Week 4 - Low Carb Bootcamp - already a month!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Here's the Spreadsheet

The link should open on the rules rather than just the spreadsheet because I rather think some of you need a reminder!

@Dia12 - you asked about water. Do you not know how much you should be drinking? If you don't know, then that tells me that you haven't read (or remembered) the rules!

Seriously - drinking the water is really important. That's why it's one of the rules.

So we're in week 4 - remember, this one has a reputation (along with its evil twin week 3) for being a week where weight loss is limited or even unlikely. Don't despair if you don't see any loss this week. As long as you're following the rules, you will be fine.

And remember - it's not all about the scales! Take your measurements, or try on something that was too tight a month ago, and you'll get a much more realistic idea about your progress.

I'm away for the next three days, visiting my best friend, so don't really know a) what's going to happen on the food front and b) how often I'll be able to post. I should have wifi on the train, but after that - who knows! I'm travelling first class though, so looking forward to my fried breakfast this morning.

I hope you all have a very good week.

@dia12 I think that week 1 and 2 are often bigger weight losses because you are using up the glycogen stores in your body. Each gram of glycogen is associated with another 3-4g of water. So low carb means the glycogen is used up (and not replaced) and water is lost too.

Sometimes people criticize low-carb losses saying 'it's mostly water' but it is water associated with glycogen, which is part of the adaptation to using fat instead of glucose for energy, and so it is an important loss, and a worthwhile one.

It can take a while for our bodies to adapt to this new way of metabolising food, after all we've been feeding it carbs (and therefore glucose) for years. It can take 4-6 weeks for the hormones regulating the use of fat to 'up-regulate' and work effectively. So there's a often a phase of early loss, followed by a period of adaptation, followed by effective utilisation of fat (from food and from our bodies).

It is part of why something like this 10 week bootcamp (thank you @BIWI) is so good because it supports you through those phases, hopefully into one where your body metabolism is working as it was designed to. And then to adopt this approach as an ongoing way of eating.

I read something recently which said: "As humans, we are uniquely adapted to being able to consume concentrated forms of carbohydrates in their various forms, however, for most of human existence we ate concentrated sources of carbohydrates 3-5 times a year. When fruit was ripe or we came across honey for brief periods during the year when these food sources were available, we gorged ourselves on carbohydrates and then went back to the main source of calories from animal fats (including grubs) and leafy vegetables. The typical western diet nowadays consumes carbohydrate or sugars 3-5 time a day, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. This means that the system of insulin regulation is working constantly, and hard, rather than only a few times each year."

I liked that - it gave me comfort to know that if I come across honey in the woods I can gorge on it . But then importantly to return to the better way of allowing my body to function with higher fat, moderate protein, and carbs from leafy vegetables.

Sorry to hear your having a rough time @GuyMartinsSideburns, it's always super difficult staying on track in such circumstances. Look after yourself and I hope things get easier 

Thanks for that @venusandmars, this woe is a real re-education in nutrition. My loss is just slow but like you said it is years of sugar/carb abuse!!!

I've lost another lb over the weekend, so that's 3lb this week and 8lb over the last 3 weeks. I'm really pleased with that as i'm now 12st 2lb and comfortably in my size 12-14 velvet trousers. Once i'm in the 11stones I will be close to my target weight. Just 9lb to go. Wooooo.

Not sure what my food will be like over the next few days as I have some kind of throat infection and it feels like swallowing razor blades. I had soft poached eggs for breakfast and will make some chicken soup I think for lunch.

Have a nice trip BIWI. Thanks for all your efforts :)

I was very strict last week and it paid off with a loss of nearly 3 lbs which I am very happy with.
Annoyingly it was even a pound more yesterday,not sure what happened overnight but hey ho I am gonna KOKO and see where it takes me.

I think drinking the recommended amount of water everyday helped my weigh loss.

Thank you @lurknolinger. I know from experience that it takes me a long time to lose weight (but on the plus side I don't gain weight super fast either).

My body just seems to prefer being a constant one stone overweight. I have been at my ideal weight, a couple of times through illness so obviously not sustainable and a couple of times through better diet and exercise. So I know how good it feels to be the right size and that's keeping me going.

Morning! I've about stayed the same this week. Did see a loss earlier in the week, but there was some slippage this weekend. Learning opportunity!

Apart from that, I've also found it a bit harder this week. I'd been trying to extend overnight fasting to closer to 16:8 rather than the 14:10 that I have been doing, but I found that meant I was eating fewer vegetables. Trying to eat at school with whatever was available also means I'm eating less fat - and then I feel hungry. Finally, had some wobbliness and almost cramping - need to incorporate some electrolytes (but not the dioralyte that I drank on Sunday before noticing it's mainly glucose ). In the first two weeks I'd eaten salmon, avocado and spinach (good sources of magnesium) but not so much this week.

Therefore:

• brought food today for lunch, will just get veggies to go with from canteen
• will look for electrolyte powder recommendation and purchase some
• will focus on the rules this week!

