Week 6 - New Year Low Carb Bootcamp _ Where I start to wave my big stick again

[BIWI]

Morning all

Here it is - come and confess all

Now. Three things have come to my attention.

1. There is a lot of baking going on. Sweet things and bread substitutes.

Please remember that we are trying to avoid sweet things and that we are trying to avoid using artificial sweeteners.

1. A lot most of you are falling off the wagon - either 'accidentally' () or because situations arise where you have not planned ahead or deliberately.

This is not a very forgiving WOE. Lapses/cheats like this will have a big impact - at the very least you will not see any weight loss for a while - most likely, though, you will see a gain of around 3-7lbs. You really have to plan ahead and make sure you do everything you can to stay focused and avoid the carbs. Going out for a meal or to dinner at a friends does mean that you have to think about what's going to be on offer. You cannot assume that low carb options are going to be available (although most restaurants should be fairly easy to navigate).

1. There is a lot of moaning about seeing a weight gain or not losing.

May I refer you to 1 and 2 above?

Please, please, please go back to Bootcamp/Bootcamp Light rules. They are there for a reason!

I can tell you that almost every time someone posts "I don't know what to do, the scales aren't moving for me/I've gained half a stone and I don't know why, because I'm being really good/have been following the rules" this is a massive signal that, actually, they haven't.

Fat is key.
Water is key.
Too much alcohol will stop weight loss.
Dairy - especially cream and cheese - can be an issue for many (yoghurt is better tolerated)
Artificial sweeteners are to be avoided.
Fruit should be severely restricted.

We have only five weeks of Bootcamp left, including this week. Let's get serious and back on track.

Happy Birthday bullett

I think lots of us are struggling with cravings, for me I think sugar has been a lifelong addiction and its not going quietly!

Interesting to hear some of you Have haddizziness and lightheadedness, ice suffered like that for years ... Gone since this WOE, but had huge dizzy spell about 2 hrs after a small slice of birthday cake.

Have any of you tried a pint of water when cravings appear from nowhere to see if you are in fact thirsty? It helps me, as does putting on my runners, taking a brisk walk round the block if I can...

I have no halloumi ewan but your recipe is just the inspiration I need for some chicken and a random chunk of swede

Sorry lots of silly iPad typos

Didn't mean that last past to sound like I'd got the Pom Poms out...the sugar cravings feel like they are eating me alive at times and I am trying everything to banish them so I don't tell myself that a small piece of chocolate won't really matter. Hence running round the block in the rain and other ridiculous things

Happy birthday bullet!

Thank you, I'll try drinking lots of water next time and really thinking it through. Do you think the scales are going to be horrid to me tomorrow now? I like to weigh daily still as I find it really motivating as I'm losing 400/500g a day some days.

I guess I have had cravings and not given in to them, just been too busy, so thats another thing to think about. Onwards and upwards and all that.

Good luck today slummy

Happy Birthday bullet hope you have a lovely day and get spoiled in lots of lovely LC ways!!

Blizzard here this morning, so last day of half term looking pretty quiet here!

Hope everyone has a good day.

Happy happy birthday bullet

I like the analogy that you wouldn't go and slash your other three tyres - thanks for that willie, I don't care if it's cheesy - will help me get back on the wagon after giving in to wine to temptation.

Cream cheese pancakes with berries, creme fraiche and cinnamon and vanilla sugar for breakfast, very spoiling - I made mine in a small (and very hot) pan and they didn't fall apart and looked almost the same as regular pancakes.

Now just brewing up a garlicy kale and chorizo broth for lunch.

ewan that sounds gorgeous - can you roughly describe what you did? Have all the ingredients lurking in fridge (no need to be precise - I too am a flinger-inner)

The water thing works quite well for me - or a cup of tea with coconut oil - often it is thirst not hunger for me that triggers a craving. That helps and also displacement activity eg rabid cleaning. A walk sounds a great idea, thanks, will try that too.

And thanks LavenderBriggs for the info on low carbing and exercise - that is the motivation I need to get back into the running.

