Week 4 (or 5!) Jan '25 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Spreadsheet, as ever

Although we're coming to the end of this particular Bootcamp, you'll see that @FinallyHere has added enough columns to the spreadsheet so that you can keep going, should you wish.

We'll also keep this thread going too, past the end of the week, for general low carb/Bootcamp chat and support - although I won't be starting a weigh-in thread each Monday after this one.

I know it's only been a short one this time, but looking at the spreadsheet, it looks like there have been some great results, even before today's weigh-in.

@GriefSubmittedHighways if you would like to share your results (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, trigs and any ratios) or DM them to me then I can take a look. The ratio is more important than the total cholesterol but triglyercides is also useful to know as it's better if it's low. Some people have a mixed lipid profile where their total cholesterol is high but their HDL (the "good" cholesterol) is also high and their triglycerides are very low. While this profile still isn't ideal, it is less worrying than when the HDL is low and the triglycerides are high.

Has anyone in your family been diagnosed with familial hypercholesteraemia? Have you had your cholesterol tested in the past so that you can see how it's changed? And how long have you been following LCHF? Blood pressure can come down quite rapidly when you cut carbs; do you know whether it has changed recently?

Increasing your carb consumption won't benefit your total cholesterol but you can definitely adjust your saturated fat intake. As you have already done, move away from animal fats and substitute in monounsaturated fats: olive oil, avocado oil and nut oils. Adding in oily fish is especially beneficial as the omega-3 oils are proven to be good for cardiovascular health. I wouldn't necessarily reduce your consumption of meat as pork, for example, contains a high amount of monounsaturated fat as well as saturated fat. You could compromise by choosing leaner cuts and getting your fat from added olive/avocado/nut oils such as roasting in olive oil or making salad dressing.

Assuming you're still trying to lose weight then coffee with double cream is a bad move. As a rule of thumb you should never be drinking your calories. You may be able to switch to black coffee, or reduce your coffee consumption and only have one per day with double cream. I prefer unsweetened almond milk but coconut or oat milk can also be pleasant. It takes time to get used to the flavour. If you like the texture of coffee with double cream then you could try one of the Barista versions that have a thicker texture but they will be more carby. Some people measure in their milk so that they can keep an eye on the carb content.

It is very kind of you to reply in such detail @stuntnun. I really appreciate it. I seem to have lost the relevant piece of paper but from memory my results (of a non-fasting cholesterol test) were: 8.3 total cholesterol; 3 HDL cholesterol; 5 point something LDL cholesterol. The nurse said my triglycerides level was healthy. I think the number was 2?

I will be having a fasting cholesterol test in a week or two.

I'm not aware of any family history around cholesterol. My cholesterol history, from a screen my doc showed me, has been a bit up and down but never as high as it currently is.
I have been dipping in and out of low-carb for about three years; my most recent sustained attempt dates from early january.
Blood pressure has been borderline high for a few years but has gone up from the 140s-over-something to a current average of around 157-over-something.

Thanks v much for the tips around fats and nut milk. Good to learn that I could still feel positive about eating pork. I think you are right that I need to just keep persevering with the nut milks until I can 'learn' to accept the different taste. I will try the barista versions

Dear @BIWI
I'm so sorry to read this news but completely understand you won't be continuing with running LC Bootcamp. How incredibly upsetting. I am not a mum and had nothing to do with mumsnet until I found your Bootcamp thread. How shortsighted and greedy of them to criticise.
I've just been catching up on everyone's recent achievements in the hope of getting my low carb mojo back in gear. To mix a few metaphors.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for nurturing this incredible forum and all you have done for us over the years. I will continue to look for inspiration from everyone by scrolling back through past threads and will be checking in here once I have some kind of goal. My weight has not gone up as I'm swimming and walking more but my desired weight is still to be achieved. I'm heading back to DM in a couple of weeks, so bidding adieu to the temptation of croissant, baguette and crêpes! It's been fun but have been floored by flu/cold/covid and suspect I would have recovered more quickly if I'd stayed low carb. Anyway, thank you and all the other fab regulars. And to revive the subject of ear worms 'we will survive'

I'll keep the chat threads going @islandtiger - so there's always somewhere to chat/moan/share!

@BIWI I hope you change your mind though re LCBC

But I fully support your reasons

I ordered a new dress which arrived earlier and I expected it to be tight and cling in all the most unflattering places but it didn't.

I'm delighted

I bought some pork shoulder steaks of which a third was just a big clump of meat so I'm now cooking a last minute stew thing with it so I can chop it up and cook on slow for hours to break it down. It's basically a pork goulash.

@GriefSubmittedHighways on LC you're meant to add cream to coffee because you're meant to be high fat low carb on a LC WOE. It's not for me to say but maybe you need a different weight loss plan if you're looking at low fat because low carb is definitely not low fat

Really appreciate all you have done with low carb Bootcamp, @BIWI thank you so very, very much.

Completely understand your thinking @BIWI and very glad to know the chat threads can continue.

Bootcamp has been transformational for me, I really enjoy this WOE and look and feel great on it. Thank you.

Thank you

I was going to send you a PM @FinallyHere but can't as they're disabled!

So, publicly, will say it here. I really appreciate all the help you have given me, and all the other Bootcampers, over the last few years, by curating and managing the spreadsheet. I really, genuinely, couldn't have done it without you.

❤

I have loved bootcamp, it has honestly been transformational for me, not least recently in really helping with my long covid energy levels.

