General Low Carb Bootcamp Chat

[BIWI]

Although I generally keep a chat thread going at the end of each Bootcamp, I think it would be better to have an ongoing chat thread that isn't linked to a specific Bootcamp.

So here it is. A sparkly new thread, for all things low carb and Bootcamp chat. As well as anything else you'd like to chat about!

Feel free to chat about anything you like here.

I'm afraid that chicken burger is definitely not allowable - on two counts. Firstly it's massively processed. These are the ingredients:

Chicken Breast (47%), Rapeseed Oil, Water, Puffed Rice, Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Wheat Starch, Salt, Natural Flavourings, Maize Flour, Raising Agents (Disodium Diphosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Yeast, Barley Malt Extract

... and second because it's a huge amount of carbs - 21g - in just one burger! 18g carbs per 100g

We don't count carbs on Bootcamp - but we do avoid foods that are generally more than around 5g carbs per 100g.

For context - if you were doing the first two weeks of the Atkins diet, you'd only be allowed 20g carbs per day!

And to answer your final question, we're not cutting out all carbs - you will be getting carbs from vegetables and salad. But yes, when it comes to labelling, you're looking at the overall carb count, not just the sugars bit.

And there's no such thing as a silly question. The whole point of these threads is to inform and support - everyone is a newbie or beginner at some point. So ask away!

That pizza sounds lovely.

Placemarking!

@FitnessKeepItGoing I would say there are 2 important things - one is reducing highly processed food, and the other is making sure that most of your carbs come from healthy veg.

Your chicken burger doesn't fall into either category. The online description says this: Our chicken quarter pounders will always be made from 100% chicken breast & nothing more - great for empty plates and happy faces. Why does it say made from 100% chicken breast if it's 47% chicken breast? Made from 100% chicken breast means we use only chicken breast meat in our range. The other 53% relates to the other tasty ingredients such as the coating

So essentially 53% of the burger is not chicken. Why not have an actual chicken breast, bash it flat, season with salt and pepper and herbs, and fry it?

When I look at the carb content of meat / sausage / other products, I aim for something that is 5g per 100g or less. The burger is 18g carb. If you then added lots of veg - broccoli, cauiflower, green beans etc, then your overall carbs would not be very low...

X-post with BIWI

But also to answer re the sustainability of this way of eating (woe). Yes, yes, yes! Unlike a calorie reduced diet, or a diet which relies on artificial shakes or meal replacements, this approach is about eating real healthy food. Lots of leafy green veg, lots of other veg, healthy sources of protein and fat to keep you feeling full.

For eating out there is lots of support - ideas of what to choose from menus, what to avoid, how to request substitues.

Hello everyone, I am definitely joining the January boot camp as I am not feeling great and have put on quite a bit of weight. I did so well the first half of last year, but it went a downhill…. Also have had some joint problems so haven’t been as active as usual so need to try and do some more gentle exercise when the kids are back to school.

In happy news I’ve discovered that I actually love Brussel sprouts after hating them as a child, and have been eating loads of them since Christmas so getting my FLGV should be ok!

I’ve started cutting out carbs already but will be starting it strictly on 1 Jan and also doing dry January too. (hopefully!).

Just placemarking

I had steak with green beans for dinner today with a spinach and mushroom cream cheese sauce. Honestly why would you want some microwaved crap when you can eat like that and lose weight and be healthy?

Working on my water though

I’ll save the chicken burger for my non low carbing relatives then! Just made the Keto pizza and amazed by how delicious it was. I was expecting it to taste eggy and like an omelette but it didn’t. Pleasantly surprised. For breakfast I had full fat Greek yoghurt with a few blackberries and an avocado for a snack mid afternoon. Skipped lunch - didn’t feel hungry. Still drinking lots of water. No more headaches - hope I’m over the carb flu and this is it!

@FitnessKeepItGoing

So after a strict two weeks, what happens? And longer term is this diet sustainable?

I've been doing it since June 2013 so I'd say it's sustainable.

That's great to hear StuntNun

[quote StuntNun]@SweetPotatoDumpling intermittent fasting 16:8 is brilliant for reversing pre-diabetes. My mum reversed hers without even going low carb, she just reduced her carb portion size and started skipping breakfast.[/quote]

That's great about your mum 🥰 Fingers crossed I manage to do likewise. 🤞

I lost two stones by cutting out carbs after lunch altogether. I did eat some carbs though.
I would really struggle with what to eat looking at the list of limitations. No beans, peas or legumes or fruit! I honestly do not know what I would eat!