Ooops not vanilla sugar - no, no, of course not

Glad to hear it, Choos!

Dangerous - one of the techniques that Dr Briffa covered on the Mumsnet Academy day that I went to was tapping, also known as the Emotional Freedom Technique.

have a read here

It seemed a bit 'woo' to me, but he was very evangelical about it, and it's a technique that he uses. Could be worth a try?

The other question, of course, is why you had that chocolate to hand in the first place?!

I'll check out the 'tapping thing' later, thanks. I had the chocolate as it's the childrens left over from christmas, they have a few bits left which I let them have a bit of every now and again... They ain't getting the lindt bunny though are they?! And the biscuits I had as I have a few children here after school, so they sometimes have a biccie when they get in.

None of the times were intentional and I have been so good at resisting tempting things - meal in hageen daaz restaurant, I only had a coffee, trip to hotel chocolat shop, I wasn't tempted, not tempted with pancakes with melted choc yesterday. It was very impulsive.

Oh my gosh, I have been without internet since yesterday evening! I even had to have a conversation with my husband last night

I am up 2 lbs. Why oh why? Like Skandi, this just doesnt seem to work with me, despite the initial loss. Still going to stick it out til the end of Bootcamp & then consider my options. Thinking about asking the Dr about a gastric band, and then using LC to mantain. I dunno, so confused right now.

Enjoyed my pancakes last night (low carb!) The weird thing is, I am finding this woe sooooo easy. If I was dropping weight, Id be ecstatic. I dont get carb cravings, I dont have a sweet tooth and love meat & veg. If my weight was dropping, I could happily eat this way the rest of my life!

Worked my butt off at zumba this morning, had lunch and am now away to chill on the sofa with DS because its incredibely snowy out there.

Black, i wonder if it's to be to do with all the exercise you've been doing. I'm sure I've read somewhere that muscles hold onto water in order to help them heal. That and the fact that working out you lose fat but gain muscle weight which weighs more.

Do you feel any different? Clothes feeling looser etc? Maybe that might be a better way to see how you're doing!
xxx

Re the body self regulating BIWI - YOU may think that you are carrying extra unecessary weight around your middle - but your body hasn't been under the same influences as your mind has has it? I mean your mind is telling you that you 'should' be a certain size and shape, based on society's influences ( I am not for a minute implying you are easily swayed by pictures of models in magazines for eg, but we are all guided subconciously by images all around us all the time and what we are "told" is the best body shape to have). Maybe the size you are is the size you are meant to be? Ditto me? I would love to be a few pounds lighter but am where I am and for me I have decided that is target.

??

Dosh - I think I know where BIWI is coming from.

From an earlier discussion she and I had, we are a similarish shape - a 'V' shape or apple shape, with broad shoulders, and not much of a waist - we have negligble bum/hips but all the weight goes straight to the stomach / round the abdomen. Even when you slim down, with this type of body shape, this abdominal fat is very stubborn and hard to shift.

I basically don't ever remember having a flat stomach / no love handles, even when I'm 9 stone. It's a pain....but am thinking it must be do-able to get rid of it. The other reason why we 'V' shapes or apples want to get rid of it is that we keep getting told that abdominal fat is the worst kind of fat to have, as it means your fat is visceral and therefore kind of all around your vital organs. Whereas fat on the hips / thighs is less dangerous.

Black & Skandi - sorry to hear it doesn't seem to be working for you.

Atkins goes through a list of things that can prevent weight loss or make it very slow. The book is at home, and I'm at work so I'm trying to remember what they are:

Thyroid problems
HRT or the pill
Candida (yeast)
Being menopausal
Some vitamin & mineral deficiencies

He also notes that some people just lose very slowly - possibly because they are borderline insulin resistant and it takes the body quite a while to correct this massive insulin surge triggered every time you eat.

So, please don't give up yet.

