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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 5 - New Year Low Carb Bootcamp - We Reach the Halfway Point!

702 replies

BIWI · 04/02/2013 09:46

Sorry for the late start to this thread. I had an appointment at my gym for an induction this morning.

If you haven't already, put yourself on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Good luck for the week!

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BIWI · 05/02/2013 08:40

My only other thought, Penny, was the almonds. Could it be that you have an intolerance to nuts?

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Iamaslummymummy · 05/02/2013 08:43

I can definitely recommend the flax "porridge" and magnesium (I take 750kg but thats to counteract the drugs I'm on) to sort constipation. Blush I'm not an egg for breakfast person really so its nice to have "cereal".Smile

PennyHofstadter · 05/02/2013 08:45

I'm not sure to be honest BIWI as nuts aren't something that I knowingly ate on a regular basis before this WOE. Again though it's a possibility.

BIWI · 05/02/2013 08:50

BlackAffronted I know you're having a tough time of it right now - but can I suggest (gently and kindly Grin) that you just step back a bit and have a look at what you have achieved? And realise just how much you are sabotaging your own best efforts?

With such a large initial loss, it was inevitable that you weren't going to see such large losses in the following weeks.

And I did warn you - and everyone else - that weeks 3 and 4 were likely to be no-loss weeks

Now, you have almost guaranteed that you will put weight back on!

However. Perhaps it was a good thing if it's helped you realise that you have lost the taste for (cheap) chocolate!

Water, and a super strict 'rest of the week' and you will be fine.

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BlackAffronted · 05/02/2013 09:19

captain, it was too sweet! I know I wont be touching one again!

Whippoorwhill · 05/02/2013 09:22

BlackAffronted. When I started low carbing I had a period continually for about 8 weeks. Not just spotting but full on heavy bleeding. The doctor said the same as someone further up the thread, that as you lose fat you release estrogen which can mess you up for a while until your body gets used to it. This can mean confused periods but also other hormonal symptoms, water retention, hot flushes, cold chills, cravings and skin break outs. It sounds to me like you are experiencing something very much like that. The only answer is to wait it out. Eventually things calm down and even out.

Don't stress about the weight loss at all. Relax and enjoy bring able to eat well and nourish your body while it sorts itself out. Check out all the information about why a low calorie, low fat diet, high in carbs is so bad for you and how high fat, low carb is the answer and then eat. Eat as much as you want of very low carb foods. Don't try to lose weight just yet, see this as a pre weight loss adjustment period. You won't be doing yourself any more harm as long as you don't go back to eating crap, in fact you will be healthier than before. Being fat is not the cause of most health problems, the carbs that caused you to be fat is what does the damage. Cut the carbs and you can be bloody healthy AND fat.

Once your hormones have settled down, took between 8 and 10 weeks in my case, you will probably see your weight start to fall naturally. If not you can then begin to tweak your diet to facilitate weight loss.

Please, please, please don't go back to low calorie dieting so early in the process. It didn't help before and it won't help now.

TheEarlyBird · 05/02/2013 09:51

BIWI - thanks so much for the feedback, pun intended :) . I think I need to really remember to eat fat and veg/salad. I have a (wrong) notion that by just eating protein I will lose weight. The sausage was a good quality butcher's sausage so I hope I limited the carb count and the salad dressing has 7.2/100 carbs so I hope the damage would be negligible - although I see that of those grams 6.3 were sugar. Did use a very small amount though.
Am good at drinking my water (and cursing you in the middle of the night). I have two industrial strength coffees in the morning, maybe 2 cups of regular tea and the several cups of ginger tea or other "tissane" through the day. I drink them all black as, happily for me, I don't like milk!!

LavenderBriggs · 05/02/2013 10:06

I've copied this over from previous thread, c/o PostBellumBugsy

For chocolate cravers, I make a kind of tiffin:

one rounded teaspoon of cocoa powder
one rounded tablespoon of ground almonds
one rounded tablespoon of coconut flour or dessicated coconut
one teaspoon of ground flaxseeds
half an ounce of butter
one teaspoon of sucralose or artificial powdered sweetner

Melt the butter & stir in all the dry ingredients, if it looks to dry add a little more butter.

