Week 5 - Low Carb Bootcamp '22 - we're half way through!

[BIWI]

Morning all

So this marks the half way point.

Hopefully by now you're adjusting to a low carb WOE. I hope, very much, that you're enjoying your food and you're not feeling deprived in any way.

Carb flu should be way behind us.

And now, now that we've got past the infamous weeks 3 & 4, weight loss should continue, in a slow and steady way.

This week's challenge

We have four weeks left, and the key to success is not only KOKO but also enjoying our food. So this week's challenge is to post a low carb recipe that you think that others will really enjoy

Good luck to us all

Hi everyone, I was encouraged by @prettybird to post this question here:

My daughter is 8 months old and I would love to start this (I am the hugest I've ever been ever. However, I'm worried it's not wise whilst breastfeeding. She's weaned and eating properly. Are ketones bad for her, I've read so many varying opinions and even the doctor isn't sure! Does anyone have any insight.

Also, once I've read the prep chat, is there anything else I need to read to begin?

Thanks! Xxxx

@coffeealldayandnight I did my first bootcamp whilst still breastfeeding and the advice I was given was to follow Bootcamp light. In terms of food, I just add some carbs to my daughter's meals and she eats the same as me. All the full fat yoghurt, proper butter etc is what my health visitor recommended for DD so v bootcamp friendly.

Sorry to hear of those struggling with plateaus. It's hard but keeping an eye on the downward trend is key.

I went out for a works dinner tonight. Had tapas so pretty easy - olives, scallops, chimchurri steak, garlic prawns, monkfish, padrano peppers, sea bass & samphire plus green beans. Not really enough veg and probably too much in volume but it was delicious and nothing too non bootcamp friendly other than 2 small glasses of wine

I know the scales will be up tomorrow but I'll be back on it. We were discussing what we were wearing to a black tie dinner on 9 March so that is my key focus to get into my 'thinner' dress.

NSV - successfully getting into a work blouse I couldn't have worn since last summer

@Wilkolampshade glad you made that step, hope things get better for you soon.
@BIWI no recipes from me either I'm not a very good cook and I tend to stick to basic, meat and veg.
@BaconOmelette no advice but I hope your whoosh comes.

Finally weighed myself, down from last week, up from the week before but I'll take that as a win!

In to London today for work and will need to be vigilant as going out to dinner with friends at a Vietnamese restaurant. If anyone fancies giving me some inspiration, I'm here for it! I'm not a massive pho fan but prob a good option without noodles if all else fails.

www.songque.co.uk/menu-takeaway

@Hopeislost thanks so much for your advice. So the ketones wouldn't harm her liver? I guess potentially no ketones if adding berries anyway?

@coffeealldayandnight - it's a subtle distinction but on this WoE we don't aim to go into deep ketosis (unlike Atkins Induction), we aim to become ketogenically adapted. We start naturally to use our own body fat for energy and regularise our hormones so that we don't get insulin spikes. It helps our false hunger pangs to reduce.

It's also why we don't recommend ketostix, as especially if you are drinking the correct amount of water for your weight (see the Rules in the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness), they won't show much

Have you read and understood the rest of the Rules and info on the spreadsheet, like three meals a day (once you've got used to this WoE you can consider IF - Intermittent Fasting), as little unprocessed food as possible, the list of green, orange and red in terms of carbs veg?

Congratulations on your baby and all the best on Boot Camp

Thanks @prettybird that's all very helpful, I will def include berries and do the lite version... and no ketostix heehee. I actually did Fast800 before, I did enjoy it and managed with intermittent fasting, but I found the pressure to adhere to only 800 cals, very hard. Unattainable with a baby. This time I was looking for something with more support and less tracking, Tick tick tick! Thanks so much, I now need to crack on. Got so much to lose and feel constantly hungry despite eating SO MUCH ALL THE TIME, So 100% need a detox of sugar and toxins and let the fullness commence. Everyone seems to have done so well! Xxx

By less tracking, i mean of macros, obvs I know how careful I need to be with food but what a delight not to have to write it all down 👍🏻

@Jezzballs2000 for your Vietnamese meal!

