Jan 24 Dry Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 2

[BIWI]

Morning all

I've started a new thread as the first one was taking so long to load (and also because I kept forgetting to change my Christmas name each time I posted!)

Here's the spreadsheet

@TheSoundofMusic23 you are definitely on it! I've put in your 8lb loss, as I can't see why that wouldn't have been a real loss, but feel free to change if you need to.

Great to hear that things are going well for you @MetabolicallyComplicated - especially re the bleeding.

I am with you 100% on this.

I was reading this thread at 3am as sleep eluded me... I find I can fall asleep OK, but if I wake up (last night it was only 15minutes after I'd fallen asleep!!) then my mind is whirring, no amount of relaxation tricks work, and the only thing is to get up, go to another bedroom with a mug of peppermint tea and a book. tbh I think it was coffee too late in the afternoon that was the problem yesterday.

I think in general we don't use keto sticks on bootcamp. As @prettybird says drinking all the water means our pee should be pretty dilute, plus this is a healthy low carb diet not a keto diet. I know from my long-ago pre bootcamp days that by eating bacon and eggs, coffee with butter and cream, fat bombs etc (and very little water) I can get a high reading. But in the long term it feels better for me to eat a huge variety of brightly coloured veg and ignore any carb counting or signs of ketosis.

Food today:
B: 8/16
L - left over chicken and 7 veg (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, green beans smothered in butter; plus sauteed leeks, red pepper, kale)
D - out at local Nepalese restaurant. Will be able to make good choices.

@NotDonna Great!
this is the book- not all low carb but some brilliant ideas!

I've just made the nicest lunch. Soften 2 sticks celery and 4 mushrooms in butter. Add Chicken oxo cube, 3 cubes frozen spinach, 30g cream cheese and water. Simmer for a bit then blend. Its lovely on its own but I had it with leftover meatballs from last night. They had beef red onion, courgette and green pepper in them. Yum

Right you enjoy inspired me to cook the halloumk and broccoli dish. It's in the oven as we speak! I had most of ingredients to hand alright I've left out the chili as I didn't have any.

Really looking forward to it.

@mimosa1 - for future occasions, try keeping some chillies in the freezer so you always have some to hand. They're a wee bit leathery as you try to slice them (I tend to slit them lengthways and then scrape out the seeds before slicing them finely) but they taste the same.

They give the dish a nice kick.

Got that funny 'hungry but no appetite' feeling today. Forced down half an omelette at lunch because I had a three hour teams meeting this aft and needed to eat beforehand and have got beef stroganoff (my version of!) in the slow cooker for tea. I've used the rest of the Xmas beef which I got out of the freezer and there's tonnes of it. Just hoping DH and DS are hungry

I know ketostix are a waste of money but I do have to confess to using them from time to time, usually when I'm trying to get back into ketosis after a wagon plummet time off plan or if I've not lost and I need some mental reassurance that something is happening. You absolutely don't need them though, I'm just a sucker for a gimmick.

Feeling hungry for the first time in ages this evening as I had a big breakfast so wasn't hungry at lunchtime. Fajitas for tea tonight. I'd usually have lettuce wraps but we haven't got enough so I'm just going to have some extra veg on the side

Tell me more about this Mancunian plant shop please @Metabolicallycomplicated. We've just finished a renovation project and are looking for the finishing touches

Woohoo a few more meal ideas to borrow and the house plant idea is fantastic, I'm taking that too. I tie the idea of treats with food or drink so I'm always after ideas to break that.

Today was a hard work day - I knew it would be and so I made myself promise not to have a 'sod it' moment at lunch. And I didn't! I'm so proud, I normally would have stropped off to Greggs and bought 2-3 carby monstrosities as a reward. But the craving for that kind of dopamine hit us finally, finally receding.

It’s called Nice Things and it’s in the northern quarter, it is my favourite place in the world and they have some lovely rarer stuff, all beautifully cared for.

My appetite has massively dropped off this. I find I’m forcing myself to eat, I’ve only just eaten since around this time yesterday so a 24hr fast which is the longest I’ve ever done!

Couldnt be bothered to cook after a long day so I’ve had a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s plain without the bun and a full fat Greek yogurt pot. Simple and delicious.

I have found the very rarest of birds…. A GP who actively supports ‘carb limiting diet’!!!!!

