Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp chat - and we reach the half way point!

[BIWI]

Good morning

So the last thread reached 1000 posts. I don't think that's ever happened on any other Bootcamp! It's a really good sign that everyone is engaged in the process, even if it's not always been from a positive place. If things aren't working for you, please keep reading and posting - even if you just lurk, hopefully the support and advice here will be helpful for you.

But it's a glorious day again, and the sun is shining brightly already and the birds are singing their hearts out. I hope that this translates into positivity and optimism for all of us this week - even if you've been struggling!

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

We're past the dreaded weeks 4 and 5 now, so hopefully things will start to get going in the right direction, and you should see the weight move downwards - assuming, of course, that you aren't cheating or allowing carb creep.

Good luck everyone

C4. Sorry to hear you are in some much pain today but lovely to see you are still determined to KOKO.

I have had a look at the BMI charts and adjusted my goal slightly, I want a healthy BMI so have 2lbs more to lose than I had originally planned (doesn't really make much difference when as I had just under 11st to lose!). Also I have a big holiday booked next year and to reach my goal by then ,31/03, I need to lose 1.9lbs per week.

No breakfast for me today as I forgot to buy eggs yesterday so unintentional intermittent fasting!

YoLoZammo. Your not under my boobs comment made me laugh!

Brilliant Yolo. Must have felt great too.

I'm up a pound today too. Did nothing wrong other than really not drink enough water so it really must be the heat. I'd be really surprised if it didn't make everyone puff up.

Am drinking loads today.

Asd I can absolutely see you reaching your goal. We're with you all the way. It must feel daunting right now.

c4, just caught up completely and see you are feeling terrible today.

Morning all. C4 sorry you are suffering today x I am way to help or visit but my thoughts are with you. I feel like all of you are up North to me but I bet some of you must be West Country??

I dont know what to think - my scales are all over the place but still down from when we started thankfully as I keep getting paranoid now that all this fat is making me fatter. I think water retention is part of it but it has cooled right down now. Also being in my 50s and with no really discernable cycle because of the coil I can only guess when it is a hormonal time.

My daughter keeps me sending me negative fat research such as the coconut oil one this week.

Thank you dust. It absolutly does feel overwhelming but having stuck at it for nearly 6 months makes me feel I can keep on going until I need to.

YoLo now I am torn between concern for C4 and outright envy at your NSV. Being about to tuck in a top is the very, very last thing to happen to me, at about BMI 18 or so. Sigh.

Very touched to hear the offers of help for you C4, sorry I am abroad at the moment and can't join in the chorus. I hope your day goes no worse than expected.

shitty The dairy could ok. If you don't have a loss when you next weigh, and you have been sticking to the rules, then try cutting out dairy. It is not a problem for some people.

Roses I know how dispiriting it can be, but I imagine you are naked when you weigh at home? and not when you weighed in the shopping centre! So clothes will add to the weight and also if it is later in the day your weight will go up. Try and stick to weighing on the same set in the mornings. koko

C4 sorry to hear that you are in pain today. I hope you manage to take it very easy

Off to Spain on Monday. I knew when I started this bootcamp that we'd be on holiday for weeks 6 and 7, and my original plan was probably to work it for five weeks, then have two weeks off, then get back on for week 8. That was then, when I didn't know what I didn't know :). I was still thinking with a diet mentality. I've realised since that this isn't a low calorie diet and allows you to 'be naughty' (ffs, hate that phrase) then get back on the deprivation wagon the next day. It really is a lifestyle choice rather than a diet. I've lost nearly a stone. Another couple of weeks at that rate and I will no longer be obese. And I realise I WANT that. I want it more than I want toast, or ice cream or paella or cocktails. The satisfaction those things would give me would be so short lived against what I actually want - to be flexible, have some stamina and strength, look decent, have a normal and stable blood glucose with all the benefits that brings. Not to be controlled by food.

I've flirted with the idea of continuing to BC on holiday - went as far as packing a decent kitchen knife and a box of spice packets - but in my heart I wasn't sure. But I've really thought about it carefully for the last couple of days, talked it over with DH and the kids, and everyone is all in for making it work and supporting me. I don't know how much internet we'll have access to, so may not be able to check in every day, but the commitment I am making is that I'm going to KOKO throughout the holiday AND have an amazing holiday. Not one clouded by deprivation wishing I could have this or that, or feeling guilty that I DID have this or that, but just a great holiday where I happen to be eating LCHF every day. No exceptions.

