Week 4 - May Low Carb Bootcamp - time to KOKO!

[BIWI]

Morning all

Hopefully there will be some losses to record on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness but please don't be disheartened if you didn't lose (or even see a small gain.

Weeks 3 & 4 are notorious for this. Your body is getting used to the new regime, but if you stick to it, then you should see things get moving again from next week.

If you are struggling, make sure that you are following Bootcamp rules to the letter; consider whether or not dairy is an issue for you - and if you've moved to Bootcamp Light then perhaps consider going back to Bootcamp for another week or so?

Whatever the case, don't develop a case of the fuckits and jump head first into the biscuits. That's the only way to guarantee that you will gain weight!

@SittingontheSidelines thanks, the only problem is my bank balance! Hope you're having. Better day today.

@ShagMeRiggins I found this article on lowering LDL... www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/ss/slideshow-cholesterol-lowering-foods

Cheers for that, toots, I’ll take a look.

chocolateavocado (are there really 98 others?), do you use an app for that it just rocking your own thing like in this photo? It sounds eminently doable.

Why would the plank do anything to belly fat?

I might do the challenge but I'm a little sceptical about the photos

Walking round the field next to dc school while I wait for them to finish clubs. Avoiding the sweet shop! Busy night dropping oldest at the stables then taking dtds to the hairdresser and cat to the vets. Not entirely sure when I'll have dinner but I'm hoping to fit in a late run this evening too. Those scales will budge soon!

I do love the plank though so might just do it for fun.

Ooh I'm interested in a plank challenge too. I've been inspired by DH's self-set challenge to complete 3000 push ups before our holiday (I think over 5 weeks or so, not sure when he started) which he's done really well with. I'm also really bad at doing any exercises at home and while I might make pilates this week for the second week in a row (rare feat of consistency) there's no reason I can't fit this in daily.

Blockbuster It won't do anything to the belly fat itself but my understanding would be that if you strengthen the core muscles behind the fat it should improve the appearance! Toning up as we reduce by this WOE.

I've been doing The Shred and Ripped 4 days a week (5th day I do Pilates and I have weekends off) (don't do both in a day - I alternate them; currently on Level 3 of the Shred and will be back on to Ripped from Monday) on and off for years - and concertedly for over 6 months

I also did and completed the 30 Days Ab Challenge 5 () years ago (when I was a similar weight to I am now).

I have to say that even if I am developing a 6-pack, it's still well hidden

blockbuster, yep, my understanding is the same as Rayna’s. Not so much something that gets rid of fat, but builds core muscle and improves abdominal appearance dramatically once the fat is gone.

Mostly, I’ve come to understand that planking is one of the best and easiest things for strengthening core muscles. It’s a damn sight easier than sit-ups, which many do wrong anyway and use back muscles rather than abs.

Having a strong core helps so many other woes in our bodies—back pain, posture, even those tingly aches down the outer thigh (sciatica? No, doesn’t sound right).

Anyway, I’m going to have a look at this and be incredibly bold with photographic progress.

Pretty bird did the 30 day abs challenge make a noticeable difference?
I had great results with shred years ago but am a little afraid to do it again! Don’t think my knees would stand up to it now anyway

@ShagMeRiggins - you need @StuntNun to answer your cholesterol question.

My plank record is 6 minutes. Just saying ...

I've pigged out a bit today. Had to drop DS at his sports day but had an hour to kill before I could go in, so went to a greasy spoon for somewhere to sit and had a fry up. Got back a short while ago and had some meatza, and still have dinner to have later

B: 2 sausage, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs
L: half margarita meatza with salad
D: will be homemade burger, fried mushrooms, halloumi and more salad.

Although we dont count calories, I do log food to keep track of my carb to fat ratio and I'm surprised at how few calories I am actually consuming given the type of food I am eating. I've not been over 1500 cals until today!

With all the walking I do I am in deficit by 1000 cals a day so far this week

Not that I recall - but there again, I was already doing The Shred or Ripped (which iirc, I did in addition to the challenge), as well as doing a weekly Pilates class.

I did talk to my Pilates instructor on how to adapt some of the exercises, for the reasons that Shagmeriggins mentions, because done badly, the back takes the strain. I can't do (and don't want to do) "ordinary" sit ups, because part of my back just won't move, so my instructor suggested starting them from a slightly raised position. Ditto with leg raises or the pike - they have to be done very carefully.

At the moment, Level 3 of the Shred, I do the Sit-Ups circuit at the beginner level (ie legs extended and arms by my side) and do them as slower "roll ups" and "roll downs". When I started doing them, I also used light weights (0.5kg) in my hands as that also made them easier.

