July '22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Welcome everybody!

Here, thinks to @FinallyHere, is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

This Bootcamp will last for eight weeks, with (as ever) the first two weeks being the most strict.

I'll post again tomorrow, but just wanted to get things underway for now

Haha,well, I guess as long as it’s not ME who ate them. Just having a proper look at what I CAN eat, and it’s much less depressing than the SW that I was trying to gee myself up to endure.

Oh yes, @WhoAteTheChips - you will enjoy the food you can eat on this WOE (way of eating). In fact, it's very noticeable that we talk A LOT about food - and not out of some yearning for forbidden foods, but because we're enjoying what we're cooking and eating.

@WhoAteTheChips honestly the food we eat is generally amazing, some people make lots of fancy food, I tend to stick to basics, eggs, meat and veg or lovely salads. I haven't got bored yet. Also you'll be surprised how quickly the hunger and desire to eat for fun goes away and it's liberating I promise.

Morning everyone.
green tea, greek yog and lots of water for breakfast.
going shopping today

For me, the water intake does get easier to handle - and I'm at the higher end of what needs to be consumed according to weight. Obviously you do end up peeing a lot more but again, you get used to it. I find it also helps with habit forming in general because this is something I know I need to do so it helps keep me on track in general.

Morning, happy to be doing this again after enjoying it a couple of years back, feel I need to take back some control as I've become a carb addict in last few months.
Got to go shopping today to prepare, but I've got leftover paneer curry and cauliflower rice for breakfast to start me off!

I did bootcamp and carried on low carbing back in 2013/14 and got down to about 8.5 stone (I'm a short-arse). At the time I had no children and my husband worked away a lot so I could eat as I pleased and went to the gym a lot. I settled at just over 9 stone and maintained that for several years but since changing jobs to something much more sedentary combined with having a toddler, the weight has crept up and up. I know I'm going to find it a lot more challenging this time - much less time to exercise*, a fussy toddler, a rake-thin husband who exists on carbs, a demanding job and an imminent country relocation are all going to threaten to derail me. But I need to do something, and I know this works.

*I know exercise isn't the be-all of weight loss but I also know how valuable it is for me psychologically, as well as for overall health.

My downfall is getting peckish between meals so this morning I've made up a big batch of olives marinaded in extra virgin olive oil, chilli flakes, lemon rind and fresh herbs from the garden for "emergencies." I buy the cheap plain green olives in brine then make my own marinade which works out much cheaper than the ready-prepared "posh" olives. I've also got some fancy Feta cheese from Lidl's Greek week that I might mix into a couple of portions.

a rake-thin husband who exists on carbs

He won't die without them! And he will only be healthier eating the carbs he's allowed!

Thanks to @BIWI and @FinallyHere for all your work on this.

@WhoAteTheChips you may well find that you WANT to still be here next year beacuse it is such a supportive community

B - cup of redbush tea, avocado with cheese, then later a coffee with cream
L - mushroom omelette
D - salmon and lots of green veg
All interspered with plenty of water

morning everyone, managed to put on 2 stone since the first lockdown and just need to sort myself out!! greek yoghurt and a cup of tea for breakfast, with lettuce wraps stuffed with leftover Lebanese lamb from last night with some feta, and for dinner its roast veg with halloumi and a green salad (BIWI had some easy dinners for the first week, which I will be following as I wasn't sure what to have!). Good luck everyone!

WhoAteTheChips · Today 08:11

I was miserable and punished myself with food and pretended it was making me feel better

I sort of innately knew this but have never read it so clearly expressed before!

BTW, if you're a seasoned low carber, then the first rule 'eat three meals a day' needn't apply to you.

Lots of people combine this WOE with IF (intermittent fasting) - which usually takes the form of dropping breakfast.

@StuntNun has a thread about how to combine IF with low carb

To be fair to him, he burns a lot of calories through his job and he struggles to keep weight on - his BMI hovers around 18, so I don't want to risk him losing any more!

Which is the water tracker that people use?

@Whicker I use the waterlogged app, it's quite good and not too ad-heavy.

@ChairOfInvisibleStudies if he eats what you're eating - as well as his own portion of carbs - that will help him to gain weight. High fat + high carb is a guarantee for weight gain.

