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!

I started Sunday. I was planning to start Monday but I'd got all the right food in, and I'd eaten that much crap, ending Saturday with a big mcdonalds that I couldn't see the point in waiting while I was motivated.

I'm amazed! I weighed again yesterday so I had my weight for the spreadsheet and I was 3lb down! Not really believing that, I weighed myself again today, and I was 2.5lb down again. Now I know you shouldn't weigh every day, and I know weight varies over the week and I know it's the whole water and stuff, but I've never lost that much so quickly. That's tge excess weight I'd put on over Christmas/my birthday/ ds's birthday!

Added to that for the first time ever on any diet, and I have done them all.. I've not been even a little bit tempted by anything else. I'm not hungry. I was ready for breakfast this morning but not hungry. I didn't have time for lunch yesterday, which I know is bad but my day was going wrong! And I still felt fine and not hungry!

I'm fully expecting the carb flu to hit today or tomorrow, but I'm hoping that how I'm feeling after just 2 days is enough to keep me going through.
Thank you for doing this BIWI, I really feel like finding this last week might just change my life!

You poor things, how miserable, hopefully all will be better soon.

Morning all!

Giraffes thank you for the gout info, that's really interesting - another thing he refuses to believe is no fruit so is taking 2-3 pieces to work every day for snacks - I will send that link to him!

Nell my Lidl certainly does the enormo-yogurt still, just had a bit for breakfast :)

I managed to get through the cinema last night (American Hustle, it's pretty good but not as much as the hype would suggest!) with a snack of pepperami and a big bottle of fizzy water, then had leftover cauli cheese with a couple of rashers of bacon chopped in when I got home.

Today will be greek yog, a salad for lunch with leaves, cucumber, bacon, coleslaw and parmesan shavings, and meatball with courgette-i for dinner.

And - my biggest triumph - on New Year's Day I was 13st 5, this morning I am under 13 stone! Only half a lb, but it feels amazing to be in the 12s already :)

I have no info to refute the findings on that thread, bar personal experience.......
My bane of my life huge boobs are NOTICEABLY smaller. They are most definitely NOT muscle!

CBeebi, your friend's comments are, in the main, total BS . The water bit at the beginning is true, but it's also true of most diets. I always find it funny, however, when people who have lost 2/3/5/6 stone on LC get told 'its just water weight' - that's one hell of a lot of water!!

With regard to the muscle mass thing, however, that is utter, utter bollocks. In fact, one of the fab things about LC eating is that you don't lose muscle mass, in fact lots of people find they build it.

You do lose both water and muscle on a low-cal/low-fat diet, however (has she ever heard of 'skinny fat'?)

LC actually does exactly the opposite of what your friend thinks. So there! You could point her in the direction of Mark's Daily Apple blog - there's a man who is definitely not losing muscle mass!

Been swimming very hard work toay.
Breakfast of FF yoghurt.
Have had 800mls water and cup lemon and ginger tea now need to pee all the time.

Hope everyone has a good day.

heirto, one good thing if he wants to have fruit; if you look at the comments on the link people swear by tart cherries to help with their gout and I have seen that somewhere else too - weird!

Total BS CBeebi. The first week or two you use up your glycogen stores from your liver, you also lose about four times the weight of the glycogen in water loss and you lose a pound or two of fat. After that you will continue to lose fat. Your muscle mass will not be depleted on this WOE unlike on a calorie restricted diet which is why it works so well as your metabolism keeps going at the same rate. When you go on a low calorie diet then you do lose muscle mass and your metabolism slows down to conserve energy.

It was me wot made up the nuggets recipe - glad people are enjoying it

Good day yesterday. Eggs in butter for breakfast, cauli chowder for lunch and sausage and celeriac mash for tea. I had loads of water and two decafs with cream.

Today is:

B: Total, cream, cinnamon, orange essence
L: Tuna and egg salad, olive oil
D: Pork steaks in sage butter, courgettes and leeks

I'm facing a problem. On Sunday it's my nephews birthday party. It's an all day thing for us as we have to travel so will be out of the house from about 9am to 6pm. I know there will be nothing low carb and I know that if I don't eat or pick or whatever it will be noticed, especially by my eagle eyed MIL. I am not sure what to do. TBH, I don't even want to eat carbs but can't face the alternative. I am thinking of feigning a bit of an upset stomach, but they will then no doubt think I am pregnant! Not sure which is worse.

Chippingin - thanks for replying - normal Guernsey double cream was 3.2 I think so it seems to have a higher carb value - will have another look to compare.

Cbeeiejeebies I'm sure she meant well. I have a friend who's a nurse who maintains that I'm ruining my body and that cutting out an entire food group is 'dangerous'. I know she's looking out for me, it's just not what you want to hear is it?!

Although this morning I am seriously tired. I feel like I've barely slept, but I was out like a light last night. Urgh.

