Week 2 - Autumn Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Well! It's the first day of reckoning:

Here is the Spreadsheet of Wonderfulness

I am waving my big stick around already, because it's obvious from the most recent threads that there has been a fair amount of cheating going on.

And we have only just finished week one!

A couple of things:

IT'S NOT CALLED BOOTCAMP FOR NOTHING

This period is designed to shift you quickly into becoming ketogenically adapted, i.e. to shift your body into burning fat rather than burning carbs.

This can only happen if you consistently reduce the carbs that you are consuming

If you cheat - even if it is just the odd thing here and there - then this won't happen, and it will take you much longer to start burning (and therefore losing) fat.

These two weeks were never going to be easy. And although I wrote about them, and how you needed to plan for them, it's clear that this hasn't always been appreciated.

I do, really, understand that it is hard. Especially if low carbing is new for you. But it's designed with a purpose, and you will really see the benefit of it if you stick with it.

JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE DONE BOOTCAMP BEFORE DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S ANY DIFFERENT FOR YOU

Please be mindful of people who are new to Bootcamp. You may know what you can/can't do in terms of carb consumption. But there has been quite a bit of posting about cheating. Even if you are doing this mindfully, please remember that you aren't supposed to be doing this in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, and it makes it really hard for those who are new to low carbing, and who might be struggling.

A bit of sensitivity is called for here.

And finally, when you get on the scales this morning/tomorrow morning, please remember that this is about you and nobody else. It isn't a competition. Some people lose weight much quicker than others.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, chances are that you will lose it quicker than if you are closer to your target. Some people will lose a shedload in week one, but then nothing in week two - whereas others will lose more modestly, but consistently, week after week. The only thing that matters is what is happening to you.

If you haven't lost much, please don't be disappointed. Make sure that you are genuinely following the rules - are you drinking enough water? Are you eating high fat? That one glass or wine, or that small piece of cake - they all add up.

And even if you have genuinely followed the rules - if you haven't seen the scales move by much - have you measured?

We are all different, and rates of loss will be different too. Just think about the food that you have been eating, and consider how this WOE compares with low calorie or low fat diets.

Changing to a low carb way of eating as compared to a low fat or low calorie diet is not an easy transition, and it is to be expected that there will be snags along the way. Hopefully the Bootcamp threads will give you the help and guidance that you need - and I hope that when you get on the scales next, your hard work will be rewarded!

Onwards and downwards
xxx

[AuntieMaggie]

starry it really fucks me off when they do that on courses/at meetings... and they wonder why everyone suffers an afternoon slump when they feed them full of carby shite like that! Well done for resisting though - I wouldn't have managed it as I have to eat something more than lettuce to take my tablets with otherwise my blood sugar crashes.

I'm in a foul mood and trying to resist the cider and chocolate that the ILs bought me...

[tenementfunster]

Biwi can we just stay on this bootcamp instead of lite after Monday if we like?

[Ohfuckohfuckofuck]

Same as tenement, do we need to start eating differently or can we stay on bootcp? I've not found if too hard, aside from the wine.

What would the benefits of staying on it be v changing?

[BIWI]

If you want to stay on Bootcamp you can do - as long as you promise me that you will get your carbs mainly from veg and salad!

Maryz - you will be able to add some fruit (berries) and nuts/seeds, as well as alcohol (in moderation)

[BIWI]

Beryl I feel your pain! Are you gaining weight though? Are you enjoying what you're eating? I think sometimes you just need to take a step back and relax about everything. I absolutely get how hard it can be sometimes. Even if you want to do something, rationally, it can be impossible to just get your arse into gear to do it.

[BIWI]

Ultimately that's up to you - sadly!

Be warned that in weeks 3 and 4 (sometimes 5) it is very common for weight loss to stop altogether. And if you add into that a relaxation on the carb front, it can be a bit of a recipe for disaster.

So moderation is exactly that - it isn't carte blanche to fall face first into a heap of fruit, with a vodka chaser!

Re alcohol, you are much better off restricting it to the weekend, if you can. That will (hopefully) ensure that during the rest of the time your body is burning fat for fuel, rather than alcohol.

You will probably find that without the carbs you get blathered rather more quickly than you expected.

[tenementfunster]

I promise!

