Summer Low Carb mini-Bootcamp - week 3

[StuntNun]

Welcome to week 3 of our mini-Bootcamp. If you have been following strict Bootcamp then you can move to Bootcamp Light this week. This means you can eat when you're hungry rather than sticking to three meals a day, and you can re-introduce alcohol, low carb fruits, nuts and seeds, and dark chocolate in small quantities. Some people choose to stick with strict Bootcamp on weekdays and do Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

Note that there is almost always a weight loss stall between weeks 3 and 5 of going low carb so do not worry if the scales don't drop this week or next. It's caused by a temporary increase in water retention and you will still be burning fat if you keep following the rules. If the lack of weight loss gets you down then remind yourself that this is to be expected and the scales will start moving again.

As always, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness!

@Jollyholibobs it is difficult when people try, then get it wrong. One of my friends made a picnic which included falafels, hummus, and greek yogurt with honey! I tried to eat around it as much as I could, with a big of yogurt smeared round my bowl and the strawberries pretty much free of it. It was a on-off, so no point in being difficult.

@Kerplunkk make sure that if you cut back on cheese and yogurt, that you also up your fats in other areas - butter, oils, fatty cuts of meat, coconut, avocado, maybe a few nuts.

Had a day in the sun with dgc and a picnic lunch - soup, then cold salmon, mayo, salad, avocado
D - salami, parma ham, artichokes, olives, much more salad

Lots of water

Surprisingly fine day today, despite being in the car most of the day!

B: fried eggs, bacon and mushrooms

L: picnic of leftovers: cold hard boiled eggs with mayo splodged on top, smoked salmon, cheese, cucumber

D: homemade tapas: mussels, garlic mushrooms, meatballs and salad with parmesan.

Really hoping the scales reflect my will power 🙈

MsAwesomeDragon the Seriously Low Carb Rolls are lovely. They're expensive at £3.29 for four plus shipping so I keep them for special occasions. They're huge so one is easily big enough for a quarter pounder burger. Apparently each one is 2.7g of carbs whereas a regular bread roll would be around 40g. I'm mildly wheat-intolerant but the SLCR don't cause me stomachache unlike regular bread rolls. They do have to be kept in the fridge or they go mouldy. The company also do a loaf which is nice if you fancy a small sandwich or e.g. pate on toast. I didn't like their low carb brownies but the hot cross buns got good reviews on here.

@venusandmars thank you, will keep that in mind

I love the low carb bread. Absolute life saver. Love it with buttery scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and spinach.

@Rayna37 completely pinching your 'sauce' idea - genius super simple! Also had a very similar dinner and gave up on lettuce wraps after one disappointing effort. Huge plate of chopped lettuce instead with lashings of tex mex condiments and cheese.

@StuntNun thanks for the reminder about what snacking does to insulin. My mouth has been very lonely today as I'm bored back at work so keep drifting to the fridge. All BC stuff but not due to hunger.

Lunch today due to lack of options but a half remembered recipe from previous boot camp: sautéed spinach and mushrooms loads of butter with double cream and tsp of mustard sauce. Tonnes of black pepper then what was left of the cheese grated on top. Glorious.

Snacks: lots of cheese, celery, rollitos, boiled egg

Dinner: chicken and veg fajita salad

I'd defrosted freezer surprise today - only to find out it was an old mega carby veg chilli but the fajita swerve worked well instead and everyone else enjoyed the chilli!

Forgot to say I did manage my 'water whoosh' post holiday carb fest so lost 5 lbs which leaves another 5 to get to the top of my maintenance weight.

Thanks @StuntNun for the info about insulin. I actually joined this challenge primarily out of fear of developing type 2 diabetes after having gestational diabetes so I think I'll work towards lengthening my gaps between meals (and continue working on reducing the dairy in my diet ). Is there an easy way to tell dairy adversely affects me in terms of insulin control?

I've just had a delicious and fatty pork shoulder steak with butter garlic mushrooms and more butter on my mixed veg. For the first time since starting this, I wasn't actually envious of my husband's mashed potato

Only a 1.1lb loss and I let disappointment get the better of me and nibbled on Apple crumble at lunchtime. Mostly apple but still, not very smart. I think I thought that as I have so much to lose it would be quicker to start with.

B 2 hard boiled eggs, a sausage
L tuna mayo salad
D pork stir fry

So I gave in to temptation and weighed myself this evening rather than waiting until the morning. I made my husband check the weight and he was only allowed to tell me the number if it was lower than last week I've lost 2.5lb this week which I'm very happy with! The lack of hot buttery toast has paid off!!

@KateF - it might feel slow, but 1.1lb is still a decent amount of weight to lose! That's almost 5lb a month, and almost certainly way faster than you put the weight on in the first place! I try to remind myself that I intend for this to be a permanent change in my eating habits that are not only about losing weight, but getting healthier.

@pinknsparkly wow if that's an evening weight, in my experience, it will be even lower in the morning!

@pinknsparkly

I think I've somewhat misunderstood the bootcamp rules regards how often to eat. I thought the first two weeks were also eat when you're hungry (but also make sure to have 3 meals a day). I therefore had three meals and at least two snacks a day. Was I doing it wrong and should have been avoiding the snacks?

