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!

Do any of you have experience of doing BC while trying to reduce cholesterol?

Part of the reason I faded out before was the news that I have high cholesterol so the butter etc scared me. I'm trying to be less dairy focused this time around but butter was my go to fat to fill me up.

For whoever it was that asked: here is the recipe for flatbreads (only for after the 1st 2 weeks of BootCamp). As an aside, the search function on MN is now crap and in no way replaces the old "Advanced Search" Couldn't find this by searching for Kerridge or flatbreads using search and had to go into the vegetarian recipe topic, change the "50 posts per page" to "all" and then use the browser to search on "Kerridge"

I now usually make a double quantity and just press out balls by hand into a disk. You can leave the rough "dough" for a day or so before frying.

Flatbreads (adapted from Tom Kerridge's Dopamine Diet book)

40g butter
60g coconut flour
15g powdered psyllium husk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and cook until it turns a nut brown colour and fragrant. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, mix the the coconut flour, psyllium husk and salt together until well combined. Trickle on the brown butter and mix to a buttery paste.

Slowly pour on 250ml boiling water, stirring the mixture constantly with a spoon as you do so. Keep stirring until you have a smooth stretch dough. (Don't know about you but I don't have three hands so can't pour and stir something stiff at the same time so I just poured a small amount, stirred well and repeated until all the water was in)

Divide the dough into 6 small balls. One at a time, roll them out between two sheets f baking parchment. I used two silicone sheets I have. First one I made was a bit small, so I'd advise only making 4; I just needed to pat them out rather than roll out as I wanted them more flat bread/pitta like rather than a thin wrap.

Heat a large, non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Cook the flat breads, one at a time, for a minute on each side. The dough will rise and become a light and toasty flat bread. Serve immediately. Before cooking, I brushed them with the marinade that I had done the gyros in, and yesterday, with the one ball of dough I had left over, with some juice from my chilli

They are very nice and don't taste at all coconutty

Thank you all. I’ve realised it’s the texture factor I’m missing- something crunchy!

im having very high fat - which usually I quite like - but I’m tired of everything swimming in oil. 😏So for bfast I ate scrambled eggs with cream and mushrooms, with obligatory grease pool.

My other bfast is nuts seeds cream or yoghurt & a few berries. This has great crunch factor. But main meals I’m a bit tired of tbh.

I couldn’t sleep last night for indigestion yet I went to bed hours after dinner… I think I may have reached peak fat!

wow sorry for the moan!

I tried to make cauliflower rice - it just about hits the spot! I’m doing crunchy salads sometimes too.

Any crunchy foods people are enjoying?

Thank you for the recipe - looks brilliant.

Until my psyllium husks arrive is there anything I could use in their place…?

For crunch (until I can have nuts again), I quite like raw cauliflower florets. I've also baked slices of salami and let them cool. Also, crispy bacon pieces in a salad help hit the mark. You can also make cheese crisps (various ways of doing this: baking piles of grated cheese, or microwaving a quartered baby bel in silicon muffin moulds).

Golden crunch (puffed pork scratchings) are also great I stock up on bags of them every time I go to Sainsbury's

Day 2 done for me (I'm in a timezone 7 hours ahead of UK). Went OK, felt a bit low energy this afternoon but it was a long gap between breakfast and lunch. Drinking the water was easier as well. I had:
B: scrambled eggs, mushrooms fried in butter and a left over veg ragu
L: salad with tuna mayo
T: homemade Thai green curry with tofu noodles. I think it was within the rules, couldn't find anything on the banned list and missed out the sugar we'd normally include. Coconut milk is OK, right?

@hudsonrose I usually really like spicy cauliflower bites- chop, coat in something like Sriracha sauce and soy sauce and bake or fry. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside! Takes a few tries to get the texture right though.

@FancyFelix if you're worried about cholesterol then emphasise monounsaturated fats over saturated fats. These are olive oil, avocado oil and nut oils such as macadamia or walnut oil. The omega-3 oils in fish are also proven to be beneficial to your health so you could make sure you're getting oily fish such as tuna or salmon at least twice a week. Tinned sardines in olive oil are a great choice and can be cheap if you get own brand ones.

@hudsonrose post a couple of days of meals so we can see what you're eating. I used to feel on edge when I went into ketosis so maybe slightly increasing your carb intake would help.

I may have reached peak fat!

This is one of my favourite things about this way of eating. So much easier to eat less with that thought in mind than the miseries of calorie restriction on low far

As for getting or keeping things moving @hudsonrose my go-tos are to include heaps of cabbage or spinach or celeriac in whatever else I eat. Raw for salads, cooked for anything else.

