Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Here endeth the first half!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

I hope that the start of week 5 puts to rest the troublesome weeks 3 & 4, and we can get on with the job of losing weight from here on in!

Just remember that weight loss from now on will be slow and steady. Unless you have masses to lose, you should expect to see around 1-2lbs a week loss.

I hope that the scales, or the tape measure, are kind to you!

Here's to a great week

@Haworthia if you're pre-menstrual, that can definitely be playing a part. The answer to the feeling heavy/bloatedness is, I'm afraid, to drink more water

@SlinkyDinkyDoo I believe there is - a high carb diet is more likely to lead to visceral fat, therefore a low carb diet should reduce that too. Here's a piece from healthline.com that explains more

Happy week 5 all! I weighed in 500g down from last week ( I haven't done the spreadsheet - I'm not tech savvy and couldn't get it to work in week one so haven't bothered)

I'm really happy that with 500g - period is due in 3 days and usually I would be weighing in much more (bloat 😯) but have held steady!
Aim attempting to pull back on the proscuttio this week (was my favourite food before BC so am enjoying it a little too much!)

Today's foods

B - AM coffee/ avocado, goat cheese, hemp seeds, lemon juice
L - grilled steak, asparagus, salad greens, mayo + hot sauce
D - grilled haloumi, salad greens & home made guacamole

Went on a great bush walk this morning too (was nice and cool 🌤)

@VenusStarr please don't start using laxatives! Not only is it not the right way to deal with the issue, your body will soon develop a dependence on them, which will only make things worse.

Are you really, truly getting all or most of your carbs from veg and salad? Are you eating plenty of fat and drinking lots of water?

If that's not helping, then try adding a bit of fruit and some nuts/seeds - there's a great recipe for low carb granola on the recipe thread that might be helpful.

Here's the recipe:

RECIPE BY ROSE ELLIOT
Makes 8 servings at 4.4g net carbs per serving
55g unsweetened desiccated coconut
85g chopped brazil nuts
85g chopped walnuts
85g chopped almonds
85g sunflower seeds
I had 100g packets of all these nuts/seeds so just used the whole packet, and then whacked in a bit more coconut too
115g melted butter
1 tsp of cinnamon
I used slightly less than a flat teaspoon, as I'm not greatly fond of cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Some stevia to sweeten
I used vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extra and stevia - it contains sugar, so stevia isn't necessary, (as well as being artificial). I used probably a tablespoon of this
85g flax seeds I upped this to 100g match the weights of nuts/seeds

To make it:

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Put the coconut, brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds into a large bowl. Add the melted butter, cinnamon and vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract & stevia if you're using this) and mix together.
3. Transfer to a baking sheet/tray and bake in the oven for approx. 10-12 mins, stirring a few times, until golden brown . Keep an eye on it though as it'll burn easily.
4. Remove from the oven and immediately tip into a bowl, to prevent the mixture continuing to cook on the hot baking sheet, and stir in the flax seeds.
5. Once it's completely cold transfer the mixture to a storage container.

Thanks Biwi really telling to see that the low carbers not only lost more fat than the low fat-ers but were eating on average 300 calories more a day.

It does make sense that yourbody would lose the fat that is the most damaging to your body first ie the visceral. That does make me feel better. All that nasty stuff strangling my vital organs is on it's way out.

Good luck to everyone this week.

One pound up... which has pissed me off because it wasn't there over the weekend!

However, I'm keeping focussed on the other benefits, like not feeling hungry, or tired or 'wabbit' (my Scottish grandmother's favourite word for a child who was hungry, listless, tired, and needing fed). And I can still get into my Monday morning evening dress, and zip it up, and I am sure that one of my double triple chins has almost disappeared.

I don't have a lot of weight to lose (lost a lot last year) so I guess it's going to be a bit more difficult, but I've lost almost 5lbs overall, and we've still got 6 weeks to go on BC. This week I'm aiming to maximise on the 'not feeling hungry' phenomenon to look at my potion sizes. I know we don't count calories in bootcamp, but looking at some examples from Michael Mosely's fast 800, I think I'm possibly eating quite a lot overall, and if I'm not hungry, then maybe I don't need it all... In one place he suggests taking small portion knowing that you can go back for seconds - and then usually noticing that you don't need to go back for more.

