Ongoing Low Carb Bootcamp Chat Thread

[BIWI]

Well done everyone who completed the Summer Bootcamp!

here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness if you want to continue adding to it

Obviously there are many of us who want to continue, either to lose more weight or just for general support to help with this WOE, so here is a brand new, shiny chat thread.

As for me, having slipped a lot a little when I was away, I'm firmly back on the wagon today.

And can I remind you, that if you haven't completed the survey we would be very grateful for your views/thoughts on how we can improve Bootcamp.

I suspect the car is a financial write off. repairs will cost more then than the car is worth and it needs so much repairs you might as well replace it because it would be more cost efficient. Not a huge thing considering the car's age and mileage but the timing sucks and i am hoping it is cheeply fixable to keep it going for a few more months to figure out the financial situation a bit better. Will have to see what a mechanic thinks exactly wrong. But all the pretty little lights on the dash board etc suggest it could be electrical. Which automatically starts the £££s adding up.

ds is heading towards 9 faster then i like to admit to myself. The ice cream actually soothed my throat. I think i am going to have an early night and see what a good nights sleep does for perspective.

Anyone watching the coverage of the Killers at T in The Park? I saw them there a few years ago and they were amazing. This is bringing back lovely memories.

Last year we said it was our last TIIP as it knackers my back. Maybe I shouldn't say never yet.

Lewisfan you won't crave Coke and chocolate because you won't be rushing from one carb 'fix' to the rest. For an evening snack, if you're hungry, you can have celery and peanut butter, or a few (I have 10) salted almonds eaten slowly, or pork scratchings, or celeriac chips or a small quantity of aged cheese.

Cherrypi my carb flu was horrendous. For two or three days I woke feeling as if I had just swum two miles with barely the energy to get downstairs. BUT I think because I'm breastfeeding I was using a lot of calories overnight. If I were to do it again I'd have something on the bedside table to get me going in the morning. Upping your salt intake can get you through the carb flu quicker too. I use Lo Salt to get some potassium as well. I also take a multivitamin and cod liver oil every day.

B: Greek yoghurt, strawberries, bacon, fried mushrooms
L: salad with oily dressing, ham and some cheese
D: two burgers, one sausage, some salad
S: pork scratchings and a smidge more cheese

Yama - I was watching the Killers! Wish I could see them live.

Spent today at a garden party - was ok with food though the strawberries and cream were my downfall-pretty sure both were sweetened- oops!

Also have had guests - now departed - all weekend. Both DP and I have been quite tired - too much work, not enough childcare - and found cooking stuff with limited carbs for lots of people a bit challenging in our non too lively state. Planning to get back into stricter low carb eating tomorrow.

Negroni - if you ever get the chance, go and see them. Glad someone else was watching.

When we have guests, we throw in a few easy carbs that dh and I just don't eat - rice, flavoured cous cous, crusty bread. For breakfast, we do bacon and eggs but give guests theirs in a roll.

We are going to be staying with friends abroad for a few nights soon and I'm just going to have to eat carbs and remedy when I get back.

Wow I've lost 5 pounds already. Feel dreadful this morning though. I'm breastfeeding too Stuntnun. Hoping the extra creamy coffee will rejuvenate me enough to have a shower.

Cherrypi - are you doing Bootcamp? If so, you need to ditch those blueberries. No fruit until you've completed the first two weeks!

Sorry you're feeling shit, but that's definitely the carb flu kicking in. As said, make sure you're eating enough salt - make a hot drink with Oxo or Marmite or Bovril - that will help. Also, make sure you're drinking plenty of water and adding a lot of fat into your meals. Your meals sound like that are actually quite low in fat. Are you putting butter on your veg? Are you making scrambled eggs with butter?

NewStart sorry to hear of all your woes I finally managed to persuade DH that we needed a new car earlier this year, because ours was just costing so much money ever time something went wrong - and things were going wrong with increasing frequency. Because he never uses the car, he just didn't get how unsettling the whole thing was for me. Not being able to fully rely on it and always worrying it was going to break down. I hope you manage to get it sorted without having to spend too much.

I am back on the wagon today, having consumed too many carbs over the last week or so. Nothing really serious (we're talking about lentils rather than stodgy white bread!), but enough to mean that I know the scales will not be kind to me!

