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.

oh what i have just realised is that i have been having nuts over the last few days.. i never realised they had carbs! oops. i thought they were 'safe'. i think some are better than others though, aren't they? like macadamia, and cashews are better? i have been having almonds.

its very useful reading all the posts.

biwi dh would never go on a diet, or a 'WOE'. as soon as he knows he's on one, he would eat the wrong things. he isn't the type to care. he knows i have some food issues, and goes the other way. he doesn't like me losing weight or going on about diets, so i haven't told him. but the difference with this WOE is that i am eating good wholesome food so he will be surprised and pleased - i am actually thinking as i continue on this, i will give up my vegetarianism, but one step at a time :)

biwi thanks for sharing all that - you have done amazingly on your journey. its a shame we have to conform to others way of eating just for an easier life - like with your SIL. hopefully it will become easier to lowcarb - in the US in LA i remember when we went out to eat, the cafe's had meals with items available for lots of different diets on it. ie atkins, the zone, southbeach, etc etc. i wouldn't want the uk to become obsessed with weight the way they are over there, but it would be handy if they had some different options so you don't feel you are stuck :)

thank you for posting the rules again

back on track for rest of day

Oh, and the other thing that kept me going in the early days was the support I got from the Carblife website and the people on there (some of whom are now on MN, coincidentally!):

here

In the early 2000s it was fairly active, as Atkins was very fashionable then. However, it slowed down/became much less active, and so gradually I went there less and less.

Without the support it's harder - especially when other people dismiss or ridicule what you're doing.

Which is why Bootcamp (and other threads like it on MN) are so helpful.

Do you want another story for inspiration?

My weight crept up gradually over the years to about 10st 8 which is a BMI of 27 or so. I started Weightwatchers for about the fifth time and gained a pound a week on 20 points which I stuck to religiously. A few weeks in to it a friend was starting Atkins and I decided to give it a go. It was June 2003 and I weighed 10st 11.

I hit goal of 8st 7 in about 6months I guess with various stalls and gains along the way. Maintenance was tricky for me as I'd not followed the rules and had no idea where my maintenance carb level was so I ended up dropping to 7st 10 which was too thin at a BMI of 19. Eventually I settled at about 8st - 8st 5 in June 2004. BIWI knows I was (and am) pretty hardcore old school Atkins without all the treats and processed junk that's being sold under the banner.

That is what I have weighed within a couple of pounds until last year when I had to have a few hospital stays and went off piste a bit. I gained a little weight (max 9st 7 BMI 24) but have since dropped back to 8st 11. I'm older now and although it's a little heavier than I like to be it's not a bad weight.

So since 2004 I lost about 3 stone and regained a stone whilst still staying within normal BMI. It's not all about the weight loss, you have to be able to keep it off.

powerful Jins

Fantastic stories BIWI and Jins. My main worry is sticking to this WOE long-term. I know it'll be tough.

May I join you, I have been doing weight watchers for 6 months and have lost a stone, but I had lost that by the middle of march and I really cant be bothered to count everything all the time and it makes me think about food all the time.

I have 2 and a half stone to lose and could really do with losing some of it soon as I am really fed up.

So today I have had
Scrambled eggs
Cooked chicken pieces, mattisons sausage (i know its really processed I hadnt read you rules then) and a baby bel.
I was planning on having the rest of the chicken pieces with salad for tea, does that sound ok?
My starting weight is 12 stone 8lbs. and I would love more than anything to be under 10 stone at some point in my life.
How do you know when your body is in ketosis and how much weight should you realistically lose to start with?

It's not tough.

When you get it right you will see huge benefits to your health and you won't think twice about it. I can't imagine ever eating the way most people do again.

BIWI will probably agree with me that once you've been a low carber you never realy go back to the level of carbs you ate while you were gaining weight although you tend to do the worst of both worlds - higher fat and protein whilst having too many carbs to keep in the zone.

Maintenance is tricky but post when you're near goal and someone will help out!

Oh, and just as a taster - here are 10 key conclusions from Gary Taube's book "The Diet Delusion":

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease, or any other chronic disease of civilisation

1. The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostais - the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being

1. Sugars - sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically - are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates

1. Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilisation

1. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overreating, and not sedentary behaviour

1. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger

1. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance - a disequilibrium - in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilisation of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance

1. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated - either chronically or after a meal - we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel

1. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be

10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity

These are quoted directly from the book, btw

although i have only been doing this awhile, i don't think i could go back to eating the same carb level as i was before - i used to eat a lot of crackers, honey and fruit, and the other day when i fell off the wagon i had those rye vitas, the fruit crunch ones, and they tasted so sweet and just 'wrong' you could taste the added sugar. i can't imagine going back to that now. i hope it just gets better. i don't find this WOE hard - its just those times when im emotional or over tired, then i binge and i want sweet things or carby things - but i know that is driven by emotional needs and something i have to personally work on.

