Week 6 - Jan 22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

As ever, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

We're now in the last three weeks. It might not seem that there's much time left, but there's still a chance to lose as much as half a stone if you're really disciplined!

Hopefully you've all settled into low carbing by now. People have been posting some really great recipes, which should not only be appetising, but also persuading us all that low carbing is a joyful and satisfying way of eating for all the family.

One of the things that always thrills me - genuinely - is how many other benefits (beyond weight loss) there are from low carbing. For me, it was the sudden absence of my IBS. What about you? How have you found that low carbing is helping your general health?

Next week's challenge is a bit of throwing down the gauntlet - all those of you who are lurking! Post something about how you're feeling about low carbing/Bootcamp. Anything!

I hope you all have a good week

I tagged you as your post was a gentle wake up call to me.

Loving reading all the losses, NSVs and feeling better stories. Reminds me to check some of mine - my rings also swivel better for the first time in ages (still got a belly and saddle bags but hey! look at my slimmer fingers!!)

We are having very little luck in finding good places to eat in our off-season resort so I actually been eating less than usual for dinner.

Last night everyone with me had the most decadent crepes/bubble waffles with every tooth rotting topping you can imagine and I just didn't. I cannot tell you how unbelievable this is for me. I focused on how I would feel this morning if I had eaten 1000 calories of pure sugar and desisted.

Off for a promenade along the beach before a swim. KOKO losers.

Morning all,

I still need to pull on my big girl pants and weigh myself this but after three consecutive weeks of identical weights I'm a bit reluctant to get on the scales in case nothing has shifted again.... I'm a little worried that a fourth identical weigh in might make me lose all motivation! I feel like I've lost weight but felt like that the previous weeks top!

I've stuck to BC plus occasional nuts, without the addition of alcohol or any fruit. Like a PP, this week I logged all my food on MyFitnessPal out of interest for information and didn't have more than 1800 calories on any day. What I ate this week is representative of how I've eaten for the whole of the bootcamp so I don't think I've been over consuming. I know it's not about calories, I'm just trying to work out where I'm going so wrong when everyone else seems to be posting big losses!

Good luck to you all this week and congratulations to all the losers!

Don't lose heart @pinknsparkly, I was on a plateau here for 3 consecutive Mondays and was starting to despair but then suddenly there was a whoosh and it started coming down again. Hang in there!

Keep going @pinknsparkly please don't lose heart. Have you been measuring yourself? When my scales were stuck or going the wrong way my measurements we're going down by millimetres which helped my motivation.

@pinknsparkly

Morning all,

I still need to pull on my big girl pants and weigh myself this but after three consecutive weeks of identical weights I'm a bit reluctant to get on the scales in case nothing has shifted again.... I'm a little worried that a fourth identical weigh in might make me lose all motivation! I feel like I've lost weight but felt like that the previous weeks top!

I've stuck to BC plus occasional nuts, without the addition of alcohol or any fruit. Like a PP, this week I logged all my food on MyFitnessPal out of interest for information and didn't have more than 1800 calories on any day. What I ate this week is representative of how I've eaten for the whole of the bootcamp so I don't think I've been over consuming. I know it's not about calories, I'm just trying to work out where I'm going so wrong when everyone else seems to be posting big losses!

Good luck to you all this week and congratulations to all the losers!

Yes definitely weigh in as you need to know what's going on. A four-week plateau isn't uncommon but we would usually start to look for stall breakers at this point. It depends on how close you are to goal as well as the closer you are the longer the stalls will last. Depending on your height, 1800 calories may not be much of a deficit; how tall are you? What were your macros like when you logged your food? Are you definitely getting enough water and enough fat? Could the carbs in the nuts be too much for you? Some people need to stay lower in carbs to lose weight effectively.

@APerfectlyGoodName enjoy your skiing! Where are you?

I found eating low carb on the mountain virtually impossible, so we just brought snacks of nuts with us, and then had a late lunch back at the apartment at about 3.30pm.

I spent quite a lot of my time away eyeing up all of the lovely slim glamorous Italian women, and wondering how on earth they do it, seemingly effortlessly.

@pinknsparkly post what you've been eating and drinking over the last 3-4 days and let's see if we can identify anything that might help.

