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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Week 1 - New Year Low Carb Bootcamp - And We're Off!

999 replies

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 07:40

Morning, soon-to-be-losers!

Come and confess all on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Here is a reminder of the rules of Bootcamp:

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, and 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. Avoid foods marketed as low carb, e.g. Atkins Daybreak bars.

3.Maximise your fat intake.
Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though), 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.
But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list (see below). 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.Minimal dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited).
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 only in small amounts.

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

8.No fruit

9.No nuts/seeds

10.No sugar or artificial sweeteners

OP posts:
NoelHeadbands · 07/01/2013 22:06

Lol @ nose blowing and moisturiser Grin

slatternlymother · 07/01/2013 22:07

I've drank loads though! Over a litre over what I need to! I'll be wetting the bed!

Lastyearsmodel · 07/01/2013 22:16

Vanilla essence in Greek yoghurt! Thanks Doshu.

And thanks to other poster whose name is several pages back for info on toast/ketosis.

Having said I felt fine, clearly I hadn't been doing it right because now I feel really crap - first totally no-carb day. Yeay!

bulletwithbutterflywings · 07/01/2013 22:20

Thanks half :)
Im V. Jealous Scilly I live near London. Just have lots of rellies in that neck of the woods! Grin

cathyandclaire · 07/01/2013 22:23

mum I'm pretty sure olives are a great low carb snack to have, so don't worry! I wish I liked them but I just hate the taste.

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 22:26

Lastyearsmodel - I hope it wasn't a totally no-carb day! You are supposed to be eating carbs in the form of veg/salad ...

OP posts:
MegTheCat · 07/01/2013 22:26

Well, loads of great ideas on this thread. I have bookmarked the low carb mayonnaise and will definitely be trying the microwaved parmesan crisps.

I put my weight on the spreadsheet - was a bit disappointed I'd put on 1 1/2 lb in the last couple of weeks - but I looked back at the archived spreadsheets and realised I have lost 13% of my body weight since the end of July - I was Shock (and pleased obv).

B - 2 boiled eggs mashed with cream cheese (nice but I felt sick on the way to work - I have got a bit used to skipping breakfast so will try just one egg tomorrow)
L - chicken salad with mayonnaise and blue cheese
D - low carb chicken korma (specially made by DH who had even worked out the carb count) with cauliflower -
snacks: kale crisps, 2 cups coffee with cream
I'd like another coffee but I have just read the rules... Maybe just water then.

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 22:27

I wouldn't worry too much about the citric acid in the olives - it is something that is implicated in a stall, but at this stage, we're just trying to get going/make sure we know what we're doing.

OP posts:
mumat39 · 07/01/2013 22:33

Captainmummy, hello. Thanks for the tips about the roast chicken. I'm definitely going to make it again so will report back. Just catching up on the thread and noticed your reply. :)

PromQueenWithin · 07/01/2013 22:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NoveltySlippers · 07/01/2013 22:37

Evening all!

It was lovely reading everyone's stories up thread.

I'll try and make mine brief as it's the end of the day!

I was about 141lb this time last year. Have weighed myself today after a week of low-er carbing, and am now 135lb. I think this improvement is a combination of the past week, and trying to low GI over the past year - but progress with low GI was very, very slow, and there was lots of yo-yoing.

At 135lb, it doesn't sound like I have a huge amount that I need to lose, but my problem is my shape!

I'm short (in between 5'2" and 5'3" - depending on how good my posture is that day), and I'm an apple. I have broad shoulders, a large ribcage, quite muscley (not in a good way), and no waist to speak of. All my weight goes around my middle.

Some colleagues and I were in a gym earlier this year, and we decided to weigh ourselves on the scales. Everyone was surprised/somewhat in disbelief that I was the same weight as another woman who looks lovely and slim.

Unlike me however, she is an hourglass/pear, so looks nice and in proportion. So even though we were the same weight, where I carry my weight (spare tyre) makes me look bigger, and everything I wear look shapeless.

It gets me down sometimes, as it's so hard to look truly feminine with this shape (I have boobage, but this just contributes to the top heavy look). Sometime I get so depressed when I see my shot putters' arms! I don't think I've worn a sleeveless top since 1998!

I'm low carbing now as I realise that I'll never be a sinewy, sylph-like woman. But I'd at least like to be as fit and healthy as my shape will allow me to be. My waist-hip ratio is not good, and that's what I want to work on. If low carbing can get my insulin down and my middle area healthier, I'll be really happy.

So pleased to be on this thread with all you lovely ladies. And please excuse the essay!! Blush

TaffyandTeenyTaffy · 07/01/2013 22:43

Checking in a bit late after a nightmare work day followed by a 2 hour toddler bedtime tantrum.... but foodwise I think its been ok.

