Week 3 - the parting of the way! - Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here's the Spreadsheet

Hope you've seen a good result, making for a very satisfying first two weeks.

Now. Those two weeks were probably quite tough, so if you want to, you can now move on to Bootcamp Light - the rules are on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Essentially this means you can start to skip breakfast (or another meal) if you want to - if you're finding that you're not hungry. (Please don't skip meals for any other reason)

You can also introduce some fruit - mainly berries - in moderation, and also nuts and seeks - again, in moderation - and alcohol - IN MODERATION!

But. It's very often the case that in weeks 3 and 4 your weight loss will slow right down. Sometimes you may see a slight gain, even though you know you've been following Bootcamp to the letter. So you may not want to relax things quite yet.

Entirely up to you.

Remember, though, if you choose to stay on Bootcamp, please remember to make sure you're getting your carbs in the most part from vegetables and fruit - you need that for proper nutrition.

If you like you can do a hybrid - Bootcamp during the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

But whatever you choose - good luck and I hope you have a good week.

B: 2 slices.of emmenthal, some chorizo
L: roast chicken, celeriac dauphinoise, broccoli
D: Greek yogurt and. Raspberries

Timbuktu,

I have every sympathy, because it's really not nice when your thinking about food is hugely disordered. And also, it takes a long, long time to wholly shift one' thinking. I don't believe your food choices are bad, but I will try to be gently honest here, bearing in mind that I don't know how long you have been on this regime. If it's less than about two weeks then take my opinion with a grain of salt as it really won't apply while you're still becoming fat adapted.

Your portions do seem a little on the big side. Breakfast, did you really need two sausages? Or could you have had one, and the avocado? Were you eating that because you were actually hungry, or because you were worried about getting hungry later?

The nuts... 40g is quite a lot, especially if you weren't actually hungry and were only eating out of boredom. Did you not have a book to read? Could you have ordered a tea or coffee instead?

Dinner... you should not be eating tortilla chips. They will be defeating the purpose of going low carb - wheat or corn or grain based things are one of the worst things to eat when you're trying to get rid of cravings, and they really mess with your digestion. You could have had the meal without that and it would have been just fine, and more filling, with no risk of sabotage.

If you find that you are thinking negatively, treat yourself in some way that is not food related. Even a walk outside in the fresh air for 15 min is great for this. Come back in, drink a glass of water and make yourself a cup of herbal tea.

You will be fine, this is only a blip! KOKO!

If you're not new to LCHF then of course you already know all this, and I'd be looking at what it is that's caused you to feel this way today. It might just be the tiredness, but it might be something else.

Christ, some of these posts are really intense. I ATE A CROISSANT AND I DON'T CARE.

Surely feeling guilt over food choices is NOT what are trying to encourage here?

If you eat carbs it won't work. We know that. But if some of us fall off the wagon then get back on again surely that's fine!

timbuktu I feel for you very much. Not much to say other than when I feel like that I make myself drink a glass of water - somehow it helps my brain to get back in balance and out of the doldrums again.

B sausage and two rashers of bacon
S a little bag of almonds and a cappuccino
D courgette spaghetti bolognese

Sorry Scabberseley but I stand by what I've said. It's not about guilt at all, it's about understanding that one's eating is often not about eating at all. In fact it takes all the guilt away, and makes it about empowerment to make choices that are actually kind to yourself.

And since you are apparently still feeling sore over the comments in regards to eating that croissant, I'll apologise again if it upset you or made you feel picked on. The threads move quickly so it's quite possible you would not have seen that comment.

Mindful eating is about just that - being mindful. If that concept offends you then please feel free to disregard everything I say.

It actually wasn't your post I was talking about.

Yes I thought the croissant hate was unnecessary and it's put me off bootcamp a bit. I'm happy carrying on with the weighing and doing it for myself. I'll probably pop in to post what I've eaten in case anyone is interested.

Don't go! It's just the way it's done on bootcamp, it's more of a gentle kick to the arse than actual hate.... but I do realise I come over very intense - sadly everyone says that about me all the time, and although it's something I really hate about myself, I don't know how to be any different.

It will be my turn to post with a lapse in judgement sometime over the next few weeks I can assure you!

Low carb is not very forgiving, that's the thing. It's not like a low calorie diet where you can "make up" for transgressions. If you eat carbs, it will cause water retention and weight gain and you will not lose the weight. I don't explain it very well, but it's all to do with science.

Plus you'll likely have to go through carb flu and fat adaptation etc again. It's a completely different beast from the low cal and low fat diets that everyone's been on for the past 40 years or so.

No one means to make anyone feel bad about eating carbs, but the point needs to be drilled home. It's called Bootcamp because it's tough! I think there's a lot of cheating going on and people are blase about it. The only person you will cheat is yourself.

Well I ate a croissant, it was nice. I've still lost weight this week. I might have another one in a couple of weeks.

Thanks Holger. The portions are definitely too large. Which is the thing I’m struggling with most I think. Because I’m away and eating out for every meal I’m just finding it so tough. Like with the tortillas last night. I had successfully negotiated the menu, swopped the rice and wraps for salad etc and then she brought me some complementary chips and I did the whole “I’ll just have one” thing.

And the portions are massive here and I have always suffered from clear my plate compulsion so it all piles up to badness.

I just want to be able to cook for myself again and regain a bit of control.

