Week 1 - May 22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Just getting the opening of the thread started, as there's a lot I want to post before we get into tomorrow!

Firstly, here's the all-important disclaimer:

I'm not a medic. I'm not a scientist, nutritionist or dietician. Everything that I write here is based on the reading I've done over the last 15 or so years. You sign up and take part in Bootcamp at your own risk - although I fervently hope there are no risks!

Please note, if you're taking any long-term medication, especially for hypertension or diabetes or high cholesterol, you should consult your GP; low carbing (for most people) will bring high blood pressure and cholesterol levels down, and will help regulate your blood sugar levels - so the dosage of your medication may need to be reviewed, if not reduced
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A note about weighing

Each Monday I'll re-post the spreadsheet for you to add your weight. Weight is the most conventional way that we monitor progress, but it isn't the only way, and actually isn't always the most accurate way. It's not unknown for people to see no change on the scales, yet to know that they've lost weight as their clothes are fitting better.

You don't have to weigh (and nor do you need to be on the spreadsheet), but it is always helpful to know how you're progressing, as this helps to keep you focused. There are two other important ways to do this:

1 - take your measurements. Hips, waist and bust, as well as upper thigh and upper arms.

2 - find an article of clothing that currently just a little too tight - a pair of jeans, or a blouse - and try them on each week. This is the most tangible way to see how things are working for you.

You can do these as well as weighing of course!

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Also, before we really get going, a plea for good thread etiquette!

The threads will move very quickly (especially in the first couple of weeks). But please, please, please read everything that's been posted. Use the bookmark facility so that you don't lose your place. Don't just jump on the thread to post your own stuff without bothering to read what others have posted

It is very wearing when we have to keep answering the same questions, because posters haven't bothered to read what's gone before!

@Lougle I know it's very easy for me to say, but you need to stop stressing over the scales!

You've had a pretty stressful time recently, which won't have helped you.

I don't know if your medications will have an impact on the likely rate of loss, but some can.

And although I know the GP was pleased about the electrolytes, bear in mind that they do contain artificial sweeteners, which we're also trying to avoid.

... AND you don't have a huge amount to lose. All of these things together could be conspiring against you!

However, list out for me what you've been eating and drinking over the last 3-4 days, and let's see if there's anything we can spot that might help.

Welcome @ilovecherries ! Lovely to 'see' you again, and very glad that things sound easier for you

@BIWI Thank you - I sound more stressed than I am, I think, but nonetheless I'm grateful for any review/advice.

Day 1:
B - mushrooms fried in butter (80g!), 2 eggs, and an avocado.
D - Bolognese sauce with fried courgetti
4 cups of tea with almond milk, one with full fat milk. 3 bottles of High5 water.

Day 2:
B -yoghurt with double cream.
Might need to research what I could put on it to cut through the dairy. I normally used dried fruit/seeds so can't use them.
L - Baby bistro salad leaves, prawns, mayonnaise, avocado, olives with feta cheese and a homemade oil/cider vinegar vinaigrette.
D - chicken in a cream, stock, spinach and cherry tomato sauce
2 X 750 ml High5 water so far, plus 2 cups of tea with almond milk and one with a splash of full fat milk.

Day 3:
B - yoghurt and double cream.
L - baby bistro salad leaves, baby plum tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, olives, feta cheese, with a sesame oil and cider vinegar dressing.
D - Cheesy bolognese bake.
Fluid:
2 cups of decaf tea with milk (only a splash). 6 cups of decaf tea with almond milk.
3 X 750ml bottles of High5 water.

Day 4:
B - mushrooms fried in butter
L - baby bistro leaves, cucumber, baby plum tomatoes, olives, feta cheese
D - pork chops in a sauce (onions, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, stock, double cream) with broccoli
Fluid: 3 X 750ml High5 water, 1 cup of decaf earl grey tea with full fat milk, 7 cups of decaf earl grey tea with almond milk.

Day 5:
B- Greek yogurt with double cream
L - baby bistro leaves, cucumber, salmon, feta, olives and baby plum tomatoes, with a garlic infused olive oil dressing.
D -Courgette strips, red pepper & mushrooms all fried in butter, with crispy halloumi.
Fluid so far: 2x750ml High5 water, 5 cups of tea (1 full-fat milk, 3 almond milk, 1 with a tiny splash of oat milk because I didn't read a sign properly).

Day 6:
B - 2 eggs and double cream omelette with butter fried mushrooms and cheese filling.
L- Late because we'd been working on the farm and the shop didn't have anything low carb that I fancied. Greek yoghurt, double cream and (after a few minutes, not mixed in 🤣) olives.
D - Half a ribeye steak fried in butter, vegetables roasted in garlic infused olive oil (aubergine, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, celery, sweetheart cabbage), salad (lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes).
Fluid: 3x 750ml High5 water, 4 cups of tea with almond milk, one with a splash of full fat milk.

