Final Week of Low Carb Bootcamp ... or is it?!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Spreadsheet is here

This was, initially, supposed to be the last week of a 'short, sharp shock' Bootcamp. However, I know that many of us have really got the bit between our teeth and it seems too soon to stop!

The very lovely Guardian of the Spreadsheet @AthelstaneTheUnready already took the precaution of adding a few extra weeks to the spreadsheet, so at the moment we're all set to go up until w/c 20 July.

If, though, you only signed up for 5 weeks and feel like you're being lured into a false promise, obviously you can still have this as your final week

Whatever you decide - welcome to week 5.

Hopefully the doldrums of weeks 3 & 4 will have passed, and the scales will start to move again.

Remember to KOKO - put down all those slices of cake and cheesecake - and stay focused on cutting the carbs. Don't forget to keep your fat intake high, and keep an eye on the things we've introduced in Bootcamp Light.

Good luck

@filthyanimal

Thanks everyone! I started my low carb journey on bootcamp, and have dipped in and out of bootcamp over the years. I'm very dull with what I eat. Breakfast is always 2 eggs with butter. Lunch is yoghurt with walnuts. Dinner is meat of some sort with green veg or salad. Tbh my veg intake could definitely improve. I have been drinking more wine during lockdown but made a concerted effort to reduce this in the last few weeks. I drink lots of tea and coffee with FF milk. Probably not enough water, maybe 1 litre a day? I run 3x a week. This regime has worked for me so far. I enjoy my food and had been losing pretty steadily. Open to fresh ideas though!

Well, @filthyanimal, it doesn't really sound like you're currently doing Bootcamp! Where is the rest of your veg/salad? That's rule 4 - most of your carbs should be coming from those, and you should be eating plenty of them.

I understand the whole drinking wine in lockdown, we've all been there and many of us may still be! but if you're complaining about not losing weight swiftly enough, this is a key area to address.

The other thing is the amount of milk you're drinking and the amount of water you're not drinking.

See rule 6 for water. Don't know how much you weigh, but if I assume you are 5 stones overweight with a target of 9 stones, that means you currently weigh 196lbs, so you should be drinking 3.5 litres of water a day. 1 litre a day is nowhere near enough!

As an experiment @filthyanimal, measure out how milk you have in one cup of tea/coffee, and then work out how much you're having on a daily basis.

100g whole milk has 4.7g carbs.

Thank you BIWI.
I needed a bit of big stick, that's for sure.
I've got set in my ways and needed some outside input.
I'm not sure all the tea and coffee is good for me either, I may try changing to green tea or peppermint tea instead and see if that helps.

I haven't bothered counting anything so far but considering my slowing progress I put a typical day's menu into Fitbit and got this. Any ideas if this is about right?

Not really, @Wormthatturned!

Although we don't advocate counting on Bootcamp, the ratio of macronutrients should be fat:protein:carbs

So - you're not eating enough fat, relative to protein - and you're certainly consuming too many carbs.

We don't set a daily amount of carbs, because everyone responds differently and has different tolerances, but for you to be truly low carb, you should be 60g a day absolute maximum.

Can you tell me what you've been eating/drinking each day for the last few days, so we can see where your carbs are coming from, and how you might increase your fat?

filthyanimal I make my own mint tea with a sprig from the garden, or lemon and ginger from a bit of lemon peel and a chopped chunk of ginger. In this warm weather I add ice-cold fizzy water and a couple of ice cubes - bah who needs coffee?

wormthatturned my mfp is set to 65% carbs, 20% protein, 15% carbs with the carbs coming from loads of veg.

Food today:
11am - avocado (with salt and pepper and olive oil)
L - egg, salad, mayonnaise
D - salmon, broccoli, fennel, courgette

@filthyanimal

Thank you BIWI. I needed a bit of big stick, that's for sure. I've got set in my ways and needed some outside input. I'm not sure all the tea and coffee is good for me either, I may try changing to green tea or peppermint tea instead and see if that helps.

I'm only drinking one cup of tea with milk a day at the moment. But when I was drinking more I measured out milk in the morning into a jug and that was that for the day. If I had lots of unmeasured cups the milk would stall my weight loss.

@BIWI

Not really, *@Wormthatturned*!

Although we don't advocate counting on Bootcamp, the ratio of macronutrients should be fat:protein:carbs

So - you're not eating enough fat, relative to protein - and you're certainly consuming too many carbs.

We don't set a daily amount of carbs, because everyone responds differently and has different tolerances, but for you to be truly low carb, you should be 60g a day absolute maximum.

Can you tell me what you've been eating/drinking each day for the last few days, so we can see where your carbs are coming from, and how you might increase your fat?

Ok, thanks. I'm having milk + yoghurt + mayo + sometimes cheese in addition to chicken or fish plus veg or salad. I'm going to have to hold back on the dairy a bit, I reckon.

Had two eggs at lunch instead of one today and definitely don't feel hungry at all, I did yesterday, so I guess I just needed to eat some more.