I might also look at the amount of dairy I'm having...

B - avocado
L - vegetable soup with butter
D - smoked fish spinach, poached egg

That would be portion sizes, rather potion. I'm not a witch really!

Well, I survived the flight! I took a bar of 90% chocolate (Lindt does a really nice one that isn't too bitter and a few squares really hits the craving as it's very saturated as a flavour iyswim) and a packet of almonds for snacks, and had salad, cheese and lamb for dinner then slept, so avoided temptation. I distinctly remember drifting off and thinking @BIWI would be proud of me 

Congratulations to everyone who's stuck with it - we've made it past the halfway point! I've lost 4kg overall, even with the week 4 stall, and really hoping to get under 75kg as my next goal, and being able to wear my own ski jacket, rather than DH's.

Yes, definitely have a look at your portion sizes; if you haven't got much more to lose, this is a good idea.

Also, an old Slimming Magazine tip (from back in the day when I was an avid calorie counter), is to have a drink of water 15 minutes before you're going to eat.

I'm half a pound down, which I thought I would feel huffy with, but I keep focusing on the total lost so far, which is just over half a stone. And we're not even half way so I will lose more. And half a pound off is better than half a pound on!!

I've also very slowly started going out running jogging, staggering, trudging to try to get into a virtuous cycle. If I've done exercise, I'm less likely to cheat as I've still got exercise endorphins and if I'm eating well and losing weight, it's easily and less grim to exercise!

I can seriously vouch for the granola, although I had it with some double cream and a speck of dark chocolate. Technically bootcamp compatible I think, but fecking addictive so treat with caution!

Week 6 for me, TOM but still down 1.7lb.
Very happy

So, bit the bullet last night and tipped out the whole shelf of my summer outfits. 90% is pre-pregnancy and quite lovely. But thanks to my shape being different now and the weight gain, most of the clothes don’t fit at all! All the dresses ride up, I think it’s due to my rib cage being wider.

So, I’m taking myself for some quick last minute browse at TKmax to find a summer dress or a skirt to take with me on hols.
Tbh, I was quite upset after seeing myself last night, all these lovely clothes looking horrendous. I’m still the same size, but my shape just doesn’t work with the clothes I own!

Thank you for posting that recipe BIWI. I was just thinking on the way back from the shops 'what was that granola recipe that was recommended?' and then you posted it. I'm starting to feel the need for a crunch and maybe some raspberries and yogurt.

I am down a lb today. Which i'm pleased with as what with the last week I could have very easily put on weight. (people were waving lemon drizzle cake under my nose at my party on Saturday but I stayed firm. I did have four glasses of 125ml of white wine topped with soda tho).

So that's 9lb total so far.

Well done Cognitive!

I'm another one mandelinka with a ton of clothes waiting to be worn again. A lot of mine are post pregnancy though so I am hoping that most will be worn again. Having said that I am on the road to menopause and have more issues with the stomach region than 5 years ago.

But! NSV for me today as I am wearing a pair of jeans that I haven't had on since before Christmas and they are not cutting me in two. They're really too short in the leg for me (and not in a stylish 7/8 boden way, more a Trevor & Simon swing your pants way) but they were bought in desperation when I'd outgrown my previous pair. Subsequently I outgrew these but refused to buy the next size up so have been jeanless for a couple of months.

Looking foreard to other NSV

Only 1.2 lbs down for me, but it's TOTM and it's still 7.8 lbs down this bootcamp and 44 lbs down altogether.

Lots more fitting into previously unwearable clothes and gym gear this week. Annoyingly, some are already too big before I realised I could wear them....the ebay/charity pile is growing fast!

Well done all the losses, hugs for the gainers and those struggling.

@Hefzi well done on your pound off, try not to be too disappointed, you are doing so well overall just fighting the desire to binge. Congratulate yourself for that instead. The journey seems so long when you have a lot to lose, I get that, I started with 9st 5lbs to lose. I've been going for 4 months now and being actually slim still feels like forever away. But I console myself that I look a tiny bit better everyday and that my life isn't on hold until then. I'm trying to appreciate the tiny victories along the way, however frustrating it gets. But you've got it, KOKO is the only way.

