Jan '23 Low Carb Bootcamp: we come to the end of the first half!

[BIWI]

Morning campers

Here's the spreadsheet

So this week marks the end of the first half - doesn't time fly when you're having fun?!

Remember that this week is still renowned as a tricky one in terms of weight loss, so if things have slowed down or stopped (or even reversed) for you, don't panic. Just KOKO - remembering the water, fat and veg in particular.

Re the statins @MotherBuckets, I'm not a medic - so if your GP has advised them, it would be irresponsible of me to warn against them (especially with your family history). But as you say, it will be interesting to see what happens as a result of low carbing (although it will be difficult to attribute any improvement to either diet or medication, I suppose). And hopefully your results will be good @Jenasaurus

@JanieRead - apart from the noodles! - why don't you list out for me your menus over the last few days, and let's see if there's something we can spot that might help you

There will be two more pints of water and a couple of decaff coffees in there somewhere as well.

Does anyone have a lc chicken casserole recipe? I'm craving it. Once I get over the pain of my wisdom tooth extraction today 😭

Go and check out the Bootcamp recipes @MrsTaytodarling - there are several chicken recipes there that might suit or inspire you. Sorry about the tooth!

Well done on all the losses and just for sticking to the rules. I fell off the wagon at the weekend and put most of the weight back on, which precipitated another moment of weakness yesterday. I tell myself it's because I'm in pain, my period has gone on for 12 days now and I'm not getting a lot of sleep but I hate excuses and just need to sort myself out. Back on the wagon today and I might have a chance to arrange a doctor's appointment tomorrow which is usually difficult because of work. Onwards and downwards.

@LostaraYil don't despair, you won't have put the actual weight back on from one weekend, it'll mainly be water and will come back off once you get back to it, the main thing is to climb back on and keep going.

@SpottyBumPony I think that to have been really hungry and eaten too much nuts, fruit, cream etc (and not biscuits, crisps, icecream and sugary ultra processed crap) is actually a huge achievement.

Evening!

Well done to all the losers and koko for the not losers!

I lost 1lb this week, which is better than nothing! Haven't had the best 2 days, lots of stress etc but I'm having shoogled sprouts for tea and have prepared SLCR with chicken and mayo for work tomorrow.

One positive is that I have drank my water!

I might have a mosey at the recipe threads for some inspiration as I'm not feeling salads in this windy weather!

Oldandtired66 I love Savoy cabbage. 2 ways I do it:

1. in casserole dish on hob. Fry lardons/bacon in butter. Add finely shredded savoy. Stir. Add half a cup water. Turn to slow simmer with lid on until cooked.
2. same casserole dish on hob. Sauté shallots in butter then add sliced cabbage. Add mixed herbs. Add Tim of chopped tomatoes or 2 depending how big the cabbage. Put lid on. Simmer until soft. Serve with gammon and lots of grated cheese. Delish.

B. Smoked salmon omelette
L cauliflower and coconut soup with added chicken. FFGY
D. Salmon with mayo and salad with home made vinaigrette. Slice of Chaourse cheese.

I made the thai cauliflower soup and added spinach. Apologies to op but can't find who posted the recipe. It was beautiful

Possibly a bit short on water, but plenty of black coffee. Another long drive.

B: hotel full English (the low carb bits)
L: olives (plus a few other tiny bits like peppers & dried tomato) and rollitos
Walnuts as a snack
D: fajita style chicken, shallots, red pepper, courgette, mushrooms with sour cream and grated cheddar. Really good.

Oh lovely bootcampers, burlesque party time this week, to celebrate the groups first year together. Only joined them a few weeks ago but am still made very welcome to join.

Today I dug out the corset I made back in the tango years. Laces replaced and I really think it's going to have an outing. The lacing makes corsets very forgiving of a few extra inches.

The old high waisted leather look leggings on the bottom half. NSV to the max. What's not to like? The old black feather boa which sheds like crazy, just hoping there are a few feathers left for the photos. Sigh.

I've never enjoyed having my photo taken. Am hoping that learning burlesque might help a bit with the posing.

@BIWI please may I ask your advice from your years of leading bootcampers?

This is all under the umbrella of disheartened and confused as no weight loss when previously HFLC always worked reliably for me...

I know we don't need to do macros but I'm super stumped as to why my weight isn't shifting and I really want to check mine for a two or three days to see if I'm missing something - or what do you think?

Maybe my body is still adjusting to having given up caffeine?

I had 4-5 a day (proper beans) up until boot camp, and 300ml double cream each day. I thought stopping the cream would easily change the scale.

I now have decaf beans (still organic) and two cups of bullet proof before lunch.

Perhaps I need to take measurements and give it another month and give up on weighing for now? Perhaps I was more inflamed inside than I was admitting... could be die off?

Food wise, OMAD and carnivore as the vegetables seem to fight back.

Ah, nearly rambling, didn't want to miss anything out. Any thoughts appreciated, I think there's a few of us similarly confused.

Glad to be here, want to listen and change it up where needed. Thank you

@BIWI Thanks for posting that extract about sweeteners and insulin. I was very dubious when I saw you first mention that (and, I guess, strongly motivated to not look into it further), but that makes alot of sense - tasting sweetness "primes" the body to be ready with a big insulin response to any carbs, which, there are always some carbs in food.

@TigerYiger if you want to track your calories and macros on My Fitness Pal or similar for three days then I'll happily take a look for you. Bootcamp is designed to work without needing to track calories or macros but it can be a useful way of working out what's going on. As a diet coach, my experience is that there are several factors that typically stall weight loss, over and above simply eating too many carbs. These are: not eating enough calories, not eating enough fat, not drinking enough water, drinking your calories (i.e. bulletproof coffees or drinking cream from the tub) and eating dairy too many times per day. You would be amazed how many people get themselves out of a stall by increasing their calorie or fat intake. Also some people don't reduce their portion sizes when they lose weight because they're used to eating a certain amount, for example someone might have needed three sausages in a meal but now they've lost weight they actually only need two to feel full but they're used to having three so they keep eating that.

