Jan '23 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 2 - how did you get on?!

[BIWI]

Evening all! I'm posting the week 2 chat thread this evening, as I know how keen everyone will be to post tomorrow. As I'm retired now, I no longer have to set an alarm to wake up, so I don't want to keep everyone waiting tomorrow morning to post.

I love this week. It's when we see how much people have lost, and it can be a significant amount. It can be a real leap of faith for anyone who hasn't low carbed before, and all those who really don't believe you can eat that much fat and still lose weight!

I'm really hoping that you've all had a good first week, and that your commitment 'to the cause' has been rewarded with a good result - be that on the scales, with your tape measure, or the currently-too-tight clothes that you've been trying on.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

I hope very much that you've had a good first week, and that you're feeling supermotivated for the rest of Bootcamp.

However - if you haven't lost, or you have even gained, please don't be downhearted. We're all different, and there may be lots of reasons why this is the case for you. It's also really important to note that it's not a competition. We all lose at different rates - plus, anyone who is bigger will lose more/faster than someone who is smaller.

Hopefully there are other benefits to this WOE that will keep you on track - at the very least, I hope that you have been enjoying the food, and that you don't feel deprived, like you would be on a low calorie/fat diet.

Wondering if I might try that bullet proof coffee as I'm struggling a bit with no caffeine options! Is there a way to make it with coffee pods?

What do others do for caffeine? I can't do tea with full fat milk, so suspect I wouldn't like it with cream either.

Thanks @DryWhiteagainW
I was also trying to cope without HRT (thought I could manage it with diet and exercise and a positive attitude....hmmm).
Swam last night (patch stayed on) and am feeling very hungry this morning (and cold...)
Weight is down slightly again.
Feeling more energetic though and looking forward to my Greek yoghurt and chicken salads.

sciatica - can’t recall who was asking but you may need physio. I did. There maybe some physio approved exercises/stretches online.

Morning all, think am going to give the cauliflower cheese recipe a bash this week as it sounds yum. And am going to try those celeriac dirty fries!

NSV this morning, my 8 year old whispered to me if I'd lost weight as my "tummy looks smaller" then a hug from her. Awwww, felt really chuffed.

In the office today so

B sausages and fried eggs (love the work sausages 😂)
L is a bit of a picky plate that I've packed, so leftover gammon, cucumbers, couple babybels and FF Greek yog
D going to try the inside out cheese omelette with mushrooms and spring onion then coleslaw and salad on the side

So much inspiration on this thread!

@AllTheBlackCoffee hypothyroid can mess a little bit with how low carb works, I am also hypothyroid (and this is just anecdotal), I found that every 2 weeks or so I have a meal with higher carbs and following that I usually get a whoosh. I lose about the same as everyone else but it is much less linear. For me personally low carb is the only way I have ever successfully lost and kept weight off.
@Gingerwarthog I'm another one who feels the cold so bad now, I just assumed it was because I have less insulation.
I love bullet proof coffee, have it when I get up super early for day shifts and I don't want to start eating at that time. Cup of black coffee, spoon of coconut oil and a teaspoon of unsalted (very important) butter whizz it in the blender. Keeps me full till around 1pm.
So weirdly I got a decent loss yesterday then I felt quite unwell and bloated, went to lie down for 10mins because my back hurt and woke up 4 hours later. Never made it to body pump but managed a yoga class later last night, this morning I still feel bloated and Im up 3lbs. On the plus side my back feels better. Bodies are so weird.
I had hit my first goal yesterday which was to get back to pre December weight. Now I'm back above it again, argh.

Thanks for that suggestion @ditavonteesed I've gained two stone since I was diagnosed two years ago and am desperate to turn that around. When you say higher carbs, are you talking a family sized Domino's pizza or some kidney beans in your chilli? hoping for the former but expecting the latter

I slept so well last night, I think it's the first time in YEARS that I've not woken in the night. So that's a most welcome side effect that I'll gladly take!

Today's plan:

B: buttery scrambled eggs
L: tuna and avo salad with olive oil
D: spag Bol, courgetti

@AllTheBlackCoffee sorry the latter, a bit of rice with a curry or some beans (that's what I did when I was in weight loss, I've been in maintenance for a long time now so been a bit more lax, im back trying to lose a bit more now so I'll have to behave again).

