Week 2 - Leaving Lockdown Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Sunday night here is games night, so better that I start the thread now, before I forget as I've gone to bed so late!

I truly hope that this link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness works!

Apologies if it doesn't, but hopefully someone will come and post a working one if it doesn't!

I love week 2, as for those who haven't low carbed before the results are often spectacularly incredible!

But even for those of us who are more used to low carbing, hopefully this first week has seen you make a good start.

It's looking like some warmer weather is heading our way, which always makes things seem more positive - but also focuses our minds on things like skimpier clothing, so hopefully will help to keep us toeing the line!

I hope the scales have rewarded your hard work, and here's to a good week ahead

Morning all!

Off to cricket this morning, so will catch up with you all later. Am suitably bloated after my water experiment...yay!

@FusionChefGeoff this is often my experience too - it’s very annoying! Our bodies must be v sensitive to react so fast to small changes.
I wonder if, in the added carb arena, it might be better steering away from bread? I say this because I first low carbed while pregnant as had (slightly suspect) diagnosis of GD. I found that eating a couple of oatcakes with protein did not affect sugars but even a few bites of bread/wheat or potato really did. It might be that you are extra sensitive to wheat and you might find with a different carb - ie oat/rice/quinoa you can get the benefit of alleviating carb flu without the big water gains? I’m no expert tho - just found that interesting years ago when I had a glucose monitor for pregnancy. All fine in end btw - baby perfect!

I’m still on same weight as last week. But I think things fit slightly loser in my work clothes. I haven’t put jeans in for 100 years as - now I am (like everyone else!!) nearly 42 - I find they divide me in half in an unflattering way. When younger I always looked great in jeans (obvs bootcut - the best kind) so I feel a bit lost style wise and have embraced the dress/tunic leggings/tights and boots uniform of the 40’s...🤣
I’d love to dress like a land girl type thing (🤣) 1940’s style - but fear I am too small and square for such glamour...!

@FusionChefGeoff it cannot possibly be fat! Remind me if you have a lot to loose or not? Do u need to eat more fat? Count carbs or cals for a couple of days just to see? It's very frustrating i know. I have kind of made my peace with my weight and focus on the other benefits but that might not be where you are at.

@Random789 sorry you are feeling rough. It takes longer for some than others to adjust over to fat burning i think.

@prettybird I don't usually daily weigh but was interested to check if the extra carbs / less water had any difference. Wasn't expecting that though!!

@Bestbees no I don't have a lot to lose and we're down to vanity pounds if I'm being completely honest so I was expecting it to be slow but when a 7 week loss is sabotaged by one day (!) it was quite a shock.

Does that basically mean all I've lost the whole time was water via glycogen stores and no actual 'real' loss??

Will definitely have to focus on all the other benefits then

Hello everyone.

I slept right through the night - no need to pee. So getting water in before 6pm is very important.

Feeling much less tired and grumpy and have been for a run and just going shopping.

Am not beating myself up about my poor planning skills today. Just going to buy stuff for the next three days and will shop again on Tuesday, and hopefully have a good plan for then.

Breakfast will be 10% Greek yoghurt
Lunch is broccoli & cheese soup.
Dinner roast something with lots of veg.

@OnceUponAMidnightBeery

Still reading previous BC threads and loving all the chat, advice and recipes.

@BIWI can I ask which was the one you almost abandoned? I do love a good flounce

I can't remember which one - it was several years ago though! And it was only week 1

@Random789

I'm still feeling quite grotty, nearly two weeks in. When I exercise even gently I immediately feel fatigued, and after my bath yesterday I had to lie down and recover (its partly bcs I tend to have my baths too hot, but I could tell that it was worse than usual).

I wonder if this means that I am not getting deep enough into low carb to allow my body to switch over properly to fat-burning? I know we aren't meant to carb count, but I tried to do a count up yesterday. Very, VERY roughly, I thought it might be 60g - I had quite a lot of swede, which is 'amber' for carbs at 9g per 100.

I am drinking a lot more water than usual, definitely more than 2l per day. Perhaps I should up it to 3 0r 4 litres? I've added a little bit of salt to my drinks occasionally and had one electrolyte drink (SIS brand) most days.

Sorry you're feeling grotty - sounds like carb flu, so this would suggest that your electrolyte balance is out of whack and, possibly, that your carbs are too low. How much salt are you using? Do you cook with it? Do you add it to your food?

there's a piece here from The Diet Doctor

The good news is that it means your body is definitely transitioning, and carb flu is temporary.

However, in the short term, I'd up your carbs a little - have a slice of wholemeal toast and see if that makes you feel better.

