your fast? Would you have it once you were 'eating'? Similarly, I don't eat before bed but I have coconut milk with some cocoa since low carbing, does that count as food? I thought about having fennel or camomile tea instead once BC starts.

Fructose has to be pretty much the worst sweetener you could add from what I've read! Maybe its the coconut flour that upsets the balance. I haven't tried it yet but doesn't it need a lot of extra liquid? The recipe I saw used just cocoa powder as the dry ingredient. I may be wrong. Can't find the recipe now. think I deleted it as it was so yukky!

That's the idea with the fasting. The numbers are the ratio of hours when you eat and when you fast. To start with try to make sure you have at least 12hrs without food and then extend it from there.

Bulletproof coffee would class as a meal I think. I know on a lot of the fasting plans you are allowed 20 to 50cals without it counting as breaking the fast depending on whose book you read! As a rough rule you can add a little splash of cream to a coffee but nothing more substantial. At bed time I have a BabyBel cheese as the protein keeps my fasting BG down. I always take a chamomile tea to bed. I like the Twinings Chamomile and Spiced Apple.

Thanks, yes, I read that fructose was a no-go and taste wise, it is fine without it (the cocoa and the coconut flour are sweet together if you are no longer used to sugar; I think it is quite nice). You may be right about needing more liquid with the coconut flour, the mixture was like thick plaster of Paris when I had finished. Maybe I need to try with just one ounce or add coconut milk.

Thanks for the suggestions with fasting; I will need to take some coconut oil supplies to work and look at teas. One of the great things about this way of eating is trying new things.

Ok, a few days off, I'm back on today with no real h

Sorry,
No real hunger, so hoping that I'm still in the zone. Not going to weigh myself for a fair few days, just so I can re adjust. The water drinking was the first to go (I knew it would be, I still find it tough after 2 months)
Luckily, one of my presents was a kilner jar with a tap. I'm going to fill with 3 litres right now so I can be more exact. It's easier at work as we have lovely filtered water- my tap water isn't particularly nice.
How did everyone else do? I was hoping to feel terrible eating carbs but I didn't. The great thing is, I'm quite pleased to be doing it. Never felt like that before.
Sorry for waffle, I don't like discussing diets in real life, it's nice to have somewhere to go to get things off my chest.

Hello again

So much useful info on this thread. Thankyou.

Just a couple of questions. Does this type of diet help with peri-menopause? I think I am going through that but in the last couple of weeks I have been having hot flushes, mostly at night and nuts really affecting my sleep. I think it must be age related rather than anything else. I'm 46.

I have Hashimoto's which is an autoimmune thyroiditis and mostly means my thyroid is underactive but can sometimes be over active.

I suppose the hot flushes could be to do with that, but I feel it's probably more an age thing.

Does LC'ing help with thyroid issues? I,ve been gf for a good 10 months or so, and have read about grain free being helpful but not sure, so any a device on this would be great.

Thanks again, so much.

I am back on after a week off. Haven't weighed so I don't know what the impact will be.

One thing this BC has taught me is to value my food more and not to eat something if I'm not enjoying. This helped me avoid all manner of carby things this Christmas including rubbish chocolate, bread and crackers, crisps and roast potatoes. I did enjoy a few mince pies and DH's Christmas cake and a pavlova that I made though so no doubt I will pay for those.

Romey in Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting you have a BPC instead of breakfast but in my opinion this wouldn't be effective. As Miffy says you can have up to about 50 calories during your fast period so you can have a cup of tea first thing in the morning if you're having trouble going 14 hours without food. It is the length of fast that is the most important thing to get the health benefits and remember that you don't need to do it every day of the week. I tend to go by how hungry I am but another way would be to fast Monday to Friday then relax it at the weekend.

Newbie long-term low carb eating, i.e. over six months, can disrupt thyroid hormone levels which would be indicated by fatigue or lack of energy and lowered body temperature. All that is required is to keep your daily carbs above a certain level or to have period carb refeeds. If you already know you have a thyroid issue then I would suggest keeping carbs between 50-100g per day initially and keep an eye on your thyroid symptoms.

StuntNun, thanks for that info. Just out of interest, why is this necessary? Curious to understand as much as possible? Also, how would that affect weight loss? Would that explain why i plateaued last time I tried?

Thanks so much. Xxx

good morning all,

looks like Christmas has done some damage, but only in a happy enjoyable manner of my own choosing. Also its given me a bit of insight about what maintenance will be like, just got to get rid of the chunk that gone back on.

Newbie there is a lot of information on the Internet, but basically a low carb diet can interfere with T3 production after a while. If you have a lot of weight to lose then I would suggest doing a short stint of low carb Bootcamp but then adding in more 'safe' primal carbs such as sweet potato, white rice and additional fruit. You won't lose weight as quickly this way but a very low carb diet isn't ideal in the long term for someone with an existing thyroid condition. That doesn't mean you can't eat a primal diet such as Briffa's (Escape the Diet Trap) or Mark Sisson's (Mark's Daily Apple) or the Perfect Health Diet or the Weston A. Price Foundation diet. Everyone has a different carb tolerance and you will likely need to keep a bit more carbs in your diet. To be honest this is not necessarily a bad thing as you can be less concerned about things like sausages or burgers where it can be more difficult to find the lowest carb options.

Pisses this is completely anecdotal but I found that there was a specific point in my weight loss journey where my weight seemed to 'stick', similar to the set point theory. I started at 73.6 kg and lost weight consistently until I reached 60 kg and then weight loss stalled for an extended period. I had to use intermittent fasting, increase my fat percentage, go very low carb and increase exercise to get my weight down to 58 kg. Then as soon as I got pregnant my weight jumped up again to 60 kg very rapidly, much quicker than you would expect for pregnancy weight gain. You may very well find a similar effect when you get to maintenance, that your weight naturally tends to stick at a certain amount and it will take a lot less effort to maintain at that level than it is to maintain while you are still losing weight.

