Week 3 - Spring Low Carb Bootcamp - To B or to BC, that is the question!

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet

I see from the last thread that some of you have already weighed in - well done to those who've lost and commiserations with those of you who haven't.

We now enter week 3, which is notorious (along with week 4) for being a bit of a bugger of a week

At this point, you'll see weight loss slow, stop or even reverse. It's a very, very common thing. So if this happens to you, don't panic - it's perfectly normal. Your body is adjusting, and weight loss will resume again, assuming that you keep on keeping on.

You can now choose whether or not you want to move on to Bootcamp Light, which allows a bit of fruit, some nuts/seeds and alcohol - all in moderation of course!

If you prefer, and if it's suiting you, you can stay on Bootcamp - or you could do a mix of both. So Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend. Up to you.

Good luck whichever approach you take

Oh, just spotted the beagles. What a pair of beauties.

Basset hounds I mean. Sorry dogs

What gorgeous dogs.

Thank you veryflummoxed

@Callmesausage - just in case you haven't gone yet!

Dry curries are the best, so tandoori or tikka. Chicken shashlik is always good - a skewer of chicken tikka with peppers/onion

Obviously avoid rice/naan/poppadoms/chappattis, etc.

Veg curries made from cauliflower, mushroom and spinach are the best.

Good shopping, and gorgeous (tired) dogs, Hesdead

I'm not feeling very well today. Just insomnia, tiredness, mental health and flashbacks getting to me today. But I'm keeping on keeping on...

B: just coffee, as wasn't hungry
L: spinach omelette
S: some greek yoghurt with crunchy peanut butter, since I was curious...
D: just some salad and white wine, as not hungry again...

Meeeeeh...

Well impressed with your shop Hesdead!

I made the moussaka from the Tom Kerridge Dopamine Diet book - amazing! Well worth the effort making it - and there is a lot of effort involved - it's really delicious and filling. Boxed up and frozen the leftovers as well.

Hope you enjoyed your curry callme

Lucy the Black farmer sausages are 1g of carbs per 100g. They taste nice, too.
Hesdead impressive haul and your dogs are gorgeous.
Has anyone tried making brownies out of dark chocolate, peanut butter and butter/ coconut oil? There is a recipe on the DietDoctor site that I might try. it looks like it could be frozen, to ensure I don't eat too much of it.

L: chicken breast and two chicken thighs with coleslaw (nandos) the coleslaw was probably far too carby but overall my carb count today wasn't horrendously high.
D: Meatzza with mushrooms/chorizo and salad.

2.5/3.5l done so far, I find it much harder on weekends when I'm not just sat at my desk with a bottle of water in front of me.

Morning everyone. So many people who are overcoming challenges to stick with this .
Well I've been ill this week for the first time in I can't remember. Completely floored me. (And DH who had to look after our three ds's). I was in bed for the best part of three days and didn't eat very much, the consequence being I got down to 10.9. However I ate a normal BC diet on Friday and Saturday and this morning my weight is back to 10.12. Dammit. I guess my body is holding on to every calorie after feeling starved for a few days. I'm hoping to at least have dropped a pound again by tomorrow so I have a loss to show for this week.
The psychology of a diet is so difficult I find. When you are losing weight and reach a new low you feel SO good and feel every extra mm in your clothes. But if you go lower then put on a pound or two and go back up to that weight that you were previously so pleased with, you feel huge! So annoying.

Wow, lots to catch up on since I last checked in - I've only had time for a quick skim through, but looks like there's been some really good progress - and hesdeadjim your shopping looks awesome.

Well it's been a manic week and my dearest darling toddler has decided that sleep is for wimps, playtime is best taken between 1am and 4am, and bedtime - pah! Who wants to go to bed when you can stay up crying with tiredness! (And I have shed a fair few tears of exhaustion myself)

This is exactly the situation where a diet would go out the window usually - tired, stressed out, can't be arsed... But I've stuck to it - with one small concession - I have had the occasional glass of prosecco/cava (from the small individual bottles - I don't trust my willpower with a full bottle).
And (touch wood) the magic still seems to be happening - I'm on track to have lost another couple of pounds this week - that's over 10 pounds in total so far. The final challenge is a lunch out today at a Turkish restaurant. Olives, lamb skewers, halloumi and salad is the plan so I should be ok.

