Throwing new fuel on the Bootcamp Camp Fire

[BIWI]

Here is the new, shiny thread. Only three weeks or so to go until we swing into really strict mode!

Meals today

breakfast - coffee with coconut milk - not good but will attempt to convince my taste buds again tomorrow.

Lunch chicken curry with broccoli

Dinner home made burgers with shallots and mushroom

Snacks Cornish yarg cheese & 3 slices of parma ham.

Hi all, I have been away for a little while and no longer low carbing but I was with you for 3 months and stopped low carbing about a month ago.

I don't want to alarm anyone but feel I should let you know, I have been experiencing awful problems with my hair which I am almost positive is due to the change in diet for me. Started with thinning all over and my hair is now still falling out 4-5 months since starting Bootcamp and it is devastating me because its very noticeable now and showing no sign of stopping yet. I have obviously returned to my normal eating! Never ever had anything like this happen before. I have had blood levels checked and all seems to be normal.

I did not need to lose much weight with BC and just lost a little very slowly, so I think it's not so much related to the weight loss but to the stress of being in ketosis perhaps? I just don't know. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that it will grow back.

And just be aware, I know this will not happen to everyone, but there may be a few people that might notice it starting for them - I would advise to stop LCing if it does.

Oh dear, Medal, I'm sorry to hear that

I wonder why?

How low carb were you eating and for how long? Ketosis is just about fat-burning so could it really be so stressful? What does your GP say?

Are there any supplements you could take for this? Vit E is one I think that could help.

Hmm. A quick Google suggests telogen effluvium. A temporary condition that will resolve itself. Caused by rapid weight loss and poor nutrition. Look to increase vitamin B and iron - and increase vitamin C levels to ensure adequate absorption of iron.

A timely lesson, as LBD approaches, of the need to eat well as well as low carb.

I hope things resolve themselves for you quickly Medal

biwi did you read the telegraph article? Interesting that they put it down to lack of iron, also interesting that the dietitian suggested that low carbers would experience a lack of Vit C, as this is such as easy nutrient to obtain but also Vit C is needed to help the body absorb plant sources of iron, a low carber by the very nature of their diet will be eating animal sources of iron, which the body can access very easily. Sometimes the bull in these Articles makes me very cynical. Who eats a low carb diet and doesn't eat veg? No one with a brain! If you do you deserve a slap! You can eat a pretty poor low fat diet....jelly tots anyone?

medal hope you recover soon, I know a few people who have lost hair, but it's been due to stressful events in their lives and the hair loss has added to their stress.

Good morning all, sorry to hear about your problems medal

I am 1lb up today, but to be honest did not eat much yesterday and no where near enough water.

Just had some left over pork for breakfast and a coffee to try and wake me up, DS2 up most of the night could not get to sleep either as have been invaded by giant creepy spiders!!!

I have woken up with a carb hangover. There really is no other way to describe it. I feel dreadful, headachey, sluggish and bloated. Why a carb hangover you say? because I ate 1 1/2 packets (yes packets) of biscuits, 4 slices of toast and several handfuls of sugar cover almonds yesterday. I was also pretty rubbish the day before too!
__
That's the line under the rubbish food days.

It has shown me two things however 1) I think carbs are pretty "addictive" once the packet was opened I sort of could control myself and then got a bit dazed. 2) this WOE is much better for me then a low fat low calorie diet as carbs make me feel rubbish.

I'm probably going to move towards lurking for the next few weeks but will pop back when I can. Will aim to start bootcamp on the 14th.

Good morning
Are supplements a good idea/necessary with this WOE? I usually try to have a berocca every day, so I hope this would be sufficient. Also eat tonnes of spinach, courgettes, broccoli, but not much of anything else which isn't green, except mushrooms.

B- eggs, mushrooms and creme fraiche
L - probably won't get lunch - busy today
D - roast chicken or indian take-away (mmm, I wonder which one!)

And it's Friday which always cheers me up.

Morning all. Just back from school run. Got a busy day taking ds1 to orthodontists, food shop, visit mum etc etc. Oh the excitement of my life is just too much.

I tend to get constipated if I have to much dairy. I find taking some psyllium husk capsules help to keep things moving. But don't take them until you have cleared the blockage as they are not a laxative just a bulking agent.

Congratulations on the new job tea. Hope you are keeping your chin up Sharon.

Yesterday I had greek yog for breakfast, cream of spinach soup with cheese crisps for lunch and a sort of cauliflower risotto thing that needs a bit of tweaking but has potential to be a fantastic winter comfort dish.

Was a bit pissed off with DH last night so ended up having two gin and slimline along with some of those Hogbite pork scratching things. I need to stop buying them as I can't resist them. It would have been better for my diet to have had an argument and gone to bed early.

No idea what food I am having today. Not hungry so I will delay breakfast for a while.

Congrats on new job tea.

medal what does your GP say about the hair loss? Definitely go and speak to them as whilst it might just be related to a deficiency in your diet which will be easily reversible it can also be an indicator of something more serious (and unrelated) such as thyroid issues.