Spread out on a plate / dish etc. Pop in fridge for 30 mins.

I'm going in chaps! I'm going to make some and see how they come out. Will not be adding any sweetener (as it really hurts my stomach).

WillieWaggledagger · 05/02/2013 10:21

Novelty I have the low carb gourmet book, it's good and it has pictures whih is always a plus!

littlermissstan · 05/02/2013 10:25

Well I think I have kicked myself back into ketosis as I have the hideous mouth thing again, nice! And I am wearing a lovely clingy dress today as feeling very slender which is odd but really nice!

I am re-reading IPD and the section last night about having support really struck me last night - you are all my 'diet buddies' and as Black said I'm not sure I'd still be sticking to it if it wasn't for you all. So, Thanks

Also had a bit of a revelation - my colleague bought me two of my fave American chocolate bars last week. They are the kind that is two little bars in one wrapper. I did eat one of the little bars, but wrapped the other half back up and put it in my desk drawer with the other full one. And they are STILL THERE! There is no way I would ever have done that before, they'd have both been gone by hometime. But now I think that I know what they taste like, and I will have a bit more at some point, but I don't NEED to in the way I used to. Hooray!

NoveltySlippers · 05/02/2013 10:38

Oh that's great to hear Willie - am really excited about getting the cook book (sad). And I do love pictures!

PennyHofstadter · 05/02/2013 10:41

I've also just ordered that book from Amazon. I'm running out of ideas so I need some inspiration.

NoveltySlippers · 05/02/2013 10:46
FYI - Dr Andreas Eenfeldt interviewing Mark Sisson of the blog Mark's Daily Apple.

For those who don't know, Mark's WOE is obviously not Bootcamp (he has his own WOE, which he calls the Primal Blueprint and is basically Paleo but with dairy, as far as I can tell).

But this interview has lots of nice tips on low carbing in general which will be helpful for maintenance later on. (He says he eats around 70g carbs a day, but goes up to 100g if he has dark choc and red wine in the evening!).

Best thing about him though is his enthusiasm for low carbing which really comes across. The guy is late 50s but seems to have the energy (and bod!) of someone decades younger.

NoveltySlippers · 05/02/2013 10:47

(not sure about his blonde hair dye job though Hmm)

NoveltySlippers · 05/02/2013 10:48

Penny great! Let me know if you try any really good recipes from it.

BIWI · 05/02/2013 10:55

TheEarlyBird - that salad dressing is way too carby! Why not make your own? Extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and black pepper - and no carbs!

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BIWI · 05/02/2013 10:56

And can I take this opportunity to remind you (all) of Rule 3 of Bootcamp:

Eating fat will not make you fat. Honestly! But it will keep your appetite satisfied, and it sustains your body?s energy requirements perfectly. Fat does not provoke an insulin spike, unlike carbs which do (a lot) and protein (a little). 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!

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Jacaqueen · 05/02/2013 11:06

We have proper snow here today.

I am going to use last Fridays weight for this weeks weigh in as the scales are all over the place at the moment. I hurt my back on Sunday so have been taking pain killers. These always have an effect on my stomach and the scales. This will help keep me on the straight and narrow until weigh in next Monday.

Those that are struggling please keep at it. I have started and stopped this WOE so many times over the years. However I have stuck at it pretty consistently since last April and as a result I am 3 stone down. There was a period over the summer where I didn't lose for about 6 weeks. To be fair I was doing Bootcamp extra light during this time so that is hardly surprising. I have fallen off the wagon and had planned cheats but have still lost 3 stone. Imagine what I could have lost if I had followed it properly.

