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've put you on the spreadsheet, Holger.

It's lovely to read everyone's reasons to be here - if that doesn't sound a little odd! And also, already, the support from everyone. This is what, IMVHO, makes Bootcamp so great. The fact that we are all here not only to make ourselves healthier/slimmer, but also to help other people.

ignores for the moment all reference to artificial ingredients in protein shakes

More than a stone probably after the Christmas I have had

I have my 40th in September and want to be my ideal weight by mid June when the celebrations begin.

I think gout def makes it more complicated . I looked into it briefly as doctors thought my dad might have gout but turned out to be arthritis. I think fructose isn't great for gout. Just did a quick google and there is a bit on mda but more how to prevent an attack while on low carb / primal woe. [[http://www.marksdailyapple.com/gout-primal-paleo-diet/#axzz2qHskhnUK]

That's what I'm hoping for KeepOn :) Wouldn't it be great?

YY Chipping, I think I'm going to have to batch cook a load of stuff for her like the mash and other stuff she will eat, and freeze it for as & when. Unfortunately my fucking miniscule stupid bastard integrated freezer is tiny (thank you DH for insisting on integrated appliances that hold FUCK ALL) so I can't do loads at a time. Ah well, first world problems and all that :)

Afternoon all. No idea where today has gone!

In an effort to put myself off alcohol I drank far too much last night and ended up with a stinking hangover this morning. Never drinking again!

Had a friend over for coffee this morning. Had 2 coffees with milk which isn't great I know. Late breakfast was ham and egg mayo. Lunch haas been a sausage so far. Have broccoli and Stilton soup in my new soup maker that DH got me for Xmas. Not overly impressed with it so far. Think it may be a bit of a white elephant! But looking forward to the soup!

Holger - due to some less than brilliant 'cut and pasting' some people 'fell off' the spreadsheet. Just add your name to the bottom and the lovely Willie will alphabetise it again later on :)

Keepon - Single cream is much more carby than double. I have never had double cream go horrible in coffee, but I don't use instant, though I can't see why it should be any different. Some people say that you should avoid coffee - most of us are mainlining it There is a school of thought that it spikes insulin (thus making weight loss slower) but unless you have access to testing equipment you really don't know how it will affect you. I'd say that later on if you aren't losing weight you could cut that out and see - but for the vast majority of us, it doesn't seem to make any difference. Fortunately.

Heir - no he is wrong. Is he the sort that would read a book about it? John Briffa's - Escape the Diet Trap is a really good book (really cheap on ebay) if he will. If he's not really 'the type' I'd buy it anyway and leave it lying around somewhere he might just pick it up and flick though it. Make sure you don't get caught in the cross fire of low carb/low fat.

holger i have added you

anyone else who is missing (sorry, i tried to get everyone but it was a bit confusing with multiple lists going on) if you add yourself please do so at the end of the list of names in column A (there are blank spaces there)

do not worry about alphabetical order (and please don't insert a line in the correct alphabetical place) - i can sort this afterwards

if people find that they prefer the new MN tracker please let me know. it looks much more user-friendly than the spreadsheet and less prone to going wibbly, so we may not need the spreadsheet for weigh-ins in the future, so do give it a go if you can

thanks!

Thank you BIWI.

I had a slice of German rye bread this morning, so boot camp hasn't properly started yet, but the rest of today's meals will be spot on and I'll be properly on the wagon starting tomorrow.

Feels good to be getting back on track for the new year.

Oh and thank you too, Willie

Thanks for the help, Chipping. I'm on such a lag as I'm on iPad, takes forever to post, heh.

Have drunk 1.5 litres of water.

Breakfast was a cup of tea with the weeniest splash of semi skimmed (like it strong anyway) and a spoonful of coconut oil...the whey powder hasn't arrived yet

Lunch was asparagus, courgette and feta salad with olive oil followed by a little pot of full fat plain Greek yog from m&s. Am just about to have coffee with cream. Fancied prawns with Mayo dip but was lunching with a staunchly vegan friend and i just couldn't face the 'conversation' that would inevitably follow!

I think I will be roasting a chicken for dinner...

Lovecat - I don't have a freezer at all, I can't fit one in the current kitchen layout and don't have a garage etc, it's bloody annoying. You could probably 'convert' a lot of your meals with just a portion of mash on top for her, so shouldn't need too much space in the freezer.

