Week 10 - Low Carb Bootcamp - the finish line is in sight!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

So we finally reach the last week.

I feel that this Bootcamp has been a pretty successful one overall, with lots of SVs and NSVs.

Next Monday will be our final weigh-in, so there's one more week to lose some of that pesky fat.

I hope it's a good week for you all

ilove - I can totally understand how this has come about. I'm also familiar with coping mechanisms, though of a different kind. This may be a really stupid idea but could you try drawing a picture of yourself how you think you look, and then another from a photo of yourself or by looking in the mirror, and really study how you actually are?

I found this article about how we lost weight which was really interesting. Thought others might like a read.

Stunt - I know all calories aren't equal, but I was wondering if the same is true for carbs, as it seems to be for me. I can quite happily have a treat of a biscuit, or a piece of fruit, and that's me. No need for any more (except on one of the rare occasions when I'm craving sugar, but that's rare these days). However, if I happen to have bread or pasta it's completely different. Last night, for eg, I had a small serving of spaghetti as there was too much to put on DP's plate, and a square inch of garlic bread, and the floodgates opened. A pear, orange and two chocolate truffles later and I was still not satiated. Is there a reason for this?

Thank you stunt first day of it yesterday and seems to be coming it at around that. I am having to fight my instincts that the amount of fat I’m eating is ‘bad’ - first time I’ve seen it all written down since staring this woe!

Time I already knew that but I still find it amazing that fat is turned into carbon dioxide and water. I routinely weigh a kilogram heavier in the evening than in the morning so I'm losing most of that weight just by breathing through the night the rest goes in my first wee of the morning!

On the carbs front they are definitely not all equal. Everybody has a different insulin response to different foods. So one person could eat ice cream and it wouldn't make much difference to their insulin and blood glucose levels. Whereas another might have an ice cream and everything goes haywire. Also is there any possibility that you're sensitive to wheat? Sometimes food intolerances cause you to crave the very food that you react to. Whatever the reason, you know to avoid bread and pasta like the plague but the occasional sweet treat won't derail you.

Thanks, Stunt. That's really interesting about the insulin response. I don't think I am wheat sensitive as I was tested for coeliac disease last year when I was trying to figure out what my IBS-ish symptoms were all about and it came back negative. And, bizarrely, I don't get the carb hunger with things like biscuits or cake (though I do react to the sugar in them - light-headedness and the IBS, I eventually cracked it myself). The body is a strange, yet wondrous, thing!

It is strange to think that most of what we lose comes out our lungs, isn't it? It somehow shouldn't. Last time I lost lots of weight by walking 8 miles a day I used to picture a trail of fat up the side of the road. No I suppose I shall have to think of it as being a cloud above the treadmill. Lovely image!

I'm convinced that different carbs have a different impact on the body, simply from my own experience. (I know that one person does not data make!)

Bread, for me, produces the most hideous 'crash', leading to shakes and a general uncomfortable, space feeling.

Here's an interesting piece.

This is about the impact of a low carb diet (i.e. positive effect) on a fatty liver.

Time if you've had IBS then I can practically guarantee that you have a problem with wheat or dairy (or both). I have a friend who is a nutritional therapist and she reckons at least 90% of the people she sees have a problem with one or both of those. Coeliac is completely different to non-IgE wheat sensitivity so your coeliac test last year wouldn't pick it up. The only way to test it is by eliminating wheat from your diet. When I had IBS I always had a flare after eating spaghetti bolognese which I assumed was the acidity of the tomatoes not realising the spaghetti was the culprit.

I've noticed that wheat makes my tummy bloated and gave me flatulence, both of which have gone on this diet. Another thing that often happened when I ate wheat is that my heart would beat really fast! And I'd often feel tired and sluggish afterwards. I definitely feel better not eating it!

I absolutely feel better without bread and pasta. In fact that was the first thing I noticed on this woe - my ibs improved by about 90% within two weeks. I get the occasional flare up now, maybe once every 2-3 weeks whereas before I struggled to get out of the house most mornings. I also wondered about dairy, because I cut my milk back to zero but I can eat cream, (one coffee a day), cheese (couple of times a week) and butter (most days) with impunity.

Stunt another thank you re the macros. I didn’t know where to find that. Is MFP the best way to work out what I am getting? I don’t have that but I think I need to understand what I am doing.

I also think I am addicted to chocolate 😢 it’s the one thing I don’t seem to be able to let go of.

rhod glad to hear you are doing so well and dancing!

ilove I think there is so much that goes on in our minds about our relationship to our bodies. There is a Dove YouTube (I think) video that shows mostly women being asked to describe their faces to an artist who then draws what they tell him. When others describe the same person and he draws that and the difference is marked. So many see themselves with flaws that others don’t see. It is very moving to see their reactions. I might be able to find it.