I can't tell you the difference this 3 stone loss has made, both physically and psychologically. One of my greatest fears used to be having to go to a social function and having nothing to wear. Especially an unexpected one like a funeral. Well I went to FIL's funeral on Friday and it was such a relief not to have to worry about what I looked like or what I could wear. I know this sounds shallow, but there were people there who I have not seen for over 20 years and I didn't want them thinking that I had let myself go. I'm sure that they would not have been thinking that anyway but it was good to be able to just blend in.

I still have around 2 stone to lose but I don't feel phased by that. It may take a couple of months or a couple of years (hopefully not), but it will come off and I will continue to enjoy my life while it does.

Please try and look at the bigger picture. It is just under 8 weeks to Easter, 20 weeks to the longest day and 46 weeks to Christmas. If you stick to the basic low carb principles just think how much lighter you could be by these dates.

TheEarlyBird · 05/02/2013 11:25

BIWI - thanks again. Jacaqueen - lovely post. I am finding this thread a real godsend - it's amazing how bonding a group of strangers can be. I'm enjoying all my little milestones along the way and have just got my BMI under 25 for the first time in my adult life :). I want to lose another 6kg so that I have a bit of "wiggle room" for things like holidays and celebrations. Sun is shining here - happy days!

BIWI · 05/02/2013 11:31

Great post, Jacaqueen.

But I'm sorry to hear you've hurt your back Sad. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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FurryDogMother · 05/02/2013 12:06

STS this week, but not surprised cos I downed over a bottle of white wine on Sunday whilst out for Sunday lunch with a mate. Lunch itself was good - prawn cocktail, roast pork, crackling, cabbage, broccoli, cauli cheese, mashed swede, cheeseboard with celery.

Am dogsitting for a friend today, so brought a packed brunch of lettuce, crispy bacon bits, 1 tomato, and 2 hardboiled duck eggs and a bit of Heinz Caesar dressing. Yum.

Next week'll be my last weigh in for 7 weeks, 'cos I'll be back home, where I don't own any scales. TBH I'll be glad to lose the pressure of a weekly weigh-in - only started weighing at the beginning of this bootcamp, and am finding myself thinking about weight a lot more than I was when I was losing 'blindly'. I'll put myself on the spreadsheet as STS until I can weigh again after April 23rd - hopefully will see more loss by then!

BlackAffronted · 05/02/2013 12:11

Jac, thank you for that great post . Everyone else who has encouraged me, a huge thanks to you too, you have honeslty saved me from myself! It has confirmed that I want to eat this way forever, I just have to wait for the hormones to settle! I obviosly have a lot of estrogen stored Grin

Whipper, how did you cope with 8 week periods Shock I am gurning and weeping about 3 weeks Blush

Have had some yummy bacon, eggs & mushrooms for brekkie, I am having cod wrapped in parma ham & roasted fennel for lunch. Tea will probably be pork chops & buttery green beans.

BIWI · 05/02/2013 12:20

That sounds good - I love, love, love fennel!

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skandi1 · 05/02/2013 12:51

Afternoon.

So far today
B: omelette cooked in coconut oil
L- prawn w mayo and avocado (lots of lovely avocado)

Not sure of dinner yet. Poss roast chicken.

Oh and buckets of coffee as usual.

It's utter chaos here. House upside down with decorators etc everywhere. Starting to go slightly insane with it all. This house needed a lot of work and we are working thru it but still a depressing amount to do.

DS is napping and DD is insisting on climbing on the furniture in the lounge and I am pretending I haven't seen what's going on.

Hope you are all having a great day.

Jac. What a lovely post re low carbing. Gave me a bit of encouragement.

BIWI. I am 40 in 6 months time and I want to be in my normal pre DC clothes before that. If you recall I have 30lbs to lose and lost 3 so far. What do I have to do to make that happen??

BIWI · 05/02/2013 13:04

skandi1 - don't weep! We are only into week 5 - you have another 6 months! If, let's say, you lost 3lbs in the first 4 weeks, that would equate to another 18lbs off in 6 months' time.

OK, that's not the 30 that you want - but also, the rate of loss may pick up for you anyway. Especially once you start getting more/better sleep!

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