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Low-carb bootcamp

Join discussions about low-carb bootcamp plans, meals and progress. Consider speaking to a medical professional before starting any diet.

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest

999 replies

prettybird · 08/01/2018 08:37

Stepping in to BIWI's big shoes and with a loan of her Big Stick, I take a big gulp and lead the first Boot Camp of 2018. ShockGrin

Here is a link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness If your name is not on it, because either it got lost in one of the many copy and pastes, or because you "signed up" after 0732 on Friday, which was when SayrraT produced the spreadsheet, you can add your name add the bottom and at some point it will be re-ordered alphabetically. NB: there is no obligation to add or your name or to weigh-in weekly - this is for those that find the weekly weigh-ins useful for motivation or accountability Wink

These are the Rules for Boot Camp. They are also on one of the tabs of the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness (SoF).

You need to follow The Rules 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. Don't try to restrict your fat because you think you are having too many calories, as they are important for the process of encouraging your body to change the way it uses its fuel.

So, here are the Rules. After 2 weeks I (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 "full" 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!)"

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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."

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. No nuts/seeds (unless you are veggie: check the SoF for veggie rules)

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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JumpingintoLCHF · 09/01/2018 03:23

Following what BIWI said about squash... I've always drunk loads of NAS squash and last bc I thought that would be the hardest to give up. But we ditched the syrups for our old sodastream and now I drink lots of fizzy water and it's so much more refreshing than the squash, plus it stops me having a sweet taste in my mouth, which I had to wean myself off.

Rshard · 09/01/2018 06:34

iamsam, I did the last bootcamp and weight came off my tummy, legs and face. However, I had already lost weight on another woe.

ShastaBeast · 09/01/2018 06:38

Just popping on to say hello but won’t be regular as I can’t keep up - page 12 after less than 24 hours is super crazy.

Started last Easter and slowly lost 17lb but my starting weight wasn’t that high this time so I expected it to be slower. And this last bit is gonna be even slower. I put on just 2lb after indulging over Christmas, phew. From past experience those 2lb will drop off fairly quickly and I’ll be back to the last half stone again - I was really struggling to break the barrier on that half stone mark.

The good news is that I have built up the habits and even a big carb fest isn’t a big deal long term. I can’t see myself eating like I used to again. Fingers crossed I will be maintaining by the next boot camp - a whole new challenge. Keep at it any newbies, it’s worth it and while it can be slower than other diets it is so much more sustainable as you won’t feel as hungry. Plus so many other perks - better skin and reduced gas for example (both noticeably worse over the Christmas binge).

ShastaBeast · 09/01/2018 06:43

Jumping- did you see the research about fuzzy water making you hungrier quicker? On tv I think but saw it online somewhere.

I was slack today and had berries so I’m going to grab a lemon and have that with yoghurt instead today. Salmon with veggies and mayo for lunch as left overs from dinner. Not sure about tonight. I used last week to wean back off carbs so it should be fine to BC without side effects.

Rshard · 09/01/2018 06:55

I think the fizzy drink research was reported in the bbc website shasta

headoutofthesand · 09/01/2018 07:12

Day 2 and I've been eyeing up my pint of water for about 30 mins now and haven't touched it. I'm going to visualise all of you lot chanting "down it" and see if I can neck it in one.

JumpingintoLCHF · 09/01/2018 07:30

Shasta no I haven't seen that but I'll look. It hasn't been my experience though I'm relieved to say.

I was just looking back at the chat about different weights looking different on different people when I saw something ilovecherries had written which really highlights that:
My heaviest weight was 16 stone 2, and I needed a 24 on top and a (tight!) 22 on the bottom. I'm a 'good' 5 foot 7. At 15 stone I was still 22/20 and at 14 stone I was still 20/18

So I am just 5ft 8 and was over 19 stone until May this year (gasp!). I had started wearing size 22 clothes but was still wearing some size 20. Now I've lost 2 stone since then and am in size 18. It is so odd that I am 3 stone heavier than cherries, almost same height and same clothes size. Where does my extra fat go because I know it's there!

JumpingintoLCHF · 09/01/2018 07:35

Ok I found an article in the DM by Michael Mosely about sparkling drinks but it's based on a study using 4 people and 4 drinks taken once each so not exactly scientific, peer reviewed research! Interesting though.