Today so far...:
B - 1 Avocado
L - Salad - baby bistro leaves, cherry tomatoes, feta, olives.

Yes I use the air fryer all the time, it's the instant pot I'm still getting used to. I've done a few things in it, but I've had the burn message quite a lot!

Hello all, hope your first week went well. Sorry couldn't join you guys on Monday, I will be starting from tomorrow instead.. I have had a good loss last Bootcamp, but couldn't stay in LC after that due to holidays and other stuff.. Life is getting back to normal now and I need to loose a stone ( or more if possible) and expecting this time it would be better in terms of water intake due to the weather. I didn't loose enough as expected though stuck with strict Boot camp rules, till the end, only thing I know was not going well was water.. Hoping to loose a bit more weight this time. Also, anyone experiencing terrible hair loss after LCing? I was on holiday for 3 weeks, moved house to a different part of country(so water changed), so can't put it on LC solely, but was wondering if anyone else has that. Also is there anyway I can copy the data from last bootcamp to this? I can't see any data from there to add it to here- original start date and weight @BIWI or anyone, can you please help..

@RagzRebooted oh apologies - I totally misread your post!

I've had an Instant Pot for years. The main thing to remember is that the element is under the base of the bowl and the ingredients don't move around inside the bowl while it cooks. So if you have a food with a relatively high sugar content, such as tomatoes, that will get all of the heat that goes into creating the overall pressure that is required to cook the food.

If you were making, for example, a bolognese sauce, you need to layer the onion on the bottom, then the mince, then the tomatoes. That way, the tomatoes aren't getting the direct heat that causes them to burn.

The other thing that will cause the burn message is if you don't use enough water in the base. It's tempting to use less water than normal to speed up the time it takes to get to pressure. However, if you put a little water and a tsp of salt in the bottom of the pot, then a trivet of veg, say, the water will evaporate before the salt has dissolved, and the veg won't have released any of its natural juices before then, so it will burn.

@Newlease I'm not stalking you, but on week 8 of the January bootcamp you posted:

"Is this our last thread? I have started with 69.1kg and now 63.5, thats 5.6kg in 9weeks, I started a week early."

Does that help?

Hi everyone, another good day food wise for me!

Lunch was a quick avocado (was going to see a show)

Dinner was mixed kebab and salad with hot chili sauce.

Again, it's the water for me, I can manage when I'm at work but weekends just go out the window.

@ShagMeRiggins we could definitely do with an alarm tone if you shouting water, water, water

Hi all,

B: greek yog, cream and cinnamon
L: scrambled egg & 1 slice of bacon
D: fried chicken thigh wrapped in lettuce, with tomatoes, avo, mayo, homemade coleslaw

I love Greek yog (the lidl stuff in buckets is heaven) although did miss raspberries & seeds I usually have but the cream was nice in it
Lunch was in a soft play cafe and it was slim pickings. It wasn't nice, but nothing else really was either so glad I did my best
Dinner was yum and was trying to up my veg after lunch
Managed all my water, I agree @ZiggZagg it's much easier during the week

Good luck to everyone doing their weigh-in tomorrow. I am only on Day3 but will prob weigh too 🤞

The burn message is nearly always down to not deglazing the pot properly before you start the pressure. It really does need a good scrape. I’ve only done pretty ordinary things in it though: bolognaise, chilli without the beans, stews, curries etc.

And I’m a bit anal about the order I put things in!

B: shashuska
L (late): BLT with boiled eggs
T: chicken alfredo

On 4th litre of water, yay!

I am looking forward to reintroducing nuts/seeds/berries/square of dark choc in wk3! I really enjoy berries & yoghurt & cream and seem to put nuts & seeds in a lot of things - almond crackers, cheese muffins, flaked pine nuts on cauliflower, nut butters etc.

Roll on weigh in tomorrow!

@Baystard I'm posting too late to be of any use, and I'm also posting before I've read to the end of the thread... But, I sometimes have to ponder 'What is THIS meal about? Is it the food, or the company, a combination of both, or some kind of adequate compromise?'

I've seen myself sit with a sad salad just so I could have a riotous time with friends. And I've also refused to go to a pizza restaurant because nobody was taking account of my food choices.

Very, occasionally it is worth taking a hit on this woe (my friend's birthday meal, catered by a local chef). But in general I try to think that if I don't have my ideal choice today, there will always be another time, and the sad salad will be worth it (or often I find restaurants accommodating to providing veg alternatives to the worst of carbs)

BLT on a plate with mayo and 2 boiled eggs.
Chicken thigh, babybel, blue cheese dip with celery.
Pork belly, green beans, coleslaw. It was too warm to make cauli cheese. Crackling is up there with roasted chicken skin! Think I took the tips off my fingers.

