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!

ceebie I'm the same; tried explaining it once to my friend and she looked horrified. I just cannot be bothered with the effort it takes to explain!

Coincidentally, since starting this WOE; my anxiety attacks have greatly reduced. I'm going through a lot at the moment in my personal life, and used to wake up 2-3 times a night sweating and crying and just had to wait for the feeling to subside. That hasn't happened so far... And if I feel panicky, it is much MUCH less than it was.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence. It must be.

But it's pretty cool, isn't it?

Thanks all. I'm definitely drinking enough water (3+ litres) and to be honest that was not a representative day re. my fat intake. I did add cream to the yoghurt and the puttanesca sauce is make with 75ml of olive oil so is actually very fatty compared to most. I know the answer is to keep on keeping on, I'm already eating more vegetables by far than I was before, when I had turned into a hideous carb monster. That's got to be a good thing.

ziggie - that is fantastic re. your mood being calmer. I'm not sure it is a coincidence, the blood sugar highs and lows you get on a 'normal' high carb diet cannot help when you are going through an emotional time. Last year was a real annus horribilis for me too and although I fixated on 2014 being better, it does already FEEL better. Partly it might be physiological, but I also think it helps psychologically to know you/we are taking control of our eating.

ziggie' I don't think it is a coincidence - I always feel much calmer when much blood sugars are stable. Sorts out the PMT too. Honestly, this WOE is literally lifechanging!

ziggie my anxiety has been much better since starting this WoE a week and a half ago. I figured it was a coincidence, but maybe not.

I have had anxiety/depression on/off for years ziggy and this is the best I've felt in a long, long time

I've not needed to take any beta blockers since starting this which is pretty amazing considering.

Have felt a lot less panicky in general and I don't get that awful afternoon dip anymore.

Morning all. So much chat here, though I read it all, by the time I'm caught up I forget what I mean to say.

That's great to hear ziggie - I've ditched ADs after started LC and know some others who've been able to do that. Definitely convinced it's good for your head too! :)

Yesterday was great. We had cauliflower mash and mince and veggie sauce for dinner. Felt very energetic and bouncy all day. Too bad today I've woken up with very sore boobs and cramps, though TotM isn't due for another week. Grrrr... Bloody hormones. Must depend on paracetamol and water instead of wine and chocolate.

Fasting sugar this morning is 3.9!

Food plan:
B: Fried eggs and coffee with coconut oil.
L: Avocado, green salad veggies, smoked salmon.
S: Olives and/or cheese.
D: Some decent sausages (DH's wish) and something with them out of cauliflower, spinach and/or courgette.

Ziggie, that's great. I'll bet it's no coincidence either.

I have a sore throat, but I shall soldier on - in fact it may well be an infection rather than carb flu.

B - boiled egg, slice of gouda, slice of ham
L - mashed swede and braised beef
D - mashed swede, rest of sausages from last night and some cheesy leeks.

I need to investigate a low carb gravy.

Morning al,

After a day of stomach bug yesterday, i woke up feeling amazing and starving this morning. I've made myself a very random breakfast of leftovers: a rasher of bacon, 3 x black farmer chipoltas, 1 ceam cheese pancake, leftover cauli mash and leftover shredded celeriac squeezed into a cake and fried in bacon fat - ugly, odd but soooooo delicious. Still stuffed now.

need to watch the dairy for the rest of the day though as i;ve also had coffee with cream.

I know what you mean about other people's opinions on this diet, the last time i did low carb my friends and family were horrified, everyone has horror stories. I don't tell them now, in fact no one knows i'm LC'ing this time. Not even DH. I want it to be private to me IYSWIM.

that's interesting, re the anxiety - and I'm very pleased.

I think there's also a massive amount to be said for the fact that 'we're all in this together'. The support and camaraderie is invaluable.

Plus, of course, I might just shout at you

Cbeebijeebies - the whole thing about 'no carbs' drives me demented. It's like when people moan about how unhealthy it is to cut out a whole food group. They just can't get their heads around the fact that we aren't, and that vegetables and salad are also carbs!

I knew I just read something about the whole mental health aspect!

www.dietdoctor.com/get-depressed-sugar-grains-margarine

No one knows..well...knew about it but DP and my closest friend as I guessed people would get all horrified about it!

These threads are invaluble. I keep picking up lovely ideas for food so am not getting bored of doing the same thing over and over, like I probably would've if left to my own devices

Ok I have lasted longer than last time already (only managed a day last bootcamp - shocking really!!!)

I am doing this to help my skin and also just quit the sugar. I don't have too much weight to loose so I am not going to be weighing just measuring waist etc.

yesterday:
B: leftover BIWI cottage pie
L: mackerel
D: Bacon and leek stir fry

today:
B: Bacon egg mushrooms
L: mackerel avocado
D: the curry from the recipe thread

Does this look ok? I am a tad confused that I am eating so much and that I am supposed to loose weight I exercise a lot - kettlebells/30 day shred/run/yoga and I am still able to get through my workouts which is great news !!!

thekitchenfairy 20 years is a long time to be out of the work place - it must be an even greater culture shock for you!

Like you, our office is supplied with plentiful supplies, not only of tea and real coffee, for which I am very grateful, but also masses of fruit and cereal. Company nights - we have had several - often involve delivery pizza and beer. And I'm wondering why the scales were so rude to me on Monday!!!

I'm enjoying it, but the daily commute and having to be here every day, working office hours, are not really what I would have chosen for myself. On the other hand, when I see that salary plop into my bank account every month, without fail, it does remind me why I made this decision. And the people here are fab, so I really am enjoying things.

