April Leaving Lockdown Low Carb Bootcamp - week 1

[BIWI]

Welcome everyone!

Here, as ever, is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness created and lovingly managed by the wonderful @AthelstaneTheUnready

Hopefully you should find that you're already on the spreadsheet - but if not, just add your name to the bottom of the list. Don't try to insert it in the right alphabetical place - Athelstane will do that for you. And don't touch the blue cells or try to enter any other data or comments!

For those that are new, each week I'll start a new chat thread, on Monday, and we'll start off with recording our weight.

However

You don't have to use your weight to measure your progress - and you don't have to be on the spreadsheet if you don't want to be. Instead, take your measurements each week (bust/upper arms/waist/hips/thighs), or find an item of clothing that's just too tight/small right now, and keep trying it on each week.

The rules of Bootcamp are on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet - but here's a quick summary of the rules for the first two weeks:

1. Eat three meals a day
2. Avoid processed foods
3. Eat lots of fat
4. Make sure you're eating vegetables and salad with your food
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/artificial sweeteners

Make sure you have a really good read of the spreadsheet for the full detail of the rules. Also, check out the tabs at the bottom - there's a huge amount of information that will really help you, especially if you're new to low carbing/Bootcamp.

There's also a thread here of FAQs which should be helpful.

Some thread etiquette

The thread will move really quickly - especially at the beginning.

But please take the time to read everyone's posts, rather than just plopping on with your own comments/thoughts/questions. It's very frustrating when someone comes on to the thread to ask a question that's been posed and answered already!

Don't lurk!

I know that not everyone is confident about posting - and also that there are a lot of posters who are regular Bootcampers, and who know other Bootcampers. Please don't think this is a cliquey thread. It couldn't be further from the truth!

Everyone's views and experiences are welcome and valid, so jump in and post.

Any questions, please just post. Or PM me. There's always someone here who can help - and if I or they can't, then we can always find someone who can!

Above all, very good luck to everyone.

I very much hope that by the time we come to the end of these ten weeks, that we really are (as a country) completely ready to leave Lockdown well behind.

Wishing everyone all the luck

"Do you know how I am"  And did they?! Bloody well should! 

Can't chug pints of water?! Bloody hell. Something else on my to-do list 

@VeryLittleOwl are you the farmer/shepherd I spotted on the last thread? (Which I was mostly skimming. So sorry). I was thinking of you at 2am last night when I was sheep wrestling. I've only got a dozen breeding ewes. But it's lonely out there in the yard in the middle of the night which made me ponder who else was up doing the same thing

PS. My DH grows acres of celariac! How jealous are folks now

Do you have a direct mail service @BrassicaBabe?!

The last couple of weeks, when my Sainsbury shop has been delivered, I've been convinced that there's an evil anti low carb person who picks my shopping, as both times I've had the world's smallest celeriac sent. Honestly, not much bigger than a softball.

Definitely the downside of online shopping!

Anyway, here's my latest celeriac recipe, which I really enjoyed:

Celeriac with chorizo

1 celeriac (normal sized, not a pathetic miniature one!)
2 echalion shallots
100g chorizo
butter/olive oil
s+p

• peel the celeriac and then chop into smallish chunks - about 1.5cm square
• peel, halve and slice the shallots
• peel the papery outside from the chorizo (if you're using the sausage type), and cut into small chunks

• boil the celeriac in salted water till nicely soft - around 15 minutes, depending on the size of your chunks; when you pierce the chunks with the tip of a small knife you don't want to feel any resistance - so it should be soft enough as if you were going to mash it

• drain in a colander/sieve, and leave to steam dry for a few minutes

• while it's drying, melt a good knob of butter in a large frying pan and add some olive oil to this (this stops the butter from burning)

• gently sauté the shallots and chorizo until the fat starts to render from the sausage and the shallots are softened, then tip the celeriac in to the pan, stir so it takes on the lovely, orangey juices and then season to taste with salt and pepper; the celeriac should be soft enough that when you stir it together, it starts to disintegrate a little

So could I experiment with my Green & Blacks 70% cocoa powder, water and some double cream?

Once I'm through the ultra strict first two weeks of bootcamp I enjoy cocoa made by melting a square of 90% Lindt chocolate in some water then add a spoonful of double creme. It takes a couple of goes to get the right combination but it is v v comforting and I think on plan.

