Week 3 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp - 'full' or light?

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Here's The Spreadsheet as per

Hopefully you've had a good second week, and have settled down into Bootcamp ways by now, and any trace of carb flu is but a distant memory.

By now, if not already, you should be well into the switch from burning carbs to burning fat. You should be finding it much easier to go between meals without snacking, and should find your energy levels picking up, maybe even feeling like you've got more energy than you had before.

So as we start week 3, you have a choice: you can continue on Bootcamp if it's suiting you, or you can move to Bootcamp Light, which means:

• you don't have to have three meals a day
• you can have some fruit (berries)
• you can have some nuts/seeds
• you can drink some alcohol

Please not the use of the word some! This isn't carte blanche for you to go mad. Just remember, all these things will add a lot of carbs quite quickly - so it's very much in moderation.

You also need to know/remember that week 3 (and 4) is infamous for being the point at which weight loss slows - sometimes even stops - so this is another good reason to go easy when you relax things

A good compromise is to stay strictly Bootcamp during the week but Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

Whatever you choose, hope the results this morning are positive, and wishing us all good luck for the week ahead.

If you're having black coffee, then no problem. If it has cream in it, then you should wait.

StuntNun can explain it better but it's something to do with changing/improving your insulin(?) response, so having anything calorific during your fast period will stop that happening.

Yes it has cream in it. How long should I wait for? To get to 16 hours?

Also I just made the radishes for breakfast and to anyone who hasn’t tried them - I highly recommend cutting them up rather than doing them whole. I tried them both ways this time, and thought the whole ones might be more potatoey (as larger), but actually they retain more water when whole (I guess the skin protects them) and have quite a distinct mouthfeel when you bite into them. It’s not unpleasant but it definitely distracts from the potato fantasy.

On week 2 here. So I won't be doing light Boot Camp. Really hoping to shift a decent amount of fat this week especially as I'm reading that I could slow down after.

I'm interested to see how week 3 looks for others. Thankyou all you who are ahead of me. I'm calling you 'Week 3 Pioneers' !

Jealous of the Halloween name changes, will devote the dead time at today’s Skype/teams meeting to thinking of one

Morning
Lovely to catch up with the thread, PurBal sorry your meal at your friends disrupted you, hopefully you can now put it behind you an use it as a lesson learned.

I did a supermarket shop yesterday, so fridge is well stocked, have meal planned for this weeks dinners. BIWI do you buy in your confit of duck or did you make it yourself? I picked some up in Waitrose yesterday, planning to eat it at the weekend, so interested in what to serve with it.

Today
B Greek yogurt with Tsp of double cream
L chicken and avocado
D lamb pie (leftover roast lamb, lc gravy and celeriac mash) FLGV

3 litres water

@Lyrata

What is the science on fasting in this WOE? I tend to have my coffee the moment I wake up. Should I try and wait?

It depends on how long you want to fast for! Also, if you're drinking your coffee black, that won't break your fast.

You should wait however long it takes you to get to 16 hours - or try to get used to a morning black coffee, if you're desperate for caffeine.

I'm making myself drink black tea in the morning until I get to the 16 hours still not keen on it but getting used to it But I do sometimes "cheat" and have a tea with milk in it in the evening when technically I'm in the fast period

lyrata 16 hours can be quite doable. You could eat your last meal at 6pm, then have your coffee and/or breakfast at 10am. Done!

Notwatchingspooks I use this recipe for confit duck leg - bloody delicious, and I don't bother with the overnight salting faff.

B - just herbal teas and water
L - avocado, ham, delicious cheesy coleslaw, creamy coffee
D - thai green veg curry

I have milk in a tea/coffee in the morning if fasting but stick to herbal tea without in the evening once I've started my fast. I've seen a couple of sources suggest up to 40-50 calories won't break your fast. I chose to believe this basically because it suits me but also because I'm definitely seeing results from it so I'd say it's working. There's definitely a pattern of a jump down on the scales the day after a fast for me.

Taking some people experience slower weight loss with 20+ hour fasts / OMAD (one meal a day) than with 16 hour fasts and two (or more) meals.