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea well done for not eating the waffles. I find that the strictness of this way of eating can really help me get into the right mindset. No prevaricating about eating desserts or carb laden items, I don't even look at the cake menu if I go for coffee. It's just one mental 'no thanks' and once the decision is made, it's done.

lunch today is 'chef's salad' which (today's version) is cooked chopped chicken, chopped ham, grated cheese, chopped celery, sliced mushrooms and some sliced cornichons, all bound in mayonnaise and served on lettuce.
dinner will be halloumi and tomato curry, with vegetable 'rice' or some sort, depending on what comes in the veg box

Hello all! I’m a bit late to the party this week. Felt awful yesterday so didn’t weigh, but have hopped on the scales this morning and I’m 2.4lbs down for this week (8.6lbs down overall).

Still not feeling like the weight loss is particularly visible, but I’ve been wearing loose, baggy saggy awful clothes to hide for the last few years so that is probably why. I’m thinking very much long term so I want to shift quite a bit more before replacing my wardrobe.

NSVs: I’m definitely eating less. I was a constant grazer before, whereas I am now (mostly) satisfied with two meals a day.

I’m eating more veg, and experimenting with different ways of cooking it. I suspect my previous aversion to veg was that it was always boring, bland, steamed or boiled. It generally didn’t taste of much and had an uninspiring texture. I don’t know that I’ve got as far as loving veg yet, but I am starting to miss it if it doesn’t make up a large part of the meal.

Best perk so far has been doing this WoE with DP, it’s been nice to try something new together and feel like a team. I’ve struggled to diet on my own previously as I felt that my choices were depriving him of treats that he wanted.

Last week was very cake-y. There were LC cakes delivered for Valentine’s Day, and more for a big birthday, plus DP experimenting with LC baking. Although it was all low carb options I feel like it still did a bit of damage to losses, so looking forward to that all being used up and getting back to no puddings.

I’m genuinely amazed that I’ve not fallen off the wagon so far, can’t remember the last time I lasted this long on any sort of eating plan. The children’s chocolate, toast and cereal still looks tempting but I’m super proud of myself.

KOKO all, and thanks as always to @BIWI for organising the threads.

Sounds like it's all going really well @BaconOmelette!

Another 2lbs off for me this week, which takes me over 11 lbs this year as I started at NY. I struggled to get back into a bit at the start but feel I've got my LC 'mojo' back a bit now and am feeling more confident about asking for changes to meals when we're out. As someone said, no one has minded at all changing the potatoes for something else.

The thing I'm most pleased about so far is the improvement to my sleeping. I'm probably late peri menopausal or menopausal (?) and had been having real problems sleeping and having hot flushes in the night. Now I'm sleeping through and haven't woken a single time because I'm too hot, in fact I'm back under the duvet. Uninterrupted sleep is making be feel so much better.

@venusandmars please could you share the recipe for the curry, I'd love to try a curry with halloumi in but I'm not the most inventive cook!

@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea

focused on how I would feel this morning if I had eaten 1000 calories of pure sugar and desisted.

Inspirational. So helpful, thank you.

Hello all, I've been knocked down by a cold which making all tasks really difficult, including posting here. I weighed myself yesterday and am down though was more down on the weekend so (unreasonably) feeling a bit morose. I slipped off the wagon with a big slice of bread and a brownie, and I think I am having to restart the fat adapting process again which seems to contribute to low mood (being ill doesn't help!). I'm hoping it will motivate me to avoid big carbs in the future because i can't feel like this every time I deviate!

NSV is probably as others have said: breaking the hold of snacking and hunger. I'm less focused on food and don't worry now about going too long without it, whereas previously I'd feel shaky and nauseous. Also great to be factoring in veg to meals more!

Hello, did someone give the order to de-lurk? [waves at BIWI and anyone else who remembers me].

I’ve decided to put my mind to low carbing again. I lost 20lb in the spring BC last year and have put 7lb on (the main culprit being sugar/snack binges). I’ve been QLC (quite low carb) this year and have a great exercise regime going but the scales aren’t budging (need to drop 2st to get into normal BMI).