Good morning everyone! 🌸🌼🏵

Feeling good this morning - always helps when there's some actual sunlight rather than an overcast sky!

@TigerYiger To add to what @StuntNun (the expert!) said above, I do know that quite a few people have found that it can take a month or more for the body to adjust its workings after marked changes to diet. I think your idea to take measurements and stop weighing for a month is a good one - that way you can take your focus off that (which always helps, for me at least) and start to live the lifestyle wholly for itself. Have you got a favourite clothing item that doesn't fit? There was a woman on BC a few years ago who used to take progress photos wearing the denim shorts she wanted to fit back into - it was amazing to see the transformation in her body over the weeks/months. I think that works even better than measuring, as it's evidence you can see with your own eyes.

@TigerYiger Well, firstly, I do have to point out that you lost 4lbs in the first week. (You haven't entered anything for subsequent ones). And we're now in week 4 which, along with week 3, is infamous for little or no weight loss.

But also:

now have decaf beans (still organic) and two cups of bullet proof before lunch.

We really don't recommend using bulletproof coffee on Bootcamp - as @StuntNun has said. It's empty calories. Why not proper food?

And:

Food wise, OMAD and carnivore as the vegetables seem to fight back.

This isn't Bootcamp! Why only OMAD? This WOE isn't about calorie restriction.

And what do you mean about the vegetables?! Bootcamp isn't a carnivorous diet - rule 4 states that the majority of your carbs should be coming from vegetables and salad (and some fruit).

It sounds to me as if your diet has become too low in calories and probably also too low in fat - overall.

However, I also have two other questions, first, why have you given up caffeine? It's not something we generally ask of Bootcampers.

And second, why this:

Perhaps I was more inflamed inside than I was admitting... could be die off?

Die-off is associated with anti-candida diets - is this what you're referencing? If you're trying to deal with candida, a low carb diet isn't always one that works, apparently. See here

@FinallyHere Your outfit sounds perfect. Pose for those photos with confidence!
I didn't have a good sleep last night so I'm about to have a couple of hours nap before getting up and blitzing the house. Luckily my youngest is in school today despite the teacher strikes.

L:bacon and egg salad with lots of mayo
D:bolognese courgetti and parmesan.

I'll probably snack on some cheese and a few brazil nuts to up the fats a bit.
Have a good day everyone.

@FinallyHere your outfit sounds fab! Enjoy, and do your best posing!

I think I'm now at the stage that I'm settled into a groove with this WOE!
Sleeping better, and no cravings.

B - FFGY
L - left over chicken shawarma from yesterday with garlic yoghurt and salad
D - steak with celeriac dauphinoise and buttered cabbage with mushrooms

Just need to keep going with the water. Still feels like an effort but I'm trying...

Tried the home made Greek yogurt this afternoon, huge success and very excited - it was significantly easier than I'd expected and a bit thicker/creamier than shop bought (which makes me believe it's probably even lower carb as ive strained off more of the whey). I used extra creamy Jersey milk, but I'll try it with ordinary next time to see if there's a difference in taste or texture.

Currently reading Michael Mosleys Fast800Keto book, out of nosiness rather than looking for a diet plan. It's a bit predictable and a lot isn't new but what I have taken from it is his opinion that government recommended protein intakes are insufficient and that for women it should be double (80-90g rather than 45g).

L - 3 eggs in buttery veg omelette, FFGY
D - beef burger, cheese, salad

Buttermint tea and 90% chocolate planned for supper.

@FinallyHere your outfit sounds fabulous!

Hello all. I have been following this thread religiously every day. I need help.

I have attempted to make a low carb chilli. I used 20% fat beef mince (500g) shallots, red & green pepper, button mushrooms, beef stock (300ml) and a canned of chopped tomatoes. I added garlic and tomato puree. Now this is where I have gone wrong. I misread the recipe and I have put a TABLESPOON of chilli powder, cumin, paprika and coriander in. I think I was only meant to put a teaspoon. I have sour cream and guacamole and cheddar cheese to add. Will this be enough?!!! I would hate to think I had made it inedible if I have used too much of the spices.

It really depends on the strength of the chilli powder. Have you tasted it? You could try adding a square of high cocoa content chocolate.

I have an American chilli recipe that says a tablespoon of chilli powder. I can only assume that their chilli powder is really mild as the chilli powder that I buy from the local Indian shop is so strong that I put a scant teaspoon into a large quantity and it still blows your mouth off!

Add another can of chopped tomato (or two) and make it into a chilli soup? You basically want to dilute the chilli.

Have you tasted it? It might be alright (But we do like a bit of heat). You could always serve it up anyway and cut with sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo.

Oh I somehow managed to miss that you mentioned all those extras you’ll be serving with it! I think you might be okay.

You don’t have to worry about the extra quantities of cumin, paprika and coriander. They’re not that strong. The chilli is the only one that will matter and if it isn’t very hot then you might still be fine.

Whatever you do don’t throw it out! It can be salvaged somehow.

@RedDiamond taste it before you do anything. I have recipes (not for chilli) that have similar quantities of those spices per 500g of meat. Also remember that even if it is spicy the sour cream, guacamole and cheese will make it feel a bit gentler.

Thank you all! I sniffed it and it made my nose hurt!- I will be brave and try it. It was an American recipe.

N.B I have tried it! It is not too bad! I think with sour cream I will get away with it. My tongue is still tingling 5 mins later.