The whole bar is 14g carbs, and breaks into 10 squares.

After a meal, the square melted in a double espresso is bliss

Once.I'm.through.the.first.two.weeks

Morning all

I am drinking 3 litres of water but still have a headache but I have stayed off the coffee which is probably half the issue. I thought I would really miss it but it hasn't bothered me. I only have a couple of cups a day so not a huge issue.
The snacking is at its worse for me about 3 or 4 so I have made up a pot of tuna and lemon mayo to snack on with a lettuce leaf disguised as a scoop .

Made the butter chicken last night and it was yummy. I added a ton of spinach to it which worked well.

Swallowing the mountains of supplements that I foolishly bought is probably the worst bit but I don't want to waste the money so I am going to perservere.

@Timetobuckup when I first started low carbing I didn't get the dreaded carb flu that others talked about. But when I gave up caffein - my goodness! That was terrible. So I reckon if you've given up both you might really be suffering.

If it's from the carbs, make sure you're getting the electrolytes. I hesitate to recommend any more supplements but do make sure that you're using plenty of salt.

If it's from the caffeine, honestly I'd just have one cup of coffee to see if that takes the edge of the headache.

The need to snack in the afternoon should go away - but if you still find yourself hungry, it suggests that you're either not eating enough at lunchtime and/or you're not eating enough fat.

in my communication with MNHQ I was in danger of sounding like do you not know who I am?

😆.

We certainly know because I'm worth it.

@Random789 “ know I could choose herbal teas but I am much better at buying them than I am at drinking them.” this made me laugh, I have a cupboard full of herbal teas - I love the idea and the smell, but don’t really like the taste.

@Jellycatspyjamas that fritter meal sounds excellent, I’ve screenshot it to put on next weeks plan!

Can I join the beige-food-eating-toddlers club? I vary between attempting to tempt him with all sorts of heathy and yummy things, and just keeping chicken nuggets in the freezer to be available for every meal...

I put a tin of mackerel fillets in oil on my Tesco order. Not quite sure why... any recommendations on how to eat them?

@prettybird - understood!

I do find that LC really curbs my appetite, but I promise I'm eating good, hefty portions. My tofu strirfry uses the whole block of tofu and the whole pack of tenderstem brocolli + a massive courgette (yay for courgettes, right @ouchmyfeet?).

Thanks @BIWI - I shall knock the last pint of the evening on the head then, which will help considerably with the waking up at 5am bursting issue!

@BrassicaBabe - yes, that's me! I've only got 14, possibly 15 (either empty or late, scanner wasn't sure) to lamb of my own and the first one isn't due until Tuesday, but my friend half a mile away has 800 to get through and is just starting now, so I'll be helping out there once she gets busy and dashing back home every couple of hours to check on mine on the days when DH isn't working from home. I am not looking forward to the 2am alarms restarting, but the tup was only in for four weeks - unlike the year I bought 21 in-lamb gimmers from a neighbour who was retiring from having sheep at 82 and ended up lambing from the 2nd week of April to the 3rd week of June!

(PS: Deeply envious of your access to a celeriac field!!)

@BIWI I really don't think I could swallow another pill

I have an assignment due in and I am really behind on it so I am going to have a coffee and see if it goes away as at the moment trying to study is impossible. Fingers crossed it is that.

The beige eating toddlers club is a nightmare, annoyingly I still have a beige eating teen which is really irritating. I have one who will eat mostly anything and one who has the stubbornness of Thatcher when it comes to trying anything new.

Sorry, got distracted there by this thread which appears to be a particularly entertaining one, or maybe I have missed you more than I realised.

Want to fess up in public that my weakness comes less from hunger or even any food temptation: it has a lot to do with boredom. Eating had pretty much been my entertainment for, well, quite some time.

My plan is to eat well for my meals throughout bootcamp and then make sure I tackle the many, many chores and projects I have about me rather than numbing out with food.

Shall keep you posted with my progress. Usually if I fall off the wagon, I just go quite here. Shall keep posting and not lurking regardless. That will probably be enough to keep me away from the sweets and ice creme. Thank you lovely people.

