Week 7 - Low Carb Bootcamp - our last month!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Apologies for the late start today - bit harassed and manic at the moment.

Anyway Here's the Spreadsheet

Hope that this last week has been a good one, and that you see the results this morning.

We have just four weeks left, so let's stay focused and see what we can do. All being well, we could get rid of another pesky half stone!

Good luck to you all

[Fatstacks]

Morning Pals

Tags for the thread BIWI

Back from holiday a very well deserved 7lbs up.

Shove up, I'm back on the wagon

Well done all you losers and stsers

[StuntNun]

My scales have run out of batteries but never mind, I'm still KOKO.

[HemanOrSheRa]

Morning Losers!

1lb off for me. I'm KNACKERED after a weekend on call. Back to bed for me. I restarted the C25K about 3 weeks ago but our local council is running free C25K running coach led groups. So I've joined. Eek! It means starting again from week 1 but I'll get some expert tuition. Very excited! First night tonight so need some kip so I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7.30 this evening. And not some wild eyed, exhausted wreck like wot I am now.

[Patapouf]

Hi everyone

1.8lbs down from pre holiday weight a fortnight ago, I think last week's weigh in was a bloated anomaly rather than actual fat gain.

for everyone and KOKO

[mrswhiskers]

Just marking my place. went a bit off course yesterday but back on it today with a fasting day.

[lisbapalea]

Down 0.5lb which I am actually quite happy with as I probably did slip off the wagon a little last week - I blame the chest infection which has made me feel a bit sorry for myself and probably treat myself to the odd carby treat when I shouldn't have done.

KOKO everyone!

[WineCheeseSleep]

Huzzah, finally a loss again after a disappointing few weeks. So glad I stuck with it. I lost 2.5 pounds. I think the only real difference this week was that I reduced my portion size as I don't need to eat as much on this WOE and I needed to stop overeating out of habit.

Also I had the fathead pizza last night and it was amazing! So my weight loss plus the knowledge I have leftover pizza for lunch means I'm feeling pretty marvelous this morning!

[Hangonaminutewillyou]

just copying this enormous post across to the new weekly chat!

hmm trying not to feel despondent today. Have STS (well, up by 0.2 lb but that is not significant enough to be a definite move upwards). It seems that eating the right things isn't enough to make a difference with me. I think I must be eating too much! I definitely felt more hungry than usual last week and I thought it might have been TOTM related but it wasn't. In fact I think it was exercise related (and not because of the muscle weighing more than fat!)

One of the books I'm reading to try to maximise my understanding and chances of losing weight is Fast Exercise by Dr Michael Mosley. I have gleaned the following bits of info which i wanted to share:

From Fast Exercise by Dr Michael Mosley (pg 79) - Hunger hormones. Ghrelin is a hunger hormone produced by cells in the stomach & seems to increase appetite while the hormones leptin and peptide YY (PYY) reduce it. Lots of studies have shown the ghrelin levels go up before a meal and fall after you have eaten. When you lose weight, average ghrelin levels tend to rise encouraging you to eat more and put the weight back on. Apparently a bout of insomnia will also make ghrelin levels rise - one reason why chronic sleep shortage can lead to weight gain.

Also from the same book, "Set Point Theory" (pg 48) - there are studies which suggest that your body will unconsciously try to sabotage your attempts to lose fat! Basically your body will do what it can to try to maintain your weight as it is, so as you lose weight your metabolism will slow down & your body becomes more efficient at storing and using calories. Seems to me that this is probably where the increased ghrelin levels come in too - as your body tries to keep your weight as is!

In addition, some other key points:

• traditional low intensity exercise is not a time-efficient way of burning fat
  
• we are also more likely to reduce the amount of activity we do after exercising (so not only do we do compensatory eating but we do compensatory slacking too!)
  

Dr Briffa's book Escape the Diet Trap seems to support these ideas.

The answer here does seem to be High Intensity Training - which suppresses appetite (at least in the short term). Other forms of exercise are obviously good for us in other ways - enhancing mood, general health etc - but they are not guaranteed to help us lose weight.

For me personally, I also have binge eating tendencies which I need to work on - previously I binged on carbs but I have definitely eaten past hunger on low carb food too. Thanks to Romey for some pointers she has given me to enable me to start addressing this with professional help.

Sorry for the long post but I hope that perhaps someone else might benefit from my discoveries! If anyone has any thoughts on the above let me know.

[readyforno2]

Well done to all losers! I'm down to 139.6. Really pleased. I'm away to Majorca a week on Thursday so hopefully come down again next week!

[billabye]

Morning all. 1.5 off for me! I'm feeling a slight difference in my clothes around the stomach area which is lovely.

Well done to everyone who has lost/STS. I love reading the threads, it's very inspirational! KOKO

[WineCheeseSleep]

Interesting stuff hangon. I also have binge eating tendencies and one of my downfalls previously was having a biscuit... and then finishing off the pack. After 7 weeks of this WOE though I feel I've "reset" somewhat, probably because what I eat now is genuinely satisfying. I've had to be pretty strict with myself when it comes to sweet stuff though as I'm not sure I could just have the one biscuit even now!

Also I've been a bit disappointed with my weight loss so far but lost 2.5 pounds this week and do think perhaps my body is finally relenting and allowing me to lose weight at last!