MaudesMum · 09/01/2018 07:45

Up early and full of energy, which I know is because I didn't have a drink last night - I always sleep better when I don't! Whoever suggested a sprinkling of cinnamon with yoghurt was a genius - really perks up a plain bowl of the stuff and meant I didn't miss the chia seeds & almonds I usually have.

I made a vat of chili con carne last night (without kidney beans obv), and had a bowl of it with baby turnips and creme fraiche. Will freeze most in single portion sizes so I can zap some when I don't have time to cook. Batch cooking is definitely the way forward for me - it stops me veering towards quicker and less healthy solutions when I'm busy.

SayrraT · 09/01/2018 07:50

I've added a new sheet to the spreadsheet "meal ideas". If anyone has made any of the meals on the list and know the carb count feel free to fill the info in Grin

Food For Today

B: Eggs (x2) chopped up in a cup with butter, coffee with cream
L: Broccoli soup, baby cucumbers, babybel
S: Pork scratchings (I need to have a snack between work and getting to the horses as otherwise I'm too tempted to eat something else)
D: Courgetti bolognese

I also need to start increasing exercise, not necessarily for weight loss but for fitness for riding so my exercise plan is:

M: ride (am) metafit (pm)
T: pole (pm)
W: ride (am) badminton (lunch)
T: ride (am) pole (pm)
F: ride (am)
S: ride (long ride or competition)
S: ride (long ride or gallop training)

I may or may not manage pole twice a week and badminton might change around, also, I aim to ride every day but sometimes can't. My friend is having a lesson this morning so the arena is being used and its too dark and icy to hack out.

I need to do more cardio but not sure when I can fit it in!

Day 2 everyone! or as grah would have said Day 1 of 69 Grin

ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 07:51

Yes, the whole clothes size thing was one of the most demoralising aspects for me. A couple of times getting weighed at the hospital, someone would say 'oh, you aren't as heavy as I expected'. Clearly I was still FAR too heavy but I obviously looked even bigger. And it's not like I'm some dainty fairy under the fat. I've got a good sturdy skeleton on me, and even my non-fat shoe size is a 7.5, and has been since I was 14 (when I was very slender). It's returned to that now, having gone up to 8.5. Now at 12 stone I'm wearing 14s mainly.

JumpingintoLCHF · 09/01/2018 07:53

Amazing work ilove.

ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 07:53

Where IS Grah? Expected him to be here by now.

Rshard · 09/01/2018 07:56

It’s really puzzling isn’t it jumping! I’ve seen loads of threads on mumsnet where people have asked what size people are if they’re 5,5 and 10 stones so it must be intriguing to lots of people!

I’m only 5,1 and at my heaviest was 14,6. When people learn that I’ve lost almost 4 stone, they always say - but you never looked that big! So despite being short, my fat distributes pretty evenly I think. At my heaviest I was an 18, I’m now just edging into a 12.

lanawinters · 09/01/2018 07:57

Morning fellow bootcampers,
Slept for 8 hours so definitely have the boing today! Grin
IAmSamSamIAm I have definitely seen a reduction in belly fat after I finally committed again to LCHF - thought my giant belly was here to stay....
B: Bulletproof Coffee
L: leftover lemon garlic chicken thighs, salad, avocado
D: cod fillet, buttered sprouts, cauliflower cheese.

AthelstaneTheUnready · 09/01/2018 08:04

Ugh. More vivid dreams, oh yes - I'm knackered feeling as though I've been running around all night joining the army, gardening, arguing with people... definitely more vivid and more of them, but in that case a bit more INTERESTING would also be welcome.

I am extremely pleased to have got day 1 done perfectly though - breaking the habit of alcohol at the end of the day is always the hardest for me, so I'm going to make a massive fuss over myself for succeeding, in the hope that my inner toddler responds to the positive attention.

prettybird · 09/01/2018 08:05

Thanks BIWI for the reminder about "No Added Sugar". I'd meant to include that when I described the alternative ways to flavour plain water.

