New Year, New Start Boot Camp (the one without BIWI): Preparatory thread

[prettybird]

Although Boot Camp only starts formally on the 8th, people have asked for an introductory thread, so that they can get prepared. I may not be BIWI but she has lent me her Big Stick However, this week, there shouldn't be any need for the Big Stick: you can ask questions and seek advice so that you can hit the ground running.

NB: I am not medical (nor is BIWI ) so if you have any medical issues, you should seek suitably qualified advice. This is a Way of Eating that has helped me lose 3 stone since May, without ever feeling hungry - and there are many other success stories.

Someone (and I am sure she will remind me again who she is ) said on the last Boot Camp or the one before that even if a goal seems a long way away, and as such potentially unachievable, the time will pass anyway, whatever we do. So if we want to change things, we may as well start.

I am posting a link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness from the last Boot Camp - but only so that you can access the tabs where there are various resources: carb values for veg, reading to do, and some recipes (although there is also the Boot Camp recipe thread to go to) For the moment, ignore the names on the Weigh-In tab - @SayrraT will be producing a new spreadsheet with all those that have signed up in time for the official start next week.

Here are The Rules you need to follow for the first two weeks of Boot Camp. This gives your body a chance to "fat adapt" and for you to learn to eat because you are hungry, not because you crave carbs/sugar. As you get used to this Way of Eating (WoE), you will be amazed to find how often you are not hungry. You will find your fat stores give you sufficient energy.

For newbies, it is important to eat 3 meals a day - even if it is just a nominal breakfast/bulletprooof coffee (coffee blended with butter). Otherwise, you may find that hunger - or habit - will lead you to fall face first back into carby twatdom and then you need to start that process of fat-adaption all over again. Some of us who have now been low carbing for a while have found that we can follow 16:8 fasting or even the occasional 24 hour fast - but this is not something to be done in the early weeks.

So, here are the Rules. After 2 weeks 1 (or whoever takes over the next stint of the BIWI Replacement Programme ) the rules will be posted for Boot Camp Lite. Many of us who are still actively trying to lose weight tend to follow Boot Camp during the week (maybe with extra berries and nuts) and then allow a small amount of alcohol at the weekend)

1. Eat three proper meals a day.

"You must eat breakfast. It doesn’t have to be a lot, and it doesn’t have to be absolutely first thing, but you must have something. For the rest of the day, if you’re eating enough food and you are in ketosis then you shouldn’t be hungry between meals. But if you are hungry, eat something. (Hard boiled eggs make a great snack). After the first two weeks of Bootcamp we will relax this, but these two weeks are critical in terms of helping you switch easily to a low carb way of eating - and if you start to feel hungry, it makes things much harder! Eating this way will ensure that your blood sugar levels are kept stable, which will mean that you are much less likely to experience hunger. A typical high carbohydrate diet can mean that snacking is a routine part of your day. Once your blood sugar levels are stable, by eating low carb, you should find that you no longer want to snack. But the rule of thumb here is ‘if you are hungry, eat!’. (Just make sure you are only choosing low carb snacks, of course!)"

1. Avoid processed foods.

Focus on pure, natural protein as the basis for your meals - meat/fish/eggs. Things like sausages, ham, bacon, pre-prepared burgers etc should be avoided as much as possible. You can have them, but just not every day. Avoid foods marketed as low carb, eg. Atkins Daybreak bars.

1. Eat lots of fat.

Eating fat will not make you fat. Honestly! But it will keep your appetite satisfied, and it sustains your body’s energy requirements perfectly. Fat does not provoke an insulin spike, unlike carbs which do (a lot) and protein (a little). Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though, as this is too sweet), add mayonnaise where you can (just check the carb count on your mayo first). Eat fattier cuts of meat – e.g. pork belly, roast chicken with the skin on and/or eat the fat off your lamb chops. Absolutely no low fat/light foods of any kind!

1. Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food.

This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable. But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list. Make sure that you focus on eating those vegetables that are 3g carb per 100g or less, and this will ensure that your carb counts are kept low. You don’t have to weigh/count carbs – this is one of the great joys of this WOE (way of eating), but if you’re new to low carbing it can be helpful to weigh your portions of veg in the early days, just so that you know how many carbs are in the sort of portions that you like to eat.

1. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited).