This is what I have found too. I started at 74kg and have been on 60kg for a couple of months now. As this was my target I am perfectly happy with it. Haven't put any on weight over Christmas, but we have stuck to the diet apart from a bit more cheese than we would normally have.
We have taken a year to get there, but it has been a really interesting journey. Lowish carb and small portions is now a way of life for us.

StuntNun Yep thats me as well (apart from the pregnancy bit).
Its taken me a few months to get rid of the last 7kg. I had been pushing to get down to to 90kg as a final goal, but realised that I was stuck / sticking and decided to maintain after Christmas. Now with a bit of indulgence Ive jumped back up 5kg.

So with the new year I'm back on, its going to be interesting to see how fast it takes me to drop it off again. Also I'm intending to up the carbs for the running days and add some refeeds.

There has to be something in the set point theory. I lost weight nicely. Very much as you'd expect from LC, a good chunk at first and then a steady trend downwards. I got down from 15st 10lb to 11st 9lb then stuck. That was Sept 2013. I had a stressful Christmas that year and went back to 12st 4lb. I have systematically lost and regained the same 4lbs for the last 12mths and its driving me crazy! I eat a LCHF keto diet with carbs around 10-15gr and protein seems to average around 50-60gr. I can't do cardio but I do use weights 3 times a week. I'm getting to be quite a nice shape but I can't get rid of that last couple of stones.

Like Best, I have realised this Christmas that I have no inclination to eat anything that I don't like and have ditched quite a bit of stuff even though its fairly low in carb because it doesn't give me enjoyment. Hubs can fill himself full of sugar if he chooses but I will be eating LC over New Year. At least this year I wont be starting the New Year feeling ill and with a blood glucose scraping the ceiling!

My plan for the next BC is to look at reducing my stress levels. I don't feel particularly stressed but I know that having FMS will mess with things like cortisol and that can mess with weight so its worth a shot.

Well a pleasantly surprising weigh in for me this morning, last Monday I had gained 3lb for no apparent reason and having had a few small deviations over the last week I was expecting to have put on a few more but this morning the scales are saying that I've dropped the extra 3 and am back to where I was the week before .

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and managed not to go too crazy .

thansk again StuntNun.

I have read a lot of stuff, and all the little nuances between the various versions of which ever diet, really confuse me to the point of getting stuck and doing nothing.

I will read a bit more again and see if I can just do BC first and then see how I feel.

The problem I sort of have is that I have stuffed my face for so many years with whatever I've wanted to eat with no concern about weight gain, that I've probably unlearnt how to be 'in tune' with my body, and find it difficult to pinpoint when certain things might be making me feel worse, or better, and then using that information to help myself. That is going to be my biggest issue I think.

Also, what do you all do in terms of preparing for the start of bootcamp? The SayraT food ideas is awesome, but how do you deal with getting ready for that? Iykwim?

Xxx

Newbie If you stick with Biwi's lists on the BootCamp pages you wont go far wrong. The only difference I've found between the basic plans is that some allow plain Greek yoghurt and some don't. Other than that they don't vary a lot. Some of the self-style low carb gurus complicate matters to make you think its worth paying for their particular book but you can work perfectly well from free info either on here or on the DietDoctor site.

Keep it simple to start with and don't get drawn into the various tweaks. Remember that some of us on here are on a very long journey and either have health problems or are very close to target so there will be people experimenting. You don't need to worry about stuff like that and may never need to. Eat off the BC list. If you have to go for something in a packet look at the label and avoid anything that reads as though the ingredients are from a chemistry set and not a pantry. You should be looking for stuff labelled as below 4gr carb per 100gr.

I would also suggest keeping away from faux products such as breads/cakes/muffins made with flax or nut flours and products like the Atkins bars and shakes. These things are notorious for holding you back. Try and think outside the box and eat different things rather than trying to concoct an imitation.

The first few days are the hardest but the cravings start to disappear around day 3. You may even find that by the end of the first week you are feeling a little nauseous and don't want much to eat but as you get through to the second week most people are starting to get a real boost of energy and feel great. I can heartily recommend it!

Tried my new spiralizer this afternoon. Courgette pasta/noodles with a bit of chilli and garlic. Yum. Glad I asked for that.
Was brave enough to weigh myself this morning and the damage was only 3lbs- that's not too bad. After years of being controlled by food, I finally feel in control. Come on newbie give it a go. I only started at the end of oct. I think you just have to find the thing that works for you.

To get started Newbie follow the Bootcamp rules. Make sure you have plenty of low carb snacks available to get you through the first couple of weeks. If you start with the rest of the Bootcamp on the 19th January then you will have plenty of company to encourage you. Once you've got the hang of this way of eating then you can tweak things to suit you.

The other thing I'd really, really recommend, Newbie, is that you keep a food diary and record everything that you eat and drink. That way you'll start to see what foods work/don't work for you.

And read! Read as much as you can about low carbing and the science behind it. Look at the spreadsheet, at the tabs at the bottom, and you'll find one full of resources - links to blogs or videos or articles that are really helpful

Wow! Thank you all so much.

I think you're right. I just need to give this a go.

I'm going to go and try and find the pages you've referred to.

I've been thinking I'll make a start tomorrow for the last few days. I'm going to commit to making a start tomorrow for sure now! And will also join you on bootcamp when it starts on jan 19th.

Really appreciate all you're words of advice and support.

Many many thanks.

Btw, where do I find the how much water to drink thingamoabob?

Look for Bootcamp rules - against rule no 6 you should see a list of how much you should drink according to how much you (currently) weigh