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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
29
Twoo · 08/01/2018 09:43

Sorry I meant ‘Pretty’*

JumpingintoLCHF · 08/01/2018 09:43

Well here we go! Finished last bc on 240 and am now 245 after the Christmas excesses. I seem to have put on 2lb in a day tho! Would love to be 230 by the end of this one at least.

Please can someone add my weight of 245 to the spreadsheet? Thanks.

EeeSheWasThin · 08/01/2018 09:43

Morning all...kicking off here at 145lb...fell off the wagon a bit over Christmas (my downfall is dried fruit things).

Had the chia porridge this morning, will be mackerel, salad and cream cheese for lunch. Dinner is a mystery at the moment.

Thanks for organising...I find the support and cheerleading helpful!

Twoo · 08/01/2018 09:44

Crumbs ... 3rd Time lucky Pretty’

prettybird · 08/01/2018 09:45

You should indeed Twoo Smile Remember to have plenty of water too - the amount is a function of how much you currently weigh.

OP posts:
Mandelinka · 08/01/2018 09:46

Good morning and good luck to all!
Off to Lidl to stock up the fridge

EeeSheWasThin · 08/01/2018 09:48

@JumpingintoLCHF done that for you Grin

Mandelinka · 08/01/2018 09:49

Thank you pretty for dedicating your time to this BCFlowers

RupertsMum2 · 08/01/2018 09:51

I've added my name to the spreadsheet and am starting at 222lbs which is 2lbs less than I started at last February 😐. I would like to lose 14lbs this bootcamp and 4 stone by Christmas.

B. FF Greek yogurt
L. Ham salad with avocado and mayo
T. Tuna steak with sprouts and cauliflower (with grated cheese)

ScreamingValenta · 08/01/2018 09:52

Bit the bullet and weighed myself for the first time since Christmas Eve ... 2lb heavier which could have been much worse. I was trying to be good last week, though. Went shopping yesterday and have a fridge full of meat and veg and some tinned fish in oil for emergency hungry moments. Trying to lose 1.5 stone in total.

Almahart · 08/01/2018 09:53

So excited to be starting. Am going to get to ten stone this BC and reward myself with a NARS makeover at Liberty. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and mushrooms - have put on a lot of weight over the weekend as I was at a retreat with vegan food (very carby) but I know it will fall off.

I've created a weight tracker and an alcohol tracker in my bullet journal as I know alcohol is my downfall

prettybird · 08/01/2018 09:55

Eeshewasthin - first wielding of the Big Stick Wink Chia porridge is compatible with full Boot Camp - no nuts or seeds for the first 2 weeks. Hmm

OP posts:
Twoo · 08/01/2018 09:57

Bit the bullet and got weighed. 11 stones Blush

Rshard · 08/01/2018 10:00

That sounds a lovely treat alma

prettybird · 08/01/2018 10:00

Twoo - just a wee caveat (not knowing how tall you are) but the closer you are to your optimal weight, the slower the weight loss will be as there is not so much body fat for your system to "use".

OP posts:
Scabbersley · 08/01/2018 10:01

Amazed I've only put on 3lbs over my Christmas break Shock

I have been left off the spreadsheet (sniffs haughtily) so will add myself at the bottom.

weebarra · 08/01/2018 10:01

Morning all. First boot camp and first weight of 168 lbs.

JingsMahBucket · 08/01/2018 10:01

Morning everyone and good luck! I'm starting at 176.1lbs and over the course of the next few months I'm looking to get down to 135lbs.

ilovecherries that's an inspiring loss you've had so far!

(late) Breakfast this morning has been pieces of the chicken I fried yesterday and some Fage with cinnamon sprinkled on it. I totally doubted if it would be "enough" just based on your advice and was tempted to add something more to it. I told myself to just try it first without second guessing the advice and SURPRISE! it actually tastes really good. That's a definite game changer for me then. Thanks to everyone who mentioned it in the previous threads. It's also been a good mind shift.

For lunch, not sure. I'll probably have mussels cooked in butter and cream with some vegetables thrown in the mix. I work from home so I can wing it today.

AthelstaneTheUnready · 08/01/2018 10:03

Thank you for the thread and spreadsheet, Pretty and Sayyra.

I had a practice run last week so have already dropped a few pounds, but then 'cleared out the cupboards' yesterday by eating the wretched stuff and finishing the bottle of wine. A bit bloaty and queasy today Blush.

Goal for bootcamp is to lose one of the two stones I have to lose - I'm not very tall and have ridiculous tiny little hands and feet, so any extra weight really parades it's stuff.

EeeSheWasThin · 08/01/2018 10:03

Pretty that didn't take you long!

I don't really eat meat (but I do eat fish) so I was hoping I could get away with it ...

cathyandclare · 08/01/2018 10:06

Have added my name. Managed to gain 8lb over 2 nights at New Year, after a very good Christmas, so have got a total of 12lb to lose and then try to stabilise things again. Have got back on track but weight hasn't changed, so going hard core BC with you all. Sipping Earl Grey with almond milk before an egg muffin for breakfast and a couple of other eggy meals today to get a flying start.

prettybird · 08/01/2018 10:07

I'll let you off if you don't have much fish! Wink

Mackerel is a really good choice Smile Unfortunately dh says he didn't like it so I rarely get to eat it. I've seen a nice mackerel recipe in Tom Kerridge's Dopamine Diet book and am debating whether I can sneak it past dh. Grin

OP posts:
Scabbersley · 08/01/2018 10:09

All I do with mackerel is bash it flat, take out the back bone, put it on a grill pan on some baking parchment and whack it under then grill until the skin goes crispy. My absolute fave way to eat it is with a tin of ratatouille but sure thats not bootcamp.

Twoo · 08/01/2018 10:18

Pretty’ before I became disabled I was about 8 stones Blush I can no longer exercise like I once did but do push myself to do what I can.

Pumpkintopf · 08/01/2018 10:21

@prettybird that's an amazing loss, well done you. I was at 12st after eating low carb, having fully fallen back into carby twatdom I start this morning at 15st Blush determined to get back to where I was.
Thanks everyone for posting here it's brilliant information and motivation.
Will add to ss when on laptop.

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