Cider - Hope you feel better soon! It'll be interesting to see how you get on with the soup maker, I see them as a bit of a gimmick when I can make soup in a pan, I don't really see the point of them I'm sure someone will be along to correct me soon though! I don't really have much soup when I'm low carbing as I like to 'eat' and if I can't have bread with it, it's just not a meal. Do you have anything with yours or do you find soup on its own ok?

Tea - your vegan friend is rude, she should know better than to lecture at any given opportunity, perhaphs you should tell her so

Holger - you are definitely on the list now

Willie - Hi, thank you for doing the SS again I think the tracker is fine, but it would be great to be able to 'opt' into a group tracker. If people don't want to, that's fine, but it's nice to see how other willing posters are doing. It also helps when you feel like you are the only one 'stalling' to see others are too otherwise with all the 'I've lost 10lbs this week' posts you can start to feel a bit left out!

that's good feedback thanks chipping - we can send it on to MNHQ as the bootcamp widgets are a work in progress (i think!) so hopefully we can optimise them

That would be great Willie thanks :)

Right, you will all be pleased to know I'm off out to work!

Ah well, she feels more strongly about not eating animal products than I do about eating them so for the sake of a friendly lunch I tuck into the veg only. I do draw the line at not eating dairy in front of her though

I've added my name to the bottom of the spreadsheet.. thanks for that Willie. Looking forward to being back - I lost over a stone last time I was here but owing to peripatetic living over the last 4 months, I've let things lapse, I'm afraid.

Sorry to be thick.. where's the tracker?

My meal-plan for the next few days:

B: a cube of cheese (prefer not having much first thing)

L: another cube of cheese, ham / salami / something similar, olives

D: M - minced beef and mushrooms with soy sauce
T - chicken stuffed with mozarella wrapped in pancetta
W - mushroom and cheese omelette
T - mushrooms in a tomato sauce
F - fry up!

Not sure what I'm doing at the weekend yet. Himself is 5:2 - ing so I'm trying to make sure it works for both of us. I know I've got a lot of cheese in my week but I lost 7lbs in 10 days at the start of Dec so I know I'm ok with this. I'll also include some more veg, but tbh the above will fill me up.

where's the tracker? ignore.. I found it

Woolfey my bubble and squeak is made from swede and brussels sprouts (I'm not a huge cabbage fan, but you could use cabbage or any other greens I guess).
I peel, cube and boil the swede, adding in the sprouts a bit later as they take less time to be tender. Mash/puree (I use a stick blender) with huge amounts of butter (I used a large swede, a slightly smaller volume of sprouts, and almost half a pat of butter! ) and plenty of black pepper. I keep it in the fridge, and then when you want to heat it up just chuck a big dollop of it into a frying pan with hot oil in, flatten it down and let it cook for a while. Use a spatula to scrape all the wonderfully brown bits off the bottom of the pan when you turn it over (that's why you need all the butter).

I've just spotted the upload image option - exciting!

Breakfast was Total with orange essence, lunch... steak with cauli cheese.

On the water now after a couple of creamy coffees. Come on, why haven't I lost weight yet?!

I can't find the tracker

Hi all, and off we go again!

I have for years kept my weight as an official secret (if I told you I'd have to kill you ) so I always put my start weight as 100 and count down. Some people I know in RL know I do bootcamp and I am always concerned about being outed and somebody knowing my weight so, although I suspect nobody but me is bothered, I have done this again this time. Don't anybody think I weigh 100lbs though, I suspect that is approximately one thigh!

Todays food is:
1 l/c chipolata, 2 rashers bacon, 2eggs scrambled with cream and butter
IPD curried cauliflower soup, griddled halloumi
Tea will be pork steaks with some sort of veg yet to be decided

Great to see so many familiar faces names and so many new friends. Woohoo! Onwards and downwards!

Thanks BIWI and Willie! Have just marvelled at the spreadsheet and added my own stats. My name is down twice, both at 50 and 51... Just wanted to let you know in case someone else's was omitted after mine. Good luck everyone! I've definitely not drunk enough water yet so I'm now off to down a big glassful

Really struggling with the sugar cravings!

So tempted but know I'll be so annoyed with myself if i stray.