Week 1 - January Low Carb Bootcamp: and we're off!

[BIWI]

Evening everyone. I hope you're all ready, prepared and raring to go!

Here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness:

for you to enter your starting weight

Have a good look at the tabs at the bottom, as there you will find the rules, the list of allowed veg and lots of other really useful information.

I've also started the questions thread , so if you have anything you need to ask, that's the best place to ask it. The chat threads move really quickly in the first weeks, so this thread is the best place to ask your questions.

And this time around, I thought it might be useful to have a thread to post about good/interesting low carb products that you come across:

Here

Good luck!

Might chuck a fried egg on there too...

Evening all!

Sorry you feel like that electra. For my part I have found BIWI's support on these threads to be invaluable. These threads have been a lifeline in past bootcamps.

I'm worried now that I'm a woman doing this WOE and I don't feel anguished AT ALL. I'm worried now I'm doing it all wrong.

I had the most delicious lunch today. Two large flat mushrooms with a layer of spinach and rocket, pancetta lardons, a couple of chopped cherry tomatoes all covered with mozzarella. And a bit of butter.

Breakfast was boiled eggs mashed with butter and I've made a chicke curry with coconut milk for tea. I'll have some buttered spinach with it. DH is making chips for everyone else.

1 litre of water so far, lots of week tea and one coffee with cream.

More water to come.

Electra - why not stick at it for the fortnight at least. It's only Wednesday. If you've had a battered Mars Bar for lunch, you can tell us.

BestIsWest - Those stuffed mushrooms sound totally lovely.

Thanks Pisses, just had beef burger, cheese, tomato, salad leaves, cucumber, mayo and dressing for dinner. Now not feeling hungry but still have a headache but that could be due to getting up with the kids every two hrs in the night.

Will have a bovril in hot water, hopefully that will help. Could be ketosis i had hoped my reduced in take of carbs previously would make this smooth ride obv not!

Wow. This threads going so quick!

B - scrambled eggs
L - soup-cauliflower, broccoli, chicken, spinach and swede with some double cream, natural yog
D - turkey, roast broccoli and mashed swede with loads of butter and a splash of cream

No snacks yet
Loads of water. Lost count after 7 pints but that was not long after lunch.

Feeling pretty terrible but don't think it's carb flu. No headache, it's probably the only part of me that doesn't ache. Cancelled my session with the trainer tonight, want an early night instead

I've been on pretty much all the bootcamps, under a different name, and have eaten low-carb (more or less!) for years. As I said, I think what BIWI has done to promote low carb is amazing. It has been truly life changing for many people. And I know The Stick is tongue in cheek in many ways.

I suppose I worry that, whilst we've moved away from dietary orthodoxy by eating low-carb (which is a VERY good thing), we're still using the same old language of shame and guilt and punishment around food. I don't think anyone should ever feel bad about what they eat. You can think 'oh shit, not a great choice, I know that stuff is no good for me, need to plan more/think more carefully etc', but, imo, 'you should beat yourself up for eating four prawn crackers' is wrong. Even when it's said jokingly...

I'm just really aware that there are probably women lurking on here who have a really problematic relationship with food, and language is important.

But...I'm aware that I'm probably sounding like a right miserable, overthinking, joyless old bag so I'm going to stfu now

BestIsWest I want your lunch, NOW!!!,

                   <img loading="lazy" class="inline-flex mumsnet-emoji" alt="Grin" src="https://www.mumsnet.com/build/assets/grin-D7Eg_B6y.png">

Evening all!

Quickly checking in

B- Total yogurt, double cream, ground vanilla

L- cauliflower cheese.

D- Parmesan and almond crusted chicken with creamed greens.

No snacks. Lotsa water. TBH im not hungry for my dinner at all.

Had an awfully busy day, and my food choices have been poor because of it :( Nothing non-BC though, just not enough veg at all!

B - Egg & bacon
S - ham & cheese slice
L - Frankfurter (had to grab lunch at Costco, this was all they had! Binned the roll)
D - M&S coconut, lemongrass & kaffir lime chicken escalopes (3;6g carbs) and baby corn.

3 buttermint teas and a spearmint tea, all with added coconut oil. Loads of water.

I think BIWI is being strict & saying all this, because you just wont lose weight if you cheat, even a tiny bit. Its an unforgiving WOE, and there is so much lovely food we can eat. Slip ups now will mean little or no weight loss later.

electra I hear what you say.

I try hard not to talk about 'being bad' and vilifying foods, etc. (Although it is very difficult!)

