Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp - time to get rid of all the Valentine's treats!

[BIWI]

I rather suspect that a lot of us have been so far off the wagon this weekend that it's disappeared over the far horizon!

having to post on the spreadsheet may sober us all up, in more ways than one!

I hope any cheats were enjoyable. There's nothing worse than deciding to cheat and then not liking it.

But from now, it's time to buckle down and get back into the swing of things. If you did cheat, please don't complain that the scales aren't being kind to you. It's an inevitable consequence.

So let's focus on a really strict week, recognising that this is the end of our first half of Bootcamp.

Good luck to us all

@buffy - it doesn’t always! Just in case you’re thinking it’s too good to be true! it can happen, though.

Congratulations on your whooshes! It’s much more likely to be due to your ongoing lowcarbing efforts, than directly related to your having a few drinks...so you’re free to pat yourself on the back!

Buffy as Ninkanink says it only triggers a whoosh if you were due for one anyway. If you were to measure your weight and your waist daily and your waist reduced an inch or two but your weight hasn't changed then that means you're due for a whoosh. It's because the fat has been replaced by an equivalent weight of water but since water is more dense than fat it takes up less volume and you become slimmer without the scales changing. This is how people can drop a dress size or even two without anything showing on the scales. The whoosh will happen anyway so that's why we don't recommend trying to trigger one. So you see a sudden drop of two or three pounds overnight and congratulate yourself but actually you're seeing the benefit of a couple of weeks of hard work paying off all at once.

@Jollyholibobs 400g carrots would be about 30g carbs. Depending on how many people that recipe was for will determine if that's too much or not!

Thanks @Ninkanink! I'm going to be extra good just incase!

Amazingly I didn't cheat the 2 nights I had alcohol. DP ordered takeaway while I stuck to my LCHF meals which filled me up. DP got stomach pains, I got an almighty whoosh

Feels good, doesn’t it, the smugness...

Can I have some experts opinions please?

I have now stayed the same weight for 5 weeks. I have been off the cheese for a week. Have had a few gin and sparkling water an a bit of choc here and there which I can knock on the head I guess. I am feeling good, love the food etc. I am 5.3/4 height and weigh 9.13. Do i:

1. Accept this is what I weigh.
2. Count calories for a week
3. Cut out cream

Any other suggestions welcome! For what it is worth I do feel slimmer as I am much less bloated. However given that I can stay this weight on crisp and bread diet it can be a bit galling. I know health is better this way etc. But still a bit frustrating as have been hoping for a sudden shift in those stubborn few lbs!
Thank you!

Bestbees please can you post three days of food for me as a first step.

Thats really interesting @StuntNun. I've read posts mentioning water replacing fat before a whoosh but never understood it so thankyou for explaining!

@Ninkanink Yes it does

I would carry on as you are, tbh. At least until the end of BC. There isn’t always a fast-track way to lose weight, and sometimes you do just have to wait for your body to work through the plateau. I get what you’re saying about the crisps and carby things and feeling you’re cutting them out for no reason without the instant gratification but honestly the health reasons are important. Wait it out for at least another 5 weeks and if you haven’t taken photos do so now! Find a pair of trousers or a dress (or whatever) that doesn’t fit and focus on seeing progress on fitting into it.

I’m at least a size over what I’d ideally like to be (I was very slim when I was young and even at a size down it’s nowhere near the ‘me’ that I’d sometimes like to be again), and I have actually decided that I’m happy enough with that. I’d rather have the health benefits (which are huge - particularly in respect of preventing diabetes/dementia), and I absolutely do not want to get into any kind of unhealthy diet mindset or have to resort to the utter joylessness of calorie counting. But that’s just me...

I'm similar bestbees. 5ft 2 fluctuating between 10st 3 and 10st 4 and have for few weeks. Bit frustrating!

@StuntNun

Thursday
L chicken wings, mayo, salad
D jansens temptation, tuna steak and brocoli. Possibly some Greek yog, I cant
remember!

Friday
L chicken wings, pate in lettuce wraps,. Mayo and salad
S 2 slices of chorizo
D chicken breast skin on, roasted veg with almonds, salad. One gin and sparkling water. Greek yog and cream.

Saturday
Creamy coffee
L leftovers from yesterday's dinner
S slice of pate
D pork Thai style in lettuce, katsu curry (almond breading) caul rice, yoghurt. Square of dark cho and 2x gin and water.

I can see I could stop those snacks I guess, often not needed really just nibbly at 4pm!

Today's plan is
L courgette and halloumi fritters with salad
D roast chicken tights with fennel, celeriac and sprouts.

Thank you!

@Ninkanink I agree really, just moments of doubt! Eating well, less bloated, less wind, nonundereye bags, less moody, more energy. Super positive stuff really. And I don't really want to start cutting and cou ting as I know that is more likely to make me fall off the wagon!!

@cheeseisthebest helps to know its not just me!

Bestbees what are your portion sizes like? I'm pretty sure your problem is not eating enough fat. Would you consider adding another tablespoon of fat each day? You could add butter to vegetables, extra olive oil on salad, or even a bulletproof coffee. I know we frown on them on Bootcamp but when you're very close to goal they can be a useful tool to up your fat macro so long as you're getting plenty of vitamins and minerals overall.

Yes I was going to say they look a bit like diet meals...

Fat intake is essential to keep burning fat!

