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
Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es · 11/01/2018 17:29

I have to drain lamb mince even more thoroughly Gammel, really hate the grease. The only thing I can tolerate melted butter on is toast or crumpets. I am staring at a pile of sprouts wondering whether to risk the buttered in the microwave thing but I can't believe I'll like them that way. Might roast them with cheese instead.

AthelstaneTheUnready · 11/01/2018 17:31

Penny, I was knackered, both physically and mentally struggling until this morning, but today has been a revelation! Just keep at it and you WILL wake up one morning feeling so much better. Try and think of it as your body re-arranging itself internally to deal with your new diet, so naturally you might feel a bit tired and off while it's getting itself set up.

Rshard · 11/01/2018 17:45

Thanks ^stuntnun* for the science

Today’s food
B - bacon scrambled eggs mushrooms both cooked in butter
L - ham cheese salad mayo
D - chicken chorizo pie (no pastry lid) broccoli brussels

Alwaysinmyheart · 11/01/2018 18:14

Wow StuntNun that is the best description of how this diet works I’ve ever read! Thanks for explaining it so clearly 💜

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 11/01/2018 18:19

So presumably that is how the blood sugar diet works? As it is VLCD and keto at the same time?

My mum has been doing it and I am considering getting the book as the recipes look quite good although it's is higher carb than bootcamp I think.

Alwaysinmyheart · 11/01/2018 18:33

I really wish I could persuade my DP to do this diet, he’s nearly 21 stones! He’s currently doing SW, as he did lose weight on it before. He won’t even try LCHF as he’s worried about cholesterol and heart disease. 🙁

TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 11/01/2018 18:39

Had some stressful news this afternoon and just eaten my children's leftover pasta. Urgh. Feel horrid. And annoyed.

BadlyParkedRangeRover · 11/01/2018 18:44

Timbuktu from reading the book it's based a lot on low GI more than low carb though the threads here seem to be low carb.
It might be keto but only in that the amounts of the highish carb foods are so small because the overall calories are so low.

ScreamingValenta · 11/01/2018 18:47

Seasonofthewitch I'm sorry to hear that. I know how you feel - my instinctive reaction to stress is to reach for something carby. I am holding on by a thread at the moment after a horrible day at work. Try to draw a line under it - what's done is done - and get back on plan, but hold on to the memory of how you felt after eating the pasta, as something to use as a deterrent the next time you are tempted.

blackteaplease · 11/01/2018 18:49

Twoo I sleep badly on this woe but I'm a poor sleeper anyway and I have non sleeping dc which doesn't help. It is definitely worse in full B.C. for me.

PennyMise · 11/01/2018 18:54

Keeping on with

B: 2 eggs and 1/2 avocado
L: huge salad with broccoli/poached salmon/asparagus/mayo
S: celery/cucumber/babybel/two tbsps ff yog
D: broccoli leek chicken soup with cubes of cheese and a little smoked sausage on the side.

Think I'm a bit dairy heavy but will look to cut that down once the sugar demon stops nipping at me.

ponygirlcurtis · 11/01/2018 18:55

Wow StuntNun that's an amazing explanation. Makes so much sense really, when you know how it works. Thank you for that.

Still shattered and cold today.
Lunch: roast chicken (skin on) with salad and homemade oil dressing. Ffs Greek yoghurt with cream.
Dinner: chicken thighs and celeriac remoulade
Snacks: brussels in butter. Mmmmm

GrandOldDukeOfPorkiness · 11/01/2018 19:07

B mortadella
L roast chicken thighs and fennel in buttery stock
S small cup of tea and an unbelievably tiny corner of lemon drizzle cake - socially obligated sugar FAIL
D Indian takeaway - grilled lamb tikka and aubergine bhaji.

starsky22 · 11/01/2018 19:10

Loving the sciencey bits stuntnun thanks!

I had a dream last night about cake! I was making a birthday cake and the cuoboard was also full of cupcakes and I was struggling about whether to eat one or not, I was so relieved to wake up and find there are no cakes in my house to tempt me!

starsky22 · 11/01/2018 19:12

Also the Waitrose near my work has replaced the rotisserie counter with a sushi counter! Angry I am not impressed, I don't want sushi goddamn it, I want roast chicken and mayo!

Grimbles · 11/01/2018 19:30

Thank you stuntnun that makes perfect sense Smile

abbey44 · 11/01/2018 19:41

I just realised today (don't know why it took me so long) that I'm exactly half-way to my target....2st 9lbs lost, same to go. It's taken four months so far, but I expect the next bit might take longer. Still, it doesn't seem quite so unmanageable as it did at the beginning.

B: bacon & scrambled eggs
L: coffee with cream
D: celeriac mash, spinach & stir-fry shredded sprouts with lemon

Have a fridgeful of veg arriving tomorrow in Sainsburys delivery so looking forward to trying out some of the ideas in the recipe thread.

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 11/01/2018 19:54

That's great @abbey44. How are you going to celebrate halfway?

Decent day

B-g yoghurt
L- peri peri chicken and salad
D- Chilli and cauliflower rice

2.5 l water so need to keep drinking!

Polkadotties · 11/01/2018 20:00

I tend to sleep better when low carbing, also have really crazy vivid dreams.

B - 2 x babybels
L - chicken Caesar salad
D - ribeye steak, leek and broccoli cheesey creamy bake

Pumpkintopf · 11/01/2018 20:14

Hi all,

The chicken with creamy garlic and Parmesan, spinach and mushrooms served on a bed of courgette cooked in butter was delicious!! The whole family voted for a repeat performance of that which is a real result for a new recipe.

Today we had a colleague leaving at work so went to Prezzo for lunch. Reviewed menu beforehand so chose belly pork and roasted veg, and left the potatoes. Also managed to resist pudding, even the mini puds everyone else had - which is unheard of for me! And I'm not hungry at all.

I seem to be going through that weird thing of constantly feeling thirsty despite drinking 4 litres plus a day water -?! I remember this from LC before, I think it just calms down over time?

Less headachy today too.

Thanks to everyone for posting on here it's so helpful.

littleladylawyer · 11/01/2018 20:17

Evening campers, just got back from a manic day and am very ready for dinner!

B- fasting
L- roast beef and big salad
D- chicken and chorizo with leeks and bacon and broccoli

Ive not managed to drink enough today as been in long meetings so going to try to chug what I can, don't want to be up all night as a result though!

TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 11/01/2018 20:19

Thanks Valenta
It's amazing how much I've felt crap after s few spoons of pasta and an extra sausage
Pre doing this then I would probably have drunk a few glasses of wine and eaten god know what, so in some ways I'm happy.
Hope your week gets better Thanks

TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 11/01/2018 20:20

Wow, typoarama! Apologies, v tired!

headoutofthesand · 11/01/2018 20:37

I'm feeling really odd today. Is it a bug or some sort of carb flu? Who knows?!!
B - 3 scrambled eggs with a bigger slosh of cream than I meant. I think that may have been the problem!
L - spinach, cucumber, avocado & salmon salad with a slug of olive oil
S - duck with lettuce leaf pancakes and a FLGV
Snacks - mini cheese thing ... think that was it
Haven't quite drunk enough yet. I am impressed that those of you having to have more than 3l a day are managing to.

lisbapalea · 11/01/2018 20:39

Evening all - just checking in to log today's food:

B - Greek tog and cinnamon & coffee with cream
L - M&S Greek salad plus cold chicken
D - ham, mushroom and cheese omelette with buttered broccoli