Week 7 - Low Carb Bootcamp - we start our last month

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Hopefully last week's wobble with the spreadsheet has been overcome:

Here it is

And hope there aren't too many wobbles on the LCHF front either!

It's an absolutely gorgeous day here, and seems like all of this week is going to be glorious. (Well, Darn Sarf it is anyway!)

I hope that you all have a good day food-wise too. Somehow it always seems easier when it's salad/barbecue weather, to stay on the low carb track.

Good look and here's to another successful week

m0therofdragons aww you poor thing, that's rotten. At least you've lost your appetite so won't miss the food!

Also agree about the heat being much easier to deal with now I’m lighter ilove

Yuck m0therofdragons

Ilovecherries inspiration from the bc yoda again, don't ever disappear to maintenance you and gammeldragz are needed here. I would have given up again this bc if it hadn't been for your posts and photos.

Rayna sympathy for the insect bites, they suck quite literally

Today I've been making bunting for the wedding, hanging dog roses up to dry for the wedding and I've make 3 dozen chocolate muffins, a large chocolate cake and two trays of pumpkin seed and orange flapjacks all for the cast of a musical written by my friends husband.

One small muffin fell into my mouth accidentally I'd popped it in without even registering that it was being eaten. At least it was naked and hadn't been coated in frosting.

Stunt I know I don't hit anywhere near 1200 calories, I am trying to eat more but it's hard when I just never feel hungry. I think this is a hangover from the extreme low calorie diet the hospital put me on prior to last year's surgery.
I have in the past gone for three days on just drinks. It does make me really resent the extra lbs even more though.

Faced the gym bitches again today, I went for a swim which was lovely and my disability seems to give me the magic power of making people who used to be my friends leave the pool.

Food today:

B 2 eggs with butter creamy coffee
L 3 egg omelette
D pork chop FLGV

Accident 1 small naked chocolate muffin

3 litres of water at least

Blimey seafour you bounce back quickly!

Rshard Zero electrolyte tablets I got them in Lidl for £2.99, available elsewhere.

10am - Greek yogurt, cream, strawberries and flaxseed mix
1pm - Lettuce, cucumber, chorizo and camembert
4pm - same as breakfast but smaller
6pm - chili con carne, spinach and soured cream.

My first post on this thread so thank you BIWI for the new thread.

Sorry to hear your news Seafour but I agree with others, your positivity is inspirational.

I’m feeling a little disheartened with it all to be honest. I lost well in the first few weeks but am not only stalling but this morning was over a lb heavier than I was at LAST Monday’s weigh in. No idea why i’m stalling for a full two weeks. Is it usual to stalk for so long even with loads left to lose (talking 5 stone!) I haven’t been a carby twat even once and am drinking at least my required amount every day. Just a bit fed up but will KOKO.

@Divette - weight loss isn't linear, sadly, and it's not uncommon to go for a while without losing anything and suddenly dropping 3lbs.

But list out for me what you've been eating and drinking over the last few days and let me see if there's anything I can spot.

Thanks BIWI! So I have similar things most days and the last few days have been:

B: Coffee and cream
L: Tuna mayonnaise with salad

These are the same every day and I do enjoy my lunch.

Dinners have been:
Low carb sausage with cauli cheese
Pork belly with broccoli and butter
Chicken thighs with skin on and flgv

I only drink sparkling water with a fruit tea bag in and make sure I have over the 3.5l every day.

I did go through a phase of having ff Greek yoghurt and thick cream as ‘dessert’ most days but have stopped that over a week ago.

I have lost almost a stone but feel it’s properly stalled at the mo and some days i’ve gone up a couple of pounds (not time of the month)

Thanks for any advice!

I've still 4 or 5 stone to lose Divette and my weight goes up and down a couple of pounds all the time. From what I've always understood It's normal for weight to fluctuate and it doesn't mean we've gained weight.
I've "only" lost a pound each of the last two weeks and they felt hard won losses as my weight had varied inbetween both Mondays by as much as 3 pounds as it did since last Mondays.
I think while losing weight we're conditioned by the diet industry to see results on a weekly basis which isn't at all accurate.
While putting on weight I can remember the reverse of what Biwi says happening. I would sometimes get away for weeks with over indulging and not see any gains and bam, one morning I'd have gained 4 pounds. what Biwi says makes sense and explains why people have unexpected losses when they feel aren' deserved that week, but it's probably reflecting previous efforts.

Today's meals
B: yogurt with cream
L: bacon, 2 eggs, 1 small tomato, loads of mushrooms fried in butter, and lettuce.
Dinner: home made bolognaise (12 percent mince, small amount of red pepper, mushroom, shallots, and courgettes) with green beans instead of pasta
Snacks: cucumber slices with pate on, 2 sticks celery with wholenut peanut butter. Was really hungry today.

Last time I lost weight was in 2014 - 5. I lost 2 stone on a shakes diet. I am ashamed to say I managed to put on 3 stone since Summer 2015. I feel like this is more sustainable for the long term. I have been dieting since I was 24 years old - half my life - and it is genuinely the first time I have managed to lose the sugar craving. So grateful to you all.

Gammeldragz my activity is deceptive, I always have help fetching and carrying stuff, lifting, even opening the oven. So when I describe what I've done it does involve a fair amount of other people's effort too. Sewing is the one thing I can do alone but I even had some help with that today, so yes better and keeping busy so that I don't overthink stuff.