If you're breastfeeding overnight Cherry it would definitely be worth having something to eat by your bedside as otherwise your glycogen stores will be critical by morning until you're over the carb flu. I also skipped Bootcamp and went straight to Bootcamp light, I'm staying out of ketosis, and I'm taking Pregnacare Breastfeeding to ensure my nutritive status isn't put at risk by the demands of breastfeeding. I'm amazed that I've been able to lose so much weight (11lb in three weeks) without having any issues with my milk supply when all the advice is that you shouldn't diet while breastfeeding.

I think the whole point of low carbing though, StuntNun, is that it isn't really 'dieting' in the conventional sense. You're not depriving your body of food by cutting down on calories, so you are supplying your body with plenty of energy. By switching your body to fat-burning, you are ensuring that you have a plentiful supply of energy, because you can now access all the fat stores you have laid down.

That said, I agree with you that it would be a good idea for you, Cherry, to have something to hand to eat whilst you are switching from carb-burning to fat-burning.

Please may I have some advice, lovely BIWI and Bootcampers? I have been on and off and on and off the low-carb wagon more times than I can count over the last few months. Last Monday I finally went RIGHT and buckled down. I've been really good all week and when I weighed in this morning I had lost...wait for it...1 measly pound. 1lb! Is that it? After all my goodness? DH has lost exactly the same but yesterday he had a Costa frappacino thing, a Limonata and heaps of tomato ketchup with his sausages (reasonably low-carb, 94% pork, 5.5g of carb per 100g), so it is perfectly understandable in his case. So, what am I doing wrong? Yesterday morning I was down to 9 stone 13.5 and now today I'm back at 10 stone 0.75. The only thing I can think of is that I didn't drink as much water as I should have done yesterday - maybe 2 litres instead of 3 - and it was really hot so I might be retaining water. I'm 5'2", so my BMI is somewhere around 26 - it's not that I'm at the skinny end of the scale and would expect my weight loss to be slow!

Is it the yo-yoing? If I stick it out and keep going will I start to lose more quickly? I should say that I'm doing Bootcamp-light - I can't start with Bootcamp, I have to ease myself into it with raspberries and double cream to beat the chocolate/cake cravings. Every time I've started with Bootcamp in the last 6 months I've fallen straight off the wagon again by the first weekend. Give me a couple of weeks to beat the cravings and I'll start to cut down on the dairy and the berries. When I did Bootcamp previously dairy didn't seem to affect my loss at all, so I ought to be okay. Maybe I should cut back on my milk-in-tea consumption - I've been trying to stick to 2 cups a day, but I do take a lot of milk in my tea.

Three babies has resulted in a couple of stone of fat stores BIWI so it's good that they're coming in handy!

I know my first week I had a few days where I could barely get to the fridge out of bed in the morning and I think it was because DS3 is still feeding three or four times between my dinner and my breakfast. Once I was over the carb flu it was no problem in the morning and I think I had good initial weight loss because of all the breastfeeding at night, using up those fat stores good and proper. Of course it's all gone to pot with being on holiday, I'm not looking forward to next week's weigh-in.

TooImmature - you are doing bootcamp light as you say, so your loss will be slower. but if you're anything like me you may be affected by the hot weather? i never lose much weight (or even put it on) when the weather is above about 25C - i think i must be very susceptible to water retention. i just keep on keeping on and once the weather breaks i often get a whoosh

Thanks Willie - that gives me hope! I find my ankles swell in hot weather (yuck!) no matter how much water I drink, so I think I am pretty susceptible to it. I'm Scottish - we're not biologically adapted to heat! I can cope fine in snow and ice, mind you. I'm still breastfeeding 16 mo DD - maybe that causes me to need more water on hot days too.

Sometimes tiredness seems to make the weight stick - didn't get much sleep last night as had guests round until late. Went to bed at midnight and DD woke up and howled at 12.30 and then again at 1.15. Then I had to get up for a pee at 5.40 and up for the day at 6. Yesterday's good weight might have been partly the result of having had a lie-in and hours and hours of glorious sleep.

