Jan '20 - Week 4 Low Carb Bootcamp - One month in!

[StuntNun]

Well done for sticking with us for four weeks! You are fat-adapted now and getting the full health benefits of this way of eating. Add your weight to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness and let's see how everyone has done. Don't forget that it's typical for weight loss to pause at some point in weeks 3-5 but so long as you are following the rules you are still losing fat!

I know a few of you have been missing meals, whether by accident or design, so I'd like to start talking about intermittent fasting this week if anyone is interested? It's completely optional so don't feel that you should fast if you don't want to. I still think it's worth finding out more about intermittent fasting, how it works, when and why you might want to introduce it, and what it feels like to fast... spoiler alert it doesn't involve feeling hungry!

I'm a daily weighed myself as I find it helps motivate me, but if it pisses me off I'll generally skip it a few days.

NSV tried on a nice dress that I got to fat for, it's still a bit tight but I reckon I'll be wearing it soon enough. It's now fine standing up, but not so good sitting!

Just weighed. STS. Stayed The Same! Completely the result of not sticking to the plan.
I'm going to read the thread now to try to restore my motivation.

Breakfast is fine.
I've had some busy days, and when I get overtired/hungry I cannot face cold meat and cheese. Prep needed, and I need to eat before I get too hungry.

I’ve gained 3lbs. Had a slight rejection episode with my transplanted kidney and ended up in hospital on steroids and as a coeliac in hospital, let me tell you, the food is even worse than normal!

I was referred to a NHS fat club by my consultant and went to my first one yesterday afternoon after leaving hospital, I explained I was doing lchf and was pretty much mocked and humiliated by the person leading the group. Not going back, it was awful, normally I’d fall face first into some carbs to cheer me up but managed to avoid so that’s good at least!

Still, back to bootcamp now I’m home, no bootcamp light for me. Onwards! KOKO all.

Wow Vera Such a horrible experience. Well done for sticking with it. Hope you are feeling better.

That sounds awful, @VeraPamil. I hope you're feeling better now - and considerably more supported here!

@BrassicaBabe - one other thought: looking at the spreadsheet/your weight, how much are you aiming to lose? I don't know how tall you are, but is it possible that, actually, you're pretty close to your goal?

It could be the case, now, that calories are coming into play more than they would have done initially, so it might be worth considering that? (Sorry if that's not the case/not what you want to hear!)

@BIWI I'm 5'7. I'm 46 along with several of other BCers. My goal is to maintain a weight of between 9.10 and 9.13 stone. (After BCs in 2018 I got to 9.6 but that was too thin for my age) So you are right, I'm not a million miles away. (Feels like a fecking chasm, hahah).

Right, plan for today is:
L: Large bowl of hm coleslaw - white cabbage, mayo and fresh coriander. (This isn't me restricting, I really like this. Hope it's ok though)
D: 2 chicken thighs with skin on and buttered sweetheart cabbage
S: snack size pepperami
I should manage a 5k run today too if the sun stays out.
How does that sound?

@VeraPamil how horrible. Absolutely no call for that.

That sounds good - although I'd drop the pepperami in favour of something less processed. (Sorry)

Also, just came across this article about how artificial sweeteners can lead to obesity

Vera - also sending - some people are just arseholes and think they know everything. Years ago when I did SW the consultant was just horrible, really judgey - hope you are ok.

Brassica - I'm a year older than you but same height - I can't remember ever being under ten stone!

@VeraPamil how awful for you.
I would be so tempted to go back at the end of boot camp and show off how slim I was from all the fat and no carbs

My mum has attended a similar group recently and did well losing weight at first but now she's really struggling to keep losing. I'm going to see what my results are like in a couple more weeks and then will be sharing all this info and knowledge with her.

Isn't odd when you hear people parroting the standard advice again and again. I've just watched some of Tom Kerridge's latest 'lose weight, get fit' program and am amazed at what he's cooking (oats with fruit and yoghurt, corn tortillas with sweetcorn etc). I feel sad for him that he has put so much weight back on after losing loads a couple of years back.

I feel like my brain has been rewired by this woe and none of what I used to do makes any sense any more.

Where are the scientists? Why aren't they looking at these 'diets' in more detail? I feel angry that people are just bombarded with nonsense messages all the time!

