Week 4 - Jan 22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Evening/all morning all

As ever here's the link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Please be aware that this week, like week 3, is likely to see little or no weight loss.

Just KOKO! If it's worked for you in the first two weeks, then it will keep on working for you from here on in.

It's about transitioning from carb burning to fat burning.

and good luck to us all from next week!

mash a bit waterlogged but otherwise very tasty! (i used a third)

I'm just doing a quick food post for accountability.
B. Veg & feta omlette (delish)
L. HM Cauli soup with cheddar and leftover beef from Sunday.
D. Beef and veg.(More leftovers but I was working today)

I'm off to swimming now, and hope not to eat after. If I'm very munchy it'll be Greek yogurt with a small spoon of peanut butter. We'll see.

I'm definitely much stricter this week and I'm inspired by everyone on here.
Thanks for that pork recipe - I see you can take it to a certain point and then refridgerate or freeze. I might do that for a family member who is very poorly at the moment.

Water water water

The calculator gives me 19g for a loss, or 154g for stable - I think I'll probably be ignoring both as they seem very low/high. Quite arbitrary too as individuals are different. It also makes a difference how you eat the carbs, for example breaking your fast with carbs will give a bigger insulin spike than if you eat the carbs along with or immediately after the fat to give some dilution.

I also noticed that raspberries are apparently lower in carbs and higher in fibre than brussels sprouts...I grow lots of raspberries every summer so this is exciting news!

I'm enjoying flax seeds ( you don't want to know that my insides seem to like them too ) and they're high in omega 3 so I'm going to try to incorporate them a bit more and not just when I eat lots of those psyllium husk crackers from M&S. I think Chia seeds are very good too, so will try to eat more of those too.

@BIWI, wow!! Thank you so much for pointing this out. I really thought these are somehow modified for low carb eaters. When I tried LC last two times(failed attempts), I was eating something made with almond flour and easy substitutes most days and failed miserably, might be a combination of many other stuff including stopping this woe at 5-6 weeks probably. So when I saw the keto fat bomb and other snack in Costco I thought this time I should stay with real food, without much preservatives and try to loose weight. I have judged this with the same eyes, apologies :( BTW, elephant yam is yummy, I have had it in a different way. Thanks again for the eyeopener, I will look out for these

A late check in (though I did weigh myself yesterday, just didn't record it!). Exactly the same weight as last week, so at least not a gain I suppose. I'll now try to catch up on this thread and the end of last week's one, but the Wi-Fi is playing up something chronic at the moment!

Well done to all the losers, and commiserations and sympathies to those that have gained. I've definitely slacked off the water this past week and need to get back on it!

B creamy coffee
L tuna, salad, egg, masses of mayo
D made Monya's almond mug bread in microwave. Toasted: one bit with a whole Avocado. Other bit with butter and marmite. God I missed marmite.

All the 💧

Horribly busy day which included lunch out. Went to Cote and had olives followed by roasted chicken with rocket and swapped out chips for creamed spinach and tomato salad. Delicious!

Have been doing my coursework this evening and only managed a packet of cheesies after my big lunch and study distractions. Water has been good 😊

3 NsVs to report:

1. I've had to swap to my smaller bra back size (34 not 36) as larger one getting loose
2. wore some trousers today which would have previously chopped me in half and been tight on the thighs but there is def some space around both
3. Body fat % falling much more quickly than weight (they are reported on the scales so not truly an NSV but not lbs!). It's not due to exercise as I currently have a broken foot 🤨

Well done for everyone KOKO - I'm in week 5 and feel like things are all moving in the right direction!

@CeleriacOfTheNight that soup sounds like one of my dead/out of date fridge creations! The Asian soup recipe looks delicious though so have saved that Thankyou

I've got 34 and 36 bras too. Still in the 36, sadly.

Back to fess up to another meal. Finally made my blessed moussaka late this evening, so a midnight feast it is. Ah well.

On that note, isn't marscapone the best thing ever!? My topping was a pot of that mixed with 2 eggs, seasoned.

Morning all, have a real bounce in my step today. Back in the office today 1 day a week since the start of the pandemic. Looking forward to it and I've packed my breakfast and lunch as well 😇

I do feel like I've packed the kitchen sink with my rucksack on the commute. I look like I'm going travelling!!!

I usually IF but am conscious that there may be temptation so have taken breakfast.

