Week 4 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Coming to the end of our first month

[BIWI]

I know! Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for your delectation!

Remember, week 4 is, like week 3, a time when weight loss tends to be pretty slow, if not non-existent. KOKO and persevere, and things will get going again soon.

But not if you cheat! Whilst many of you have been very honest about your transgressions, just remember that this WOE is not a very forgiving one. It's not like a calorie-controlled diet, where you can compensate for one 'bad' day with a 'good' one. As some of you have already found out the hard way!

Has anyone else swollen up like a balloon in this heat? My rings are tight, I have a lovely set of cankles and my shoes were really rubbing last night when I waked the dog.

Going to do a HIIT workout before it gets too warm. Food today is a bit 'suck it and see' as we're out and about but will stick to the plan.

@BIWI hope you can read my scrawl in the attached pic. Everything I have eaten this week. No cheating, inadvertent eating of bready sausages my only blip. I am gaining and losing the same 5lbs over and over. 16.2 to 15.10, back up, then down, then up, then down, then up if I was plateauing at 15.10 I wouldn't mind but something is causing this yo yo effect.

My analysis would be too much protein, not enough veg, ditch the chocolate, ditch the dairy. Feel like cream is the only thing that keeps me sticking to the woe so reluctant to lose it altogether

Oh and if I don't crack people's screens this is at beginning of BC and this morning. Struggling to see difference

Wow you lot are so lovely & chatty, I keep meaning to join in more but never seem to fully catch up! I've really enjoyed reading along though & it's definitely kept me on the strait & narrow.

Oldbooks I'm no expert but there does seem to be a lot of cheese & dairy in there. Have you tried cutting down or cutting it out? I find I can't eat it every day as I just completely stall & my weight loss is pretty slow anyway. Other than that it looks like a model LCHF diet!

Well done everyone for KOKO, the support on here is fabulous. You've inspired me to dig out my shred DVD this week & start getting some exercise.

Also did someone upthread mention keto itch? Is that a thing? I've been incredibly itchy the last 2 weeks, especially on my stomach. I thought it was just the heat but even after a shower it doesn't stop.

Oldbooks only one photo so I can't see a difference but I'm finding it hard to see a difference in me too. (Weekly photos not weighing.) I'm telling myself it's not obvious because it's coming off from all over rather than in one place, if that makes sense. That said the last couple of days I have felt different/smaller and was feeling happy, then I started to crave and the last two days I have overeaten. LC stuff so not the end of the world but definitely getting that on the prowl for food, wanting to stuff my face feel which has been missing. I can't decide if it was that feeling better about myself allowed me to slip or if my body, because it actually was burning fat, was starting to rebel. It took me by surprise as I've little or no cravings since starting BC this time. Ive also been fasting sixteen eight for the last week. This morning I've woken up with a mouth feeling like crap. Despite last nights meal being low carb it was takeaway and I suspect full of additives. I definitely don't feel like eating right now. If I struggle today I think I will go back to breakfast for a couple of days. Sorry for the epic post. Any way KOKO

Morning everyone.

Well done cherrypi on the loss.

oldbooks you need to post the second photo. I've been up and down all week with the same kilo. I suspect that I will be up at weigh-in tomorrow . It's only been this week for me though, so far. I will listen to replies to you with interest.

Bum I did wonder but thought maybe they just weren't showing up on my phone. Attached to this post is the after taken this morning.

Shiny I struggle to cut down on cheese and yoghurt because a) I love them, b) they are so easy and convenient in a very busy life and c) I love them. Sigh. Probably just need to suck it up

Oldbooks hard as it is you need to ditch the dairy for a couple of weeks and see how you go. That or cut it back drastically and maybe have some at weekends. Coconut cream is good if you can stock up on that. I think that would get things moving again.

Lovely day again. About to eat boiled eggs and a few strawberries in coconut cream. I felt so tired yesterday but better today so that's a relief. Might make some flax seex bread.

I know what you mean Oldbooks, I had to stop buying yogurt as I can easily eat a whole large pot in one sitting. Could you maybe switch to the coyo yogurt people are talking about? I think it's dairy free.

& possibly have something like olives for snacks?

My LC discovery this week is Asda extra special pesto, only 1g of carbs per 100g. Possibly going to spread some on salmon & roast at some point this week.

So yesterday the scales finally moved, today (i wanted to check I wasn't seeing things yesterday!) I have put on 4lb 😭

I am eating a dominos for tea. I am so deflated

Yesterday was:
Breakfast: creamy coffee.

Lunch: 2x egg with butter and dash of mayo. Red cabbage, olives, leaves, chilli oil.

Dinner: mince fried in butter and cayenne, cumin, coriander, garlic, chilli oil, 100ml bullion. With broccoli rice, spinach, aubergine, avocado and dash of mayo.

Water: 3l - with lemon squash. It says no carbs.

3x coffees with unsweetened almond milk.

Today:

Breakfast: creamy coffee.

Lunch will be: egg mayo and salad of leaves, olives, courgette.

Dinner will be: low carb sausages(1.8g per 2 sausages), broccoli rice, spinach, aubergine in 100ml bullion, 50ml cream, 50g cheese, chilli oil.

Or a dominos! This is almost my sixth week woe, but 4 weeks stalled, now gained!

Currently drinking 1L water with lemon.

Sadness prevails - and I had to get up with the early risers and I HATE mornings!!

Oh myshiny good find! does it taste nice though?

I am feeling somewhat despondent.

