Week 9 - Spring Low Carb Bootcamp - our last fortnight

[BIWI]

Morning all

the Spreadsheet

I hope that the scale are kind to you this morning.

Looks like it's going to be a lovely week, weather-wise - always makes me look at the stuff in my wardrobe and wonder what will fit

... but there are still two weeks to go, so a chance to drop a few more pounds as well.

Good luck for the week ahead

Hey guys,

Soooo AF was due on the 27th March and is so far a complete no show.

I know this WOE can mess up your cycle and I'm usually like clockwork. Could the diet have messed me up so much it's made me 10 days late? I'm not using any hormonal contraception (had implant removed last year) so it's condoms only and I'm slightly concerned we'be had a mishap .. someone reassure me?

BIWI
Well done for staying the course, Captain! What do you think has been the secret for you this time around?

I don't know, tbh. I have been hardline in my avoidance of sugar and bread, especially bread, as I am convinced I am addicted to them. I think bread is a gateway drug for me and once I start I can't stop.

Well done all you losers.

Hesdead Well done for no longer being "morbid". Periodwise, I and several others have had prolonged AF's rather than no shows. So, you may not want to hear this, but I think you should POAS and I hope you get the answer you want.

Oh definitely POAS. I don't want to worry you, but we've had several Bootcamp babies over the years

Nooooooo don't say that, would it even show up this early? I don't have kids so have no idea

A really interesting article about crisps here and yet another reason why avoiding them is a good idea!!!

Hi all
BIWI that is an interesting article. Thank you.
Moany Welcome
I won't comment Hesdead other than say I hope it goes whichever way you desire

Hesdead It's a while since I did it, but I don't think it's too early.
Thanks for the crisp article BIWI, they aren't something I miss anyway, so not a problem with not eating them. MY DC and DH, on the other hand...

Very relieved to say I'm completely un-upduffed

I POAS earlier and it was a blessed BFN, then went to the loo just now and AF has arrived

Nice timing!

What a shame - I was looking forward to another Bootcamp Baby

BIWI if I stick at it, maybe after the wedding

Incredible Up And Down Body strikes again. 2lb down from Monday. When it goes up once more I'm gonna have a MASSIVE tantrum! But don't worry, not on here. Sigh.

I'm sure you've got room for all the boot campers at your wedding, haven't you Hesdead? We'll expect a LCHF feast.
Kleptronic Yes, I'm having some of that at the moment. It's frustrating, but koko is the only way.
Had a lovely chicken, mushroom and spinach curry last night. Made sure I drank lots of water, but still too many coffees.

Kleptronic. For the last three weeks I've dropped about 2lbs between Monday and Wednesday (bootcamp and original weighing days) and then very little between Wednesday and Monday - usually a gain and then a little loss. Can't really work out why!

Yes it's crackers isn't it ASD and Captain. Just have to KOKO and repeat to self, the trend is downwards, the trend is downwards...

My DS turns officially teen soon so we're off to a hotel in the next city along. Dinner bed and breakfast. And a bottle of wine. Gulp. Trend may not be downwards - I can leave the carbs, but not the wine...

Hi All,
Today was my worst day since starting boot camp in February.

I was at a catered function and ended up eating a pasta dish, wine and a full on dessert. I now feel really panicky about what the scales are going to have to say about it tomorrow morning. I've even come home and drunk three pints of water in the hope it'll magically wash my sins away.

I'm getting close to my target weight, but I'm terrified that this new me might not be sustainable. I want to be able to have the occasional bad day, without having to go back to boot camp in order to destroy the evidence.

BIWI and other wise owls, what do you think is a reasonable daily carb intake for a regular lifestyle? And will I have to go back to calorie counting alongside that?

Don't panic GreenGoose you are going to be fine. If you weigh yourself today then you will find you have gained several pounds. Common sense tells you that you can't have eaten enough to put on several pounds of fat. What you have gained is about a pound of glycogen and 3-4 pounds of water. Over the next few days this weight will come off again as the glycogen is used up. If you want to speed up the process then aerobic exercise will burn through the glycogen more quickly. For a couple of days you may experience more hunger and/or carb cravings. Make sure you have low carb snacks available so that you don't give in to carbs temptation. Drink your usual amount of water, you don't need to drink an excessive quantity.

There are different ways to eat at weight maintenance. My personal recommendation is to add in what I call "healthy carbs" such as the higher carb fruit and vegetables, potatoes, and rice in small portions. You also don't have to worry so much about hidden carbs in sausages, gravy, etc. To guard against weight regain set yourself an ideal weight range of a couple of kilograms. If your weight goes above the top of the range then you need to be more strict, i.e. bootcamp light, to get your weight back down.

Even at weight maintenance you aren't going to be able to reintroduce bread, pasta, sugar etc. regularly. You can have the occasional cheat meal, for example a couple of times a month. It should be done mindfully because you've chosen to eat . I work on the theory that a high carb food has to be worth it, otherwise it's a "waste of carbs". So if your friend has made her special cake recipe then it's worth it. On the other hand if someone has brought a box of doughnuts into work, that's a waste of carbs. I find that's a good way to avoid using a cheat meal as an excuse to eat crap. You're going to save those extra carbs for your absolute favourite food.

Hello I have been lurking and this week have rejoined my low carb ways. Would the following be ok? There is a little bit of potato salad in it and the dressing but it's about 12 carbs in total I think?? Thanks

Thank you StuntNun for the reassurance. The damage this morning is only just over a pound so I'm quite relieved. I'll head out to the gym in a bit to do some cardio, and be really careful about food today, then hopefully be heading back in the right direction by Monday.

Yesterday was a bad day

I was off work sick with a migraine and didn't manage my water. I had peanut butter for breakfast

Back at work today so things should hopefully go a bit smoother!

Sorry to hear you weren't well, Hesdead - hopefully all will be better today.

@Ignoranus - it works out at 11.2g of carbs, which isn't too bad. But you could always make it lower carb by leaving the potatoes!

Just read the message from Stuntnun which makes so much sense. I still have cough, cough more to go before even thinking about maintenance but am reassured to know that there are ways to cope when the restrictions required to get rid of the weight are somewhat lifted.

A year or so back i joined this bootcamp, got to target and immediately forgot all about maintenance, went back to my old, sad ways (hello ice creme) and put everything back on over some eighteen months. Now I am back on the waggon and finding the current reasonably strict LCHF easy again but did have a shadow about what would happen when all this effort is over. I'm going to stop even thinking about it now til i get much, much closer. Hurrah and thank you.

It is a sad fact of (low carb) life that when you reach your target you won't be able to start filling your face with chips and chocolate!

It's like any other diet though - if you go back to what you ate before, you'll put the weight back on. It's the carbs that made you fat in the first place!!!

But, as StuntNun points out, it's not the end of carbs - and you can increase your daily carb limit as well. And the odd carb blow out isn't going to be a problem.

What I'd suggest when you get to maintenance is to think about the 'better' carbs that you've been missing - for me that would be pulses or potato - and see what happens when you start to introduce those. The difficulty with low carbing is that we all have different levels of carbs that we can tolerate, so for some people this means that they can eat a relatively high amount per day whereas for others, weight will creep back on with even a small increase.

For guidance, Dr John Briffa (who seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet) talks about a general - i.e. maintenance - low carb diet as being around 100g carbs per day, and suggests that you should try not to consume more than 30g carbs at any one meal.