January 2019 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 1

[BIWI]

Well happy new year!

Here's a sparkling, brand new, Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for us all to get this new Bootcamp off to a good start.

Remember, you don't have to be on the spreadsheet if you don't want to - and if you don't want to declare your actual weight, you can index it - which means that your starting 'weight' is 100. Then for every pound you lose, you take off one. So if you lose 4lbs in week 1, then your 'weight' starting for week 2 will be 96.

There are over 170 people signed up, so the thread will move very quickly - but please, please, please read all the posts. Don't just jump on and post your own stuff without reading what other people have posted. That's especially the case if you're posting with a question - read the thread to make sure it hasn't already been asked.

Have a good look at the spreadsheet and all the tabs at the bottom, as there's a huge amount of information there - not just the rules, but also the list of vegetable carb counts, and some really interesting reading/videos too.

I hope everything there is clear, but if not - just shout.

Looking forward to getting going!

Yeah, sweet cravings (my biggest, biggest downfall) can only be overcome by sheer willpower. It’s really hard - like I said yesterday, I spend all of last year with very little willpower - but I’m determined to do better now I have this group and some accountability.

Had a really nice lunch of tuna mayo and little gem leaves. The tuna was fancy tuna in a jar, not a tin, in extra virgin olive oil. It was so nice! Pricey though, so an occasional treat only (although I have enough left over for tomorrow’s lunch).

Having a major energy crash though, I feel like I could fall asleep standing up. About to have my first creamy coffee of the day to perk me up.

Is anyone else slightly terrified of BIWI? This is my first bootcamp, and gosh - I'd better not step out of line!

So far today I've had

B: a scramble of eggs, mushrooms, spinach, cheese and a splash of soy milk.
L: tuna mayonnaise with spinach, celery, tomatoes, spring onions and cheese (I now know tomatoes are slightly higher than other veg, I should have checked before adding them)
D: Might make a version of moussaka with courgettes instead of aubergines, or possibly a curry with cauli rice (haven't tried that yet)

Drinking lots of water, but feel quite blocked up. My period started properly today, so that's probably something to do with it.

Does anyone else's digestion slow down when low-carbing? I'm probably not eating enough veg/fibre overall.

BIWI speaks the truth though

Kite I get that feeling - it's weird, but glugging even more water tends to get things moving. Especially if you are out and nowhere near a loo

@KiteMarked

I'm coming after you next ...

There's absolutely no point in me not making it crystal clear to people if they're not following the rules - because I know from experience that they are only sabotaging their own best efforts.

But I'm quite nice really, honest .

Re feeling blocked up - the solution is usually to drink more water (I know you won't think it possible at this point!). But also, people have reported that they tend to go less on this WOE.

This, though, is also one reason why I always say that the bulk of our carbs should be coming from vegetables and salad, so that you're getting the necessary fibre in your diet.

Other things to make sure of are that you're drinking enough and that you're eating enough fat.

Hopefully it will resolve itself soon

B - yoghurt with a drop of rosewater and some cardamom (for a touch of the exotic) plus coffee with double cream

L - leftover broccoli rice from last night (stir-fried in coconut oil with egg, spring onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, squeeze of lemon) plus smoked mackerel

D - I have my eye on an asparagus and spring onion recipe with an olive oil dressing

@Haworthia - hopefully the energy crash is just about your body adjusting to low carbing, but why not eat something, rather than just have a coffee?

Thanks, will continue glugging at the water in hopes of a quick resolution!

What methods do you use to count your water intake?
I find I stand at the sink asking myself if this is the 3rd or 4th time I've filled my water bottle. I need to have 5 of them a day and I've tried various ways to remember but wondered if anyone had a foolproof method?

One thing I've heard people do is that they put a number of elastic bands on their water bottle - so if you need to drink 8 times the quantity of your bottle, you put 8 elastic bands on your bottle, and then each time you finish a bottle, you take a band off.

@BIWI - OK thanks. I'll look at upping the fat. I think it's more of a psychological "something nice to relax with at the end of the day" sort of thing. Maybe a cup of decaf coffee with cream could fill the void!

@Condamine I fill 3 x 1 Liter bottles at the start of the day and aim to have them emptied at the end of it. There's always a bottle sitting round the kitchen / living room and I just chip away at it. I'd NEVER get that much into me if I had to remember to keep filling glasses all day

Why not some nice cheese instead?

