Jan ’20 – Week 1 Low Carb Bootcamp – Here we go!

[StuntNun]

Welcome to the January 2020 Low Carb Bootcamp. I know some of you have already started eating low carb so please share your good experiences to give the rest of us some inspiration as we begin our weight loss journey.

Make sure you’ve read the ten Low Carb Bootcamp rules. There are some shopping list and meal plan suggestions on the preparation thread.

If you need recipe inspirations then there we have hundreds on the meat recipes thread, the poultry recipes thread, and the vegetarian recipes thread. Note that vegetarians may include small quantities of legumes, nuts and Quorn right from the start to make sure they’re getting enough protein. There is also thread of low carb products people have found in the shops.

We weigh in every Monday so add your starting weight to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness. If you’re on a mobile or tablet and can’t get the spreadsheet to work then please post your entry on this thread and someone will add it for you. Some people choose to record their starting weight as 100 if they don’t want to share their actual weight. I also urge you to make a note of your waist measurement as sometimes we can lose inches without losing pounds on this way of eating. Some people like to have a goal pair of jeans or a dress that they can try on throughout Bootcamp so see how the fit improves over time. Others like to take ‘before’ photos that they can use for comparison later on.

If you have any questions or concerns then please do ask. Bootcamp has been running for nearly ten years so we have lots of expertise to share with you.

@venusandmars

Gorgeous! 😍

I’m feeling fraudulent. I have not bootcamped this week as I have been a bit ill. Some sort of cough till you are sick thing. Or sick until you cough. I am living off nibbles of dry toast when able and water and therefore any loss will be a lie. And of course toast isn’t allowed and I couldn’t look at three meals if you stapled them to my eyes.

I think I am turning a corner though and should be able to enlist properly on Sunday or Monday.

Sorry. .

B buttery poached eggs on rocket
L accidental pub trip thanks to a site visit but fared ok with chicken escalope with cheese bacon and an egg on top, chips declined and replaced with salad 😇. Miffed as the chicken was lightly crumbed though which wasn’t mentioned, doubly not great as I’m gluten intolerant but had no time to return and get something else, minor glitch only I hope
D other half nailed it with turkey thigh mince (higher fat) in cream cumin and lemon sauce on courgettes and broccoli. He’s learning fast, hooray, and it was bloody lovely! Just added a bit of pasta to the same for the kids.
No snacks or major disasters despite my colleagues snarfing chocs and crisps by my side all day, but they did stop offering when I explained why I was refusing bless them

Oh no, sorry that was long!

ADDING TO THE SPREADSHEET OF FABULOUSNESS

For people who want an add please flag @AthelstaneTheUnready . Don't assume the volunteers will read ALL of every single post.

Reading about people not being hungry and skipping meals. I'm really afraid to do that. I get really weak and over-hungry quite quickly. But I am struggling to finish meals, which is unheard of for me.

B: green omelette with feta. Creamy coffee.
L: Creamy chicken with salad.
D: HM stock with cream (salt added).
Snack: pork scratchings.

Evening all.

Have been absolutely been climbing the walls for sugar today!!!

Licking the spoon of baked bean sauce (for family members lunch) could not have helped.

Feeling far too full up after breakfast/lunch so will keep same recipes but reduce portions. Had to do a mad dash to supermarket for pork scratchings to try and do a stand-in for the mad sugar cravings (do not normally have a sweet tooth).

A few pounds (lbs) down from Monday already however.

Teapot That's great news re: the PCOS.

On the run late breakfast: M&S chicken pakoras with truffle mayonnaise and dijon mustard.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs made with double cream and butter. Parmesan cheese. Slice of salami. Shallots fried in butter (for sweet craving). Mixed mushrooms fried in butter.

Dinner: Two home cooked lamb ribs roasted in coconut oil and spice/herb mix.

Snacks: Pork scratchings.

Water: 4l ish

The bastard is a 6"1 ectomorph who can pretty much eat and drink anything he likes and drops a stone every time I try low carb

I’m married to one of those, Cheddar. It’s now catching up to him in his early 50s and I just think HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Which isn’t a mature reaction, but never mind.

I cannot get rid of this cough. i am grumpy. I need water, and sleep. That is all.

Oh wait—catching up with this thread has made me smile and smile. Y’all are a humorous bunch.

I’m awake too @ShagMeRiggins
Got earache and a wheezy cough , so am watching tv with a herb tea , 2 paracetamol and a couple of puffs of my blue inhaler
I know how to live the high life

I'm awake since 3! I'm flying today (without DH who usually manages everything) so a bit anxious.
Time to move. G'day all. KOKO.

teapot I used to do the spreadsheet and I've got the spreadsheets from 2014 until athelstane took over.

If I've got time I'll look at them and come back with some data (average weight loss etc). I did once do number of drop outs because at the beginning of January loads of people sign up but I think only about half make it to week 10.

Stay strong Silver and the sugar cravings will pass. When I first joined Bootcamp I had some kind of crisis in the cereal aisle in the supermarket when my brain told me that I was literally surrounded by sugar! I was never even much of a fan of cereal but I was suddenly desperate for some. Now I happily sit right next to a plate of biscuits or cakes at meetings and I'm not even tempted, it's as if they aren't actually food any more. Also once your taste buds get used to no sugar then most sweet foods become sickly sweet.

There's no need to skip meals if you don't want to Summery especially this early on. What often happens is that you'll miss a meal without realising - you look at the clock and lunchtime was two hours ago. It's good to recognise the change in your hunger sensations, it becomes more of an "I could eat" feeling than a terrible gnawing ache that must be immediately satisfied.