Here we go
m.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk

I hope that’s it

And while I’m about it here’s Maya Angelou reacting her poem Phenomenal Woman 🙂
m.youtube.com/watch?v=VeFfhH83_RE

Reciting obvs

Evening all.

Struggling a bit tonight. I've had a really busy day. Had a working lunch, and was only able to pick the chicken from inside a sandwich, then eventually got to Lidl at about 4pm. By that stage I was craving chocolate, but managed to resist. Snacked on macadamias, egg mayo and salami - all LC, but it felt a bit out of control.

Went back to work, and was looking for some paperwork I couldn't find, which prompted a massive filing session (I am very, very poor at filing - think at least 4 years since I have done any meaningful filing, but I take this as sign of my continuing manic energy from LC). Shredded a fuck load of paper.

Didn't get in from work until 8.30, then had to deal with a family issue which has left me feeling stressed and in need of prosecco along with more egg mayo.

So today:
B: (thank goodness I had some, otherwise it would have been curtains later) 2 bacon, 1 poached egg. Coffee w AM&C
L: the chicken from inside 1/2 a sandwich
S: 1/2 packet of salami from Lidl, packet of salted macadamias, some egg mayo from Lidl
Very Late D: other 1/2 of the salami, rest of the egg mayo, a bit of cheddar, prosecco

I love the fact that this woe is able to make us really think about those deep seated feelings in a completely new way.

beryl it sounds like you did the best you could under the circumstances and tomorrow is a new day.

Food today:
B: 2 x eggs scrambled with butter
L: chicken thighs with buttered veg
D: steak with a Philly sauce, spinach and broccoli
S: some olives and a pack of pork scratchings

Morning all.

Well I've been away since Monday and managed to stay low carb,..

Except....

Mon night half a glass of white wine.
Tues night, two glasses of white wine.
Last night, five glasses of white wine, they were small, and yup, I fell off the low carb wagon and had a chocolate profiterole thing, was covered in chocolate mouse with cream inside, and a tiny baclava.

First time I've fell of the wagon since dec 31. Back on it today. Fortunately I fly back later today.☺️

I will have a challenging day today. I'm going to a talk after work which is about food, and no doubt there will be samples to try. But it's a "health" themed do so hopefully there will be no big temptations. Later on I'm at a party - sandwiches and hopefully cocktail sausages, I can probably swerve the cakes and biscuits.

I've had a smoked salmon and tomato breakfast and will have cottage cheese salad for lunch, with a boiled egg and some radishes and olives to snack on.

Today marks a week since I've been trying this, and I'm amazed that I haven't reached for a bar of chocolate!

Morning all, Im trying to catch up on your earlier threads, but I was just wondering how you have all got on this bootcamp, seeing as it's almost over?

Yesterdays food -
B - buttery eggs
L - cheese salad
D - sausages (LC), buttered leeks, celeriac chunks, shallots

Morning!

News from the dark side: yesterday I had a celebration lunch with a friend, all good on the food side (steak tartare, mmmm), but including a small brandy, a glass of red wine, and half a chocolate pudding.

Not the biggest chocolate fiend anyway (wine and crisps are my downfall), BUT the amazing thing is that it felt like the most luxurious indulgence that I was capable of stopping at any point. I genuinely didn't want another glass of wine, nor could face finishing that pudding. I stopped because I wanted to, and had had enough.

When I think of the quantities that previously constituted a binge, this is eye-opening. I guess when people talk about 'a little in moderation', this is what they mean - a little feels like a lot when you're not used to it.

Don't know what it's done to my weight, as the boiler packed up last night and it's far too cold to fanny about naked in the bathroom. Am fighting a strong urge to spend the day on the sofa* in front of the fire, but have things to do so must resign myself to the cold. Fortunately, I bought Boycat a heated mat when he was seriously ill, as he couldn't keep himself warm, so he's sorted.

• disclaimer: my sofa is deeply uncomfortable, so not a massive problem to overcome that urge.

Remember to get lots of fat in there, Melanie!

Mozart MFP is easy to use although it isn't always tremendously accurate. Craving chocolate can be a sign of magnesium deficiency which is apparently really common because it gets depleted in soil over time. I started taking a magnesium glycinate supplement and I've stopped craving chocolate and I'm also a lot less fatigued in the evening.

I need coffee. I read Bluntness's "tiny baclava" as "balaclava".

TerfsUp, I wonder what the carb count of a balaclava might be? Possibly a lot of fibre in there

I thought I’d post a couple of pics of me in the same shirt. First one taken in 21 October so a couple of weeks into my boot camp, second this morning. Excuse the serious face on the second, I was concentrating- not good at mirror pics!

That’s brilliant news about your boiler, Athel, you have no excuse not to go for a run, now. That will soon warm you up!

Rshard Thant’s amazing! It fits so much better now. Not long before it’s too big.