5 Week Low Carb Bootcamp, with added Ubercamp

[BIWI]

Morning all!

Just starting the day with a black coffee instead of my usual white one. Not quite sure if I like it or not ...

Anyway, welcome, everyone to this shorter-and-stricter-than-usual Bootcamp

For those of you who are new to low carbing, I strongly suggest that you don't do Ubercamp. It's very strict and restrictive and will be a very, very hard introduction to low carbing. Far better that you get to grips with what it's all about before you also aim to cut out dairy.

For those of you that have low carbed before, you have the option this time around. You can either Bootcamp, which will last for three weeks this time, followed by two weeks of Bootcamp Light, or you can Ubercamp for the first week.

Ubercamp means no dairy (apart from butter). So the rules are the same as for Bootcamp, with this one exception.

Bootcamp Rules

On our Spreadsheet of Fabulousness you will find the rules of Bootcamp - along with a whole load of other really important information. Have a good look around it, by clicking on the tabs at the bottom.

Sayra will be updating the spreadsheet this morning, so she will get all your names on it, and when she does, you can then enter your starting weight. As the spreadsheet is shared, you may not wish to confess all

MNHQ are - hopefully! - also setting up another Weight Tracker for us.

As the spreadsheet is shared, you may not wish to confess all there, in which case use the Weight Tracker, as that is private.

So this is the plan this time around:

Week 1 - Ubercamp (for those who are up for the extra challenge
Weeks 2-3 - Bootcamp
Weeks 4-5 - Bootcamp Light

I should warn you that I have taken my big stick out of the cupboard and I am ready and willing to use it ...

BIWI Thanks so much for your answer. That's good to know about uber camp and mayo.

Another 4am start. I was a complete cahh today. Think it's lack of sleep rather than carb flu. Or a personality defect

Today has been:
A large black coffee
B: Avocado and smoked salmon. A whole pack. Not as much as it sounds, as the salmon only filled half of it
L: 2 chicken thighs, homemade coleslaw and 80g salad
D: beefburger, coleslaw and swede chips (150g. Didn't have any celeriac. Thought it'd be ok as it's down as a mash...)

And 3.5L of water.

We're camping in the garden tonight and have promised DC toasted marshmallows. I will not break.

Ling I know exactly how you feel. That's me most days.

Trinity congratulations! Hoped you had a fab celebration

Got a couple of burgers frying! Can I have some cucumber and iceberg lettuce with them? I was under the impression those are low carb, am I right?

I find evenings hard - realise I pick at food as a pick me up but now not hungry so trying not to eat stuff. Eating allowed stuff makes me realise I'm full - feel queasy and don't want it. I think I'm missing the sugar rushes - that's nuts but I feel so quiet now - no up and down of energy. That's great rationally but feels odd.

I'm not doing very well. Grappling with lots of anxiety at the moment and food is my go-to coping mechanism. I have had Bowls of cornflakes today

Tomorrow's another day.

Not sure you could afford me and my aspirations Buffy

LingdiLong Go and look at the list of veg carb counts on the spreadsheet - which is linked in the OP. You need to have a really good idea of what you can and can't eat!

Lettuce and cucumber are perfect low carb foods.

Cheating

This is not a forgiving WOE. It's not like a low calorie diet where you can cut your calories on one day to compensate for a high calorie intake on another.

If you cheat, you will not lose weight

It's especially critical in the first two weeks of low carbing that you don't cheat, as this is the time that you're switching your body into fat-burning from carb-burning. The more you cheat, the longer this process will take - and therefore you will delay/prevent weight loss.

You need to make sure you're fully prepared for low carbing, both emotionally and practically.

If you think you're going to be tempted by a situation/activity, then don't do it.

Please, please, please read the resources and information on the Spreadsheet so that you really know what you're doing!

I find with this woe I tend to want my dinner really early, but it's just not possible with toddler bedtimes and a cantankerous dp. So today I had

B- BCP and 2 devilled eggs
L- leftover bolognese
S - wedge of cucumber, pork scratchings
D- 3 chicken thighs with courgette, leek, asparagus and dwarf beans.

