Week 1 - May Low Carb Bootcamp - off we go!

[BIWI]

There are over 220 of us signed up for this Bootcamp, which I'm fairly sure must be some kind of record!

I'm starting this thread this evening, so that you can have a chance to read it, but also because I have an early start tomorrow, and won't have the time in the morning.

So, firstly, here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness Many, many thanks to @AthelstaneTheUnready and @TimeIHadANameChange for offering to help out with this

When you click on the link, please look for the tab at the bottom that says 'May weigh-in'. There's still a tab to the last Bootcamp which we can't seem to delete - but your name will be on the May one.

Tomorrow, you enter your weight OR if you wish, you index it, which means that you start off at 100. For every pound you lose, you take one away. So if you start at 11 stone 13 pounds, and lose 5 pounds in the first week, then your second week you'd enter 95.

OR you don't have to be on the spreadsheet if you don't want to.

If you don't enter your weight for a couple of weeks, then we'll take you off the spreadsheet altogether.

If you find your name isn't on the spreadsheet, don't panic!. Just add your name at the bottom, and then it will be re-alphabetised later.

And here are the rules

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!)

1. 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.

1. 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!

1. 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.

1. 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

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. No nuts/seeds.

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.

laytex I read your latest reply first and thought 'why are her kids stopping her drinking water', then realised it was Diet Coke not Dear Children. I clearly need coffee

@RuffleBelly

We don't count calories on Bootcamp!

I know this seems counterintuitive. We're always taught to cut calories if we want to lose weight. To a certain extent this is true, but a calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie!

A calorie of fat will not provoke a release of insulin, which is what triggers the laying down of fat

A calorie of protein will provoke a slight release of insulin

A calorie of carbohydrate will provoke a large release of insulin

(This is a very simplistic explanation, but overall it's true).

This WOE is not about deprivation. It's about enjoying lovely, natural, tasty food that will satisfy you and give your body the nutrition it needs. Oh, and along the way it will help you lose weight.

Calories do, ultimately, come into play - as you get near your target weight, you will need to consider your portion sizes - aka thinking about your calories - but for now, focus on reducing the carbohydrate in your diet and see the weight drop.

That said, this isn't carte blanche to stuff your face - be sensible and eat reasonable portions.

laytex sorry meant to say, have swapped to sparkling mineral water during this woe, with cucumber and lemon slices, it's doing the trick.

I’m sure you’ll smash the 5k rayna!

The more runners the merrier I reckon melanie. Time is a runner too I think? Have I remembered correctly?

@wherehavealltheflowersgone

Blurgh ... feeling really nauseous and headachey. Even the thought of eating fat makes me feel more sick sad is this the carb flu? How long will it last and do I just try to keep eating fat regardless of my instinctive intolerance for it?

Yep. Carb flu. You need salt, but also keep drinking the water and, if you can bear it, the fat. Your instinctive intolerance reflects the brainwashing that we've all be subjected to over the last 40 years about fat being bad for you.

Can you get hold of some Zero tabs? They'll help with the electrolytes, which what are out of whack right now.

If you can't, focus on the salt - have a hot drink made from Oxo or Bovril or Marmite. Add salt to your food and cook with it.

Take some paracetamol - no need to suffer!

It will pass soon.

Congrats oldbirdy!

@Madelinka

The scales stayed the same today

And we're only on day 2!

Please, please, please be patient. The weight didn't go on overnight, it won't disappear overnight either.

If you can't cope with seeing nothing happening on a daily basis, then please go to weighing weekly instead.

ItchyKnees my quick fix for electrolytes is a glass of water with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice (for potassium) in. It will pass, it's a consequence of the body losing so much water from your glycogen stores and taking electrolytes with it.

Threeminis Bulletproof Coffee is a registered trademark and involves specially produced coffee and MCT oil. But you can make butter coffee from any kind of coffee, even decaf, with coconut oil and butter. We don't tend to recommend them on Bootcamp because they are high calorie but nutrient poor. They can be useful when near your goal weight and finding it difficult to increase your fat macro.

CerealKiller it's really hard to overeat protein so don't worry about it unless you think it's affecting your weight loss. There used to be this idea that excess protein was converted to glucose on a low carb diet but it turns out it's only a problem for some (but not all) people with diabetes.

OldBirdy McDonald's is actually pretty good for low carb as you can order bunless burgers. I like the ones with the ordering screens the best as you can customise your burger without having to speak to human being. I order two double cheeseburgers without buns (you can cut out the relish as well if you want) and a shaker side salad. I have been known to sneak in my own little pot of vinaigrette as their dressings are low fat. To answer your question about cream, it's the frequency of dairy that seems to cause weight loss to stall, rather than the quantity. So if you're having more than one creamy coffee a day along with cheese for a snack/as part of meals it's much more likely to be a problem. If you suspect dairy is an issue try limiting it to once or twice a day before giving it up entirely.