Chester - real life has a tendancy to get in the way doesn' it? - can you minimise the carbs - ie eat mini sausages, the insides of quiche, fillings of ham/cheese/eggs sandwiches without people noticing? I do this at mums - push the carbs about and cut them small so it looks like I'm eating. I've been known to eat the cream in a creamcake and hide the cake under the fork! Pile your plate with crisps and sandwiches, just keep putting it down and 'losing' it. And offer to drive, so you can't drink. Just lots and lots of water. (also has the effect of removing you from the table/party as you spend much of it in the loo...)

ziggie, I get this as well. I've noticed (on other threads) even people who've done low-carb (and it's worked!) have said things like 'oh, it was weird cutting out a whole food group'. If I can be bothered I ask them to tell me when 'sugar' became a food group...

It's worth remembering when people come out with this stuff that the human body has literally NO physiological requirement for carbohydrate, and certainly not in the massive quantities that most people consume daily. It does need glucose, which is where ill-informed (?well-meaning) people get the whole 'oh, but your brain needs carbs to function!' thing, but it does not need it in the form of processed carbohydrate. In fact, the brain prefers to run on ketones, which is what we make when we drop our carbs to a low level. That's why 'brain fog' usually disappears when low-carbing kicks in. Double cream makes me smarter

Think I'm going to put

No drinkey water, no losey weighty
Double cream makes me smarter

on my fridge!

chester prepare yourself with a really good low carb breakfast - bacon, eggs, mushrooms, spinach, all good low carb stuff, all cooked in butter (aka BAB or 'big arse breakfast' by previous bootcampers). this will set you up and means you won't arrive starving and tempted by carby things, and you will genuinely want to turn down most food as you're nice and full

have something stored in the car that you can eat (babybels are good, hardboiled eggs, other mini wrapped cheeses, homemade mini egg frittatas etc) so that you know you're not going to go hungry. fortunately it's cold enough at this time of year to keep things in the car!

do you know what is likely to be served and how? will it be a buffet (easier) or a sit-down meal in someone's house or in a restaurant? are they likely to dish up on a plate and put it in front of you (worst case scenario) or put food in bowls on the table for you to serve yourself?

as captainmummy says, you can usually find a way to pick at the low carb bits

try not to stress about it though. sometimes life really does get in the way despite our best efforts so do enjoy the social occasion and don't get too anxious

ooh sounds nasty buffy

but reducing pain and injury is much more important

Ouch Buffy

Chester will there not be things like chicken drumsticks, salad? Kids birthday parties are just a carbfest, aren't they. No way you can just come out and say that you're cutting out the carbs and take a packed lunch? I'd say take plenty of things to eat on the journey so that you're not hungry when you get there and have delicious snacks waiting for the journey home, and then if honesty isn't the best policy, then employ lots of subterfuge a la captainmummy!

Ah cross posted with Willie who said it so much better!

Ouch Buffy hope you're OK.

Chester I'd also pack low-carb snacks (even a "packed salad" eg tuna or egg mayo salad in a lunch-box with a fork) for the car, so at least you have things on hand to prevent hunger before and after the event.

I think it would hopefully be unremarkable to politely refuse potatoes and pudding on the grounds of "watching your weight after Christmas"? If its a pasta or rice it is much trickier. If its sandwiches you'll have to pretend to be very busy with the kids!

Another cross-poster!

Ohhh Buffy i hope you're alight?

I'm working from home today so was going to do some batch cooking. It's a bit of a stupid idea with a stomach bug though?

Thanks everyone.

It is a kids party do I am expecting a beige buffet type thing . I will do a batch of mini frittata type things for the car and do my best to get away with eating as little as poss. Announcing I am cutting the carbs is sadly not an option.

Pistey & Crabby you are welcome :) If it keeps you glugging it's all good! I need to walk the walk as they say!!

Morgan - you're welcome :) The Waitrose Double Cream I use is 2.6g per 100g

Betty & Jax - hope you are both feeling better soon!!

Buffy - ouch!! Willie is right of course reducing the pain is much more important than the tiny tiny amount of damage done by a couple of nurofen. Just remember that paracetamol is better for low carbing if it works for you (not so good after a fall, but OK for headaches!).

Chester - What the others said really - I would have a really good breakfast before I went and have something nice (quick & easy) planned for dinner and/or some low carb snacks in the car, so I wasn't tempted for my own sake - then just nibble at anything that there is low carb and put stuff on a plate and 'share' with the kids :)

Cebeebies - do you feel ok about it now? I can paste lots of things from Briffa to futher refute what your friend sent to you if you need more reassurance? But honestly, other than the water - a bit, it's all bollocks. You should get a copy of John Briffa's - Escape the Diet Trap, it's really brilliant at explaining things - dead cheap on eBay/download or borrow from the library.

Morning all!

It's the second day of my period here and I'm feeling it. Bloated, crampy, bleuugh. Hoping today for:

B - Total, orange essence, dash of cream
L - Salad nicoise with dressing
D - Salmon somehow, with veg.