B - ff yoghurt
L - eggs, mayonnaise, avocado and salad
D - Smoked mackerel, celeriac remoulade and salad

Back to boot camp proper for me then. DP is away for the next 2 weekends, which should make it easier!

I'm down 2lbs today, which I'm very pleased with after bobbing around nothing last week - it was actually 4lbs down on Saturday but am groggy with cold and remedies and lack of sleep. My graph must look like an alpine range these last few weeks, but as long as it's heading roughly down to sea-level that's fine by me

Mother what about making your own low carb granola? There are loads of different recipes out there.

Dia the reason weight loss slows down around weeks 3 and 4 is due to water retention caused by a temporary increase in anti-diuretic hormone which masks the weight loss. So even though you're still losing fat you don't lose weight until the hormone levels drop again and the extra water weight is lost.

Checking in to the new thread. Not posting weight today. Hoping some extra water today will make help

1lb up for me, fallen victim of the week 3/4 that @BIWI has been warning about. But and this is a big but, previously that would have resulted in a case of the fuckits but I just don’t feel that way on this woe. Thinks because I don’t see it as a diet and because there are so many other lovely benefits. I had a great nights sleep last night for instance.

Congrats for all the losses and the nsv’s. I’ll be koko like a bad ass this week!

There's a recipe for low carb granola on the recipe threads - it's a Rose Elliott recipe and it's really tasty

2lb down! Very encouraging after last week's stall.

No difference yet in my clothes, but all my bloating has gone and my reflux has almost disappeared.

Struggling to drink enough, though.

It appears I have a cheese problem, how can I fix it? DH bought a 300g blick of cheese on Saturday afternoon and between then and yesterday evening I have half of it. Not even in meals but as snacks. That is a lot of extra calories on top of what I'm already eating. I am eating plenty of other fat (avocado/olive oil/butter/little bit of cream cheese/cream) so why do I reach for the cheese at 9pm?

P.s. I love cheese

Another 1lb off for me, Ive been crap with water this week.
I find it much harder when its cold.

@StuntNun @BIWI thank you! I think that's a weekend job

I also have a sudden urge for nice ham with butter... shame I'm at work... wonders if canteen will sell one slice of ham

1lb down to 203 , so going the right direction this week. February has to be my month.

Sometimes people criticize low-carb losses saying 'it's mostly water' — despite my current struggles, to date I’ve lost 33lbs on this woe; I did not have 33lbs of ‘mostly water!’ Nor is my next 43lbs left to lose ‘mostly water.’ Such a ridiculous attitude to LCHF.

@venusandmars the excerpt about fruit/honey etc was very interesting. Did your material happen to address root vegetables and their consumption, back in ye olden days?

@BIWI, @StuntNun, @anybodywhoknowstheanswer what happens to alcohol when used in cooking, in terms of carb content? I do quite a few sauces based in stock, butter, cream, but also wine. Because, ya know, they’re fecking gorgeous to eat. I am a Sauce Queen.

I’m staring at a goulash pressure cooker recipe right now that would be delicious over fried courgette strips rather than the fat noodles I usually use, but it uses a cup of red wine.

The lasagne I make is very light on tomatoes but very heavy on red wine. It’s really more of an orgasmically rich, meat and multi-cheeses bake but it is lush lush lush. (None of this wussy mozzarella and barely any bechamel, but glorious gruyére, enticing emmenthal, and excitingly extra sharp cheddar—oooh, salivating now )

Anyway, I don’t think cooking with alcohol is an issue at this stage, but wondering more if the cooking changes the chemistry.

Congrats to all who have lost and to those KOKO and chin(s) up to those struggling. We will all get there if we persevere.

Mostly thanks for all the humour—there are some very funny posters this bootcamp.

@ShagMeRiggins You can't laud your own lasagne like that and not give the recipe! And don't be giving me any of that "oh, it's evolved over time, so I've no idea of the quantities" bollocks

2.6lbs down. Because I'm in easy week 5, rather than awful weeks 3 and 4.

@BIWI I would probably have given up because I wasn't losing, thanks for encouraging the KOKO!

@ShagMeRiggins

Nothing happens to the carbs in alcohol during cooking. The only carbs there in the first place are the residual sugars from the fermentation process (i.e. the sugars that haven't turned into alcohol). The alcohol will to some extent evaporate (depending on the length of cooking time), but the carbs will remain constant. I think.

I could do with something orgasmically rich .

I'd quite like the lasagne recipe too.

@SlinkyDinkyDoo As per the Week 1 thread, there's a recipe floating about for Luther slathered in butter. Might be worth a try?

Love that response to @shagme’s lasagna @slinkydinkydoo!!

I would definitely love Luther slathered in butter!!!

I'm not going to make my water target today as I cant swallow very well and every sip is bloody agony. I have a rather disconcerting golf ball sized lump on the left side of my neck.