Bootcamp Week 10 - Pretty Perfect!

[BIWItheBold]

Morning campers!

Today's sermon is about cheating. There's been plenty of it along the way and there will be plenty more of it in the future.

It is important to accept that this is and is going to be a fact, as (hopefully) this is about a way of eating, rather than a diet. That means that sometimes there will be occasions and circumstances where it's impossible to keep the carbs down. The classic is when you're invited to dinner and your hosts serve you something 'forbidden', like pasta or rice.

Every now and then you will find that you also have a 'fuck it' moment. Where, for whatever reason, you eat something you shouldn't. It happens.

So.

If you're going to do it, do it right!

If circumstances are beyond your control - e.g. the dinner party - don't stress about it. If you've deliberately gone off piste, don't feel guilty about it. Enjoy the moment while you're in it.

What is absolutely critical is what you do next.

Beware that you will crave carbs and don't let yourself spiral out of control into a mammoth carb fest! Make sure that the 2-3 days immediately afterwards are strictly low carb, and drink plenty of water. And avoid the scales for the next few days!

Here endeth the lesson.

Tea.....lol at the name of the pudding.

Hello all. I fell off the wagon but I've now picked myself up and dusted myself off and I'm back on track. Interestingly, I didn't put weight back on during the ten days that I gorged on raspberry pavlova and a nightly Bounty , so there is something very good about this woe.

Why can't you go without snacks? Are you hungry or is it a habit? If you're hungry, then it could suggest that you're not eating enough/not eating enough fat/protein at your meal times.

You could, overall, be eating too many carbs with the nuts and yoghurt and blueberries. You could also have a dairy issue, with the cheese? How much cheese are you eating per day?

If you think you need to snack to keep your fat levels up, that would suggest that you think your meals aren't including enough fat! Instead of grilling your meat/fish, why not try frying? (Obviously depends on what fish/meat you're using!)

And in terms of your lunch, are you really eating enough protein/fat with those salads?

And how much water are you drinking?

All of these are just thoughts/suggestions, by the way as your diet, overall looks reasonably OK - but we all have to find out what works/doesn't work for us.

I tried on a swimsuit yesterday. thats enough inspiration to stick to the plan! :) things are generally going OK - except the scales come today, so I suspect I am in for a bit of a shock.

Now there are no snacky things i really like, i have tried to get to grips with pork scratching but the two texture thing just weirds me out i am not not snacking at all.

In my case i think i have learnt that my snacking is a habit and is not hunger.

Can I interfere?

Shimbo, your typical menu looks like you are bulking up on low carb veg and looks very similar to what I eat in maintenance. You don't need to fill the part of the plate that would have had potatoes/rice with veg. You would be better to increase the protein portion and scale the veg back at this stage

I'd ditch the greek yogurt and blueberries personally.

BIWI, I am snacking because I am still quite hungry (usually twice a day between meals). Thanks for the suggestions, you have mentioned increasing fat before and I am trying. The total amount of cheese I am eating is probably the equivalent of 3 Babybels a day (either with meals or as snacks). I have around a small yoghurt pot size portion of Greek yoghurt a day. A handful of nuts so prob about 10, which I think would be pretty low in carbs but I need to work it out. And drinking 2.5l of water a day which I think is my recommended amount.

Thanks Jins. I am probably eating around 1/3 protein, 2/3 veg on my plate?

Yes i think i agree with Jin, whilst i am losing and not in maintenance i am not having any yoghurt or fruit.

I am new at this but this is what i will eat today.

B: Scrambled egg with cheese and ham cooked in butter
L: Chicken breast with some green leaves and probably a boiled egg
D: Pork Loin with some again some low carb greens, cucumber and cheery tomato.

I am only drinking water, probably six - eight pints a day. If i needed to snack would probably have a baby bel.

Have you sat down and counted carbs Shimbo?

A small greek yogurt is about 6g carbs. Half a cup of blueberries is about 10g. You could be on 15g or more without realising. Nuts will add to that.