PissPot I completely agree about the psychology of it all - at the moment I know I am so positive because the scales keep moving in the right direction. If I have a gain, I am going to need to stay strong (and possibly print off StunNuns graph as an A3 poster to plaster all over my walls)
Keep on it everyone!

pisspot i totally hear you about the psychology of it all. All my life I've struggled with that aspect of weight loss, but I'm quite the self reflector and a few years ago I wrote a load of stuff down to try and make sense of why I got so big. It was basically in direct response to a weight watchers meeting I went to that really annoyed me. Try were talking about being happy and how that helps weight loss etc, insinuating that all fat people are depressed and basically the way to cure obesity is to eat more low calorie 'treats' to make you feel better I got really angry so I wrote. I dug it out when I saw your post and this is what I felt at the time:

1. The wagon fallacy: the wagon is a lie. There is no wagon to fall off or jump back on, there's only change.

1. No one 'eats their feelings'. We live in a culture where, from birth, certain foods are heralded as a treat. When we are low, we treat ourselves to make one portion of our lives temporarily better. You need to realise no food is a treat for you that is not a treat for your whole body.

1. Sometimes we eat to punish ourselves. sometimes how we feel about ourselves means we don't feel worthy of change. The world tells us daily how lazy, greedy and 'other' we are as obese people, so we believe them.

1. I am more than my body. Being fat is a temporary condition. It does not define me.

1. Don't listen to your mother. Eating 1 meal a day of salad and a tiny portion of meat mighty work for her, but she's never been obese and will never understand that the longevity and sustainability of a diet depends on more than if it can keep you alive.

1. Trust. Trust yourself, if your method isn't working, change the method not yourself. No matter how often your weight watchers leader tells you you're fine losing 1/2lb a week then gaining half the next week, you're not. Don't fear change, experiment and find your happy in your own skin.

^^ I wrote that last bit and quit WW the next day. 2 days after that I joined boot camp :)

*few weeks ago not a few years ago!

Really interesting post, hesdeadjim

Morning all. I agree about the psychology of diets. I have really struggled to get to grip with this diet. I lost 2lbs the first week and responded by eating crap for 3 days. Why self sabotage? I have a pattern of doing that. Dh thinks I am afraid of success..

We are trying to use up what's in the cupboard until the shopping is delivered on tuesday. So the plan today is:

B. 2 sausages and 2 rashers of bacon. Half a slice of buttered bread (couldn't resist)
L. Small halloumi salad as breakfast was filling.
F. Lamb chop and spinach.

Is anyone else really thirsty on this diet? I woke up at 5 desperate for water and have done that alot. I am drinking more than usual but perhaps not enough.

Hi guys, im in need of support. Still not losing weight. I have been like this for years tbh but i still really really wanna lose some more. I'm still a size 14 and 14 stone. Its really frustrating. I tried low carb a couple of weeks before boot camp lost 7lbs in 2 weeks but nothing since (the start of boot camp). Ive noticed so many benefits since starting lc though. Don't notice hunger, no cravings, no snacking etc but wondering where to go now. Worried I'm gonna spectacularly give up soon. Haven't done a lot of exercise though so that's starting this week. Typical food day would be: B: couple of boiled eggs, S: couple of coffee and cream, L: tuna and mayo, cucumber and celery with few cubes of cheese, D: bolognese with broccoli instead of pasta (homemade). HELP please.

@LooneyTune253

Hi guys, im in need of support. Still not losing weight. I have been like this for years tbh but i still really really wanna lose some more. I'm still a size 14 and 14 stone. Its really frustrating. I tried low carb a couple of weeks before boot camp lost 7lbs in 2 weeks

So you are losing weight!!! 7lbs in two weeks is really good!

but nothing since (the start of boot camp).