Lyrata there's no need to fast unless you want to. Plenty of people do just fine on low carb without fasting. Sometimes it can be useful as you get near your ideal weight but it's definitely not compulsory. I have very high cortisol levels in the morning which disrupts my insulin levels if I eat. So if I eat breakfast then I end up hungry and snacking all day. If I wait until 11 a.m. to eat then I'm usually fine with two (big) meals and no snacks. Once you're a few weeks into eating low carb then, if you want to give intermittent fasting a go, try to gradually increase your overnight fast towards 16 hours. Anything over 14 hours three times a week gives you the health benefits and fasting gets easier the more you do it - experienced fasters often refer to their "fasting muscle" because of this.

Prettybird it depends on your reason for fasting: weight loss or healing. If you're using intermittent fasting to reduce your calorie intake then it isn't as important to have a completely calorie-free fast period. Dr Jason Fung recommends using bone broth or coffee with cream to help you extend your fast period. For people that are doing extended fasts (usually over 24 hours) for healing then it's far more important to have zero calories during fasting.

Thank you 20bloodypumpkins that looks lovely, I’m thinking about cooking it in my instant pot

I've just spotted an advertisement for the Alzheimer's Society for "Quit for a bit" November - giving up sugar and/or alcohol for November.

www.alzheimers.org.uk/quit

Might be of interest to raise some money, help justify the sugar free (or booze-free) thing to those who throw obstacles in the way, and keep up our resolve? no chance am I giving up wine though two weeks has been plenty long enough thanks

It's great in the context that I have seen Alzheimer's described as "Type 3 diabetes" due to the links between insulin resistance and the disease (not a doctor and don't fully understand!) and sits much better with me than all the cake sales cancer charities tend to have which seem counter-intuitive!

StuntNun - means I can feel less guilty about my couple of cups of tea with milk during my "fast" period then

Although I've noticed that the teas with milk must have been adding up as our milk consumption as near enough halved since I've started drinking more black tea (down to just 4 pints a week) although dh does have quite a few lattes and cornflakes with milk )

MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously personally I think sipsmith is a huge waste of money. I bought the box of 3 flavours to treat myself for abstaining and each one was a massive disappointment. Beautifully designed labels but pretty undrinkable for me. I prefer a slimline tonic with lemon, lime and lots of ice, or a splash of cranberry and raspberry fizz (Sainsbury’s) with a slimline tonic, looks just like a pink gin (and costs 99p as opposed to about £23)

Fasting helps me with the boredom snacking in the evening because "just a little bit" can turn into a lot, so I'm best with a definitive cut off point.

Day three of hard bootcamp for me. Doing ok with the water but glad I'm not in work as my body isn't used to it!

B- smoked salmon and scrambled eggs
L- halloumi, egg and ham salad
T- chicken with cream cheese parcel wrapped in Parma ham, green beans and broccoli.

Does your body adapt to drinking so much water? I'd really like to keep it up as I know how good it is for skin etc too, but as a teacher, I won't be able to go to the toilet as often when I go back to work! 😬

I'm going to make slow-cooked lamb casserole for tomorrow. Any ideas how I can best add fat to it?

Isn’t lamb a reasonably fatty meat to begin with, 20?

Obviously use oil if you need to seal the meat beforehand. What does your recipe call for?

@BIWI am totally on board with this and loving the support. I am actually drinking the 3l most days (unless I am out of the house all day) but I drink 2l anyway it's just a bit of a jump up terms of trips to the loo.
@ShagMeRiggins that is a great approach and very inspiring. Low term approach.
Ketostix. What ketostix?

20bloodypumpkins I made lamb stew yesterday - the meat itself was quite fatty, and it was browned in butter (as were the garlic and shallots). Am hoping that’s enough fat!

Re water and "too much": your body does adjust When I (re)started BootCamp, I was waking up 3 times during the night to go to the loo. Last night I woke up for the first time at 6.30am - so not long before I get up normally.

20bloodypumpkins could you have some buttery greens on the side like spinach or cabbage?

Fasting helps me with the boredom snacking in the evening because "just a little bit" can turn into a lot, so I'm best with a definitive cut off point. SuperbGorgonzola

I'm the same. Because I'm not actually hungry, it's easier then to resist the siren calls of boredom temptation Yes, I know the Rules make that clear too

I like the Seedlip spice 'gin' when not drinking. It tastes adult enough to replace wine/spirits - though not really like gin.

(I've never liked sweet drinks and always found low-alc ones are very sweet.Real gin with sodawater tastes better than gin and tonic to me.)

20bloodypumpkins I always add a knob of butter to lamb casserole, or if you went more curried you could use some coconut milk