Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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
29
explodingkittens · 09/01/2018 18:30

@cherries, that all sounds amazing, what great planning!

Dinner will be pork belly strips, seasoned with 5-spice (although it occurs to me there could be sugar in that...probably not enough to make any difference), roasted veg and steamed spinach with butter.

Are we allowed to talk about fat bombs? I've found them really helpful when low-carbing in the past, but not sure whether they're really Bootcamp-friendly (more philosophically speaking than what's in them tbh!) and don't want The Stick... Grin

prettybird · 09/01/2018 18:32

Pumpkintof - you don't need a spiralizer (I've managed so far without one Wink). I use a cheese slice to cut ribbons and then discard the Central seedy watery core.

But for the lasagne last night, I copied what Tom Kerridge did and cut thin diagonal slices. That worked well and of course meant I used the whole courgette.

OP posts:
headoutofthesand · 09/01/2018 18:34

I am feeling terrible! Thumping headache & ravenous. Not sure if the headache is due to being stupidly busy at work today or sugar/caffeine/everything withdrawal!

B - 2 boiled eggs with mayo
L - sea bass & ratatouille.
S - will be steak, mushrooms, spinach & tomato
Snacks - I nibbled on mange tout and little gem lettuce during the day; just had three dollops of Greek yogurt, a chunk of cheddar and a coffee with cream

0.5l of water to go, possibly less.

Pumpkintopf · 09/01/2018 18:35

@prettybird thanks, that's a good idea. I already have far too many kitchen gadgets!!

LeapinLizards · 09/01/2018 18:37

Two questions:

  1. Can anyone recommend a spiraliser? There is a confusing array of them online.
  2. WTF is a fat bomb?!
prettybird · 09/01/2018 18:39

TheSeasonoftheWitch - yes, it appears to be normal to feel the cold more on this WoE. I think StuntNun discussed some of the science of this last night but there doesn't appear to be a clear answer as to why (except for a reduced insulating fat layer, which won't be the case yet for you)

Cauliflower rice is nice: I blitz it to small grains in the food processor and then fry it in plenty of butter. You can add various seasonings if you like them - or even make it egg-fried "rice" by stirring a beaten egg through it.

OP posts:
TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 09/01/2018 18:45

Thanks so much prettybird, if it means helping to get rid of layers then I'll shiver till next year!
I'll try the cauliflower rice this week, fabulous!

prettybird · 09/01/2018 18:47

Cauliflower rice doesn't take long to cook - a few minutes at most. Smile

OP posts:
prettybird · 09/01/2018 18:51

Iirc, a fat bomb is a mix of butter/coconut oil and cocoa (the Boot Camp compatible one). There are (I think) other variants, eg with peanut butter (for after the first 2 weeks Wink) - but I've never made them and I'm on the phone now so can't do an Advanced Search.

OP posts:
ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 18:53

I know, it's tough when you are feeling crap RangeRover. But it's worth it. Can you have something that feels like a treat? Coffee with a dollop of cream? Warm eggs mashed in butter?

prettybird · 09/01/2018 18:53

My local Lidl currently has electric spiralizers for £14.99 (or £15.99?) in the Central Aisle of Randomness Temptation.

OP posts:
ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 18:55

Pumpkin, I certainly use my spiralizer a lot, but in the meantime, you can do wonders with courgettes and a potato peeler :)

prettybird · 09/01/2018 19:00

I have to admit I'm tempted by an electric spiralizer after seeing spiralized celeriac "spaghetti" in Tom Kerridge's Dopamine book. Don't think I'd want to spiralize celeriac manually! Shock

OP posts:
GrandOldDukeOfPorkiness · 09/01/2018 19:05

B ff Greek yoghurt
L mortadella and celery
D Chicken thighs baked with fennel cooked in stock

Nowhere near enough water but I am trying to force more down.

IAmSamSamlAm · 09/01/2018 19:11

My dinner today. Chorizo, prawns, spinach, mushrooms and courgette in a garlic chilli fuckton of butter sauce with little mozzarella cubes melted into it 😋

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 19:12

twoo, I'm a daily weigher. I used to avoid the scales at all costs, and when we moved to weekly weighing for bootcamp, I was far too invested in that one weight. Daily weighing means for me that I'm cool with normal fluctuations. Whereas if I was having a heavier day on a Monday, I'd feel all upset. I think the first week it only looked as if Id lost 1.5 lbs and everyone else seemed to be reporting massive whooshes. My whoosh actually arrived on the Wednesday:)

prettybird · 09/01/2018 19:13

That looks really tasty IamSam Smile

OP posts:
ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 19:17

witch, I'm bloody freezing all the time, but to be honest, I wasn't when I first started in May, so I think in my case it's a case of missing the fat coat.

ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 19:37

There is a bootcamp compatible cocoa, pretty? How have I missed this?

prettybird · 09/01/2018 19:51

Cadbury's Bournville Cocoa is 10.5 carbs per 100g, none of which is sugars and 21.7g fats/100g. You'd only need to use a tiny amount (a teaspoon?) to make a fat bomb.

OP posts:
ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 19:56

(Wanders off wondering if it would be possible to make a hot chocolate drink with boiling water and cream in two weeks).

prettybird · 09/01/2018 20:01

You can. Smile But you're right - as we say "No chocolate, even high percentage cocoa chocolate" in the first 2 weeks of Boot Camp, a cocoa fat bomb is not allowed in the first 2 weeks Blush

A vanilla one made with the expensive Waitrose powder might be Wink

OP posts:
mrsglowglow · 09/01/2018 20:01

Good evening everyone,

Day 3 has gone OK. Managed to drink loads of water.
B - coffee and cream
L - chicken Caesar (again!)
D - kale sauteed in butter and garlic with 2 meaty sausages.

Can I ask, would sainsburys luxury coleslaw be OK? The label says 4.4g carbs per serving (2 tablespoons). Was going to have this for lunch with dome cheese and one of the meaty sausages. I plan on making my own eventually but this week I have little time!

explodingkittens · 09/01/2018 20:02

I make my fat bombs with coconut oil, double cream, cacao powder, cinnamon and either vanilla powder or extract. Just mix it all together and refrigerate until solid - you can pour the mixture into ice-cube trays, mini muffin cases etc. They're great with a cup of coffee and imo are no sweeter than greek yoghurt with cinnamon etc, so shouldn't be triggering in terms of sugar. But probably best to treat with caution in the first two weeks...

Alwaysinmyheart · 09/01/2018 20:02

There’s a program on C5 right now about the best way to lose weight, should be interesting!

Swipe left for the next trending thread