Thanks for all the encouragement.
And for providing the board where I can get this encouragement, @BIWI!

@StuntNun that's good to know about the fats. And I just LOVE it when all the best things are in the "should eat" list!! Also you're right, I am expecting overnight results when I can't even remember how many weeks into last Bootcamp I was when I noticed I was pain free.

@Savedmybacon I'm not much of a meat eater but I have remembered that last Bootcamp I was making up big batches of bone broth to have for breakfast every day, so I'll have to get to the butcher.

That's great advice @ditavonteesed i will stick a chilli on the plan for next week and see if it helps. Thank you!!

Just caught up this thread. Impressive first week for many. Well done. I’m down 1.2lbs but not my first week and Sundays lunch was pretty difficult to navigate low carb. The actual menu was not as the one on line mainly in that the two options I had selected had been removed. So I had the Camembert starter no bread no chutney but all the pescatarian option mains were pasta, risotto or fish cake. The main reason I am pescatarian and not vegetarian is the poor offering in vegetarian options. Usually have fish and vegetables in a restaurant very rare not to have an option like that on the menu in ok places. So I had the fish cake. Felt tired and carby craving yesterday. Not sure how much was just because I was so tired. NSV new sale trousers now do up but are a bit tight.

I too have recently started HRT and big improvement in hot flushes and therefor sleep. Needed a hot water bottle last night for good sleep which is a big change from needing an ice pack!! Hoping aching joints can also be improved.

in the office today so early start and likely to be tired tonight. Pizzas for DH and DS and I will make cheese topped Portobello mushrooms with crispy roast kale for me.

I hadn’t planned on weighing but after reading the posts on here I realised I was only fooling myself. I have lost 3lbs. Life pressures have meant I have been bootcamping light but I am in this for the long haul. I was maintaining really well until October. Another 8lbs will get me back on track.
@Gingerwarthog i have been on patches for 18 months. They will have to peel them off me when I die. I don’t think they affect weight loss. I do think when you can’t sleep you are more inclined to make the wrong food choices so maybe they help to lose weight. My skin looks better and my hair is in great condition. This isn’t an advert for HRT as it is not for everyone.

@Lalalalalaaaa - I changed back from green top to blue top milk years ago I'm old enough to remember when we didn't have that choice when I first started doing Boot Camp. Took me a while to get used to it again - just letting a splash in helped. I seem to recall that I'd remembered I used to add more milk if I used semi skimmed (or especially skimmed, which I also tried briefly ).

Now I'm the opposite: find the lower fat milks too watery and I need to add extra.

Oh boy, this is working! I'll be in Cheekbone Magazine come spring!

Well done everyone who's keeping on 👊🏻

Cheekbone Magazine!! Love this

I'm not losing that quickly but I think I'm eating too many calories - when I miss breakfast I lose more quickly. But I'm enjoying getting back into the swing of it and looking forward to eating nuts next week - although they are my nemesis and I can scran a full bag of M and S pecans as if they are nothing.

Morning everyone.

I had a rubbish sleep last night, I was up about 4 times going to the loo. Im going to try and drink all my water before 6pm today to try and stop that. Woke up with a slight headache so had a glass of electrolytes (the zero ones) which helped.

Hungry this morning too which was weird, maybe down to the poor sleep? So I've had breakfast. I have to tidy the upstairs of my house today which will keep me busy. It's not too bad but I made a den for dd that's shes been sleeping in for the past week that's really getting on my nerves now so its needs taken down. 😅

B: few slices of left over bacon (I wanted something salty) and 10% yogurt with a little bit of pure cocoa powder mixed in.
L: haven't decided but I have loads in.. maybe a veggie omelette.
D: chilli with cauliflower rice.

Morning all!

2.6lb loss for me - wasn't expecting masses as its really my second week but I couldn't weigh or measure during my first week. Happy with that tho!

So NSVs - as a PP said, I am sleeping SO much better, I can't believe it, guessing I was waking due to a sugar drop as so many articles I have read said! Jeans are definitely looser, my skin looks so much better, I now LOVE tea with no sweetener- I put one in yesterday while distracted, out of habit as work was mental and had to pour it away!

