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

@BIWI a few questions if I may: I am drinking 6-8 pints of water or herbal tea daily, should I ditch the tea and consider making my daily 3 litres from water alone?

I am trying to have more fat, i think when you start lchf the low fat thing is so ingrained that you use 2tblsp olive oil and think you are daring. Is there a resource that suggests what an adequate fat intake is during lchf? Eg use x tbsp of butter per meal? I think that would be helpful for newbies. Or am I being lazy, should I log meals for a while and monitor macros and measure my fats that way?

Finally, when you say to get all my carbs from veg and salad, where else would I be getting them? Do you mean like from dark choc, nuts etc from BC light? Sorry that question is really stupid...

This heat!!

Checking into new thread while still trying to catch up with last week's thread I'm so behind! Too much going on but really appreciate all your chat even if it goes too fast for me!

In fact I'm so behind I need to tell c4 how fab your art work is and I've only just seen that Jiminny might go for the transform programme. Told you I was behind . And I'm loving namaste bitches!

I haven't managed to weigh in today, feeling too hot and my leg has swollen up under my cast so feeling rubbish. Also can't wait to get back to some exercise, although I know I could be doing something (e.g. no legs involved in a sit up) but I think I'm using broken leg as an excuse to not try any exercise.

Food today:
B - flax bread butter marmite
L - salmon fillet, cauli & veg rice
D - chicken salad, lardons, mayo
S - one babybel
Water - lots! 2L fruit tea fizzy and 2L plain water plus one creamy coffee, one tea and soya milk

Thanks BIWI for directing me here - I posted on week 2's thread....
I've been wearing a bikini all day and haven't felt that bad about it!

Moist I think you need to be kinder to yourself. That looks like a great day's worth of food. You're doing brilliantly! KOKO

ASD Where do you buy the linseed?

I'm desperately waiting for the baby to go to sleep. We sat outside with him from 7-9pm ish because it was cooler not much I'd say it was a mistake because now he thinks its playtime again...
At least I'm getting more water in!

First you should be drinking at lest 3.5 litres. Second, I can't see the problem drinking it as tea.

There isn't a thing like a fat ready reckoner, although I think that's a very good idea! It definitely goes against the grain at first, but it's really important that you eat a lot of fat - it should be the biggest proportion of your diet - fat:protein:carbs. Tracking your food with something like MFP might help you (although i think that it's a terrible faff to have to do that!). Eat fattier cuts of meat, fry everything in oil/butter, and add oily dressings to salad and more butter to your veg.

If you don't have a problem with dairy, then adding cheese or cream to dishes will also help.

And yes, if you're eating things like chocolate and nuts, they will be adding carbs to your diet; the nuts are OK as they do have fibre, but really you should be getting your fibre from veg and salad.

Not stupid questions at all!

Naschkatze. I get it from Ocado but it's available from a few places.
www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/brands/linwoods/

Thanks for the help BIWI!

For anyone struggling with trying to evacuate large house bricks, I would recommend Regucol from Holland and Barrett http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-regucol-powder-60010180
Sorry don't know how to do clever links. You can mix it into some almond milk, water if your hard core or iced fruit tea. It's

Morning all,

I went to my circuits class last night and feel utterly broken this morning. I'm hurting in places I didn't even know I had muscles!

It's my birthday today so to avoid I have planned in lots of LC yummy food. But there will probably be a couple of glasses of

Today:
B: bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tonnes of butter
L: Greek salad with loads of olive oil
D: we are going out for tea, probably to Frankie and Benny's as it's DS's favourite. I will have a salad.

Also got some lovely pate so I'll make a flax loaf in case I have the urge to snack during the evening as tea will be quite early.

Happy birthday Chester

Damn. Up 2lbs. Sodding wine.

However.

On it. Focussed. #myfatcanpissrightoff.

Have a splendid day lovely people.

Happy Birthday Chester from me too. Hope you have a lovely day.

Coconut oil 'as unhealthy as beef fat and butter' - www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40300145

Just read this this morning about saturated fat. Sciencey people, what are we supposed to believe?

Giraffe your outfit looks lovely. Ubercamp is a three day very low carb meal plan - it's on the spreadsheet. It's useful for kickstarting when you've been a carby twat or for breaking a stall, or if you just want a few extra strict days.