Dairy can impede weight loss for some people. If you are still drinking tea/coffee with milk or cream, try to restrict yourself to max 2 cups per day. There are a lot of carbs in milk, so if you are having several cups of tea/coffee per day, you will quickly rack up your daily carb count (e.g. 1 medium latte contains more than 12g carbs!) You may eat cheese but again, don't overdo it. Full fat yoghurt is the best way to include dairy in your diet - but beware, it does contain carbs. Total Full Fat is the best

1. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.

"The more weight you have to lose, the more water you should drink. This is from www.low-carbdiet.co.uk/. Water is essential to weight loss for those who eat low-carb. The minimum consumed in a day should be: Your Weight----Litres 140lbs-----2.5 160lbs-----3.0 180lbs-----3.0 200lbs-----3.5 220lbs-----3.5 240lbs-----4.0 260lbs-----4.5 280lbs-----4.5 300lbs-----5.0 320lbs-----5.5 340lbs-----5.5 360lbs-----6.0 380lbs-----6.5 400lbs-----6.5 High levels of ketones in the blood stream can lead to a reduction in ketone production, therefore being well hydrated could aid in keeping the levels low and ketone production ongoing. Consuming enough water can have many other positive side effects: aids your kidneys with the processing of protein, reduces the retention of water, helps with preventing constipation, and reduces the levels of ketones released by your breath, which in-turn will reduce breath odour. However, drinking a lot of water can mean that you also need to keep an eye on your electrolyte balance. You need to make sure that you are consuming sufficient sodium and potassium. On a low carb diet we can eat more salt, so make sure that you are cooking with salt and adding salt to food, if you like it. Good, low carb, sources of potassium are spinach (raw), avocado, mushrooms, courgettes and asparagus, as well as salmon and yoghurt."

1. No alcohol.

Alcohol is the easiest source of fuel for the body to burn, so it will always use this first before it starts to burn any fat - which is why you need to restrict it, especially in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, when we are encouraging the body to stop using carbs for its source of fuel and turn to fat-burning instead. If you really can't do this - at least try and restrict it to the weekend. Vodka with soda is the best thing to drink. Or Champagne, red wine or dry white wine.

1. No fruit.

Really. Seriously. Honestly. None at all. Zilch. Nada. After Bootcamp you will be able to introduce certain fruits, but at this stage fruit is simply too carby. We are also trying to break the addiction to sweet things, so cutting fruit out is part of this process. If you are getting all your carbs from vegetables and salad, you will be getting all the nutrients and fibre that you need.

1. No nuts/seeds.

10. No sugar or artificial sweeteners. Sugar is an obvious ‘no no’, but artificial sweeteners are also an issue. One of the aims of this way of eating is to eat pure and natural foods, so including sweeteners is not recommended. Some people find that artificial sweeteners can impede their weight loss, and there is some suggestion that your body can respond to sweeteners as if they were sugar, by releasing more insulin - and therefore laying down fat. Given that the aim of Bootcamp is to help us lose our sweet tooth and addiction to sweet things, then it is a good idea to avoid sweeteners altogether in this first two weeks.

Maudesmum i've ordered and waiting for rose Eliot's low carb veggie recipe book to arrive. I'll report back once it's here.

I have so far drunk over 2.5l of water - feel like I am spending more time walking to the loo than at my desk this morning!

I am currently on day 4 and have so far resisted the temptation to weigh again but I do feel better already, which i am sure is mainly just feeling good in my head that I am sticking to it and doing something positive, rather than any significant weight loss, but at least it's a good feeling whatever the reason...

B - coyo with flaxseed and some cocoa nibs, plus a coffee with ff milk
L - will be going to M&S so if anyone has any suggestions please send them my way!
D - have suggsted to dh that we have omelette and salad, prob adding muchrooms and blue cheese to the omelette.

I'm starting today! I have been waiting but the overeating is getting silly now thinking 'last blow out' nonsense.

Weighed myself first thing this morning. Been avoiding the scales for a good while and am now 180lbs. I've gained 18 since the start of October and I am 30lbs over weight.

Only thing pleasing about this mess is that I'm starting at exactly 180 on the nose. 150 here I come.

Have you guys seen this?

Misinformation and propaganda make me itch!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/01/04/health/keto-worst-diet-2018/index.html

Hi, all. I did this once before (years ago), so I know it works, and I know it's enjoyable once you're into it, and my health was never better, never mind the weight.

But boy is my mind trying to derail me. I started a couple of days ago (never been very good at waiting) and have already lost 3 pounds, which is fab. But how do you explain to your mind what you're doing? Mine keeps saying I'd better have a drink to celebrate the loss (after only 3 days!), or now that I've lost 3lbs I can clearly revert to eating whatever as I've lost weight now, or surely celebratory drinks don't count as real drinks... I don't remember trying to sabotage myself last time and could do with some tips on how to talk to myself, if anyone has any?