Some of my veg is a bit carby - I think the dwarf beans, and I had a bit of carrot in my bolognese. But I've been eating this way for over four weeks, so I think I should be keto adapted. I know that personally I can tolerate more carbs and still lose a sensible amount so I don't worry about a few carby veg here and there.

But.

BIWI is right. Be strict with yourself in the first fortnight. After a few days it feels so much better, you'll have so much more energy and be sharper mentally without constant sugar roller coasters. What's a few weeks of eating differently?

I'm going to bow out. Realistically I have to low carb for health reasons. But I do have the odd bad day here and there and long term it isn't an issue as long as it's not often.

But I won't pretend to be on boot camp and then not properly commit, otherwise it's not fair on everyone else.

Good luck everyone. I hope you'll all have great success!

Feel as though I've eaten far too much today. Will try and recall now..
B: two boiled eggs, bit of ham and lots of spinach wilted in butter
S: 1 avocado, half a salmon fillet
L: smoked salmon, lambs lettuce, spring onions, cherry toms and red pepper
S: big handful of macademia nuts (not the salted, roasted variety so I was able to restrain myself) and about three slices of Parma ham
D: green pepper stuffed with bolognaise sauce.

Doesn't look as much as I thought but think I'll try and eat a bit less tomorrow. Weighing obsessively already and it's going ok but I don't look or feel any slimmer.

Evening campers

I have caned water today. Normally I do three litres a day, but I'm on my way to 4.5 this evening. I had my first ever session with a personal trainer this morning. I'm hypermobile to a ridiculous extent, and have associated muscle weakness, so he's helping me to strengthen and tone my wobbly parts. I was pissing sweat - even though there's mega air con in the gym. Then I went home and cleaned the car.... Which I'm ashamed to say took me five hours solid graft....

I had two egg mayo for breakfast, and a green tea, then pork scratchings for a snack. Shared a tub of salaminis and had a rollmops for lunch, then another green tea. Dinner was a fillet steak, homemade cabbage slaw, and curly lettuce, three radishes, two baby cucumbers in an olive oil/garlic/lemon dressing. Just gonna have a peppermint tea now.

Got DD to show me which pump she used and it was the diet, so phew. OH was offering me "just a small spoonful" of ice cream and I was strong! Rah!!!

2 eggs cooked in butter for breakfast
Same for lunch
Dinner was 2 slices of h/m turkey and courgette meatloaf (the whole thing was made from 500g turkey 2 med courgettes , 1 egg, half a small onion 2x garlic and some fresh parsley and dill ) -lots left

also 2 more courgettes (loads in garden have to be eaten)cooked in turkey stock, butter and a splash of tabasco

Also over 2l of water (easy today ,so effin hot)

liking this ,not hungry

Hattie - no nuts on Bootcamp!!!

o..hand 2 chery tomatos straight off the plant whilst watering earlier

Also black coffee.. I like my coffee black (so wont be trying this) but have heard that a good milk/ cream substitute is a spoonful of coconut oil in coffee.. (any good for LC do you think?)

So hot here it has been easy to drink over 3l of water (quite a lot more i think) and just off to bed with a pot of mint tea.. (of which il drink one cup before I fall e asleep no d oubt)

As BIWI say it's very important to stick to the rules if you're in the first couple of weeks of a low carb diet. It may also be the most difficult time as the cravings can hit you at this point. By restricting carbs we are keeping our insulin levels low. This enables fat burning quite quickly but there are other processes taking place during keto-adaption that are easily upset and delayed by eating too much carbohydrate. By keeping carbs consistently low for two weeks you speed up your liver's production of ketones so you won't suffer as long from the fatigue that sometimes hits new low carbers. Also your muscles will start out using ketones, but more importantly they will then switch to using fatty acids preferentially, and a proportion of these fatty acids are coming from your fat stores that you're so desperate to lose.

So I know it's hard to avoid temptation, and then you think just one won't hurt. But it will make it take longer for you to lose weight and it can prolong the carb flu and fatigue that some people get.

