Jan '23 Low Carb Bootcamp - the (in)famous week 3 ...

[BIWI]

Morning all

Normally I'd link to the spreadsheet, but I'm having an issue with it this morning, as I can't scroll down the list of names and keep getting an error message saying my window isn't big enough to display it. Both on Safari and Chrome, which is odd - so I'm putting a call out for @FinallyHere to see if she can resolve it!

Anyway ...

PLEASE READ THIS POST CAREFULLY!

Welcome to week 3. This is the week where you have a choice. If you wish, you can move on to Bootcamp Light, which means that you can now introduce fruit, nuts/seeds, chocolate and alcohol.

SOME.
IN MODERATION.
NOT AT EACH AND EVERY MEAL!

So with fruit, this is mainly berries - when the spreadsheet is sorted, check out the fruit counter on there, which will show you which fruits are best to introduce. Similarly nuts.

With chocolate, make this the highest cocoa content that you can - certainly 70% should be a minimum - and restrict yourself to a couple of square, not a whole bar.

And as to alcohol - it's dry wines and clear spirits, with low calorie mixers or, even better, soda/sparkling water.

Remember we're still on Bootcamp - so be very careful how much of any of these you introduce.

However, week 3 (and 4 and sometimes even 5) is infamous as this is the point where you may see your weight loss slow, stop or even reverse

It's very, very, very common for this to happen, so if it happens to you, don't panic! It's not a stall. It's all about your body settling into this WOE, and what you'll see once we get through the low carb doldrums is your weight loss will continue, albeit at a slower rate of around 1-3lbs a week. (How much you lose will depend on how much you have left to lose).

Bearing this in mind, you may want to stay on strict Bootcamp. There's nothing wrong with this at all - just make sure you are following Bootcamp rules, and that things haven't started to slip. In particular, make sure that you're sticking to rule 4 - i.e. that the majority of your carbs are coming from veg/salad. And don't forget the water!

Some Bootcampers like to do a hybrid, which means strict Bootcamp during the week, relaxing into Bootcamp Light at the weekend. The choice is entirely yours.

Morning all, I am managing to stick to the rules apart from a couple of g & t's but not a morsel of food off the naughty list has passed my lips, since the birthday brownie two weeks ago.
I love this from @NotDonna - ....and talking of bad days and face planting into food or booze there’s a lot to be said for just sitting with those feelings. Accepting them rather than trying to bury thOhem in food or booze.

Morning all, bursting with energy today. I love that feeling on this WOE! I've got lots of jobs to do this morning and then we're off into town for a mooch after lunch. Will probably stop off for a coffee somewhere along the way and I might treat myself to one with cream instead of my usual black americano.

Today's plan:
B: Greek yog, cresm
L: crispy bacon stack (my own invention - 3 or 4 rashers of bacon cooked nice and crispy and stacked with thin slices of strong cheddar in between. Usually my LC hangover food although it's also good when not hungover) spinach and mushrooms fried in butter
D: steak in garlic butter, celeriac fries, broccoli, mushrooms

Morning everyone

Last time I did BC it really sorted my digestive issues out, not so much this time. Really windy (sorry) and no satisfying poos! It's annoying.

I've been keeping quiet this last week as frustration at the scales not moving has somehow justified two separate off-piste binges in my brain. Not afterwards though, as @BIWI says, when I've felt so disappointed with myself.
Actual mealtimes, I'm perfectly happy with my low carb dinners and am enjoying my meals, feeling full, not craving sweet stuff and carbs. But I kidded myself that I was just going to have a glass of wine last night, with my pork, buttered courgetti and leeks and creamy mustard sauce. It was delicious. The wine tasted like nectar after a more or less dry January. But it just flicked a switch and ended in all the 'forbidden' treats I used to love: crisps, bread, toast, chocolate and even haribo. All tasted amazing initially but almost immediately felt the binge mentality and the shame of how uncontrollable it was. Back on it this morning but feel so gutted at my self- sabotage and how easy it is to fall off the wagon. This is the second time it has happened in 2 weeks and feels so familiar - old habits and all that.
I think my frustration at the scales not moving needs to be replaced by the sheer joy at how much my pains are reduced on this WOE and how much my inflammation has reduced. It's so easy to forget how much worse I felt a month ago so I need to keep reminding myself. That was the reason I started this WOE in particular rather than other 'diets'.
Rant over (thanks for listening!)

@DontGetEvenGetEverything I'm so pleased to have helped. There's a lot out there on the Mindbody stuff (overwhelming for me!) but SIRPA seem to be a sensible balanced organisation and I hope you find it useful. I still have lots of random pain but knowing that it comes from my brain has been a game-changer.

@Rayna37 I'm going to try your mix too. The kids love fajitas and we usually buy the packet but I know they are high in carbs. Thanks!