From the menu, I’d go for any of the following:

Starters
GRILLED CHICKEN SATAY (GF)(N) 8.0
GRILLED BEEF WRAPPED IN BETEL LEAF (N) 9.5
CHARGRILLED QUAIL 8.5
CHARGRILLED LAMB CHOPS 7.8

Pho
CHICKEN PHO - this often has a different soup base and is amazing with beansprouts instead of noodles

Meat / Seafood
Anything except the tamarind dishes - they will be pretty sweet

Enjoy, and drink all the 💦 💧 💦

So slight weirdness here. I missed weighing on Monday so weighed yesterday with few expectations - period from hell and still pretty constipated (sorry TMI).

The scales put another lb on from the previous week which means I am back up to my starting weight . However, my measurements are down - 1-2 cms off my waist, hips and thighs. And I feel better in my clothes (can tolerate my bra for the whole day) .

Apart from period/poo the other possible explanation (apart from dodgy scales, which I don't think is the case) is something I haven't mentioned on this thread. I have a fucking massive, and growing, uterine fibroid at the moment which could be adding a couple of lbs to the scales. It's about the size of a grapefruit, grown from orange-sized in December.

So I'm KOKO, trusting the process and the measuring tape. And the linseed .

I'm away on holiday next week for a week which for some people would be a time to put on weight but I'm feeling more relaxed about it. I'll be 100 times more active than I am when I'm working, compliant food should be easy to come by and I'm not really drinking at all right now.

@ShangPie thank you! that's really helpful and stops me poring over the menu and getting distracted by old favourites (hello salt and pepper squid). That said the main organiser has just tested positive so the evening may tumble like dominos. If so I'll just cook some garlicky steak at my friends. Mmmm.

@coffeealldayandnight i was breastfeeding last year and wish I'd hit upon this WOE as i think it would have worked well for me (rather than calorie counting- bleurgh). I reckon trying to stick to three high fat meals but having good snacks if hungry (and you will be, breast feeding is hungry work!) will work really well. It's hard to keep drinking water but I wonder if you may need even more due to lost fluids?

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea all hail to the mighty grapefruit- what a beast! sounds like you have a really good mind set and this WOE is supposed to help uterine growths etc isn't it? Enjoy your holiday!!

Morning everyone, had a delish dinner last night of M&S's chicken shwarma (it said feeds 6, no chance mate not in this household) and then cobbled together this side dish which was amazing and I will definitely do again!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/griddled-courgettes-pine-nuts-feta

Thanks @Jezzballs2000, it was part of my motivation. If I'm going to have an early pregnancy shape I don't want a stone of extra fat on top!

However, I've also started the pill again to try to manage the horrendous periods that come with fibroids, and now I'm reading that oestrogen also makes fibroids grow but there's absolutely no doubt I feel a million times better without all the bread, pasta, cakes etc. in my life.

Recipe

500g pork tenderloin
salt and pepper
Teaspoon of driedRosemary(use fresh if you have it)or herbs du Provence
150 ml Double cream
2 teaspoons of mild mustard(not Coleman firegut)

Pan fry the pork to seal it,season to taste.
Add a cup of water and everything else.
Put the lid on and let simmer until the sauce is reduced

Here’s half of what was in the pot with green beans(yesterday’s dinner)

Hi @coffeealldayandnight I’m still breastfeeding too (although my DS is 20 months now so it’s a bit less frequent). He seems to be fine with me being on this WOE and he’s munching his way through plenty of carbs on his own so I’m sure he’s still getting a good balance.

We’ll done on having such a positive mindset @UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea, I suspect I may need to take a leaf out of your book!

Poor planning for me again today. Didn’t have much suitable in the house to bring to work for lunch. Munching seeds and celery and trying to keep away from the biscuits.