BC is quite hard for me as I am intolerant to dairy and eggs so just end up eating meat/fish and veg every sodding meal plus I want to limit red meat to eg twice a week. Basically I am hoping to find a tolerance where I can lose weight but have oat milk (i loath other non-dairy), medium carb veg and the odd portion of pulses/veg protein (fasting helps).
So not very bootcamp hence lurking but I do love the solidarity and commitment here esp those on long-term journeys who share their slow and reverse progress as well as forward progress.

[quote FinallyHere]@UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea

focused on how I would feel this morning if I had eaten 1000 calories of pure sugar and desisted.

Inspirational. So helpful, thank you. [/quote]
I agree. Something to think about and such an interesting way to look at it.

do have my son's birthday over the weekend and families staying over night on Sat (will be cooking lots of carby food during Fri and Sat) so may not be able to stick 100% to this.

I’m being curious, not judgmental, but am wondering why—since you’re in charge of the food and doing all the cooking for birthday and guests—you’ve chosen to cook loads of carb-laden food that doesn’t accommodate your way of eating, but possibly accommodates everyone else’s preferences.

That’s for @Newlease, btw!

I spent quite a lot of my time away eyeing up all of the lovely slim glamorous Italian women, and wondering how on earth they do it, seemingly effortlessly.

It’s never effortless, though, is it? I don’t think Italians or the French are necessarily genetically predisposed to slimness (unlike, just maybe, the Swedes ).

Partly it must be cultural, dietary, social, agricultural, and traditional.

Are the Italian grandmas still looking effortless? I don’t know!

Every time I see someone slim and think “good genes” I try to replace that thought with “possibly good genes, but probably pays attention.”

That’s all we’re doing here; paying attention to our bodies and health.

That’s all we’re doing here; paying attention to our bodies and health.

That's a brilliant way of looking at it @ShagMeRiggins

TheHoover hello. I remember you. Nice to see so much de-lurking going on.

I’m one with long-term progress (never was a superstar) and a bit of boinging up and down, but—this bit is important—never gaining back all the weight, never gaining back all the weight plus more.

It has helped me tremendously to accept this as a way of eating rather than a diet (and somehow that sounds naff, but nobody says that vegetarian or vegan or lactose-free or gluten-free or low-cal or pescatarian are anything other than different ways of eating).

I’m France people talk about a régime as a way to eat—it can also mean a weight-loss diet, but mostly it’s just food choices.

Not sure what my conclusion is, but my régime of LCHF has served me well. Still a distance to achieve, but I’m appx 60lbs down over many years, and so pleased I haven’t gone 60lbs up instead.

@pinkpinkeverywhere my recipe is similar to this, but I use halloumi rather than paneer. I also use onion and garlic, and I usually swap the peas for breen beans. I was taught to make it years ago by an Indian friend and there was no paneer available in our local shops. You need a cheese like halloumi that doesn't melt when you cook it. Now I can only eat it with halloumi, it's not got the same salty kick with paneer.

Thank you @venus I look forward to trying it

@NigellaAwesome we are in the Italian Dolomites. A resort called Madonna DiCampiglio. We are half board and there's plenty of LC options - eggs, cheese, veg. BUT...... There's also an amazing home made dessert table. Plus the midday meal tends to have bread. It's out first ski trip since 2019, so 3 years, but it's great to be back. The weather is warm but there is still great snow.

I have finally just been sorting out some of my pensions that would have became due when I turned 60 (so nearly a year ago ). 2 down, 2 to go (and I've found out that the remaining two "missing" ones, although from different employers one NHS, one Further Education , can be dealt with with one phone call as the Scottish Public Pensions come under a single umbrella).

The good news is that it means that we should be able to afford to go skiing next year Plenty of time to get to the size I want for new ski gear as my existing ski gear is over 20 years old

I had a hard afternoon food wise. There was nothing going on emotionally except maybe a bit of boredom.

Before lunch I had a bad stomach and a few loo trips so didn't fancy my planned eggy spinach concoction. I settled on some celery and cheese. 30 minutes after eating that I was hungry again so had celery with peanut butter, then pork scratchings and another piece of celery with cheese. By 3.30 I was looking for food again and really leaving towards DS's chocolate dodgers. I had a creamy coffee and a big creamy Yoghurt and now feel right as rain