Week 4 - Spring Low Carb Bootcamp - our first month!

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

... which looks like it's going to have some fabulous results this morning! Well done Hesdeadjim.

Don't be discouraged if you haven't seen a loss - remember, weeks 3 and 4 are notorious for weight loss slowing down or even reversing.

Just make sure you're following Bootcamp rules - especially eating fat and drinking water - and beware of carb creep. It's very easy to think 'a bit' of this or 'a spoonful' of that won't make a difference - but it really does.

Thank you wombattoo. I will give that a try this weekend. I am craving burgers

Happy birthday captain and biwis son

Going to try the Philly pancakes tomorrow with some raspberries and whipped cream I think. Couldn't face the supermarket today.

L: 3 scrambled eggs with spinach, butter and a bit of Red Leicester.
D: big bowl of cauli cheese
3.5L of water down

Happy birthday for yesterday Captain I hope you enjoyed the cake
I've got the throat thing that's been going around. Been several days now and feeling rather sorry for myself. I have consoled myself with a few nuts and some peanut butter yogurt which I loved, thanks BIWI*, but I didn't go near the big stack of pancakes dh made for ds and dd.

Make a huge pile and pancakes and didn't eat a single one! Hope the scales reward me next week!

Hello (slinks back onto thread with tail between her legs..) I've had a terrible weekend (away for half term) which I'm just going to put behind me. Have been back on it since yesterday and feel like crap (proper cold + period on its way + sugar withdrawals)

I've not even had the guts to weigh myself as I can tell by my bloated stomach that all is not well

I've caught up with the thread and there are some great ideas on here - will try the spinach and feta omlette, is there a recipe?

Hope you enjoyed your cake, Captain! Did you have good willpower to stick to one slice??? I'd end up snarfing the whole thing!!

Does anyone know where in m&s will I find the pork scratching strips I've seen mentioned on here? Had a look but couldn't find them

Yesterday:
B - 2 hb eggs and butter, 2 babybel, coffee and cream
L - avocado, cucumber dipped in pate
D - butter chicken, cauli rice and courgettes & shallots fried in coconut oil
S - a few pork scratchings
W - 2L must do better

Today
B - tea & soya milk, 2 babybel (was late running out door to get train)
L - will get something LC from M&S deli to take to meeting as I fear it will be a sandwich lunch
D - prawn stir fry with courgette noodles
S - pork scratchings
W - will try for as much as poss but long meeting today so need a strong bladder!

Hi everyone, have been reading what I can this morning and was wondering when the next boot camp will be starting or can you just join in with the thread but be a few weeks behind? You all seem to be doing so well and it is a very inspiring thread.

Basically I am overweight, 12 stone but being only 4 foot 10, I feel as round as I am tall. I got gestational diabetes during my pregnancy and the low carb diet meant I actually lost weight during pregnancy but now almost 9 months later it has all crept back on plus more. Now baby will be 9 months next week and I feel mentally ready to tackle the weight and make sure I don't get diabetes as I get older.

Just join in boatgirl81 you will be welcomed. At the start of the thread there is a link to the spreadsheet. You can add your name and weight in at the bottom if you want to, but don't have to. If you can't add yourself (it's hard if you're using a phone) just post your weight on the thread and ask to be added. Also there are tabs on the spread sheet which link to boot camp rules, and lots of other interesting bits of info.

I think this is probably the longest I've stuck with a -diet- WOE, I guess mainly because I've not been feeling hungry whilst following it.
Usually if I'm not allowed to eat something I fixate on it even more. I was expecting to really miss bread and potatoes, but all I actually miss is the convenience, I don't feel deprived of carbs.

In fact it's the complete opposite, I was "treated" to afternoon tea the other day, went along thinking perhaps I could go to the gym or do a run to make up for it, but when it arrived as delicious as it all looked, I just didn't want to eat any of it. I tasted a bit of a lemon slice and it just tasted so sweet there was no way I was going to bother with any of the cakes, and I saw the sandwiches as sabotaging all my good work, so in the end I just had tea, and DH cleared everything else.

I was expecting to enjoy it before I went but when I got there I realized I want to lose weight more than I want to eat these things. That is a massive leap mentally for me.

Hi everyone, delurking

Lazydays, that's brilliant, I know what you mean about the sweetness of things now and the convenience of carbs.

boatgirl, hello, welcome, I'm new to BC too and 5ft, and was just under 12st when I started a week before BC, lost 6.25lb first week, 2.5 2nd week, then 1 3rd week and sts 4th week so 9.75 lbs total and now KOKO !

