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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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29
Rshard · 13/01/2018 08:53

Morning everyone, first weekend of bootcamp. I’m st a swimming gala all weekend with dd but I’ve bought low carb food with me and we’re going to Wagamama tonight where I’ll stick to the dishes recommended on here yesterday, thanks

PrincessPeaPod · 13/01/2018 08:56

Morning all, have a brilliant Saturday. After yesterdays epic fail, my husband made me brekkie with a love heart cheese. Today is going to be a good day!

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
OldBooks · 13/01/2018 09:02

Ave I really feel for you. My DDs are 4 and 1.5 and it is bloody hard work, you are always tired, and if eating is your coping mechanism then it's even harder when you want to try and be healthy. I definitely find it harder to stick to woe on my days at home with them, being at work is easy! Yesterday DD1 ran out into the road and a van was coming. Nothing happened thank gods but I was so shaken and stressed that I drank a whole pot of double cream over the course of the afternoon Blush

What I am trying to say is don't be hard on yourself. If you feel stressed I always try to remember the phrase 'if the problem isn't hunger then food won't fix it". E.g. if the kids are squabbling then eating a biscuit isn't actually going to help that.

With my DD who had terrible reflux I had to put her car seat in the middle of the back seat so she could look out of the front window. In DH's car we disabled the airbag so she could sit in the front seat. It reduced car sickness incidents to almost zero.

TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 13/01/2018 09:02

Urgh, I messed up last night.
It was all fine until I decided to stay up late... I made my husband a crispy bacon, red pepper and lettuce salad for when he arrived home at 9.30. He said he wasn't hungry, so instead of leaving it I bloody well ate it. Groan.

I didn't realise till logging my food this morning that peppers were a no no and insanely high in carbs.

It was stupid, I was bored, and I didn't want it to go to waste, rather than that I was hungry.

Where's the stick?!

ilovecherries · 13/01/2018 09:08

Just popping in to say 'bye' as I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks. If it's anything like the last two holidays I had while bootcamping, that will probably mean I'm still here at least twice a day, but just in case internet is crappy. Going by car so scales, slow cooker, knives and a decent frying pan coming with me, and feeling rather pleased with my organisation - have booked a food delivery to the holiday house later so unless they make crazy substitutions I will be good to go the minute we arrive. KOKO, bootcampers :)

AthelstaneTheUnready · 13/01/2018 09:28

Have a great time, cherries! I have a weekend booked mid-Feb which I'm looking forward to already.

Have woken this morning with hot, dry eyes, weak arms, and legs like dead heavy tree branches - think this is actual cold rather than low-carb flu, but am very fortunate that there is nothing I'm due to do today that I can't do tomorrow instead. Still in bed, which is unheard of for me, especially after ten (count 'em!) hours sleep, which is also unheard of. However, the knowledge that I didn't do this to myself (through bad food, or too much wine) is hugely comforting in an odd way - I feel like cosseting myself today, rather than punishing myself for having done it.

littleladylawyer · 13/01/2018 09:30

Have a great holiday ilovecherries!

I'm off to my dads for a celebration lunch as there are four of us in the family with January birthdays. No idea what the food will be, they know I don't eat wheat or grains so hopefully meat and veg of some sort.

I have mini cheeses with me just in case, and am driving so won't be tempted by wine.

Hope everyone has a lovely low carb Saturday

AthelstaneTheUnready · 13/01/2018 09:31

just realised that reads slightly wonkily.

what I meant was... my internal voice is saying "ah, poor honey, never mind, just stay in bed a bit longer and I'll bring you a lovely cup of hot coffee" INSTEAD of the usual "well, it serves you right you disgusting bloated mess now get up and try and do something useful if you can".

Much better this way, no? Grin

BerylStreep · 13/01/2018 09:37

Aveatque that sounds really hard. Thanks

Princess bless your DH that breakfast was really sweet.

My DH has just brought me breakfast in bed as I've come down with some horrific chest infection. It feels like I am inhaling knives when I breathe in, and walking up stairs leaves me so breathless I feel dizzy.

Lardons, avocado, and eggs scrambled in the Lardon fat.

Cherries enjoy your break!

YoLoHogwomanay · 13/01/2018 09:40

I totally hear you Ave it's tough. I also crave sugar when emotionally stressed. let this be a warning to you: I gained 50lbs over 2 years of immense stress, illness, DC illness and sleep deprivation. Don't let that be you!

YoLoHogwomanay · 13/01/2018 09:44

thanks for the recommendation for peppermint and liquorice tea. I had a choice of 74p asda own brand or 2.49 pukka. i chose the own brand because I am a cheapskate and it's lovely! tastes quite sweet!!

I'm now going to try the marmite/butter combo. sounds umamish

intelligentPutty · 13/01/2018 09:48

Morning all.
Just woken up from a dream about thinking of having bread. Selecting it and then putting it back.
And I'm not even missing bread!!

Grin
CodLiverOil556 · 13/01/2018 09:53

So nearly a week in and I've had a cheeky weigh in this morning. Down 5lbs but then I do have another 30lbs to lose.

I don't tend to post much but I do read all your posts and the water post by Stuntnun makes perfect sense.

I struggle sometimes as I don't eat butter but know LCHF works so just fry everything with coconut oil and olive oil.

Tried kale chips the other night but cocked them up so I'll try again.

