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.

Down in some people there seems to be a healing process required before the weight starts to go. You could well be leptin resistant and that means your brain isn't getting the signal that there are fat stores available for energy. Also if you have low carbed before then it can take longer to lose weight again using the same way of eating as before. I would concentrate on enjoying the food and seeing how much better you feel and not so much on the scales. You did gain a lot of weight in a short time, now you're asking your body to reverse that process. Unfortunately our bodies don't like change and will maintain the status quo if possible. If I had my way people would only weigh in monthly, that would save an awful lot of unnecessary worrying.

I'm the same, Down. And, I agree with Stunt - monthly weighing would be better for my mental health. I try NSV, so, the scales say I have PUT ON A FECKING POUND even though I have stuck to the WOE (apart from wine at a work do, but, usually that leads to more wine, chocolate and crisps in the hotel room - which I didn't do, yay!)

However, my face is thinner and my jeans are looser round my legs.

I have been eating a lot of dairy - lots of cheese, cream and greek yogurt, and my hit rate for 3l of water is about 50%. Oh, and, I've started eating raspberries and kiwis because I am still horribly constipated, despite 2l of water a bloody day.

So, I'm going to KOKO and see if less dairy helps. And more water. And, not worry about the scales too much, this is a 10 week project, if I am 10lbs down I'll be delighted.

Cos, 1lb a week is 4 stones in a year. That'd have me at a normal BMI.

Which would be bizarre and amazing, not had that since I was 13.

BIWI our eldest's 24th today - not sure how that happened !

Stealth what a good way to look at it! I'm sure I can average 1 pound a week if I stick to it!!

I found the lovely m&s crackling strips - in the fridge!! No wonder I hadn't seen them I was looking in the crisps section. 😃

Having an ok day - back in London again so it's been more of a snacky m&s at the station kind of day.

B - 2 hb eggs and butter, coffee &a cream, tea & soya
L - 2 chorizo sticks (0.7g carbs each), mini cheddar chunks, snacking crackling from m&s
D - planning a pot roast gammon with cabbage and shallots.
S - coffee & cream
W - on my second 750ml bottle - will make it up later

piss hah! That will teach me to proofread.
I left my lunch at home today and took an empty lunchbox. Luckily finished work early and have come home to eat it.
L: leftover cauli cheese with harrisa baked chicken breast
D: steak and buttery green beans
S: peperami

Horrendous day at work and all I want is cheesecake

Patapouf, that mix of Greek yoghurt with peanut butter and vanilla paste (or a few fresh blueberries) with cinnamon sprinkled on top really tastes a lot like cheesecake sans the biscuit base. Give it a try and see if it satisfies the craving.

I'm out for dinner tonight with the family to Côte, I'm about to see if their website has the menu so I can plan what I'll order.

Thank you for the morale boost everyone. Your feedback has really made me feel better. I have been struggling with a cold since August and started a new job then too, very stressful hence the weight gain. However, I think a combination of overdoing the dairy and protein and possibly not drinking as much as I imagine I am could be the problem. I am totally sticking with it but will be much more observant. I am sure it will happen, I just need to keep at it.

I've been home sick all day today, and really tempted by the Fuck It. Thankfully no carby crap in the house. But instead of proper meals I've kind of been grazing for most.

Two fried eggs
A few squeres of 70% chocolate
A tomato
Alpro plain coconut yoghurt
Mash (swede, turnip, broccoli) with fried mince and shallots

The weight I gained has come back off, but no downward shift yet.
Lunch - 2 hot chicken thighs with a sachet of mayo.
Dinner - Burger, onions, poached egg and broccoli with a sauce/pate thing.
Snack - 3 teaspoons of peanut butter.
4 black coffees, two strong teas and a litre of water (I know, but can't drink much at work as toilet access is unreliable). I am hoping my body counts black coffee as water... (BIWI is going to tell me this is absolutely not true)

Morning :)

I know we hate ketostix, but I was using a urinalysis test first thing this morning (thought I had a UTI) and one of the panels is ketones. The result was ++++, so 16 mmol/l. Everything else was normal, so no UTI.

Is 16 too high?'should I be worried?

Just weighed in, I'm now more than a stone less than I was at the start of the year I've lost 15 lbs in 8 weeks.

Only another 75 to go!

Oh well done SayrratT that's a fantastic loss.

Hesdeadjim if you're eating very low carb then ketones will be high. It could be a sign that you aren't drinking enough water.

Hesdead, a rate that high probably shows you are dehydrated. I test mine and it always shows ketones but usually quite a small amount unless I haven't had much to drink then it's really dark.