Thanks BIWI I think the electrolytes when running are a crutch that makes me think I can run better. You know what would really help the running? Dropping 30 pounds.

Thanks @Haworthia for reminding me about tuna in oil. I LOVE that and never have it. But fat is good now! I will get some at the fancy deli.

How far are you running @MrsTerryPratcett? If you're doing half marathons perhaps I'll believe you need them. If it's 5K ...

Day 2 and have just eaten wonderfully soft feta cheese laden omelette cooked in butter with some cucumber on the side. Delicious.

Talking of pork loin, that's what I'm having tonight cooked with paprika, double cream and a bit of onion and mushroom. Oh and Springs greens and broccoli.

Feeling very positive. After 2 years of taking 1 step forward, 2 steps back I think my head is (finally) in the right place to crack on.

How bad is baby bel? It's cheese but processed. Is it a no- no?

I've changed my drinking water receptacle to a pint glass and make every 2nd glass a pseudo electrolyte one (couple of shakes of Lo-Salt and squoosh of lemon juice). I find it easier to keep tabs on that - especially as I have 2 or more cups of tea to add to that , plus have a few cups of rooibos or herb tea (I really like peppermint & licorice tea or Twining's buttermint tea).

Plus I have a glass of water in the bathroom every time I go to the loo (so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy ) and don't count them, just to be confident that I truly am having my allocation.

Ummmmmm 4K last night

I didn't even run with water when I was running 5K, so NO you don't need those electrolytes!

Checking in but being a technophobe will not use the spreadsheet. Lost nearly two stone on last year’s Boot Camp so I know it works well.
Love everyone’s meal plans, really helps to give new ideas.
Yesterday
B; large coffee with cream*
L; salad of avocado, mozzarella, half a tomato, ham
D; bolognese with sautéed veg - surprisingly nice, didn’t miss the pasta

Today
B; large coffee with cream*
L; veg muffins (from IPD Book - highly recommend); avocado salad and a few pieces of chicken
D; cauliflower cheese & sausages

• I know this is not a recommended breakfast at this stage but I have followed Boot Camp before and as I lead a very sedentary lifestyle and don’t snack, it works for me to just have two meals a day.

Checking in. I am enjoying getting food ideas from other people's menus and also feeling reassured that there are others at similar starting points (My immediate goal for BC is to get below 14st, but my eventual goal will be something like 50lbs off or even more - not such as its such a long time since I was there )

B - smoked salmon, avocado and hard boiled egg
L - Leftover Chicken & Mozzarella bake with courgettes, spring greens and spinach (I just added this recipe to the Low Carb Meat recipes thread)
D - Pan fried salmon fillets with stir fried pak choi and soy sauce

@Condamine I use my 500ml bottle to drink from but I also have a 2 litre bottle so I fill that too and use to refill the smaller bottle. I have to drink both before I leave work (mostly do, I find low carb makes me thirsty) and then the final litre comes from hot water with lemon in the morning and several glasses of fizzy water in the evening.

One of the things I'm trying for the first time is daily weighing. I am using the Weight Diary App. I'm finding it very motivational so far as it smooths out the daily fluctuations and shows your overall trend downwards (hopefully!)

@bella1426 Mentioned already up thread by @ElasticFirecracker mint and liquorice tea is naturally slightly sweet tasting and might be a good evening drink? I find that get sick of water at some point and switch to herbal tea. Hesitated before typing this as I know the idea is to avoid sweet things, but this is a different kind of taste to sweeteners, and I think it might be helpful.

I think Babybel is OK - as far as I know it hasn't got anything horrible added to it! Sainsbury's website shows it as 98% milk.

Posters on other Bootcamps have talked about cooking them in the microwave (minus the red wrapping!) so that they 'explode' and go all crispy - although I've never tried that myself

Thank you for the great water tips, I will try them all out.

Hang in there everyone - this is tough but worth it.

I was moaning away to myself last week as strapping-son and DH were out when the dog-food was delivered. The boxes are sooooo heavy and I ended up rolling them into my house as they were so hard to lift.

Later I realised that each box weighed about what I've lost so far (on the last 2 bootcamps). I can't believe that I was walking up hills (or even stairs) carrying 15kg.

(Note to self -I've one more of those boxes to lose... and should be able to simply waft about after that.)

Sorry basic question ( I can't see the spreadsheet easily on my phone) does herb tea - just the bag and water nothing else ) count towards water intake ?