Jan 2023 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 1!

[BIWI]

Welcome everyone! We have over 160 people signed up this time, so things are going to move quickly.

Here's the link to The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness which has been carefully and lovingly curated by the very lovely @FinallyHere

There are a few bits of admin that I need to post before we get going. The first of which is the usual disclaimer:

I am not a medic, a scientist, a dietician or a nutritionist. Everything that I post here is based on my reading and my own experiences of low carbing gained over the last 20 years. You follow the guidance here at your own risk - although I very much hope that there are no risks!

Very importantly, though, if you are on any kind of long-term medication, please talk to your GP/nurse about low carbing. This is especially important if you're on drugs for hypertension, cholesterol and/or diabetes, as a low carb diet should have a positive impact on all of those conditions, which would mean that your dosage may need to be decreased, if not removed altogether.

The second is about etiquette:

Please, please, please read all the posts on the thread before you make your own post. These threads work so much better when we're all here interacting with each other, as that means we can offer help and support when it's needed. Don't just jump on the thread to plop down your meals for the day, your weight that day and then just fuck off. That doesn't help anyone.

More than anything else, it's incredibly irritating when someone posts a question which has already been answered early in the thread. I, and lots of other Bootcampers, spend a considerable amount of time responding to people's questions and concerns, and it's pretty insulting when it's obvious that these haven't been read.

(Oh, and it's very obvious if you haven't read the thread, so take that as a warning )

Ah, I think I should have used double cream, I only bought single this week.

I use mayo and creme fraiche

Delurking to ask @Brassbumblebee to please share how you make seasoned beef mince please - is it just mince cooked with fajita seasoning - any onions, garlic etc? Your taco bowl sounds just up my street!

@Savedmybacon don't be disheartened. It's fairly normal to have big loss initially, then a pause/lower loss, then another drop, and so on. Loss is a zigzag rather than a straight line. What sort of veg? VlI promise you that veg (above ground) won't stop you losing weight and adds so much good stuff to the diet (including interesting taste and texture).

@FinallyHere and @BIWI , thanks for your replies.
"How would adding an artificial chemical into your food really help?" Even the question makes me laugh!
But it's such a good reframe. I think I've always known I comfort eat and part of me has always said, "You shouldn't be doing this." But I've never stopped and said - hang on. Why? What am I looking for in a sweet mouthful.
And where else can I go for comfort?
Hmmm, there's more to this WoE than meets the eye.

@DontGetEvenGetEverything

there's more to this WoE than meets the eye.

Oh, YES 😀

@Lalalalalaaaa - not something to do yet as you should wait until you're fully fat adapted but I've found that extended fasts help me fully break the habit of snacking.

I find 36 hours easy: often do it from a Sunday night especially after eating at my dad's and sometimes I do longer .

It proves to me how rarely I'm actually hungry as my stomach only starts rumbling towards the end. I also still have plenty of energy

Mimosa1 I used cavolo nero in my spiced cauli dish last night in place of spring greens. I normally just cut out the stalks then cut each leaf into about 8 pieces, wash well and sauté briefly in lots of butter while still quite wet. Goes on the side of pretty much anything! Same for kale, the whole leaf stuff (that I rarely find anywhere but Sainsbury's) is much better as you don't get all the stalky bits! Chard I'm less keen on but it's fairly interchangeable with spinach/kale I'd say.

@mimosa1 I think cabbages pack the highest nutrition by weight, so I try to have regularly. I wash the outside leaves, any open ones, cut out the heavy stem, but you could do that on your plate. Then I usually slice the leaves. Easy to do if you roll like a cigar. Add butter, salt. I've been known to add some finely chopped onion, but usually I don't bother. Then you can microwave them like sprouts. I usually start them on the hob, stirring the water from the washed leaves and melting butter through. I finish in the oven, but just turn the hob down and give the occasional stir. 10 to 20 mins, careful not to overcook.

you could parboil the leaves and use them to wrap things, but I've never done that.

Yesterday, I cut a small cabbage in quarters, but out the core, and baked, covered, with butter. Was lovely.

@BIWI & @ThistlyPerf, thank you for your comments. Had a great day, lovely long dog walk in the (rare bit of) sunshine, had my ears pierced and spent time with DH and parents. Despite being offered several cocktails/wine etc, I refused all and it was the first birthday in over 30 years not celebrated with alcohol! I feel very saintly! 😇
B was coffee and cream x 2.
L was olives, cheese and pickled onions.
D was steak with homemade keto pepper sauce and salad with lime and chilli dressing. I did have a couple of battered onions and a taste of brownies(!) that my lovely uncle had sent me but teamed them with yoghurt and cream - I know it was against the rules but it would have been rude not to. I have frozen the rest so as to avoid temptation.
Well done to everyone!

I’m 1.5lbs up from beginning of week, but am definitely less puffy in the face and stomach, so hopefully when I weigh again on Sunday, it’s gone down overall

The carb / cracker cravings are finally starting to lessen, and for once we’ve actually eaten all the veg in last weeks grocery order! Need to meal plan for next week as I messed up my gousto order which has thrown everything out a bit

Oh, yes, @prettybird

how rarely I'm actually hungry

I've been fascinated by how seldom hunger was my prompt to eat: time of the day, others at work going to eat, boredom, wanting to avoid some work which felt a bit scary, wanting to treat myself and to avoid getting too hungry later all prompted me to eat.