OldBooks what about coconut yogurt or almond yogurt? My local Tesco sells both and it's pretty small so I think they're easily available.

C4 don't put yourself down for making poor food choices in the past, it's a natural response to stress, illness, depression and lots more. I'm sure most of us have done it. I had a period of self-harming through binge eating. I would buy food and force myself to eat it all. Now I can't quite understand why I did it; I suppose it was just a crap method of coping with an extremely stressful time in my life.

WayoftheWorld poor sleep will make you feel hungrier because the raised cortisol stimulates your insulin levels. I wonder whether a little more fat in your diet might help? Sometimes I have a rooibos or green tea with a teaspoon of coconut oil in when I'm feeling peckish.

YoLo I make bulletproof coffee from 250ml coffee, 15g butter and 15g coconut oil (and sometimes a splash of double cream) whizzed up but if you're not used to it then that could leave you feeling nauseous. I would start with 5g butter and 5g coconut oil. I only ever used it when I was close to my goal weight and needed to increase my fat macro. It's high calorie, high fat but nutrient poor so it isn't necessarily a great idea. As for your article, I read that headline as "Coconut oil is just as healthy and good for you as beef fat and butter." The person that wrote it doesn't seem to understand that the saturated fat in coconut oil is of a different form (medium chain) to the saturated fat in butter and beef fat (long chain). Coupled with the AQA's recent announcement that we should definitely replace saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat, I think we're seeing the death throes of an industry built on peddling the wrong diet to us for decades. There are probably going to be more hysterical headlines along hose lines for the next few years.

Happy birthday, Chester.

My stomach is looking much flatter today. I'm now a very different shape which is making my dresses not fit me properly. My boobs have shrunk but my waist/tummy is still big in comparison. Dresses which fit at the waist are now too baggy at the top! I'm hoping it's going to even out...

Stunt almond yog sounds good, will keep eye out for that.

Interesting you post about eating for emotional reasons. I have mentioned my troubles with this on previous threads. Well yesterday I had a dentist check up and he asked if I grind my teeth! I never have before but now he has mentioned it I am aware of doing it all the time! DH thinks that as I am trying so hard not to comfort eat I am grinding instead as a stress outlet!

YoLoZamm rebulletproofing instant coffee, I do and with salted butter as it is the only added salt I have.

When using a single serve blender to make bulletproof don't blend the hot liquid to long it will explode when you try opening it.
I go for a count of 9 seconds from screwing base on blitz unscrew.

Don't over fill either.

Flax seed blitzed in a grinder 1 egg per 1/2 cup with some water will make a glue that 3minutes ish in the microwave gives a slice of bread.
There's a lovely Spanish lady that does a nice video on youtube.

I make mine in a mini muffin tin 1 cup of seeds ground, 2 eggs almost a whole cup and as a treat 1/2 a cup of ground almonds. in oven 200c for 30 minutes ish when cooking something else.
super quick makes about 18 goes great with cheese / butter / dipping in soup or stir fry juices. I'll do pictures next time I make a batch.

Lasts 3 days as evening snack slice plop favorite topping on and voila.

Happy birthday, Chester. Have a lovely day. :). yolo, I also struggle sometimes with what to believe. I had the radio on in the car yesterday and some nutritional spokesperson from one of the big charities was going on about the evils of saturated fat, the link with cholesterol and heart disease, and how we should all be eating more grains and fruit, and I could feel myself getting panicky. I'm mean, these are big, professional organisations insisting that the science for HCLF is robust and compelling. I keep asking myself if they can really be wrong. And if they are wrong, then why? I find it all quite scary.

Well sympathizing with you all over the heat, we had that here a couple of weeks ago but it's 14c or below at the moment. 1 good thing mosquitoes need 10 days at warm temperatures to breed. so low counts so far this year.

You should be getting the chilly weather very soon. So enjoy but take care and remember to hot for you feet is too hot for your pets on the tarmac.

OldBooks the almond milk yogurt is Nush. Like Coyo coconut milk yogurt it's pricey so keep your eyes out for special offers. Alpro also do coconut and almond yogurts but they're soya based. Still dairy free though. I don't grind my teeth but I subconsciously clench my jaw which gives me headaches and jaw pain and also loosened my two front teeth! My dentist told me to try consciously keeping my upper and lower sets of teeth apart as much as possible to ease the problem without resorting to a mouth guard at night. I do still get a bit of pain but my teeth aren't loose any more.