I have also been concerned in the past with hair loss. Not really because of low carbing, more just a getting old thing. I have started to take Biotin capsules to see if this makes any difference. I also take an omega 3 fish oil capsule and an effervescent multivitamin.

Can I ask a fairly silly question?

I get the idea of LC I really do, but I don't know how sustainable it is. I have been truly amazed at how much better I feel when I do not eat refined carbs in pasta, bread (especially) and rice. I don't crave sugar constantly, I eat balanced healthy meals and most importantly I can think clearly enough to work in a focussed way on very little sleep.

If I stick to eating much fewer carbs without being low carb would I lose weight?

Hi all

Ive refound the thread... Been so busy, sorry i havent appeared for a
While!! Im still going but always seem to be going the same kilo up and down and i dare say that cos i havent been overly strict with myself like im meant to have been!!

Weighing in at 86.7 this morning... Ill catch up with the thread on the PC tonight x

Eyes - the thing about long term low carbing is that we each have to find the level of carbs we can tolerate before we see weight gain. So you need to work out how low you have to go to lose weight - everyone is different. This is the underlying objective of Atkins - start really low to get the fat-burning established and gradually add carbs back in (5g a day extra, from memory - but I could be very wrong!) until weight loss stops or you see a weight gain.

Morning losers! Thanks for all the good wishes re: job - it's v exciting!

Eyes - like BIWI says, everyone is different and will have their own levels of carb tolerance. So while some might need to stick to 20-30g per day to lose, some could eat much more and still lose well (probably more slowly though).

Re: sustainability: I think most people will see the health benefits of a diet low in wheat and sugar. For some an induction/bootcamp level might not be that sustainable in the long term but then again it's not meant to be, really. I know that now I've reached the magic 10 stone, I seem able to maintain that quite easily because my way of thinking about food has fundamentally changed. I may eat more carbs than I did a couple of months ago, but I'm still very much in a low-carb mindset. For example, the meals I prepare at home are still low-carb ones, I just give myself a bit more leeway now when out and about (if there's no low-carb option). And it seems to work, and it means that this is a WOE for life.

Morning all. Just back from the gym. Didn't really feel like going today as I didn't sleep too well last night (DD waking) but I went straight after the school run and felt much better once I was there.

The mention of maintenance and sustainability is interesting. As a WOE, I think it is very sustainable as the food is delicious, healthy and we all seem to feel so much better when we don't eat refined carbs. As for finding your level for maintenance, that could be the challenging part, especially as generally we are not counting carbs like we would on atkins so don't really know how many we are eating for weight loss etc. Ideally I don't want to get into counting extra 5g of carbs a day and then having to count for the rest of my life so I personally think I will go with the Mark Sisson Primal blueprint woe as maintenance. It is really just increasing the amount of veg, adding in nuts, the odd extra fruit, slightly carbier veg like carrots and sweet potatoes (although not every day) and keeping an eye on the scales. If they start to go up, cut back on the sweet pots, fruits, nuts etc a little until your weight settles. Then you will have an idea of the levels you can tolerate without having to resort to counting.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can make different veg more palatable for the DC? All this talk of deficiencies etc has got me worried about the fact they seem to only eat salad veg.

Do they like cheese sauce? Cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and potatoes (cooked) covered in sauce and baked till cheese browns.

If the like chilli - leeks or broccoli pan fried with onion and garlic with chilli is lovely

Veggies in cheese sauce sound yum BIWI

goddess I am hereeee lol x

Medal, I am in a similar situation to you regarding hair loss. It is so hard. But it started for me over a year before I started low-carbing. As yet I haven't been able to get any answers which is a big frustration. Have you had your thyroid checked?

Fat, BIWI and others - thanks, I was Bootcamping for around 3.5 months and not incredibly low carb either, as I was eating berries and nuts and cheating in other ways! Noticed the hair thinning starting around 3 months in, which having googled in panic appears to be a normal time frame after the body receives a stress or a shock to the system. There does seem to be a fair bit on the internet linking low carb to hair loss so maybe i am just one of the unlucky ones.

I have had my thyroid checked and all seems ok. Have also been taking vitamins and biotin like Jacaqueen to see if it will help.

Medal, otherwise know as Scalpy....

Sorry to hear that medal. Very distressing. Hope it all grows back soon!

Greek yoghurt for brekkie.

Swam a mile then ran 4km.

No lunch yet, been on back to back very boring conference calls since I got back....zzzzzzz

Hi... I've been reading about your plans for maintenance and am sort of at the level to start maintaining now ( my thighs and bum still bigger than I'd like but face starting to look old and haggard!!!).....but I'm scared! When you eat more carbs and come out of ketosis do you regain lots of weight in fluid/ whatever? And how do you stop yourself feeling bingey? I'm ok on low carbs but when I try and edge them up I think....to hell with it, I might as well eat a twix now!
Am I just a hopeless case?

Totallyclueless I have been eating carbs again now for the last month or longer and I haven't put any weight on yet. I haven't really been eating any sugary rubbish though so that may be why.

Thanks medal! That's really encouraging I will stick to healthy carbs, I' m bit of an all or nothing person...which is probably why I had to start this WOE in the first place!
I hope your hair loss settles soon