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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:
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SayrraT · 09/01/2018 21:28

I am tired tonight bendy but most of the time I'm ok, I like riding in the morning in winter and in the evening in summer, I do feel sorry for OH sometimes though as I definitely spend more time with Larry (horse) than I do with him!

What is your dissertation on sam? Is there something else you can "reward" yourself with instead of food? Well done for avoiding the wine though.

SayrraT · 09/01/2018 21:30

Not BC but does anyone know what a Quagga is? On the spreadsheet people using it are assigned anonymous animals, at the moment it tells me that "anonymous quagga" is using it Confused

weebarra · 09/01/2018 21:31

Oh Monkeys, how was that soup? I've got the recipe and planning to make it tomorrow.
Good day today, got my online food shop delivered so have lots of ingredients.
B: ff yoghurt
L: Tomato and veg soup
D: chicken pho without the noodles

Bit soup heavy!

prettybird · 09/01/2018 21:31

SayrraT - we often eat at 8.30/9 even though we have a ds. Have done so since for the last few years (ds is now 17) - partly because of commitments and partly because I am often not very organised Blush.

In the winter ds' rugby training is 8 to 9.30 on the other side of the city, so we have to eat early on those 2 nights, at 6.30. Tonight ds went out to the gym, so we only ate at 8.45 (sticky lemon chicken served with brussels and mange tout in butter for me and mange tout and rice for dh and ds).

When it's not so cold & dark, ds' training is 7 to 8.30, in which case I have something ready to eat after we get in. Dh is also often out taking rugby training (this side of the city) on Wednesdays too (it's actually the S2 team ds helps coach, but he now has rugby training himself that night, so dh is helping out)

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
OP posts:
weebarra · 09/01/2018 21:32

It's an extinct type of zebra!

IAmSamSamlAm · 09/01/2018 21:35

What is your dissertation on sam? Is there something else you can "reward" yourself with instead of food? Well done for avoiding the wine though.

It's on aphantasia - people who have no mind's eye. I'm actually really interested in the topic, as I have it myself. But I just find journal articles so dry sometimes - especially neurosciencey ones. And I fall down the rabbit hole and just as I've finished researching one topic, it's reminded me of another four that might be relevant. Confused

Think I'll call it a night. The toddler's been a little mare and I have this chest infection so not really feeling it tonight. Booked a few days off next week for a little birthday treat and have decided to go into uni for the whole day Monday so will get lots done then hopefully.

Student loan went in yesterday so have treated me and DD to some nice bits - mostly clothes in the dress size down, to encourage me to keep up the LCing.

Smile
TheMonkeysOnTheTable · 09/01/2018 21:39

weebarra it’s really nice. I ended up adding extra chilli and also the end of a tub of cream that needed using up, but I don’t think it really needed either. Was it you that. Posted the link? Thank you!

prettybird · 09/01/2018 21:41

Headaches are often a side effect of dehydration - so make sure to drink plenty of water. They can also be an early sign of the carb flu.

I seem to recall that ibuprofen is preferable to paracetamol - but I might have got that wrong (and can't advanced search as ds has the laptop). I'll check tomorrow unless someone else answers definitively.

OP posts:
SayrraT · 09/01/2018 21:44

That sounds very interesting, I think I'm the opposite of that, too much imagination! I sympathise with you, writing can be tough, though I sometimes enjoy it (I'm a research scientist) but I also do the down the rabbit hole thing with getting lost in reading papers and researching.

Good luck with it all Grin

Did you know that already weebarra or did you google? I'd never heard of it. I'll keep my eyes open for other bizarre creatures Grin

ilovecherries · 09/01/2018 21:46

Ah, is that why I often see random anonymous names on the spreadsheet - I wondered what that was.

RaindropsAndSparkles · 09/01/2018 21:51

Two days good so far. Still struggling with the water. Two pints so far and just downing a large myg of pmint tea. Dinner will be beefburger, cheddar and salad for me. The fam get buns and chips with their burgers.

This may sound silly but i feel much less bloated.

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 09/01/2018 21:52

Oh that's interesting IAmSam. I have aphantasia and I participated in a research study about it last month. Obviously a hot topic at the moment!

I'm absolutely freezing so off to bed now. Hopefully that's a sign ketosis is on the way. I'm still owed a headache I think though so maybe one more day.

TheWayOfTheWorld · 09/01/2018 22:06

SayrraT I often eat dinner at 9pm or later; in fact, I've just finished tonight's dinner, which I didn't start eating until nearly 10pm...

