Week 3 - Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Well, doesn't time fly?!

We've already completed the two, hardest weeks of Bootcamp.

So now, things get a bit different.

During the next 3 weeks, you'll be doing strict Bootcamp during the week, but at weekends, you can relax into Bootcamp Light. This means that you can introduce some fruit - in the form of berries - and some nuts/seeds, albeit occasionally and in moderation, and some alcohol - again, in moderation - and restricted to clear spirits with zero calorie mixers, and/or dry wines

As ever, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

I sense that you're all coping really well, although it's also evident that there a lot of practical and (particularly) emotional challenges that are rearing their heads.

Stand tall and stay tough!

This WOE is not a very forgiving one, so it's important that you stick to the rules as much as you possibly, possibly can. I know that real life gets in the way sometimes, but the more you can resist all those obstacles and challenges, the better.

Here's to another successful week!

HOWEVER

I do need to warn you, if you're new to low carbing/Bootcamp, that weeks 3 & 4 are very, very challenging. Your body is in the process of transitioning from burning carbs to burning fat; you have lost a lot of water weight, emptied your glycogen stores and have started burning fat. The next two weeks you need to see as consolidation weeks - you may not see much movement on the scales while this is happening.

DON'T PANIC!

You know that it works, because you've lost the weight in the first fortnight - so just KOKO (keep on keeping on), and all will be fine.

This is, though, the reason why - on this Bootcamp - we're aiming to stay strictly Bootcamp during the week. To give us the best chance of losing as we can.

Very good luck to all of us

This week's recipe is a fish one - seeing as how we've had a meat one and a veggie one!

Baked Marinated Salmon

One salmon steak per person

Marinade:

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsps sesame oil
2 tbsps light soy sauce
juice of a lemon or lime
black pepper
sprinkling of dried oregano
sprinkling of dried chilli flakes (optional)

Mix together.

Put salmon pieces into a (non-metal) dish, pour marinade ingredients over them
Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes
Wrap pieces in foil and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes

This is lovely served with stir-fried veg - so typically I'd do finely shredded cabbage, baby sweetcorn, mangetout, pak choi. I sometimes also serve it with Bare Naked Noodles

Welcome @mrshoho! Just add your name to the bottom of the list on the spreadsheet.

I was down 7lbs!! I know water is magic, but can it lose me half a stone in a couple of hours?!?

Runs off to drink several litres ... 🏃‍♀️

Hello, please can I join you to post but not be on the spreadsheet?

Day 1 for me today. I’ve had

Lunch: loads of salad, chicken (98 cal), 50 cal of caesar dressing, an apple and a small piece of cheese

Dinner: sea bass with lemon and caper butter. Had broccoli and green beans with garlic and lemon zest and some butter.

I’m fine without breakfast and I’m congratulating myself on no wine for the first time in ages.

@StuntNun Hallelujah!! and thanks for saying what we were all trying to say...

However, (and @ayooplass ) there are different ways of eating. I can lose weight on a low cal, low fat diet. I can lose weight on a low carb high fat diet.

What I can't do is combine both.

Plus, for me, a low cal, low fat diet leves me hungry, feeling deprived, and unsustainable in the long term.

This woe is (for me) sustainable. It's not a 'diet' it's just how I eat.

I totally need to just go “this is a WOE, not deprivation” too - I know it works, I know it’s fine, I just need to get back into the mindset. And keep up the no alcohol in the week.

I’ve added prawns, liver, mushrooms, turmeric, broccoli, spinach, butter, green tea and other lovely things to my online shop.

Thanks BIWI. Happy bootcampering!

@CruellaDeVilla

Hello, please can I join you to post but not be on the spreadsheet?

Day 1 for me today. I’ve had

Lunch: loads of salad, chicken (98 cal), 50 cal of caesar dressing, an apple and a small piece of cheese

Dinner: sea bass with lemon and caper butter. Had broccoli and green beans with garlic and lemon zest and some butter.

I’m fine without breakfast and I’m congratulating myself on no wine for the first time in ages.

@CruellaDeVilla

Welcome!

However, just to point out - we don't count calories on Bootcamp - and also, we don't eat any fruit in the first two weeks! (And do you know the carb count of that Caesar dressing?!)