When I'm on holiday and find the change needs more than the usual veg components, I drink a tea made with a few senna pods in hot water last thing at night

In absolute emergencies, the low sugar sweets sold in chemist shops and elsewhere, the ones that warn you of the effects of overdosing.... Hope you find what works for you. Especially in the early days of getting used to bootcamp, I do tend to plan meals starting with the 'crunchy veg' and then choose the rest for exactly this reason. Obsessed, moi?

For those struggling with water intake due to not being able to get to the loo, aim for two litres of water (i.e. not including tea, coffee etc.) and you should be okay. I find adding a pinch of electrolyte powder helps the water to be absorbed and not go right through me. You have to sip it as well, not guzzle a pint at a time!

Some great tips thank you 😄

cheese crisps! 😍 and crispy bacon.

personally I totally ignore calories! Utterly meaningless!

Hi women, I'd love to join if not too late. I started 'clean keto' this morning. I'll add myself to the spreadsheet. Will combine with IM fasting and try to stay away from the booze!

I need to get back to work tomorrow as I'm grazing today out of sheer housebound-ness. I've been picking on rollitos so nothing carby but even so, i'm doing it because it's there not because i'm hungry.

Hi all, newbie to bootcamp here, although I have previously lost a decent amount of weight just with cutting out bread/potatoes/rice/pasta. Now that I am a bit older I need to be a bit stricter to see results!

So I am on board with the hight fat and drinking water - 3 litres a day will be a struggle!

B - scrabled eggs with butter and avo
L - small greek salad (leaves, toms, olives, feta, olive oil and lemon juice)
D - Salmon with asparagus and kale sauteed in butter.

Yum! 😁

Bootcamp isn't 'clean keto' though.

And you have to stay away from the booze for the first two weeks.

Stuck to the plan today!

B: boiled eggs
L: salmon and avocado with salad and mayo
D: Heck sausages with roasted aubergine, courgette, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes

On 2.1l of water so far so need to catch up a bit this evening!

Made a lovely dinner this evening and not much prep. First fried about 600g minced beef and removed from wok. Added butter and oil and two bags of pre packed cabbage and leek from Tesco. Once wilted added salt, pepper, garlic, basil, couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a few tablespoons of tomato purée. Cooked it all together, added beef and mixed through. Made 4 portions which store and freeze well. Had it with some shaved Parmesan and a drizzle of mayo. Yum and will eat it again a few more times this week
Now just need to deal with that urge to eat something sweet that comes upon me in the evening...any tips?

Busy day, but managed to cook for myself before the kids just now. Tea time at the zoo (!) is peak snacking time for me so I got in early!

B- Greek yogurt
L- asparagus with poached eggs, butter
D- steak, spinach, purple sprouting broccoli, tomatoes and mushrooms
S- tea, coffee with cream, slice of brie

@bella1426 greek yoghurt hits the sweet craving for me and I know some people add in some cream. I sometimes add in some cinnamon and outside bootcamp, frozen berries are good too.

It so nice to be sharing the journey!

Can I double check that this meal is low carb enough? I think it is, but they don't give a carb/100g value, just carb/portion.

www.delish.com/uk/cooking/recipes/a30131747/creamy-tuscan-chicken-recipe/

I'm already cooking it but if it's not right I'll keep it out of the recipe folder!

@Lougle

Nutrition (per serving): 380 calories, 29 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 2 g sugar,28 g fat, 14 g saturated fat, 250 mg sodium

You don't really need to see the carbs per 100g - if it's 5g per portion then it's perfectly fine for Bootcamp! (And it sounds lovely)

Fab!

I genuinely love the High5 tabs, by the way. I have never found it so easy to drink water. I like the citrus better that the orange and echinacea or berry. Need to try tropical next.

@bella1426 I have the same longing. I've been drinking sparkling water or water with a grapefruit Zero tab. And the urge does pass off. But I certainly miss tea and a biscuit.

On the water front, I had to go into DSs music school TWICE this evening to pee.😳

B. Eggs, mushrooms, cheese salad. Coffee and cream.
L. Chicken thigh reheats, mushrooms cabbage green beans

Dinner 🙂

@FancyFelix In a low carb group I'm in on Facebook, someone said that losing weight releases fats into the bloodstream and that you shouldn't have a lipids blood test until your weight has been stable for 3-4 months. They are apparently not dangerous anyway - read Dr Malcolm Kendrick and Dr Aseem Malhotra for more info on fat consumption, statins, the causes of heart disease, etc - spoiler alert - there's nothing wrong with fat.