Could someone give me an idea of possible meals ? I have the MM book somewhere.

Lots of recipes on Diet Dr:
www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/recipes

Thanks @BIWI 😊

I keep falling off bootcamps around week 5/6 so going to try and stick to this one. Have just received a diagnosis for lipoedema and low carb is supposed to really help with the associated inflammation so that's pretty good motivation.

Looking forward to this bootcamp starting but I think I will get properly started on 2nd Jan.

@LookslovelyinSpringtime

I lost two stones by cutting out carbs after lunch altogether. I did eat some carbs though. I would really struggle with what to eat looking at the list of limitations. No beans, peas or legumes or fruit! I honestly do not know what I would eat!

Could someone give me an idea of possible meals ? I have the MM book somewhere.

@LookslovelyinSpringtime

There are loads of things you can eat! And just remember that after two weeks you can eat some fruit - it's not a complete ban. When Bootcamp is finished and/or when you are at your target weight, there's nothing to stop you re-introducing beans/pulses - or even any much higher carb food, as long as you have an understanding of how much carbohydrate your body can tolerate.

Check out the recipe threads, which are stickied at the top of the Low Carb Bootcamp topic - there are lots of lovely things there to inspire you.

And the Diet Doctor website as @FitnessKeepItGoing says has some really good ideas, as does the Fast800 website (and books).

But to get you started, here's a list of meals I regularly cook for us - hopefully this will prove that you won't be feeling deprived during Bootcamp!

• Salmon fillets, marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, ginger and soy sauce, wrapped in foil and baked in the oven for 15 minutes I generally serve this with stir-fried veg (e.g. shallots, mangetout, baby sweetcorn, thinly shredded cabbage, thinly sliced green pepper, chilli, garlic and ginger, with Chinese 5 spice, soy sauce and finished with sesame oil)

• Sausage tray bake good quality sausages (the highest meat content you can find, with a carb content of around 1g per 100g); brown in a frying pan briefly, then add to a roasting tin, with a mix of different chopped veg, e.g. shallots, courgettes, aubergine, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, whole garlic cloves. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, and then bake in a hot oven for 40 minutes, stirring half way through the cooking. Depending on the amount of veg you've used, you probably won't need a side dish to go with this

• Halloumi tray bake as above, just replace the sausages with Halloumi - 2-3 blocks should be enough for 4 people

• Roast chicken Season the chicken well and cover generously with olive oil. To the roasting tray with the chicken I sometimes put the chicken on a trivet made from shallots or onions, occasionally a carrot, and also add water to to the tray - sometimes a sloosh of white wine. This makes a lovely-tasting 'jus'.

You can serve this with any low carb veg you like - but obviously not roast potatoes or parsnips!

• Shepherd's pie High fat beef mince, fried with onion or shallot and celery, with a mash topping made from celeriac and buttery leeks.

• Meat balls in tomato sauce. Meatballs made with high fat beef mince, whizzed up in the processor with onion or shallots, garlic and a green pepper - no need for any breadcrumbs to bind them - then baked in the oven with olive oil. Tomato sauce is a tin of chopped tomatoes, fried up with olive oil and onion/shallot, a bit of chilli if you like, and dried oregano. Serve with lots of grated Parmesan or mature cheddar, and whatever veg or salad you like

• Baked aubergine with Feta and bacon Cut aubergines in half lengthways, and slash several cuts in the flesh. Drizzle each half generously with olive oil, season and bake for around 15 minutes. While they're baking, heat up more olive oil in a small pan, with some finely chopped garlic. (You're not aiming to cook the garlic, just heating it with the oil briefly, so that you're infusing the oil with the flavour). After 15 minutes, take the aubergines out of the oven and pour the flavoured oil over them. Top with crumbled Feta cheese and cooked, crumbed crispy bacon. Bake for another 15 minutes or so till the cheese is melty and starting to brown. Serve with a green salad with an oily vinaigrette

• Lamb moussaka Fry lamb mince with onion/shallot, garlic, oregano and cinammon, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and cook for around 30 minutes or so. Slice aubergines into rounds and griddle or bake these. Put the lamb into an oven dish and top with the aubergine slices, and then cover with a 'custard' that you make with eggs, cream and Feta that have been blended together. Bake for around 30-40 minutes till the custard topping is puffy and nicely browned.