I am an impatient sod and I like instant results. I know this woe isn't about that, it's more changing lifelong habits and not about losing 4 stone in a month. But ......

I want to lose 4 stone in a month with little effort from me. And I am still fat. And I am going on holiday in 3 weeks.

And I know this is bollox.

And I know I could cut down the cheese. But I like cheese. And wine.

i also know that when I can run I am much happier, fitter and it burns off my lard. Not that I ever run far or fast but now I can't run as my back is knackered and it makes me sad that I don't know if or when it'll be better enough to ever get back to it.
I am swimming a couple of times a week but it's not the same as running through the forest.

And I feel fat and stiff and blobby.

Dear god that was wallowing in self pity. Someone slap me!

I feel the same MOIST.

Rational brain: it took years to get fat, it will take time to lose it slowly and steadily
Emotional inner child: waaaaaa it's not FAIR I have been trying for 5 weeks I shoukd be SKINNY by now!

Moist & Shitty, it's so hard to keep going when you don't feel like you're making progress. Are there any other benefits you've found that you could focus on?

The biggest thing for me so far has been a complete lack of PMT or cramps even though I'm due tomorrow! I'm actually a bit worried I might be pregnant!

If you really want a pizza Shitty could you try the fathead one? Maybe get some chicken wings to go with it for the complete dominoes experience . I know it's not exactly the same but at least then you wouldn't feel like you'd sabotaged yourself.

I haven't actually tried the pesto yet to be honest but I think I've had it before & remember it being nice. I had stopped buying it when I was trying the low fat thing as I was eating it out of the jar! I have very little self control around food!

I don't even really like pizza! My mother keeps telling me to have a blow out day to confuse the system and then I will start loosing again! I know BIWI says this is wrong but I've put weight on now!!

I want to loose my 5 stone of baby weight, she's 3 ffs!! Oh and I want to loose it by 21st July as I have a family wedding full of skinny mummy's that run and do marathons and go to baby groups because they like it!

Tantrum

Oh dear sadness and frustration in a few posts here today. I am ringing the scales frustrating too this past two weeks and have totally stalled. I am hoping it is water retention as its hot, been having flax bread, and not drinking as much as I should as we have been out where there are no loos.

I too am hoping that I don't have to cut dairy as I would be a bit lost. Yesterday I had an omelette thing with cocoa and yog and strawbs, also a little illegal mango as oh bought it as a treat for me doh, I took half an Avocado , cucumber, flax bread and some cheese out for picnic,had tofu and stirfry veg for tea then creamy coffee and some dark choc. Prob my worst day in terms of mango and chocolate and its been a funny week involving gin and eating out but I have been very strict otherwise for four weeks. I do think its working but movement on scales would be nice at this point. Nevertheless I really like this woe. Don't give in now guys, see how we feel in a few more weeks.

Great advice from myshiny. Just wanted to share this peanut butter. At 4.6g carbs per 100g, seems to be lower than most? Tastes good too but obviously only a little bit now & again.

Oh will definitely KOKO, I feel a million times better on this WOE. I feel a bit frustrated with that part of my brain that is obsessing about scales etc, I need to approach this long term so it shouldn't really matter what I weigh, but it does.

Thanks for all advice, looks like I will have to get organised with some non dairy options if I can stop eating bread and pasta surely I can do this!! Onwards to better health!

OldBooks I can clearly see a difference around your waist and hips. Your tummy seems to be shrinking from the sides inwards, if that makes any sense, and overall looks much 'looser' so the fat must be breaking down prior to being flushed out.

I can definitely see a difference between those pics oldbooks

I'm wearing a dress today that definitely feels looser than last time I wore it, and so did the one I wore yesterday.

Oh no I didn't realise it was self pity LC day!!!! I woke up angry that I don't weigh seven stone and float around in loose fitting size 8 clothes. Can I be slapped too, let's form an orderly queue. Moist, Oldbooks, I'm right there with you.

Good grief you lot!

Every other post is 'I just had a little bit of insert too carby or sugary food ' and the posts in between those are 'I'm not losing weight'...

Connect the bloody dots!

This WOE is completely unforgiving. If you go over your carbs, you will re-fill your glycogen stores and instantly see a gain on the scales of up to 8lbs. Yes, 1 piece of mango or 1 slice of toast really really will do that. It's not fat gain, but it is demotivating.

It's week 5 tomorrow so half way, and a lot of you really need to have a word with yourselves and decide if you're really committed to this or whether you're just desperately hanging on to the thread in the hopes you'll lose weight by osmosis from the people who are actually sticking to it. If you can't stick to it, don't! It's clearly not the diet for you.

By this stage you shouldn't be having cravings and it should be getting much easier to stay on track. If you're not at that stage yet you need to look at your eating over the
Last few weeks and be really critical.

Week 4 and 5 are notorious for stalled weight loss so if you're confident this is what's happening, just KOKO and it will start moving again. If you dive into a bucket of carbs because you're frustrated about the lack of loss it definitely won't start moving, and you'll probably end up stalling yourself for a further few weeks.

I've attached a photo of my graph. You can see my week 4/5 stall but you can also see it didn't last long.

Suck it up. You've been given the tools to make this successful and you can't blame the tools if you use them incorrectly. Go back, re-read the spread sheet and get your heads in the game!!

Sorry. May or may not be premenstral

Graph

I haven't gone over my carb count! I've eaten more fat and veg and drank more water in the last few days, yet put several pounds on overnight = feeling really shitty!