Am continuing my one woman bootcamp at the mo and am delighted to be down 4ibs in four days. Am quite close to being under 12 stone, which will be amazing

I can seriously say that the boot camp I joined late last year , my first , has totally changed my life . I’ve gone from almost 14 stone to 11 stone 8 and still losing , I look better , I feel better , my liver is better and I’m hopeful for this years HbA1c . Thank you very much @BIWI , @FinallyHere and everybody else for the support .

@BIWI completely get your thinking but can I say how grateful I am to you for all you have done. I still have a way to go and a few more kgs to lose but your bootcamps have changed how I eat for the better. I am no longer addicted to sugary food, i am more alert, my joints ache less and I feel my body is just working better. Thank you. 💐

I would also like to say many thanks to BIWI for all she has done (would love to buy you a low carb lunch one day 🙂)

Thank you

I'm really sorry you feel that way @BIWI but completely understand.

I joined in the Autumn last year and found it so helpful. Am in the process of trying to get back onto my own bootcamp here.

Would love to keep checking in with everyone.

Sending 💛 and 💪🏽

I'm still KOKO : down to 11st 7.5lb this morning

I might even manage to get to under 11.5st by Sunday

I'll keep focussed on the water, which makes such a big difference.

I've still to try on the silk dress I'm wearing for the wedding again (have now packed but it's on the top) but I'm also going to measure my waist as a proxy for the lack of scales while we're away, to keep me focussed.

Roast chicken (with lemon, garlic and thyme) tonight with ds and gf, followed by berries and cream (nice and easy ). Ds' gf will have courgette and halloumi fritters.

Tried on my dress again: it's still a bit neat over my hips (if I wanted to crouch, I'd have to hoik the bottom of the dress up higher over my hips) . But looking at it from a different angle, it just means I'll have to maintain a really good, upright posture (Dh says: be more ladylike ). So no jive type swivelling down low

Dh also tells me that the "profile" look (ie my tummy sticking out ) is looking a lot flatter

I'll take a picture at the wedding

@GriefSubmittedHighways I don't think it would work with coffee but I used to put coconut oil into hot chocolate as an alternative.

@BIWI another one who wanted to add my grateful thanks to you for everything that you have done in the name of LC bootcamp over many, many years. I love the way it's developed too with recipe threads and differing approaches.

The 'rules' are so clear and straightforward and make it so much more possible to eat out or to adapt other recipes. I'm currently on holiday and know all the right things to select from the breakfast buffet and what to order from the menu ignore the hash browns Plus having ditched sugar so long ago I'm not tempted by the selection of sweets in the pudding buffet.

You will never know how many hundreds, maybe thousands of people you have helped.

Still koko here. Was on a clear downward trend, but was out a lot yesterday and basically just ate cheese, so scales going up

Great news about the dress @prettybird!

Thank you @venusandmars - it means a lot.

Another shout out to BIWI for her efforts creating and supporting Bootcamp over the years. I started in June 2013 and it changed my life, my weight and my health beyond measure.

Me too @StuntNun

I know I have said this previously but this diet is absolutely gamechanging for me. It used to be gamechanging in terms of weight and now it is unbelievable for my energy levels. I think I have mentioned before that the NHS physio I see for long covid is a huge low carb fan. He was originally giving me advice on cutting down on bread and refined sugar and when I told him about how LC I can go he was delighted.

I remember doing my first one, it must have been in 2012 and having a real sort of carb flu for the first couple of weeks. There is no way back then that I could have ever done this on my own

The other thing is that I have really fond memories of BC, they were always pretty fun. So sorry to see it end, but I absolutely understand your reasons and am pleased that the chat threads will continue

Just catching up after a few AWOL weeks and glad I have, so I can chip in with my thanks to @BIWI for these groups. I only officially joined from the Autumn 2024 bootcamp, but I've followed along as a lurker a couple of times over the years. It has worked brilliantly for me (and my husband!) and it is amazing to have all the tools and resources to dip back into when needed. Really appreciate everything you have done to help me and others 💐

My post-Jan bootcamp update is that my "mindful" reintroduction to carbs quickly tailspan into something a bit more mindless, but actually, I've broadly managed to maintain my weight loss. I'm probably eating 50% low carb and 50% regular and I'm not seeing major creep... though I would like to shift those percentages back a bit and/or make sure the carby stuff is healthier stuff like I originally intended, as I suspect I am in "slow creep that will take me by surprise in two months" if I don't reign it in. But it has been nice to be able to bake with my little boy again (it is one of our "things") and to actually taste the produce 😁

In good news, I was under 11.5 stone this morning at 11st 6.5lb

That's 3/4lb less than I was when I went to Madeira last March

Given that I started this Boot Camp on 3 January at 12st 12lb , I should give myself a massive pat on the back for staying so focussed

Given that dh and I are going to have a fry up (to use up eggs and bacon and potato scone for dh in the fridge) and a good bottle of bubbly tonight to celebrate the start of our holiday, I may or may not weigh myself tomorrow before ds picks us up to take us to the airport Or if I do, I may choose to ignore the result

I'm hoping to catch up with you! I started at 12'10, took three weeks out from Feb 1 and am now 12'2. Will be delighted to get to 11 and a half, thats when my favourite clothes begin to fit again

I slipped up last night and had five or six chips when doing DC's dinner. Hey ho.

My new BC fave for lunch is creamy tomato soup with a stick of brie. Really comforting and warm