Jan '20 - Week 3 Low Carb Bootcamp - Ready for Bootcamp Light?

[StuntNun]

Welcome to the third week of Low Carb Bootcamp. As always, log your weigh-in on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness. If you're happy with Bootcamp then you can choose to stick with it. Or if you want to relax a little and incorporate some fruit, nuts/seeds and dark chocolate then check out the Bootcamp Light rule changes on this thread and in the next post. Or you can do a hybrid: Bootcamp during the week, and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

It's really common for weight loss to stop briefly around weeks 3-5, some people even gain a little weight. Google "week 3 stall" and you will see post after post from people on Atkins, Fast800, keto, after bariatric surgery all asking why they haven't lost weight this week. The simple answer is that you are losing fat but retaining water. The stall will last a week or two and then your weight loss will resume its bumpy path downwards.

I've attached a typical weight loss graph which shows a brief stall at week 4. As you can see, weight loss is not linear; it varies from week to week but the overall trend (shown by the black line) is ever downwards hence our saying that "the trend is your friend." If you follow the rules you can expect an average weight loss of 0.5 to 2lb per week.

BOOTCAMP LIGHT RULES

1. Eat when you are hungry.
Be guided by your appetite. You won’t need as many snacks as at the start of Bootcamp and you may find yourself skipping or delaying meal times. Make sure you don’t let yourself get too hungry or you may end up eating something carby. Aim to eat two to four times a day depending on what works best for you.

2. Avoid processed foods.

3. Eat lots of fat.

4. Make sure you are eating plenty of vegetables and salad.

5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited.)

6. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.

7. Alcohol is allowed occasionally.
Wine and champagne are low carb and can be made into a spritzer with soda water or sparkling water. Clear spirits and soda water are carb-free. For tonic water, decide which is the lesser of two evils: the artificial sweeteners in slimline, or the sugar in light tonics such as Fever Tree. Remember that alcohol calories are always burned first so alcohol stops fat burning. It’s also empty calories so alcohol will slow down your weight loss. My advice is to set yourself a limit, e.g. only x units per week, or only on x nights per week.

8. Up to one portion of fruit per day.
Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are lowest carb and a portion is 50-100g. If there is any fruit you’re particularly missing then look it up on Diet Doctor because it might be okay for an occasional treat.

9. Nuts and seeds in small quantities.
Nuts are easy to overeat and a typical bag is 600 calories! I suggest weighing out 1-2 ounces at first so that you can learn how much a portion is - it’s probably much smaller than you think. Avoid cashews and pistachios which are high carb. Pecans and Brazil nuts are lowest carb, followed by macadamia, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts and almonds. Pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, chia seeds and sunflower seeds are also allowed in small quantities.

10. No sugar except dark chocolate, and limit artificial sweeteners.
You can have a small amount of dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher) on Bootcamp Light; I suggest no more than 20g per day. If you would like to experiment with low carb baking using sweeteners instead of sugar there are lots of recipes out there to try. Some people respond to artificial sweeteners as if they were sugar so you’ll need to be guided by how you feel as they may make you more hungry or cause cravings.

Morning all

Thanks Stuntnun!

Only -1lb this week which I felt a bit 😏 at but I've given myself a talking to! Going to stick to BC for another couple weeks or so before moving on to BCL

I think I may be eating a 'smidge' too much cheese dairy as my fat....

Can I ask what everyone else is eating as fat apart from avocado and mayo and all the cheese!

Oil and butter for me moleeye. Buttery scrambled eggs for breakfast, olive oil on my salad at lunch time. Dinner cooked in butter or olive oil, with more butter added when serving if possible. Try and chose fattier meats too.

I also have cream in my coffee, and a portion of full-fat Greek yoghurt most days too, but that won't work if you're trying to eat less dairy, obviously.

Morning all, I’ve stayed the same this week 141 if someone wouldn’t mind putting it on the spreadsheet please? Many thanks I’ve been on painkillers for most of last week and they affect my digestion (!) so reckon that’s played a part. I walked 10 miles on Friday just out and about so aiming to do that more often. These dark, wet, cold days are really starting to annoy me! Anyone else just want to hibernate? I’m like this every year.

Moleeye - I get most of my fat from olive oils etc on salads and butter on veg/cooking. I don’t eat much cheese and I’ve gone off meat at the moment. Thanks for reminding me of avocado, think I fancy one with lunch

Oh, and I've updated the spreadsheet - stayed the same, which is fine as I'm maintaining.

