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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
Alwaysinmyheart · 13/01/2018 12:41

Does anyone know how to make cauliflower/celeriac rice taste better? Find them both quite unpleasant tbh!

prettybird · 13/01/2018 12:46

Alwaysinmyheart - don't over cook them, put in plenty of butter and add some spices, eg cumin and coriander.

OP posts:
ShagMeRiggins · 13/01/2018 12:46

StuntNun I think it's the Carrick Glen brand at Lidl that you want.

Oh, and your recent explanations of all things related to this WOE have been giving me great pleasure and clarity. I was going to describe it as science porn but that didn't sound quite, erm, right. Hmm

Thanks as always for taking the time to improve our understanding.

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
ShagMeRiggins · 13/01/2018 12:50

ilovecherries your frittata recipe was last night's dinner for us. Gorgeous, and I could only manage three slices rather than the half I intended.

My husband had the other half and loved it. The chèvre in particular was lovely.

Yeah, that's another thing--my husband has decided to do this Bootcamp with me. He's on the spreadsheet and everything (but will not be on the threads). I'm pleased he's doing it but afraid he'll undertake me! KOKO

New Year, New Start Boot Camp: Week 1, Now we get down to it in earnest
CodLiverOil556 · 13/01/2018 12:52

What do you reckon to these?

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
TheWayOfTheWorld · 13/01/2018 12:52

Always to be honest, I only ever use cauliflower rice with some very "saucy" (e.g. Chilli or bolognaise) so I don't really notice it.

I think others use plenty of butter, shallots, garlic and seasoning.

I hope my celeriac rice tonight is nice!

ShagMeRiggins · 13/01/2018 12:55

kermit the carb count certainly looks good!

TheWayOfTheWorld · 13/01/2018 13:00

Kermit agree that the carb count looks fine but I seem to recall us being told previously that we should go for sausages with a 95% meat content. May have made that up...

JumpingintoLCHF · 13/01/2018 13:11

I've been rubbish the last couple of days. Started BC well but have let obstacles get in my way and have eaten things I haven't had for ages. So I will be surprised if I lose anything this week plus my period is looming. I need to refind the steel I had last time.

TheSeasonOfTheWitch · 13/01/2018 13:23

Um, I was going to make cockaleekie soup later... I've just looked up leeks, they have over 10g of carbs each?! Really??

Twoo · 13/01/2018 13:49

Thank you Pretty. Yes I feel more svelte in general so defo a NSV!

Yes Black I log my food on here every day. Havnt done it yet today as I was undecided what I was having today.

Klep’ I hope you’re relight Grin

Stunt’ yes I will refrain from weighing daily and go to weekly. Starting Monday. You’re right about volume loss not being reflected in weight lost. I had to go change my skirt this morning as I had to keep hitching it up!

Cherries can you sign me to your Frittata recipe please? I’ve looked through the thread again and I can’t find it. Previous posters have said how delicious it is Grin

B - 3 boiled eggs, 30g mayo and 8 grams Parmesan cheese.

L - Coffee with cream. Salad with salmon steak.

D - Kale, broccoli, celeriac mash & white fish.

Water. Generally don’t have snacks as not hungry.

Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es · 13/01/2018 13:53

How on earth do you eat a burger without a bun in MacDs? Sounds hideously messy.

Itsjanuary · 13/01/2018 14:02

Cauliflower rice is way nicer in the oven than on the hob

I managed to stick to plan even though had a disaster this morning on the slopes (huge tantrum from me 😭). Normally I would have had a large glass of wine to calm down but had a peppermint tea with my salad for lunch instead.

Itsjanuary · 13/01/2018 14:05

Also made cauliflower mash (with butter, little bit of cheese and garlic) - puréed it so it was the same consistency as mash and it was delicious!!! Going to make more and top shepherds pie with it

StuntNun · 13/01/2018 14:14

Thanks Riggins so he got the brand right, just bought the wrong thing story of my life. Today he made me a lovely duck salad for lunch... with pomegranate seeds (19g carbs per 100g). I didn't say anything, just didn't eat them, but I think he got the message.