[BerylStreep]

Biwi thanks for the understanding - no, I haven't gained any weight at all, so I think I have found my perfect equilibrium - the only thing is that the equilibrium is at a much higher weight than I would like

We went out with friends last night, and when we got home, DH told me that I was the thinnest person at our table (bless him, it was all relative though). I feel good, and have got to the stage where I don't feel self loathing if I see a photo.

I have a couple of busy weeks ahead - off on a work trip this week, and have a formal this weekend. Then off the following week to visit my (LC friendly) sister.

I suppose what I need to do is get my arse in gear to do BC proper for the days in between, and recognise there may be some wine on those occasions - it doesn't mean I have to quaff a load of wine / eat berries with cream very day though.

Too many posts to comment on:
Ruprekt ouch
Prettybird sounds like a v exciting job you had
Maryz don't have teenagers yet - not looking forward to when mine start - have you a second mortgage to feed them?
Crabby I have a theory that any food stuff that contains the letter K is usually an off-cut - cheek, brisket, knuckle, shank. Except of course, cake.

[loopyloou]

B: egg mayo, bacon, wilted spinach
L: bacon and egg
D: tandoori chicken with salad (Indian takeaway but no sauces or rice or naan)
S: Babybel cheese, cold bacon

[JustasmallGless]

Evening all
My sustainable way of eating is to bootcamp during the week and bootcamp very light at the weekends
I have maintained over summer hols which am chuffed about. That's my maintenance though and if I want to lose weight I have to get strict again.

Purple I know I sound like a broken record but measure yourself from now on. Also sometimes you can just have a whoosh when you are least expecting it. You have to think how you feel and what fantastic good you can eat on this woe that you have had to deprive yourself of on low fat/low cal diets.
I love mushrooms fried in butter!! Could eat them
At most meals

[hazchem]

Not really had a chance to catch up properly but I've had 4 (small) glass of red wine over the weekend. I was feeling quite slim so am a bit worried about weigh in tomorrow.

[Purple2012]

I measured myself at the end of july. 4 weeks later I was 3 inches down on my waist. Yesterday I measured my waist again and I was 7 inches down. So I know I have lost inches.

A few years ago I was 3 stone heavier than I am now. Still just over a stone to go. So I guess it is going to be slower now. Still hoping for that whoosh of weight loss in the next couple of weeks though.

[holmessweetholmes]

Ok I know I should have measured, and that fluctuations are normal, but how, HOW can I possibly have been 10 and a half st yesterday and am back up to 11st this morning?! And that's with no cheating.

[Ruprekt]

Thanks for all the msgs over DS2. He is currently watching tv with sunglasses on!

Yesterday

B....yoghurt

L...scram eggs with butter and bacon

D...avocado with prawns. (45p for av and 59p prawns)
Pigs cheeks (£2) which cooked for 5 hours and melted in the mouth with celeriac mash (30p)

A fabulous and cheap and low carb dinner!

[CrabbyBigBottom]

Rup have you been taking advantage of the 20% off on the meat counter offer at Waitrose? We had slow cooked pigs' cheeks last night too and they were delicious! DP based it on a tapa we had in Seville a couple of years ago and we had them with buttery swede mash and roasted broccoli.

DP (he is partner rather than husband, btw, it's just that the P key doesn't work on my laptop keyboard so I have to c&p my Ps (and question marks!). I can't be arsed to go and find a capital P to c&p so he gets promoted to DH on the laptop and put back in his rightful role on the ipad. MrsHP you are always MrsH on the laptop. ) managed to persuade me that dumplings wouldn't even go with the dish and that I should confine my sinning to drinking red wine, thus enabling him to drink too. I'd got as far as calculating the carb count of various permutations of dumpling - he pulled me back from the brink!

I'm liking the cake as a healthy, cheap offcut idea... or am I wilfully misconstruing that?

Maryz at the amount of food your DS eats!!

Pretty you should have scratched the cornea of the person who didn't pay you the commission you were owed - see how they liked it!

