Jan '24 Dry Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 3

[BIWI]

Morning all.

So I've put the Big Stick down, and let's start this week afresh.

Here's the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Remember, this is only a four week challenge, and we're now half-way through. For the next two weeks, if you want, you can do Bootcamp Light (which simply means that you can add in some fruit (berries mainly), and some nuts and seeds. In moderation only, please.

But NO ALCOHOL!.

Whether you started on 1 or 2 January, we've now completed a whole fortnight without booze. Hopefully you should be feeling the benefits of this beyond just it helping with weight loss. Having moaned about not sleeping better, which is supposed to be one of the key benefits, last night I did sleep very well (having had the worst night's sleep the night before!), so hopefully it's all kicking in now.

I have done better with water today, I work Mon-Thur and find boot camp far easier in the office than at home Fri-Sun. I'm in a routine of filling my water bottle several times a day there and it's always in front of me, at home or out and about I tend to forget. I find it much easier to make a healthy packed lunch and then that's all I can eat, at home there are too many temptations (the rest of the house are carb-eaters). So lots of water and herbal tea today, a tuna mayo salad for lunch (no breakfast) and will cook up something when I get back from yoga class later.

Evening all. I forgot to weigh this morning but I'm not expecting it to be good news. I've done quite a few bootcamps now but am really struggling to commit this time.... 95% of my meals have been BC compliant, but my snacks are another matter entirely!! My HbA1c came back just before Christmas as one point below pre-diabetic and instead of that motivating me into improving it, it seems to have given me a case of the fuckits instead.... the tiredness due to being up breastfeeding every couple of hours through the night isn't helping much either! I know what I need to do is pre-prepare low carb snacks and stock up on herbal teas, it's just getting myself motivated enough to do it 😜apologies for the pity party! Today has been entirely BC compliant so far, so I'm hoping to finish the day strong and not have an evening snack attack!

Hi all. Missed this entirely but since I'm LC and DJ I thought I'd muscle my way in. No spreadsheet because I don't find it wildly motivating.

Since January 1st I've lost 8 lbs and MUCH more importantly once again lost all IBS symptoms. Why why why do I go back to high carbs when I know it does that?

Evening all, we’ll done everyone on the losses/ NSV’s it’s so encouraging to read everyone doing so well.

Im staying on boot camp proper for the full 4 weeks and don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.

I forgot to take lunch with me to the office today,
so dropped into a Tesco express and EVERY SINGLE SALAD in the meal deal section had a carb in it. Pasta, quinoa, couscous etc etc. so I ended up with a green vegetable medley from the prepped veg section, an avocado and a pot of mozzarella and sun dried tomatoes from the anti pasta bit an odd but quite nice lunch actually!

chicken and broccoli pesto bake again tonight.

Ive over done it today by travelling in to the city centre office which is a 2 hour commute. I need to remember im not well and I can’t just power through. Tonight I’m absolutely bone deep exhausted.

In other news, I had my bloods taken on Friday (so after almost 2 weeks on low carb) and for the first time since October, my iron levels have INCREASED naturally with no change in my treatment. The only change has been my diet. Because they’ve finally seen an increase and not a decrease or a stabilising, I’m now no longer considered scary anaemic and I’m just your regular garden variety anaemic. HUZZAH! All other blood counts came back in normal ranges including liver function and lipid profile so I’m certifiably healthier than I’ve been in about 3 months.

That's very, VERY good to hear!

Started the day with a 7am step class , still dark , but at least I didn’t have to scrape the car
popped into Costa for a coffee ( black ) and a catch up afterwards
veg ( shallot , courgette and cauliflower ) for lunch , then leftover roast chicken with leek , mushrooms and cauli cheese on the side
lots of water , lots !

It’s green shoots that I’m turning a corner and that’s a huge deal. The endometrial hyperplasia doesn’t cause any symptoms other than the bleeding, it’s the anemia that makes me feel so bloody rotten so I feel like if I can just get the anaemia under control, I can cope with the rest of it and hopefully avoid a hysterectomy (biopsy results and pending cancer diagnosis aside of course).

Im convinced the amount of green veggies and meat I eat on this WOE had been the game changer.

2lb off for me.

Has anyone else’s skin gone haywire? I’ve got itchy, flaky, red skin/spots on my cheeks and forehead. I look awful. I hope it’ll clear up quickly. I am drinking plenty of water and eating fat.

@Metabolicallycomplicated what wonderful news.

@CharlieHadAPigeon it could be the cold weather? It sometimes seems to affect my skin that way irrespective of food.

@pinknsparkly I know exactly what you mean about the fuckits but pleas stay and keep posting! I'm curious to test my hbac1 though not entirely sure how to go about it as I don't need bloods taken at the moment.

@MrsTerryPratchett welcome!

Not a good day food wise for me. A client make a big fuss of taking me about to a well reviewed restaurant that turned out only serves only pasta and pizza. I had a pizza and it was not nice at all. If I'm going to (mindfully) eat carbs, I want to bloody enjoy them! Got back on the wagon for dinner which is a victory of sorts. In the past I'd have written the day off entirely.

Wow! Almost a stone @CharlieHadAPigeon - that's amazing

I'm sure your skin will sort itself out soon. There are a lot of changes going on in your body right now, but after this couple of weeks, you should have transitioned from carb-burning to fat-burning, and your hormones should be better balanced, so hopefully all the skin issues will settle down as well.

@mimosa1 I don’t think it’s down to cold - not actually very cold where I am, and I’ve not spent much time outdoors.

@BIWI yes, might well be hormones being affected by change in food. I hope they settle down soon, I look scary.