I have a question about cholesterol if anyone can help? I had a few tests done because of high BP and it's come back my cholesterol is slightly raised and I've to manage it with diet etc. my instinct is of course to ditch all the saturated fat so cream, butter, red meat etc and replace it with unsaturated good fats like avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds etc. am I doing the correct thing???? I don't want to sabotage myself.

@Savedmybacon as a painfully slow loser (underactive thyroid here!) I share your pain and the lack of movement on the scales has been my undoing many a time. I've started Bootcamp more times than I care to think about and have only made it to the end once many years ago, and I only lost 10lb then too. This time I have taken a different mindset and am predominantly doing this to feel better in myself, which I undoubtedly do. Before Christmas I was not eating or drinking well and I constantly felt dreadful. The difference between how I feel in myself now and the is remarkable and any weight loss (between 2-4lb since the start of BC depending on the day) is merely a bonus. So I wonder if really focusing on those benefits and putting weight loss out of your mind completely might help you??

@DontGetEvenGetEverything sardines are perfect. I only really like the kind in tomato sauce eaten I toast do tend to avoid but when I fancy it, I do like mackerel in olive oil with salad- I make a little "sauce" from creme fraiche and wholegrain mustard which is great on it.

@NotDonna proud York alumna here! It's a great city (and much better than when I was there actually). On pork, I just choose fatty cuts and grill so the fat gets well cooked. Avoid anything too lean and personally I avoid frying chops as I think you get dry meat but undercooked fat this way. I love huge chops with a big fat strip, or pork belly strips, or roast shoulder (by the joints sold for pulled pork but roast as usual). If you're doing veg in the oven you can also chuck the grill tray in the oven, most pork steaks/chops/strips cook ok this way.

I eat tinned mackerel. Usually in tomato sauce but sometimes in oil.

the lack of movement on the scales has been my undoing

I do understand this and have had the same experience many, many times, @AllTheBlackCoffee

As you describe, I too found it helped to stop using the scales to measure my progress and to focus on the things that I can control, such as what I actually eat.

Choosing what to eat based on how I'm going to feel immediately after eating things and how I'll feel over the next, say, 24hrs, has worked really well for me over the last year. It feels as if I could eat like this forever.

It has released me from the tyranny of the weigh it, which so often knocked me off course, sometime for a good result and sometimes due to a disappointment. I do wish I had weighed myself at the maxima but of course it's not so easy to know just when that was. I wasn't confident it would stick, when I started low carbing the way it has this year.

I've settled on weighing once a month or every five or six weeks, at a InBody scale in the gym at work. I do try and skip the usual tricks like not drinking anything between waking cup and braving the scales.

My face and body have now changed enough for pretty much everyone to notice. I still feel a bit well, yes, ashamed, that I've had so many compliments when my BMI is still just in the unhealthy range so I have about 15kgs to go to be in the middle of the healthy BMI range, which is my target.

Onwards and downwards.

(Apologies so many typos above. DH and DS appeared back from swimming!)

Yesterday I had a late breakfast of eggs & mushrooms, shakshuka for lunch, and beef bourgignon I froze a couple of weeks ago for dinner with mashed swede. Also had a few dry roasted peanuts and a small glass of red wine.

Started the day with black coffee and parkrun, skipped breakfast but having sausages, eggs etc for lunch once I finally get showered Planning some experimental Chinese food cooking tonight!

Feeling your pain @FinallyHere and @AllTheBlackCoffee . I get far too invested in the scale numbers. Isn't it weird how the exact same weight can actually make you feel euphoric or deeply fed up depending on whether it's an increase or decrease? Breakfast was a boiled egg followed by brisk walk in the park. Not very hungry so lunch plan is Cauli and Coconut soup with some pak choi thrown in. Dinner is roast chicken with roast veg and swede fries. Being saintly (and needing to use up autumn apples) I may make a crumble for the other family members and console myself with a greek yogurt dessert.

@OldandTired66

the exact same weight

Goodness, yes, I know what you mean. I notice in on clothes sizes, going down is always a pleasure while going up a size always penance.

@BonnieBairn did they give you a breakdown of the figures or just a 'total cholesterol is a bit high'? And did you get any specific diet advice?

Unfortunately too many health care providers my GP is a prime example of out of date thinking still retain a belief that all fat is bad. What is important is the level of HDL (HDL = high density lipoprotein. These contain lots of protein and very little cholesterol. So they are ‘high density’. They carry cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver, which removes the cholesterol from the body. HDL cholesterol is sometimes called good cholesterol because it can help prevent disease) and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL

My GP also advises low fat products - yuk!!! and a diet with whole wheat pasta and wholewheat bread.

