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

@Random789 James Grieve is the Apple
My DF was a keen botanist and we have lots of trees , most of which I don’t know. But a few stick in my mind

Oh my gosh, this is peak chat-forum loveliness: i make some random remarks about apples and cider vinegar and discover I'm talking to the granddaughter of an apple hero, and someone who makes her own cider vinegar! How wonderful.

My mum's family is from Somerset and Wiltshire, and I think that helped me to love apples. Cox's orange pippins are a lifelong favourite, as well as russets.

[quote Doilooklikeatourist]@AthelstaneTheUnready I thought everything was improved by adding cheddar ?
@nowlook , I like in Wales , pop in
@BIWI son at home you say , would he like to meet my daughter ( 23 , arts graduate , Covid cut short gap year so back with us and bored to tears ) not really though , she’d kill me[/quote]
Well, he's gay ...

@Random789 this thread is so lovely isn't it! I think that this woe really suits people who love food, and it is so different from the deprivation vibe on most weight loss threads.
@Jellycatspyjamas second the apple butter. Also sometimes i use it to make a sweet chili dipping sauce by mixing tbsp of apple jelly, chilli, garlic and vinager.

That's a good point, @jellycatspyjamas, about pasta and other carbie foods cutting through and balancing the richness -- almost cleansing the meal. I need to find other things that will do that. Perhaps later in the boot camp it will be possible to use the slightly carbier vegetables to do that a bit? Parsnip and carrot, mashed? I love mashed swede, and I'm hearing on this thread about mashed celeriac, which I've never tried

@Bestbees how do you make the cider vinegar ( we’ve loads of apples , and last year most rotted on the ground as there’s only so much crumble you can eat ....)
I have googled ( and could easily spend hours reading blogs , but I need to do some house work today )
@BIWI 😀

I understand the feeling of being tired of greasiness - it seems worse with some foods than others. I seem to be scaling back on adding butter to things for this reason.

On the other hand, after a very mild headache on the second day, I haven't had carb flu or any really desperate hunger pangs, which, me being a natural worrier, has led me to panic that I'm not doing it right! I'm having cheese and cream every day, is that OK for this stage of the BC?

@Doilooklikeatourist this is the one I have used:

www.thespruceeats.com/apple-scrap-vinegar-1327756

@Angliski I remember that feeling! You can conquer the world today!

@Random789 swede and celeriac are lovely vegetables that I hardly ate before BC - they are particularly good with cream and butter!

Thank you all your kind words and solidarity yesterday. I feel very thankful for this thread, which I always find so supportive. Feeling a bit more positive today - the sun is shining and we (me and DC) are meeting friends at Wakehurst (Kew Gardens in Sussex) so we will get outdoor time.

Yesterday ate scraps from the fridge:
L ham/courgette/feta frittata, cucumber, pate and a slice of cheese (BC discovery that eating pate on slices of cucumber or pieces of sliced cheese like Jarlesburg or Maasdam is really good)
D - venison stew with green beans (my frozen veg staple - the Picard frozen range is excellent)
I managed all the water by using my WaterLogged app

Today
L - smoked salmon, egg, avocado, spinach (this is a brilliant BC meal that helps with carb flu)
D - hm moussaka is which I make a bit like the IPD one but my topping is egg, feta and yoghurt. I may add to the recipe thread later as I make this a lot and find it an easy weeknight meal. Plus whatever green veg arrives in the shop - can't remember!

@Covid10lbs

Myketo.ie are a great find. I'm assuming they're not allowed in BC, but we have a supply of them in the freezer & I would really recommend.

Just remember, though, that one of the aims of Bootcamp is to break the hold that sweet stuff has over us!

@Random789 just followed your recommendation for apple cider vinegar in water - very refreshing!

@Bestbees I agree with the loveliness of being able to come here and spend all day talking about food and sharing recipes. And although it all sounds delicious and makes me want to try things, because what I'm actually eating is so satiating I don't feel hungry while I'm reading the threads - interested and stimulated, but not chew-my-arm-off hungry. I'd been doing low carb on my own before finding BC a couple of years ago. On my own I felt guilty (about all the fat) and uncertain (about all the fat) and a bit weird because no-one else I knew ate like this. Finding BC was like finding my tribe. Plus it gave me the confidence to tell other people what I was doing (and now I've got a couple of real life friends who also eat this way, and we are real food bores!) and the courage to stick to this woe if I'm out.

Food today:
B - avocado on rye bread (4g carb)
L - shallot, broccoli and cheese omelette
D - thai prawn larb salad - but it's a bit low in fat, so I'll maybe have some yoghurt and cream mixed as a 'pudding'

@Random789

I felt very exhausted last night - this morning too. And a bit short of breath, and I think my heart rate is a bit rapid
I'm wondering if this is to do with the low-carb/high-fat eating

Yes, this can be a side effect of low carb - you could be taking your carbs too low. Try having a slice of wholemeal toast and see if that helps.

It also means that you need to make sure you're getting your electrolytes - sodium, magnesium and potassium. Sodium is the key one - so make sure you're cooking with salt and adding it to your food.

For the others, good food sources are salmon, avocado, spinach and full fat natural yoghurt. You could also try a supplement, like Zero by High5

Once you're fat-adapted it should resolve itself, but keep an eye on the carbs and make sure you don't go too low.

(And obviously, if it persists, something to see the GP about!)