I agree that weekends are way, way harder, especially with drinking. I'd really got into the groove of not drinking and stopped even considering it as a option during the week, but at weekends DP, who works hard at a job he doesn't enjoy, enabling me to sit on my fat arse much of the time! likes to eat good food and drink good wine. When I don't drink he drinks much less, which is good for us both health-wise but I've definitely noticed him encouraging me to drink this weekend and when I did last night he was noticeably more relaxed and cheerful. Not quite sure what to do about that, really.

I was part of an event in our local high street yesterday and was ravenous by the time we finsihed. It really brought home to me how un-carb-friendly most shops are. We got a cuppa from Costa... full of paninis, cakes, pastries. I bought DD a sandwich from boots... food section full of sandwiches, wraps, crisps, low fat yoghurts with granola, fruit juices etc. There was nothing to eat at all. DD had been a star all morning, really participating in what we were doing (she put the town mayor - not a small man - in the recovery position!) and then she convinced me to let her go to the sweet shop as a reward. Within 20 mins she'd turned into a hyper nightmare, interrupting, mucking about, silly and inappropriate behaviour. It was a timely reminder as to why I've cut sugar almost entirely out of her diet!

Right, I'm full of good intentions about not drinking wine with our roast dinner tonight. Reckon I can hold that thought beyond 6pm?

Food yesterday
B - greek yoghurt with clotted cream and vanilla
L - courgette and tomatoes with h/m pesto
D - braised pigs' cheeks with mashed buttery swede and roasted broccoli.
Loads of water. Red wine.

[StuntNun]

It's probably just water Holmes.

Would spritzers be an option Crabby? Then you could keep DP company without drinking too much.

[toomuchicecream]

Went round to friend's last night for a girls night and she said she'd do some food. Which I thought meant picky bits all evening. So I had lovely sirloin steak with creamed leeks & cabbage before I went to make sure I wasn't so hungry. Plan failed because a) it filled me up so much I was absolutely stuffed - shows how my appetite has changed in a fortnight - and b) shed done a 3 course sit down dinner....

Fortunately I got away with fried halloumi to start, leaving the pitta bread, red pepper houmous and taramasalata. Main course was a bit trickier cos shed made bobotie and put it on the plates in give kitchen (south African spiced mince with dried fruit and milk/egg on top - some recipes include breadcrumbs but I couldn't ask her if she'd put any in cos I was being rude enough having turned up already eaten). I left the cous cous and had some salad leaves with it. Pudding was a delicious flour less chocolate cake with alcoholic cream - I managed to only have the tiniest Taste of each on the end of a teaspoon. All I can say it was a good job I was do completely stuffed by then as I don't think I'd have been able to resist otherwise.

[BIWI]

holmes - you can't possibly have put half a stone on overnight!

Have you got a bit of water retention going on? Are you coming up to your period?

Are you drinking enough water?

And - is the battery in your scales on the way out?

[LilyAmaryllis]

Mmmm Crabby you eat well, its good inspiration. (ie - double cream is a bit light... lets put clotted cream in the yogurt! Go girl!)

Beryl you aren't really slipping - you're doing perfect bootcamp light. I did that (ie, eating strawberries/raspberries) all summer and gradually made my way downwards. Maybe concentrate on cutting the alcohol but leave the rest as it is? (I haven't been drinking at all for months - not allowed to due to medication)

I felt so "heavy" this morning I nearly didn't weigh. But did in the end (after breakfast too) and I was actually down on yesterday, and 0.2lb down on last Monday. So this week I have fluctuated over a 3-4lb range. If your weekly weigh in happens to coincide with the top of a fluctuation then you're not to know - but its not necessarily bad news.

I wonder whether our bodies know its autumn, nights are drawing in, and think "better make sure we've got enough fat supplies for the winter"? Are we all working against a seasonal hormonal effect (and therefore doing really well!)?

Anyway its best to think long term on this WOE. Since May I have lost all my back-fat (Gone! Yay! but it took months), gone down a bra back-size and cup-size, gone down one or two clothing sizes depending on the shop. Pretty amazing really.

[Ruprekt]

Should have said Crabby.....I got 20 pigs cheeks for £2!!!!

I only eat Waitrose reduced food!!

[Purple2012]

Got a bit of a dodgy stomach today so going to find it a struggle to eat 3 meals. Hoping it won't stall any weight loss.

[BIWI]

Sorry to hear that, Purple

Don't force yourself to eat if you're not feeling great.