I have permanent damage to part of my pelvic floor as a result of having ds, but because I do Pilates and regular ab exercises, I don't usually suffer any consequences (unless I get too heavy ) - although I do know that I always have to hold my pelvic floor if I cough or sneeze (have lost the reflex ability).

Doing any exercise regularly does make a difference: when I started doing the Shred, there was no way I could do the full press ups and had to do them from my knees and now I can (although I don't necessarily get very low ). Similarly with the walking plank (forearm plank to straight arm plank and then back down again), when I first started doing them, I couldn't get off my forearm at all and had to revert immediately to the "on your knees" version. Now I can do them with ease if not easily

Hi everyone can I join in? I'm on day 3 of low carb and think it's going ok. Only thing is though i had mashed carrot and parsnip with dinner today, thought it was mashed turnip. Is this going to effect me big time?

you need @StuntNun to answer your cholesterol question

I do, BIWI! Or I could have just asked my doctor...but she basically said “you probably know more about LCHF than I do...”

Come on NHS, work with us!

still have dinner to have later

Grimbles, don’t eat if you’re not hungry. The food can always be used tomorrow.

Today I've had 2 low carb spicey burgers. One at lunch with leaves, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, crumbled Stilton on salad and dressed with oil and cider vineger, spot of mustard and small dollop of mayo. The one at dinner was accompanied by the same only more leaves and without the tomatoes.

I have completely recovered from yesterday's desire to eat everything within sight. Don't know what that was all about. I sometimes wonder if it's because I'm about to drop in weight and my body is resisting it, but it may just have been connected to my low mood. It felt like someone had flipped a switch. Now it's flipped back again.

MrsTaytodarling - you should be ok. Drink plenty of water and KOKO (keep on keeping on).

Stay focussed tomorrow

ShagMe there's a Facebook group called Lean Mass Hyper Responderr* run by Dave Feldman (the guy that did the experiment where he ate 5000 calories a day low carb and hardly put on any weight) which specialises in people with persistently high cholesterol levels despite a healthy diet and lifestyle. You can't just look at high LDL and assume it's all bad though; it is possible to have high LDL within a lipid profile that doesn't indicate an increased risk of heart disease. So you need to review HDL, total cholesterol and triglycerides as well as LDL to get the context. What medicine are you taking to lower your cholesterol?

As an aside I've always been fortunate to have a good lipid profile but after I went low carb my triglyceride level (the amount of free fat in the blood) dropped to below the level the test could measure accurately. Normal is less than 1.70 nmol/l and mine was 0.22 nmol/l. I think as a consequence of being in a fat-burning state any fat in your blood gets hoovered up by your cells which is going to dramatically affect your heart disease risk.

Made a bit of a boo-boo with dinner. DH decided to work from home today, which meant feeding us all together - we normally eat after the kids have gone to bed during the week because of the hours DH works.

This meant finding something we'll all eat, which is tricky. We all like Thai curry though, so I checked the carbs on the Thai curry paste - 2.1g per 100g, brilliant!

Get all the ingredients, including broccoli rice for me, go to make it, check packet again - and it's 21g not 2.1. Damn. Too late to plan another meal, so just had to cook it and hope the rest of the day's food was low-carb enough to balance it out.

I had two boiled eggs with butter for breakfast and roast beef with spinach leaves in olive oil, plus four rollitos from M&S which needed using for lunch. I've done ok for water, just another 500ml to go, and I'm going to forgo the glass of wine I'd planned to have at the PTA meeting I'm about to go to.

Should be alright, shouldn't it?

B: scrambled eggs and asparagus
Walnuts, pecans and almonds
L: tuna mayo and mixed salad with some celeriac remoulade; yogurt with tsp almond butter.
Pre-race snack of slice of wholemeal toast with butter and almond butter, and a glass of whole milk. Needed something suitable to keep me going and as I was 0.2lbs from target this morning, ok I think. Mind you DH fasted all day yesterday and raced in the evening!
Dinner later will be burger, celeriac chips and FLGV.

I've not done this particular race series before (4.6 miles off road) but when I arrived realised I have been here before, it was the scene of my first race back after having DS and utter pelvic floor failure. Still need to work on that, might add alongside my plank challenge!

IStillMissBlockbuster I use Linwoods flax seeds mix, it is only 3.6g carbs per 100g and I also crumble on 1 frozen raspberry it just does it for me will post pictures

Ooh pre-made, thank you Notwatching

That looks lovely notwatching, where do you buy it?