You won't go arong with eating more avocado oil, olive oil nuts and seeds but you also need protein which comes from meat, cheese etc.

dh spoiled my intermittent fasting by returning from the shops with eggs, bacon, mushrooms (also black pudding and toast for him), but it was brunch-ish rather than early breakfast, and I'm out this afternoon so won't eat again until dinner time (chicken casserole with leeks, spinach, cabbage, courgettes and a wee bit of carrot).

@venusandmars if was just the receptionist I spoke to. I've an appointment on Wednesday with the practice nurse so will hopefully find out the actual figures. I still plan on eating meat, fish and eggs for protein but wonder if I should be cutting down on red meat? I'm often anaemic though so I can't win 😂

@BonnieBairn you need to take into account all your cholesterol tests, not just the total cholesterol. I'm happy to take a look at your results if you can get them and would like to PM me. My LDL cholesterol went up slightly when I started Bootcamp but my triglycerides level went through the floor, it's actually been lower than the normal range the last couple of times it was tested. So if you were to look at just the total cholesterol, mine looks worse than before Bootcamp, but if you look at the profile of blood tests then it's much better than it was. Some people do get very high cholesterol in response to cutting carbs and those individuals may decide to cut their consumption of saturated (animal) fats in favour of monounsaturated fats (olive oil, avocado oil, nut oils) and increase their intake of oily fish.

I’ve stayed the same so far this week too, and while initially disheartened I re read the opening post from @BIWI on here and gave myself a kick and am back fighting fit!

we’ve even just been to Zizzi for lunch and I chose the sea bass over any pizza or pasta!

and dh has booked us into local little Italian for Valentine’s Day (our wedding anniversary is a couple of days after too) and their choices are actually looking fab for low carb options - so much so I’m spoiled for choice?

That menu looks lovely @QforCucumber, I'd be spoilt for choice. But if you twisted my arm I'd go for the mushroom starter and the chicken and blue cheese main - yum. My LC dessert of choice when we're out is usually a brandy coffee with cream, no sugar.

Change of plan for tea tonight. We were passing the butches and he had some chicken breasts stuffed with Brie and wrapped in bacon. I'll serve them with cauli cheese and green veg doused liberally in garlic butter. Salivating at the thought of this 'diet' food.

KOKO everyone and don't forget your water just because it's the weekend!

@StuntNun that would be very kind of you. I will Ask the nurse for all the blood measurements on Wednesday. Thank you

Haven't read back yet but just wanted to say I, too, have a coffee with amaretto/baileys/brandy/rum (ONE of these, NOT all together ) as pudding on the rare occasion that I go out to eat. No added sugar/sweetener, of course!

It really helps to avoid any feeling of deprivation as you don't have to sit there watching everyone else have something sweet at the end of the meal. I find it works very well to round things off without too much harm done!

I made the cauliflower and coconut soup. Added lime juice and fish sauce because I love strong flavours. It’s so good.

planning a Rohan josh tonight, can I use curry paste?

The coconut cream arrived today so I'm preparing to make the cauliflower soup. Still quite under the weather so it feels like comforting soup will be good this week. Now I just need to find the chicken stock in the freezer, I never label it because I always expect I'll recognise it and then play Russian roulette - is this tub chicken stock, ham stock, beef stock, or chicken and lemon/tarragon.

@Baystard That’s me with all my batch cooking! I NEVER learn, either! Sorry to hear you’re still not feeling right. Soup will help, I’m sure.

I’m going to try that soup recipe when I next have raw cauliflower, it sounds great.

@AllTheBlackCoffee I love chicken breast like that! DH used to make it for me (well, very similar - stuffed with mascarpone, garlic and herbs, wrapped in prosciutto) so it’s a favourite nostalgic recipe. Might ask him to make that again for our anniversary next month.

@QforCucumber Well done on swerving the pasta/pizza.

@NotDonna Here’s how I do it: Firstly get the best pork you can reasonably afford (it’s a meat where quality does make a huge difference to flavour/texture). I’d much rather have less of a good piece of pork. Secondly, start off on medium/high and turn the chop on its side pushing it right down from end to end to make contact with the pan (renders down the fat a bit and browns it nicely), then brown for a couple of minutes either side of the chop, then turn down to medium heat and cook another 6-10 minutes (depending on how thick the chop is), turning once halfway through, then turn down to low and cook another 2-4 minutes (again depending on how thick the chop is), turning once halfway through. Leave to rest on a warmed plate, covered, for 5 min.

You can also cook it in the oven. I usually render down the fat and brown for two minutes either side as above then cook covered (I use a cast iron shallow casserole pan) for 15-20 minutes at 160 fan depending on how thick the chop is. Then remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 min. It will continue cooking in the very hot cast iron pan. It’s never dry/tough.

If you want a little visual help I really rate Stephane’s French Cooking Academy on YouTube - he’s got some great pork chop recipes with step-by-step instructions on video. Easy to adapt for LC cooking.

I fancy chops now!