On lunchbox chat - I heartily recommend a yumbox. They have multiple compartments with silicon seals, so they’re brilliant for a “picky” type of meal. They also do a different tray which has one large bit and two small, good for a big salad etc. They don’t claim to be waterproof, but you can put yoghurt, salad dressings, etc, in without leaking from one side to the other.

Also Sho do a vacuum sealed food flask, which is great for taking hot food to work. Have a look for a discount code if you’re buying - I got 50% off for NHS DH’s one.

Right, I feel like those answers are a little ... aggressive?

I'm absolutely worth it, thanks. I cook all the time from scratch and normally have between 5-10 portions fresh veg/fruit daily. I'm also coeliac which means I often cook separately or add bits in or out. Making a harsh judgment on one piece of information, which originally came from me simply posting what I ate and getting it picked apart, is not particularly encouraging.

I felt like I was entirely worth having bits and pieces of lovely low carb food that I chose because I wanted a picky tea and that I highly enjoyed last night while making a quick fresh dinner from scratch for my family. I'm sorry, is this against the ethos of the thread somehow?

I'm also a grown woman who joined a thread to have some support and camaraderie, not to get into debates about my self worth based on one post about food that as far as I'm concerned, was most enjoyable, was fresh and entirely fulfilled the principle of low carb high fat.

1stMrsF Thank you. I'm sorry about your dd. I'm worried about mine too as she's started pulling her hair out

Woah! Not meant to be aggressive at all!

First, you hadn't said anything about being coeliac, which clearly changes the nature of things.

Second, it's about concern that you seemed to be placing other people's needs beyond/above your own

... and third, but most of all, it's about wanting to make sure that you're eating well and properly. From what you'd posted, and the way you'd posted, it sounded like you were making your needs very secondary - even tertiary.

I'm sorry if you've taken offence, which clearly you have, but it's not the intention at all.

My student son asked me at the weekend what the ratio was for water and frozen peas to cook them. I answered saying it wasn't important as long as the peas were well covered but what had happened to the bag of frozen peas I'd bought for him in Freshers Week

He's coming to the end of Junior Honours (3rd year)

I shouldn't complain though as he pointed out . as he's now cooking himself a roast chicken using the old Habitat chicken brick I got him for Christmas (managed to find one on eBay) and then eating that for the rest of the week

@Thinnerlikeachickendinner

Tbh I think your comment is quite aggressive, actually. Understandable, I suppose, if you really did feel got at or picked apart, which I know wasn’t the intention of anyone who commented.

Imagine a tone of concern/encouragement, and read those comments again to see if perhaps you didn’t misinterpret.

We’re not to know that you’re celiac and that’s why you have to cook separate meals sometimes...we’re also not to know that your picky dinner (which is fine btw, nothing bad about that!) wasn’t an indication that you’re in a diet/deprivation/eat very little mindset, as many people are when they start bootcamp. We’re also not to know that you don’t suffer with the ‘I’m last in line after everyone else’s needs’ mentality that so many women do, in fact, struggle with. Especially since you did say you couldn’t be bothered to cook something just for yourself. We can only go by what you actually say!

This group is extremely supportive, extremely kind and extremely helpful. But we do also have a big stick, as mentioned, which is employed where needed, and also an ethos of properly examining and challenging our own and others’ approaches and choices. It’s not aggression, though.

No one will have intentionally been aggressive to you. Apologies if anything I said made you feel got at.

I haven't taken offence in the slightest, I just think that jumping from my perfectly inoffensive low carb food to whether or not I have self worth issues, or as we go on, possibly place my own needs tertiary (???? tenuous?) is a bit crazy, and if you want people to delurk and join in, perhaps going in a bit more gently is more appropriate!

I'm very grateful to all the wonderful advice on this thread and the amount of work, which is huge, done by the organisers. My first instinct was to relurk, but instead I think robust discussion is probably better.

@Thinnerlikeachickendinner

Right, I feel like those answers are a little ... aggressive?

I'm absolutely worth it, thanks. I cook all the time from scratch and normally have between 5-10 portions fresh veg/fruit daily. I'm also coeliac which means I often cook separately or add bits in or out. Making a harsh judgment on one piece of information, which originally came from me simply posting what I ate and getting it picked apart, is not particularly encouraging.