Teapot there's plenty of evidence and studies out there for low carb diets but there's little effect on the medical establishments worldwide. Dr David Unwin and Dr Aseem Malhotra have both been shouting about it in the UK. You've got Professor Tim Noakes in South Africa, Dr Robert Lustig in America, Dr Jason Fung in Canada, Dr Andreas Eenfeldt in Sweden, etc. all crying from the rooftops about low carb diets and there's no turning the juggernaut now. How can the establishment admit that saturated fat is actually good for you not bad for you and it doesn't make your fat, "heart-healthy" polyunsaturated fat is inflammatory and bad for you, high cholesterol levels don't need to be treated with statins, blood pressure is reduced more effectively by dietary changes than drugs, type 2 diabetes can be reversed by diet, dietary cholesterol isn't bad for you, eating meat isn't really going to give you cancer, you don't need five fruit and veg a day, whole grains are worse for your healthy than white bread and pasta, dairy isn't actually a health food, you can eat as many eggs as you want...? We have got things so wrong I don't know how we can ever get it right. And all the while people are desperately trying to follow the healthy eating advice and getting fatter because of it.

I'm a dropout from May '19 BC. Still I did 8ish weeks and lost 10lbs, which stayed off so I consider it a great success. I'm so thankful to @BIWI & co.
I find this system very doable (as diets go).

@SayrraT it has to be one of the largest and longest data sets available for LCHF, from what I’ve read, LCHF hasn’t been widely studied in the UK at all. Especially since it’s in real world conditions too, so shows the effectiveness of this WOE on a country that still has high carb as the conventional wisdom.

Cross post @StuntNun. Thanks, I'm confident in 'the rules'. I worried about the cream & eggs & meat before - and what seemed like large portions. I'm cruising this time, not analysing or worrying. I'm already enjoying satiety, and not fluctuating between 'Oh, I've eaten too much' and 'Gosh, I'm so hungry '.

Great post StuntNun. I have wobbles about lentils and brown rice and think, but, but, but - these are good for us! I know I'll have them again one day, is all!

Quick hop on the scales - four pounds off!

WFH today so need to get on the water.

Today's food:

BF: Mushroom omelette
L: Cheese and avocado salad
D: Roast cod with olives, parmesan crust and tender stem broccoli.

summery I'm a drop out too from several bootcamp. I don't know why. Probably the availability of carby foods etc then have a bad/busy week, someone else makes you a carby dinner/you grab chips etc.

I kept weight off for a while, but started this year really badly. My work is much more intense than previous jobs I've done and I work random hours (and lots of them). That's does make it harder for me but I just need to be organised!

Forgot to post meal plan!

B: two fried eggs (laid yesterday - not by teapot though ), coffee with cream
L: parmasean crusted pork chop, green beans and sautéed leeks, cucumber with some wee cheese cubes
S: pork scratchings, FF yogurt (if required)
D: tbc

Well, I weighed this morning convinced that my 6lb loss over the 2 days I didn’t eat much would have come back since I ate well yesterday, but nope another 0.4lbs off since yesterday so I’ve stabilised, but still headed in the right direction.

I’m 0.2lb (a large poo) off having lost 1st in 2 weeks. It’s totally and completely insane. It’s like my body has suddenly gone ‘HUZZAH! Yes, THIS is what you should be eating! Give me ALL THE FAT AND NONE OF THE STODGE PLEASE!’ I can’t tell you how well I feel. Couple of changes:

I laid an egg on schedule

I used to have a phlegmy cough every morning and after I ate anything. It’s completely gone.

I’m thinking a lot clearer, getting more done at work

I’m not exhausted by 4pm

Me and my 20st (Well, 19st now ) body actually RAN to catch a train yesterday, and I didn’t have to call an ambulance

My walk across town to the office is taking 4 minutes less than usual

My chin hair has reduced loads (kind of miss my beard)

My skin is clearer, less oily

I cannot stress enough, this is 2 WEEKS in. Not 2 months or years, WEEKS. W-E-E-K-S.

WTF.

@StuntNun I also have moments when I look at a plate of biscuits and think "ugh, refined sugar, hydrogenated fats, other processed crap" but more often I just dive in without a care in the world

What I'd like most from LCBC is freedom from my sugar addiction. To be able to choose whether to have a sugary something rather than feel compelled to do so. I've definitely made progress over the last few years but it's still a powerful thing.

Part of my problem is that I don't really have any other food cravings/loves. I don't crave bread or cheese or fizzy drinks or anything else really. I'm mostly uninterested in food apart from sugary crap!

@Teapotdespot so so happy for you

@ShagMeRiggings sadly DH is well past his 50s and still a rake some people just win the genetic lottery when it comes to slimness and I just tell myself that it's pointless to compare myself to them.

Teapot that's amazing! Waving my pom poms on your behalf!

Teapot ❤

It is amazing!!! The most ridiculously amazing thing is I haven’t felt hungry once, AND I’ve eaten so much cream, butter and cheese it almost makes economic sense to buy a cow

Meals today:

B: creamy coffee
L: left over chilli, cauli rice, cheese and home made Guacamole
D: not sure yet, might order a kebab since it’s Friday after a hard week for both DH and I, he will probably want a takeaway. It will be Halloumi, chicken, salad and lots of mayo (obviously without the bread!) for me.

DH has been great actually. He’s 23st so is dieting too but isn’t quite sold on LCHF (his mum ingrained slimming world into him from a young age), however in the evening he’s eating what I eat and started off adding a portion of carb to the meals, but seems to have stopped doing that because it was more hassle than it was worth apparently and he doesn’t miss it. He’s lost 7lbs in 2 weeks too.

I'm sold 9n this, 5lb off since Monday. My colleague at work also started his diet on Monday but following low calorie. He just cannot get his head round what I'm eating every day. Pork Scratchings were the final straw!