Morning :) just checking in :)

Struggling with AF at the moment, (tmi) really heavy for 4 days now with no sign of letting up, and as a result I'm tired and hungry and generally feeling crap! As a result I haven't been to the gym yet this week I just don't seem to be having any luck at the moment, it's been one thing after another since I started this WOE so I'm hoping when AF buggers off i'll have a couple of good weeks where I can get my head down and focus again.

Having said that, I'm still on track and have managed not to binge, but I have had hot chocolate in the evening (made with cream) 2 nights in a row, and I think it's because I haven't eaten enough at lunch, so I've upped my lunch portion size and added more olive oil in the hope this helps.

Today:
B: protein shake
L: olives, sundried tomatoes, goats cheese, avacado, salad leaves and olive oil
D: slow cooked lamb shanks with creamed cabbage.

Hopefully I can get my head together and go to the gym tonight, I quite fancy a swim. I'll see how I feel later.

This WOE is definitely working, I'm 13lbs lighter than I was, I just need to sort my head out!

Afternoon all.

lazydays lots of your post really resonated with me, esp this bit: I was expecting to really miss bread and potatoes, but all I actually miss is the convenience, I don't feel deprived of carbs

That something I notice too, it can just take more thought to sort out a quick LC meal when it feels like there isn't much in the fridge, but actually once I'm in the habit of thinking that way, it gets easier.

Love your comment too about want to lose weight more that you wanted the afternoon tea. I am at that stage with food now, I just need to get that way about wine too, or at least find what my sweet spot is for being able to have x amount of wine without it impacting on weight loss.

Anyway, food for today is:

B: nothing, I'm fasting at breakfast times
L: mushroom and egg omelette, pork scratchings and coyo
D: cottage pie with celeriac and leek mash instead of potato on my bit, glass of red wine

And I've been out for my first run since prior to Christmas, which went slightly better than I thought it would! I've still been doing weekly personal training sessions, yoga and cross trainer sessions, which has helped keep my hand in, but I always find running just needs its own fitness level and it doesn't come naturally to me. But I'm doing a 5k race in 10 days time (seriously, what was I thinking?!) so I HAVE to get back into it again, no excuses.

Thank you for the welcome. Can't wait to get stuck in properly.

I have been looking at all the recipes and tailoring a delivery for Friday, we have our own chickens so eggs are very plentiful.

I have some belly pork slices, I think I will do that tonight with some veg and see what I can rustle up for tomorrow.

Lazydays I definitely notice how things taste sweeter. I had some raspberries yesterday and they tasted very sweet, so can only imagine a lemon slice! Well done sticking to tea!

Hesdead Sorry things keep being rough and AF is giving you a hard ride.

I'm feeling a bit muddled and headachy today - probably lack of sleep still. Had my counselling and ended up buying some dark chocolate afterwards. It was 70% as the next one would have been 90% and I thought that'd be too bitter. It tasted really quite sweet, but I've only had a couple of pieces.

B: feta and spinach omelette
L: mozzarella and tomato salad with pesto
S: the chocolate and a coffee with cream
D: sausages with buttery broccoli and cauliflower

The problem was definitely not enough to eat at lunch time, I upped my portion today and added half an avocado and I was much much better

This morning I put some hoggit shanks (meat from older lambs but not quite mutton, stronger than lamb but not as strong as mutton) in the slow cooker with some herbs out of the garden (bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and some garlic) and a stock cube. Left it all day and, 12 hours later it was lovely!

Served it with asparagus I pan fried in butter and a bit of the lamb stock, then strained and reduced the rest of the lamb stock to make a gravy.

I treated myself to a teaspoon of mint sauce too :)

This WOE is definitely one for foodies!

I have been following boot camp for over three weeks now. Am a big fan of low carb but due to an emotional time I put on almost four stones in four months. I honestly feel like I have followed the plan to the letter. I haven't failed or fallen off the wagon once. Yet I haven't lost an ounce. Nothing! Is it possible I'm eating too much of a good thing? I am an absolute believer in this way of eating and don't want to stop but I am truly demoralised. I admit exercise is a problem at the moment but if I post an average day could someone please be honest and tell me where I am going wrong?
B-omelette with mushrooms and spring onion, cooked in butter or two mackerel fillets with mayonnaise, an instant coffee with cream
L-some pre cooked meat like chicken, beef or ham, Greek yogurt,
T-pork loin/chicken/salmon/prawns with leeks,courgette,shallots,mushrooms fried in butter with mayonnaise
S-occasional babybel and perhaps three cups of coffee with cream.
I drink quite a lot of water too.
Be brutal I can take it, I really want to know where I am going wrong. I feel such an idiot seeing all these amazing losses and I am doing a fantastic job of maintaining my weight instead of losing. I have to pop out now but I would really appreciate any advice at all. Thank you.

