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

So our weight loss now is fat and less water now?

Another fast moving thread!

Jim looking good, you must feel fab fitting into your lovely dress.

C4 you are such a trooper and I hope the pain eases off for you soon

ilove and Chester definitely going to try and follow your example when I go on hols etc.

So, today I am entertaining clients at the tennis. Am petrified about the food and drink situation - there is lunch, afternoon tea and booze galore.

I've had a big breakfast - bacon, eggs, mushrooms, spinach and a creamy coffee - in an effort to keep me going and will keep glugging he water. I will probably have a glass of fizz and maybe a white wine spritzer during the day. It is not the end of the world if I don't get to eat until later tonight must stay strong

I am also going away with friends for the weekend. Happily breakfasts are planned to be cooked ones, with BBQs for dinner and pub lunches - hopefully I can KOKO but I am worrying a bit about a lack of access to cream (organisers have done a big shop).

Perhaps I shall just rock up with my own supply

Who stole my time? One minute I'm watching the news and reading messages on here and then it's almost 11:00am.
Cold cup of tea next to the bed!!!!!! I hate it when that happens.
Next on my to do list and the part of my disability I hate most of all is dealing with bowels, everything from the end of my transverse colon and beyond is paralysed. I had a few choices for dealing with this seven years ago, a colostomy, manual removal by district nurses twice a week or a combination of laxatives and enemas. Strangely none of these really appealed to me but the latter was the only one that gave me control, I learnt the hard way that feeding laxatives to someone with a non working descending colon results in fecal vomiting. It was one of many many low points, I felt disgusting and violated, so much so that I didn't/couldn't tell anyone, so I went in search of alternatives and discovered that there was an irrigation system called Peristeen that was developed for people like me. I went to see my local continence nurse armed with a shed load of info and while she chowed down on a ham and tomato sandwich I slapped it onto the table in front of her. It's like giving yourself a mini colonic irrigation.
I won the battle that ensued and the kit arrived along with a specialist nurse the next day. It works, it means that I never ever have an accident and gives me absolute peace of mind. The down side is that it takes at least an hour, is messy and leaves me in pain and exhausted so it's a love hate relationship but more love than hate.
So that's where I am right now - perched on my wash and blow dry toilet.

I have read the thread but don't have the energy to reply individually so I'm sending love to everyone, the scales, water retention, upset tummies, cravings, wrong shape tummies, unhelpful fat bashing can piss off. Jiminny you look fab - can you share a pre diet photo with us? Well done for KOKO on holidays, everydays, hormonal days and work days.

Oh C4 :(
I'll never complain about my piles or scarred perineum again

ilovecherries really great to see your attitude anout the holiday it is doable. I've come back from holiday lighter than going there. Actually Spain will be an easy destination. Loads of lovely seafood in good quality butter. Amazing tomatoes and salads. A bit of nice fruit. Actually can I come too? You can absolutely do this.

Jim wolf whistles!! You look amazing. You totally deserve to feel great.

C4 fecal vomiting sounds horrendous. Sounds like you've had to adapt to so much

KOKO everyone! Am appreciating it being much cooler today.

C4 you are such a strong woman. To go through what you do and still stick to a weigh loss WOE and stay positive is pretty remarkable.

Jim loving the dress.

C4 you really are awesome and I'm sorry you are in so much pain today. I'm definitely up for an East mids meet up, either at yours or in the vicinity of Derby.
Jiminny you rock that dress, go girl.
little after the initial water loss, it will be fat and , unfortunately, some muscle that will be mainly being lost. Exercise, especially resistance exercise, helps preserve muscle. Well done on reaching your first goal.

I'm struggling today, although it is helping posting here. I am not hungry, I'm bored as I have an office/ paperwork day today. I know it is a danger area for me, but unfortunately I can't avoid it as it has to be done. Although, I am very good at prevaricating and wasting time on MN
Managed to through my fast, but I have had a creamy coffee as soon as the 16 hours was up as I know if I waited longer, then I would be more likely to binge. It does frustrate me that I feel like this every so often, because I feel great most of the time, physically and psychologically. I even had the colleague who I share an office with come back after a two week holiday yesterday go on and on about how much weight I have lost in the two weeks they were away. It was both pleasing, but slightly mortifying as we don't really have that sort of relationship where we talk about personal stuff.
Anyway, sorry for the venting, but it has helped.

