Low Carb Bootcamp - our final weigh-in! (And ongoing chat thread)

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Here, for the last time this Bootcamp is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Hopefully the scales will be kind to you for our last weigh-in!

For those of you that are still here - even you lurking at the back! - it would be great to hear how much you've lost this Bootcamp.

And also, we'll keep this thread going for chat - when it fills up I'll start another general low carb chat thread.

Hi all, I am a newcomer to low carbing. Started bootcamping yesterday and am doing ok so far but have reflux. I had my gallbladder out a couple of years ago. Has anyone got experience of low carbing after gallbladder surgery? I'm worried that the high fat levels will be a problem.

Dinner tonight was awesome.
Courgette carbonara.
Fried 100g bacon lardons with 1/2 a small shallot, a few sliced button mushrooms, a crushed clove of garlic and a sprinkle dried basil. Added in a large courgette spiralised and cooked for five minutes. In a cup mixed an egg with a big glug of cream, black pepper and 4tbsp grated grana padano cheese. Take the pan off the heat and mixed the sauce through. Stir over a low heat until sauce thickened up.

thumb did I reply to your post? anyway, eggs seem ok, thank goodness. Touch wood I'm on a good run at the moment. My energy levels are much more normal, so I've also managed some excercise, which when I'm ok, boosts my energy even more. I feel so grateful! I have started taking massive doses of vitamins. I cannot recommend this because it may be a bloody stupid thing to do. I've been taking four high dose vitamin D, a multi vit, double dose of B, an E and some high strength C, but not over the recommended dose with that. Just the D and B complex. I definitely feel better for it.

gcal that sounds lovely.

My oven's buggered. I'm a lazy chef, so we normally roast a lot of our dinners. We've been forced into frying our chicken thighs of late oh man the skin is so good.

Can I recommend a new side dish? It's very quick and tasty.

Dice up (one centimetre size cubes) aubergine and mushrooms. Squirt in a tiny bit of garlic (purée or chopped) and a shed load of butter and some salt into a frying pan or wok then chuck in the diced stuff. Fry on high till the mushrooms are crispy and the aubergine is soggy and crispy. Gobble down like a half starved dog (in my case)

Also made it with added chorizo the other night.

Don't worry, trashie, you did indeed reply :) Glad eggs don't seem to cause you any bother, phew! vit D is hard to overdose on if you buy usual strength stuff - I seem to remember from years ago that you need to be taking in something like 40,000 IU/day (recommended is 1,000 but most people who actually know about it say at least 3000IU) before it starts causing a problem. vit C might cause you more gut problems, it's a known side effect if you take too much. You should be ok with the B complex, although excess B3 can cause flushing.

"Liquorice is a harmless tonifying herb" - no, this is completely misleading. Read www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/881.html and take especial note that liquorice should be avoided in pregnancy. The reason being that the glycyrrhizinzs can cause the placental barrier to reduce in effectiveness, allowing stress hormones to cross the placenta into the foetus and this is probably not a good thing www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10253890.2011.602147#.VbQYXLOqqko, plus it can cause early birth and there is a school of thought that it may cause lower birthweight as well.

Yes, most liquorice you buy is processed - I used to be able to buy liquorice sticks, which are basically sticks (yes I know!) you chew and get some liquorice flavour from - this is the unprocessed version.

I like the sound of your side dish, btw - I usually do spmething very similar with courgettes rather than aubergine and it's YUM!

Trash I would suggest adding a magnesium supplement to that as well but start off with a low dose if you're already taking a multivitamin as it can give you diarrhoea at higher doses.

10lbsleft sorry I missed your post! I can't see any reference to shatavari - and as I have no idea what it is, I did have to Google! What would you be taking it for? Yes, it will be processed unless you're eating it in its raw form.

I found this on livestrong.com:

^Shatavari
Shatavari is valued in Ayurvedic medicine for its roots and leaves, and is the main ingredient in many treatments, such as shatavari gulam and shatavari ghrtam. Shatavari is rich in protein, fat and carbohydrates and has small amounts of vitamins B, C and A.^

Hm, friendly thread. Never mind.

sorry mama, not sure if anyone on here has had gallbladder surgery. wow, that pasta dish sounds amazing. I think I need to get a spiralizer. can anyone recommend one that is dishwasher safe or v easy to clean and doesn't take up to much space?

is there such thing as an electric spiraliser? all the ones i have seen are like pencil sharpeners which I think would get a bit tedious for large quantities.

BIWI I have seen it in this form organic raw liquorice root

raw organic shatavari root

or in the form of tea.

Are any OK for BC?

Mama I do medium carb in that I eat fruit and medjool dates but I don't eat added fat or dairy as the fat content doesn't agree with me and I have to go to the loo a lot or I get terrible cramps in the gallbladder. So it can be done but tailor it to your own needs.

Meant to say that fats cause diarerra . Sometimes they also cause severe cramps in the gallbladder. Separate things. lol.

Just reading about "shatavari root * and its so interesting to see plants from other cultures and how they are used. We are more focused on pharma products in our culture I think. I try and use herbal and plant based things if I can though.

10lbsleft - sorry, I can't find any definitive information I'm afraid. Might be worth looking out for some in a healthfood store and then checking the back of the pack

Wow Mama you take offence quickly! We're not all here posting all the time! These threads are, actually, incredibly supportive and friendly.

However. To answer your question, I believe that as Amserhaf has said you'll probably have to take it carefully and see how you go. I don't know enough about the gallbladder to advise you any more, as I'm not a doctor/medical practitioner.

Hello all, so my plan so get back on this week failed miserably with me and DCs having tummy bug plus and probably connected our fridge is not working properly so not really keeping much perishable stuff in the house which makes LCHF very difficult. Been better last few days, pretty much having eggs for brek, lunch out and then cup of tea in the evening as not that hungry. Re-discovered bacon chops at a cafe the other day, had forgotten about those, yum. Weather here is foul, just had a small hot choc using equal quantities of double cream and water with two small squares of dark choc. Must have more water though, might have it warm in a mug

BIWI sorry I should have clarified. I meant would they be OK for the avoiding processed things rule as I seem to remember you saying stevia powder was a no no.

Without wishing to sound smug, I'm very pleased with my progress so far - I'm doing far better this time than at the beginning of the last bootcamp, so have great hopes that I will stay on the wagon this time!
Already 4lb down since starting (probably the glycogen as I still seem to be on the very pudgy side around the midriff)

Water intake increasing - I'm feeling more thirsty which is helping - hurrah! Up to 2L today, bonus! Just need to keep increasing it.

Sounds brilliant Thumb. I have been reading the threads but haven't posted much as Im doing a medium carb diet and lowish in added fat as im not good with it and have lost 10lbs in the last 6 weeks which I am bloody thrilled about. Its so helpful to read the threads and see others results but cant post much about what I eat as it would derail the threads somewhat and not be helpful to anyone doing bootcamp.

BIWI do you know yet when you will do the next bootcamp? Am thrilled to have maintained easily but would like to last my last half stone

Mama here's a link to a discussion about low carb/high fat after gallbladder removal Hope that helps.

Almahart I don't usually do the next one till around October, so it's in the run up to Christmas. But the chat threads will continue, so there's always someone here to support you!

I'm going to keep going Alma, so you're not in your own. My step sister is getting married in October so wanna lose a stone by then

Thanks ready! I've got a holiday in Ireland coming up, likely to b pretty carby though I will do my best. Bootcamp before Christmas is a great idea, means I won't be seduced by mince pies

It will be around the beginning of October, so it's timed to finish in mid-December, so that you can allow yourself all manner of naughty things for Christmas