B - scrambled egg
L - Chicken salad and mayo
D - slow cooker beef, peppers, mushrooms, leeks and tomatoes - with a little bif of passata (not sure if thats ok as i couldnt read the label?) - with cauliflower, brocoli and carrots....
S - ham and soft cheese wraps

Only managed to do about half my water so far.... may be a late night!! (Good job there is a nice long thread to catch up on!)

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 22:44

NoveltySlippers - sounds like you and I have similar builds! I'm also 5 ft 2, and I'm like an inverted triangle - top half is bigger than my bottom half. Just before Christmas I'd got down to 129.75lbs, and was just beginning to see my tummy and the area around my rib cage/above my navel flattening out. 5lbs back on over Christmas has seen those areas balloon again.

It's made me realise that I do need to get down to about 122lbs to make sure that I get a flatter torso/tummy.

Training at the gym is definitely helping in this regard, and with muscle definition generally. In my head (I haven't shared this ambition with my trainer yet, as I think he would laugh at me!), I want arms as toned as Madonna's and abs like Jessica Ennis Grin

There's more chance of me achieving the former, given that Madge and I are roughly the same age. I doubt, very much, I'll ever have abs like Jessica's though!

PromQueenWithin - don't worry if you don't feel crap! The first time I ever low carbed, I didn't get it either. Now, caffeine withdrawal - that's another matter! We're all different and have different levels of carb sensitivity. Just be glad!

OP posts:
littlemissstan · 07/01/2013 22:45

PromQueen I'm on day 5 and still feel fine, no crapness for me except the ruddy awful taste in my mouth today. I'm hoping not everyone feels awful else I'm doing something wrong!
Roast chicken, rocket and DP's homemade coleslaw for dinner - all jolly nice. Gym in the morning and Greek yogurt prepared to take to work, just need to work round the hurdle of a client lunch at an unknown location! I'm thinking something like steak with salad/veg or a Caesar salad no croutons might be ok, fingers crossed it's on the menu!

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 22:45

Oh, and Novelty I've always had a large waist. I remember going to be measured for some school uniform aged around 11 and I had a waist of 26 inches then, even though I was a skinny thing.

OP posts:
mumat39 · 07/01/2013 22:47

Phew. Thank you ladies. I really thought I'd blown it. Xxx

Lastyearsmodel · 07/01/2013 22:56

Yep, am eating my veg from the allowed list Biwi. Just feels no carb compared to my usual stodgathon. Thanks for caring!

NoveltySlippers · 07/01/2013 22:57

BIWI that inverted triangle shape is so me, too!

My trousers or skirts can be 12 or even a 10 if the item is very forgiving. But my top half is easily a 14. If it's clingy or a woollen top that I worry will shrink, I get a 16!

I also can't tuck anything in or wear belts, as it just draws attention to my lack of waist.

That's really interesting to hear what your target weight is, as I was thinking about that and had no idea what to aim for. At my slimmest, I think I've been about 129lb. But as you say, that wasn't enough to get a flat tummy. Something in the early 120s sounds ideal. I can't ever remember beng that weight or knowing what it feels like, so I feel excited aiming for it!

Here's to shifting those pesky lbs, and to Jessica Ennis' abs! Grin

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 22:59
Grin
OP posts:
BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 23:00

Lastyearsmodel - glad to hear it! No stodge on Bootcamp, definitely!

OP posts:
NoveltySlippers · 07/01/2013 23:01

Yup - hear ya BIWI. The reason I know I can't tuck things in or wear a belt is that I tried to do this at school when I was about 15 (and probably 8.5 stone or something). A friend actually told me I'd look better without the belt! Lesson learned....

It's an annoying shape, but as you say, we can at least aim for trim and athletic - even if I'll never be Scarlett Johansson/Marilyn Monroe!

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 23:03

I could never wear jackets with shoulder pads, when they were in fashion, as they made me look like an American football player!

OP posts:
Ruprekt · 07/01/2013 23:04

Let's all have a great day tomorrow too!

NoveltySlippers · 07/01/2013 23:08

Aargh - yes! Or anything with even slightly puffed sleeves!

Have been trying to find a black cardigan for a year (adventurous, moi) and they all have flipping puffed sleeves!

Have also been too scared to get skinny jeans, fearing the top heavy issue. (Have no hips or bum to speak of. Just lots of muffin top. Smile)

Valdeeves · 07/01/2013 23:08

First real day for me - eggs and butter with cress for lunch and mince stuffer peppers and garlic mushrooms and Aubergine crisps for tea.
Have managed two cups of warm water and a tea (got a toddler and a baby - no time to drink!)
Lets hope the rest of the week goes as well! Xxx