Week 1 - New Year 2014 Low Carb Bootcamp - And We're Off!

[BIWI]

Morning all!

I see several of you have already weighed in on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

As of today, though, we also have our bright, shiny, new Bootcamp section on Mumsnet, including our own Weight Tracker, which will only show your own weight/progress.

You can either use the Spreadsheet as we have done before, which everyone has access to and can see, or you can go here and enter your weight.

Obviously you can do both!

When you're in the new Bootcamp, if you click on the tab that says 'more info' that will take you to a section which has loads of information about low carbing, as well as Bootcamp Rules

Before we get going formally, I have to make an important disclaimer:

I am not a doctor, a medic, a scientist, a nutritionist or a dietician. I have no formal training in food, dieting or low carbing. The information that I provide here is based solely on my reading on the subject, as well as my own experience. If you have any kind of medical condition and/or you are taking any kind of ongoing medication, you should consult your GP before starting a low carb diet

That done, good luck everyone!

Here Thumbs. It's got three grams actually. Hmmph.

Have lost 2lbs in 4 days

I'm sure a lot of it is water etc but it's certainly motivating & the sugar craving is getting weaker thank god!

Some of these recpie ideas are lush btw

Morning! Just eaten a large bowl of last nights moussaka inspired thing. I find it hard to keep track of my water drinking so I've got into a routine - 1 pint with breakfast, I pint from water bottle during 30 minute drive to work, 1 water bottle (2 if I can manage it but job makes it hard) during the day, 1 bottle on drive home, 1 pint while preparing tea, 1 pint while eating and then at least 1 during evening. Might be helpful to think of pattern throughout day like that, if you're struggling to get the water in?

Morning losers!

Have woken up with a headache (feels like a hangover!) and went to bed with one too, which is a bit annoying. I think it is caffeine withdrawal rather than sugar for some reason. Normally I don't drink that much tea or coffee, couple of cups a day perhaps but since dp has been home over Xmas I've drunk a lot more - he makes a damn fine cuppa! Thankfully I have a flexible job with the option to work from home sometimes so I'm going to take advantage of it today. Water, fat and maybe some bouillon after, I think...

Good luck today everyone!

Oh, talking of water, another tip for those who find it tricky to get the quantities up - drink from a sports bottle. It's much easier to drink large quantities at any one time from a sports bottle rather than from a glass; there is some scientific reason behind it but I can't remember it atm!

Anyway, give it a try, it works!

Morning all. Just started the day with 2 boiled eggs with butter. DS keeps asking why I'm not having toast, grapes, melon etc....

I had the most delicious bolognese with courgette pasta last night; I had a reasonably small portion but felt so full. I bought a julienne peeler which worked well.

Challenge today is meeting my MN postnatal group in a bloody ice cream and waffle cafe!! Coffee for me then....

I've been low carbing a few days now, Not only lost about 6lb but my skin feels completely differenct. In a good way!
My face bloat has gone right down and my legs don't feel like my own.
I love it!
(agree with previous poster who suspects it must be witchcraft)
Thanks BIWI

'In the short term, most people who go on low carb diets do lose weight and they lose it very quickly. However, the majority of weight loss comes from loss of water and muscle tissue, not fat which is what you need to lose to keep the weight off. Also, if you're trying to lose weight permanently, losing precious lean muscle tissue is like sabotaging your own body. Muscle tissue is metabolically active, and burns calories even when you are at rest. A decrease in the amount of muscle tissue you have will lead to a decrease in the number of calories you need each day to maintain your weight, making it much harder to keep your weight under control when you stop following the low carb diet' - my 'friend' forwarded this to me. It's BS, isn't it?

"No drinkey water, no lossy weight," my new mantra Chipping

Had to go to the loo twice in the night!