You might also want to consider a carb counter. I know we don't need to weigh with this WOE, but I have found it really helpful to be sure I am really keeping my carbs low. I've done this WOE on & off for years, but I'd got a bit sloppy about remembering how many carbs are in foods. You only have to see my mistake with the coconut flour further up the thread to see that I'm a bit dappy! I downloaded a free carb counter on to my phone & it has really helped me. I am keeping my carbs to under 25g per day & I am losing well. I had been eating about 40-50g of carb a day & for me that is too much to actually lose. It won't be for lots of people, but I think I am a tortoise, so it was.

Hi Post - that is interesting - I have been tracking my carbs for the last 2 weeks (never bothered before) and average at about 20-25 a day. And I maintain at that level. Imagine what I would have to eat to lose weight!!!

Thanks LavenderBriggs - yes, in the bad old days I would've have had either a massive jacket potato, pasta or big baguette for lunch, followed with some cake and poss crisps, followed by a total energy slump rendering my afternoon useless! Now I eat salad, avocado, smoked salmon or ham....so it is a big improvement!

Skandi - yes, are you sure you want to go back to Dukan??

Dukan makes you eat low fat foods and thinks fat is bad. That is a big difference between the WOEs, and low fat/low carb makes you feel so much more deprived. (We have a Dukan-er here in the office - have witnessed it first hand!). It may give you rapid weight losses, but is that WOE sustainable? It's very restrictive - and I'm not sure baning vegetables is a good idea, tbh.

(Think we might need BIWI to come back with her stick to chat to Skandi!)

Post yes, that's very interesting about the many different poss reasons for slow weight loss.

Sorry - supposed to be working - will have a ponder and come back later hopefully with something helpful.

Making curried mince for dinner :) Having mine with broccoli, everyone else having brown rice. Taking DS, who is 4, to his first karate lesson first though - hope he enjoys it!

Blimey this is a fast moving thread!

Well the crustless quiche muffin thingys were delicious, I will do those again.

Choos your garlic/kale/chorizo broth sounds lovely, any chance of that going on the recipe thread?

Sorry to hear some of you are struggling and don't feel it's working for you

I have stuck to my plan today, woohoo! Think it was helpful to post my menu yesterday, I felt like I had to keep to it now. Successfully negotiated baby cafe which sells the most FANTASTIC cakes for only £1 and I resisted and just had a cuppa, and then scarfed the cheese and cucumber that DD left from her lunch.

Happy birthday
Ackershully BIWI I wasn't on the bootcamp last night.....
I ate a lot of spinach and it was a big mushroom, I didn't feel great last night and didn't feel like eating, tonight I'll be having cauliflower cheese, broccoli with my chicken and I had more spinach & a mushroom with my dinner (belly pork) hopefully that will be enough.
I'm finding drinking the wAter hard today, which is unusual for me, prob the bunged upness and cold miserable weather.

Early retirement medical done and dusted. Now to decide what lovely lc Chinese takeaway. Doc said he couldn't see I was capable of working for at least 3-5 years. Just got to hope the pension trustees agree.

Good News slummy - i think?

skandi!

I'm really sorry that you're not having any joy with your scales. Do your clothes feel any different?

I know I've asked you this before, but I can't remember - how much do you weigh? You're not on the spreadsheet so I can't check! And how tall are you?

And I know I've asked you to do this before, but list out for me everything that you've been having to eat and drink over the last 5 days. Let's see if we can work out what's going on for you.

Dosh - I know what you mean, but no - there's no body dysmorphia going on here! A definite roll of flab around my middle. It's where I put weight on first, so it stands to reason it's where I'm likely to lose it last. Although it's not massive - I can still wear reasonably fitted clothes - it is there, and that's the last bit I want to get shot of.

Slummy I hope you get the decision you want from the pensions people

Sorry some people are struggling today.

It's interesting what people are saying about the last few pounds. I'm really confused, as I'm now at the weight which was my goal, 8st 2.
Usually at this weight I'm really slim. I was this 2 years ago and didn't have an ounce of fat on me. I am doing the 30 day shred 3/4 times a week too. When I tense my abdomen I can see muscles but they are under a layer of fat!

maybe it's my age? I'm 47