Morning all!
So next week sees the start of our next Bootcamp. It will last, as usual, for 10 weeks, so will take us nicely up to the summer/school holidays.
If you're going to join us, and especially if you haven't low carbed before, it's really important that you plan for it, and start to think about what you're going to shop for, cook and eat. Failing to plan ahead is one of the key reasons why most people drop out early on!
The first two weeks of Bootcamp are the strictest, but after this period, things relax a little. The idea of the initial strict phase is to ensure that you switch your body from burning carbs, to burning fat.
Overall, these are the foods that you won't be eating at all during Bootcamp:
bread in any form
pasta/noodles
rice
potatoes
sugar (which includes honey/agave syrup/maple syrup)
chocolate
flour
During the stricter first two weeks, you also exclude:
fruit
nuts
alcohol
The idea of Bootcamp is that it's easy to follow - in that there is no weighing or counting of anything (unless you want to). Just follow the rules and you will be fine. However, although it's easy to follow, it's not always easy to do, because for many of us it can be such a change in eating habits and patterns.
The British diet has changed considerably in the last 50 years or so - whereas we used to be meat and two veg, plus potatoes - now, many if not most of our meals are based around carbs - pasta and sauce, or rice-based dishes, for example. And this has been compounded by government advice, which says we should base our diets on carbohydrates and avoid fat wherever we can.
When you're low carbing, you'll be reversing that, which feels very alien! So instead of a diet which is carbs:protein:fat, you'll be switching it round to fat:protein:carbs.
In the first few days of low carbing, especially if you've been eating a high carb diet for a long time, you may start to feel pretty rubbish
This is called carb flu - essentially you're withdrawing from sugar, which is a highly addictive substance. Your body treats carbs in the same way as it does sugar, and you may find it quite hard going to lose the sugar from your diet.
However, it generally passes quickly and once you're through it - if you suffer; not everyone does - you'll find that you feel great and full of energy. If you do suffer, up your salt intake (as we drink a lot of water, it's important that we keep our sodium intake higher) and also your fat. Take some paracetamol if you feel headachey, and just remind yourself that it's a good thing!
*Planning your meals is a really good idea. Have a look at the top of the Bootcamp topic, and you'll find a Bootcamp recipe thread - loads of lovely recipes there to inspire you. As far as possible, try and choose meals that you can make for the whole family, so you're not having to prepare different meals. It won't harm anyone to eat a low carb meal, and you're a lot more likely to stick to it if it's easy for you to do! Think about the meals that you like that aren't so carb-heavy, and make those - so if spaghetti bolognese and chilli with rice would normally feature, swap those for meals that you can easily make low carb - e.g. salmon with salad and green veg, or roast chicken with roast veg (just not roast potatoes!). Shepherds pie can be made with a mash made from celeriac, or cauliflower, or swede.
Think about what you're going to eat during the day; on-the-go eating is really tough for low carbers, because most food outlets are based on carbs - sandwiches, burgers, muffins, etc.
Make sure you've read and understand Bootcamp rules! I'll post these separately. Print them out if it helps!
Each week, I'll start a new chat thread, and I'll post a link to the spreadsheet that we use to track our weight. (You don't have to be added to the spreadsheet if you don't want to).
On the spreadsheet, on the tabs at the bottom, are links to lots of important information, and you'll find the Bootcamp rules there. There are also links to lots of articles, blogs and videos about low carbing, which will help to inspire and inform you.
It's really important that you understand the thinking and science behind low carbing, so do as much reading as you can. It's especially important that you're armed with some key facts about it, because even though low carbing is becoming more common, you'll still find that people around you will rubbish it - mostly people can't understand why you're eating so much fat and expecting to lose weight!
Anyway, that's enough for now!