Week 4 - Low Carb Bootcamp - We're not cheating at all, are we?!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Here's the SoF

Hopefully it will be working for you all. As ever, if you can't enter your weight, please ask on the thread and (hopefully!) someone will do it for you.

And just to reiterate StuntNun, this WOE really does work. However, it's a very unforgiving way of eating, and if you're going to cheat, then it won't.

I totally get that circumstances interfere with things - but we all have to try as much as we can to plan around 'off piste' occasions.

Also, however, don't forget that we're still in the tricky 3-4-5 week period, where it's not unusual for weight loss to stop altogether.

Remember - KOKO! If it worked for you in weeks 1 and 2, then logically it's going to work in subsequent weeks.

Good luck all

You're probably not eating enough and you may not be getting enough salt. You're also drinking a lot of water (correct for this WOE but rough if you're not getting enough in the way of sodium/brain food) - so I'd say you need to eat something at breakfast and lunch, even if it's only something small; and also make sure you're taking salt (actual sodium chloride) with your food as well as the potassium and magnesium.

Your brain will adapt to using ketones for food instead of glucose, but you need to give it a chance to make those as well!

should, I often get a sort of hollow feeling, although I haven't felt lightheaded and for me it's always when I haven't eaten enough. Could you look at the recipe thread for some inspiration? I quite often end up in a bit of a rut, eating the same things day in day out which can be boring and sometimes I think I'll just skip a meal. I like being prepared though, means I don't have to think about it too much which makes it easier to resist carbs.

I'm sure someone will be along with shortly the science bit and some proper advice.

Gcal dinner looked fabulous - presentation was amazing - you could be a food blogger!

I am off to make some low carb pancakes to have with some Greek yoghurt for breakfast, late start for me today, it's bliss.

Have a good weekend all.

Thanks Thumb. I suspect you're right. It felt a bit like a drop in blood sugar or something along those lines. I will try and eat more. I just lost the will to eat even though I was feeling 'hungry' (which was nothing like normal hunger pains).

I thought that the reason LCHF helps you lose weight is because the loss of appetite leading to less calorie intake. Hence I wasn't bothered about skipping meals. Do we need to eat 3 meals a day even after we're fat adapted? What about intermittent fasting? When can that start to be a good idea?

Sheba I am in a rut and bored with my food choices, so you are definitely right. I forgot all about the recipe thread - thanks!

Can anyone give me the link to the amount of water we're supposed to be drinking based on our weight?

shouldiblowthewhistle could you be needing more fat? Its just I felt like this the other day and I realised that although I'd eaten there wasn't much there in terms of calories so having something fatty helpedal...

wand
For the lemon cake do you whip the egg whites separately or chuck it all in together?

Auntie if you go to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness (SoF) which is in BIWI's original post, then click on the tab at the bottom which says BC rules, then it is in there.
Will catch up later, but I've been perusing lovely LC recipes and can't decide which I want to try next

thanks for all the lovely comments

Am thinking of making LC onion bahji's with the egg whites left over from my hollandaise. Mmmmmm.

We had supper last night at a friend's. He very considerately made me courgette "pasta" instead of the rice he was serving with the chicken casserole made up for the fact that he forgot I don't eat mushrooms and even though I'd don't mind picking them out, he'd chopped them up small

He put garlic salt in the courgette which made it very tasty.

These are what im looking forward to trying...! :)

Gcal enough! I am making a formal bid for you to adopt me. Between your yummy shakes, LC bhajis and amazing Valentine's menu, I think I have found my spiritual home

Love the look of Wand's cake recipe too...

Beyond - wow, those look amazing! I'm psyching myself to go into town for the first time this year, and the thought of being able to get Truvia or something similar to have a go at those is proving to be a huge inpsiration

ShouldI this WOE can reduce your appetite too effectively so that you end up undereating. If you're feeling dizzy or stomach pains then I suggest trying to eat something at each meal time. Sometimes you don't realise how hungry you are until the food is in front of you iykwim. If you start eating and you find you're full then put the rest away for later.