Thank you! And I’ve just seen that @Lougle had actually linked one!

Morning all, I'm taking inspiration from ditavonteesed because I also started bootcamping 18m ago. Did brilliantly and lost 3 stone then fell off the wagon and have landed here today a pound heavier than I was when I started

I'm ready this morning, 2 pints of water and a creamy coffee down and I'll have some eggs for breakfast later. Hoping to get back into IF once I've passed the carb flu.

Thanks ever so much to BIWI and the poster who is womaning the spreadsheet (sorry can't remember the name), and to the experienced bootcampers who keep the rest of us sane with their wise words and motivation. Let's do this!!

@Whicker I bought a 2 litre water bottle when I did this before. I have a lot of weight to lose so my water target is basically to drink the contents of the bottle twice over! I work from home 50% of the time so just fill the bottle in the morning, make sure I drink it by lunchtime at the latest then I refill it when I go for lunch. I also have a smaller metal cup I pour it into sometimes which helps with it not feeling like an overwhelming amount!

For anyone who is starting new to lowcarb, and a reminder to others, this is a really good point at which to take some measurements (however much you don't want to face the reality of those numbers) or find a favourite item of clothing that won't zip up... There are some days / weeks when it seems that the numbers on the scales stop moving, yet you might still be losing inches - particulalry from around your tummy. The delight of fitting into a favourite pair of trousers or a dress, that's worth more than a couple of pounds on the scales!

And don't forget to look out for NSVs (non-scale victories) health ones where you blodd pressure stabilises or your pre-diabetes is reversed; the day your wedding ring feels too loose or you realise your feet are less fat and your shoes are slipping off; the secret inner smile when friends or colleagues or family remark on how well you are looking...

Apologies for all the terrible typos!

Just checking in! Back from a very carby holiday so keen to get started!

Very good advice @whatdifference! I was just coming here to post about how we measure our progress.

Weighing

We use the spreadsheet to record our weight - or more accurately, our weight losses!

However, weighing isn't the only way to measure progress. In fact, it can be more troublesome, as it's often the case that the scales don't budge when you are actually shedding fat. You'll know/notice this because your clothes start to fit better.

So taking your measurements (hips, waist, bust as well as upper thigh/arm) is a really good idea from the start. Also, find an item of clothing that's just a bit too tight right now, and try that on once a week.

I know that some people get obsessed with what the scales say - if this is you, you may want to stop weighing and use these other methods instead. (As long as by avoiding the scales you're not avoiding accountability!)

Frequency of weighing

This is up to you. Many people find that daily weighing helps to keep them on track. However, if you weigh daily you do need to be prepared for the numbers to go up on occasion - your body weight will fluctuate quite naturally on a day-by-day basis. If that's going to freak you out, then switch to weekly weighing.

Recording your weight

Although I start a new chat thread every Monday, you don't need to record that day's weight - there are different ways you can do this.

• enter the weight you recorded on your chosen day, if Monday doesn't work for you
• if you're a daily weigher, you can record an average for the week
• or, record the lowest weight you saw that week

Indexing

If you prefer, you don't have to enter your actual weight, but you can index it. So your starting weight is 100, and each pound lost is 1. So if in week 1 you lose 5lbs, you enter 95.

Just checking in on Day 1 and reading all of the wonderful advice.

Have entered my starting weight on spreadsheet-ideally I'd like to drop at least 10 pounds. I'm short - 5 foot 1 so every extra pound shows on my waist, hips, legs and upper arms - but it's the bloat and lethargy I'm wanting to also address so it's about the long term change in diet and habits. I used to walk straight past the bread aisle in the supermarket and know none of that applied to me so want to get back to that mindset.

The other thing I notice (and others) is how much better my skin looks when I cut carbs and sugar.

I also used to IF which worked really well for me as a coffee was always enough for me first thing and I'd not need to eat until midday. I will stick to Bootcamp rules for the first two weeks and eat breakfast.

I've started my 1.5 litre water bottle and had a coffee. Having Greek yoghurt for breakfast shortly. Stopped at a farm shop yesterday so stocked up on some lovely eggs, bacon, chicken and sausages as a treat to get me started which should last me much of the week across lunches and dinners, with salad and spinach.