Well done for perseverance everyone 👏🏼 I logged a 1lb loss....I'm about 11.5 stones now and would be so nice to get into the 10s. My 9stone goal weight does seem so far away but NSVs so far are definitely helping me stick to then plan.

Tiny loss of 0.5 lb
I guess any loss is better than a gain and I am positive about it.
Would love to get to an under 12 stones which seems to be taking forever every time I tried.Last time I managed to get there it was 5.5 years ago before my wedding...

Well done to everyone who had a loss and for everyone else well done for KOKO 😊

Morning all. Next goal reached: I'm under 14st having lost 3.8lbs this week bringing total loss to 12.4lbs. My belt is in another notch today as well. I'm pleased I KOKO'd through the ups and downs of week 3 & 4

L - Egg mayonnaise, roasted courgettes, salad leaves
D - Cooking a smoked gammon joint and serving hot with cauliflower cheese, hopefully there will be plenty of cold leftovers for tomorrow's meals.

Rediscovered an old favourite last night: Chef's Salad (very 1980s) sliced chicken, hard boiled eggs & cheese cubes on top of mixed leaves and shredded iceberg, cucumber, tomato and avocado, with hm vinagarette plus some mayo. Delish.

That picture of a lb of fat in someone's hands that BIWI posted is very impressive - to lose all of that fat in just seven days?

I have been AWOL for can't remember now due to horrendous flu bug and work trip to London. Here's a tip - never get on a plane with blocked sinuses. I thought my eyes were going to burst until, luckily, my nose sprang a leak first .

10 days' worth of flu remedies and litres of water for the cough gave me a weight gain of... wait for it... 11 lbs as of Saturday. 6 of them have gone again as of this morning, and I know the rest will go in a few days (as they're bloat/inflammation, not fat), and frankly, I don't need to be slim to lie at home dying on the sofa.

Thanks for the new thread BIWI

@Haworthia if it helps we are in the same boat with those bouncing 2lb

Love the Trevor and Simon comment @slinkydinkydoo!!

Brassica/Haworthia- I gave up dairy for a bit when I found I was yo-yoing for a while and it got me back on track. I’m still restricting it to once a week (if that), as I think I respond badly to it. It makes me really hungry and craving carbs. I find the whole experience of Bootcamp much easier without it. Don’t know if you’ve tried that, but if not, it’s not as bad as you think it will be by a long shot.

I don't need to be slim to lie at home dying on the sofa.

Wise words, Athelstane

I’m happy to report another loss, 1.4lb down this week. Finally going in the right direction.

I’ve decided to stop playing hopscotch on the scales to achieve best number and just stand on the fucking thing then take whatever number pops up.

I had a training at my HQ last week and was rrallly pleases to have organised enough for a perfect LCHF day. Had brought only lunch and a snack if necessary, so even with training running two hours over and not home until half eight there was no hunger and no need to pull over at a services in search of crap to tide me over.

Another HQ training tomorrow but struggling emotionally at the moment sonlacking the energy to prepare. Reminding myself there’s a whole lot of time left to regroup.

Taking the day off today so coffee with friends in an hour. That usually picks me up.

Well done to all of you. Please keep at this—your input helps me enormously.

to ‘hopscotch on the scale. I so do that.

I've been weighing in pants and chunky knit socks. Considered ditching the socks this morning in a desperate bid to be under 14 stone but gave myself a look and didn't.

I am sat here in my zozo suit 😂 just done the deed. Some measurements were a bit over and some a bit under what I'd recorded today with the old fashioned way of tape measure, pencil and paper. It's quite alarming to see one's rotundness in 3D. I am tempted to order some jeans - the bane of my life.

Looking forward to donning the suit again, maybe in 2 or 3 weeks and seeing what the difference is.

MrsF I loved a Chef’s Salad back in the day. Near the heights of sophistication, surpassed only by a Cobb Salad.