Weirdly I've been going off milk in tea!! I didn't expect this as I usually love a tea. I am getting used to having a couple of black coffees (decaf so I don't feel weird) before breaking the fast for lunch and up until this week was allowing myself 2 cups of tea with milk during the eating window. Then just one herbal/black decaf after that until bedtime. But it appears I am going off the milk variety. Very unexpected.

yes don't worry BIWI i wasn't going to have the protein ball, just curious to see the ingredients.

@BIWI I was perhaps a bit harsh on DH in my earlier post. He is on a lot of calls which means I am doing the lions share of the homeschooling while I work, but he gets up at 6 each day to walk the dog, cooked all weekend so I could have a break and made me lunch today as he could see how stressed I was. He's a good egg really, we're just both really busy and stressed, which is not helped by my chronic PMT.

@Wormthatturned

I'm struggling to see how that can add up to so many carbs - can you list out your specific meals for me, over the last 3-4 days?

Hi everyone - good to read all the updates. Definitely agree a large lunch is required on this WoE.

I do 16:8 or often 17:7 so skip breakfast completely (though I do have a coffee with cream late morning) but always have a big lunch.eg today was leftover aubergine baked in cream cheese and cheddar, huge leafy salad with olive oil and vingera, piri piri mackeral and an egg. I felt really satisfied afterwards and feel no need to eat again now til 7ish. I've had one or two days recently where have had to just grab something smaller as in between work calls and have definitely felt The Void in the mid afternoon.
Today's NSV is that I caught sight of myself in the mirror and I thought they were someone else's legs! I've always had chunky legs, big thighs and swollen looking knees especially (my shins are slim enough) but today there was definitely definition around the knee area so much so that I had to twirl and admire them a few times. Woo Hoo! The novelty of that will keep me on track for quite some time

Hurrah for someone else’s legs Calendula, except they’re yours. Wonderful!

I feel a bit like you said early Puppermint. My dh, rather STBXDH, is working long hours out of home and I feel so done with all the cooking and housework. I’m desperate for a break.

Thanks @Freetodowhatiwant having been a sensitive kid jeered at for being "overweight" bigger than the other kids who got their growth spurts later and were probably just jealous by being called jellythighs and thunderthighs w - it did feel like a sweet moment!

That’s a great NSV calendula!

I just did @BIWI 's milk experiment and was quite shocked! I've been having what I thought was a small amount of milk in tea and coffee but this has been eye-opening.

I can't face black tea or coffee, what are people having in theirs?

I always have cream in my coffee (only one cup a day) and i don’t have much milk in my tea so I don’t worry about the carb content. However I have measured out 25ml of milk in the past just to check that I wasn’t using way too much and that does me just fine for a few cups of tea per day.

@BIWI, here's today's totals
Semi skimmed milk 200 ml throughout day in teas and coffees
Lunch = hard boiled egg and a tomato on the run (more usual would be 2eggs with avocado or smoked salmon or ham and salad leaves)
Supper = stir fry veg with leftover chicken (approx 1 thigh) and a handful of frozen prawns and extra fried beansprouts. FF Greek yoghurt 120ml with 7 raspberries and 30g milled linseed with gojiberries and seeds from Aldi. 12g little vintage cheddar.
Tomorrow it's going to be salad with eggs or tuna for lunch and supper will be courgetti bolognaise / yoghurt and unsweetened stewed rhubarb with linseed as today.
I've drunk 2l water in addition to tea. No formal exercise today, it's too hot!!
I'm not a snacker, 1/2 bottle wine on Saturdays.
I have lost weight, just want to be a bit slimmer to get into that rather tight dress.

I have cream in my coffee and lactose free milk in my tea (has about half the carbs of regular milk). I’ve drastically cut down my tea consumption now I can’t have a biscuit with it though

I’ve tried all the herbal teas etc and they smell full of promise, but they just taste of nothing.

I stick to water, fizzy water and coffee most of the time.

Oh and I know I only have 15ml or milk in my tea as my kids measure it out when they make it for me, to make sure it’s not too milky, as milky tea makes me gag!

Can someone give me a kicking please? I've just had half an Easter egg. Been fancying sweets all day- think it might be related to my period coming back after my baby. So I've not only broken my low carb but my fasting as well.

I need to maintain focus. Husband is at work on night shift so my secret eating ways are coming back in.

Well if it’s any consolation the fact that you still have any Easter eggs in the house says a lot!

Don’t beat yourself up. Nothing you can do about it now, so just move on and get back on it in the morning, being super strict for a couple of days to make sure you get back in fat burning instead of Easter egg burning mode!

I’m sure someone will be along to tell you off in a minute.

smurfs I found that Times article interesting but bizarre.

#37 ‘Spend no longer than 20 minutes eating a meal’ is not only joyless and anti-social but would have me kicked out of my French family; #53 ‘Don’t sit in front of the TV. Stand up while you watch the box’ just sounds nuts.

Hi all. I’ve been awol from the thread as had an emotional few days and wasn’t fit for company (nothing new or major - just the birthday of my friend who died). I’ve been sticking to bc light tho, I just haven’t had the energy to post or read anything (as I’m wallowing in existential angst). I hope all is well with everyone, I’ll try to catch up later. :)

Well done for sticking to the plan MrsK -especially in such sad circumstances