Morning all
Next week sees the start of our next Low Carb Bootcamp. This time around it will last for 8 weeks. The weeks are structured a bit differently from before, and will look like this:
Weeks 1 & 2 - strict Bootcamp
Weeks 3-6 - strict Bootcamp during the week, Bootcamp Light at weekends
Weeks 7-8 - either back to strict Bootcamp or full-on Bootcamp Light
The route you take in the last two weeks depends entirely on you - those last two weeks will be the last week of November and the first week of December, so you may want to be super strict in advance of Christmas activities - or you may feel that it's time to relax things, if you've lost enough weight.
The key to success on Bootcamp is preparation and planning ahead, so here's some stuff that might help you.
Some/many of you may have done Bootcamp before, but it's still worth reminding yourself about low carbing and the rules.
*Firstly - how do you do low carb?(
There are lots of different ways and plans! Each will have different levels of carbohydrate per day that is recommended. Keto and the first stage of Atkins (induction) are the strictest, with a maximum of 20g carbs per day.
However - on Bootcamp we don't count carbs. The idea is to make it as simple as possible to follow. So there are just ten rules which you need to follow, which should ensure that you see good weight loss, without needing to weigh or count your food.
(NB we also don’t count calories – this WOE (way of eating) is not about deprivation!)
Specifically on Bootcamp this is what we do:
First, you don't eat any:
- bread (of any kind – including pitta, naan, wraps, muffins, bagels etc, etc)
- pasta (brown or white) or noodles
- rice (ditto, brown or white)
- potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweetcorn (although baby sweetcorn is fine)
- flour/anything made with flour - so no cake, biscuits, pastry, pastries, thickened sauces, crumble toppings, batter)
- sugar (which includes honey, agave syrup, molasses)
- fruit juice
- full sugar squash/cordial and fizzy drinks
- sweets and chocolate (with the exception of the occasional piece of dark chocolate, which should be at least 70% cocoa, and only after the first two weeks of Bootcamp)
- pulses/legumes (including peas)
- artificial sweeteners
- balsamic vinegar (all other vinegars are fine - this one is sweetened, which rules it out)
For the first two weeks of Bootcamp you also don't eat any fruit, nuts or seeds, and don't drink any alcohol. If you're doing Bootcamp Light (after the first two weeks of strict Bootcamp), you can introduce some fruit - mainly berries - and some nuts/seeds, but in strict moderation. And you may have the occasional drink of alcohol (preferably restricted to clear spirits and dry wine - beer and cider, along with sweet spirits/liqueurs are to be avoided).
What can I eat, you may ask?!
- any meat or fish (but avoiding processed products as much as possible, e.g. ham, bacon, sausages, crab sticks, etc)
- most shellfish
- eggs, as many as you want
- plenty of good fats (this is a high fat diet), so butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lard
- cheese, full fat yoghurt and cream (although in moderation)
- plenty of veg and salads - this is where your carbs should mainly come from