Please could somebody add me to spreadsheet 123.8lb?

Just over a pound so not great however it was a horrible week last week. I had my dads funeral he died at Christmas. I didn’t eat for 24 hours last week but did drink about 7 glasses of wine!

The thing that is spurring me on is the long list of causes on my dads death certificate. He died too early and he started to go downhill at about the age I am now.

Just re read my post. That 7 glasses of wine was a one off. That’s one of the things I want to get under control. I haven’t actually drank since Christmas otherwise.

I read something that another poster had written on the last thread that they want to loose weight more than they want that drink. Wise words .

Thanks stuntnun for the week 3 thread.

Well done to all you losers!

2lbs off for me so 5 overall and I’m into the 11’s so that my first mini goal achieved. Next one will be 11,7. Weekend at a gala with dd so NSV that I didn’t boredom eat!

I have butter and oil too moleeye, I can over eat cheese so have to moderate myself.

Good luck for week three everyone!

Hi everyone, I'm pleased to weigh in at 142 lbs this morning, feeling much better. I have been logging my food out of habit and seem to average about 35 carbs a day which seems to be enough to keep the itchyness away, although I did have horribly achey legs yesterday. I bought some dioralyte in case it was my electrolytes and feel much better this morning. Anyway hope everyone else is happy with their losses. Will try and log my weight on the spreadsheet now 😁

@PinkSubscriber I'm so very sorry about your dad, how awful

Dammit had an awful week with managing cravings. Need to be much much more disciplined as I just slip into binging. Put on 3 but still 4lb down from the start. Got to keep my goal and purpose in mind this week and just have a blanket ban on d. chic and sweet treats.

0.8lb down - going in the right direction slowly but surely. Not expecting any quicker loss as only 5-6lbs to target. Need to be mindful of snacking this week (almonds!) and I suspect I may have to stick to BC during the week and keep BCL for the weekends if I’m to see any losses. Have updated the SoF. Well done for everyone else’s losses.

Pink that's very sad.

4 pounds off for me this week. Would be more but I am a tad congested. More water required.

Well done everyone, keep it up

thanks for the week 3 thread 2lb off this week so v happy. Boot camp lite now!

my condolences Pink 💙

Thanks for the new thread stunt

Sorry about your dad pink

1lb off for me on the SoF to 10.5. But I came back from a weekend holiday Tuesday weighing on Wednesday morning at 10.12 so I'm happy with that!

This week I have no work away, no holidays booked, no excuses!! So would really like to see a couple of lb off this week to get me to my interim goal.

Good luck BCers!

Condolences pink

It is a grim time of year, but I am noticing it is now getting light outside when I come down for my tea, and today I sat in the window and watched the cats playing outside, so yay! Stuff sprouting all over the garden, and flowers coming out bit by bit, so yay! Just wish it hadn't been so wet this weekend, I need to get out there and garden.

I've stayed the same this week, which is ok. I'm not really doing this for weight loss (although it's a pleasant side effect), more for controlling my blood sugar.

I think I'll stick with full bootcamp for a couple more weeks before I start introducing anything else. I definitely won't be introducing any form of chocolate, because once I start I can't stop

I'm so sorry about your dad pink

I’ve lost 2.4 and am eating lots of cheese but I have a lot of weight to lose so I’m thinking the abundance of cheese is ok for now and I’ll probably have to look at it in a few months time once I am closer to my target.
Still finding the drinking water hard but I am genuinely thirsty now when I don’t so it must be working as I never really felt thirsty before!

sorry about your father, pink that's very hard.

no scale change for me this week, but stomach definitely flattened out a bit in the last few days, and much less muffin, so clearly it's still all going on under the surface.

I’m so sorry about your Dad @PinkSubscriber, please be gentle on yourself
Ok so a 3lb loss for me, which is a happy relief after negotiating several meals out (usually a very rare thing) so 10lb total over the bootcamp fortnight. yeeessss! Please could you add to the spreadsheet @shagmeriggens or whichever other kind soul is doing it this week?
Overwhelming long way to go but trying to think in terms of every 1lb lost is a healthier me

Pink

This week I gained slightly at the start of the week and didn’t show a loss until Saturday and actually loss 3.8lbs this week!

I booked a holiday last night- 38 weeks to go, would love to lose an average of 3lbs per week until then (I probably have about 120lbs to lose) but am unsure if it’s a realistic goal.

Place marking with a picture of the starter I made for last night's Burns Supper.