The rest of your day sounds lovely though

Ok ok I have the carb withdrawal headaches from hell but I did it! Eggs and veg and then leek soup feta and tofu- I did eat a whole block of tofu and some veg and then steak and cabbage. I’m now hiding from the carbs in bed with toddler!

Fair enough @BIWI 🙂

I’m more or less doing 800 BSD which is low carb, no sugar but appreciate that low carb doesn’t allow fruit. Hmm, I need to decide I think. I know the Mediterranean WOE works for me generally.

Plenty of fat, water and salt, @Angliski!

Carb content of the dressing was

@CruellaDeVilla you can have some fruit when you move onto Bootcamp Light, after the first two weeks.

Ah, ok, thanks BIWI!

The funeral went well today. There were literally hundreds of people - fortunately it wasn't raining as the chapel at the crematorium can only take 100 people, leaving a few hundred people outside (and no loudspeakers - fortunately we were close to the entrance to the chapel so could just about hear what was being said ).

There was a semi-spontaneous guard of honour for the coffin as it was taken in, made up of the boys he used to coach at the rugby club (for the first few years, alongside ds, who he always deferred to as the "better" coach - despite the c30 year age gap). 30 c17 year old boys barely holding it together was very moving There was space for a few more to go inside to the chapel of rest, so ds took two of "his" boys, in as they needed to be there. I was proud of the way that he handled himself and looked after others. He says that Derek always treated him as an adult - even though he wasn't quite 16 when he started coaching (he'd initially only been supposed to be assisting but Derek's son had had health problems at the time, so ds ended up coaching on his own for most of that season. I got more involved with that team because of that as the "responsible" adult in case anything went wrong).

This poem was on the order of service: coincidentally it was the same poem that was used at Friday's funeral. It really resonates with me as it is how I now not always successfully try to think of my mum

The purvey at the rugby club was jam packed but I only had water - 4 pints of it And I didn't touch the spread of food as it was carb central

In more cheerful and interesting news: ds was able to use the fact that he was down here to pick up his kilt (his 21st present). Very smart he looks too (although I might be biased ) (blanked out his face for his privacy ) Shirt was his own, rather than getting out the new shirt (with a "swept" collar) - and he couldn't do up the top bottom because he was hungover (I did it for him so he could put on his tie to go to the funeral).

In the evening, dh, ds and I went down to the Clyde to see COP26 from closer up. Loads of police from all over the UK guarding the "Green Zone" and lots of delegates leaving, so we were surrounded by many different and exotic languages as we crossed the bridge to get a feel. There was a giant Earth being projected on o the Armadillo (in the Blue Zone) which was very effective.

Fascinating information from BIWI and stuntnun about the dieticians advice. As others have said I have the utmost respect for the NHS - my DB is receiving cancer treatment currently but it’s so worrying that most people would have took the advice as gospel.

That sounds like the most wonderful send-off and your DS looks gorgeous in his kilt.

💐 @prettybird
Interesting about the dietician advice still being the eatwell plate. I take metformin for insulin resistance and this woe is the only way I have ever found where I am not constantly hungry, it's got my insulin resistance under control, before this even with the metformin I could have eaten the wallpaper. I'm sure people thought I was greedy but I was so hungry all the time.
I am hiding a I have out a pound and a half on but I'm actually quite happy with that as I had the week off last week and decided to treat it like an actual holiday as I've wasted so much leave being sad. I ate out every day and saw different friends. Previously doing that would have seen me out half a stone on. I really want to focus on exercise now, I've been thinking about joining a gym but I'm not sure I would actually manage to fit it in. Dd did tell me she would come with me last night so maybe I should.

Also I did too many squares yesterday and I can't bend down now 😂 should be funny at work.

Hello all - quick check in before I head back to my COP fringe event set up - we actually start with guests this evening eek!!

That was a beautiful description of a wonderful celebration of a life @prettybird and I love that poem. Wish I could actually see a bit of actual COP but I'm stuck in my venue from dawn till late then collapse into my hotel.

The 'official' dietary advice is so odd isn't it! It's fair to say that advice on anything changes fairly rapidly and there will always be a few who are ahead of the curve .

I am however always grateful for reminders to step away from the cheese as I do use this woe (wrongly) as an excuse to massively overindulge.

