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.

@LittleMy77 Happy Birthday🎉Hope you're having a lovely day.
@TangledWebOfDeception Your last couple of posts really resonated with me..especially the part about having to approach this in the same way as an alcoholic has to approach giving up drinking. That is like how I am with sugar, chocolate in particular. I've tried so many times but I can't have it in moderation. It sounds crazy but there have been times when I've had a mars bar, for example, and that first bite feels like I've been injected with something. It's like an immediate 'high' as if my brain has had an instant dopamine hit and then I need more and more to keep the high going. I'm actually quite similar with alcohol. It's very 'all or nothing', and I'm wondering if there's a link because since starting this WoE I haven't been craving a drink like I normally would.
I love your posts btw. They're very uplifting😊.
@BIWI Thanks for the article link. I'll have to re-read it as there's a lot to take in. That Ancel Keys has a lot to answer for.

He does - although his work on cholesterol was actually very good. It's just where he went next that was the issue.

Just a thought for those - like me too - that cannot moderate carbs anymore (it's a long-term slow decline) there's a couple of podcasts I follow that maybe of interest - food junkies on yt - quite American but Molly does a good job, and Fork in the Road on Clubhouse oh and the Keto Kamp one on Spotify If anyone knows of any others I'd be very interested.

I've had a mad week and stayed the same but a happy one too as I've a job lot of keto sticks for my blood monitor to play with and I'm nerding out on what does and doesn't keep me in ketosis (aka fat burning).

I've been low carb for many years but have struggled after a few days (literally) of going bonkers on the sweet stuff over Christmas to get into nutritional ketosis - you know when you feel energised and nourished. It's definitely what the carb abstinence crew warn of - that the symptoms and consequences of a carb blow out gets progressively worse and harder to recover from.

The keto blood sticks encourage me to keep going as even a cup of tea with a splash of full milk knocks me out. So like now, after a walk I've gone from 0.3 to 1.0 (aiming for 2.0) I'm not going to jeopardise it, fruit tea it is.

Bit of a bugger but tbh - like many here I'm sure - I have had a lifetime's of sugar and flour already so I'm not actually missing out!!

Stress is also a devil for blocking ketosis really surprisingly so, so for anyone else whose struggles to drop weight it's a big hidden factor perhaps, that and sleep.

Just need to tame the teenagers and I'll be back in the summer body in no time

Good luck tomorrow everyone x

We went to a lovely cafe today with friends, the kids had cake and the other adults all had cream tea. I had a pot of peppermint tea and wasn't tempted to ask for a bite of hubby's scone.

I spent a small fortune in the farm shop, the pork scratchings are delicious a world away from the supermarket packets. I'm sure the cheese will be lovely but I'm very excited about this gorgeous clotted cream. I'm going to have it will strawberries this evening. It will be my first fruit of BC

@AlhambraQueen - sorry to hear about your husband but diabetes is totally reversible with this WOE. I've managed to reverse pre-diabetes twice ☺️ with BC (my learning point is that even a moderately low carb diet isn't sufficient for me to keep it reversed!). I'm also fairly certain I was full blown diabetic the first time, as I'd already done 6 weeks of BC when I was tested.

@TangledWebOfDeception - that is a marvellous post and so totally true, I need to get better at thinking long term about how I'll feel after eating the crap that I want. I'm not one of the lucky bootcampers who lose their desire for anything sweet in time. I suspect I will always be a complete sugar monster at heart!

And thanks all for the lovely congratulations 🥰 we've had a lovely night away for our anniversary. Balancing low carb and also the no alcohol etc part of pregnancy basically left me with a starter option of a bowl of nuts from the nibbles section, and crispy skin on salmon with the baby potatoes switched out for extra buttery winter veg as the only main but they were both absolutely delicious! The only sugar free soft drinks they could offer me were diet coke or tonic (and I HATE tonic, so much so that i spent years thinking I hated gin when it was actually the tonic I didn't like!) so I did treat myself to a half pint of diet coke.

Good luck all for the weigh in tomorrow!

@TigerYiger I've also got a blood keto meter (is that what it's called??) from a past attempt at low carbing. They're addictive aren't they. I try not to test too much coz the sticks are stupid expensive but I agree, they are great to check if something you haven't ate before is kosher or not. I find that my blood ketones peak in the afternoon at around 1.2-1.8 and are lowest in the morning and evening. And they tend to go as high as 3.5 after a night's drinking but I'm not sure of the scientific explanation behind that🤔
@SpottyBumPony Enjoy your clotted cream. Sounds delicious. And power to you for resisting the scones!!

Chicken with herbs and garlic this evening with tomatoes, peppers and courgettes.
Followed by strawberries, bananas with cream.
Whole family enjoyed this and I just cooked up some pasta for them.
Finding it easier to think of dinners.

Thanks @BIWI I will take a look at those links too. There is no history of hypercholesterolemia in my family and I know for sure I don't want to go on statins. I will know more once I've seen the nurse but from what the GP receptionist said the readings are only slightly higher than they'd like.