Glad you're enjoying the new job

Finally getting a surge of energy, which considering DS woke up at quarter to 5 is a modern day miracle

Word of warning for first timers. BIWI doesn't just shout. She has a big stick. And she is not afraid to use it.

I weighed and am 2lbs down. Happy with that.

B was ham and cheese and cheese sandwich filler. Extra cheese was left by DS so I had it. He had a low carb breakfast of just ham and cheese today by choice. Must ask him if he felt better/less hungry on it.

L will be broccoli and Stilton soup again with something else.

D will be lamb steaks, celeriac mash and broccoli and cauliflower cheese.

BIWI - I'm sure being back in a office is a huge culture shock. I am not sure I could do it at this stage. Obv I would if I had to but I suspect my temperament has changed over th years and I would find it hard to suffer fools! And I remember lots of them from my previous working life!

I have just popped in to ask if it's unbelievably sad that I am very excited to go home because I am have THE CABBAGE for dinner. With naice sausages. Work cannot go fast enough :) Also, DH made meatballs last night with a gorgeous sauce - tinned toms, pepper, mushrooms - which I had with buttered courgette strips and loads of cheese - the Lidl beef meatballs are really lovely and only £1.49 for a big pack.

I saw my therapist last night who I went to to address my binge and emotional eating, and told him I'd cut out sugar and processed food and he was very impressed - as my 'danger' foods were all carby/sweet crap, it's much easier to just think 'I won't eat that because I don't eat what's in it' than try and have the emotional battle about it that led to lots of compulsive eating. Although he did then bang on about having porridge for breakfast :)

Yy Cider

I have met BIWI on many occasions and she scares the bejesus out of me.

Laura I totally agree, and I think it's very hard to avoid processed carbs now - they are everywhere, form offices to meetings to people's homes to cafes; someone is always thrusting pastries/biscuits/cakes/other processed crap in our directions. For me the key thing is not to be hungry, as my willpower is non existent when I'm hungry. I find that my tastes really change when I've been on this WOE for a while; my cravings for sweet things reduce hugely and my tastes change, so that things taste much sweeter to me in the first place. It's as though we've dulled and corrupted our tastebuds with all the progressively sweeter crap we eat. A few weeks off it and if I taste a normal cake or something it just tastes utterly sickly. I love making my almond crumble (on bootcamp light) which is unsweetened berries with ground almonds and butter topping. I love the tartness and can appreciate the natural sweetness, but a commercial berry crumble would add a shitload of sugar to berries to eliminate 90% of the tartness. People's tastes have been corrupted.

Sayra and Fairy your increased thirst is also due to your body producing ketones as it metabolises fat to use for energy. As a buildup of ketones in the body would be toxic, the body excretes them via the kidneys (ie in your urine) and therefore you'll feel thirsty to ensure that you're hydrated enough to keep peeing and flushing them through. If you don't drink enough for this to happen then your body will reduce ketone production to lower your blood ketone levels, which means that the fat metabolism, and weight loss, will slow down.

Googoo enjoy the bubble and squeak - it's lush!

ziggie are you using the vanilla grinder? I've been using absolutely loads of it because I miss being able to have berries in yoghurt, and because I love the sort of gritty texture of the vanilla that I can crunch between my teeth. The first grinder I had, I found that towards the end of it it stopped grating so finely and the bits got larger and didn't have much flavour. The new one is perfect - tiny crunchy bits and I can really taste the vanilla. I suffer from anxiety and I find that I'm much more stable and calm on this WOE. Partly it's because I drink much less alcohol too, I think.

Heir that sounds delicious. Do the Lidl meatballs not have breadcrumbs in them? Wish we had an Aldi or Lidl nearby.

Enjoying this so much!

Am at work so just posting a sneaky question while no one is looking. I keep seeing references to Chesterdrawers chicken and have searched the recipe thread but cant find it. Can anyone point me in the right direction? TIA

Meal plan
B - boiled eggs & mayo (done)
L - mushroom pate (from recipe thread) salad, oily dressing
D - hopefully Chesters chicken!

water, water, and more water

Trying hard to resist the scales.......

Helium here are your preordered responses. Eat more fat, drink more water, keep calm and keep the faith . Seriously, everyone is doing so well and this will work, we just have to keep going.

For those who have noticed an effect on stress and anxiety I think the stuff about blood sugar and mood is very important but I also wonder about alcohol. I have been doing dry January and although not a big drinker (probably around the suggested limit) I have been calmer, more in control and generally happier without it.

For today:
B: cheesy scrambled eggs with lardons
L: smoked salmon, shrimp and crab salad
D: golden chicken from Jamie's 15 minute meals with celeriac dauphinois and buttery veg.

My run this morning was so hard it was a bit soul destroying. I felt like there was nothing at all n the tank (despite the 200 miles stored in each bum cheek) and I really struggled. I hope the fat burning for exercise will get easier quickly as I do love my runs and swims. Anyone got any idea how long it might take?

Thank you projectbabyweight, ciderwithbuda, thenightsky & BIWI for supporting me when I wobbled on Monday night. Thenightsky, I'm encouraged by the fact you lost about 2 stone during bootcamp last year, especially as my start weight is greater than yours was.

I have stuck to it. Yesterday I had:-

B - 2 egg omelette with spicy cheddar, mushrooms, green pepper & leeks

L - Malay chicken curry from The Big Book of Low-Carb Recipes by Nicola Graimes, with celeriac chips and rocket, spinach & watercress salad - really lovely

D - salmon with leeks, courgettes, mushrooms & asparagus in butter.

Hopped on the scales and have lost 2lbs since Monday (so 4.5lbs since 2nd January). I'm thrilled.