LewisFan i was close to your weight when i first started low carbing. i started out lurking on the pre-bootcamp low carb threads, and was doing a made-up low carb / low fat thing that, although successful in terms of weight loss, was pretty difficult to stick to and i was still susceptible to the starve/binge cycle that was the most recent manifestation of my disordered eating. when the first bootcamp came around i was teetering on the edge of relapse. although i had already lost quite a bit of weight, it was bootcamp which stopped me reverting to old bad habits and meant i could continue to lose weight and get my eating on an even keel. two years later, i have lost over half my bodyweight.

i doubt your eating habits are/were anywhere near as bad as mine were, but the brilliant thing about low carbing if you have quite a lot to lose, is that it is above all sustainable. if you are in it for the long haul, it needs to be something that you can keep up over the months/years if necessary, and which is interesting and tasty enough to get back on the wagon if life gets in the way. plus i found i love how i feel on this way of eating (properly full and satiated, not bloated, plenty of energy (once the initial carb withdrawal is over), clear skin etc) that after a (hopefully mindful) wagon-topple i am always keen to get back to low-carbing

i'm sure the tiredness is definitely a factor - it's all caught up with your hormones after all. other people have posted more scientifically about this! occupational hazard with DC of course.

Sigh - I need to get back into this WOE properly. I keep on low carbing then having a day of a few carbs, then I gain weight, then I low carbs, take days to lose weight I gained, then I go and do something like I did yesterday and have large portion of sweetened strawberries and cream, then I gain and the whole effect is a generally upward movement on the scales, for not terrible eating.

I need to bootcamp again but have planned cheat on Friday lunch - meal at special restaurant with friends, booked for months. But adding this to all my accidental mini cheats I am not sure how I am going to sort this.

How does everyone else manage? We seem to have hit a patch of parties and socialising and everything just seems really tricky.

Sleep is known to affect weight loss. Also I would suggest to stop weighing every day.

Had a really bad start to the day. major wobble but bizarrely it has been my mother. You know the critical one that thinks this is a bad for you faddy diet, who has been encouraging me to get back on track. She is even showing signs of perhaps cutting more grain out of her diet. Seems that she thinks that actually i am really doing much better on this woe. so lots of water today, strict rest of the day and no hope for tomo's weigh in being good after all the wobbles, I would seem to be heading back on track again

wow newstart glad your mum is coming around at last.

I had a planned cheat day. First since I started beginning of May. I had blueberry crumble for breakfast (almonds on top), crustless quiche and blackberry crumble for lunch (wheat flour on top - MIL's) then came home and had a whole tub of haagen daaz with DS (13) and a crunchie bar.

It was nice but quite happy to go on strict bootcamp again today. Really need to push thru this plateau as been gaining and losing same kg over past 3 wks. Not even going to eat my beloved Total for a week

Feeling a bit better now. BIWI I don't know if I'm doing bootcamp or bootcamp light. I should probably decide shouldn't I?

I had butter with my scrambled egg but not my vegetables so I will add it next time. I missed off two coffees with double cream too. Can I have cinnamon with my yoghurt instead of berries? Can you have pork scratchings on bootcamp?

I'm breastfeeding a 19 month old so not too intense but may get some vitamins like you Stuntnun.

Negroni, i don't think this applies totally to your situation, but i've C&Ped some Getting Back on the Wagon tips that i put on another thread below.

About friday - it's 4-5 days away. you have basically two options if I've understood your post correctly (apologies if not):

(a) think to yourself 'well i'm going to cheat on friday so i might as well go the whole hog and cheat (to a greater or lesser extent) until then'

(b) think to yourself 'i'm going to be going mindfully off-plan on friday and enjoy every mouthful. until then i'm going to stay on-plan, then get back on the wagon after my meal out'

you know what will likely happen with thought process (a)? you will keep having 'accidental mini cheats' (as an aside, in what way are they accidental?), gain weight, feel crappy on friday and not make the most of your planned cheat. the cheats between now and then won't be worth it, you'll only be eating them because you've 'allowed' yourself to do so. you'll have perpetuated the high/low blood sugar cycle, as well as the guilt cycle, and you won't enjoy your proper, mindful, taste-every-mouthful lunch out

with thought process (b), you will arrive at your lunch feeling sleeker and trimmer, and more ready to fully enjoy your off-plan meal

i know this is easier said than done, and i don't always get it right myself, especially when you've got a whole load of parties etc, and sometimes you have to accept that you may not lose very much for a period, or try to maintain or not put on more than a few lb in that time

you need to make the decision about which off-plan foods are worth it (the once-in-a-blue-moon absolutely fabulous not-to-be-missed ones that should be savoured) and which ones aren't (stuff that's readily available, cheap, highly processed, a poor imitation, actually not that satisfying etc).

after you've had your mindful wagon-topple, that's when it's important to be prepared to get back on it, and recognise the siren call of the carbs for what it is. if you don't, that's when you risk getting back into the carb cycle.