@FusionChefGeoff

According to my scales I am 4 lb UP on yesterday?!?!

That cannot possibly be right surely????

Honest to God I am so fed up of doing all the 'it'll come off slowly, just trust the plan, stick with it" and then I'm nearly back up to where I was in week 2 (this is week 9 for me) in 24 hours????!!!!!!

I am careful to put the scales in the same place on the (tiled) bathroom floor each time.

Yesterday, due to the palpitations, I focussed on electrolytes and less water - 2.5 litres. Also had nibbles of sweetcorn, few carrots and the crust of a sandwich to try to increase my carbs slightly. Felt much better and was really pleased.

But then gained 4 bags of sugar whilst I slept.

FFS. When you don't have a lot to lose, putting 4 fucking pounds on in 24 hours is very very demoralising.

Please help me from ripping open the loaf of luxury white bread I have in the freezer and ALL the biscuits....

@FusionChefGeoff

Please don't panic, and please don't hit the biscuits!

Firstly, the most important thing is to address those palpitations. Surely your health is more important than a few pounds on the scales?

Second, 4 pounds is only 2 bags of sugar

... and finally, all you've done is refilled your glycogen stores with extra energy. It isn't fat!

Those pounds will soon disappear. And, as you well know, it's quite natural for your body weight to fluctuate anyway.

Can I also suggest that you stop the daily weighing? It's clearly not doing you any good!

You don't have a lot to lose and so it will be a slower journey for you.

@Angliski

Ok. Today

B- scrambled eggs with ham mushrooms spring onion and cheese
L- oxtail soup and some cauli rice
D- probably oxtail again with spring greens in butter
2x tea with milk, lots of water snd one milky coffee

Yesterday
2 tbsp yoghurt
2 x boiled eggs and some sauerkraut and goats cheese
2 cold sausages salad with soy dressing slice of ham, piece of avocado
Scrambled eggs with sausages and random veg
Water, green tea, one milky coffee

Thursday
Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and avocado
Lunch- tuna sashimi salad and takeaway pork mince meatballs from a Vietnamese spot
Dinner chicken wings, griddled aubergine salad and sour cream. I nibbled about a teaspoon of DH peanuts sauce
Water, coffee, 2 x milk tea

@Angliski

First, how much water are you drinking? And second, how much do you weigh? (You haven't entered your weight on the spreadsheet, so I don't know)

At first glance your food looks OK - certainly the quantities seem fine but obviously without seeing how much is on your plate that's hard to tell! But looking at it more closely, I have a few observations/questions:

• there's processed food in every day - smoked salmon, ham, sausages. One of the rules of Bootcamp is to avoid these as much as possible

• it looks like there's not enough fat - difficult to tell from your description, but are you, for example, using lots of butter in your scrambled eggs? Are you adding a dressing to your smoked salmon and avocado?

• focus on fattier protein choices; oxtail is good but tuna (for example) will be much less so

• when you say 'oxtail soup' did you make it yourself? If it was canned, there would have been a lot of carbs in that

• do you know what was in the tuna sashimi salad and pork mince meatballs? Chances are there would have been very little fat in there but also a lot of carbs, because there would have been sugar/honey in the dressing (never mind the peanut sauce!)

• it could also be that you're getting too many carbs from dairy - every day you're having milky tea/coffee, along with cheese and/or yoghurt. Could be worth cutting down on that

But finally, if you're undergoing fertility treatment, I'm assuming that you're taking some form of medication? It's also possible that this will be playing its part. Clearly a successful outcome there is much more important than speedy weight loss (although I understand the frustration!)

@BIWI you are, of course as always, right.

And I would far rather have the extra pounds than feel like I did on Friday.

And so, with that, I will chill the fuck out and get back to appreciating nourishing my body with food I deserve and feeling great!!

Thank you all - you've successfully pulled me out of a slump which wouldn't have led me to the biscuits but would definitely have made me very very grump

Glad to hear it!

ChoosandChipsandSealingWax

The hardest thing for me is the alcohol (like others on the thread, I do overuse it for stress in particular),

me too

Food today
I have some meatballs that need eating up. Saw this recipe which looks low carb

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/minced-beef-recipes/naked-chef-meatballs/

so will give that a go.
Will prob pop to m%s for a few nice deli bits for today and this week too. Esp their prawn cocktail and a deli pop with mozzarella balls, sunblush tomatoes in oil and herbs...

Still exhausted. Ds had a long seizure (he has FND) yesterday eve which was v stressful, on top of everything else.. When I'm feeling down there's a big risk of me self sabotaging, which I am struggling to find strategies to deal with.