KOKO Grin

Alwaysinmyheart · 13/01/2018 09:55

So, I've been doing this diet for 10 days now, finally got to weigh myself on DP's digital scales and I've lost...8 pounds!

Woohoo!! 😀😀😀

KOKO everybody!

ilovecherries · 13/01/2018 10:04

Before I go though look at this! (Turning naked cartwheel emoji). My target was to be in the 11s before this holiday and this is the 4th day in a row that I've seen a variation on 11.13! So I'm claiming it! That's 60 lbs off.

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
PrincessPeaPod · 13/01/2018 10:06

BeryIStreep I am so sorry that you are poorly. I hope you have a restful day, keep hydrated! Your breakfast sounds absolutely amazing. Just ordering Tesco shop, you have inspired me!

StuntNun · 13/01/2018 10:09

Witch peppers aren't the worst thing you could have eaten so don't worry about it. Yes they're higher in carbs than ideal but they're still a healthy food.

That's a great achievement Cherries you must be delighted. All your hard work is paying off. Have a great holiday.

LeapinLizards · 13/01/2018 10:09

Everyone is going great guns. Ave you're on the cusp of going great guns - once you're in the right head space, you'll be ON IT! Be kind to yourself rather beat yourself up otherwise you'll give up.
I don't post much - cant keep up - but do read all the posts to keep myself in the right mindset. stuntnun i LOVE your posts most of all - thank you! I was especially interested to read that sometimes people do put on weight at the start if low calorie diet precedes LC but it then reverses - this was me 10yrs ago when Atkins was all the rage. I was desperately trying to lose weight for a wedding & did low calorie followed by Atkins & piled on weight in a fortnight. I abandoned it at that point. So I've started BC with a bit of trepidation, even tho I'd been doing LC before Xmas & it's been fab. No problems at all on BC - it's absolutely great Smile.

prettybird · 13/01/2018 10:11

Fell asleep on the couch early last night Blush crawled through to bed at 1.30 - but great to see that you all did a good job of providing support and advice Flowers

Have a great holiday ilovecherries - on your last holiday, didn't you come back 1lb down? Wink

TheSeasonOfTheWitch - you still didn't have sugar, which is a good thing Smile but - you ate even though you weren't hungry. That is a big No No. Think of it this way: are you the same value as a dust bin? Because that is what you were doing when you ate it rather than put it in the bin, even though you weren't hungry.

Hope you feel better soon Athelstane. Cosset yourself - but I have confidence that you won't self-sabotage by eating carbs.

OP posts:
RaindropsAndSparkles · 13/01/2018 10:11

Hello everyone. I haven't been the best bootcamper since Monday. I have struggled to drink enough water due to being flat out at work and not having time to top up my glass (3 13 hour days), and as you know a wobble with champagne when dd got her Cambridge offer. But I have been very well behaved with food.

Breakfasts have been total or avocado or eggs, Lunches salad with chicken, tuna, cottage or cheddar, eggs, a few olives thrown in (obvs not altogether). For supper, roast chicken, a steak, an omolette, left over casserole picking out the carrots and butter beans - usually with salad although there was kale over with tbe casserole.

My challenge is time (i have a very full on job and a family to feed too albeit an adult one, and i work in the middle of nowhere with one student oriented shop with limited stocks and chips with everything food outlets.).

Having had a wobble I have weighed and am about 3.5lb down. Fingers crossed for Monday if I can be good all weekend.

LeapinLizards · 13/01/2018 10:11

Oooh FANTASTIC cherries - well done! Get well soon beryl

Twoo · 13/01/2018 10:13

Morning All :)

I’m resolutly sticking to plan! Scales stook at 11st . Most days it’s fluctuated a 1lb either way, but I’ve not lost anything overall. Why? It’s not as if I’ve only a bit to loose. I need to loose at least 30lbs long term as quite petite in height.

I’m no alcohol, plenty of water, low carbs via suitable veg, high fat via one coffee with cream, cheese, eggs, olive oil, olives, mayo etc. Plenty of fish, chicken & some beef mince.

Thank you to those ladies who assured me poor sleep could pass.

I did sleep better last night. Yesterday I had a crappy headache and was really really tired and fatigued. Woke up with same headache 🤕.

I am determined to carry on with this woe. I feel I’ve done well just to maintain the plan for nearly a week but wished the scales would reward me with a loss.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and continued success with the woe. Don’t break the pledge, it’s not worth it. But you are!

RaindropsAndSparkles · 13/01/2018 10:13

Oh and what I meant to add above, i feel so much better for not eating wheat. The sluggishness goes along with the bloatedness and the aches and pains. Is that usual or is it orobably an underlying intolerance do you think?

Twoo · 13/01/2018 10:19

Sorry whilst I was typing others posted. I’m such a slow typer the thread can move along quite quickly, hence having to post again.

That’s fantastic ’Cherries’, have a great holiday !

Hope you get well soon Beryl

That’s a great loss Raindrops

SayrraT · 13/01/2018 10:23

Popping in quickly to say good morning. Got a fairly action planned weekend, competition with Larry today then gallops tomorrow for more fitness training.

I've also just had a post I made on Larry's Facebook page (Happy as Larry) go wild! Not viral wild but it's gained me at least 50 new page likes and loads of shares. Not sure what I think, page was originally for me to report what Larry and I were doing with people who knew us following. Will see what happens!

Really happy being back on track properly, sometimes my head is just not in the right place but it is now! 4lbs down so far Grin

Sorry for not responding to others, will try to catch up tonight.

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