Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Coming to the end of the first half

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Here's the Spreadsheet

So we've got through the pesky weeks 3 and 4. Hopefully, if things have slowed or stopped for you, things will get going once more. Don't expect big losses each week though - losses will be around 1-2, possibly 3lbs each week (depending on how much you have to lose). But rest assured that each of those pounds will be fat.

And this is what a pound of fat looks like!

Hope you all have a good week

Absopugging yes you can! I have.

I did lamb shoulder in the slow cooker today... it was soooooo good. Quite fatty but YUMMY

:) and I just had clotted cream I'm my coffee! I love this woe.

I've used a wee hand whisk (the tiny wee twirly sort) which works well while making an Americano in our bean-to-cup machine.

I’ve had sushi today, I didn’t eat very much rice (I promise), it was delicious. I’m sticking to 16:8, I like the way it eliminates snacks in the evening for me.

I’ve had a good few days and have lost a pound this morning! Thank goodness! I’m so so close to having a healthy BMI! Wow!!

Hi Everyone,

Can I join? I know I’m late, I’ve been going it alone for 2 weeks and I’m 9.4lbs down which I’m super happy about.

I’m here because 3 weeks ago I got my PCOS diagnosis after 2 miscarriages and 7 years of unsuccessful TTC. In that time I’ve gained 5 stone. I’ve always been big, around 15st at 5ft 5 Is my lowest ever adult weight and I was a fat kid too, but 3 weeks ago I weighed 20st 1lb. I’ve been waiting for 4 years to get a doctor to listen to me and no just say ‘it’s because you’re fat’ (helpful! ), and thankfully I met an amazing locum at my follow up appointment after diagnosis who would like me to try a low carb diet before they put me on Metformin. I’m well up for this, I’d much rather treat my PCOS with food rather than drugs if it’s possible.

I was made up when he actually recommended low carb to me since I’m apparently insulin resistant. He cited a dark ring of skin around my neck that I’ve had since I was 14 and the fact my cycle lengths can be anywhere from 30-60 days, my weight and the fact I have super high androgens on my blood test (explains the beard ) as proof of this.

He was shocked that previous doctors have recommended slimming world/ carb heavy weight loss plans and rightfully predicted that these have never worked for me. He explained the science and hormone stuff to me, then recommended Gary Taubes which I got on audible and listened to. I’ve been on quite the journey since then!

I’ve always thought low carb was a fad and an extreme diet, but I’ve been lurking on these threads (and reading old ones too ) and it turns out you lot are on to something

Proof of this - I’m just finishing my period and for the first time in 18 months, my cycle was shorter than 40 days

So, here I am. Infertile, fed up and fat and I desperately need support to get me through this, so I hope it’s ok for me to jump on the bandwagon and see where this goes

A very warm welcome @PCOSCanPissOFF! And hurrah that you have a doctor who really knows their stuff!

From everything I've read/heard about over the years, a low carb diet is very good for PCOS sufferers, so hopefully you'll do really well. Your menstrual cycle shortening is already a good sign of things to come.

Be warned - we have had a fair few Bootcamp babies too

Have a look at the resources that are on the spreadsheet (check out the tabs - in the link in my OP) and make sure you read around the whole low carb thing. Gary Taubes is a very good start, although The Diet Delusion can be a bit heavy-going. "Escape the Diet Trap" by Dr John Briffa is a good, and much easier, read.

Welcome, @PCOSCanPissOFF. Far more knowledgeable people than me will be along shortly, but it's good to have you aboard! If anecdata is any use to you, my DSIS also has PCOS and is coeliac and has used this WOE to shift 4 stone, twice.

Up a little again today here, but DSE ( digestive side effects) are well in evidence, so I must wait for things to settle down!

This morning I put tinned coconut milk in my coffee for the first time, and it was fine. I wouldn't have known it wasn't cream had I not made it myself, IYSWIM. I'm going to try to get to Home Bargains today where they do 4 little 100ml tins for £1, because that's a better use of fridge space and less pressuring to use up!

Planned food today:
B: coconut milk coffee
L: smoked mackerel fillet and salad, dressed with oil
D: courgette noodles fried in butter with DH's bacon, chili and tomato sauce.

WATER, WATER, WATER!

Welcome Pcoscanpissoff! X

@Cauliflowerpower abd @prettybird
Thank you, I’ll brave it today 😬 at the moment, I’m gagging a bit at the thought of it!
PCOS wow what an amazing journey, of course you can join now, I’d recommend reading the 10 rules (if you haven’t already!) well done fit your weight loss in the past two weeks- what a great start!

Can someone give me their best tips for corvettes? I just can’t get on with them. I’ve tried making the fritters, putting them in meat based bakes and roasting them and I’m getting nowhere. There are two big ones in the fridge now, looking at me like a horrible silent accusation.