B- boiled eggs, cucumber, avocado and a lump of roquefort
L- moussaka with cabbage
D- beef stroganoff with cauliflower mash and spring greens

The OH is doing dinner today which I'm looking forward to!

KOKO and hope everyone has a good day

Morning. Can't shift a headache, third day. Is it too late to have carb flu or is it likely just a bug? I'm making celeriac tartiflette today, really looking forward to scoffing it

Less bloated but still only back to starting weight after my lapse in wk 2 🙁
KOKO, though.
Yesterday
B: ham, spinach and cheese omelette
S: pieces of cheese, cherry tomatoes
1 slice of SLC bread, toasted with lots of butter and marmite
D: Cuban roasted pork with dcs - they had rice, I had a bed of lettuce and cucumber. Nice not to hold back on toppings of salsa, sour cream, cheese, olives and avocado

Looking forward to bras getting more comfortable. Mine are all the same size. Not buying bigger ones now!

Yesterday was good to be out and about. However by the time I got to the office with my M&S lunch it was time for my afternoon meeting and so I didn’t get to eat it until 18.00. So an unplanned 21 hour fast. Wasn’t absolutely starving at all.

Back to normal working from home today. DH is in the office this week so just me and the cat. There may be an opportunity for another longer fast.

B IF
L tuna Mayo salad
D mushrooms leeks and Boursin with cabbage tagliatelle. My oven is still broken so need to plan it out of my meal planning.

@ThatsAllFolks

Morning. Can't shift a headache, third day. Is it too late to have carb flu or is it likely just a bug? I'm making celeriac tartiflette today, really looking forward to scoffing it

If you're in week 4 @ThatsAllFolks it's very unlikely to be carb flu. A headache is one of the top symptoms of Covid though, so have you taken a test?

Morning all.

I’ve been some regular having blood tests done (Thriva that get sent off in the post) to keep an eye on iron and cholesterol levels.

I started boot camp last November, and mainly been sticking to low carb WOE since.

Just got most recent results in - iron and ferritin have increased, now in normal levels. Bad cholesterol has reduced and my levels are improving across the board

It’s really helpful to see this, especially with all the messages we are given about the negative impact of fat on our health. It’s hard sometimes to ‘unhear’ the noise about avoiding butter, cream etc - but this is just more evidence for me that high fat is not sending me over some unhealthy precipice!

I’m on week three and the scales are stuck but I’m trusting the process and going to KOKO.

Food today -
L: Avocado salad with oily dressing
D: Roast chicken with kale, broccoli, buttery sprouts and creamy leeks

Delighted to wake up today ahead of the alarm clock. That never happens when I'm not low carbing. Tummy rather the rolls of fat which hide my tummy felt different today so I took a risk of destabilising my efforts and measured myself.

Delighted to be slightly below the last 'best, least' I measured in a much earlier bootcamp. Thank you all very much for these threads, they do help to keep me in the game. I love the results, too.

Yesterday
B - IF
L - Greek salad, oil and apple cider conifer dressing and two lamb chops.
D - dance classss

All.the.water before 17:00, only woke up once in the night to offload water Result.

Back on the water again this morning, though eeekkk it's 11am already.

Morning everyone. I'm adjusting to LCBC and newly-ish back in the office. I don't drink as much water as I do when I'm wfh and the food choices are dire in the on-site shop/canteen so I need to be organised and bring lunch with me. Failed today.

B: eggs and bacon
L: pre-packed salad - the least worst I can find in the shop
D: More salad - with avocado and and smoked salmon

Morning all,

Out of interest… those of you who have children at home, to what extent do they eat the same as you?

We’ve got two and most evenings we at least offer them the same as what we’re having, although sometimes with added carbs (bit of bread / pasta etc). They both love a carby breakfast and lunch though.

Obviously not trying to get either of them to lose weight (they’re both fine as they are), but it is nice to see them trying a few more veggies, and youngest is a big fan of chaffles. Just interested to see what others do.

Down to under 11st 10lb finally at 11st 9.25lb Only 3lb to go until my next target which is to be under 11.5 stone

@BaconOmelette they eat very similar things but normally with some starchy carbs though not huge quantities. I watch their carbs more from the perspective of trying to get sufficient fat and protein into them, rather than to reduce carbs IYSWIM. School meals seem to be quite starchy-carb heavy and cereal or toast is a popular breakfast, so im trying to balance that.