I had an appointment today to get referred for more bloods and to discuss the whole sorry saga of my murderous vagina thus far (and to discuss my hospital discharge notes etc) and she asked me about my general health and then the question every fat person dreads which is ‘and what are you eating at the moment?’ So I decided to be honest and I said ‘well I’ve done a lot of reading and given I need to reduce unopposed oestrogen, I’ve adopted a low carb diet to get my insulin resistance under control because it can help get your other hormones in balance’ And SHE said ‘oh excellent! You’re right there’s a lot of great evidence a low carb diet can help with PCOS and insulin resistance, just make sure you’re eating plenty of green veg and fat’. I nearly fell off my chair!!!

We got chatting because I said how surprised I was to meet a GP who supported it and she said there’s a very rapidly growing number of GP’s actively encouraging reducing carbs. She said she doesn’t call it a ‘low carb diet’ when talking to patients because that makes people think of Atkins and eating steak for breakfast, and also the word ‘diet’ makes it sound temporary. So she calls it ‘limited carb eating’ and is really pleased whenever she meets patients giving it a go. Unfortunately she’s a locum so I’m not sure I’ll meet her again but it’s restored some of my faith!

@Metabolicallycomplicated that is great! I have long covid and I have a physio (NHS) who encourages all LC patients to go low carb. He started off by saying cut bread/pasta etc etc but last time I saw him I told him the extent of my carb cutting and he was delighted, turns out that is really what he wanted

Mad isn’t it. It never ceases to amaze me that the hungry feeling as we know it is totally driven by hormones and not actual, physical hunger.

If it helps, I have an alarm set on my phone for 1pm and 6pm which reminds me to cook something

That’s so interesting to suggest it for long covid - is that a reducing inflammation thing?

I'm not sure I'll ever get to a point where I need to be reminded to eat. Its the first thing my brain suggests when I'm not mentally or physically occupied. I have a greedy brain.

Yeah but if we were cave women you’d probably out-survive the rest of us because your brain is like the cerebral equivalent of a doomsday prepper

@venusandmars that is how my sleep issue presents itself, whatever time I wake is normally me for the day - thankfully DH bought me one of those book light thingies which means I can read without disturbing him!

@Metabolicallycomplicated I love that shop and NQ in general but I'm death to all things green so just look when I'm there. We're about 1/2 hour away from the city on a good day and my office is there too so try to make time for a mooch every now and then (and Lust, Luck, Liquor & Burn do fabulous pork scratchings for an LC snack watching the world go by!!!).

Not enough water yesterday so tried to make up for it today - the scales are holding fast for me at the moment but don't want to backslide, I feel like my insides are swimming. Omelette for breakfast with mushrooms, spinach and cheese and then the same beef brisket pie as last night, I'm genuinely stuffed.

Out for a gig on Saturday so have volunteered for driving duties so avoid being tempted, plus we're in the gods at the arena so definitely don't want to negotiate those steps after any alcohol!!! Dinner is Pizza Express first and they've changed their menu recently so need to have a good look in advance.

I keep forgetting to ask him for details but the gist of it seems to be that it is exhausting for your body to process carbs. He's also keen on fasting, but not recommending that for LC-ers

@Metabolicallycomplicated that's one way to look at it😋

As a PP said not posted much as am using my limited time to keep up with the thread. I’m really enjoying reading all the positivity about this WOE. My NSV is more energy and mental focus than I’ve had for ages. My lovely colleague told me I was Looking good today. What’s changed after such a short time is I have my mojo back after a very challenging 2023 where I ate my emotions. Still on my commute after train problems but just taking it in my stride and planning to make the of the rest of the evening.

A friend of mine had awful LC and was eventually diagnosed with Coeliac disease brought on by COVID. It doesn’t surprise me that a LowCarb diet would help LC and more people need to be tested for Covid induced autoimmune conditions. Also nearly had LC abbreviation confusion while writing this!

I'm struggling with feeling really hungry at the moment. I realise this probably means I'm not in ketosis, but I'm not sure why that would be, as I don't think I've strayed from the WOE this week.

B: a spoon of Greek yogurt. Usually I don't eat breakfast but I needed to today. A coffee with cream
L: tuna mayo, salad, a chunk of cheese.
Snack: ham.
D: lamb kebabs, avocado, broccoli, fried tomatoes and mushrooms.

I'm now babysitting at my daughter's house, looking for something to snack on! Not much low carb food here 😢 so might have to be olives, which I don't even like much.

On the positive side, I am managing to drink all the water, mostly as fruit teas, which I've only recently tried.

Ha ha yes sorry - two LCs. That is very interesting. So much not known about it, I don't think I have got to the bottom of what my long covid is about, but I don't have the money to spend on private functional doctors and all the testing that they can do.

Well , I know I’m drinking more than enough water as my sodastream gas canister is nearly empty
My skin is looking better too , has anyone else noticed their skin is improving ?