Regarding positives you’ve listed (and I bet there are more you haven’t thought of), I find it really helpful to look in the mirror daily (or every few days, whatever works) and tell myself all the things I am happy with, rather than making it about weight only. List them out to yourself and really appreciate them. Also dress nicely (if you don’t already) and wear clothes that fit well and make you feel good. Don’t get caught in that ‘when I’m x weight I’ll buy something nice or I’ll wear all the clothes that don’t fit and haven’t fit me for years, but for now it’s not worth it so I’m going to wear this scabby old t-shirt/leggings/etc. That’s such a counter-productive mindset. You’re worth it now.

Even if that means buying a few cheap but nice looking outfits that likely won’t fit you for long, that’s ok. Think of the money you’re saving on booze or whatever and put that towards something to wear that makes you fell good.

Oops dropped a quotation mark in there...

Oh my god Jollyholibobs that meal sounds divine - with the fish and the cauliflower. That sounds right up my street. Definitely bookmarking that for later (even with the carrot).

Buffy that whoosh is insane! That’s so inspiring - well done. I’m sure it won’t go back on, and if a pound or two does, it will surely just be water. If you think about it, where would the weight come back from? It’s not like you’re magically going to put on 12 pounds of fat from nowhere - it’s just not physically possible. You must feel great - congratulations.

And sorry that you’re stuck Bestbees. I would feel really grumpy if I’d been stuck for five weeks. Perhaps you’re due due a whoosh too? Your food sounds very light.

After a short plateau of two weeks, I’ve shifted some stubborn pounds. I’m really pleased. I was 9 stone 3 and 3/4 this morning, down from 9 stone 6 last week. I know 2 pounds isn’t much but for me, it’s a lot, as things have slowed down this close to end game. And now I’m less than 4lbs from my goal which feels amazingly achievable.

Also - I feel more muscular and toned than ever before. It might just be a sense but I feel like I’ve kept muscle and lost fat on this WOE. I took a really good progress photo this morning but I’m in my pants, haha.

Thank you.

I suspect plenty of fat - oil on salad, homemade mayo 4 tbsp, cream in dishes. I can go for more though! These are really not diet meals to my mind, but never going to complain about more! Portion sizes would be say a whole tuna steak fried in olive oil, recipe portion of jansens temptation. Katsu curry was two chicken breasts deep fried, quarter of a cauli for the rice.

Clothes are interesting. I dress nicely I think, and am still going to work which helps. Although right at the top of my healthy weight I am in size 10 jeans. I have ordered a skirt which might be a bit tight so that's a good way of watching things.

I looked in the mirror yesterday and though, hmm I look slim. So I know I should focus on that and not the scales weight. Is amazing how much that can have a hold on you though right?

@Bestbees what on earth is Jansen’s temptation? I googled it and it says a potato casserole? Is it that but with celeriac?

www.nigella.com/recipes/guests/shaun-hills-janssons-temptation

I made mine with swede though. And used a riverford recipe but basically the same!

@Bestbees yes. Focus on that. Focus on the detail of it, what does that body feel and look like to you, what do you appreciate about it? How is your skin, how are your eyes, how does your face look without the doughiness; how is your mind feeling without the moods and the cravings? All the things you said, really.

I do understand the weight/size thing. I was an 8 for many years as a young woman, even after having had two children. 10 would be my ideal now, and 12 is generally where I hover - when I start creeping into 14s I know my eating/drinking has gone too far toward the dark side for too long. So then I get myself back on the wagon until I’m comfortably into small 12s and have got a handle on my carb monster once again.

Sure, if I let 19 year old, perfectionist me dictate how I would best like to look, 8 would be perfect (but wouldn’t suit me or my lifestyle now at all - it was effortless back then but it would take a lot of work to maintain at my age and I simply don’t care enough. I also don’t like living that way), 10 would be great, but 12 is where I find the best balance in terms of how much I have to sacrifice/work at it and how much enjoyment I get out of life. That sweet spot will be different for different people.

@Ninkanink wise wise words. Thank you. Here is my lunch. Courgette a d halumi fritters. Oil on salad too. Surely this is high fat enough? Fritters were these but with halumi. I have eaten half the recipe. Fried in plenty of oil.
www.lowcarbmaven.com/the-easiest-zucchini-fritters/

Bestbees if you can be bothered then I suggest logging two or three days of food in My Fitness Pal to find out your calorie intake and your macros. Alternatively weeks of no weight loss is long enough to try a stall breaker such as a carb refeed. What I will say though is when I was losing weight I got to 9st 6lb pretty easily and quickly in five months then the last 6lb came off slowly over the next nine months. So it might be worth hanging in there and seeing how things go naturally. How long is it since you first went low carb?

Forgot to say, it’s taken me quite a few years to get to the point where I’m no longer chasing the 10. I have sold everything that I didn’t easily fit (at least 6 leather jackets, maybe a couple more that I can’t remember!) because I got tired of only being able to wear things when I was being super strict and super careful - yes I could fit into them but only for a while here and there and the rest of the time I felt angry with myself and upset at seeing all my beautiful things languishing in the warbrobe(s). It was so liberating. But again, that’s just me - I know now where my sweet spot is. Plenty of people find it at a smaller size than me, and maybe for you that extra half a stone or whatever will always be very important. But for now, relax, stick with it, and focus on other benefits.

@StuntNun. Since 11th Jan. Might record my food for a bit... Just wary it might make it worse as I might start cutting things! I suspect I am eating around 1750-2000 a day based on my past cal counting knowledge!