Nothing about hunger.

Once though the first two weeks of bootcamp, having shaken off the carb cravings, I decided to wait for a feeling of hunger before actually eating. I was WFH and had stocked up with low carb food and so I waited.

Not quite sure how long it took, certainly over 36 hours. Even then there was no urgency, more a dull ache which went away pretty quickly.

I was wearing a continuous blood glucose monitor so could see that my blood sugar was stable just below 6.5 so figured all was good.

Feeling in control of my eating is now a quiet pleasure. I hug to myself the knowledge that if there is nothing suitable to eat I can easily skip a meal and won't get that urge to consume sugar and carbs. Finally (sic) one of the sensible grown ups, in my sixties.

Who would have thought it ?

Thanks Bootcamp and all who sail in her.

Thanks @baystard - did have a bit of onion in the veg but mainly leeks, mushroom, peppers, courgette, tomatoes. Also been intermittent fasting since 3 Jan as I've done that before and liked it so only eat between 12 and 8pm. The fact it fell off at the start felt amazing and I so wanted it to continue...lots to lose here at nearly 15st and 5 feet tall! Have been cooking in butter and used creme fraiche in sauces but wonder if there's not enough fat?
Thanks for reminder about the zig zag. Needed that!

I also get Hunger Fear. I've found using a Hunger Scale very useful as it let's me determine if I am really hungry or not.

That and working my self confidence that it's OK to be hungry before mealtimes, infact it's perfect to feel hungry before you eat a meal.

I was hungry after dinner last night so cut some Chorizo in to medallions and microwaved them to crisp them up. I left it a bit too long so they were very hard but still satisfying to eat.

Plan for today is
Smashed Avo with cherry toms, coriander, chilli flakes, lemon juice and garlic olive oil served on red pepper
Leftover Thai curry (heavy on the spinach and cauli rice)
Leonaise salad

Had a better night's sleep.
Greek yogurt
Tuna salad with mayo
Meatballs with broccoli leeks courgette

I am addicted to Hellmans mayo (the Real one). Is there a lower carb lower sugar brand that anyone recommends?

@mimosa1 I treat cavalo Nero like spinach that needs to be cooked longer. So had it in my creamy chicken Gruyère bake earlier this week (with mushrooms and a few cherry toms)

@SpottyBumPony thanks for posting the hunger scale, really interesting.

The interesting thing about hunger is that it doesn't increase, but most of us rarely get the chance to find this out because of cultural pressure to always feel at least neutral on that chart. I practice intermittent fasting, sometimes having a longer fast (36-48 hrs) and what normally happens is that you feel hungry at mealtimes (purely because of habit - the body prepares in anticipation of food and gets a bit confused when you don't eat) and then if you ignore it the hunger goes away and when you next have a [transient ] sense of hunger it's just at the same level - it isn't worse.

I actively enjoy feeling a bit genuinely hungry these days - it means I enjoy planning what to cook about 100x more than if I'm full of carbs. Full of carbs all I'd want to eat would be more carbs and eating veg would feel like a chore. Now I eat a more varied diet and its so much more pleasurable than just marking time from one carb top up to the next!

Stomach feels a bit softer/floppier this morning, which is good -
i am not weighing this BC, but I remember that the softness usually heralded a whoosh of weightloss.

Had coffee and cream for pre breakfast - will have some FFGY shortly. Oily avocado and Parma ham planned for lunch and probably some sort of thai chicken tonight. Must do better at water today.

I agree @Baystard I can fast for 96-hours and I never experience 1 or 2 on that hunger scale. The only time I ever felt like that was when I was on the insulin rollercoaster caused by eating carbs. Then I could be two hours from my last meal and feel like I couldn't do anything - couldn't concentrate or focus - until I had anything to eat. That's the difference eating low carb makes.

@Savedmybacon a lot of people (but not everyone) lose pounds in the first week and then it slows so there's no need to assume there is anything wrong at this stage. I recommend KOKO (Keep On Keeping On) with Bootcamp and seeing how things go.

I can't remember who was asking for the inside out omelette recipe but it's here: https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/jills-cheese-crusted-keto-omelet

Day 4 and still amazed at how much better I'm sleeping already!

Todays menu:
B - Greek yog with cinnamon (surprised how much I liked it)
L - egg mayo and salad
D - cod with creamy chorizo sauce (as suggested by @BIWI I think) with broccoli, sprouts and courgette

Going well so far just need to drink more water 🙄

I've never managed or even tried 96 hours fasting but I've been able to do 60 hours easily

Caveat: extended fasting should not be something anyone with a history of disordered eating beyond a carb addition should do

I've never managed or even tried 96 hours fasting but I've been able to do 60 hours easily

Caveat: extended fasting should not be something anyone with a history of disordered eating beyond a carb addition should do

Sorry for the double post: MN had a hiccup - I didn't even try to post it a second time as I knew to check before attempting again

Hey! I just used garlic and onion powder, cumin and chili. Very easy!