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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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prettybird · 10/01/2018 10:06

IamSam - that is indeed possible, especially if you "indulged" last week and the week before Xmas Wink. Most of it will be water and emptying your glycogen stores.

At one point in the Festive Period I actually got to 12 stone 8lb hadn't actually admitted to this - but I dropped 5lb of this in a few days even though I was "just" on Boot Camp Lite last week and being being a long term Boot Camper.

NB: because most of it is water, you will not continue to lose at this rate. The "normal" average is a healthy 1-2lb/week (if you still have a lot to lose - will slow down as you get closer to target), like most diets. In fact, weeks 3-4 in particular (but can be later and/or happen at other times), people often experience a "stall" - it even put on a pound or two. You need to keep the faith and KOKO, follow the Rules and the scales will start moving downwards again.

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Tiredemma · 10/01/2018 10:09

As someone with a staple diet of chocolate I am amazed that i have managed to avoid this.

I have 4 mars bars in the cupboard and I am not even remotely interested in any one of them. Two weeks ago I would have had them for breakfast.

IAmSamSamlAm · 10/01/2018 10:09

Brilliant, thanks for the advice. That makes sense. I feel so much better in myself already, that I wonder if I don't have a gluten intolerance like discussed upthread (think it was this thread! One of the BC ones).

Honestly think this WOE might change my life Grin thank you all so much for introducing it to me.

IAmSamSamlAm · 10/01/2018 10:10

Well done tiredemma! Everyone's doing so well Grin

LeapinLizards · 10/01/2018 10:16

IamSamSamIam i chew airwaves chewing gum quite a lot. I suddenly realised that i may need to stop because of low carbing sogoogled airwaves to see what the carb content is and it says 0. So i'm hoping it's ok. Be interested to hear what the others think.

Rshard · 10/01/2018 10:16

That’s fantastic tiredemma

I seem to remember chewing mint leaves being advised last boot camp iamsam

prettybird · 10/01/2018 10:17

Twoo- I was going to do a TMI warning post soon anyway. Wink

There are often "whooshes" of bowel movements on this WoE - I often go a day or two without a poo and then a large one Blush or a rapid sequence of smaller ones Blush. Some people occasionally have problems with constipation: try to eat plenty of veg (with the associated fibre) and drink the water to reduce the risk; if it does become an issue, physilum (spelling?) husks (available in Holland & Barret) are one approach; another, more desperate one, I believe involves Thorntons Diabetic toffee. I've never had to resort to either though.

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prettybird · 10/01/2018 10:18

IamSam - eating some parsley might help your metallic mouth. It does pass though Smile

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prettybird · 10/01/2018 10:27

Tiredemma - congratulations on ignoring the Mars Bars Star.

I have some Peppermint Crisps (South African bars of chocolate: milk chocolate coated mint cracknell) in the cupboard. Dad brings them back for me from SA and I do enjoy one very rarely, sharing with ds (to whom I have passed on the love....) (dh occasionally has some but he is not as obsessed keen on them as ds and I are) - and I've got to the stage of having to check the "Best Before" dates, as they can sit in the cupboard for months.

I can now go and pay for petrol and not even look at the rows of confectionary Smile. I used to buy one or two bars every time Blush

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ilovecherries · 10/01/2018 10:29

Mondays are the official weigh in days, Twoo. That's when a new thread starts - but if you miss Monday for any reason, it's fine yo post your weight a day or two later. No one minds :)

Sam, that sounds fine to me. People who have a lot to lose will often have a big drop in the first couple of weeks. So long as you are eating and drinking, and not starving yourself, it's all good.

PennyMise · 10/01/2018 10:50

I stayed on track yesterday but am definitely fighting cravings for something sweet and crunchy after dinner and mid morning/mid afternoon. I had some extra cheese last night, which I'm not beating myself up about (as I might have done previously!) as that meant I stayed away from sugar. I'm toying with the idea of baked celeriac crisps to accompany dinner and provide some crunch. That will still be WOE for this stage of BC, right?

AthelstaneTheUnready · 10/01/2018 11:01

Morning, all.

I'm still on track physically, but mentally am all over the place! I started a week early (stuck mainly to plan), and in the last few days have found my emotions getting larger and wider... as in, yesterday afternoon I was so sad I thought I was dissolving, and then a few hours later was laughing at something someone said so uncontrollably I leaked from the eyes and nose (lovely, eh?). I haven't laughed like that in a very long time.

I guess I'm asking if anyone else is feeling a little... untethered... after making such a drastic change?

