Week 3 - decision-making time!

[AthelstaneTheUnready]

Welcome to week 3!

As BIWI's away, she asked if I would start the week 3 thread. I've stolen her words from a previous week 3, as it's such a good explanation of bootcamp v. bootcamp light.

Waswitty light and mild olive oil is better for mayonnaise as it isn't so strongly flavoured. Avocado oil or cold-pressed rapeseed oil might also work well but try to avoid polyunsaturated oils such as sunflower oil or regular rapeseed oil as they are very highly processed and pro-inflammatory. You can also use rendered bacon fat to make 'baconnaise' or even butter but I have heard that you need to mix hard fats with some liquid oil to get the best results.

So, food for today...
1pm - 150g Greek yogurt
4:30pm - 100g Greek yogurt
6:15pm - 3 sausages, fried egg and roasted 🍆 aubergine with baby tomatoes and feta.

Put it all in MFP, 1400cals, 76% fat, 7% carbs, 17% protein.

Looking at the nutrients section I'm not getting much iron so will take supplements. I've noticed this before, even when I have lots of greens and red meat my iron is never anywhere near what it should be. Calcium pretty low too, despite all the yogurt and the feta.

Does anyone else take supplements, and if so which ones? I have a tendency to go through a phase, buy stuff then take it for a few days and forget!

After my strop Monday I ate a cupcake and then today another one. Meals I’ve stuck to low carb (for example today B Scrambled eggs, L Tuna salad) but I’ve not really had any fat.

I’m going to do another two weeks of proper Bootcamp and give it a real go - maybe I was unfair after two weeks - the lack of energy running was getting me down but let’s be honest even if LCHF isn’t the answer cake is equally not the answer.

Let’s see how it goes

Athelstane

@Gammeldragz I've noticed this before too but if you look at individual items on MFP often the iron and nutrients aren't listed in the nutritional info, I think it's because a lot of packaging doesn't have it on so people don't record it when putting values into MFP. If you eat a bit of red meat and a decent amount of green veg you'll be getting enough I'm sure. Be wary of taking iron tablets as they can make you very dizzy and nauseous, they do with me.

@RuffleBelly welcome back

I'm glad you're giving it another go and we'll draw a veil over the cupcakes but please make sure you up your fat. It is really important.

I know it's hard, because it goes so much against the ingrained view that Fat Is Bad - but it really is important.

Good luck!

My truly wonderful friend brought me a present of some lovely prosecco, fancy shortbread and salted caramel chocolate macadamia nuts. It will have to wait until after bootcamp.

redpanda yes I did remember that after posting as I've had this conversation with myself before. I give blood and my iron is usually fine, though the last time it was borderline and that's when I was low carb... However I eat more green veg when LC so probably isn't related.

Hello ladies! I’m back home and can hopefully get back to normal BC. I thought last night’s frenzy would have finished me off but tonight, after a long day, I’ve only gained 2.5lb and am a bit constipated!

I did Atkins a few years ago and found some Keto sticks in the cupboard and I still have trace ketones, so hopefully I won’t get a horrid carb flu despite the badness of yesterday. I’m glad I kept them, it helped to remind me I haven’t totally blown it.

Thank you @StuntNun! That's great x

You might remember I posted about DP last week being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He's sticking religiously to the plan with me and has lost 7 lbs since starting last Tuesday. Gone are the filled rolls, the litres of fat fizzy juice and family sized chocolate bars he used to eat every day. He's loving the food, and looking better. Just like the rest of us, he's KOKO. And he says thanks to you all.

Dinner tonight was snacks.. an avocado mashed with a little cider vinegar salt and pepper, , 3 Leerdammer cheese slices and a roast chicken wing.. Random.. and not all eaten at the same time..

tomorrow I am taking DS (5)out for the day and taking a picnic. ill have HB eggs and chicken with some veggies.

Planning to take the girls out to Cheltenham for the day tomorrow which will mean lunch out. The small one will demand McDonald’s no doubt so after racking my brains I remembered that there’s a Pret A Manger there. Just been looking at their website, they do an awesome looking range of salads most of which seem to be from 6-9g carbs.

I’ve no doubt that it will cost a fortune but it’s probably the only day out we’ll have in half term.

@redpandamama I'm 5'7" and 30HH. My happy weight is about 10stone, at which I was a size 10 (although only Bravissimo clothing goes near my top half). I still had flabby bits but my weight seemed to stabilise naturally at 10st and it was easy to maintain without any particular effort. So that's my target to get back there. I used to be anorexic so I'm hoping my weight will level off again when I get there as I don't want to go any lower.

@qumquat good luck! And well done overcoming the anorexia. I've struggled with bulimia for 8 years and know how hard it is to tell that nasty little voice in your head to get lost. Hope you reach your happy weight

Morning all, I wore a new dress to work yesterday and got lots of compliments on it. Oh lovely I hear you say but the best bit is I bought it nearly 2 years ago and it was always on the slightly snug side. Wore it happily yesterday! I have a spa treatment in mind for my first mini goal. This is keeping me focused on the harder days (exam stress is getting to me a bit!).

