Week 4 - May 22 Low Carb Bootcamp - the end of the first half!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

I see from the last thread that there have been some great losses, despite the doldrums that we generally experience in weeks 3 and 4.

For those who haven't seen the scales move (or for whom the scales have moved in the wrong direction), don't panic - KOKO. Make sure you're following the rules, and all will be well. Remember that this is a marathon not a sprint, and try not to get too fixated on the short term.

Here's the spreadsheet, as usual . Casting my eye down the list there are some really great results, with at least four Bootcampers already more than 10lbs down, which is fantastic.

Here's to another good week

Marking my place as I'd reported on the previous thread. Well done everyone for sticking with this!

I've STS. I was a pound down on Saturday so I'm guessing this is just normal fluctuation and I've entered today's weight on the spreadsheet (hoping that it will show up a loss for next week).

B - coffee with cream
L - vegetable and cheese frittata / omelette thing
D - chicken salad

Thank you BIWI
Reported on last thread, 1.5 pounds ish down. After staying the same for a couple of weeks this is good news.

Keep going everyone!

1.1kg down, so 2.4lb. 4kg in total. 26kg still to go!

Good morning!
Thanks for the new thread, been off here as potentially have Covid again (despite negative tests) which is triggering neurological stuff. Sigh.

Anyway 4lb down and started Ivermectin this morning (strict instructions to take with a fatty meal!) so that may be interesting...

Would be great if someone could update the spreadsheet for me, super klutzy with technology.

Oh, @stayathomegardener I hope you fell better soon. That sounds really tough.

Measured this morning and waist is down an inch this bootcamp, the hips are staying the same though.
Did not have a good week last week due to a long-standing event that involved afternoon tea so I’m pleased with that. Back on board fully this week.

1.56lbs loss.. This is my second week and should have been a bit more I thought. But looking at the total, I have lost 5lbs in last two weeks! My weight loss journey feels similar to yours- Lougles. I did BC in Jan ( in preparation for a holiday) and has been going up and down .5 lbs most week, despite sticking to the rules properly, for the whole month. I was not having enough water that’s for sure. Winter didn’t help! This time though, I am trying hard to drink more, failing on weekends if our and about. Sitting down to work with bottle helps me on track. Including coffee I am only Fri king around 2.5, don’t know how do you guys manage more than that !! :0
I am adding all the recipes on here to try out. Cooked a massive Duck curry yesterday with lots of fat, would be good for three days, ( if my son doesn’t nick from it ) last week I had eggs on most days and need a break :)

somehow mumsnet not letting me tag anyone else, probably this is the new thread, but spent last hour reading through the week 3 thread. Congratulations on NSVs. Mine is kind of finding fitting bras in the wardrobes- very bad at throwing stuff too, so have everything two sizes, hoping to get back into when I slim down !!

No change from the 1.2 drop I posted over the weekend
koko , drink the water !

Hope you feel better soon @stayathomegardener that sounds horrible 💐

Thanks for the new thread @BIWI

I've been ill with a virus recently and still feeling a bit fragile but I feel that I'm being kind to my body when I feed it nourishing things rather than overloading it with carbs which, judging by the bloating I suffer, it doesn't really like.

Tried something new for an early lunch today. A big chunk of butter in frying pan, snip in some smoked salmon (with scissors, straight from packet) and simmer gently in the melted butter for about a minute. Then add two beaten eggs and serve with salad. I like smoked salmon and lidl do great 'trimmings' that are good quality and very inexpensive but I sometimes find the texture a bit challenging particularly when it's chilled. It was a very tasty way to zhoozh up an omelette though!

I've read quite a few of Michael Mosley's books and his Clever Guts one is interesting. My best memory of it is that we effectively have a hard wire connecting our gut and brain, and that our gut is populated with bugs who can then send messages to our brain. I.e. Different populations of bugs like different foods and if you eat alot of carbs then you'll naturally provide the conditions for carb-loving types to flourish over the others. These bugs are then able to send messages to the brain demanding more carbs!

I believe this is one of the reasons why carb cravings become easier to control once you start on LC - you starve out the carb loving bugs and can take their demands out of the equation. I think they're also at least in part responsible for the dopamine hit you get from carbs (they reward behaviour they like) and if there are less of them in your gut you don't get the same happy feeling when you do have carbs. I've definitely noticed both a reduction in cravings along with less satisfaction if I do eat carby things and I sometimes picture the carbs arriving in my gut and most of the bugs just shrugging because it's not their thing whereas the carb-loving bugs would have been partying 😂

I wonder if this is linked to different people being able to eat in different ways and still stay at a healthy weight, I'm pretty sure that both genetics and environment play a part in gut flora.