In this case, though, I think it was actually appropriate to take people to task, because it's really important that people do understand how challenging Bootcamp/low carbing can be. And in particular, any sense that 'bad behaviour' is being encouraged or that posters are being enabled in this.

Because this is only day 3

There's no point people joining up to Bootcamp, which only has 10 rules to follow, and then not following them. And that's my job really, hence waving the big stick around.

I try to get the tone right. After all, I'm just another MNetter like everyone else, and I'm not a moderator! But I want people to succeed, and do well, and get the results they are expecting.

I will get it wrong sometimes, perhaps many times! So I'm sorry for that.

And thank you for your post - I appreciate you saying it!

B - 97 PC sausages.
L - scrambled eggs with spinach
T - savoury mince with brocoli

Water - shit loads, stopped counting at 3l

Dinner is in the oven - cod and mozzarella wrapped in pancetta with broccoli (with butter) and fried spinach.

I had a mix up over dates in the fridge tonight and had to eat pig again instead of the chicken I'd planned - love love the gyoza meatballs though so never mind. I'm going to try a fruitless green smoothie tomorrow morning, getting fed up with just avocados and I really enjoy a green smoothie, does the coconut oil make it tasty? [hopeful]

B - avocado (again, struggle with eggs, take breakfast with me, Greek yog stalls me)
L - the rest of the slow roast pork shredded over lettuce with a big dollop of hm Mayo
D - Gyoza meatballs, fried cauliflower rice with extra veg/garlic/sesame oil

ElectraCute. It feels weird talking to you, knowing I probably know who you are, but now don't?! .

It's a shame you now feel that way after doing so many of BIWI's bootcamps. In the past you have benefitted from the stick, as have many many others. You know this doesn't work if you don't follow the rules and just dip in & out or 'make mistakes' other people still need to learn that.

If BIWI is any less firm about it people won't learn that they have to stick to the rules. It's not like WW or SW or any other calories counting 'diet' because until you are serious adapted, tiny things really do mattter. You know how little carby food it takes to stop your body switching to fat burning, other people may not. It's not about the carbs or the calories in that one slop up, it's about your body not being able to switch if it's got those few extra carbs, then people saying 'it's not working'.

If BIWI is patting people on the head saying 'never mind, try again tomorrow' they really aren't going to grasp how important it is to stick to the 'rules' are they?

It's fine for everyone to say 'Oh dear, never mind, tomorrow's another day' but if people want results, the fact of the matter is, it's not fine and there's a fine line between accepting fuck ups and enabling off piste eating. We can all teeter on that line, people rely on BIWI to hold that line firm???else! what's the point?!

Good evening all. DS second afternoon at nursery didn't go so well :( He was over excited and kept punching and pushing the other children over. I felt like shit. But they convinced me to go and leave him and they would call if he got worse. Surprisingly, he settled right down after i left and they think he may be showing off a bit in front of me for attention.

Anyway, they haven't kicked him out, so we will be back there next week.

Today has been good food wise, i started off tired and starving but by mid day was feeling fine.
b - 3 egg omelette with spinach and cheese.
l - chicken, bacon, avocado and basil leaves in mayo with half a packet of rocket.
s - 2 pork balls with a dollop of yog, 5 olives and a gherkin
d - ipd mousaka and green salad (mmmmmmmmm)

Lots of water and 8 cups of fruit tea.

I am feeling less bloated and am quite energised. I sneakily weighed myself and am down 3lb. (Bastarding cheating dh is down 5lb!!)

So today I ate:
B: ff yog clotted peanut butter and coconut oil
S: pork scratchings
L: bacon avacado, rocket, pine nuts with o oil and red wine vin dressing
S: handful macademias
D: chick thighs fried in butter with fajita style sauce, dbl cream, coleslaw, guacamole and romaine lettuce
W: 2.5 ltr so far, intend a bit more.

Is mascarpone and cream an option for 'pudding'?

I've been gearing up to do tis bootcamp for for at least a year (namechanger). Actually it's more like two. I have read a few times that the first go at it is your best shot, don't know if that's true or not, but it really matters to me, I am nearly 44 and have been overweight since having DCs nine years ago. Enough already!

Today I ate
Small lump of cheese and celery, coffee and cream at 7am
Total yoghurt and black coffee
Snack of olives and butter
Lunch of chicken and egg salad
Snack m&s calamari
Snack goats cheese and celery
Dinner roast chicken thigh, half avo, rocket, (both with oil from roasting), cauliflower cheese

How does that sound? I didn't expect to be snacking so much and there is a lot of dairy, is it too much?

What a great idea lurking! Awaiting the answer

almahart I think some people find diary slows or stalls weight loss - but this isn't true of everyone