May '19 Low Carb Bootcamp - week 1

[BIWI]

So here we are!

Lots of us signed up this time, so inevitably the thread will move very quickly. Please, though, take the time to read the whole thread!. Although this is a place where you can post your daily menus, or your thoughts and questions, please don't just do this, but read what other people have posted too.

A bit thank you to the very lovely @AthelstaneTheUnready who has set up the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness.

The Spreadsheet

If your name isn't on there, don't panic! Just add yourself to the bottom of the list. Don't worry about trying to alphabetise it - that will be sorted out for you. (And if you're on the spreadsheet but don't want to be, don't worry - if you don't post on it your name will be taken off)

Here's a brief recap of the rules:

1. Eat three proper meals a day
2. Avoid processed foods
3. Eat plenty of fat
4. Make sure you are eating plenty of vegetables and salad
5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter which is unlimited)
6. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day
7. No alcohol
8. No fruit
9. No nuts/seeds

10.No sugar or artificial sweeteners

The full rules are here . They're supposed to be stickied at the top of the Low Carb Bootcamp topic (along with the recipe threads), but for some reason they're stickied at the top of page 2!

Remember that after the first two weeks we can relax some of this, and move on to Bootcamp Light, which means that you can add some fruit (berries mainly), alcohol (in moderation) and nuts and seeds (again, in moderation), but the point of the strict initial phase is to help push your body into burning fat for fuel rather than carbohydrate.

And remember - if you cheat, you will only be delaying this process from happening!

Good luck to everyone. Any questions or problems, just shout!

Hi all. Starting today, as I’ve just come back from a work trip - 3 days holed up in a meeting room with sandwiches for lunch
and biscuits for snacks... And let’s not talk about dinner. Can’t open the spreadsheet on my phone, sorry, but I’m starting at 60kg, 4 more than I’d like to be. I’ll now read the full thread and get me some meal ideas .

@Summery1 Glad DS is fine!

Re the number of eggs, there are two things I'd say. First, don't starve yourself. This WOE isn't about deprivation, so if you're hungry, and you need 3 eggs, then that's fine. But second, as you become fat-adapted, you really won't feel so hungry and it's entirely possible for just one egg to be enough - or even none!

At this early stage, just eat to keep yourself satisfied. (That isn't carte blanche for you to stuff your face though )

Welcome @Pollymagoo! Just hang around until you're ready to start. Ask any questions you might have in the run up to joining.

Personal triumph this morning: I think this is the first time ever I've made it out of the Premier Inn breakfast having only eaten a plate of fried eggs/bacon/tomato/mushroom/black pudding/sausage and NOTHING ELSE! Not a single thing from the buffet array of eleventy billion carby dessert-for-bloody-breakfast treats. Not even a sourdough crumpet. No peanut butter.

This will essentially be my main meal today I think, small lunch on the road mid afternoon and an omelette tonight maybe.

@sayanything you need to download the Google docs app to your phone to be able to use the spreadsheet.

You have my every sympathy for the hotel days! Meetings like that are a nightmare if you want to keep your carbs low.

And I know BIWI and others are always banging on about the importance of drinking water, so I thought a real example is always good. Drank very little water yesterday (very unusual for me, I'm usually a 2litre+ person bootcamp or not). Scales are 3lbs up. I hate not drinking enough water, makes me feel rubbish, but life just got in the way yesterday.

Off to glug...

Feeling very motivated as 4ibs down! But have a tricky day today - a work lunch for someone leaving and then post work drinks

No idea where we’re going for lunch but cafes are generally the worst for lc and it’s likely to be that or w Korean restaurant which is very carb based .

I don’t even know them that well

Morning all

Swallows full fat Greek yog is good for breakfast. With added double cream for extra sweetness. After the first 2 weeks a modest portion of berries can be added to this. So raspberries/strawberries etc

I’ve recently discovered a 2 egg limit. Was making 3 egg omelettes for lunch for a while but started feeling really queasy and bloated so have reduced and feel fine again. I am also (I think) a big portion eater. I’ve never been much of a snacker/grazer but when I do eat, I tend to eat big. Always curious about what other people’s portion sizes are like on this woe - mostly when it comes to veg.

Mission today: get back on the water properly. Chest feeling like it’s full of knives this morning, hope everyone else with the lurgy doing ok

I’ve found that it really helps if I get two glasses of water in straightaway first thing in the morning. That’s half a litre done right there. I then have at least eight cups of coffee/tea per day, plus a glass of water here and there every time I go to the kitchen sink. Last thing at night I have at least one glass of water again, sometimes two.

Feeling very motivated as 4ibs down! But have a tricky day today - a work lunch for someone leaving and then post work drinks

No idea where we’re going for lunch but cafes are generally the worst for lc and it’s likely to be that or w Korean restaurant which is very carb based .

I don’t even know them that well

Thanks BIWI I sort of managed, except I could only insert my name as a comment. Hope it worked!