@BaconOmelette the trick is to keep going. I know there’s weighing every Monday but try to put it at the back of your mind. We all aim for the weigh loss. All of us are different, we have different habits,metabolism and activity levels.The weigh loss WILL come, sooner for some and later for some. Keep going, you will get there.

@coffeealldayandnight I was in your position. I was eating lot of crap so my milk was rubbish and was at heaviest in my life. I cut out all not- nutritious food(crisps,biscuits and so on) from my diet and seriously reduced bread and potatoes(my main guilty pleasures). My weight started going down and DS was more content and started gaining weight better as my milk was getting more nutritious. It’s not some draconian diet, it’s eating wisely.

@ChiefDogsbody I’m either deluded when it comes to food portions(possible) or they are not right.

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea I still can’t tolerate my bra… but hat off to you

Here’s today’s dinner, bits of pork ribs and belly marinated overnight and slow cooking 🙂

@coffeealldayandnight I started my first Bootcamp while breastfeeding a 7-month-old and continued right through my next pregnancy and breastfeeding until 18 months. If you have any concerns then start straight into Bootcamp Light so you won't have high ketones. They shouldn't do any harm though so don't worry. I recommend taking a breastfeeding supplement as your baby will get first dibs on vitamins and minerals which could potentially leave you short. I found the first few days tricky as my baby was still breastfeeding multiple times through the night. So I suggest keeping a snack on your bedside table for if you wake up feeling hungry. You don't want your milk supply to drop so make sure you eat when you're hungry. Your daughter can eat the same food as you or you can add some healthy carbs to her diet.

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea

Have a lovely holiday.

Inspired by some things @ilovecherries shared on these threads, last time I was on a real holiday I kept to bootcamp light. We were in Crete so I ate loads of deliciously grilled fatty lamb chops and fresh veg & salad, had an Ouzo with dinner each night and just swerved any sweet stuff.

We were away for ten days, did lots of walking and I honestly have never enjoyed a holiday so much, with absolutely no guilt and no lethargy, either.

Hope you enjoy your hols, too.

Hi @StuntNun this is reallly helpful thank you, I've been so scared to try a low carb diet in case of transferring ketones and ruining her liver which I read somewhere and sounds like scaremongering. I have a serious amount to lose and fast800 worked well but just so restrictive on calories. The light version of boot camp includes berries I saw so I could do that. Anything else extra allowed on lite? Thanks for your help, an inspiration! X

PS. I'm yet to read everything on the threads and the spreadsheet as I'm planning to start next week, once my birth weekender has been filled with cake and curry

@FrenchBoule thanks for your advice, so you didn't do the bootcamp when bfeeding, you did healthy and wise eating? I wish I had the restraint 😬😬

@coffeealldayandnight on Bootcamp Light you can have small quantities of berries, nuts and dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher.) I wouldn't recommend having all three of these every day though as the carbs mount up quickly.

@coffeealldayandnight I reduced bread and potatoes. i have never been pasta/rice person so hardly any of that in my diet.

I cut out all the stuff that is unnecessary- crisps,sweets,biscuits.I was bf so obviously no alcohol

I upped the intake of meat and veg. I also ate fruit and nuts.
Everything full fat.Butter, cream,cheese.
I reduced my portions. Instead of eating 2 double decker sandwiches I started eating one.
It’s also about the mindset- eat until you feel full then again when you’re hungry. No mindlessly stuffing my face just because I prepared mountain of food and had to eat it.

Ummm, how's everyone's dreams atm? Mine are off the scale!?!?
I don't normally remember them, not since I was a child, but last night and a few times recently, I had two distinct, lengthy and happily, people filled dreams which is doubly odd as my remembered dreams are usually entirely devoid of people and usually set in abtract environments with oddly constructed buildings suffused with a sense of dread or uncontrolled falling....
I sleep better generally on a LCHF diet, so am perplexed...