I'm prepared to guesstimate your carb intake around 40g which is definitely in the ball park for weightloss but not enough for energy requirements. So I'd be increasing the fat content, increasing protein portions, reducing veg portions and ditching the yogurt

Small disclaimer - haven't read BIWI's rules

Brilliant, thanks SO much Jins. I am sure you are right. I will proceed as you've suggested. Thank you again!

oh dear just looked up the carb content in tin tomatoes shall only have a tablespoon from not on

day 3 and i have already broken it :( 3 ryvita with honey (tinest amount of honey) about 20grms of carbs already oh well

i am aiming for 40-50grms of carbs a day (quite a bit of that is from milk) is that too high?

i just do not like black tea but i am cutting back on drinking tea and coffee

Ryvita are 6.7g each. Teaspoon of honey is 6g.

I'm a walking carb counter :(

ok a little more then

didn't have that much honey i guess half a teaspoon

it is breakfast that i find most difficult. i like eggs but prefer something lighter and not too rich in the morning. i have bought the low carb bread before that was really nice but do not want to start eating that just yet

You haven't read my rules !

But Shimbo, Jins has it spot on . You are eating too many carbs with that lot - obviously you're eating a low-enough carb diet to lose weight, but if you want the rate of loss to increase (which evidently you do!) then you need to knock these things on the head. It's the difference, I think, between Bootcamp and Bootcamp Light.

Freudian - step away from the Ryvita and DITCH THE HONEY!

The whole point of Bootcamp is to make it easy for you - so no having to count carbs. But that is why certain foods are not allowed, and why you should be focussing on getting most of your carbs from veg/salad - and by focussing on those that are 3g carbs per 100g or lower.

If all your carbs are coming from milk then yes that is way too high. If you don't like black tea, then don't drink it. Cut down your cups of tea/coffee to 2 per day, max, and then the rest of the day drink water - or herbal/fruit teas if you like those.

A REMINDER OF BOOTCAMP RULES FOR ALL OF YOU

1.Eat three, proper meals a day.
You must eat breakfast. It doesn?t have to be a lot, but you must have something. For the rest of the day, if you?re eating enough food and you are in ketosis then you shouldn?t be hungry. But if you are hungry, eat something. (Hard boiled eggs make a great snack)

2.Avoid processed food
Focus on pure, natural protein as the basis for your meals ? meat/fish/eggs. Things like sausages, ham, bacon, pre-prepared burgers etc should be avoided as much as possible. You can have them, but just not every day. Avoid foods marketed as low carb, e.g. Atkins Daybreak bars.

3.Eat lots of fat.
Eating fat helps you to burn fat. Honestly! Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though, as this is too sweet), add mayonnaise where you can (just check the carb count on your mayo first). Eat fattier cuts of meat ? e.g. pork belly, roast chicken with the skin on and/or eat the fat off your lamb chops. Absolutely no low fat/light foods of any kind!

4.Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food ?
This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable. But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list. You don?t have to weigh/count carbs ? this is one of the great joys of this WOE (way of eating), but if you?re new to low carbing it can be helpful to weigh your portions of veg in the early days, just so that you know how many carbs are in the sort of portions that you like to eat

*5.Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited). It can impede weight loss for some people. If you are still drinking tea/coffee with milk or cream, try to restrict yourself to max 2 cups per day. You may eat cheese, but don't overdo it. Full fat yoghurt is the best way to include dairy in your diet - but beware, it does contain carbs. Total Full Fat is the best.

6.You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.
The more weight you have to lose, the more water you should drink

7.No alcohol
If you really can't do this - at least try and restrict it to the weekend. Vodka with soda is the best thing to drink. Or Champagne, red wine or dry white wine.

8.No fruit
Really. Seriously. Honestly. None at all. Zilch. Nada.

9.No nuts/seeds
Whilst these are really good to snack on later - it can be too easy to start snacking on these - and before you know it, all your carbs have gone on nuts. Seriously - in bootcamp - don't do it to yourself.

10.No sugar or artificial sweeteners

Why not just have one egg, then? When I'm in ketosis I find this will keep me going till lunchtime very easily.

Breakfast is tricky because we've all been conditioned for years into thinking that a slice of toast or a bowl of cereal is what we should be having.