Keto I like them best with the top down.

Okay, in seriousness I don’t generally have courgettes unless I’m making a lasagne, roughly peeled and loads of them instead of pasta sheets.

Some spiralise them and use with bolognese or other pasta substitutes.

Welcome PCOS and other late joiners. Best tip I have for everyone is to drink all the WATER! WATER! WATER!

I’m already through two pints this morning.

Aaaaaaah you lot are so kind!! Here’s hoping for a boot camp baby!

I still have a little bit of skepticism (I’m a data geek by trade ) so thanks for the book recommendations and if you have anymore please pass them on.

The most challenging thing I’m finding is the ‘fat is bad for you’ mantra in my head. I’ve been on slimming world on and off since I was 15 (nearly 14 years ) and it’s SO HARD not to track food / count ‘syns’.. I’ve literally learned to eat whilst on slimming world

My mum was always on a diet and put me on them too, so having thought about it I’ve been on a prescribed eating plan since about 10 years old, all of which have been low fat. Breaking that way of thinking is really hard.

However, I’m going to have PCOS for the rest of my life, which means I’m going to get insulin resistant on a high carb diet for the rest of my life too. I literally HAVE to eat this way if I want to avoid all the shit things that PCOS brings with it which means this cannot be another diet. I need to learn to eat again which means I can’t treat this like weight loss. I get obsessive and weird when I’m on a weight loss kick and lets face it, I’m 20st because I’m shit at diets anyway.

I like that you guys talk about LCHF as a way of eating and not as a diet, because that’s exactly what I need, a new way of eating.

I’m going through a bit of a hard time with the PCOS diagnosis and confirmation that the chances of us conceiving are slim. I can’t have IVF either because of (you guessed it!) my weight... which is in part caused by the same thing that causes my infertility and that until now doctors have been telling me to treat with a high carb low fat eating plan... the exact opposite thing to the thing that will help. It’s outrageous that in 7 years, only one single doctor has taken the time to actually test me for PCOS and advise a treatment that has a chance of working rather than send me away with a wave and a ‘healthy eating’ advice sheet. I hate to think that there’s potentially thousands of women in the same boat; unable to conceive and by following conventional diet advice, will remain so indefinitely... all the while growing fatter and ruling themselves out for IVF even more despite doing exactly as they’re told. It’s scandalous and I’m very, very bitter about it.

Welcome here @PCOSCanPissOFF, you’ve made a good start , things will get better
@Ketomeato, courgettes are my favourite vegetable , try grating them and cook them in butter ( frying pan is best , though microwave will work )
My usual way is cutting them like coins , sauté in butter, olive oil and some garlic , I like them a little browned
I did have courgette fries ( in Byrons Burgers ) with blue cheese dip , they had a very fine batter on them and were delicious , I’ll try and work out how to do this dish without the batter ( and no deep fryer ! )

So , I braved the scales , and even after a weekend away ( meals varying from Sunday lunch at Hawksmoor , to the carb fest of a Premier Inn breakfast ) I’m still on my Friday weight of 11-03 which I’m delighted about ( water, water , water definitely helped as well as lots of walking )

Today’s meals will be
Brunch ham and cheese omlette
D pork shoulder steaks with mushrooms ( and loads of green veg )
We had spinach with lemon and garlic as one of the sides on Sunday , that’s going to feature on our plates at home this week

@PCOSCanPissOFF welcome! I too have PCOS and fell pregnant unplanned at 20 (used condoms but assuming it must have broke without me knowing) after losing 2 and a half stone. I was offered to freeze my eggs, and funnily enough was pregnant without knowing at that appointment. Not sure if the weight loss contributed, but a lady I worked with also had PCOS and tried for 7 years to get pregnant, then when she lost 10lbs on the ketogenic diet fell pregnant after 4 weeks.
Last bootcamp in the 10 weeks I had 3 periods, whereas they were always 50-60 days apart. I came on after week one of this bootcamp too, 31 days after my last cycle.
These types of stories might just be annoying to you and the low carbing might just be coincidence but that's my personal experience.

Welcome PCOS As others have said, there are plenty of resources within the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you to go and look at and read around the topic to explain this WoE.

My objectives this week are to concentrate on fat (bulletproof coffees, snacking on slices of Beurre d'Issigny salted butter, unflavoured coconut oil in herb teas, veg cooked/microwaved in butter, fatty meat) and water.

