Complete novice needs help

[lavendersun]

So, I have signed up for bootcamp and am starting to think about reducing carbs, I don't eat much bread/pasta anyway so I won't miss that.

Happy with the thought of cauliflower rice esp as cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables.

I do eat meat but also eat a lot of pulses, chickpeas, lentils, beans etc., and presumed that I would still be able to eat those ... but NO, it seems I can't. Any tips on what to replace them with.

Also, my curries have fresh ginger and garlic in them, is it ok to still include these things as the quantities are so small? Please say yes! My favourite curry is cauliflower, spinach and chickpea, will now be having cauliflower rice, not allowed chickpeas so will need to re think.

Is fruit ever allowed at a later stage of the diet? I usually eat an apple, pear and maybe an orange every day and will miss fruit.

I have bought "the low carb gourmet' which looks nice, I like photos of pretty food!

I just leave the pulses out - you could, depending on the meal add meat, aubergine or avocado. Instead of hummus I make baba ghanoush for instance.

You can eat berries after the first 2 weeks, and garlic and ginger are ok in small quantities. The recipe thread is very good for ideas.

Thanks, actually I am not sure that this way of eating is for me the more I look into it. I am thinking that just sticking to 5:2 and eating healthily with fewer starchy carbs will suit me better.

Giving up apples and pulses (in particular) would be very hard. I don't really want to increase my meat ratio.

Have you looked at Helmsley's The Art of Eating Well? That might suit you, and is a fabulous book in my opinion. I lost a lot of weight on bootcamp and now eat some pulses and fruit, but very little flour and dairy, and I feel very well on it.

Thanks very much, I will look into that. I really don't think I could give up fruit and pulses, even for five weeks.