I saw 165 this week and 166.4 today, so I recorded 166 on the SoF. A loss of .2
I'd love to see 164 on the scales this week. Onwards!

@livelongandprosper one of our cats brought a Maybug in last night too, she loves them! Doesn't eat them, just thinks they are an excellent form of entertainment. She's also very good at retrieving them once we've put them back in the garden!

0.2lb off for me last week, but was a whole pound towards the end of last week then TOTM happened, so expecting it to drop back down in a few days. Not enough water over the weekend but plenty today.

Well done on all the losses this week, despite it being week 3!

@Baystard I love your visualisation of the gut bacteria! Also, makes a lot of sense.

Down 1lb (which I am pleased with!) so 7lbs this boot camp. I am wondering if I could possibly manage another 7lbs before the end, fingers crossed.

Well done all on the losses and NSVs.

Food today -
L: Chorizo and cheese salad with olives and avocado
D: Lamb shawarma, yoghurt, courgettes and cauliflower with feta, salad
Just had a snack of raspberries and a dollop of cream 😋

Hope you feel better soon @stayathomegardener , that sounds rough 💐

Well done on all the losses! I started a week before bootcamp so this is the end of week 4 for me - I have a total loss of 8lbs. I do know 4lbs of that was the first week's water so a bit more like a steady 1lb a week. I am trying not to do too much weighing as I can get a bit anxious about it.

My jeans are looser though and that is more helpful than a number.

So I will KOKO with IF and strict bootcamp, possibly with the occasional g and t. I am struggling with certain foods since covid affected my taste, but this WOE has a great deal to offer me. I think the recent weight gain is a result of eating toast so much as I could only stomach bland food.

Thankfully I am still OK with eggs, even if most fish / red meat now makes me queasy! Happily, chicken is unaffected - phewww!!

@Baystard amazing loss since the start, great inspiration! Your theory sounds about right. I found that, the more my body get used to whatever regime I follow, then I need to work more harder to loose weight. The very first time I did LC ( 2017 I think, I was not aware of BC) did all alone, weight done down very quickly. I was very motivated and continued with it for few months- with life going as well, so basically trying to stay on LC as much as possible, but even after two big holidays- I was pretty much in shape for a long time. Then came Covid, and I started wearing comfort bras day and night. As someone else mentioned my clothes were loose to start with, so didn’t notice me filling in them, until it was all uncomfortable to wear. Now I find it very hard to loose and regret not closely monitoring my health/looks :( Hoping to stay on BCs. I eat mostly veg and non veg cooked for family, but adding more oil,

Posted too soon!
more fat and tweak a bit for LC. That’s the reason I normally don’t write down the meal plans. @BIWI thanks for the thread, I will update on spreadsheet in the evening when logging on laptop

Baystard that Michael Mosely sounds similar to the Harcombe Diet idea with Candida Albicans causing dietary issues. I only have a vague memory from reading the book years ago but from what I remember it was fairly low carb and mushrooms/vinegar weren’t allowed due to candida overgrowth which in turn caused cravings

Yep @BestIsWest . I think it sounds quite far fetched that gut bugs can cause cravings but there's a good parallel with toxoplasmosis infection. Toxoplasma bugs' life cycle needs both cats and rodents. To maximise it's success when it infects a rodent it changes their brain chemistry to make them less risk averse and increase the chance that they get eaten by the cat 😱

Thanks for the new week thread @BIWI.

Hope you’re feeling better soon @stayathomegardener, sounds horrid.

What you’ve written @Newlease about managing your weight until Covid is exactly what happened with me. Have tried and failed with every bootcamp since but feel in the zone this time.

That’s clever @Baystard. Slightly sinister too!

@Baystard did the book say anything about how to improve your gut flora? Sounds interesting

@mimosa1 it did. Intermittent fasting is apparently good for gut flora because some types of bugs live off the mucous that lines the gut and there's more of this when there's less in the gut (or something along those lines). Secondly variety in the diet and colour. So eating lots of different things in different colours provides a good variety for gut flora.

BC seems like a great woe for gut health because of the variety of things that are used to replace the starchy beige carbs on the plate and the absence of artificial sweeteners which aren't good for gut health.

Hi all and thanks @BIWI for the new thread. STS the last two weeks despite a couple of big social and work events, then 2lbs on this week. Gah. Really tired last week and realised that this is my main trigger for eating badly and reaching for a bit of sugar, totally back on the wagon now and resuming my water intake. I had a couple of glasses of cava at the weekend and it really made me feel rubbish.

Hoping for a loss next week, fingers crossed. But in NSV people have started commenting on my slimmer shape. Being part of the bootcamp definitely helps keep me on the straight and narrow and I really appreciate it.