I prefer a zero carb breakfast to keep me going longer but I agre that sometimes you don't want anything too rich. I also don't eat eggs

Breakfast is often a couple of slices of ham rolled up with philedelphia or smoked salmon if I have it. I introduced ryvita as I approached maintenance but I've had to ditch it again as it's not gluten free :( Mrs Crimbles crackers are 11.5g for four but they are tiny.

.... so will not be acceptable for Bootcamp!

Not really acceptable for any weightloss phase BIWI

These sneaky little low carb foods should be regarded as treats. I've seen too many people fail by adding this sstuff too soon

Right now I've read BIWIs rules.

She has made this so easy it's untrue. She's taken away all the sciency bit and all the carb counting and meal planning. If you stick to the approved list you really can't fail to switch over to fat burning.

You'll see people all over MN saying that they lost weight by reducing carbs, cutting out bread, reducing potatoes etc. This is not low carbing. They have lost weight through calorie restriction.

Low carbers don't care about calories so much because they aren't relevant to our way of eating.

Just follow BIWIs rules and you'll not go wrong

BIWI or Jins, apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere but I can't see it in the rules. Can you please let me know what ratio of protein to veg to fat (if poss) we should be eating on our plate during Bootcamp? For example, one chicken breast or two? One salmon fillet or two (I can easily manage two)?

Thanks

BIWI - can you inspire me by telling me how much weight you've lost since you began this woe?

I think you're trying to over-think this, Shimbo

Overall in your diet you should be eating fat:protein:carbs, in that order.

It's the fat that's really important. Too much protein without fat is not a good thing, as your body will turn the excess into glucose, which will result in an insulin spike in your blood stream. Fat doesn't provoke an insulin reaction.

If you can easily manage two then have two, especially since you are hungry between meals.

Oh tons, LF.

Over the years, that is!

I first started low carbing in around 2002. I couldn't believe how easy it was and how effective it was. However, I really didn't understand how it worked properly, and after some time got a bit bored with it, and with not being able to eat bread/pasta/rice, etc. So then followed periods of time where I thought "well, if I just eat sensibly/everything in moderation all will be fine". And of course, it wasn't - because that led to far too many carbs in my diet and deluding myself about what moderation was. (Actually, I challenge anyone to give a successful definition of 'moderation!')

Then came my most successful period of low carbing, where I reached 9 stone 3 (from a starting point of somewhere in the high 10s, possibly low 11s - I hadn't dared weigh myself at that point. And at only 5 ft 2, that is quite a lot of weight to be carrying around).

At this point, we went on holiday with my DB and DSIL. My DSIL (who is lovely), is massively over-weight, and made it very clear on several occasions when we met up, that she regarded low carbing as a silly, faddish diet. She is a trained Weight Watchers leader, and this - according to her - is the only way to lose weight. Despite being a size 20-22 ...

I couldn't bear the thought of having to have the argument with her every day and, as it was the first time we had all been on holiday together - and the first holiday we had had with my DF, after my mother's death - I didn't want to do or say anything that might lead to any tension/arguments on holiday.

So I ate 'normally' - i.e. what everyone else was eating - with the very predictable results. And since then, apart from sporadic attempts at low carbing, things have been very half-hearted and therefore my weight gradually climbed up and up and up - until after Christmas where I reached almost 11 and a half stones.

Around this time, I also started reading more and more about the science behind low carbing - starting with Dr John Briffa's blog/newsletter, which I can highly recommend - and a better understanding of how it all works and (perhaps more importantly) the impact on our overall health - really galvanised me into starting properly and fervently. I know it works in terms of losing weight. But I also now realise the contribution that a high carbohydrate diet makes to conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and Alzheimer's.

At 52 years old, withtype 2 diabetes and breast cancer in the family, all of this gelled for me - and has kept me (mostly) in the zone since then.

I started again, properly, on 6 February and have lost a stone and a half since then. I have been stuck/maintaining for the last few weeks, as I have been less strict because of other events in my life - trips abroad, etc - but it's very comforting/reassuring to know that I can go 'off piste' to some degree and maintain my weight (within around 3-4 lbs).

I know that with any diet the hardest part comes in terms of maintaining a desired/desirable weight - but I think this WOE is the most sustainable way to achieve it.