I think I’m going to have to ban nuts from my diet as well. They are just too nice. Or at least not buy the salted ones.

Don’t go Scabbers! I’ll miss your updates. They are right this diet really doesn’t allow for much cheating and I you do have to watch out for carb creep (obviously I don’t follow my own advice!)

They're only too large if you're not actually that hungry . If you need it then have it!

Hope you'll feel better soon. Sometimes it's good to be out of your comfort zone (says the control freak with serious micro managements issues )!

I’m delighted to report that I’ve had a Super Celeriac Sunday! I’ve batch cooked all meals for the week, now stored in the freezer. Who knew one humble celeriac would make such joyous low carb cuisine. 😀

Actually, I think I went a little overboard, as I made mash, couscous, kedgeree type thing, rostis, wedged, fries. Perhaps I should name-change to Celeriac Maniac!! 😀😀

Then also did spinach sag with fish, egg and cheese muffins, egg mayonnaise and tuna and olive salad.

Aaaand, for the children I made pork chops (I had a fatty portion) roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, sweet corn and gravy!

I eyeballed the potatoes (and I made over 80 - I counted them 😀) and left them standing. Go me!

But, and there is a but... I’m anxious again about tomorrow. I don’t even think i ate much today, but I haven’t had a ‘movement’ for three days and the scales are going to judge me.

B - bacon and eggs
L - 1 rosti, 1 egg and cheese muffin and tasted all the other stuff I made - a teaspoon
D - 1 fatty pork chop, green beans, mushrooms and 2 tablespoons of celeriac cous-cous

About 2 litres of water.
I don’t think I’ve had enough fat today, so I’m going to eat a few olives.

Good luck to all for tomorrow’s weigh-in.

I didn't 'cheat'. I deliberately sat down and ate a croissant. I know perfectly well that will stall weight loss. I am happy that it hasn't set off a huge cycle of binging, I'm not that kind of person.

Fair enough- you know what I mean.

Mimosa - I'd post a picture of some of my mince pies but I don't want to be subject to BIWI's big stick even if she might still be in transit or doing better things on holiday and drummed out of Boot Camp

I had 2 gin and tonics last night. This has been my only carby twattdom since bootcamp began.

My scrubs are still too damn tight.

Scabbersley - that's kind of how I feel too. Taking the croissant example, they are one of the most delicious foods ever invented. I know I will eat them from time to time in the future, it won't be "cheating" it will be eating a small amount of high carb food on a very occasional basis because I want to.

OK and that's fair enough. But you're on the Bootcamp thread. You're not following Bootcamp. For 8 weeks, you can't not eat a croissant (or anything else, just using it as an example)? Really?

If I could just not eat foods that are bad for me I wouldn't need to do bootcamp in the first place!

I think I'll just lie about what I've eaten on here from now on. I actually thought people might be a little bit supportive. And I thought it might help others lurking to see someone being honest about how they were dealing with bootcamp. Clearly not!

I didn't say I will eat them during bootcamp, just that I will almost certainly at some point in the future. I have had a few lapses so far, I've put my hands up and am doing my best to avoid them happening again but it seems my attitude of "put it behind me, no regrets" doesn't quite fit with the ethos of the threads so maybe I'll just stick with asking for advice in future.

I'm going to France next year. Of course I am going to eat a croissant.

Or we could all start berating the posters who are already planning their mince pie days at Xmas?

Thank you to all that have given me advice here BTW, it is much appreciated and is making a difference.

Scabbersley - don't lie. I have often talked about eating something mindfully and then getting back on track.

We are all different. Some of us can indeed go off-piste mindfully of course and get back on the wagon.

I too have eaten a croissant or my favourite a pain au chocolat while on this WoE. Not this current Boot Camp (or even the subsequent week) but in the months since I started in May. I've enjoyed it (especially - in the case of the croissant - the home made jam served on it). But have been happy to go back to HFLC straight after. Latterly, I even reduced it to half a croissant - and found I was happy with just that.

I'm not saying no one can ever eat a croissant ever again, it's not even up to me what other people eat, clearly. But just for a few weeks, can't people follow the WOE? It's up to them what they do afterwards. I just don't see why people can't put the effort in for the short time that Bootcamp is running. There just seems no point to it is all.

(Ps I'm not getting at anyone, it's more a general comment, just triggered by croissant-gate )

When I started bootcamp back in May, I only made one promise - to stick to the rules. Because I needed, for a short time, to hand the decisions about food over. For a brief period, while I 're-set' if you like, I didn't want, maybe didn't even feel capable, of dealing with decisions over what I wouldn't eat. Plus I felt seriously unwell during the adjustment period, which last a good 3-4 weeks for me. There was a bank holiday at the end of the first week, where there was a LOT of rule breaking going on, and a lot of listing out of food and drink that wasn't meant to be eaten during bootcamp and I will be honest, I found it upsetting. And then it was even more upsetting when despite all the off piste eating and drinking, people still seemed to be feeling better and having better early results than I was. I accept that what I felt was totally about me - it was MY stuff. I was metabolically pretty messed up, I suspect. I'm pretty much immune to what others are choosing to eat now, but I do know that in those early days, I needed bootcamp to be strict. I needed it to put some safe boundaries in place. My concern is that if there is a lot of off piste stuff going on, and no one challenges it, then the message is that it doesn't matter. Accountability is an important part of the process imo - to ourselves, and to each other.