Also I feel calmer, I am not a stressy person but have a lot of personal stuff going on that usually weighs on my mind so this is weird, I wonder if my diet was causing peaks and troughs of "something" that was making me feel edgy, or am I making that up and am generally more chilled for some unknown reason 🤔😂

Just want to thank those involved once again as there is a wealth of information on the threads and the spreadsheet, other than googling for recipe ideas, I haven't need to look elsewhere and you have made this WOE so easy for me 🤗

So:
B: Bacon, scrambled eggs with cream, mushrooms cooked in butter, baby tomatoes fried in butter, mug of tea, 5ml milk - really can't drop that yet sorryyyy
L: Salad with chicken, coleslaw, HM dressing, maybe more cooked gammon as I have a joint to eat 😳
D: Thai green curry, extra veg for me, rice for my son - CAN'T WAIT!

Don't think I had enough fat yesterday as I was hungry in the evening so ate a slice of gammon smeared in cream cheese. Not been hungry in the evening for ages so will keep the fat up today.

hypothyroid can mess a little bit with how low carb works, I am also hypothyroid (and this is just anecdotal), I found that every 2 weeks or so I have a meal with higher carbs and following that I usually get a whoosh. I lose about the same as everyone else but it is much less linear. For me personally low carb is the only way I have ever successfully lost and kept weight off.

@ditavonteesed this isn't anecdotal. Eating low carb can impact on thyroid hormone levels if you're hypothyroid so adding in a higher carb meal every week or two can be a good idea. Though that means a jacket potato or a small portion of rice with your meal rather than the aforementioned family-size pizza!

Good morning everyone!

It's a beautiful day here, lots of sunlight. It's been grey and gloomy for days so today feels like a gift.

Hope you all will have a lovely day!

Good morning @TangledWebOfDeception , You are lucking to have sunshine, its icy and cold with a threat of snow here :(

@Brassbumblebee sorry you had little sleep and are sufferring with headaches. I take alka seltzer for headaches, work better than paracetamol or aspirin and find even with a pounding headache it resolves in 20-30 minutes of taking it, but you should take with food and not on an empty stomach.

I found sleeping hard when I was cold and hungry at the beginning, so having a hot bath and using my heated throw has really helped get me cosy and sleeping. Mind you last night I lay there having a conversation with my grumbling stomach, there was no reason for me to be hungry as had lots of fat and protein, it was just I think because I finish eating at 5 so by midnight my stomach was empty and asking for food. I told it to be quiet though :)

Welcome @LoopingLizards I don't know if you've been on previous bootcamps, but I'm assuming your cheese and ham rolls were slices of cheese and ham rolled up together, not cheese and ham on an actual bread roll. I sometimes make a cheese and ham 'sandwich' - slice of ham, slices of cheese (spread with butter), slices of cucumber and shredded lettuce, dollop of mayo, topped with more slices of cheese and ham. I cut it into quarters like dainty little afternoon-tea snacks!

Also noticed that you didn't have many veg...? In order for this way of eating to be long term healthy and sustainable we need to pack in a variety of low carb veg. I like to have something plant based at every meal. So today:
B - avocado, tomato and mozzerella salad
L - left over broccoli and green beans in a cheese omelette
D - out with friends but it's a seafood restaurant and I'm planning on the halibut with celeriac mash, pancetta, and garlic roasted winter chanterelles, I'll have a side of wilted greens too.

@prettybird I am old enough to remember when it was gold top and silver top milk bottles from the milkman, my DM said as a little girl her parents got her a whole bottle of gold top (creamy milk from Jersey cows) every day just for her, she had 2 brothers and a sister so I wonder what they had. My DM was tiny though so maybe they thought it would fatten her up.

I used to love pouring the cream top of the silver topped milk on my cornflakes. I did also cover them in sugar, but what child didnt in those days!

@Jenasaurus Alka Seltzer is our favourite family remedy too - it is what I'd be given when I was travel sick as a child, and hungover as a teenager, so there's something very comforting about the 'plunk, plunk, fizz...' However, I can only fiind Alka Seltzer XS which has caffeine in it, no good if I want to take it before bed. And my sister said that they'd stopped making the original version

Ahh, I see your point, maybe soluble aspirin may work, as I believe its being soluble that gets it straight to the point of pain, but again make sure you eat with it.