Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - The Big Stick is Back!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Many thanks to @prettybird and @BerylStreep for running this Bootcamp so well, so far. It's been a bit weird watching from the sidelines

However, I'm back. Back in the UK, back at work and back on the wagon.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for this week

I've noticed that there's quite a bit of 'slippage' going on over the last week or so. I know that we're able to move on to Bootcamp Light now, but be very, very careful that this doesn't lead to too many carbs. And remember to keep the water and the fat up.

Good luck this week

Hoorah for Grand!

No change on the scales for me, but can report a new personal best of 11 (count 'em!) push-ups (only from the knees...). 5 weeks ago I could only manage 3, so am SO pleased to be gradually getting some anatomy back!

I got on the scales this morning, and for the first time in at least 10 years the first number was 11!!!! I am so pleased!

I've been making some of the Keto casseroles on diet doctor for dinner this week, I can recommend the blue cheese, pesto chicken and Philly cheese steak ones!

Day four of no booze - this will save me quite a bit of money so might treat myself to some new ear rings I saw in Oliver Bonas

Have Total yoghurt in my bag for breakfast. Lunch will be chicken curry. My DH ordered one of those food box thingies where you get ingredients for three meals - he says he went for the lowest carb he could find so we’ll see

Ooh 135 on the nose this morning. I haven't been this weight for at least 3 years.

I'm off to our lovely local butcher today to get something fatty for dinner. Not sure what yet.

Still hovering around the edges, I'm planning to join in properly on the next BC. For now I have dropped sugar, flour, rice and pasta.

Not sure if it's ok to cross faiths but in case anyone else is also an Instant Pot owner I thought I'd give the yoghurt making function a shout out. So easy and produces thick, creamy yoghurt.

I strain it for the whey as we use it in bread making and for smoothies. This week I have taken a bowlful of the yoghurt, stirred in some salt and re-strained it for around 30 hours. This produces Labneh, a gorgeous soft middle eastern cheese. Lovely served with some za'tar and olive oil on celery sticks or in stall blobs over hot roasted green veg.

Have a good day all.

Well, just to top off the week from hell, I have a period this morning after 8 months with nothing. Pretty pissed off as I thought things had stopped for good. Wondering if this is why I've stalled this week.

B: creamy coffee, pot Greek yog
L: sauerkraut, corned beef and cheese and mayo
D: veg soup with a mayo salad on the side

Might have a glass of wine tonight - not sure if I'm allowed to mention that as I know a lot are doing dry Feb!? Also will probably have some cheese for a snack now I can't have pork scratchings or almonds

Awwww, Scabs

You can mention whatever you like

Thanks athel

hayser, I think 3.5 stone is a perfectly reasonable aspiration in a year, as long as that's a reasonable goal for your final weight. I've lost 60lbs in 9 months, with 5 to go to a healthy BMI and between 15-20 to my goal. I will say though that to achieve that I haven't come off plan once. Not at holidays, birthdays, Christmas, random bad days at work etc. I also haven't felt deprived because I'm not hungry and there is some very luxurious food I can eat. This isn't like calorie/points/syns counting where you can have cheat days and make up for them by cutting back the next day - that will catch up with you. But if you stick with it, it works amazingly. My only regret is not finding this woe years ago. Good luck!

Scabbers, urgh to the period from hell. I got to 13 months twice over 50 and then had another one. Hated the unpredictability. Had my final one on my 52nd birthday, but I'd basically never started properly again after extended breastfeeding in my early 40s, so spent about a decade messing about with gaps of two weeks to 13 months and everything in between.

Some great victories this morning - well done to those seeing new numbers! And well done athel for the push ups - I find them so hard even from the knee so I am very admiring!

Hayser - I do think that soonds reasonable. I will be quite honest and say I don't enjoy this WOE (this is my 2nd BC), but it's better than any other way of losing weight that I have tried and my weight is coming down slowly but surely. Staying on the thread helps get me back on track when my resolve weakens.

YoLo my Louisiana chicken recipe involves going to the butcher to get skin-on chicken, discovering the butcher was shut and buying the first low-carb chicken thing I could see in the Co-op as a poor substitute.

I’ve lost a stone now and am finding that weight loss has really slowed down. Should I be tinkering with the diet in some way? Maybe adjusting portions sizes or eating more veg/less meat now?

Bastardise reproductive systems scabbers, and why does everything have to happen at once?

ilovecherries - I am in awe. You have lost roughly what I need to lose. Can I be nosy and ask if you'd tried many other diets? I have probably lost around 40 pounds before, at least a couple of times, but have never got any further than that and have always re-gained. I'm late 50s if that makes any difference.

Morning, loving Fighting The Fuck Its!

Some of you may remember last week that I terrible stomach pain together with an ongoing burning sensation etc. I figured out this morning what was causing it: i had been taking an MCT oil supplement (meant to boost your ketones) but had forgotten to take it the past few days.

Took it his morning and boom - horrible burning sensation and stomach pains within 10-15 minutes. So am ditching it.