I’m glad you are home again, Seafour, and hope you are managing to enjoy wedding prep.

I can report that my sodding keto itch seems back with avengence. My abdomen is on fire and I’m covered in E45 and necking antihistamines. Doctor suggested a few months back when I got myself in a state that the itch was something more serious that I track what happened immediately before and after it starting to see if there was a pattern emerging. In the past it has always followed a period of lower than normal carb intake (last week’s bug, I guess, when I just could not eat my usual FTGV and lived on eggs), and has always been followed by about a 4 lbs loss. I’m hoping this might be the case again. Meanwhile, I am trying not to rip my skin off.

@Divette

So am I right - you've lost nearly a stone in 6 weeks? And you're not happy with that?!

I think you need to take a step back, and get a better sense of perspective.

From where I'm looking, I think you've done brilliantly! Don't be impatient. The weight didn't go on quickly so it's not going to come off quickly.

Your meals look fine, by the way, so you're doing everything right!

Thank you BIWI
I realise my post might make me sound like a spoilt brat and an ungrateful twat and I don’t mean to be. I’m SO SO pleased with the loss so far and I suppose I just needed reassurance it will still happen and I just need to hold on. Like lots of us i’ve battled with weight loss for years and i’ve never experienced a stall for a couple of weeks before. I’ve done a little bit of reading tonight (work stress keeping me awake!) to get some perspective and the advice seems to be unless you’re not moving weight or measurement-wise for a month, then it’s not a stall yet. So I’ll just KOKO and stop being a sulky brat wanting it all NOW.

Thanks BIWI

Divette this is my graph from part of last year, I was losing well overall but day to day and week to week the variations are very up and down and it's easy to lose perspective.

Love that graph, Gammel! I have similar lurches up and down in my weight, but I could tag each lurch with a misdemeanor, so perversely that strengthens my confidence that I just need to KOKO and any bumps will smooth out along the way.

Divette how long has that work stress been around and keeping you awake? The link between stress and lack of sleep affecting weight loss is pretty clear—I’m wondering if this could be a contributing factor.

Hi all, I've been hiding since Monday. Can I ask about portion size? For example, breakfast. Basically I had 2 boiled eggs with smoked salmon on Tuesday and a friend was over and said wow that's a lot of food I couldn't eat 2 boiled eggs. Is that really loads? I didn't think it was. It was half a pack of smoked salmon but DD ate about a 3rd of it.

M0ther I don't log either but I write out what I am having for B/L/D and snacks for the week and keep it on the fridge door as I would fall off the wagon if I didn't.

I don’t think that’s a lot 3stone, I often have 2 or 3 eggs scrambled with smoked salmon - keeps me full until lunch time

No it's not a lot @3stonedown, especially on a low carb diet as that's good protein and fat and barely any carbs.

Your friend is probably coming at it from a low calorie perspective! (But that said, even if you're calorie counting that won't have been a lot)

This WOE isn't about deprivation. It's about eating good quality, low carb food until you've satiated your appetite.

Thanks for the reassurance BIWI and Rshard. I started second guessing myself, particularly as it's my TOTM so I've gained about 0.5 a pound and then thought maybe it's because I'm being gluttonous. I'll stick to 2 eggs as I find I am nice and full and keeps me going til lunch.

A full English is a lot of food; two eggs with smoked salmon is not.

I have been known to have 3 eggs if I’m hungry! I’ve lost over 1.5stones in 6 months.
That’s a great breakfast especially if you maximise veg later in the day :)

I weighed myself this morning as I was really feeling less bloated and wanted to see if how I felt was reflected on the scales. I'm guessing I've been holding lots of water as at day 5 I've lost 5lbs. I know it's not "real" weight loss but it's definitely enough of a boost to keep me going as I'm enjoying the food I can eat.

I was a massive pasta and bread eater but I'm not even craving them. I had some dark chocolate last night and actually didn't fancy my normal Cadbury bar because I didn't want anything that sweet. That's a huge change for me as a total chocoholic.

Supermarket shop arrives later so today mostly revolves around boiled eggs and yoghurt

OMG BIWI's savoury cauliflower rice is the bomb. Everybody make it right now!

For the savoury rice/couscous, in a wok or large frying pan, fry some sliced shallots with finely chopped garlic, ginger and chilli. Add any other veg you want, also finely chopped or sliced. Mange tout, pepper, courgette all work well. While they’re cooking, wash the cauliflower, break into florets and then pulse them in a processor till it looks like grains. (If you don’t have a food processor you can just grate the cauliflower).^ Add to the pan and stir fry till cooked - only takes a few minutes. Season with some soy sauce and pepper.^

Divette it's totally normal for the weight to come off in fits and starts. On a previous Bootcamp we were talking about the "whoosh fairy" who would come to visit you in the night and take a couple of pounds away! To put it another way, not losing weight for a week or two is a fairly good sign that you are doing everything right. Have a read of this articlee* about how weight gain occurs. Weight loss works exactly the same way.

3stone I would usually have three scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. I hope you added some butter or mayo to your eggs and salmon to get your fat intake up. A boiled egg is only about 80 calories so even with a fair amount of smoked salmon that's still a relatively small breakfast. If you're feeling full until lunch then carry on as you are!