BACK ON THE WAGON TIPS

1. have you got all the crap out of the house? (as much as you can - i know it can be tricky with family members (and with leftovers), but maybe you could ask them to forgo the carby stuff for a few days while you get back on track?)

1. plan your ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE low carb meals for the next few days, breakfast, lunch and supper - you need meals you can look forward to and which make you feel satisfied and indulged, not mediocre ones which get rid of the hunger but don't stop you feeling deprived when the siren call of the carbs gets going

1. make sure you have low carb snacks available if you need them (you shouldn't physically need them, but as i'm sure you know, they can help you get through the carb cravings)

1. drink plenty of water (i'm sure you know the drill). helps you feel full apart from all the other benefits

1. don't try to do too much in terms of exercise while you're combating the carb cravings. if you want to exercise, do, but don't push yourself too hard (i did a 40-min exercise dvd followed by a 5k run the other day and nearly keeled over at the smell of dp making toast)

1. change your routine a bit if you can. habits (particularly the bastardy carby ones) are quickly formed, so change stuff about a bit

hopefully some of this helps!

Great advice there Willie. I need to take it on board too.

Welcome to all the new joiners and congratulations to all those losing. New sorry to hear about your car, that's really shit.

1lb on this week, all of which is probably wine. I also had a lovely new potato salad with a fish bbq and for lunch yesterday, which is at least low gi rather than low carb, but then had a roast potato last night. I think I've been a bit lax this week with bootcamp ending and it being so fucking hot.

Back on the wagon this week as have at least another stone to go to my target weight and I want to refocus my efforts. Had leftover roast chicken with mashed swede and carrot for lunch. Having leftover lamb curry for dinner, looking forward to that already!

Had a lovely night away with DH on Saturday and didn't do too badly with cheats, although not great.
Started with sharing an enormous ploughmans and I ate a lot of cheese and coleslaw 2 teaspoons of pickle and the edge of the (lovely) bread. Really just a bit though. I had a steak for dinner and swapped my chips for DHs veg but I did eat 5 of his chips. Strawberries and cream for pudding (no sugar). I also had a bottle of wine. For breakfast I did eat the black pudding (god it was lovely) and had 1 apricot, 1 prune and 1 stewed plum with my yoghurt.
Not so good really now I look at it written down.

Will this put me a long way back? Got straight back on the wagon when I got back yesterday.
Went to a friends for lunch today and she made me a beautiful salad but it did have butternut squash in - I know this is allowed but felt a bit naughty considering my bad (good!) weekend.

I have done 2 weeks so I know I can switch to bootcamp light but would that mean not such a good loss? Will stick at bootcamp proper if more likely to drop 2 more pounds by a week Monday.

Willie thanks - that is really helpful. I think you have highlighted to me that once I start this odd day cheating, my resolve is already weakened so I am more likely to cheat again. So in order to combat this, I have to plan a lot better for a number of days in advance. When I am properly into this WOE I tend to have strong resolve so will chuck out cake rather than eat it, but once I have cheated, it isn't so much that I think "what's the point" it's more that my resolve has weakened and I seem more susceptible to carbs, whenever they crop up!

The "accidental mini cheats" I suppose are ones that I had not planned for, or even imagined. One was at a conference type thing with a buffet - it was going to be a dull affair. As planned I ate cold meats and salad and a glass of red wine and prepared to go home. Unfortunately, at that point, I met an old friend and she introduced me to other friends of hers, I got talked into going to a pub and before I knew it was drinking G&(slimline)Ts, getting the munchies, partaking of crisps....

Another was at a garden party where the man next to me offered to get me the dessert which was strawberries and cream. He got me a mountainous portion of what was a kind of strawberry and cream sweetened dessert thing. Obviously had I been in a better frame of mind, I would have just excused self and found somewhere to dump the pudding but instead I just ate it

Anyway this isn't to excuse the eating off piste - and yes, the right thing to do is to eat properly until Friday lunch, enjoy my lunch and then get straight back onto the plan.

Well done to everyone who is keeping going though!

Great post, Willie

cherry - yes you can have cinnamon, yes you can have pork scratchings!