Evening everyone, after my failure Thursday I also had a horrific weekend where I think I ate every carb in sight and put on 4lb. I have started again today and done some planning with meals so I should be OK now. It was definitely a case of stress eating even though I know it doesn't benefit me in the long run.

@Leedsmum27 glad to read that you recognise the positives, and remember that weight loss is not always linear - some people loose lots in one week, none in the next, others have a slow and steady drop.

From what you have posted I don't think you are having too many vegetables - have a look at what some others are eating. Week 2 is too soon to really start adjusting what you're eating in the hope of different results.

Why don't you stick with what you're doing for another week, post a few more daily menus and @BIWI and others can give you some help. Often eating more fat makes the difference. And remembering to drink all the water.

Don't feel despondent, stick with us.

Evening campers
i really need to start having early night ms and not be looking at my phone this late!

151.4lbs this morning so that’s 2.6lbs this week and 6.4lbs so far on this bootcamp. I’m staying on strict as I’ve another 10lbs to go. Lovely sunny crispy frosty morning so had a lovely dog walk prior to eating.

Brunch - small lamb steak, broccoli & half hour later a 2 egg omelette
Dinner - Bolognese (with celery & carrots added) on a bed of buttery sliced cabbage & leeks
all the water

Evening all.

Unfortunately, I'm beating you for staying up too late @NotDonna
But I wanted to catch up with the thread before I turn in.

@Metabolicallycomplicated great news about your health.

Very much in awe of the two people who did early morning exercise classes. Most impressive 👏 💪

It sounds like most people had smaller weight losses this week, but the majority lost nonetheless. And even more are noticing benefits in other ways, which is fantastic.

I'm going to stick to strict BC, because I haven't lost that much so far and am travelling a long road.

@BIWI, no pressure, but when will the next BC be after this one finishes (assuming you don't need a break yourself, of course!)?

Good luck for wk 3 everyone

January is racing by!

Oh, and p.s.
The happy scale app isn't available on android, so I googled equivalents and downloaded one.

Will report back!

@AllTheBlackCoffee I'm in the office today for the first time this year, lovingly prepared all of my meals etc to bring with me and then rushed out of the house stressing because of the snow and left it all in the fridge so hope that you were more organised than me! There is a posh M&S food across the road but meh, I should know better by now, although if the weather carries on the way it is I won't be here long anyway.........

@Metabolicallycomplicated great news about your bloods, DD has been complaining of tiredness for weeks and finally went to the dr before Christmas and her iron was 5, supplements don't seem to be doing anything so far.

January is indeed racing by and the temperature is due to plummet (again!) overnight so plenty of hunkering down will be done

I stuck to the plan yesterday
L: Tuna mayo with salad leaves, sundried tomatoes, blue cheese and vinaigrette
D: leftover roast chicken and aubergine parmiagiana with salad
S: handful of nuts

Today I shall eat
L: leftover roast chicken with aubergine parmiagiana (cooked way too much and becoming heartily sick of it!)
D: Plan is for pork chops and braised cabbage, but there is a vomiting bug lurking in our house and I'm not enthusiastic about my chances of getting through the day unscathed. Pray for me! 😂

@RooRooCooChoo can I have your recipe for for aubergine parmigiana please? Although it sounds like I should make a half recipe to avoid eating it for a week 😉

Yes, I definitely over-catered. I don't have a recipe per se as I make the quantities up as I go along, but here's my rough guide for 4.

4 aubergines, sliced lengthways 1cm thick.
Salt them and leave as long as possible as it helps to make them taste of something.
Rinse and cover with a lot of olive oil.
I bbq my aubergines as it stops my kitchen looking the the scene of a terrible oil spill and I always burn myself, but they are more delicious if you can be bothered to fry them.
500mls of passata chucked in a pan with a peeled, halved onion and a few garlic cloves. Simmer for 20-30 mins until onion and garlic are soft. Then chuck in a big knob of butter and stir in. Fish out onion and garlic if you prefer. (This is a marcella hazan recipe for tomato sauce which I have nicked).

Then layer the cooked aubergines and tomato sauce like you would a lasagne. I sometimes put a thin smear of pesto in one layer.

Top with an indecent amount of mozzarella and grated Parmesan and chuck in a 180-ish oven for 40 mins or so until hot and crispy on top.

You're advised to leave it to sit and eat it luke warm... I never quite manage.

Then eat. Forever and ever and ever...

Have they figured out why her iron is so low?? When mine was at 7 I was threatened with a blood transfusion so 5 is really very very low.

@Metabolicallycomplicated not yet, bloods were the first thing and they flagged up iron as an issue straight away although everything else was reasonably normal. DD has another blood test next to check if supplements are helping - one of the problems is that DD is in the last year of A levels so lots of traditional stressors anyway so I'm very keen that her tiredness etc isn't dismissed. Outside of general tiredness she's very cold all the time, appetite all over the place and sleeping badly............plus mocks week so not sure how she's keeping upright some days!

@TheOnlyMrsW being cold all the time can be a sign that thyroid levels need checking, I believe.

I'm training myself to drink my tea without milk these days and I'm getting there as it helps me to fast a bit in the mornings. I can forego breakfast, but tea, never!!! I remember people enjoying buttermint tea a few boot camps ago but I can't seem to find it anymore. Does anyone still have a source ?

Cannot wait to get home from this business trip :(

I'm getting there with training myself to drink black coffee in the morning, for exactly the same reason! Whenever I do drink it black, I'm always surprised that I'm enjoying it though. Today is a compromise - first cup on getting up was black, second cup (after 10am, so a good few hours of fasting) has been white

I'm the same with fasting and milk in tea/coffee being the main barrier. I've found switching to green tea with a slice of lemon helpful, and like BIWI I never fancy a black coffee but it's always better than I expect!