Bootcamp - the questions thread

[BIWI]

From experience of past Bootcamps, in the first few weeks the chat threads move really, really quickly and it's difficult sometimes to see/answer everything.

So this is a place to post any questions that you might have. Those of us who are old hands at low carbing will check this thread regularly and make sure that we answer you as soon as we can.

Flavoured water isn't great, for exactly the reasons you've written! As well as this, though, the reason we try and avoid them is because they are sweet, and we're trying to break the hold that sweet things have over us.

Why not try adding slices of cucumber to some water? It adds a lovely flavour

Whoops Ive just seen

Depends what it is/how much of it you're going to be eating!

Bear in mind that the majority of your carbs should be coming from vegetables and/or salad, so if you're buying anything processed that has carbs in it, you need to be very careful how many carbs you're actually getting from that.

I was wondering about ready made coleslaw, pate, cream cheese etc - some of the little 'ready made' things that can help break up the meat / veg

Has anyone got any tips for how to make a cheesy sauce, how can I thicken it?

Yes, I do!

300 ml double cream, 250g grated cheese.

Heat cream, add cheese, season with black pepper. Cook until cheese is melted.

Gorgeous!

pingufan - be careful of coleslaw - the carb counts vary enormously.

Here's a recipe to make your own - it's really easy!

Coleslaw

125g white cabbage (less than 1/4 of a cabbage)
75g carrot (1 medium-sized carrot)
25g shallot (1/2 a banana/echalion shallot)

Slice white cabbage thinly
Grate carrot finely (don't use the largest holes on the grater)
Chop shallot finely

Add oil and wine vinegar - roughly 3 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar, and salt and black pepper. Stir everything well together. Leave for half an hour or so. Just before serving, stir in a tablespoon of mayo.

This will make 2 portions

I can't remember the carb count, but it's much lower than some pre-prepared coleslaws.

Wonderful, again, thank you - I do all my shopping at aldi so I'm hoping to find most of these items there.

Pate? Cream cheese? allowed if

Cream cheese should be fine - but carb counts do vary, so check the back of the pack. (And full fat only, no 'light/lite' versions!)

Same with pate - in theory they should be low carb, but check the back of pack as well.

So is the rule of thumb

Pingu I try and stay below 3g per 100g wherever possible, anything above that is a cheat and not allowed on Bootcamp. And read every label as foods can vary wildly. I have two jars of Colman's Mint Sauce in the fridge and one is something like 4g carbs whereas the other is about 25g carbs.

Thanks BIWI, leeks in cheese sauce here we come

pingu - it really depends how much of something you're going to eat! Something quite fatty, like pate, you may find it hard to eat 100g, whereas 100g of coleslaw is quite easy to eat - so you could easily get too many carbs from it, even if the count per 100g is exactly the same. (pate and coleslaw aren't the same, I'm just using them as examples!)

Thanks until I get a feel for things I'll try and stick to the unlimited foods. X

Can I use a tin of chopped tomatoes in bolognaise? I'm not having pasta with it!!!!

Is there a limit above which things are potentially too carby? Is it 3g or does that just apply to vegetables?

Hello, can someone tell me if this will be ok for today

For breakfast I've just had 2 eggs fried in olive oil on two slices of cooked torchon ham

Lunch will be tuna in brine mixed with a large dollop of Mayo
Lettuce, cucumber with a dressing made from 2 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, salt n pepper.

Tea will be chicken breast cooked somehow with oil and whatever else I go that works lol, the big food shop tonight!

Should I buy tuna in brine and add mayo or tuna in sunflower oil and have that alone?

Cheers (1lb down this morning so happy days I'm moving again) xx

Is there a list of foods to eat and foods to be avoided please. Thanks

Fiona, check the carb count of the tomatoes , value ones tend to be better. I just use 1/2 the amount, and use stock. Or I use aldi passata 3g per 100.

Pingu I find chicken breast a bit too low fat for this WOE. Thighs or drumsticks are better and skin on if possible. If I'm grilling or baking the chicken I usually do them with spices rubbed in to the skin and maybe some melted butter brushed over. For stirfry or curry then I usually use skinless boneless chicken thighs.

Hi

Does low carb flu happen every time we switch from carbs to fat? Or once we're fat-adjusted is the transition smoother?

I've cut out wheat potatoes rice sugar before (but kept on. With fruit and carby veg) and never felt like this.

Hello again,

I have been using mfp to log what I eat and help count the carbs ( I know I don't have to, but I want an idea of exactly how much / what I can eat in a day is in carbs) but as it's American I have been taking away the fibre from the carb count of veg etc.

I noticed today that the info mfp holds contradicts what the veg list holds. And that they list some eggs as having carbs ( namely the fried type 1 g per egg, their listing for scrambled has none, poached 0.2 etc) so, are they basically making the carb count up and are entirely useless , or can I continue using it as a guideline( and choose the carb less eggs) is there a more reliable counter that anyone uses?

F1onajb - you can, but just beware that the carb counts vary widely for tinned tomatoes. The lowest I have found are Sainsbury's Basics, and they come in a square tetrapak. Have you had a look at the lists of food on the spreadsheet? I can't remember exactly what's on there, but I'll have a look and see if I need to write more. But if you go to the OP on the week 1 chat thread, there's a list of the main stuff to avoid.

weaseleyes - it's difficult to be that prescriptive because it depends entirely how much of the food you're going to eat! If it's something like, say, English mustard, you'd only be eating a very small quantity, whereas if it's something like coleslaw you could easily polish off 100g. As a general rule of thumb, I'd say anything under 4g carbs per 100g, but obviously take into account the quantity

pingufan I always buy tuna in oil, preferably olive, and then add mayo as well!

zoodle - if you've reverted to eating a high carb diet, then yes it's likely that you will go through carb flu again. If you're feeling really horrible, then eat more fat, drink more water and make sure you're getting your electrolytes - you need sodium (so cook with salt, add salt to your food and try a hot drink made with Oxo/Marmite or Bovril), magnesium and potassium, so eat salmon, spinach, avocado and full fat natural yoghurt

pregnantpause I have never used MFP so I can't comment specifically - but I do know that other people have had an issue with the carb counts on there as well, so I have continued to avoid it. I have a couple of carb counter books, but they can contradict themselves as well, which is a bit difficult! Generally I Google things - so 'how many carbs in a XYZ' - but make sure that I only look at results that come from a UK site

A quick question, is watermelon off the menu? Have some here and it is looking really tempting!

Yes - 7.1g carbs per 100g. Definitely off the menu - along with all other fruits during Bootcamp!