Hello!
?I'm jancat & I'm a sugar addict?
I WAS low carbing a couple of wks ago, but am not very good at sticking to things. Hope this bootcamp will sort me out ...
Today I had:
B greek yog ( had to be used up, couldn't throw it away as on v strict budget, but it was full fat), black coffee
L 2 fried eggs, 1 rasher bacon
D homemade mayo, tinned tuna, lettuce

Not enough water, prob 1 litre. Will do better tomorrow.

Ok plan for the day:
B - coffee w almond milk, left over sausage
L - salmon cucumber avocado salad lots of oil + salt
D - creamy chicken breast + lettuce

Snacks - pack hard boiled egg and ham slices
One additional coffee

Happy bootcamping everyone

Hattie

Feel as though I've eaten far too much today.

At this stage don't worry too much about quantities. Obviously don't stuff yourself silly, but there's no need to deprive yourself. If you're hungry, eat!

Will try and recall now..
B: two boiled eggs, bit of ham and lots of spinach wilted in butter

Perfect! Just remember, though, that most ham is quite processed, so don't eat this too often

S: 1 avocado, half a salmon fillet

Absolutely perfect, and these are both foods that will help keep your magnesium/potassium levels up

L: smoked salmon, lambs lettuce, spring onions, cherry toms and red pepper

OK - again, though, smoked salmon is processed so go easy on it. And tomatoes and peppers could be quite carby, although obviously depends on how much/many you had

S: big handful of macademia nuts (not the salted, roasted variety so I was able to restrain myself)

Macadamais are brilliant for snacking on, as they are so low carb - BUT THEY AREN'T ALLOWED ON BOOTCAMP! Once we move to Bootcamp Light you can include nuts

and about three slices of Parma ham

Again, processed ...

D: green pepper stuffed with bolognaise sauce.

Sounds OK, but what's in the Bolognese?

Doesn't look as much as I thought but think I'll try and eat a bit less tomorrow. Weighing obsessively already and it's going ok but I don't look or feel any slimmer.

I'm worried about this. Daily weighing is something that many of us use as a strategy to keep us focused, but your use of the word 'obsessively' together with an expectation that you might look or feel slimmer BY DAY 2 is really quite alarming, and I fear that you are setting yourself up for disappointment! It's inevitable that on some days/in some weeks you will either not lose or you will see a slight gain - even if you've stuck to the rules religiously, your body does fluctuate quite normally

Starting properly today as I had no resolve of the 'delights' at Chessington.

Shopping not coming until 4.30 so making the best of what I've got left over in the cupboards until then.

I'm planning to have

Breakfast- bulletproof coffee

Lunch- tuna mayo and broccoli

Tea- ham, asparagus, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce

Plenty of water as I feel like a shrivelled raisin at the moment (I've had way too many slush drinks the past 2 days which have just been like icy syrup) and maybe some lime and ginger cold tea as a drink with my dinner for a bit of flavour.

Low carbing here and have lost 6lbs. Not full boot camp but it is the bootcamping threads which introduced me to this way of eating so thank you biwi.

Putting in a call out for help! Going out Monday night for dinner in a Chinese restaurant.I have not been doing this long enough to know what main meal would be a better choice.I will only have main ,no alcohol and I will stay away from chips,rice,noodles.Can you help me with choosing a main,I want to be prepared?

Chinese is hard! (Although Thai is even harder ...)

Look out for Lettuce Wraps - they might be on the same part of the menu as roast duck - they are iceberg lettuce leaves which come with a mixture of pork/mushroom and other veg, along with some hoisin sauce. Same principle as duck in pancakes, but with a lettuce leaf to wrap them. If you avoid the hoisin sauce you should be fine with these

Otherwise, just make your choice based on the ingredients - so avoid anything with cashews or that might be sweet. Sweet and sour sauce is obviously out, but also things with pineapple. Things like Kung Po are often really sweet too.

Look at the veg side dishes - I often have stir-fried greens, or waterchestnuts and celery or stir-fried bean sprouts as an accompaniment.

If you're feeling confident, you could always ask for a 1/4 roast duck, but without the pancakes/hoisin sauce?

Otherwise, you're really into damage limitation I'm afraid.

Do they have an online menu? At least that way you could make a choice before you go? Or you could post it here for us to help you?