@itchyknees

Constant thirst is apparently to do with lack of salt. Cook with it and add it to your food. A hot drink of stock (as suggested above by me and other PP) will help here.

@chinesechicken

This is only day 3 so you're not too late. Just jump onto the spreadsheet (in the OP) and add your name at the bottom

Welcome!

@LaytexSales

Hi ladies! have been low carbing for a few days and have come across this thread. Just wondering about Diet Coke? I see there is nil carb content - is it okay? Also tiny dashes of skim milk in tea? I notice that the carb content of full and skim milk is the same, I don’t like ff milk - is it okay to stick to a small amount of skim milk?

If you read Bootcamp rules you'll see that Diet Coke isn't allowed, as it contains artificial sweeteners.

There is some suggestion that the body responds to artificial sweeteners like it does to sugar, which isn't great - but also, one of the key points of Bootcamp is that we're trying to break the hold that sweet things have over us, so much better to switch to sparkling water (or ordinary water if you prefer!)

A small amount of skimmed milk is OK but it's far better to have fuller fat. Or even cream. You will get used to it, I promise!

Thanks Stuntnun
I really struggle with breakfast as I never eat it and feel I'm forcing it down. Figured coffee with all the fat might be a better option.

As BIWI says, don't get caught up in counting calories, especially at this point. I got to 9 stone eating 1800 calories a day and I am far from active and I have a desk job. I'm in awe of you lot running 5k and more. I do Pilates once a week and try to avoid running whenever possible!

Morning all

Have tried to respond to everyone, but as before - apologies if I've missed you!

Thankfully I haven't had to wield the big stick too much so far, but I'm always watching you ...

One thing I would caution is that there seems to be a fair bit of processed meat/fish in people's diets - bacon, salami, chorizo, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, Pepperami etc.

While these are all OK in moderation, try to avoid having them at more than one meal per day.

And I have to talk about weighing and your expectations

Our weight fluctuates naturally on a day-to-day basis. Even if you're following Bootcamp rules to the letter this will be the case. So please don't expect the scales to drop every day.

If you are a daily weigher, and you can't cope with seeing this, then please switch to less frequent weighing.

The other thing that we've seen across all the Bootcamps since 2012 is that weight loss isn't linear. You can go for a while without losing weight and then suddenly will see a top of 3lbs or so. This is quite normal!

Far better, actually, than the scales is to take measurements. Bizarrely, you can lose inches without the scales showing any loss.

Thanks everyone for the replies. BIWI will print out the rules today. Looking forward to getting stuck in!

My days, I am massively struggling with drinking enough. I feel like I’m constantly supping however am not really getting past 1/2-2/3 of what I should be. I’ve been sticking to the rules rigidly otherwise but is this going to hold me back? I don’t want to undo my efforts (or be shown up on the spreadsheet!)

Thank you @BIWI I've had the zero tablets for the last 2 days and do feel a little better this morning

@exitlight I use this bottle and fill it 4 times a day:

Morning.

Breakfast is chorizo and cheese omelette.

Not sure about lunch and tea, we have had an unexpected death in the family and I need to get some stuff sorted related to that so I can't plan for today as I don't know where I'll be when, and all my handy lunchy snack stuff is at work. I'm determined to stick to it though and not make a shit day worse.

I bought a 500ml glass and drink a full one first thing and another at 11. Another at about 2. Then I drink a lot of coffee and herb tea. That brings it up to around 3l

Morning all! Black tea, nibbles of gouda and quorn fillet. Office day so lunch will be salad avocado and cheese as usual.

Trying to get the water on board. That's quite hard!

Thanks @wherehavealltheflowersgone - that’s a great idea! Might have to look into one of those. Bit of a ‘durhh’ moment for me there, get a bottle and carry it with you, then no cup is no excuse! Does this count as brain fog?

@Threeminis

I really struggle with breakfast as I never eat it and feel I'm forcing it down. Figured coffee with all the fat might be a better option.

Coffee with all the fat is alright if you need to get your fat up, but it's not a source of much nutrition. In these early days of Bootcamp it is important to eat something - but it doesn't have to be a lot! Find something that you enjoy eating, whatever that might be, and try a small amount of that.

Once we get through the first two weeks you can drop breakfast.

@exitlight - yes the water is important, that's why it's one of the rules ...

My breakfast was bacon and eggs. Lunch will be salad (including last night’s leftover cauliflower) with cheese and olives and some Greek yoghurt.
Dinner will be something.
And there will be so much water that I need to go to the loo 100 times.

@BIWI okie dokie, yeah I’ll engage my brain before I open my mouth One new water bottle on the way to help, I guess I’ll now pin my hopes on week two being better than week one as we’re pretty much halfway through the week now...