Pre-Christmas Low Carb Bootcamp starts on 12 October

[BIWI]

Come and sign up here if you want to play!

[BIWI]

Here are the rules of Bootcamp, if you're interested. It's been designed to be simple - no counting or weighing of anything. But simple doesn't mean easy! The clue is in the name ...

So we don't eat refined/processed carbs, which means that you won't eat any of these:

potatoes
rice
pasta
bread (in any form - including wraps, pitta, bagels, naan, chappatti, etc)
flour
sugar

The first two weeks of Bootcamp are really strict, and so as well as avoiding the above, this is what you need to do:

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. 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 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

[regenerationfez]

ooh am I the first signer upper? Me please! I might start a bit early though and strike while the iron is hot, so to speak!

[BIWI]

[StuntNun]

I'm in!

[BestIsWestOfGallifrey]

I'm in please .

BestisWest
BIWI
StuntNun

[BestIsWestOfGallifrey]

Oops forgot my fellow DrWho fan

BestIsWest
BIWI
RegenerationFez
StuntNun

[JustRosieHere]

I'm in! I have low carbed successfully before but fell off the wagon and piled on the pounds. Time to sort it out!

[glenthebattleostrich]

BestIsWest
BIWI
RegenerationFez
StuntNun
JustRosieHere
Glenthebattleostrich

I need to get into this properly before Christmas to help with the princessing!

[regenerationfez]

bestiswest how could you? I need an idiots guide to what I need to do threadwise as its the first time I've done a Mumsnet club thread thing.

[BestIsWestOfGallifrey]

Sorry Fez. Here's a to make up for it.

[BIWI]

No instructions needed, regenerationfez! When Bootcamp starts I set up one chat thread per week, and each thread is always titled something along the lines of "Week 1, Pre-Christmas Bootcamp, and we're off ..."

I always post a link to our spreadsheet, which is where everyone records their Monday weigh-in (if they want to - it's not compulsory), and which has all kinds of useful information contained within it, e.g. the rules, the list of veg carb counts, links to useful websites, blogs, videos, etc.

At the beginning of each Bootcamp I also set up a thread for questions, because the chat threads can move very quickly sometimes, so if someone has a specific question it's more likely to be seen on the questions thread.

So the chat thread is simply that - a place to chat about how it's going, what you're eating, how much you're losing (or not!), a place to moan and vent. Just like the rest of Mumsnet

[TwoflowersLuggage]

BestIsWest
BIWI
RegenerationFez
StuntNun
JustRosieHere
Glenthebattleostrich
TwoflowersLuggage

Me too please!

[ShebaQueen]

Count me in, have kept going under my own steam since last bootcamp ended but I'd welcome some support

BestIsWest
BIWI
RegenerationFez
StuntNun
JustRosieHere
Glenthebattleostrich
TwoflowersLuggage
ShebaQueen

[regenerationfez]

Great Biwi, I'm going to have a trial run this week!

[SayrraT]

1. BestIsWest
   
2. BIWI
   
3. RegenerationFez
   
4. StuntNun
   
5. JustRosieHere
   
6. Glenthebattleostrich
   
7. TwoflowersLuggage
   
8. ShebaQueen
   
9. SayrraT

[JustRosieHere]

Can I ask a question before we start. How do people manage events like birthdays or eating out? They are what have always thrown me off in the past. Is it just a case of willpower?

[SayrraT]

Either because you feel so good on BC that you don't actually want to eat the kind of things you shouldn't or you have them and enjoy them and get back on track.

Most of the time when you go out it is possible to choose something on the menu which is LC, I find it harder when I go to someone's house for dinner. In general I just eat what I'm given and deal with it by getting back on track immediately (i.e. the next meal, so don't say so it, I've had pasta for lunch so I'll have pizza for dinner).

[PseudoBadger]

Yes please!

[BIWI]

JustRosie in most instances it's really easy to choose an alternative from the menu. Unless you're somewhere like a pizza/pasta restaurant that doesn't serve anything else, you can always find an alternative - and you can always ask the restaurant to serve you an alternative to potatoes, for example.

Actually low carbing is much easier in this regard than low fat or low calorie dieting - most restaurant meals will tip you over your calorie allowance, regardless of the choices that you make.

[AStoneBeforeChristmas]

Yes please. I'd like to join you!

[PaddingtonStareBare]

Yes please, can I be added ?

[AndTheBandPlayedOn]

Please add me too! Thanks!

[AStoneBeforeChristmas]

Where can i find the list of approved vegetables please?

[JustRosieHere]

So say a steak with extra veg rather than chips? I'm ok with that because I really do love veg. What gets me is something like a birthday with cake. Sugar is my weakness. I went to a coffee morning on friday and haven't stopped eating since . Is it all or nothing or is it really possible to have 'cheat' days?

[SayrraT]

1. BestIsWest
   
2. BIWI
   
3. RegenerationFez
   
4. StuntNun
   
5. JustRosieHere
   
6. Glenthebattleostrich
   
7. TwoflowersLuggage
   
8. ShebaQueen
   
9. SayrraT
   

10. PseudoBadger
11. AStoneBeforeChristmas
12. PaddingtonStareBear
13. AndTheBandPlayedOn

I've sorted the list now but if you are joining in BC please copy and paste the list and add yourself to the bottom, make sure that you don't miss anyone.

Can you please also add something like "no spreadsheet" if you do not want your name on the spreadsheet.

AStone the approved list is ..... ok I can't find it just now but I will! The one on the BC section is wrong as it still includes potatoes and carrots which are definitely out!! Basically though you can have any vegetable as long as it is less the 3g carbs per 100g portion.