WhoKnows you get your McDonald's bunless burger in a box or on a little platter so it's easy enough to eat. The more of us go and buy these things, the sooner they will start to cater for us. I'm sure someone high up in the M&S hierarchy is a low carber and they've been sneaking foods into the range. Now we're all going and buying rollitos and pork crackling straws it is going to become apparent that there is a little tapped market for low carb options. And the easier it becomes to eat this way the more people will be willing to give it a try. Things have already changed so much in the last five years since I went low carb. When I first started you would frequently go somewhere for food and there would be literally nothing that could be made low carb. It's definitely a lot better now.

MumOfAPickle · 13/01/2018 14:17

Thanks for the info re Nando's I shall resist the call of the piri piri fries! I've got pork scratchings for a cinema snack (instead of my usual popcorn & hot choc Blush)
Anyone else getting headaches? I very very rarely get them (maybe not even one a year) normally but have had 2 thumpers this week, on day 2 and then today. Admittedly it was a late night last night but I slept till 8.30 this morning and didn't drink! I did wonder if it was a sugar thing....on day 2 I would have been withdrawing and maybe today my body is saying come on it's the weekend and you always have sugar at the weekend!
Also, sorry if TMI but my erm motions are not as regular as usual - normal or not??

Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es · 13/01/2018 14:23

It still sounds really messy eating with your fingers though. Not to mention unappetising without ketchup, I think I'll eat at home.

Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es · 13/01/2018 14:38

I do agree about puttng pressure on food retailers to sell more low carb foods BTW, but I wouldn't eat a bunless burger in MacDs even if it was a standard menu item.

cathyandclare · 13/01/2018 14:45

It's weigh in day for me ( started early) and have lost 5.5lb, which I'm really pleased with as I'm a healthy BMI (though too much for my small frame) so it can be sloooooow.

Definitely in the zone now, so hoping for another few pounds off before the end of the month, when I'm off on a short city break. I'll stay low carb but wine will be drunk!

B: Creamy coffee
L: Low carb muffin with leeks and mushrooms
S: Roast chicken with salad and coleslaw

prettybird · 13/01/2018 14:46

ILoveKermit - we normally say look for high % pork in sausages as the remainder is usually made up with filler like rusks. Suspect that in the case of those leek and pork sausages, they are ok because leeks are low in carbohydrates (not sure where the 10g each comes from Confused; just checked my pack of jerks from Lidl and they say 2.6g/100g Smile)

JumpingintoLCHF - you can do this, I know you can Smile I've seen you trying to make the right choices. KOKO Flowers

Twoo -* ilovecherries*' frittata recipe might be on the Low Carb BootCamp recipe thread (I'm on the app so can't do an Advanced Search).

Mumofapickle - good for you for making the right choices Star Headaches can indeed be a sugar thing but can also be an electrolyte imbalance. Have you been having plenty of salt, potassium and magnesium? Some of us also take magnesium supplements.
With regard to bowel movements: yes, they do can change. Personally, I haven't suffered from constipation but I've found I need to "go" less frequently (not talking about peeing Blush which of course happens much more frequently Wink). On occasion though I will find I need to go a few times in quick succession. Some people find that the magnesium supplements have a loosening effect I don't . If you are finding you are getting constipated, then some people find a daily physilum husk tablet really must look up and remember the spelling helps - and a more drastic solution is a helping of Thorntons Diabetic toffee (not something we want to do just yet as it goes against all the "don't eat sweet stuff even stuff with artificial sweeteners" messages we are trying to get across at the moment).

OP posts:
StuntNun · 13/01/2018 14:48

They have knives and forks WhoKnows Smile

Wh0KnowsWhereTheT1meG0es · 13/01/2018 14:51

Do they? You learn something every day. One of my NY resolutions was about cuttng plastic waste though . I still really don't think I could face a greasy burger without the trimmings though.

prettybird · 13/01/2018 14:56

You could always take a travel knife and fork set with you WhoKn0ws Wink what do you mean, you don't carry a set in your bag? Grin

OP posts:
abbey44 · 13/01/2018 15:00

Checking in for a bit of moral support - despite sticking with it, getting the water intake up and everything, scales show I've actually PUT ON 2lbs. I mean, how?? Thanks to stunt for the explanations to twoo - I need to dig out a tape measure, but I'm not feeling things getting looser.

Koko. See whether two long walks with the dogs over the weekend will shift it by Monday's proper weigh-in...

ilovecherries · 13/01/2018 15:03

Link to the frittata recipie www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto-goat-cheese-mushroom-frittata twoo

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