Cherries the story of how the healthy eating advice came about is worth looking into. Nina Teicholz's Big Fat Surprisee is well worth a read. Another great resource is Zoe Harcombe'ss website. We all of us started this way of eating having been indoctrinated into thinking that saturated fat is a killer. The most compelling argument I have come across is that pork fat is almost exactly the same composition as human fat. If it's so bad for us then why are our bodies trying to kill us by storing it? The fat that is released from our fat cells as a fuel source is indistinguishable from the fat absorbed into the bloodstream from a slice of belly pork. And yet we're supposed to believe that one is healthy and the other is a killer. Hmmm... it's a bit like saying the fructose in fruit is "healthy fruit sugar" whereas the chemically indistinguishable fructose in Coke is "bad added sugar".

As a biochemist I have been reading about diet for years and following up on the research behind such sensationalist headlines. I'm aware that I am subject to confirmation bias and I do try to deal with this as best I can. But at then end of the day I follow a LCHF way of eating. I liberally add butter to everything. I eat all the fat! I am literally betting my life that this is the healthiest way of eating for me. And in my professional life I encourage other people to do exactly the same thing.

Stoopid phone link fail. I gotta start posting from my PC.

All the fat scaremongering is scary isnt' it? I still get doubts. But ultimately, this woe makes people really healthy. It makes them shed weight, it improves peoples' blood sugars and cholesterol levels. So many people report not just losing weight but feeling physically better when they follow this woe. I try to remember that when I read something that makes me panic. It just doesn't add up that fat = bad. Sure, eating coconut oil when you're eating lots of cakes and biscuits and crisps is a really stupid idea. Don't do that. Your health will suffer. But eating just veggies as carbs and adding in coconut oil is all good.

Ok so I weighed this morning. At the beginning of May I was 11 stone 7. I knew then that I'd be visiting my parents now and my goal for today was 11 stone. Totally achievable. Scales say I'm 11 stone 6. Now, actually, in some ways I'm happy with that. That still means I've lost 1 stone 10 pounds since 18 months ago.

It's just a wake up call for me. Since the beginning of May 90% of the time I've eaten really well. I've put in good day after good day. I've been strict. I've just had my horrible weekend binges. The last week I've been trying to reset my brain and get myself together. So at the moment I feel I have learnt so much I can put in a strict month. But honestly this is a bit ridiculous - it's what happened last year (lots of being strict, a few of slip ups but on a regular basis, minimal weight loss compared to what I should have had). I DON'T WANT THIS YEAR TO BE THE SAME. I need this weight off.

I feel motivated. I can do this. Had eggs for breakfast with butter and some salad veggies. I would now like to be 11 stone by the end of July. Still totally achievable.

Totally achievable dust! I have similar weekend issues, and also tried to BC a few times last year but never got in my groove and I didn't lose the weight I wanted to. I really really want to do it this time so for the rest of BC will focus and get some weight off!!

C4 I need to go back and read about the Great North Run!

Happy birthday Chester

Morning!

Happy birthday Chester. Have a lovely day!

I am not coping well in this heat. Dreading work today . My poor little dog is struggling too. She keeps wandering outside then waddling back in and flumping down in a huff (much like me!). DP was very good and took her out for a late night walk when he got in from work at 10.30pm. Under the table is the coolest place to be, apparently!

Happy birthday Chester!

For all those of you who are worried about the fat scaremongering, can I suggest that you head over to the spreadsheet and read some/all of the resources that are posted there? There's lots of information about fat and why it isn't the demon it's made out to be.

One of the best books, IMVHO, is Gary Taube's "The Diet Delusion". It's very long, and very detailed - but it's massively well researched and an evidence-based piece of work.

What he exposes is how much of what we're told is 'true' now, is based on political will/expediency, corporate need/profit and bad science.

Look around you next time you go shopping - all those brands that are out there pushing high carb/high sugar and low fat/cholesterol-lowering brands are all multimillion, global companies. It's not in their interests to allow the 'fat is bad' mantra to succeed!

And as for the NHS/medical guidance - one Bootcamp we had a GP take part, and she told us that of all the training that GPs go through - around 7 years I think - they spend about a week, at most, learning about food/nutrition. Yet they are people who sit there dispensing advice to patients about diet