This BC I've discovered FFGY. Delicious with a couple of chopped overripe plum. I'm going to need to learn to make it before I bankrupt us

@TigerYiger do you find fruit teas don't increase your insulin? I've always avoided fruit tea during my fasting periods (in case the slightly sweet taste had an effect) but wondered if it was strictly necessary.

That clotted cream looks lovely @SpottyBumPony.

@TangledWebOfDeception your post about " I am not the sort of person who does x " really resonated w me. Thank you.

@TigerYiger is it progressively Lee difficult to get into nutritional ketosis bc of age or is it length of time in this woe? I always thought that being fat adapted meant you had metabolic flexibility and would be able to switch from glucose to fat as your energy source more easily, but would love ti understand a bit more about what you're tallying about as I'm very early in learning about the science.

BIWI that looks v interesting about cholesterol, I had a quick read but will have to investigate further. I have just gone back on statins because my cholesterol was 9, i am at least 3 stone overweight and my dad had a stroke at 39, quadruple bypass in his mid 40s then died of heart failure at 57. They deffo put the frighteners on me! Will be interesting to see what happens after a few more weeks of low carbing...

Morning Ladies

@BIWI there is an error message showing on the spreadsheet where I've entered my weight. I'm not sure if I have done something wrong, are you able to correct it please ? Also the entry in line above (row 28) is a duplicate entry. Many thanks

Morning all! I've put on weight (this is what I'm hoping for due to being pregnant) but Google now tells me I've put on almost 3 times the maximum amount of weight I should have gained by this stage of pregnancy. In my last one I lost weight every week until 25+ weeks. You really can't win in this life can you?? 😁 I'm slowly getting a little less nauseous, or perhaps I am managing it better, and able to eat more vegetables. The FLGV have been a bit of a pipedream in this pregnancy up until now!

Hi all. Went out for dinner at a friends and drank wine and ate noodles as that's what she provided, it was a very last minute invite. So onwards and upwards this week with gallons of water to try and sort out my permanently grumbling tummy. Definitely not feeling the benefits so far this BC although I haven't put weight on I've lost a measly 2lbs and that's with dry January (until Saturday night!) as well.

Good Morning all, just checking in to see if there is a week 4 thread yet, couldn't find one :)

Hope everyone is doing well, I have been a little poorly so need to catch up on reading the posts on this thread. Still sticking to the plan even though and lost a pound this week (well a couple of ounces less than a pound but almost a pound :) ). I am pleased with this as I have lost a total of 33% of my weight since starting in July 22, so the small weekly losses all add up and hopefully will be helpful in not having too much excess skin as my body will be able to cope with the small losses each week! (I only carry weight on my stomach and boobs now which is hanging on for dear life)

@Janieread dont be hard on yourself 2 pounds is almost a bag of sugar, its still a loss and in some ways losing it slowly is easier on your body. x

@Campingisfun I'm on it now ...

@MotherBuckets , I agree with @BIWI on the cholesterol front. My own cholesterol was 9 in July and I am on the waiting list for the Lipid Clinic to test to see if its genetic, but I asked to be allowed to try diet and not have statins or meds for that or my diabetes. I managed to get it down to 7, and am having another blood test this week to hopefully see it go even lower, also got my diabetes into remission by Low Carb diet alone and no medication, so this diet seems to be working miracles. The fat I eat doesn't appear on my body, whereas the carbs zoomed straight to my stomach and internal organs after being converted into glucose.

125lbs today which feels just after a good week and seeing 125's on the scales for my last 4 daily weighs but took three times on the scales to see today absurdly.

Away today, just had FFGY with blackberries and a spoonful of hm low carb granola on the go. I've packed a salad with leftover roast pork and mustard mayo and will make good choices tonight!

My roast pork yesterday was really good. Had it with swede mash, broccoli and a few higher carb elements: didn't worry about the contents of the gravy or the roast parsnip and carrot on the basis I'd successfully made chocolate muffins with DS and not eaten any!

@Campingisfun

Hamsters all fed and given and extra ration of cucumber, think that's all sorted for you now @Campingisfun

Thank you for catching it, much appreciated. If you spot anything else, do please let me know.

Another pound off so a smidgeon under half a stone. Very happy with that. Hoping to break through the 97kg barrier this week. Can't believe I haven't had a piece of toast in 3 weeks. Might treat myself for my birthday in March. Going to try a gentle intro into BC lite this week. Introduce some of the higher carb veg like carrots, possibly a satsuma or two. Off to stock up on more veg and nice cheese as tesco let me down this week.

I have stayed flat this week at 165 pounds, but I am definitely staying positive as I am 7 pounds down since I started on 9 Jan.

I did go to an event on Saturday and had a Diet Coke for the first time in weeks, I hope it doesn’t inhibit loss so won’t be getting into the Diet Coke habit!

Week 4 chat thread

Thank you @FinallyHere 😀

Watch Fat Fiction on YouTube. It’s a real eye opener.