I skip breakfast sometimes and I don't seem to be extra hungry but I end up snacking a lot more between lunch and dinner without really realising at the time. So in my case I'm better off making sure I have three good low carb meals than picking at carbier snacks through the afternoon.

In terms of the reason LCHF helps you lose weight, it is because your lowered insulin levels allow you to access your fat stores much more easiily than when you're eating carbs. It isn't just a low carb WOE, it's a low insulin WOE as well. When you're eating low carb your body can sense the quantity of its fat stores (because fat cells release leptin). So your appetite reduces because your body has energy freely available. It's quite difficult to explain in simple terms. Imagine that it's lunch time and you know you're going to be going out for a seven-course dinner that evening. You would eat very lightly at lunch time to make sure you were good and hungry in the evening wouldn't you? So in this analogy your fat stores are the seven-course dinner and your appetite is your lunch.

Once you're adapted to this WOE, and I would give yourself at least four weeks for adaption, then you can introduce intermittent fasting if you want. If you find yourself spontaneously skipping breakfast then 16:8 would be a good option - you don't have to do it everyday, even three days a week has benefits. If you're trying to speed up weight loss then you could try a 5:2 type of fasting but you would have to be very sure that you would be able to cope with the 500 calorie days without falling off the wagon face first into a pile of carbs which is what I would probably do because I'm a greedyguts!

Very well put stunt. I know the basics but find it so hard to articulate. Here comes stunt with the science bit swishes in in lab coat

Hefzi if you don't mind washing up you can come anytime. When we moved to our rural idyll I did think about offering a LC/HF b&b in the heart of rural Scotland - "set in glorious countryside with local meat/cheese/eggs" etc could team up with my Pilates instructor and make it a wellbeing break / walking package but my DH is antisocial and won't entertain the idea of strangers in the house.

Right, haven't caught up with the thread as been travelling since yesterday but will do as soon as I get a chance! Seeing mention of fudge . Hope everyone is doing ok as we near the next weigh in... Not sure what I'll do as I'm staying with friends so not with my own scales!

Managing ok having packed some LC food, like egg muffins and olives. But major fail at bringing along a pack of salted almonds. Ate the whole bag on the drive this morning .

Bhaji - did shallot/ cauli/ broccoli. Served with minted yoghurt.

Stunt, is there a particular book that you get all the science from?

My lunch was a little off piste today, there were breadcrumbs involved... but managed to save my macros with eggs and bpc for dinner. Not ideal, need to give myself a kick up the bum!

wand I've copied and pasted the recipe for Lemon Cake
Beyond also the amazing looking amaretti biscuits - Thanks for link!
Can't believe you can actually use proper amaretto (I love it).

Gcal thanks for the ACV recommendation - I've ordered it. I've had Biona coconut oil before and agree they are really good.

I've got the chocolate/cream/butter concoction in the fridge - I purposely reduced the quantities right down so that I've only got a small portion available. I love my puddings!

beyond they look good thnx

B - mushrooms and eggs in butter, 2 cups of tea
L - Stromboli in the car and most of a small bag of biona brand Brazil nuts in dark choc, not hungry just bored driving
d - my lovely DSis made bolognaise with courgetti and Parmesan, just having a peppermint tea

gcal let me know when your b&b opens, we are not really strangers now are we?

Nope Beyond but I'm a biochemist which probably helps. It's tough to get at the truth because there isn't that much research out there. For example Michael Eades has just announced that he reckons it's polyunsaturated vegetable oils that are to blame for the obesity epidemic. But without any research it's just a wild theory at the moment. Some of the 'science' is backed up with solid research, some is best guess but rests on a plausible hypothesis. Like all the water BIWI has you drinking. We don't know exactly why it works, we just know that it works and it's really important.

I will make a note in my bujo (theyve got me!) to read up on it in the summer. I'm mid biochem degree, so its extra interesting to me (but i do not need extra distractions before exam time)