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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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JingsMahBucket · 10/01/2018 20:42

Evening campers! Just checking in with my food for the day. I was running around a lot today and didn’t have a chance to read the thread yet except for the most recent page.

B - fried chicken (no coating, low carb)

S - Babybel (hah, QueenOnAPlate, I’m the opposite)

Late L - soup, pâté, and mixed salad greens. SO FRANCHE. I decided to take a play from other posters and have just pâté as a meal or snack. Not too shabby.

D - Fathead Pizza.

Holy crap, Fathead pizza is good. I’m SMH thinking about how long it took me to finally try this! I don’t have a microwave so had to do the Bain mairie method to melt the cheese. I was afraid of screwing it up but it turned out really well. I omitted the egg in the recipe though.

Pictures attached. My oven runs hot so I slightly overcooked the crust the first time. Next time I'll pull them at 7 min and then top them. OH really like it a lot. I think this will replace our regular pizza from now on.

I’m very full tonight and am trying to get even more water in my body. Tomorrow morning I have a fasting blood test to do and I don’t even think I may be hungry in the morning. That’ll be a new feeling. Tomorrow I’ll boil some eggs to eat after the blood test and will pack the remaining piece of pizza for a late afternoon snack. Lunch will be onsite at a client’s and I'll get food from the salad bar.

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
littleladylawyer · 10/01/2018 20:46

Hi all, hope everyone's had a good day 3- it looks like it from all the posts. Great to read everyone's meals and recipes- getting lots of inspiration.

Food today:
B- fasting
L- pate, cucumber, celery, boiled eggs x 2 with mayo
D- bolognese sauce with cheese and a big salad of rocket, cucumber, spring onion, green pepper and oily dressing

I'm stuffed! Lucky really as DP is currently sitting next to me with a bowl of Haagen Dazs Hmm I definitely feel like my sugar cravings are getting back on track after the Christmas overload which is a relief.

prettybird · 10/01/2018 20:55

Fathead pizza is indeed lovely - and that reminds me, I have some block mozzarella in the fridge, so I'll make some in 2 weeks time Smile

Just a wee warning though - have re-checked the ingredients, it has ground almonds/almond flour in it, so except for the veggies should really be left until after the first 2 weeks.

It is incredibly filling though!

The base can also be used to make "crackers" for cheese after the first 2 weeks

(I'm not normally this strict: BIWI's Big Stick is controlling me Wink and compels me to point these things out Shock)

OP posts:
prettybird · 10/01/2018 20:57

Littleladylawyer - good progress on overcoming the sugar cravings.

Dh will be getting his big box of Maltesers out soon, or the giant Toblerone, and I'm going to have to watch him eat it Hmm

OP posts:
abbey44 · 10/01/2018 21:03

Evening. Day 3 good (ish). Weighed in this morning to find I'm 1lb heavier Shock so I'm hoping that's all water that will go by next week or at this rate I'll end up twice the size I am now by the end!

B: two-egg omelette with bacon
L: not hungry
D: BIWI's shepherds pie with celeriac mash

Still not quite there with the water, but I can feel it glugging in my stomach every time I move...I don't think I have any room for any more.

prettybird · 10/01/2018 21:07

You'll get there abbey44 - the water intake does get easier as you get used to it. Your body and brain (and kidneys) need to get used to this new WoE.

OP posts:
YoLoHogwomanay · 10/01/2018 21:15

Evening all. I'm on the SoF and have caught up with all the thread now from Monday.

For those that know me from prev bcs I am a long term low carber because it's going to take me a long time to lose the excess weight and then I will probably stay fairly lc to maintain it and feel physically wonderful compared to my carby years.

So no whoosh expected for me. koko everyone!

lisbapalea · 10/01/2018 21:16

Hi all,

Haven't had time to check in until now so haven't read everyone's latest posts but wanted to log my food for the day:

B - Greek yoghurt with cinnamon

L - was going to lunch at a friend's so texted her to say I was low carbing and could I bring anything as I didn't want to be a pain. She suggested soup which I thought was a good shout so I popped into co-op, got all excited at the sight of a cauliflower and kale soup only to find it had bloody potato in!! So I checked all of them vigilantly and picked the "least bad" option which was tomato and red pepper soup - 3.4g of carbs per 100g. Not ideal but had a bowl of that with some Spanish tapas type stuff which I know was ok.

D - made a sausage traybake for us all so I had the sausage, celery and mushroom bits of that along with some leeks and cabbage cooked in butter.

CobOnTheCorn · 10/01/2018 21:17

I can't keep up with the thread! I enjoy reading posts when I can but can only add my meals (for my own accountability) for now.

B: fried eggs, tomato and avocado
L: 2 sausages
D: Prawns and stir fry veg

TitusAndromedon · 10/01/2018 21:18

prettybird, I know I should definitely weigh myself or take measurements, and I know I’ll regret it later if I don’t. Either that, or I need to decide now that I’m not going to do it at all and ditch the scales entirely, which may be the route I choose, actually.

ShagMeRiggins · 10/01/2018 21:18

abbey4 In my experience, you'll start craving the water and missing it if you don't have your usual amount.

Much like sugar, or alcohol, or fruit...

Do you see the point I'm making?

In the same way we train our children to, for example, use the loo, or the same way we train our minds to do mental maths, we train our bodies to become accustomed to daily diet (in the "what we eat" sense, not specifically the "losing weight" sense).

It takes time, and training. You're doing well, keep it up.