@Downbutnotoutyet nothing immediately wrong with what you've posted other than maybe too much protein? but it depends on how much of everything you're eating. I've discovered this WOE is very much about listening to the signals you get from your body regarding hunger etc'and letting that dictate how much you eat and when.

If you're struggling, maybe try tracking your intake in my fitness pal for a couple of days and looking at what you're actually consuming in terms of total carbs and calories? I know you're not supposed to track, but I've been overweight my whole life and so struggle to recognise hunger signals, and so tracking my food daily helps me regulate my intake while I learn what actual hunger feels like. It also helps you avoid hidden carbs in things! I'll stop tracking when my body adjusts :)

Having trouble with my phone so haven't been able to update the chart but down another pound this week. That included two dinners out at the weekend and a few glasses of wine so happy enough. It is coming off V V slowly this BC though.

Had omlette with cheese and tiny bit of tomato for breakfast. Chicken salad for lunch and waiting til after dc go to bed to decide what to have for dinner. Definitely not drinking enough water so need to up that.

@Downbutnotoutyet

It's more helpful, to be truthful, if you list out what you've actually eaten, not just examples of your menus.

List out for me the last 2 or 3 days for me.

And when you say 'I drink quite a lot of water' what, exactly, does that mean?!

I'm sorry it doesn't seem to be working for you, but if you can do this for me I'll see if there's anything obvious I can suggest.

B: babybel
L: mixed leaves and prosciutto with child oil as dressing.
D: duck breast plus DHs crispy skin and broccoli/cauliflower lazy cheese (slices of butter and lumps of Philadelphia with Red Leicester)

@patapouf: if you run out of child oil, I have three you can have to make some more. I don't mind, honest.

Breakfast as always
3 back bacon Rashers
2 Egg omelet
Cooked in coconut oil.
Black coffee

Lunch
225gm of Chopped Cabbage ( half a bag 454gm bag)
Avocado
5/6oz Chicken breast with Skin on
table spoon of Salad Cream only 3gms of carbs
1 liter of Water

Supper
Going to be 3 cups of homemade Ground beef Chili on 2 cups of roasted Cauliflower rice.
other fluid during the day
about 1 liter of coffee and 1 liter of black tea with Lemon/ginger.

Note Lemon /ginger is whole lemon 2 inches of ginger blasted in a blender, strained juice frozen into a thin sheet and then broken up to make teaspoon sized portions to add to hot water or tea at night.
( I also use the pulp to flavor a big bottle of water before ditching it.)

Started the 8 minutes of 30 seconds push up /rest 10 seconds/ 30 seconds plank / rest 10 / 30 seconds Sit-ups repeat 4 times today.
trying to do as many as possible each time.

Difficult day today.

Started a new job and was shadowing someone so couldn't keep making drinks and ended up with a banging headache. Luckily the new place doesn't seem to have the same biscuit culture as my old one so should be ok in the long run, just need to remember to take a big bottle of water tomorrow.

I remembered a really good old Jamie Oliver recipe for cauliflower cheese where you make the sauce by meetings grated cheddar into sour cream in the microwave so had that for tea. So easy.

KOKO everyone!

Thank you, BIWI, I will write down exactly everything I have over the next two days so I have a truly accurate record and post then. Hopefully it is something obvious that I am just not seeing. I am such a believer in this way of eating that I won't change, it is just a bit frustrating at the moment. On the plus side at least I'm not gaining. Got to stay positive after all.

I think you may be on to something Hesdaead, I am very possib,y having tea because it is tea time rather than I am actually hungry. I will look out for that over the next couple of days too.

Thank you both.

down its so frustrating if you are sticking to the rules but not losing. Especially when, on ever BC, there are always some people who seem to be more lax than others but still lose!

If you feel better on this WOE then I'd still stick to it. I know for me that even if I'm not losing that on LCHF I'll sts, the same would not happen on another WOE.

Fingers crossed that there is something obvious in the food you are eating which is holding you back!

down key things to look out for are:

• not eating enough fat
• not drinking enough water (check on the rules - no 6 - for how much you should be drinking)
• eating too much dairy
• not eating enough/eating too much

Sometimes it can just be about tweaking things; sometimes it's a combination of a lot of small things. But sometimes, weight just doesn't seem to drop off in a linear fashion but goes in 'lumps'!

Other things that might get in the way include being on long-term medication, lack of sleep, too much stress. (All of which are harder to do anything about, obviously!)