@JimmyJabs

On the other hand, after a very mild headache on the second day, I haven't had carb flu or any really desperate hunger pangs, which, me being a natural worrier, has led me to panic that I'm not doing it right! I'm having cheese and cream every day, is that OK for this stage of the BC?

I never had carb flu either, so don't worry about that! Caffeine withdrawal, on the other hand, was horrendous!

Cheese and cream every day might be OK, might not be - you'll just have to 'suck it and see'! If there's no or not much weight loss by the end of the week, then maybe cut back on one/both?

@1stMrsF and @Random789 swede and celeriac also make great 'chips'. They won't go as crispy as if you were using potatoes, but they are lovely.

Peel, and cut the veg into chip shapes (not too chunky) and then put them on a baking tray and drizzle generously with olive oil; season with sea salt and black pepper and then roast for around 40 minutes, turning them over half way through.

I’m in Kent so we have lots of lovely apples and fruit growing, I’ve got an apple tree in my garden too. Apples are the only fruit ds1 will eat (after lots of perseverance and dd eats 3-4 a day). I have a deal with a local farmer and I trade banana bread for huge bags of lovely apples from his farm (he loves my banana bread and hates apples

Had a super stressful day with work yesterday and having the dc off whilst trying to fix it was really hard. It got to 7pm and I’d still not started my dinner and I was tempted to just have some biscuits. But I bunged some sausages and veg in the oven and had with Mayo and mustard.

Taking the kids to the park again for a picnic lunch and I’m not sure what I’ll have. Boiled eggs, ham and salad maybe. Got nothing in for dinner, might do chicken in a cream and mushroom sauce - does anyone know if I can use sour cream instead of double cream? I’ve got a tub open that needs using up.

In better news I had my first BC poo(sorry if you are eating breakfast) this morning and then weighed myself and I’ve lost 4lb already! Hurrah!

If you're making celeriac "chips", make loads more than you think that you need as a) they shrink and b) your dh might want to eat too many of them rather than leave them for you or is that just my dh?

@MrsKoala I use cream, creme fraiche and sour cream (or a mixture), depending what's in the fridge, pretty interchangeably for cooking and all seem to work fine. Chicken with mushroom sauce sounds yummy!

Very jealous of your outing to Wakehurst today @1stMrsF , looks like the weather is on your side as well.

I am going out tonight for a friends birthday which is going to be a tricky one. I really don't want to tell them I am trying to lose weight (so many boring conversations will follow and I have failed so many times I just don't want to talk to people about it)
However it will be a boozy one and I need a way to behave.
Any ideas gratefully received.

Is swede mash allowed in the first two weeks ? I have one waiting to be used up but I wasn't sure if that was one to be avoided at first ?

Thanks for adding me to the SSoF @AthelstaneTheUnready - popped my weight in too as DH suddenly unveiled a set of scales from the back of the wardrobe... did a sudden intake of breath when weighing myself but I know I need it to be accountable. I'm excellent at ignoring my weight. Last night I prepped some veg for the baby for weaning and cooked some chicken, eggs and sausages to add to stuff over the next few days. I feel like I have no time in the day with DS so this way I'll have something ready to go, even if I just add it cold.

B - creamy coffee, 2 boiled eggs
L - cheese and tuna mayo salad
D - 2 heck sausages, roast veg (cauli, asparagus, broccoli)
S - babybel if I need it
Water!

Morning!
B- eggs with butter and a touch of sriracha
L- broccoli soup
D- sausages and HM coleslaw with cheese

@prettybird

If you're making celeriac "chips", make loads more than you think that you need as a) they shrink and b) your dh might want to eat too many of them rather than leave them for you or is that just my dh?

DH has acquired a taste for my roasted radishes

Could anyone help me with a really daft question? How do we in-bookmark posts on here??

I've still to try roasted radishes keep meaning to but then eat them raw with Beurre d'Issigny but warning duly noted

@Timetobuckup

Very jealous of your outing to Wakehurst today *@1stMrsF* , looks like the weather is on your side as well.

I am going out tonight for a friends birthday which is going to be a tricky one. I really don't want to tell them I am trying to lose weight (so many boring conversations will follow and I have failed so many times I just don't want to talk to people about it)
However it will be a boozy one and I need a way to behave.
Any ideas gratefully received.

Is swede mash allowed in the first two weeks ? I have one waiting to be used up but I wasn't sure if that was one to be avoided at first ?

What level of deception are you comfortable with? I'm perfectly comfortable with any of the following:

• I'm still hungover from last night;

-I'm terribly poorly but have nonetheless dragged myself out because I'm such a good friend; -I've just had my jab/having my jab in the morning; -I'm donating blood in the morning; -The wine here is disgusting. Like drinking vinegar; -[random relative] is ill, so I need to be on standby to drive.

Any of those should deal with the peer pressure.

In terms of your own internal devil on the shoulder, don't say you'll just have one unless you really can just have one. I really can't just have one .

cuba libra is lovely

Headache and low mood. Low carb def has a big impact on my mood. May increase carbs v slightly to see if that helps.. but have dropped 3lb this week...

B Yeo valley greek yog (5g)

L M&S prawn cocktail, amazingly only 4.8g carb, green salad

D Chicken, mange tout, baby corn in a thai spiced creme fraiche sauce, broc/ courgette on the side.

Another mini hot choc too.