HattietheManatee · 10/01/2018 21:33

Today
B: decaf coffee with cream, half an avocado, pigs in blankets with mayo. I had a bit of banter about my breakfast at the work microwave, I now see this as a normal breakfast - whereas clearly other people don’t!
L: frittata with salad with dressing, removed croutons
S: olives
D: leftover chicken with mushrooms, mustard and cream, plus a few asparagus spears. Accidentally ate a couple of slices of red pepper. Decaf coffee with cream.
21k steps!!

Woefully inadequate levels of water drinking due to rushing around, need to up the ante tomorrow.

Good news is I hosted a surprise leaving tea party in my office today and I did not eat one single sugary thing despite there being LOADS on offer. Instead I treated myself to an expensive pot of olives from M&S and just nibbled those instead. Found it quite easy to resist which is a shock. Fact I was wearing a very fitted dress helped!

abbey44 · 10/01/2018 21:35

Oh, I've no intention of caving in, believe me! I've been eating low carb (under 25g carbs per day) since the end of August, so I'm ok with that. But I've obviously not been drinking as much as this, so I need to work on that. Just checked MFP and see that I've only got one more mug of green tea to go today...

TheWayOfTheWorld · 10/01/2018 21:36

Evening everyone, been a good day here too, although having suffered from a headache yesterday I felt slightly sick and had slight palpitations this afternoon. All ok now.

B: creamy coffee, 2 sausages
L: egg mayo salad with a small stick of Red Leicester
D: panfried chicken in a Parmesan crust with asparagus and Brussels cooked in plenty of butter Grin
S: 3 M&S rollitos, olives and a creamy coffee
Water: will be between 2.7 and 3 litres. Still weeing for England.

Slightly panicking about next week as have to go on two work trips, both involving 2-3 hour flights (and possibly an overnight stay). Argh!

JingsMahBucket · 10/01/2018 21:37

prettybird Huhn, I didn't think of it that way in terms of being ground almonds. Interesting point.

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 10/01/2018 21:38

The hardest thing about the water is the peeing! I try to drink all my water by 7pm but Im still going every hour. Not sure how I'm going to get much sleep tonight!

I think hope day three is the worst for that though and then it settles down.

ShagMeRiggins · 10/01/2018 21:38

Fact I was wearing a very fitted dress helped!

Ha ha ha, Hattie! It always does, I find.

Twoo · 10/01/2018 21:41

I consider my loo visit this morning a NSV Grin. I felt so svelte and fresh as a daisy!

Twoo · 10/01/2018 21:47

Thank you Cherries.

Sorry Pretty I must have missed that post that included the NSV meaning.

C4rollinandventing · 10/01/2018 21:48

I can't keep up with this thread it moves so fast.

Today I have eaten:

B. Too busy to have any
L. Tuna mayo salad
D. Pork chop, green beans, courgette and cauliflower

I don't know why but I'm struggling with motivation and cravings.

JingsMahBucket · 10/01/2018 21:50

@Twoo LOL.

@abbey44 after drinking a ton of water on Monday, I already noticed how much more dehydrated I was the last couple of days when I was behind in my water consumption. I think my body adjusted very quickly to the thought of lots of water.

Also, if it's a help to others, I literally just converted 3L to cups and it comes out to about 6.5 pint glasses. That reframing really helps me since that doesn't seem as bad or insurmountable as 3 LITERS OF WATER OMG. We have pint glasses at home so now I'll just aim to have 6 of those over the course of the day. That's not much really.

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 10/01/2018 21:52

@TheWayOfTheWorld I have to travel a lot with work and I find it really difficult. Where are you heading? I hope it's not Italy- that would be a tough place to low carb!

A few things I learnt from my last experience

Take your own food for flight as plane food is not always an option. It's fine if it's chicken and sauce but if you get pasta you are screwed. If you are hungry you are more likely to cave and eat whatever they give you.

Try to pick restaurants and decide on food in advance. You have to get used to asking restaurants for swops but you can normally find something suitable.

You might have to be a bit flexible and do bootcamp light. I had sachets of almond butter for one of my long haul flights which was quite good and you can almost always pick up bits from somewhere which can replace a meal if needed.

The absolute killer for me was when I would carefully pick the lowest carb thing on the menu and swop everything for salad and then they would bring me a massive basket of bread or tortilla chips while I was waiting. I was not good at resisting temptation but I should have just made them take it away!

Thankfully I'm in the uk for the first 8 weeks of this bootcamp but then I am off to China which I think will be challenging. Need to brush up on the Mandarin for celeriac Grin

headoutofthesand · 10/01/2018 22:07

I felt much better today despite a stupidly busy day at work. Not sure if I just happened to have a headache yesterday or if I handled my snacks better today.

B - 2 boiled eggs
L - chicken (with skin on) and roast fennel; some Greek yogurt
S - salami and salad. More Greek yogurt. A stick of cheddar

ponygirlcurtis · 10/01/2018 22:23

Today's meals:

Lunch: three-egg mushroom and ham omelette (cooked with butter and cream) with salad
Snack: Greek yoghurt with cream added
Dinner: StuntNun's chicken thigh recipe (which was lovely), with celeriac remoulade
Tonnes of water!

I have too many recipes I want to make and not enough time. Smile

No loss yet but I have yet to go to the toilet. Blush

explodingkittens · 10/01/2018 22:24

Was in an all-day meeting today at work, so bought lunch first thing to have during the break. Unfortunately dinner didn't work out so well...

B: coffee with cream
L: olives, mozzarella, roast chicken salad, prawns with mayo
D: well, it wasn't on plan. Dp had cooked it by the time I came home and I didn't feel I could say no at that point. So...put it behind me, water and move on tomorrow. Have already got low-carb sausages out of the freezer for tomorrow evening so it shouldn't happen again!