Food today:
B: black coffee
L: leftover creamy fish and broccoli casserole with buttered spring greens
D: don't know as I need to go shopping on the way home from work
S: two creamy coffees

ilovecherries* , WyaoftheWorld and Chester* eeekkkk, KOKO on holiday buddies.

I'm still on holiday and loving how I feel KOKOing while on hols. We are by the Med., when bread arrives at each meal, I just give it right back to them to take away. Food doesn't seem to come in courses, but i have been eating my fill of marinated fish, olives, salad ( often greek with added cabbage for roughage) and fresh fish. Delicious grilled lamb chops have also featured. Breakfast like the locals on cucumber, peppers basically greek salad with oilive oil.

At the breakfast buffet, i just walk past the whole table groaning with rolls, pastries etc. I thought at first of trying one of things but then decided it was just too risky. I've been doing so well and have in the past allowed holidays to derail me. I do not enjoy that feeling of oh, no, what have i done. Better to keep away entirely from sweet stuff. Some alcohol has been taken but if i maintain this holiday and importantly retain my new found absence of a sweet tooth, i will be happy.

It's so unusual for me to be feeling good about myself and my choices. It's also unusual for me to be consistently making good choices about what to eat. Now I'm convinced that the two are related, so long as I do it from the point of view of choosing to eat like this. I'm über grateful to have found this WOE and the support around here from everyone to do it.

And to the lady in a chemist who put me on to drinking tea with a few senna pods, every evening. All systems are ahem, working well which has often been a concern which i had been medicating with prunes, coffee and chocolate. I honestly didn't believe it was possible without. Hurrah for LCHF.

Awesome dress, Jiminny

Epic bold fail, sorry....

Stunt, yes I used to have terrible IBS symptoms. The massive improvement on this WOE is what helped me work out it is the bread. I've only had it a couple of times but each time I've ended up with a dodgy stomach. I know it's not the dairy as I've been eating quite a bit with no issues.

I think I'll just have to accept that all bread is off-limits for me and just stick to the flax bread. It also means that I'll make my occasional pudding (one a month if that) more LCHF friendly - cheesecake, mousse.

jiminny, the dress looks amazing! What a boost for you.

WARNING: fat girl in her kegs

Sorry about the photo, it's the only way I can explain!

clear my shape is weird. I carry all my weight on my hips, bum legs and apron and less on my upper torso.

However, the bigger I get, the rounder I get if that makes sense. The pic is 18st 5lbs vs 16st 5lbs, you can see the bit that shrinks is my upper torso first, then the rest of me so I end up looking really odd lol. At the moment at 15st 11, I'm all hips and bum!

I'm pear shaped but with broad shoulders, definitely not hourglass because my proportions are all wrong but a sort of squished in the middle tube

No idea why I lose weight that way or why I round out in the middle last!
Also no idea what my body will look like at a healthy weight

Boldly I used to be in terrible pain the day after eating spaghetti bolognese. I wondered whether it could be the onion or the acidity of the tomatoes. It never would have occurred to me that it was the pasta. I can manage bread in very small quantities, I usually have half a slice of wheaten bread with lots of smoked salmon as my breakfast on Christmas Day. Anything more than that and my IBS returns the next day. I do seem to be okay with a small amount of cake when it's a family birthday. Other than that wheat is completely off the menu unless I fancy a morning having to stay near a toilet.

On the dairy front I know for a fact that dairy doesn't impact my weight loss because I was dairy-free for over a year while breastfeeding DS4 and it made no difference to my weight loss. Dairy doesn't give me gut problems but milk and yogurt give me nasal congestion.

Captain low carb diets are muscle-sparing so you shouldn't lose any muscle mass apart from as you lose weight then you will need less muscle to support your weight. The exception would be if you're eating fat too few calories, in general I expect most people should be eating at least 1500 calories per day on average. We do get people on Bootcamp that are restricting themselves to e.g. 1200 calories per day and that can slow down weight loss by reducing metabolic rate.

@C4pinkwheels I'm sorry you're suffering today

@PlymouthMaid1 - if you're wobbling about the fat, have you been reading all the posts on the threads?! Lots of links posted here - especially StuntNun that will give you the information/support you need to really believe that fat isn't your enemy!