I'm presuming that this means you're now in week 5 for you? If so, please note that weeks 3 & 4 and sometimes 5 are notorious for seeing weight loss stop (or even reverse). If you lost 7lbs in two weeks, then you're obviously doing something right.

Ive noticed so many benefits since starting lc though. Don't notice hunger, no cravings, no snacking etc but wondering where to go now

Well, surely if you're having all these benefits wouldn't this tell you that this is a way of eating worth pursuing? You've only been doing it for 5 weeks, (I assume - tell me if I've got that wrong ), you've lost half a stone and you've got your eating under control. I'd say that it's worth sticking with. No hunger/cravings means that you don't have to control things with willpower alone.

Worried I'm gonna spectacularly give up soon.

Why? Do you normally give up on things that are working for you so soon? It just doesn't make sense!

Haven't done a lot of exercise though so that's starting this week.

Exercise counts only for around 20% of weight loss - or as little as 5% if you listen to Dr Jason Fung. It's good for your general health, but weight loss will come mainly from your diet.

Typical food day would be: B: couple of boiled eggs, S: couple of coffee and cream, L: tuna and mayo, cucumber and celery with few cubes of cheese, D: bolognese with broccoli instead of pasta (homemade). HELP please.

This all sounds good, although you could look to increase your veg/salad intake. Are you making sure that your fat intake is high? How much water are you drinking? That also makes a big difference

My best advice? Chill out and KOKO (keep on keeping on). A 7lb loss is great!

Hello everyone.
Hesdead loved the pics of your shopping and dogs.
I am back on track and hoping to stay so till my holiday next week.
Koko.

Just catching up on the thread now, but have to say patapouf your idea about freezing the yoghurt/peanut butter mix in iced lolly moulds is GENIUS!

Thank you CaptainBrassPants

I watched a really good recording by Gary Taubes today about the history of the different theories about dieting. Particularly, how 'calories in and calories out' was only ever a hypothesis but is now received wisdom. There is actually quite a bit of evidence to suggest its not true. He also talked about how insulin works and how a low carb diet works. It was really interesting. I got it by signing up to Diet Doctor but I think it may also be on you tube.

Going to the cinema tonight and really missing getting sweets or popcorn. Any ideas for alternatives

Had a really good week food and exercise wise. Had WAY too much wine last night bit didn't succumb to any crisps or crap and have battled my way through hangover food cravings today (had to sit in the bath for 2 hours to stop opening the fridge door ).
Have drunk loads of water and about to have roast chicken.

I'll catch up with the thread once the whiny kids are in bed later but I wanted to log in with my food.
B: Two cups of tea with almond milk (fasting)
L: Four eggs scrambled with two rashers of streaky bacon, coffee with almond milk, black coffee, one chocolate
D: Roast lamb with gravy, one small potato (shh don't tell BIWI but they were perfect roasties), buttered leeks, roasted courgettes, red onion and peppers.
Lots and lots and lots of water.

Fingers crossed for a drop on the scales tomorrow. I'm being videoed next week and I'm really self-conscious about it so I want to be n shape so I feel better about myself.

Three nights this week that I've had some wine, so I'll know what to blame if the scales aren't my friend tomorrow morning.

B: Greek yoghurt with peanut butter. Probably a bit too much peanut butter...
L: Roast chicken (leg, wing, skin), coleslaw, tomato, salad leaves.
Evening: Coffee with cream. Two glasses of white wine.

DH made me a disappointingly weak mug of tea about an hour ago. I still feel crushed, cross and nearly weepy... Might be getting hormonal...

I understand the psychological effect of whether the scales go up and down. However if you're following this way of eating reasonably closely then you will not be putting on fat. If you eat something carby then you will stop burning fat and lay down glycogen stores, not fat stores. The way I look at it is if I lose weight then it's fat loss, if I gain weight then it's water retention.