It is so important to get over that sweet tooth - and sweeteners don't help that process. It's an addiction we need to break. The positive is that other things start tasting "sweeter" - even brussel sprouts! Shock

Good to see you Shastabeast. Week 1 of Boot Camp often moves very quickly - but it's not one that you need to RTFT. You can jump in at any time to give/ask for support/ask questions/seek advice. Smile

IamSam - I'm not an apple so can't directly relate to your shape with my experience but even so, I've lost c7" off my waist (just under 3 stone lost Smile was over 3 stone before Christmas Blush) - a lot of that early on (I only started measuring in August but had already lost over a stone - and c4" at that point). My measurement is based on the plaited belt that I have now thrown away as the "tail" had got too long (and it wasn't leather, so was disintegrating with all the different places it had closed at. I've bought a new one (plaited again so as to be infinitely adjustable) and even its tail is getting quite long! Smile

OP posts:
StuntNun · 09/01/2018 08:08

IAmSam yes you should lose the visceral fat around the organs preferentially on this way of eating. I can't remember the exact reason but it's to do with the fact that different fat types have different receptors on the cell membranes and the hormone levels produced by this woe "tell" the visceral fat cells to release their fat. The same thing occurs with fasting because that also produces very low insulin levels.

With cheating Timbuktu the problem is that it can make other people tempted or feel that they should be able to get away with cheating themselves. It's fine to come on here to ask for help getting back on track.

prettybird · 09/01/2018 08:16

SayrraT - adding a "Meal Ideas" tab is a really good idea, thanks for that. The SoF is a wonderful evolving beauty was going to say beast but have kept to positive language with lots of resources to help support us in our HFLC "journey" Smile.

OP posts:
TheIllaminati · 09/01/2018 08:20

thellaminati have I spelled that right? The salad had lettuce, rocket, spinach, cucumber, radish, 4 cherry tomatoes in it so plenty of vegetables?

Yes, that's a nice variety of vegetables, rshard. I saw "salad" and imagined a little pile of iceberg on your plate Grin

By the way, that's an admirable attempt at my username. It's meant to be a play on The Illuminati but modified to reflect my PTA years of laminating posters and, well, everything in sight! Hence The Illaminati.

But seeing it as all one word just looks stupid--the "I" and "L" are practically the same. Sigh. I'm open to ideas for changing it again Wink

littleladylawyer · 09/01/2018 08:33

After all the talk of feeling cold I got into work this morning to find the heating is broken in our office, going to be a long chilly day!

Can I ask a question about using wine and alcohol in cooking? In a bolognese or stew I would usually put in a healthy few glasses of red wine, and brandy in a stroganoff etc. Although the alcohol is burnt off is what's left too sugary for BC?

Twoo · 09/01/2018 08:33

Good morning All :). I stuck to plan all day yesterday. For some of you that might not be impressive. For me it’s significant, as I usually fall of the wagon by lunchtime Grin

On a serious note, I credit this thread for me giving this woe a serious go. I’m finding it inspiring and motivating!

I hope I can inspire people too in time. Happy eating all.

B Coffee with cream. Leftover cauli cheese with broccoli sauce.

L Grilled Fish & Salad

D Mince Balls with veg & cheese sauce

RaindropsAndSparkles · 09/01/2018 08:35

I slept very wery well last night which is unusual. Quickly tbre a salad of leaves, cu, tomato, french dressing and cottage cheese (full fat) together before I left. And downed a small glads of water with my Total. Is cottage cheese ok?

prettybird · 09/01/2018 08:39

Twoo - well done you Flowers - and I'm sure you will be able to inspire others with that positive attitude Flowers

Littleladylawyer - I read somewhere that that alcohol burns off leaving carbs, so probably not a good idea, especially in the first 2 weeks. I tend to use a small amount of chicken stock to deglaze instead (eg the sticky lemon chicken I'm doing tonight).

OP posts:
mrsreynolds · 09/01/2018 08:41

I find the clothes size thing really interesting.
I'm 11.9st and am a 14 but only just and sometimes need a 16
My weight is distributed fairly evenly except my boobs which are huge (ff) but always have been. Even at 8st 12 when I got married I was a D cup!
I Almost had a croissant this morning. (Bad night with ds2 again) but I didn't. Back at work today and hopefully ds2 back at school tomorrow. I long to be back in routine now.....