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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.

October 2019 Low Carb Bootcamp - getting ready!

80 replies

BIWI · 07/10/2019 18:51

First things first - the rules! There are only 10 rules, but it's important that you follow them properly. And all of them ... Grin

Print them out so you have them to hand; this will really help you till you get into the swing of things:

1. Eat three proper meals a day
In the first two weeks of Bootcamp 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 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 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 olive or coconut oil or lard or butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made oily 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 plenty of vegetables and salad
This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable. But choose only those vegetables that are under 4g carbs per 100g - there will be a list of vegetable carb counts on the spreadsheet. If you focus on eating those vegetables that are 4g carb per 100g or less, 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. (There's also a handy carb counter on the spreadsheet that will calculate the carbs for you)

5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited)
Dairy can impede weight loss for some people. If you are 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 the first two weeks of 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
They make a great snack, but it’s also very easy to eat large quantities of them very quickly, so you can consume way too many carbs this way. (It should also go without saying that we don't eat any crisps or other salty snacks on Bootcamp!)

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:
AthelstaneTheUnready · 14/10/2019 09:33

Morning, all.

Think I need pictures too. Have put some weight on due to stopping smoking, and being ill in bed eating chocolate. Still thought I wasn't too bad until I went into the M&S changing rooms...

Christ.

Someone has swapped me for a very short, very fat, old lady.

And this is why I don't have mirrors in the house Grin.

Glenthebattleostrich · 14/10/2019 09:38

Horrible night's sleep last night, so tired so it wasnt easy not just diving head first into a vat of tea and toast.

Bit I've done my measurements, weighed myself, done a horrible selfie,, drunk 1.5 litres of water and some (gorgeous) scrambled eggs with cream and butter.

BIWI · 14/10/2019 09:40

Morning all. Sorry for the very late posting of the week 1 thread - I know you're all chomping at the bit to confess all Grin

This being (mostly) retired lark has a really key advantage, in that I don't have to set my alarm. Except I did last night, because I knew I had to start the new thread. Except I forgot why this morning and turned it off and went straight back to sleep. Blush

Anyway, here's the thread

And I was so panicked when I woke up I completely forgot that I had to weigh as well

OP posts:
Nonononon · 14/10/2019 09:45

Well.. weighed myself and I'm more than I thought but in the same ball park.. 12st 9lbs! 😱 I want to get down to 11st as that's my happy weight and it's easy to maintain (when I get there 😳) and I don't lose all my boobs..

For breakfast I've had some mushrooms and asparagus cooked in butter with a two egg omelette (also cooked in butter with a little bit of cheese on top) ive had a coffee with almond milk too.

L: will be more of (and the last of) my chicken and veg soup with another coffee.

D: plan on doing a bolagnaise (sp?) And having loads of kale (cooked in butter..) on the side.

For snacks I've got celery. And let's not forget WATER!

I'll take pictures and measurements later!

Eeek excited! Grin

Nonononon · 14/10/2019 09:47

Ah so we use another thead for this now! Damn it 🤣
Tis ok I'll cut and paste 😏😎

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