Thanks guys, it was first thing in the morning before I'd had a drink so I'll test again tonight when I'm fully hydrated :)

In other news, I hoiked up my big girl pants last night and went over to my Mum and Dads. First time they've seen me since I started bootcamp and inevitably, they noticed I've lost a bit. the dreaded "how have you done it? how much have you lost?" conversation sprouted so I bit the bullet and told them.

Mum went MENTAL.
"Your aunty aunty I've never met did atkins for a month and got diabetes, as soon as she ate normally again she gained it all back! dont be stupid, just eat one meal a day of salad and meat and you'll lose weight just like i do! Fad diets don't work!" - and on, and on, and on.

My response "It's not Atkins Mum, it's LCHF, I eat lots of nutrient dense veggies as well as meat and yes, fat. If aunty nevermet went back to eating the way she did pre-diet, then of course she gained weight back, that's how she got fat in the first place."

Mum: "it's all rubbish, you're going to get really poorly if you carry on!"

Me: "Mum, I've lost 13lbs in 3 weeks..."

Mum: ".... well it's probably all water!"....

Me: "Ok, well it's a shame you can't support me. That would be great, but if you can't then all i ask is that we don't talk about diet or weightloss when we see each other"

Mum: "You should do slimfast again, you lost weight on that"

Me: "I was 9 years old and lost a stone in a month, then gained 2 the following 6 months because I binge ate like mad when I was at school"

Mum "well that was your fault for not sticking to it"

Me: "ok Mum."

Mum: "We'll see who's right when you've got diabetes and a size 20 wedding dress!"

Me: "Ok Mum" and repeat.

I left feeling furious, so I sent her the LCHF lecture via a youtube link. This morning I got a reply: I'm sorry I came across so negative last night, I do support you and well done for losing so well in the last few weeks".

Mum: 0, Jim: 1.

SayrraT whoooooop!!! well done!! You should get yourself a little treat, eyelash tint, nails done, massage?

Im going to treat myself every time I lose a stone by getting a coloured bead for my pandora bracelet, going up the colours of the rainbow until my goal weight (I have 8 to lose) when I'll treat myself to a special charm :)

What a lovely idea jim

Hi everyone! Hope you don't mind me butting in; I've been lurking for a little while but wanted to get my first proper fortnight done on my own so I could get it straight in my own mind. I'm starting week 3 on Monday, and so far I've lost 10lbs. I am thrilled.

I had friends over for dinner last night and made steaks. I served a platter of chips (which I didn't touch) and a huge lovely salad with blue cheese. DH managed to find a good LC peppercorn sauce, and whilst I did have some wine, I later switched to gin and soda water with lime and it certainly hasn't reflected on the scales this morning! Another 4lbs off compared to last friday's 6lbs. Absolutely chuffed; and no one even cared I wasn't taking any chips.

I'm going out this weekend with my family and I've chosen a tapas restaurant in town; lamb and chicken kebabs, spinach in cream sauce, squid, chorizo and spicy eggs all back on the menu for me and no one will be any the wiser to my dieting and try to give me a hard time/tempt me... because I'm already eating what they think is 'naughty food'...delicious!

Delurking to say well done everyone for KOKO 👍🏻 and I'm looking forward to starting on Monday. Not so much to the weigh and measure in 🙄 but hey.....
Fully expecting it to be a marathon and not a sprint as I've been a serial dieter and am pretty sure I've royally screwed my BMR with an unholy trinity of VLCDs, Rosemary Bloody Conley and binge drinking the contents of a small Australian vineyard every weekend.

Have a great weekend

I'm still here but I've been having major issues accessing MN this week.

Smoked fish gratin with leeks and broccoli for dinner.

I'll just leave this before it all freezes again

I've only just entered my weight for this week because I knew it would be a gain and feel so shit :( Had a terrible few days. However my PCOS symptoms are back with a vengeance after a horrible binge earlier in the week and that's motivation enough to get a grip.

Today was b - coffee and cream, l - tuna and egg salad, some nuts - d - chicken coconut curry. Loads of water.

KOKO

Hope you feel better visaste

Breakfast was babybel and peperami.
Lunch was last nights steak with lots of butter.

Dinner last night was those very yummy Philly/egg pancakes with clotted cream and raspberries. None tonight, I'm too tired and feel a bit tense after the gym.

Been under the weather with this throat thing so not eaten much the last couple of days. Dinner was salad leaves, dressing, celery, avacado, olives and two boiled eggs.

Lots of black tea, mint tea, water and a couple of black coffees.

Morning all. Went out with friends last night but drove everyone so I wouldn't be tempted to over indulge on cocktails etc. Had a steak with salad so managed to keep on.
Had a gorgeous breakfast this morning inspired by somebody upthread, (was it BIWI?) of Greek Yoghurt stirred through with a spoon of Meridian Almond Butter. Yum.