Oops! Got carried away on my rant there and forgot to log my food.

B ham avocado and fried egg, tea with milk
L ham coleslaw cucumber tomato salad
D probably sausages and swede mash with green veg

My only exercise at the moment is one yoga class per week and lots of chasing round after baby/toddler. Then weekend walks. When I'm back at work next month I will at least be on my feet for 8+ hours per day.

Im still sticking around the same weight on the scales which is annoying but I had a couple of days this week without enough water so have upped that yesterday and today. KOKO people!

Just had an argument a discussion with dh: he had his bloods done recently and his cholesterol (the "bad" one) was slightly elevated. He's been given a diet sheet by our GP in which he's to avoid all saturated fats (eg sausages - which we're having tonight low carb ones ), eat lower fat products (such as semi-skimmed milk,reduced fat cheese) and more whole grain foods and to base his meals around starchy carbohydrate foods. This is from the NHS Eatwell guide.

I've said that I'll have to start cooking two different meals then - so he then starts saying that it's the way I eat that must be wrong , otherwise why have I been on a "diet" for so long (I've lost over 2.5 stone, have another stone to go and have also had periods where I fell off the wagon) and insists that anything that Ian (our GP, who we've been going to for over 25 years and who I will acknowledge is generally very good) advises must be right

Updating the wider NHS is like trying to turn a barge isn't it pretty

@waspfig Have you seen the Magic Pill on Netflix about LC. It's worth a watch. I enjoyed it. Raised my eyebrows about the cancer curing segment, but that's probably just down to my own skepticism.

We've had a good discussion about fasting. Is there a chat to be had about salt? I've done a bit of reading. Is limiting salt also part of the low fat type misinformation?

Reducing salt is one of dh's other instructions

verapamil and pretty bird It's really disheartening isn't it. I am envious of a few people on here who've had low carb advice from their tiny corner of the NHS - need so much more of that.

Over the last 3 or 4 years I have completely turned around my high blood pressure. I started on lots of medication to get it under control but then gradually taped down (in line with a change in lifestyle, losing weight, more moving around, more relaxation / meditation etc). I told my GP what I was doing. They were disinterested. Kept suggesting a similar diet to the one prettybirds's dh was recommended. My final push towards continually lowered bp was following a keto / lchf diet. Eventually I was taking only half a tablet, the GP said the dose was a clinically ineffective (they don't make a tablet with such a small dose) so I stopped completely. Still GP was not interested in how I'd done it.

I was in hospital at the weekend and they had obviously accessed my GP health record (because I said I'd previously been on medication for high blood pressure). Hospital dr said: "Oh, I see you stopped taking your medication because it didn't agree with you. That's not a very wise thing to do." NO I gradually tapered off because I'd made changes and didn't need it any more! Can't believe the GP wrote that on my notes. Next time I go I will complain. By the way, BP this morning was 117 / 78

So... food for today:
B - herbal tea, lots of water
L - left over oven roast cauli-rice with veg in it, topped with fried egg. It's sort of like egg fried rice. Yum!
D - sausages, oven roasted broccoli, oven roasted cauliflower, leeks cooked in butter and cream.

I'm off on holiday next week so I'll weigh on Sunday and add it to the chart. Not too worried about holiday food - there's one extravagant meal out but I imagine the rest will be Mediterranean fare, so I'm hoping for eggs, cheese, meat option for breakfast, and then chicken, fish, prawns with salad or veg for lunch / dinner. I am also hoping desperately for some sunshine.

Tom Kerridge lost all that weight by eating low carb! He also did a low carb cookbook. I was really excited when his telly show came out ... watched the first episode and it was bloody low fat calorie restricted!! I was throwing things at the telly and chuntering at him in disgust. Seemed wrong to be pedalling the standard nonsense advice when it is bloody wrong and not even what he did to lose his weight!! Traitor !