Off to have breakfast (boiled eggs and a small bit of cheese).

@Almahart it's a shame that the British Gas engineer is coming to yours to fix a dangerous boiler, between 1 and 6pm, isn't it?

Re water, I have a 750ml Camelbak bottle. I fill it up first thing and glug away whilst getting ready for work and on the train, so that's 750ml down by 10am. I then have another couple of bottles during the day plus two large coffees.

In the evening I have 500ml of sparkling water, drink out of a champagne flute so I can kid myself I am having some alcoholic fizz

Dh is reading Harry potters to dtds at the moment so last night the four of us snuggled in our bed for story before dc went to bed... I fell asleep before the dc at 7.30pm and didn't wake up until morning. I did say I was tired

Breakfast- Greek yoghurt
Lunch- lettuce, creamy dressing and sliced beef spread with butter.
Dinner - not sure as it's school fete after work but probably an omelette

Have a fab day everyone

I find the Lidl FF Greek yoghurt "sweet" and creamy enough without cream. It is also 10% fat

I enjoy a wee bit of cinnamon mixed in (iirc, cinnamon also has other benefits but I can't remember what they are )

@prettybird I vaguely remember something about cinnamon too. Thanks for the reminder, I'll try that. I don't like cream added to Greek yoghurt but looking forward to week 3 when I can add berries and cream to my life

The Aldi Greek yoghurt is very nice too, very creamy. Also 10% fat.

Word of warning on their milk though - if you are buying lactose free milk for teas and coffee, don’t get caught out like I did!
The Aldi brand ‘Lactose free’ is (5g per 100ml) almost double the carbs of the Arla Lacto free (2.7g per 100ml).

I was happily quaffing it in coffees at 40p a carton cheaper than the Arla brand until I realised Think of all those unnecessary carbs! I could be at goal by now if not for that...

Always curious about what other people’s portion sizes are like on this woe - mostly when it comes to veg.

Me too.

My meals get bigger through the day. Small breakfast (I'm looking forward to not having to eat it). Medium lunch. Big dinner. I am trying to be very conscious of portion sizes, and not going back for more by telling myself I can as long as I wait a bit and have a good drink. Usually find I don't want it.

I eat loads of veg though. If it's salad I'll have 100g bag of leaves to myself, half an avacao, 2/3inches of cucumber and a little bit of finely sliced onion for flavour. That overloads my plate and I stick my meat/fish whatever on top. If I'm on higher carb veg I'm a little more careful but at least half the plate. (And of course the salad/veg has added fat)

We'll see on Monday if I've lost any weight.

*other brands are available (probably)

18pagesfrontandback - Ooh, thank you for the double cream in greek yoghurt tip, you've just sorted breakfast for me! My sister visited a couple of months ago and helpfully threw out my old spices, and my cinnamon was tossed out. Seriously, what is wrong with out of date cinnamon??!!

If you're doing lactose free, get some lactase enzyme drops from amazon, and you can make any runny dairy lactose free. We were using Arla lactose free milk and switched to using the drops, and DS has remained symptom free.

notjustexploring I looked in the mirror and I DO have the radiance of a 22 year old. Then I put my contact lenses in

Re scales and weight fluctuation. I woke very early this morning, stepped on the scales and I was a whole 2lb down on yesterday. Went back to sleep for a couple of hours, stepped on scales again and I'd put the 2lb back on. WTF?

B - scrambled egg
L - avocado salad with St Agur cream cheese dressing
D - chicken and cauliflower alfredo (well sort of)

I weighed myself this morning - OMG - I am 10 lbs down since Monday. Must be mostly a combination of PMT weight on Monday and water loss I guess. But it feels awesome still!!!

B: Greek yoghurt with some double cream (thanks for that tip 18pagesfrontandback)
L: chicken salad (with whatever salad veg I can be bothered adding)
D: bbq at cricket - so will take some salad with me, and will just eat the burger with some cheese.

Correction, will eat the burger MEAT with some cheese....

@18pagesfrontandback you may find it's not entirely your fault your portion sizes are large! Apparently the size of the average dinner plate has been increasing over the years:

There are a few different size and different shapes available but normal size of the dinner plates is 10–12 inches…..The average dinner plate we commonly use today measures 11 or 12 inches across. A few decades ago plates measured 7 to 9 inches. In Europe, the average plate measures 9 inches while some American restaurants use plates that are around 13 inches in diameter.

This from an answer on Quora.com

I also know, though, that manufacturers give artificially low serving sizes on their packs - take cereal, for example (not that any of us are eating cereal any more!). They talk about a serving size being 30g. If you've ever tried weighing that, you'll see it's a miserably small portion! But no doubt that keeps the calorie/fat/carbs count sufficiently low for them.

biwi

Luckily they’re going for Nando’s (I work in a very young organisation)

Any top tips? Was thinking plain chicken a coleslaw