I felt like I was entirely worth having bits and pieces of lovely low carb food that I chose because I wanted a picky tea and that I highly enjoyed last night while making a quick fresh dinner from scratch for my family. I'm sorry, is this against the ethos of the thread somehow?

I'm also a grown woman who joined a thread to have some support and camaraderie, not to get into debates about my self worth based on one post about food that as far as I'm concerned, was most enjoyable, was fresh and entirely fulfilled the principle of low carb high fat.

Just shows how easy it is to misinterpret someone on a screen! When you said you were making separate meals for DH/DC and because of that you couldn't be bothered to do anything for you, I also thought you were shunting yourself down the pecking order.

Some people (including me) have dropped off previous bootcamps because they're not eating enough, so the advice (particularly in the first two weeks) is kindly meant.

Sorry you feel like that @Thinnerlikeachickendinner I think that particulalry at the start of a new bootcamp it is difficult to tell what someone's approach is, so there are often comments along the lines of "where are your vegetables?" "where's the fat?" what about breakfast". I think they are all meant kindly to help people get off to the right start, and to do so in a way which makes this way of eating sustainable for complex family lives. However, with so many posts in the first couple of weeks (and other things to to) I know I sometimes make quick posts (such as the examples above) which come across as harsh.

[quote Ninkanink]@Thinnerlikeachickendinner

Tbh I think your comment is quite aggressive, actually. Understandable, I suppose, if you really did feel got at or picked apart, which I know wasn’t the intention of anyone who commented.

Imagine a tone of concern/encouragement, and read those comments again to see if perhaps you didn’t misinterpret.

We’re not to know that you’re celiac and that’s why you have to cook separate meals sometimes...we’re also not to know that your picky dinner (which is fine btw, nothing bad about that!) wasn’t an indication that you’re in a diet/deprivation/eat very little mindset, as many people are when they start bootcamp. We’re also not to know that you don’t suffer with the ‘I’m last in line after everyone else’s needs’ mentality that so many women do, in fact, struggle with. Especially since you did say you couldn’t be bothered to cook something just for yourself. We can only go by what you actually say!

This group is extremely supportive, extremely kind and extremely helpful. But we do also have a big stick, as mentioned, which is employed where needed, and also an ethos of properly examining and challenging our own and others’ approaches and choices. It’s not aggression, though.

No one will have intentionally been aggressive to you. Apologies if anything I said made you feel got at. [/quote]
Thanks for your input.

You're absolutely right that you did not know those things, because I did not share them. Initially I just shared what I'd eaten.

I think that the concerns that you raise, such as whether people have eating issues, whether people are in food deprivation mode, or last in line mode, are all quite big issues, and that therefore stealing in where angels fear to tread might be even more appropriate, not less?

I don't think that I was aggressive, but if it's to be a robust thread on an open feeling, then I think it's okay to defend yourself when someone questions whether you have self-worth on the original basis of one post where I was perfectly happy. Or should everyone just bend the head to the big stick?

@Thinnerlikeachickendinner in a way your comment has made me feel all happy and nostalgic - feels more like bootcamps of yore! 😄

Robust discussion is always the better option!👍

I am really very grateful for all the huge resource of knowledge on this thread! Thank you to all the founders/ organisers etc who put so much work into supporting everyone.

@mistywillow17 the best thing about cooking chicken in the slow cooker and NOT having crispy skin, it that you can take it off and crisp it separately in the oven best snack ever

@ListenLinda for lunches, I also bought some individual sachets of mayonnaise, which I could add at the time. I tend to always have a couple in my handbag so that if I'm eating a salad when I'm out I can miss the sugary dressings and add my own mayo.

@FinallyHere Oh those 90% Lindt ideas sound lovely. I'm now counting down the days till it's allowed

@colouringindoors I think that G&B cocoa has 11g carb per portion (of which 9+g is sugar). So go carefully with it.

@BIWI that celeriac and chorizo recipe sounds lovely. I make a tray bake with chorizo, shallot and butternut, but the celeriac would be much better. Or cauliflower.

@Timetobuckup I also really struggle with caffeine withdrawal headaches (and I only have one mug a day). I now have a tiny, dainty coffee cup, so very minimal, but it does the trick.