Yes, ideally you should be avoiding snacking. Often we find that people are snacking out of habit, rather than because they're hungry. By now, as @StuntNun says, your body should be getting used to the new way of eating, and you should find your appetite is decreasing significantly.

If you're still hungry though, this is a sign that you're not eating enough fat.

Still bootcamping away. Still itchy but otherwise feeling a bit better. Not weighing as I’m expecting to gain a little weight this time which is fine. However, I am definitely losing my carb tummy as I pulled my jeans up and down without unzipping them today. I did obviously have to undo the belt!

Put the 2 lb back on this weigh in , however … it was DDs birthday , followed by my birthday .. followed by a family christening party all in one week , rules were broken especially at the christening as it was just so good to be in a room with family members we’ve not seen all at the same time for quite a while !
Managing the water intake is surprisingly easy ( resisting scone , jam and clotted cream surprisingly difficult )

Will meal plan a bit better this week , only difficult night will be Saturday when we’re going to a friends house for dinner , I might offer to drive as taxis seem to be an issue here at the moment

Thanks @BIWI - I think my hunger is finally starting to dissipate! I don't think it's a case of not enough fat (my husband is a bit disgusted at the quantity of mayonnaise I'm eating!) but more that I'm struggling to remember to keep my water intake high. On days I make a real effort to concentrate on water intake, my hunger is much lower. But unless I make a real effort, I barely drink any water all day and end up chugging a couple of pints when I get home.

I’m finding the water tricky too @pinknsparkly
Mainly because I’m out and about with the DCs & am worried about finding a toilet in time

My latest discovery is Tesco salt and chilli pork belly. 1.1g of carbs per piece and so, so good. I’ve posted nutritional information on the useful products thread.

I'm down .3 of a lb which is actually ok because I wasn't very good at all this week.

I have a few friends coming round this evening as dh and dd's going away for a couple of days. Mad cleaning day and going to shop for nibbles later. No idea what I'll end up with.

Pinknsparkly try to avoid downing pints of water at a time because it won't be absorbed, you need to drink water steadily through the day. If you can't avoid having to drink large quantities of water at once then adding electrolytes to it will help more be absorbed. On the dairy-insulin front the only way to tell whether it affected you would be to test insulin levels after eating dairy and even that wouldn't necessarily be conclusive. Milk is the worst culprit for affecting weight loss because the dairy protein is intact and it's a low fat food. Higher fat dairy such as cream has less of an effect. Fermented dairy such as yogurt and kefir aren't as much of a problem since the dairy protein is broken down by processing. Hard cheeses will have a minimal effect in most people. What I see on diet groups is an all-or-nothing approach where people cut out dairy entirely because they believe it's affecting their weight loss. But I don't think that's necessary for most people if you're aware that (a) not all dairy is equal as described above, and (b) frequency of dairy consumption is a factor. So having Greek yogurt for breakfast and a dish containing cheese for lunch will have a much lower impact than having two creamy coffees at a different time of day to your meal times.

Hi all,
I weight today as I started on a Tuesday. It’s week four for me. I have put on 1 lb. I think it will be because I’m due my period, so not worrying about it too much. Will KOKO!

Off on holiday on Saturday so will try my best to keep ok track. Will hopefully have some good low carb options so just need to avoid the bread!

Just weighed in late and delighted to be 6.6lb down this week. 11lb over this bootcamp so far.

Main challenge for this week will be MIL's birthday on Saturday. She's very carb-heavy (sandwiches, pizza slices, crisps). I'll try and eat before I go, I think, as even the chicken will have a sugary marinade. I can busy myself with the children so she won't really notice if I don't really eat much!

L - salami, boiled egg, avocado, salad (with mayonnaise and olive oil)
D - something out of the freezer with FLGV

The freezer is looking pretty full but it's a mixture of carby things for dh and low carb portions for me. I think I need to have a good sort out and probably chuck out some things that are either looking a bit dodgy or which are lingering in the freezer because I don't actually want to eat them.

I also have a ton of cheese. Some of which is in the freezer. When it was my birthday my dc (knowing that I don't eat cake) made me a cake of cheese instead. sort of like these Some of it was eaten while we were away but a whole stilton goes a long way...

Hi all,

I previously lost two stone on a boot camp... life has somewhat interfered since so here I am back again! I’ve got shiny new scales which are obviously going to make all the difference...

Interesting to come back in to chat about eating out and socialising - I previously lost during lockdown so that’s new to me. I’m thinking of getting myself a bento-style lunchbox like my kids have so I can have picky snack type lunches out and about.

A pound and a half on for me but not surprised as had a weekend away with dh. Tbh I pretty much stayed on plan the whole time, but a definite lack of FLGV and water.

Am trying to make up for lack of water by drinking 3 pints already today but have just seen that drinking pints at a time isn't good and I should be sipping through the day - I hate doing this and also can't bear drinking from a water bottle so I'm hoping drinking a pint at a time will be OK in the long run.