B: creamy coffee and 2 sausages
L: tuna mayo salad
D: courgetti carbonara
S: 3 M&S rollitos and 6 olives.
3 litres water

Had a headache since the afternoon...

Mandelinka · 09/01/2018 22:07

Evening!
Great day food wise
B: ginger tea, boiled egg, coffee
L: sprouts , cauliflower, shallots and sausage with butter and cheese
D: veg soup (tiny leftover portion), slice of Edam topped with pate. Small portion of minced beef fried with Cavolo Nero, mushrooms, shallots, garlic and cream. This is my lunch for tomorrow.
Ff Greek yoghurt for pudding

Water: 6 cups of green/herbal tea, 1l of sparkling water flavoured with satsuma teabag (this feels like a treat)
Walked 9800 steps today.

I was feeling full of energy, sinus headache is nearly gone. Off to bed.
Btw those zero noodles are called shirataki noodles. They can be fishy smelling, but good rinse usually takes away the smell. I buy them on Amazon.

ponygirlcurtis · 09/01/2018 22:09

I eat far too late. It's not unusual for me to start cooking at 9.30-10pm at the weekend. I am trying to bring it forward a bit.

prettybird · 09/01/2018 22:17

Thanks for the name of the zero noodles Mandelinka Flowers I must try them some time. Smile

OP posts:
IAmSamSamlAm · 09/01/2018 22:21

It is interesting. Be bloody glad when I've written that 20000th word though Grin thanks for the well wishes xx

Singadream · 09/01/2018 22:29

slow cooked beef for dinner (actually not that nice) with grated cheese on top and tzatziki too

HattietheManatee · 09/01/2018 22:34

Gah pretty bird what a silly mistake. These are the ones

www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/waitrose-edamame-noodles/646344-645178-645179

Should I eat a particular way tomorrow to try to counteract them?

Your dinner looks lush btw

CobOnTheCorn · 09/01/2018 22:35

S: pork scratchings
B: fried eggs, spinach and tomato
L: a bowl of sprouts!
D: crispy roast chicken thighs with roast cauli and broccoli

Gammeldragz · 09/01/2018 22:38

sayyra if I'm on a twilight shift I leave at 4:15pm, too early for dinner and get home after 10pm, so have dinner really late. I don't like doing it and always weigh more the next day as we usually eat 5:30-6pm.

I was cold at lunch time and conscious of possible need for slightly more carbs, so I made l 'porridge' with Chia, hemp, flaxseed and coconut. Had it with cream and cinnamon. I used normal milk for the carbs but with almond milk it would definitely be low carb. Possibly not OK for the first two weeks, but my total carbs for today is still only 36g and I am in ketosis this evening according to my urinalysis sticks (I just happen to have some).
Dinner tonight was Chicken in sun-dried tomato and cream sauce (thanks to PP on last thread) - it was gorgeous on a bed of roasted kale!

Have had an upset stomach this evening though. I'll blame the 'porridge'.

abbey44 · 09/01/2018 22:39

The zero noodles - are they the same as the ones that are marketed as BareNaked noodles & rice? They're less than 1g of carbs per 100g and by themselves are a bit of a non-event, a bit rubbery, but with a main course are good for the texture. I get them from Sainsburys, but I imagine all the other supermarkets will do them.

Would they be allowed on BC?

Lizard202 · 09/01/2018 22:39

Enjoying a boost of energy today and went line-dancing 😜

Good day food wise
B 2 babybel
L veg soup and celery with paté
D courgette, kale and spinach fried in butter (my go to quick dinner when short on time)
S total with cinnamon
Well done everyone's doing so well

FiveTwoFaster · 09/01/2018 22:49

I got to page 16 but will have to finish the thread tomorrow. Day 1 for me today - all done. DH got me a pack of mini eggs which I declined frostily (he nearly fell off his chair) and I have done this WOE before and I am destined for hellish carb flu for the next couple of days but will just live with it.

Starting weight is 198lbs please. (5 ‘8 And dress size 16 for interest’s sake).

Tomorrow I’m going to do a huge shop so I’m all prepped! Best of luck all!

Twoo · 09/01/2018 22:58

Thanks Pretty’ & ’Cherries. I think I will weigh myself each day at the same time. That way over time I should start to see positive change.

2nd day stuck to plan. No Whoosh or extra energy yet. No headaches or carb flu either. Fingers crossed Whoosh is on its way Grin