Week 3 (or 2!) Jan '25 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all

So this is our second full week - some of you will be a few days ahead, so coming up to your week 3 (this is very confusing!)

I'm really impressed about the lack of wine so far

We've had a couple of very quiet weeks so far, after some fairly hectic socialising at the end of last year. It does make it easier to stay on track, both food-wise as well as booze.

If you started on 2 or 3 January, when you get to the end of this week, i.e. 16 or 17, you can make a decision about moving on to Bootcamp Light if you wish - i.e. you can reintroduce fruit, nuts/seeds and chocolate. All in moderation, obviously!

And if you check out the spreadsheet you'll see that there are carb counts there for fruit and nuts/seeds, to help you make your choices.

Good luck

We're in this together! First goal is lose the half stone, next goal is lose a full stone and see where I am/what I look like then.

Are lentils alright @BIWI ? I'm not a massive fan but do put them in things to bulk meals out. I'd been avoiding them because I thought they were illegal (like veggie sausages 😂).

Yes @BIWI 2 sausages - they are very filling!
But make sure you get the cumberland ones - the others are higher carb @Almahart

Today I had:

Coffe w cream / tea & scrambled eggs, feta & veggie sausages.

About 3 pints of water so far... so I need to get some more down

Then a very late lunch was smoked mackerel, olives, gerkins, comte and a raw red pepper

I'm stuffed now and going out to an event with a bar, driving so I don't drink!

If i'm hungry later I have leek & fennel soup to fill me up. But am too full right now to eat before I go out.

Thankfully I've managed to up my exercise today which has been bad this week and walked for an hour as well as doing weights for an hour in the gym.

I'd love to be down on the scales for Monday🤞🤞🤞

Me too 🤣
LOVE lentils !

I had an NSV yesterday - although not sure it's directly related to Boot Camp and probably more to do with being happy and relaxed as dh and I are getting on really well and we've come to terms with my brother's shenanigans

I had my blood pressure checked yesterday after a year on Livia/Tinolone (the "natural" oestrogen HRT that I'd tried for a few months had made me bleed 2 weeks out of 4 which was a complete No ) and nurse told me I had "the blood pressure of a teenager"

Sadly, not really on Bootcamp. As an example, 100g of canned green lentils come in at 10.9g carbs per 100g. For @SemmaLina, they were a better choice than potatoes, though!

... and 100g of cooked red lentils is even higher, at 17.5g carbs per 100g.

That's alright. I thought I'd fallen into a parallel universe where lentils were carb free 😂

If only! I love lentils. Actually I love all pulses. I do cook with them, but not when I'm Bootcamping!

Tried out some sundried tomato and basil sauce to go with roast pork tonight, lots of cream. Very tasty. Still peckish afterwards so had some cheese.

Scales still aren't moving a lot but I'm definitely losing weight in my upper body and I'm feeling a million times better. Gravity and time are not being kind, however, so it feels like it's all just pooling around my waist

Electrolyte people - how often are you taking them? I bought some tablets today and they say no more than 4 per day. Will 1 a day do?

Don't think I have posted for a couple of days, but I am still sticking to it. Meals today:

Breakfast- Greek-style yoghurt (tried it as its so much cheaper, but back to the good stuff now!)
Lunch - omelette, leftover duck breast and roast veg from last night, spinach
Dinner - beef mince fried with shallots, mushrooms, garlic and served with steamed veg.

The thing I need help with today is that I am really constipated! This doesn't usually happen to me, so don't have any remedies. Any recommendations?

I had a yummy meal of pan fried cod with fried rounds of aubergine with a buttery lemon and parsley sauce

My spinach, 2 egg and cream lunch kept me full for hours so dinner was late

@ReconstructionSite was it someone's sausagemet wrapped in cabbage leaves?

I miss puy lentils... Sometimes I sneak a spoonful into a low carb chilli

My biggest challenge is multi-family meals: a combination of cmp/lactose allergy, a nut allergy, a vegetarian, a vegan, and big hungry man who likes proper meat and veg! Tomorrow I'm planning a chilli wrap thing. Multi bean chilli, fried chicken on the side, vegan cheese for the lactose intolerent, no nuts anywhere.