As tonight is a celebration night, and to commiserate with each other as our annual NYE party has had to be cancelled, I'm cooking fillet steak for DH and I. I'll make a celeriac dauphinoise to go with it, a blue cheese sauce on the side (just blue cheese melted with some cream), and we'll have that with a green salad.

So - hopefully that gives you an idea as to how well you can eat on this WOE.

Also, to add, there are more and more low carb products available than ever before.

There's a whole thread about things that other Bootcampers have discovered - feel free to add any that you find as well, by adding a photo of the products and its nutritional information.

One product that I use regularly is Bare Naked Noodles . These are only 1g carbs per 100g, and they're actually a traditional Japanese product. If you have an Asian supermarket near you, you might find them in there - they're called shirataki noodles. But the Bare Naked Brand is now available in most large supermarkets. They're fantastic in stir-fries, or noodle soups - and I occasionally use them as a pasta replacement with meatballs or sometimes if I get a craving for carbonara.

There are also two companies that now make very good low carb breads - one is The Low Carb Food Company who make a wide range of low carb products, as well as supplying some meat. The other is Seriously Low Carb who have a more focused range.

I've been (mostly!) low carbing for around 15 years now, and until these companies came along, had never found (or baked) a low carb loaf that came anywhere near to real bread - but both of these companies have managed it. It's much more expensive than 'normal' bread, but it's great to have some in the freezer, and to know that if I want a quick sandwich for lunch, that it's available to me.

Omg this is amazing - thanks BIWI!

My pleasure!

I’ve ordered the book fast 800 keto , for some inspiration, though I could have waited and used Biwi fabulous list of meals .
I have done this before ( but not very well ) so new year , best foot forward and all that

I've been reading the MM book. It adds a few more pulses than we would have on bootcamp, and obviously the biggest difference is that the calories are restricted (and counted).

But many of the same priciples as here - eat real food, drink lots of water, no sugar (although I see one recipe has honey in it and another with banana, almonds dates and chocolate. I can't see why it is necessary it just panders to old concepts of needing something sweet), no alcohol, measure yourself before you start. Some of the recipes are familiar - almond muffins, BIWI's asian salmon, fritatta etc.

What I did enjoy was that it was an easy way to read about the benefits of this approach (rather than low fat high carb) and references lots of research and evidence. Appeals to the scientist in me.

However, I think the collective bootcamp threads are a better resource and the rules make it simple to adapt other recipes / eating out not at all biased

@LookslovelyinSpringtime - lots of us on here are foodies, who love good food and wine : it is possible to put together interesting Boot Camp compatible menus

That's partly why, once onto BootCamp proper, we like to share what we're eating, as inspiration to the rest of us.

Alongside all the lovely meats, you can serve up FLGV (a Fuck Load of Green/Good Veg) like shoogled sprouts (brussels microwaved in butter), buttery leeks, Savoy cabbage with lardons you can make celeriac dauphinoise, celeriac purée (great for a base on which to serve seared scallops), mashed neeps (swede), celeriac or neep "chips, courgette ribbons.

Over the Christmas period I've made carbonara a couple of times: with spaghetti for dh and ds and with strips of briefly fried cabbage for me. It was yummy

I never feel deprived. I've also put together whole dinner menus (as I said, we're foodies ), including dessert (after the first two weeks of "strict" Boot Camp), and none of the guests would be aware unless I told them that it was HFLC

I love Mediterranean food and prefer not being on carbs. But my god I do feel like I am missing out on beautiful fresh pasta, homemade cakes, and proper chocolate. I also miss crisps.

@FitnessKeepItGoing but none of those things are forbidden forever! When you're at your target you can quite easily include those in your diet occasionally - so there's no need to feel you're missing out.

And you will find, I promise you, that your tastes do change. I love pasta. I always have. But these days I just think about it dispassionately. It really doesn't bother me that I "can't" have it. Every now and then, though, I do have it.

Quick question, how do you shoogle sprouts? I have loads left in the veg store.

Microwave sprouts with butter. Halfway through cooking "shoogle" them by swirling them round in the butter. That's it!