I found a fellow low carber on our event team!!! He's doing more of a Keto plan but what a relief to talk about it with an actual person! He's also helping to get Robert (head of catering) on our side so last night we both got double mini steak pies (scooped out filling) and cabbage then I added a pack of asparagus and broccoli which I microwaved and good old Robert added a large quantity of butter for me!! He's also happy to serve us our breakfast baps naked in a box so that's sorted too.

My confidence in remaining on plan is steadily growing and I'm doing 12,000 steps a day and mostly keeping attached to my water bottle.

Hi, may I join now? I have been following since the start, but had a long,very enjoyable weekend away planned. Back now.
I have an old, steam-driven ipad, so cannot download Google app to add to spreadsheet. Put me down as 85.2 kg. That is nearly 10 kg more than I was in July, but I broke my collarbone, which threw me out of whack. I will stay on strict BC, & hope to drop 5kg. Thanks!

I am such a fan of this WOE.. in another non scale victory, I realise how I am.not waking up with a stuffy (?) nose and how much easier it is for me to breathe these days. I'm wondering if it's just cutting out the gluten, or the whole effect of LC in general? I feel light and full of energy and am delighted to be consolidating .. easily maintaining, and while I could probably do with losing a few more kilos I don't want to put myself under too much pressure. It's so great to get on the scale (daily weigher) and see 78kg instead of 85 after years of trying with "sensible eating".

Also, I've been reading up on thyroid issues (I take levothyroxine which has done wonders for aches & skin issues, sadly no help with weight loss or brain fog!) and am finding a lot of support for a gluten free diet. While my hypothyroidism isn't caused by autoimmune disorder, I think there's definitely something in it. I can't find too much discussion around low carb but I'm convinced it helps!

Thanks everyone so very much for your responses, you're all amazing!!

@KeyLimePies - it's good to know that going low carb improved your cholesterol. I imagine that's one of the reasons for recommending a low fat diet. You're spot on about it being very difficult to take a completely different approach to the one I've been told I must follow by the "experts". That's actually the key reason for my post. I'm kind of happy to go against the expert advise, but ONLY if I can convince myself that it's the right thing to do. And I'm a data driven scientist who needs statistics and hard facts to make that call

@venusandmars - it wasn't based on a food diary, just a "what did you eat yesterday" conversation and general discussion. Thanks for the info about vitamins in fruit and veg. I must admit, the idea of there being different nutrients in fruit that I can't get from vegetables didn't sit right with me! Especially when she was telling me to snack on a banana or apple between meals when I'd normally not eat anything at all... Processed meat being an issue makes a lot more sense than red meat in general just being bad, now that I think about it! I thought exactly the same thing about the requirement to have carbs with all meals. I've loosened up a bit on my personal definition of what's an acceptable carb since starting the previous bootcamp. At that point I wasn't eating carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, onions or any vegetables that weren't entirely in the green. That made eating a bit tricky so now I'll eat so I've added them back in (in moderation). I feel like I eat sufficient carbs to meet whatever value she's got in her head. And the idea that sugar free drinks were recommended (not just "ok in moderation") literally blew my mind in confusion so I'm glad it wasn't just me I'll keep olive oil/coconut oil in mind for an alterative to butter - thanks!

@TrueGrit54 - thanks. The low fat advice in particular seems to be falling out of this conversation as the thing to avoid (plus, it tastes crap!)

@Rshard - that's great news about your colleague. Hopefully the low carb diet will filter into GP recommendations across the country eventually! As KeyLimePies said, it's actually quite a mental challenge trying to make the decision to go completely against the advice and recommendations provided by the "experts" and the vast majority of people would just follow it without question (or ignore it completely, but are unlikely to go away and research if it's the right thing to do!)

@doginabox - "isn't fruit just sugary veg". I must admit that was the piece of advice that really made me (alongside the recommendation to drink sugar free drinks) as I thought exactly the same as you. The other responses I've had overwhelmingly agree with you!

@Ontherebound34 - that's interesting to hear about your mum having a spike in cholesterol (and the complete opposite to the experience of KeyLimePies). If I continue this way of eating long term (I think I will, but need to sit down and read all the resources that people have shared) then I think I'm going to do occasional private blood tests to check my cholesterol (it's currently fine though so I'm not battling to reduce it!).