Don’t take any notice of the sneery comments. I’ve been LCHF since Jan 16. Dropped three stones with ease and I’ve kept (most of) it off since and that is with a lot of travel / many dinners out with work. I think the gov is frightened of LCHF cos let’s face it people can get it catastrophically wrong if they see it as a green light for high fat foods and just eat HCHF...

brass I feel your pain. I’m quite a bit heavier than you but I seem to weigh heavy and anything below 10 stones sees me a size 8 and gaunt looking. So trying to drop a few pounds is hard. Sadly have to face up to the fact that calories are starting to rear their ugly head ☹️ I’m thinking about getting into some sort of weight training form of exercise - up til now I’ve done lots of cardio (running marathons and century rides etc) but I don’t think it’s right for me any more. I’m 41 so I think I need to concentrate on building more muscle mass 💪... it’ll help physical appearance and muscle is more metabolically demanding so I can eat more - winner winner chicken dinner (minus the roasties!) !!

Checking in.
I've noticed my appetite is hugely reduced now & I've naturally slipped into 16/8 without even trying.
I've decided no more creamy coffee and just have black coffee first thing.

B black coffee
L Mushrooms, spinach, garlic powder, cooked in a bit of butter and with a lump of goats cheese
D I'm roasting a chicken now, so cold roast chicken, and coleslaw (homemade)

prettybird is there any way you can cook one meal that is adapted for both you and dh?

My dh is tall, skinny, lean, active and can eat anything. So I might stick a baked potato on for him to go with a meal. Or microwave rice when I'm having cauli-rice, or pasta when I'm having courgetti (but with the same meat / sauce). If we have chicken, dh gets mostly breast, I get leg / thigh and ALL the chicken skin .

I also think you should call your dh on his low fat diet if he tries to stray. So you cook some leeks, his get served and yours get added butter or cream. He gets boiled veg and you get yours sautéed in butter and a few chopped hazelnuts. He has fruit and cereal for breakfast with skimmed milk, you have full fat yoghurt with a spoon of double cream mixed in a few crumbled frozen raspberries and a sprinkle of nutty granola. He has mushrooms on toast, you have mushrooms, egg, bacon. He has mushroom stuffed with rice and herbs, you have mushroom stuffed with cheese. He has a rice cake for a snack, you have 2 squares of 90% chocolate. You have cheese and avocado salad with olive oil and mayonnaise, while he has reduced fat cheese salad with no dressing. Make spinach or broccoli soup and he gets it plain, you get butter whisked into it, or cheese crisps or little bits of crispy pancetta as a topping.

See who is healthier over the long term and happier

My sweet tooth is so strong it's set off by anything. I had a couple of strawberries and then got a massive sugar craving. I've killed it (for now) with something savoury and some water.

My day:

B - 1/2 an avocado, spinach, feta and egg
L - roast beef salad
D - steak, mushrooms and creamy leeks

Snacks - natural yoghurt and aforementioned strawberries.

@venusandmars my DH is also a tall, lean, active pita they're hard to live with. He is still learning (after 15+ years together) that we need different portion sizes!

I'm a daily weighed myself as I find it helps motivate me, but if it pisses me off I'll generally skip it a few days

I could have written that word for word MrsBert

prettybird I get the impression it gives you pleasure to cook for your husband and son. Which is great. But if he's determined to go with his new dietary requirements, I genuinely feel he should cook for himself. Otherwise, yes, you will be cooking two different meals and you don't need that in your life.

Could you share the numbers from his cholesterol test? And why doesn't he just go on a statin, like the rest of us? Seriously, though, my cardiologist is adamant that a low-cholesterol diet isn't nearly as effective as meds for this type of problem. (I'll have to ask him about his views on LCHF at some point...)

For you vera

BrassicaBabe you're 5'7" and 144 lbs.

I'm 5'4" and my goal weight is 145 lbs.

I'm not being critical of your goal, I hope it doesn't come across that way, but you're already at a healthy BMI. Not even in the top end of Normal, closer to the middle bit. If you get to 136-139lbs you'll be on the lower end of Normal BMI which is still normal and healthy, I know that but it got me wondering whether you were always lean or slender growing up and that's what you see in your head as what you want to get back to?

Because even when I was at a healthy weight US size 8, which is 10/12 here, depending on who you ask, I was curvy/hourglass so always felt fatter than same weight friends with different body types. I just cannot visualise myself anywhere near model thin and I wonder if it's to do with my body type. Really my only aspiration is a healthy BMI, good cardio fitness, good muscle tone and core strength.

Ohand to look smokin' hot for a woman of my advanced years--