Rshard · 10/01/2018 11:02

This talk of ignoring chocolate is so excellent. I’ve never been a fan of chocolate but love sweets. Yesterday walking home from the school run, I found £1 and was conveniently close to the coop. So I went in and treated myself to a swede. Had it for dinner mashed with butter and lashings if black pepper. I would have had a big bag of haribo 6 months ago

prettybird · 10/01/2018 11:19

PennyMise - snacks like that are not only OK but are positively encouraged. If you are hungry, eat - just make it low carb compatible.

Grated Parmesan baked on some parchment/a silicon mat make nice "crisps". I also like small chunks of Parmesan if I am craving something salty or umami-ish (shows how much my taste buds have changed! Wink)

Some of us find brussel sprouts microwaved in butter and well seasoned "sweet" now ShockConfused (I've introduced a few people to that addiction pleasure Wink)

Snacks like that are a good way to keep your veg intake up rather than the salami and Emmenthal that I often have

I now try to microwave "extra" brussels the night before, so that I can have the leftovers cold the following day unfortunately I often still finish them the night before

Athelstane - not sure how old you are, but the release of fat cells can also trigger/release extra oestrogen - so some of us will experience early/long/heavy/renewed for those of us going through the menopause periods. Could that explain your mood swings?

Rshard Grin - who would've thunk it Wink - a swede instead of a sweet ShockGrin

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PennyMise · 10/01/2018 11:31

@prettybird ooh, those Parmesan crisps sound lovely. I'll try out the sprouts. I'm also quite guilty of salami/ham/cheese snacks rather than mindfully filling up on veg. Though I have to say im trying to crunch my way through celery and cucumber. I know if I don't want to eat those but still want cheese etc, then I'm not hungry but rather bored.

BadlyParkedRangeRover · 10/01/2018 11:45

I am a flu ridden carby twat sadly

AthelstaneTheUnready · 10/01/2018 11:47

Oh, that's interesting, pretty. I'm mid-forties but (due to surgical intervention) haven't had periods for about ten years now, so if it's an oestrogen release thing, then I'm definitely unaccustomed to the effects!

I liked what someone said earlier about 'eating in' as a euphemism for burning body fat, so from now on whenever I feel like mindlessly eating or drinking, I'll tell myself "just pop another fat cell open (like those energy gel packs) and also get ready to go whoooooooooooooeeee on whatever emotion is also released"!

can you tell my mind needs a lot of appeasing if it's to shut up and get out of the way

prettybird · 10/01/2018 12:06

BadlyParkedRangeRover - today is Day 1 of 68. Get back on the wagon, go and drink lots of water.

I read something about mindfulness and dieting at the weekend: it advised just noticing the emotions that led to whatever "breach" occurred - not judging them but simply noting them dispassionately - and then moving on. I'll go back and try and find the article to describe it better.

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mrsreynolds · 10/01/2018 12:22

Ok
Ds2 back at school
So I’m back in routine for the first time since 20th December!
Breakfast: sausages bacon and eggs and a coffee
Lunch...hmm. Not hungry
Dinnner: loads of veg and dairy free pesto salmon
I’ve downloaded an app...7 min workout....pray for me! 😀

TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 10/01/2018 12:31

Received some pak choi in our veg box this week. I've looked it up and it's extremely low carb! 1g per 100. Thought I would share if anyone fancies a stir fry it's very tasty.

Rshard · 10/01/2018 12:39

Bbc food have just tweeted abou low carb recipes t.co/kuRXKGSPEM

Rshard · 10/01/2018 12:39

Has that worked?

mrsreynolds · 10/01/2018 12:43

Yes!

LeoTimmyandVi · 10/01/2018 13:04

Newbie to this thread. Not added myself to the spreadsheet - phobic about getting on the scales - can’t do it yet! I am on Uni holiday at the minute (or directed study to write an essay I should say!) and know I am sedentary. I go on placement next week and will be far more active - yeah!

So my menu today:

B - 2 x scrambled eggs, with mushrooms fried in butter. Coffee and cream

L - leftover cottage pie with celeriac topping with added butter. Cabbage microwaved with butter

D - sausages, plenty of low carb veg with more butter

Is there such a thing as too much butter?!?!

I have had 4 large glasses of water and plan at least another 4 throughout the day.

SayrraT · 10/01/2018 13:13

spreadsheet stuff

Someone has, I assume accidentally, deleted the whole weigh in page!!

I have restored it but if you updated it after 9am you might need to do it again.

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