@BIWI - thanks so much for your detailed response. Yes, the low fat recommendation was to avoid heart disease (I think). And 75-100g of cheese per day seems much more reasonable than 100g per week

@Wildheartsease - the funny thing is that I had a very different experience when I had gestational diabetes last year. Then the verbal advice from the GD midwife was to always eat a small portion of carbs with each meal, but add equal or greater quantities of protein or fat to slow the breakdown of the carbs. It was an absolute ballache (I weighed and measured and calculated the carb/fat/protein content of every single item that I ate for 6 months but it (mostly) did the trick!). The dietician I saw last week said that high fat way of eating was fine, and recommended, for gestational diabetes as it was short term and for the benefit of the baby, but not long term. That said, the leaflets I was given by the midwife for GD diet and food ideas were terrible and the complete opposite to what she'd suggested in terms of pairing (two weetabix or toast and marmalade for breakfast, an orange as a snack rather than as juice etc). I couldn't control my blood sugars by eating the quantity of carbs they wanted (they wanted 50g of carbs per meal x 3, plus 2 snack of 15g carbs, minimum 150g carbs per day). I was referred to a dietician who said I could drop down to a minimum of 15g carbs per meal, 10g carbs per snack and a total of at least 50g carb per day. But none of that information was written down anywhere, it was just provided when I hit breaking point!

@Nutsaremynemesis - that's a very interesting point about the NHS advice and you're 100% right I think. Telling people to eat high fat but then continuing to eat pies and cake is a recipe for an (even bigger) health disaster!

@StuntNun - thanks so much for your detailed response. I'll have a look at all those links and books! I particularly appreciated the: "At the end of the day I would confidently state that following any of these recommendations from the dietitian will be bad for your health"

Overall, I'm going to sit down this weekend and read all of your weblinks in detail plus get some of the recommended books. For now, I've decided to continue with this way of eating (plus, fat free Greek yogurt is blergh when you're used to eating the full fat stuff!) as it's already reversed my pre-diabetes to non-diabetes. Once I've read the information you've already provided I'll make a proper decision and will also pay for a private blood tests to look at my blood sugars, cholesterol and other markers every few months to reassure myself that I'm going in the right direction. Thanks so so so much for all your advice and suggestions!!

@pinknsparkly the other thing that might blow your mind is the fact that lowering cholesterol in women (especially older women) is not good for you!

Have a read of this piece by Zoe Harcombe

There's also this book The Great Cholesterol Con which you might like to add to your library!

Two things really stood out to me from your post:

I'm a data driven scientist who needs statistics and hard facts

and, particularly:

I've decided to continue with this way of eating (plus, fat free Greek yogurt is blergh when you're used to eating the full fat stuff!) as it's already reversed my pre-diabetes to non-diabetes

So you know, from a personal/anecdotal POV that this WOE works - but also you know enough to be able to make an informed decision about where to go next.

I'm definitely not a scientist, although @StuntNun is - but I hope between us we've given you the basis of a startpoint for you to decide where you go next.

Some amazing discussions here. Thank you to all, it is so interesting to hear especially what the NHS people say vs what seems to actually work.

What I have learned in my forties is that a lot of advice is given that works for SOME people - I have a rake thin modelly type friend who gets the shakes if she doesn’t have three pieces of white toast with marmalade, with a sugary cappuccino when I have breakfast with her. I have a black coffee! And I have loads of examples like this. Also as a teen I could eat 5000 calories a day of mostly haribo and pot noodle and be model thin.

Anyway. I put .6 of a pound on because I was super strict Mon-Thurs then went away for the weekend and fell of the wagon. Back on it yesterday then was shopping and on top of all the BC items bought a gluten free Xmas pudding and devoured it after some cheese and gravad lax. I am confessing it here to stay accountable to myself! I could have been another 2lbs down!

Anyway, downing water and having black coffee/salmon with biwi’s recipe, celery with cheese and prob an omelette for brunch.

... and also this piece and this piece

Both show that our thinking about cholesterol is incorrect.

Oh sorry, what I meant to say above is that I really had to accept that some people really can eat a lot of anything they want, and some can’t, and I am now the latter, and that is fine! At least low carb seems to work!