I'll have the chilli and pick out the beans, with gaucamole, sour cream, proper cheese, chicken, and corriander.

I'm really enjoying fish on BC because I'm actually feeling satiated by it which I normally never do

Having not felt hungry at all recently, I felt really deprived this afternoon and ate half a galia melon (in small slices over several hours) and some blueberries with cream and walnuts.

I'm technically into BC light, but still. I suppose it could have been worse. Back on it tomorrow

It depends.

Winter, not drinking alcohol, running maintenance runs... one.

Summer, drinking wine, running to gain distance or pace, more.

Basically, see what happens. I get horrifying cramps when I'm out of whack. That's the sign. I do eat a fair amount of salt on food though. If you don't, maybe there's a different answer.

Supper tonight: flattened chicken stuffed with feta, chopped fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, shallot and dried oregano & basil. Served with my tasty buttery microwaved savoy cabbage with fried pancetta. The chicken was a wee bit dry but actually very tasty. I came across the recipe off Facebook. I'd try it again with turkey steaks, which would be easier to flatten - and maybe add some sort of creamy sauce to moisten it.

@ColouringPencils lots of water and fat. Make sure you're eating plenty of veg/salad. Don't know if you're doing much exercise, but if you aren't - do some. If you are, do some more!

Other remedies - strong coffee and high strength vitamin C

But to be clear - constipation isn't about less frequency, it's about struggling to 'go' and/or having pain when you do go.

I'll stick with one and see how I go. There's definitely no running for distance or pace in this household 😂

Morning all.

A reasonable day yesterday. Took the kids to the zoo and, even though it was positively Baltic, I managed to avoid the delicious warm, fried foods. Instead plumped for the Caesar salad. Can't say I enjoyed it, but it filled a hole and kept me BC compliant.

Today we have a family meal. Was going to be a roast at a pub but I lobbied for it to be moved to a Turkish restaurant so I can remain low carb.

Two people have told me I've lost weight, one of whom is my mother - not known for commenting positively on my weight! - so am hopeful for weighing in tomorrow. 😂

That's great news at @BusyFrizzyLizzie
It's such a boost when other people start to notice. Good for you.

I've lost 3lb this week, which I'm thrilled about and tape measure tells me it's finally going from round the middle, which I'm even happier about. I'm bang on a big number today, so next week hope to be below it. And I've lost the Christmas weight. I'm very happy.

Good luck for the rest of you weighing in tomorrow.

Well done to those who are seeing scale progress or NSV.

May I ask some questions to those of you who are long-term low carb-ers? Particularly to those of you who have been following this WOE for many years...

• What does a typical year look like for you? Do you add in some healthy carbs (eg. Legumes) in between boot camps?
• Does your weight stay fairly consistent when you do this?
• Are any of you at your 'target' weight? Have you kept the weight off?
• Do you come back to bootcamp to help you maintain, for the lovely community here or because you yo-yo or something else?

I'm trying to work out what is best for me/my body. I'm officially a 'healthy' weight/BMI but I definitely want/need to lose a few pounds and not being successful. I'm trying to work out what is going to be the best way forward for me (after eating low carb pretty much consistently for the last year, even in between bootcamps).

@magnolia82 I think I'm now classed as a long term low carber.

I haven't found it very easy to stay at goal weight and find I do still yo-yo a bit BUT my "heavy" weight nowadays is what for my pre-low carb years was my lightest weight, and it's very rare for me to even briefly go into a technically overweight BMI. I'm much better at halting the decline before I've done too much damage. I definitely don't feel like I'm struggling or battling with my weight like I did before.

I can maintain a goal weight when I add in some healthy carbs (lentils, a potato, beetroot, some sourdough etc), and even have the odd sweet thing. However, if I eat UPF I lose control very quickly and I need to go back through the cycle of strict low carb until I'm fully back in control.

@magnolia82 you said you've stuck to LC even between bootcamps. Why do you think that you want to do something different when you come to maintaining, is there anything you really want to start doing that you can't now? Understanding that feels like key as it speaks to whether you are (or think you are) missing carby or ultra processed foods (and so might be a higher risk of relapse).