A bit of a sad end to the day. I had a family zoom and forgot that roasted veg takes time. So I had to quickly fry off the veg rather than lovingly roast it.

B - 1 Avocado
L - Salad - baby bistro leaves, cherry tomatoes, feta, olives.
D - ½ ribeye steak fried in butter, aubergine, cabbage and cherry tomatoes fried in garlic infused olive oil. Side salad - iceberg lettuce and cherry tomatoes.

Fluid:
2 X 750ml High5 water. 1 X 750ml plain water (reducing the electrolyte tablets as I hadn't thought about the sweetener in them.)
5 cups of decaf earl grey with almond milk. 1 cup of decaf earl grey with full fat milk.

Have left Italy and currently in Bavaria en route back home. Dinner was white asparagus on salad, with smoked salmon.

The salad had loads of red and white cabbage - goodness I've been missing my brassicas!

There was far too much salmon, so I got half of it packed up to take home... Breakfast!!

Thanks for the sage advice @venusandmars and @prettybird. In the end I had a lovely LC lunch. There was a stuffed savoury pancakey thing that was with chicken, cream sauce and cheddar cheese and came with salad. I just ate round the actual pancakes themselves. It was really nice and very filling, lots of fat and cheese. It didn't occur too me to consider this dish as id ruled out pancakes but then I saw someone on an adjacent table being given this wonderfully melted-cheesy looking thing.

Started a biotin supplement today to see if it helps with my hair loss, I have receding hair on my temples which I'd hoped would be improved by the HRT i started 6 months ago and the LC (I thought that lower insulin level was meant to reduce testosterone) but still getting worse.

Evening all, checking in -
B - Avocado, poached egg, bacon
L - Chicken drumstick with coleslaw and olives
D - Baked gammon, kale, leeks and broccoli with a creamy mustard sauce

Realised that I think i've been overdoing it with the greek yoghurt. Been having loads of it and realised it's 4g sugar per 100g, and i've been having more than that per serving! Sadly going to give it a rest this week.

@glamourousindierockandroll it's so easy to do! I wonder if I've done the same. That's the trouble, I find, of this sort of thing - the rules are clear but the details, such as portion size, are more intuitive. I guess we'll adjust portions gradually as we lower our appetites.

I had a bottle of water without the High5 tab but found it really difficult to do. I can drink 750ml in one go with the tab. Took me an hour with just water.

@Lougle the greek yoghurt was my little crutch to replace my evening sweet treats. I used to have it with honey on and obviously stopped that, but it feels sufficiently dessert-like. Next week, after bootcamp proper, i'll go back to sugar free jelly topped with double cream which I love as well but avoid because of the sweeteners.

I'm not too bad with the water provided I remember and have it to hand. At the moment i'm having one with a multivitamin berocca type thing, and one electrolytes and the rest just water. I do like it really cold though! And preferably sparkling; we used to buy 4 big bottles of sparkling water every week but I'd feel bad about the plastic waste these days.

I'm hanging in. I also weigh most days, and it fluctuates weirdly.
B. Eggs mushrooms blue cheese. Creamy coffee.
L. G. Yogurt
D. Pork belly (last of) cauliflower broccoli with butter. Crackling - yum.
Last 1L of water is a bottle of sparkling in front of the tv. It helps to curb my nibbles craving too.

I'll try chicken in the airfryer next. And dust off the IP pot.

If I wanted to Bolognese in the IP, could I layer onion, beef and tinned tomatoes on top, without any sauteeing? What kind of times? THIS

Morning all! (It's morning for me). Just weighed in and am thrilled - I'm down 6lb in my first week! That's makes some of the more difficult choices seem worth it 😁

Regarding daily weighing, I do jump on the scales daily but more to keep myself on track. I don't record it anywhere, and don't aim to remember it, but find it works well both ways; if I'm up on my start of week weight I try extra hard that day, if I'm down I'm motivated to keep the WoE going to make good choices too!

Just for the record, Sunday I ate:
B: shakshuka with spinach (hmmmm, wonder why I why woke up thinking about that 😉)
L: caesar salad with avocado with coffee and cream
T: left over caesar salad with tuna and philadelphia

Ate very late as we'd gone for a long walk and rhrn got a bit stuck for public transport so did a further 3.5km. Also don't think I had enough water. I had 3.5l but with the walking and a swim earlier in the day it should have been more; woke up gasping.

Hope everyone has a great weigh day!