@devoncreamtea I absolutely love the Potato Peel Pie Society era clothes too. I'm afraid though that with the wisdom of old age (I'm 43) I'm telling you bootcut jeans are dead. It's high waisted cropped wide legs all the way! This month anyway

@debka great photos! I wish we could see your face more in the second as you look much younger from what we can see

Thanks @BIWI. Yes I am frying the eggs I. Coconut oil or butter.

Saw the salad being made so no sugar and also checked the ingredients on the mince balls. I will try reducing milk. Only starred medication two days ago which doesn’t really account for no move on week one. I’m going to start measuring stuff as that’s what worked last time. Will hang in there as I do feel better without the carbs.

I’m 14 stone and 5ft 2.

@BIWI will try removing processed food this week. Maybe that will help!

@BIWI oxtail home made. Thank you for the input and sorry everyone for multiple texts - on phone!

@colouringindoors sorry to hear about DS seizure. That must be very scary.

@Oneborneverydecade I’m in the flares camp - haven’t tried high waisted because of massive paunch.

Thanks Angliski appreciate it.

I'm also 5'2 so extra weight really shows... I've lost a stone over the last 6 weeks with this bootcamp and a mini one of my own, it does work... I was 12 and a half stone.... ultimate goal is 10... Definitely hang in there!

@Angliski
Are you drinking at least 3 litres of water a day?

For me, water is the key. I'm lucky to have been following this woe consistently since January and, for the first time ever yesterday, drank less than my recommended minimum. This morning, I felt bloated and the scales had shifted (in the wrong direction) by 1.5lb.

You're positively willowy at 5ft 2 compared to some on here but not prettybird who is 5ft 5 and a half

Also 5,2 colouringindoors and angliski and I’m aiming for 10 stone. Our bmi suggests a bit lower at the upper level but I’m not sure my face could take it! I’d rather carry a couple of extra lbs than look haggard!

Hope your day is feeling better btw

@Rshard

Also 5,2 colouringindoors and angliski and I’m aiming for 10 stone. Our bmi suggests a bit lower at the upper level but I’m not sure my face could take it! I’d rather carry a couple of extra lbs than look haggard!

Hope your day is feeling better btw

I mean your ds colouringindoors

Loving the colour of those tulips , @prettybird

carbs were the miracle worker in those days

Just thinking about that revolution, Carbs were certainly a miracle for anyone in food manufacturing. Using an input lower cost than meat/butter/creme and producing food (or near food substitute) with a terrifically long shelf life and which could carry favouring was a very good bet.

Add to that that eating them makes you briefly feel full and then ravenously hungry again is the jackpot. Add some marketing to make people thing these were 'healthy, low fat foods' and it's a licence to print money.

And lots of us to gain weight.

Just like soft drinks manufacturers, whose drinks actually make you thirsty, which is brilliant for sales. When I worked there, we had all the different flavours available free. When someone new joined they would typically try all the different flavours until eventually one day they would say oh, I'm quite thirsty, I'll just have water.

Cue a round of applause

It adds an extra lift for me when I am checking labels. Other than fresh or frozen green vegetables, so many carbs are just added as padding. For example, if mayonnaise is made of eggs and oil, how can some of the branded ones contain 30% carb, unless they are padding it with cheap fillers to make more money and make me fat.

I'm so enjoying the chat (and tulips) on this thread that I keep forgetting to post my food

Skipped breakfast again. I'll be allowed to do that from tomorrow anyway and I just haven't been able to face breakfast this week

Greek salad (raw cabbage, leaves, spring onion, celery, three cherry tomatoes cut up and grated cucumber with fresh garlic pressed, tough yet abs creme and grown coriander. Oil and apple cider vinegar dressing with squeeze of lemon.

Thanks, BIWI.
The article you link to suggests half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of water. So perhaps I have been under-doing the salt: I've been using just pinches, cautious of the dangers of excessive salt.

Interestingly while I was running this morning, the initial total exhaustion gave way after about 10 mins to a reasonable though not joyful amount of energy. I guess that exercise may force a short-term ramping up of the body's ability to use fat as an energy source, even before the longer-term adaptation has properly kicked in?

Planning to spend time reading in the garden now. I think I should be up to that!

@nowlook - that extra half inch is very important when calculating BMI

I always thought I was 5'4" but measured myself again in my 40s I think and discovered I was 5'5" - and then I measure myself again, after a particularly stretchy Pilates class and I was 5'5.5" So I'm claiming that half inch