BIWI & Jins your experiences are really fab and keep me determined to carry on, you have both done so well.
I like you have had ups and downs weight wise, with my heaviest being directly after my 3rd child, I tipped the scales at 13st 7lb and I am only 5ft 3 so obese is what I was.
Since then I have gradually lost and when starting this WOE I was 10st 1lb, I now weigh 9st which is the smallest I've been in 9 years.

lunch - bacon salad

If only I could blame my children, mummyduff! I was 9 stone 4 when I conceived both times, (and was worried about my weight at that stage!), but the weight I put on during pregnancy dropped off me both times, within 10 days after the births!

unfortunately BIWI mine was not baby weight but more like cake, chocolate and crisps weight, wondered for a long time why I let myself get like that with my second and third pregnancies!!

It wasnt really till doing this WOE that I realised I had a real link with food & emotions. As a young child/teenager i was always thin and even after 1st child didn't weigh more than 8 st, but this was due to lack of eating not a natural thing. Alot of it was linked with dancing and how my friends looked, madness really.

I now dont turn to the food when bored or fed up but turn on MN and read what everyone else is doing

Hello! Checking back in after holiday. I put on about 5lbs while away, not drinking water and too many puddings. Back on track now though and 2 lbs lighter this morning :)
Back to light exercise too, following a calf injury which feels fab. Despite injuring it again jumping waves in a freezing sea. Oops!
Struggling a bit with increasing fat though. just can't bring myself to eat chicken skin!
Food Today -
1.5 scrambled eggs in butter with bacon and grilled tomato. Chicken thigh, mozzarella avocado tomato with olive oil and basil. Dinner will be slow cooked pork chops with red cabbage and possibly oven cooked sweet potato, not sure yet!
2 coffees with coconut milk and just starting on the water.
Bloating totally gone and I'm not farting(!) anymore which I do with bread and sugar ;)

Mummy duff I do that too!!

Wow Mummyduff! And BIWI and Jins too - thank you for your stories.

Whoever was asking about low-carb in pregnancy here's a link for you: www.drbriffa.com/2010/10/22/lower-carb-diet-found-to-be-better-than-lower-fat-one-in-pregnancy/

I slipped a bit last night at a friend's - she made Spanish omelette with sweet potato, broccoli and red onion. Briffa lists sweet potatoes as a food you can eat in moderation, though, so feel ok about it.

Lunch today: salad, spinach, feta, spring onion, cherry tomatoes and an ehh fried in butter. Mmm. If this baby ever stops feeding I'll be going back for another egg.

egg, not ehh! Epic fail.

I am so impressed at the weight losses on here! You are marvellous.

I am stopping myself going off piste by thinking before stuffing my face. Last night my kids were driving me insane and would not go to bed, which was esp bad as I had work to do in the evening. Usually I would have got stuck into the crisps but I figured that I would then have a crisp problem as well as a child one, so I stopped and had some more water. Just about to break for lunch now. Still not that hungry. Yippee. Salad with mushrooms and bacon beckons....

Some really good points being made here.

Welcome ditavonteesed. Your menu sounds okay, but remember the oily dressings (not balsamic) for your salad. Maybe include some veg/salad with your lunch.

It can take up to a week for your body to go into ketosis, you'll possibly notice a slightly bad odour to your breath and your appetite will probably reduce.

Initial weight loss obviously varies a lot, but looking at the speadsheet - our average weight loss was 4lb in the first week, but the most lost was 12lb! You can probably expect quite a large loss to start with, this is mostly water and glycogen stores in the liver, but after this will probably settle down to 1-2lbs a week.

Shall I add you to the spreadsheet?

Yumster lunch of 3 roast chicken drumsticks + salad + lots of olive oil.

Thanks for posting the Taubes conclusions, I know I really need to read his book as I am having trouble getting my head around point 6: Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.

please :), so a couple of more questions, can I have black coffee? does the bad breath thing stick aorund?
I would be happy with pretty much any loss at the moment tbh, I have been losing and putting on the same pound for a bout 4 months now and I am bored of it.

I am trying to get though the water, I am not used to drinking much water but am on about my 5th glass today, for some reason it seems to be making me thirstier. now been hungry since lunch.

Thank you turtle doves for the link!

Dita, my bad taste in my mouth lasted around a week, I have no idea if my breath smelt but it felt to me like it did. I think coffee stalls weight loss in some people so you are best of cutting right down if you can to around 2 cups a day max.