[ewanhoozami]

hangon those are some interesting points about the function of exercise in weight loss. It's something I don't know enough about and there are so many disparate and evolving theories out there.

If the new thinking is that not all calories are equal, which ones are we supposed to burn

I'm leaning towards strength training (with low weights, high reps) as it's working for me in lots of ways, mental health and physical toning included.


I'm hoping it's all that lovely lean muscle I'm building that's causing my weight to STS and not the Very Bad Takeaway that I caved to on Friday night

[ewanhoozami]

B - bullet proof bovril (I've started using grass-pastured butter instead of ghee, it's even nicer)

L - avocado and salami salad, pork scratchings,

D - Massive mushroom soup, sauteed buttered radishes

S - coffees and some more coffees. With full cream milk until I can get out for some more almond.

[StoneFoxMama]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie I'm afraid and have just finished my first week on bc. I have tried to read through the other threads to catch up but will be doing bc for another week or so. I hope it's ok to join in at this late stage?

I'm on the last stretch though with regards to weight loss, with about 7-10 lbs to lose to get back to my usual size. I've done Atkins in the past so am not unfamiliar with this woe. Just need to shift those last few pounds for summer and find a happy place for maintenance.

Today's food:
B:1/2 avocado, evoo & vinegar dressing, tiny spoonful of chopped chicken mixed with mayo and cheddar. 1 coconut oil and double cream bpc
L: egg baked in a large Portobello mushroom with garlic and chilli oil with lettuce and 1 plum cherry tomato with oil dressing.
Supper will be pork shoulder panang curry made with coconut milk, coconut oil and shallots instead of onions. Will probably have a bit of fried courgette/aubergine or purple sprouting broccoli on the side.

If anyone can see anything I'm doing wrong, please feel free to point out out, all help greatly received!

[cathyandclaire]

Hi all, well done to all losers :)
have been AWOL due to post exam activities with the DDs but have been KOKO forget about all those glasses of fizz and have been exercising like mad, HITT and weights mostly so fits in with your post Hangon have STS but it's TOTM and am at a healthy BMI so I really have to work to lose the last 4lbs. I have lost inches so am happy with that.
We spent a few days at a spa, it was fab but I was shocked at how behind the times they were nutritionally, everything was low fat and at breakfast it was tricky to find anything without sugar.

B: At gym so grabbed a coffee and lacto-free milk
L: Lettuce wraps with beef, cucumber and mayo
S: Chicken caesar salad with nuts instead of croutons.

[plumstone]

HI all, not yet managed to weigh due to an obscenely early start so will do so tomorrow, today so far:

B - BPC - Two little egg and boursin muffins, with bacon and spring onion
W - 1 litre
L - no idea - not hungry and flat out at work
D - fathead pizza - so looking forward to this - its going to be totes amaze balls!!!!
W - two more litres

Congrats to all who have lost/sts - its great!!!!!

xoxo

[Kleptronic]

1lb on. Am definitely stuck. Boo!

[PeppermintFrog]

A pound off! So chuffed to be moving at last, hopefully this will help me focus on koko this week.

My skinny friend just told me she thinks she eats too much sugar and is going to try and cut down. So I blurted my recent experience and she was really interested, esp with respect to disappearing afternoon energy/mood crashes and reduced PMT. Obv she has no weight problem but feels shitty and thinks it could be linked to sugar. I widened her thinking to carbs in general and she's off to to a bit of research. Yay!

[Oxfordblue]

Good luck everyone !

[AuntieMaggie]

I am still here (though haven't updated the sheet in weeks ) but I've lost another pound. Still struggling to drink enough water which won't be a problem when I'm back at work next week and I had a few drinks and stuff over the last week as it's a shite time atm. Anyway back to it today but it's my little man's first birthday this week so there will be some cake...

Hope everyone else is doing well

[LexLoofah]

morning all, welcome lurkers and newbies

just shy of a whole lb off, prob 3 nights in a row of sleep deprivation with sick DD not helped per hangons post. Will watch portions, dairy and cups of tea this week.

on the positive side my legs are looking distinctly less tree trunk like and yesterday a friend said 'now your face is thinner I can see a dimple when you smile' obviously dimple lost in fat crease up until this point but it is still a nice thing to discover

I thought of a goal this morning, not sure how realistic it is -- I would like to not only be slim but looking slim in a dressing gown, is that possible for anybody but the most tall and willowy?

[billabye]

Lex I also have a smile dimple which disappears when I am large. I'm looking forward to seeing it again someday!
B- BPC
L- halloumi fried in olive oil, green salad and mayo and spoon of thick cream/vanilla extract
D- courgetti bolognaise

[lisbapalea]

I love the goal of looking slim in a dressing gown Lex! Go for it although I agree it's generally not the most flattering of outfits. I have mistakenly attempted to check out my new (hopefully) smaller frame when in PJs and it's really not the best outfit choice to show off any improvements!

My own goal has always been to have the word 'willowy' used to describe me, but i don't think that will ever actually happen, so I will just be happy if I can find my way into the 'normal' BMI category!

[PeppermintFrog]

My goal is for jeans to wear out at the knee, not the inner thigh...

[lisbapalea]

That is also another great goal! Or to make it through a hot summer without succumbing to thigh chafe.