I am really sorry to hear C4 is suffering. I Don't know your story but

Morning

Work is mental at the moment, so I'm channelling my mum (huge success in the private sector as a woman in the 80's) and trying to wear things that make me feel badass. She did it with shoulder pads and a perm that defied the laws of physics.. I've been hunting in my wardrobe and today I'm wearing a dress Mum bought for me 3 years ago when I started this job. It's a size 18 and at the time I was a 22... I kept it as a "I'll get in this one day" work dress because it's fab for more corporate days (my office environment is very chilled but I do have to be an adult now and again!), but every time I've tried it on it's been far, far too small and not zipped up/ nearly zipped up but been so tight I looked like a squeezed tube of toothpaste

HOWEVER! Today I tried it on and it fits PERFECTLY. There's no stretch in it at all (clothes without stretch are new to me!) so it's very unforgiving, but it's beautiful and I feel awesome in it

Todays Menu:
B: Nothing, fasting
L: Antipasti (salami, sundried tomatoes, olives) and salad leaves with avocado and olive oil
D: Trout fillet and asparagus all cooked in plenty of butter with a sqeeze of lemon and extra butter... plus some more butter.
S: If I fancy it, I'll have a coconut coffee mid-afternoon. If I dont have this I need more calories so I'll have some icecream I made out of yoghurt, peanut butter, cocoa nibs and frozen berries all mushed together and frozen I'll have that after dinner if needed.

Today is rest day (thank the lord!) so I'll be whipping the dogs out for a 3km walk after work but other than that I'll be doing precisely nothing this evening and I can't bloody wait.

RE: Carb loading, I definately wont be doing it. The rest of my sessions for the month are all in the evening, so I'll be having dinner straight after them anyway. PT reckons that some people just dont do well in morning work outs and I think I'm just one of those people. I felt awful and really run down after spin yesterday but when I got to lunch time after yoga had sorted my head out, I naturally wanted to eat all the fatty stuff but left the salad/ tomatoes etc which would have been the "carbs" on the plate. This tells me my body is craving fat and protien for recovery and really isnt arsed about carbs. Happy days.

C4 Take it easy and be kind to yourself today, you did brilliantly yesterday Even though you have no apitite, make sure you have food on hand to snack on as and when you feel like it. Keep your calories up for recovery.

Sorry for the mammoth post!

JiminnyCricket. Yay for fitting into non stretching clothes! I am wearing some non stretchy Monsoon trousers, it's been a few years since I've been able to wear clothes like this and it feels good!

The dress

cherries Your post shows how far you have come. I am also going on holiday next week. As usual, I will be trying to stick to this woe where food is concerned, but alcohol will be consumed. We are going with friends and it is always boozy. I will try stick to vodka/soda. Have a fab time.

Jim That is a serious NSV fitting in the dress.

x post - the dress looks lovely.

Jim The dress looks great - skims over you as if it had been tailored!

Sorry to hear you’re struggling C4 take it easy and rest up.

ILove I totally get what you’re saying. I’ve BC’d before but always kept the diet mentality which made it so easy to derail myself at any opportunity. I can honestly say something has clicked this time so I don’t feel deprived at all. How I handled my birthday earlier this week was proof to me of that. And if you’re struggling at all while you’re away, just think how great you’ll feel when you weigh in when you get back. I know I normally gain at least half a stone on holiday then take forever to lose it.

And Jim whit woo, looking amazing!

Feeling good today, sneaky peak showed 1lb off since Monday

So the plan is…

B: eggs, cream, lots of lovely butter
L: Tuna in mayo and pesto, avocado, salad leaves, olive oil
D: A bit tricky tonight as I have a fitness class at 8pm but won’t get home til 7, so I will have to leave eating til I’m home. I will probably have flax bread with lashings of butter and pate as I doubt I’ll have the energy for much else.

Jim you look HOT!

jim you look fabulous

You lot are excellent for my ego

I've got 5st still to lose to get down to 11st, but I can definately see my shape has changed a lot!

Sorry to hear you're suffering C4 I know you were prepared for it to be a bad day but that probably doesn't make it much easier to cope. for a quick improvement and well done for not being a carby twat. I was going to say I know you were braced for it to be a bad day but I don't know whether you're in the right mood for humour today.

Boldly did you have any IBS or other gut issues before going low carb? If so then wheat and dairy are likely culprits. I tried the LivLife bread too but the slices are so small and thin it doesn't seem worthwhile. DH was desperate for a bacon sandwich and he doesn't have a problem with wheat so I he enjoyed the bread.

That's brilliant Cherries. You've done so well losing that stone, you don't want to gain half of it back on holiday. Ask Finally for some tips as she's just had a fab holiday with all kinds of amazing local foods and not a carb in sight.

Jim you look good! C4 rest and heal.
Everyone else. You are fabulous and all this boot camp malarkey is keeping me going..

Jiminny the dress looks great on you.

Do you mind my asking if you've always had a body type with a flatter stomach? I absolutely loathe my stomach, though I have relatively slender arms, thighs, and calves (which I know are areas others dislike about themselves).

While my ultimate goal is fitness and better health, and while I am fully accepting of the fact that at my goal weight the stomach will probably never be "flat," it would inspire me no end to hear that yours used to look like you had a beach ball under your shirt and that it's good old LCHF that's flattened it right out!

Wow Jiminty Fab