Counter-intuitively, that often helps with a whoosh

I no longer read the resources: I just know it works, I enjoy my food - and I absorb extra knowledge via the many knowledgeable people who post on here, especially BIWI and StuntNun

@PCOSCanPissOFF, my MIL is a slimming world leader , so many people are like slaves to the low fat thing , but what annoys me more than anything about SW is the idea that any food is called a SYN ,

DH is a low fat follower , and shudders when I have a slice of cheese with a bit of butter on top 😀

This is my favourite dinner , tried and tested , aka chicken Freddie
www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/cauliflower-chicken-alfredo
Just a suggestion for you to try , it’s also on the recipe thread

can I ask anyone who does 16:8 intermittent fasting whether you have three meals in this window or just two?
I’m thinking of doing 10am-6pm today but that would leave me wanting breakfast at 10 then having nothing until 5:30 when I have my dinner?
Also can you have drinks outside of the window?

Thank you

@absopugginglutely

If I do 16:8 then I only eat lunch and dinner. My 16 hours will be from dinner, through the night, and then I can eat from around noon.

If you have drinks you have to make sure that they're not drinks with milk - so black tea and coffee rather than white. Water, obviously, is fine - and I'd guess herbal/fruit/green tea is OK as well

@PCOSCanPissOFF

You definitely have to break the brainwashing about fat! The two books already reference will be a great start. Another great resource is The Diet Doctor

@Ketomeato

I slice my courgettes into thin rounds and sauté them in olive oil, along with some sliced shallots. Plenty of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sometimes I add chilli flakes, and a good squeeze of lemon when they're nicely golden brown also adds some great flavour

Welcome @PCOSCanPissOFF Fantastic start. Yes definitely a way of eating not a diet. Good luck.
@Doilooklikeatourist I'm definitely doing that Alfredo.
@absopugginglutely I do intermittent fasting most days. I find two meals are usually plenty, brunch type around 11 dinner at around 5 30. But my understanding is it's less about missing a meal and more about having a length of fast time so if you needed three meals in that eating window you would still be doing a 16 8 fast. I sometimes use a hot almond milk drink to plug the gap between brunch and dinner or to break my fast around 10/11 so I can delay lunch till around 1 00. Sometimes I forget and don't break fast till three. Other times I need to eat at ten. I just follow my appetite but it helps me to think about whether I'm m really hungry especially in the evening when I know a snack will delay breakfast. So I very rarely snack.

I've just eaten left over low carb sausages with mayo and celery.
Tonight is a casserole with lots of veg in and a FLGV on the side.

@BIWI and @SittingontheSidelines Thanks so much, I must admit, I had a buttery omelette for brunch and a sausage left over from last night with my litre of water and a cream coffee and now I am convinced that I will last until dinner time!
Amazingly, I dropped 2lbs yesterday and all I did differently was have no cheese (still had 2 cream coffees) I hadn't been going mad on cheese before either but still held onto the same weight for a month!
So pleased!

Well I've had a string of bad luck.. first of all I've lost my favourite necklace (it's somewhere in the house as I remember taking it off here but where it is i have no idea.. my house is pretty organised so there's not many places it can be laying around either.. and I've looked.) then yesterday my cooker broke, I have been meaning to buy a new one anyway but not RIGHT now, i had planned to get one after Christmas.. THEN today a bracket on the exhaust pipe on my car snapped just had it at the garage and it's going to cost £100 to replace/fix.. they have put a temp bracket on there for the time being so at least I can still use the car until I can afford to get it fixed which won't be until next payday. Gah!!
Everything will be ok, I just wasn't expecting to have so many expenses so close to Christmas but they say these things come in 3s so hopefully that's my lot for a while 10 years please .

So! As I have no cooker until Sunday I have a stew concoction in the slow cooker.

Chicken thighs, bacon, red pepper, onion and some celery with a tin of tomatoes.. it should make a decent meal.
I will have that for dinner.

For lunch just now I've had. A bag of mixed salad leaves and some smoked cheddar.

Abso it's fine to have three meals in your 8-hour eating window if that suits you when intermittent fasting. Experiments in rats show that you lose more weight eating within a restricted time window even if consuming the same amount of calories. So intermittent fasting doesn't work for weight loss purely by restricting your calorie intake, it's also due to the effect on your insulin levels.

Should probably post a menu

B: creamy coffee (I have this every day )

L: tomato soup - home made, it’s about 50% cream, cream cheese and more cream

Dinner: slow cooker brisket joint, having that with buttery veggies and gravy (the cooking juices and veggies from the slow cooker reduced down on the hob with a couple of stock cubes added in)

If anyone has any lovely low carb soup recipes I’m all ears

@StuntNun thank you that’s very interesting. I will just let my appetite take the lead on whether I have two or three meals in the eight hour window.
Think I need to ensure I’m getting enough fat so perhaps squeezing some butter into a mid afternoon snack would be a good thing.
Thank you

Can someone add my name to the spreadsheet please? I’ll update my weights. Ta!