Best of luck to all!

Hi guys

Should I be having any specific vitamins to ensure not malnourished in any way to start with?
read something about how salt is important... any others?

Hi all, I'm new here! I'm very fat and was diagnosed with diabetes last year. I lost about 16kg on the blood sugar diet but have totally fallen off the wagon.
My main issue with it is that I really don't like eggs in any form! I don't drink milk but have to keep dairy up - I had a surgical menopause due to breast cancer and I'm at high risk of osteoporosis as I'm only 40.
Looking forward to starting, I really enjoyed LCHF before!

Weebarra, I'm a breast cancer survivor too, and need to lose weight in order to prevent it coming back for a third time 😞. I have aches and pains all over the place and think this diet will help.

I've done this before. The last time was a couple of boot camps back when I lost about half a stone before falling off the wagon. Have pretty much kept that off though, so want to go down further.

I'm off to India for 10 days later on this month, so I'm not sure how that will work out with the diet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

cherrytree - if you are genuinely not hungry, I know that BIWI has been re-assessing being so strict about the rule about 3 meals during the first 2 weeks for "newbies". The concern is that until you are "fat-adapted", you might get hungry and fall back into carby twatdom. (I'll need to go back and check what book she was referring to).

Some of us who are long term about Campers do indeed miss breakfast because we are not hungry and/or follow 16:8 fasting principles.

Initially, why not try a bulletproof coffee or a mug of peppermint/liquorice tea with a teaspoon of coconut oil for "breakfast"? That way, you've had a boost of fat energy (rather than carbs) to help get you into ketosis.

Alwaysinmyheart Picks up BIWI's Big Stick Just a wee warning (not actually wielding the Big Stick as we haven't started formally yet ): nuts (including almond flour) are not allowed in the first two weeks (unless you're veggie) and we discourage use of artificial sweeteners as they can have a similar effect on the brain as sugar, especially while we are trying to wean ourselves off our sweet teeth (Same goes for diet drinks).

Having said that, after the first two weeks, I have on occasion used a small amount of sweetener (try not to use the fructose based ones) and/or adapted recipes using cocoa (Nigella's lime and chocolate cloud cake for example, which used ground almonds). I've also added a recipe to the recipe thread for wee chocolate pots with cardamom (one orange - juice and zest - amongst 8 servings, no sugar at all) which uses Lidl 74% chocolate, eggs and a small amount of milk (I now use half milk/half cream). My other favourite dessert on this WoE is simply mixed berries (whatever I can get: raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries) served with cream. Once your taste buds have adapted, you don't need any sugar

One easy breakfast that is egg free is a slice of tomato,salami and a slice of mozzarella on top. Cook on high heat until cheese has melted, prob only about 5 mins. Done!

Or make almond flour muffins or almond flour and Parmesan crackers and put cheese, ham, pate, avocado etc on top.

intelligentPutty - I believe that magnesium and potassium are advised (the latter you can get in Lo-Salt). I know the personal trainer I was talking to suggested magnesium and I was able smugly to say that I was already taking it

weebarra - make sure to have plenty of green veg as they are a good source of calcium. Kale is good - and tossed in oil and roasted briefly in the oven (maybe with some chili flakes or garlic) - are nicely crunchy.

I presume you already have a lot of cheese if you need to keep your dairy up but don't drink milk. What about full fat Greek yoghurt?

Are you ok with mayonnaise? You could make some homemade mayonnaise with an egg/egg yolk.

lisbapalea sorry if this is a bit late for your lunch but I like the Spanish rollitos from M&S, Serrano ham wrapped round manchego cheese, as recommended on last bootcamp. Some of their packs of flavoured chicken are low carb, not the bbq or smokey. Also they do a tuna pate which is good with cucumber. I like an M&S lunch on a Friday

prettybird - yes, I love kale and try to eat as much green leafy veg as I can. And Greek yoghurt, although hard without fruit.
madonna - there are a lot of us about unfortunately. I was diagnosed 8 weeks after the birth of DC3, who is now 4. I probably used treatment as an excuse to eat what I wanted, and I need to lose weight now. Sorry to hear about your recurrence.

Weebarra - have you tried Greek yoghurt with a wee bit of cinnamon instead of fruit? That's my everyday breakfast, along with a wee bit of double cream. I believe that vanilla powder is also good, but I've still to get hold of some.