I don't think there's anything wrong with them having a LC evening meal when they've had high carb breakfasts and lunches. It balances out their overall diet and will help keep their fat and protein intake up, as well as making it normal not to eat lots of carbs at every single meal.

I am also trying to break some norms about having certain carbs or multiple carbs with every meal, both from perspective of DC and DH. I grew up with multiple carbs being a necessity at every meal and it was a habit that was hard to break. However I'll do chilli but often with a little well-buttered home made brown bread instead of rice, curry with naan or rice, casserole with dumplings or potatoes, etc. Once or twice a month we'll have the works but routinely through the week there will be one starchy carb on offer, and it has as much chance of being bread, yorkshire pudding, naan bread, puff pastry, suet dumplings etc as it does of being chips potatoes or rice. It also means that I'm only making one type of carb that I won't be eating!

I adapt my meals rather than theirs, as I figure they're growing and using a lot of energy just being busy kids. So we usually have the same evening meal (though actually tonight DH and I are having mushroom stroganoff, and they hate mushrooms, so I'll do them some pasta), but I swap the carb element out for more veg for my dish.

Actually, while I'm here, I recently realised that DS is underweight - different websites give different results but he's 4'4 at 7.7, and weighs 3st10lb.

Should I be worried? He's tall and thin, yes, but so was I as a child. He doesn't look too thin to me, just lean. He's otherwise active and not lacking in energy. Some days his appetite is huge, and he won't stop eating, other days it's a struggle just to get him to eat three normal meals.

I'm trying to encourage eating a bit more - slice of toast with peanut butter at breakfast as well as his normal (3) weetabix, bigger portions at dinner, that sort of thing. But wondering if if a visit to our GP is in order?

Sorry for asking here, but I know I'll get more sensible responses than I would on the general boards!

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal I suspect DS would be the same, he's only a little taller than the other kids of his age but is lean - I've never put his details into a calculator, I've just envied his energy, he never stops running! Sometimes I'll notice him looking a little chubby but it's always fleeting then he seems to sprout again.

If he were shorter than expected and lean, or losing weight then I might consider GP but it sounds like he's growing well, just not carrying anything surplus?

Thanks @Baystard and @GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

Making their toast in the morning is my daily temptation test, but I have managed to resist so far.

I’m just thinking along the lines of making this WOE a long-term / permanent switch for me (and DP if he chooses). It wouldn’t be just LC for the children though as I don’t think they need a restrictive diet. Plus they eat in plenty of places / situations without us. If they are not low carb, is there possibly an issue with them eating too much fat if they share our evening meals? (i.e. if a person is not low-carb, is high fat then an unhealthy choice?)

Greebols - I’m sure the school nurse would put your mind at rest if you have any concerns, but I would presume that having plenty of energy is a good indication that they are ok?

Out of interest… those of you who have children at home, to what extent do they eat the same as you?

The same but adds carbs if she feels like it and not if she doesn't. Interestingly, I naturally wanted to eat lo carb as a child, liking the filling of sandwiches and the sauce on pasta but being forced to eat carbs anyway. So I tend to make what I'm making, ask DD if she wants pasta or rice with it and seeing. She has a carby breakfast and slightly lunch. Doesn't like sandwiches or wraps though.

She eats like a horse and is a rake though, regardless of what she eats. Very jealous!

Chilli at my parental home was always served with a slice of buttered brown bread . It's only since I got together with dh that I started serving it with rice because that's what expected. I always felt it was overkill with the carby kidney beans.

Nowadays, of course, I take out my portion of chilli-ed mince before adding the kidney beans and serve myself spinach or shoogled sprouts alongside.

@BaconOmelette my kids eat a pretty typical diet. I usually cook an extra veg with dinner so DH and I have veg and the kids get potatoes/rice/pasta. They do eat less sugar because we don't have dessert most days but they do get biscuits and chocolate bars.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal two of my kids were underweight and we were told to increase fat intake, e.g. butter on veggies, but also we introduced an extra meal, supper, just before bedtime to help increase their calorie intake. One ended up on Paediasure for a couple of years to get more calories but the other couldn't stand the taste of it. They were both off the bottom of the chart for weight. What didn't help though were the school's ridiculous rules on food: you were only allowed a so called healthy snack for break, you had to eat your sandwich before your crisps at lunch, you weren't allowed chocolate etc. it made life much harder for my autistic child.