Managed to serve a food situation last night: out for cocktails and dinner with clients. I had sparkling water in a champagne glass and then was quite lucky with the food selection: antipasto to start, so lots of lovely burrata and salami, passed on the risotto course and had the aubergine parmigiana. Got another one tonight...

Yesterday's food:
B: 2 sausages, creamy coffee
L: tuna salad, lots of mayo
D: antipasti, aubergine parmiagiana, no pudding; small glass white wine
S: rollito, creamy coffee
W: 3 litres

So many typos!

Scabbers hope you feel better soon!
ilove that is amazing!
gruntley thanks for the labneh tip! Also have and love my instant pot, if you ferment the yoghurt for 24 hours it's extra low carb as more lactose is consumed, but it's VERY tart!

Well done on the press ups, @AthelstaneTheUnready! I'm pretty gym-fit, having been training with a PT for the last 5 years, but I hate press ups and struggle to get beyond 10, even on my knees.

@Scabbersley - sorry to hear of continued woes. I think wine sounds like it's perfect given everything else. And no need to worry about mentioning it!

I've done 8 days now (started on 31/1) and it's fine. During the week at least. The weekend was hard, but if I got through that one, I know I can get through the next few too.

Re the sleep, I haven't seen any change from before to after giving up alcohol - I have been experiencing this broken sleep pattern on and off for some time now. In part I think it may be my age (sadly - people do talk about this happening to post-menopausal women). I hear what you all say about writing things down, but for me this really wouldn't work! What my brain is trying to do is to analyse the data/project I'm currently working on. If I got up to write about it, I'd end up just working! I think there's a bit of my brain that's just wanting to get on with it, and it's overriding the bit of my brain that's telling me I need to go to sleep.

I'm interested to see if by being properly low carb again, and also alcohol-free, if this does change by the end of my dryfebruary.

Gruntly, I was 60 last week, AND I have no thyroid :) I did try loads of variations of calorie counting over the years, eating a lot of 'healthy carbs and 10% fat. There was nothing I didn't know the fat count of. I've been overweight for a LONG time. I NEVER lost more than 7 lbs though - I was always defeated by raging hunger and jitteriness, caused I now understand, by terrible blood sugar swings. I'm incredibly lucky that I dodged the type 2 bullet, because it must have been hurtling towards me. I didn't find LCHF easy at first, I got every side effect going, plus a few that don't even seem to exist. But despite that, other things did improve immediately, even before there was significant weight loss - IBS and reflux improved within the first week. Mood improved tremendously. I promised myself I'd give it 10 weeks with no deviations, and if I still wasn't enjoying it, or it wasn't working, I'd stop and make peace with my weight, and never diet again. It really was my last chance saloon. So by the end of the initial 10 weeks, I'd lost 21 lbs, and been inspired by people like ASD* who were showing me what was possible. So I just kept going. And going :). I've made peace with the fact this needs to be for life for me. Carbs made me sick and fat - and I wasn't guzzling junk, I ate mostly unrefined carbs and fruit. I followed the standard dietary advice, and it made me ill. This time last year, I was wearing a size 22 and starting to need a 24. Now all my clothes are a 12 or 14, with a couple of roomier styles in a 10. I run 5k three times a week. I've dumped my terrible bio hair (flare ups of alopecia over decades) for some stunning wigs. Life is hopeful again.

So many really inspirational stories. Cherries I love hearing you write about your journey.

The Keto fairy seems to have been hard at work last night for lots of people. She visited me too - I've broken through the 94kg mark to 93.6kgs! I am tantalisingly close to having lost exactly a stone since I started in November. I've been down to 92kgs last month, but that was because I lost about 5lbs due to the flu, so didn't really count.

On the skiing front I have emailed the travel agent to see if we can cancel the cancellation.

Hey Everyone! So happy to hear everyone who is in the zone and getting results!

I'm just putting together my weekly shopping order and planning food for next week when I realised, it's both pancake day and Valentines day next week!
I'm going to look for some nice keto pancake recipes to have with ham and cheese I think.
As for V.Day meal, maybe a really good fillet steak with celeriac dauphinoise and champagne? Fortunately my DH is following LCHF aswell so won't be wanting any sugary stuff either. Anyone else going to be cooking up some LC treats next week?

Thanks ilovecherries, that is inspiring. I seem to have dodged the type 2 bullet so far, but my diet sounds not as good as yours was. I always ate plenty of fruit and veg but was very partial to anything sugary. And wine. And scooby snacks when drinking wine.

I'm on day 8 of my modified version today, although to be honest I've not eaten much fruit and am aiming towards green veg. Not feeling any discernible improvement in anything but I have an eternal chesty cough and had a very bad episode with my knee last week. I guess if those 2 factors were removed I'd be feeling a bit sunnier.

BadlyParkedRangeRover: I did not know that! I always let it go for 24 hours and have been known to start it off again and let it run for a few hours more. For a woman that loves very sweet things I also like very tart things :)

Something was definitely going on last night! I'm down a pound this morning and the scales did flirt with going down 2lbs initially. So thats 7lbs off since beginning of Jan. Very pleased.

I'm shattered today as I went to a sj schooling thing last night and didn't get home until midnight!