I've also made "pancakes" with eggs, and cream cheese with cinnamon.

Back on the wagon with xmas weight gone.

Does anyone have a chicken thigh recipe they ca recommend? My "go to" recipe includes cider which is a no no. Ta

Brassica I marinate chicken thighs in a slug of olive oil, sprinkle of lemon juice, garlic puree/powder salt, pepper, smoked paprika (or normal paprika), and basil (fresh basil is even better if you have any). It doesn't need long in the marinade if you're in a hurry. Then put them in the oven at 220°C for 40 minutes until the skin is brown and crispy. I always make extra as they're lovely cold the next day with some salad and a spoonful of coleslaw.

I do a similar recipe which involved a lemon squeezed over the chicken thighs, with the two lemon halves then tucked in amongst them, a number of unpeeled garlic cloves and then a generous glug of olive oil and a sprinkling a sea salt before going into the over at 220C in an uncovered oven proof frying pan for 40 minutes. Half way through add some torn basil leaves if you have them.

At the end, take the thighs out the pan and then de-glaze with a wee bit of water/chicken stock supposed to be wine and reduce for a little bit on the hob. Very tasty.

webarra, I like a bit of vanilla powder in full fat yoghurt. Quite expensive but it goes a long way.

The more I think about what I will be eating over the coming weeks, the more I realise that I shouldn't think about this as LCHF but as a FLGV diet with "FLGV" standing for "f**% loads of green veg". I am worried that I will see the "high fat" bit otherwise as giving me a green light to eat loads of high fat food and, as I said the other day, I'm the sort of person who can easily eat spoonful after spoonful of cream. This is going to require a complete change from me as, whilst I used to be good at buying green veg, I rarely ate it and so stopped buying it as it was just going to waste.

The one thing I did like from TK programme last night was when the male participant said something about "hope" to lose weight and TK pointed out that he would if he wanted to and to think about something else you have worked hard to achieve and how good that feels. That made me think of my job which I'm proud of, worked hard at and where I constantly have to update my skills to stay on top of my game. If I could do that with diet and exercise, I would probably be in a different shape to the one I am in now.

That's a good attitude Head - and that was the only positive bit I got out of TK's programme apart from working out how to adapt one of his recipes to be HFLC

You will do this!

I used to be similar with veg and especially salad leaves. I sometimes describe this WoE to others as "like atkins but with more veg" . I've got really into microwaved (in yummy butter and then well seasoned) brussel sprouts. The other thing I do is make a nice coleslaw (with plenty of the Lidl mayonnaise) which is then good with lunches/just to have in the fridge. Courgette "pasta" (fried briefly in butter) is another mainstay and I also enjoy celeriac "chips" (especially in spicy oil). Microwaved (in butter, of course )or roasted cauliflower is also lovely, as is roasted, in oil & garlic, broccoli and then covered with grated parmesan.

You can do this head! It def requires a change in mindset, it certainly did for me stuck in the ways of weight watchers. I thought I’d miss carbs, but I honestly don’t, and haven’t felt as though I’m depriving myself with this woe. I’m eating cheese, butter etc that I have not been eating, I’ve got out of the rut of making and eating the same old meals every week. It’s very adaptable to cooking for the family. Oh and I lost 20lbs last bootcamp.

You sound really determined!

Rshard makes a good point - and one I'd meant to mention in my OP.

Quite a few of us really railed against the "restrictions" of this WoE in the early days and/or complained that it wasn't working (I'm not going to name them: it's up to them if they want to identify themselves ) or that it was too difficult . They were encouraged sometimes not so gently to give it a few weeks doing it "properly" before giving up. Most of them went on to discover that it did (and does ) work .

BIWI's Big Stick is there to remind us to follow the Rules if we want it to work. Personally, I find that if I feel I'm stalling, it is almost always to do with not drinking enough water and/or snacking even if they are low carb snacks when I am not really hungry

I'm definitely one that needs to focus on the veg, especially with brunch. I had Bacon and eggs today. Didn't fancy veg with it... I've got kale and celeriac to use up so will have those for dinner. I tend to do well on fat (yes to cream by the spoonful!) but not great on greens unless I really plan properly.
I've finished the dark chocolate and am going to do the proper strict 2 weeks on BC (haven't really for the last two), so I really need to plan meals for the next fortnight.
Anyone care to share their favourite veg heavy LCHF meals? Also breakfast/lunch meals or something I can take for packed lunch (otherwise I go to tesco and end up eating a whole bag of nuts).