Morning Low Carb Chums :) Good luck to everyone for the day's challenges, possibly particularly Badger!

cbeebijeebies, did your friend write that themselves or were they quoting someone? if so it would be good to know where they got it from as then you can judge what angle they are coming from

the water part is more or less true - the initial big loss is a lot of water and glycogen, not really fat. after that the weight loss slows down but you are burning fat. however, the muscle stuff sounds like rubbish to me, and in my experience most people find that low carb preserves the muscle much better than low calorie. your metabolism stays relatively high as you aren't cutting down on your calorie intake in the same way, and your hormones related to metabolism are much better regulated. also with LC you will continue to get sufficient protein which is important for muscles. there are very few functions in the body that require glucose specifically, and the body can in fact generate it from protein if required (though of course we are not eating no carbs, we are getting plenty from vegetables etc).

the body's easiest fuel comes from carbs, so it will choose that first if available, but if not available it will burn fat. so in many ways through low carbing the body has no choice but to burn fat!

BIWI and others have done much more reading into this, and given that none of us is a medical expert you have to look at as much of the evidence as you can and weigh up the risks/benefits as you see them, but frankly yes i think you're friend's comments are BS!

ahem your friend's comments are BS

Thanks. So many people on here have 'maintained' just fine.

www.weightlossresources.co.uk/logout/news_features/lowcarbdiet.ht

She sent me this link. Seems to think i've lost my marbles for dropping a food group though I did explain that you still get carsb, just not as many and from different places

*carbs Oops.

She's a good friend. I just did not need that first thing this morning

Good morning all!

Cbeebi Ugh at your friend! "Knowing" comments like that are the reason why I seldom bother mentioning the words "low carb" to the uninitiated. :)

My morning sugar's 4.9 this morning. It's usually somewhere between 5.4-5.9.

Today's plan:
B: Eggs fried in butter, cucumber, coffee with coconut oil.
L: Oyster mushrooms, prosciutto and spring onion in butter.
S: Olives, green pepper, coffee with coconut oil.
D: Some kind of mince "sauce" with either courgette tagliatelle or cauliflower mash.

cbeebi i can't access that page, but looking at the homepage for that site it's promoting an online calorie counter among other things, so inevitably is coming from that angle

on the same site this is a slightly more moderate assessment of low carb diets though quite cautious in language and keen to state that it's no better than any other diet

i'm afraid this is why i'm careful who i talk to about my low carb lifestyle... people are kind and worry because it goes against government-approved advice, but i know what is best for me and am convinced of the benefits both short- and longterm

my mum is a GP and she advocates a low carb diet, particularly for women going through the menopause. she's not quite on board with the higher fat yet

Thanks Rather!

CBeebi - I can't believe weight loss resources are still spouting that stuff. They are REALLY anti low-carb and don't allow you to discuss it in their forums even. Ignore her. They advocate living on 1100cals a day and logging every last fat free cracker.

Bleeeeuuuggghhhhhh. Have managed to pick up the stomach bug that the kids have had.

All I can face are teeny sips of water and maybe dome miso soup later.

Grrrr, have a fridge full of lovely I was looking forward to!

Fridge of lovely food

I am feeling better already after just a week!

Quick meal tip - fry up some meat in lots of frothing butter, add in sage for flavour. Chop up a courgette, 2/3 baby tomatoes and leeks/mushrooms if you have them. Chick them in and fry down until there is still some bite. Throw in a handful of spinach and stir for a few seconds so it starts to wilt. Season with salt and pepper then stir in a lovely big dollop of double cream at the end to warm through.
Delicious!!

Hello everyone

Wow I can't believe how fast the thread is moving, I can't keep up. But it's a good thing because it's obvious how seriously you're all taking this which is great.

I started yesterday and had a really good day which has spurred me on to continue today, I find that if I can get through the first few days I feel psychologically stronger which really helps me.

So far today I've had a full fat Greek yogurt with an extra dollop of cream and 2 large classes of water.

Have a good day Losers

Poor you betty :(

morning all, betty I can sympathise. DS has it and I had the upset tummy part yesterday and today. Not nice. I managed to eat yesterday, although not sure what was digested. Homemade soup was lovely.

Cooked brekkie this morning and hoping Im better... time will tell.