@Goodasgoldilox

That's really important - that a successful WOE becomes the new normal! If you simply revert back to high carb eating when you reach target, then the result is totally predictable: you'll re-gain the weight.

So it's a really positive thing that you see this as your new normal, but also that you can accommodate deviations when appropriate!

@LeavingTheSandBehind - those compliments, as well as the clothes fitting better, make it all worthwhile, don't they! Good luck with the exams - what are you taking?

@qumquat everything I've read suggests that your body won't (or shouldn't) go below an optimum weight on low carbing, as you're burning fat rather than muscle mass. But please, please, please, keep an eye on your eating and any compulsions as you near your target.

@clare8allthepies - Pret is good for low carb options; the Italian Chicken salad is one of my favourites. Enjoy your day!

@Justmuddlingalong - great news! Get your DH to come and join us!!!

End of the month so here is my graph: it uses averages for each month, daily weigher. For those who haven't seen it before, the mountain peak is DS, born at the start of October! I started 2018 exactly the same weight as first weigh in, one week after birth. My normal low-ish carb diet was just maintaining the new status quo of 141lbs (BMI 24.9). I got strict in Jan and found bootcamp at the end of the month: biggest drop is Feb where the BC rules really helped me focus and I learned loads from the threads. Steady progression since, back into my wardrobe and under 9 stone but not quite to goal yet; would be quicker but I'm not always that strict I ate a scone yesterday

Fantastic progress Rayna , well done!

@BIWI or @StuntNun, or indeed any other LCHF experts out there... I'm sure this has been asked before so apologies in advance, but what is with the (albeit relatively mild) hangover type symptoms every morning? I'm NOT drinking alcohol but am drinking my 3L of liquid every day and eating proper BC food. I am probably fat adapted by now (in week 8). I am doing IF if that makes a difference? Every morning, after a brilliant nights sleep (and no loo trips) I wake up parched, tired and with a low level headache. Not the best start to the day - what can I do to wake up feeling great? TIA

June I would say electrolyte imbalance. I can't drink the recommended amount of water without adding electrolytes. I was using the High5 Zero electrolyte drink tablets which are brilliant but I've had to stop using them as I've completely cut out artificial sweeteners now. Instead I've been using this electrolyte powder which is pretty cheap from Amazon. I add one scoop (1g) to a pint of water and there are 100g in the pack so that's only 4p per pint. It makes a big difference to me, I drink a pint of this and it keeps me hydrated rather than causing me to pee a lot more! It doesn't taste that bad, there's a faintly brackish/milky flavour to the water but you could easily mask that by adding a couple of slices of lemon, lime, orange, strawberry or cucumber. It works really well with the fruit teabag in a 2 litre bottle of fizzy water except it's tricky to get it into the bottle without it fizzing over. I put the fruit teabag in the bottle then put two scoops of electrolyte powder into the cap, whack it on, and screw it down quickly! The powder dissolves completely in fizzy water whereas in still water it tends to sink to the bottom of the glass.

Thanks @StuntNun. I use the zero tabs when I do a HIIT class but as it's half term there hasn't been any classes so I've not been taking any - which supports your theory! Will have some today... I do take a magnesium supplement and use Himalayan salt (a lot!) but clearly that's not enough.

Morning all, it's nice to hear all the positive happy stories, proves this woe is working.

June I'm the same, interestingly I didn't get this on the blood sugar diet which I did for 3 weeks in March, but I was having one protein shake a day, Maybe they were filled with salt? It goes after a short while though and this is much easier than the BSD so a small price to pay.

It's my birthday today and I've no interest in going off plan. None of the usual stuff interests me. I'll probably have a couple of small gin at the weekend but that's it. After having two glasses of wine and one tiny gin and feeling plastered and hungover the next day my beloved wine is no longer missed

It's quite possible to drink plenty of water but not absorb enough to keep you hydrated. It's even more likely in the first weeks of going low carb because your kidneys will be flushing electrolytes at a higher rate due to the sudden decrease in insulin levels. If you're drinking loads of water but still thirsty / feel like the water isn't wet enough / waking up simultaneously thirsty and needing to pee then it's worth trying adding electrolytes to your water. An alternative is to add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice for potassium (it can be bottled lemon juice, it doesn't have to be fresh) to your water.

hi everyone

Had a few blips in the past few days - more than a few non-BC friendly foods. Not as far as bread/pasta (which I really don't crave AT ALL any more, what a change!) but a few rice cakes, biscuits. But it didn't make me feel good at all. Back on plan today and hopefully won't have caused much damage - hopefully i can still get a loss at WI on Monday.

Today's food plan:

B: none (16:8 fasting)
L: Pret Italian Chicken Salad
S: slice edam
D: not sure yet - possibly leftover bolognese with some green veg/butter