@JiminnyCricket - great photos! You're doing brilliantly well, and I hope that the dress gives you the Mum Superpowers that you need

@MOIST snacking on the run really won't be helping you - your blood sugar will be shooting up and down all the time - you really need to aim for more regular meals wherever possible

Work and regular meals is a problem. I frequently get no break at all in a 13 hour shift, so grab stuff as and when I can, and then stuff my face when I finish. The joy of working in the NHS.

I understand.

When my dad was in hospital - for the best part of 18 months before he died - I was always shocked at how overweight so many of the staff were (nurses especially), but I'm convinced this must be because of the stupid hours they have to work, with little time to eat - and limited access to food other than carby snacks (which I'm sure are also needed for energy)

Even if you're grabbing low carb stuff though, it's not ideal - but you do have my every sympathy as I know it's a situation you have little influence over

Could you at least make sure that you have a big, cooked breakfast (or fry up lunch/dinner!) before you start work? Then hopefully you won't be so hungry during the shift.

Have been keeping a low profile, as no weight loss last week, and really wanted to just moan. But at last, today, a pound off. Feel ridiculously pleased and generally more enthusiastic about keeping going. Five pounds off since I started BC, five to go, so am halfway...might just do it by the end of BC.

Still finding it hard to get enough protein without going overboard on cheese (vegetarian), especially in the hot weather when tofu stirfry etc doesn't appeal. Pretty much living on grilled halloumi and salad. Can't face eggs much now, have had so many in the last few weeks. Really missing brown rice and pulses - much more than sweet stuff actually. But onwards and downwards. Have been following the thread every day - very inspiring to hear everyone's stories and challenges.

BIWI - thanks - I am a believer in LCHF as I feel great with none of my usual blood sugar wobbles, I just want the scales to move a bit more to prove the weight loss aspect to myself and others. I have read the great info (though not followed all the links yet no time). I really appreciate the hard work that has been put into this bootcamp.

I have a horrible feeling that dairy will turn out to be my downfall but I will be quite gutted if so as without cheese, yogurt or creamy coffee for breakfast my weekly menu will be deadly dull. I try not to eat dairy every day and no longer use cows milk at all. Cheese is part of meals rather than snacks as I am not a snacker usually. Still well and truly on board just wish the scales would get with the programme.

NSV my friend noticed my trousers were falling down. My cropped jeans were almost at my ankles. Dug through the wardrobe and can now fit comfortably in my small 16s and even do up my 14s. There's one pair of long shorts that I've never worn that I now fit into.

I want to thank everyone for their best wishes. I am reading the thread but I'm too tired to send individual replies.
For those of you struggling with body image/shape issues. What you see is NOT what other people see, we all are our own worst critic.
I challenge everyone to post something about their body that is beautiful. I will start:

I've got fantastic breasts, they are beautiful and have provided nourishment to my children and endless pleasure to me and DH in the bedroom.

Over to you

#myfatcanpissrightoff #namastebitches

My current cast on the right and the cast taken yesterday.

Sorry current brace on the right

Thanks for the positivity challenge C4. I may be a little over my fighting weight but thanks to genetics I have an hourglass figure.

I have a beautiful vein on my left arm. Perfect for giving blood

Eurgh, I messed up, I feel crappy SO NOT WORTH IT!

I'm posting this as a warning to others, don't do honestly! Feel so uncomfortable and bloated!

DON'T DO IT!!

Just wanted to check in and say hi again to everyone. I've still been reading everyone's posts, although I haven't been commenting.

I fell off the wagon for a week, and have forced it back on track over the past week. Back to being good. This thread definitely helped. So many inspiring stories - especially C4 and Jiminny. I've been trying to work out too - and I haven't been using carbs (although my trainer has tried to make me too).

Today's food has been nothing for breakfast, a crustless sundried tomato and halloumi (weird - but it's what I had!) quiche with plain salad for lunch, and pork belly for dinner.

Anyway - this thread has been a HUGE help in dragging me back on track, so thank you so much everyone.

In other news, anyone tried seaweed crisps? Barely any carbs. Itsu and Planet Organic do them.