25/7/22 Low Carb Bootcamp - the preparation thread

[BIWI]

This Bootcamp will start on 25 July, and will last for 8 weeks

The first two weeks will be strict, but after that you can move on (if you wish) to Bootcamp Light, which is a little more relaxed.

These are the things that we don't eat, throughout the whole of Bootcamp:

bread (of any kind)
pasta/rice (of any kind)
potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweetcorn, beetroot
sugar/honey/syrup
flour (and anything thickened with flour)
cake
biscuits/crackers/pastries
crisps (of any kind)
fruit juice
full sugar fizzy drinks/squash
balsamic vinegar (all other vinegars are fine)
grains/pulses/legumes (which includes peas)
sweets

What can I eat then?!

Things you will be able to eat are things you generally can't eat on any other diet! Low carb means high fat, so you will be able to enjoy things like:

butter
cream
cheese
mayonnaise

No light/lite or low fat anything!

all meat/fish/seafood (although keep processed options to a minimum)
eggs
oily dressings (especially using extra virgin olive oil/avocado oil)
lard/coconut oil (as well as butter) for frying food
LOTS of vegetables and salad
(after the first two weeks) some fruit, mainly berries
(after the first two weeks) some nuts/seeds
(after the first two weeks) some chocolate - high %age cocoa though

There are just ten rules, and as long as you follow these you should lose weight. In brief, the rules for the first two weeks are:

Eat three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Avoid processed foods as much as possible - ideally none
Eat lots of fat
Make sure your carbs are coming mainly from vegetables and salad
Be careful how much dairy you're consuming - especially milk (butter is unlimited)
You must drink at least 2 litres of water a day
No alcohol
No fruit
No nuts/seeds
No sugar/artificial sweeteners

The rules, in full, are on a tab on The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness, and I'll post a link to the new spreadsheet next Monday. In the meantime, here's a link to the spreadsheet from the last Bootcamp Spreadsheet

Make sure you're familiar with the rules before we start. Also, check out the resources on the spreadsheet - there's loads of information about low carbing as well as lots of different recipes and shopping lists.

Planning and preparation is key to success on this WOE (way of eating)

Which means you need to think about all the meals you need to prepare for the week - which includes what you're going to have for lunch if you're out of the home at work, and thinking about any likely social occasions.

So - make sure your cupboards/fridges/freezers are emptied (as far as practically possible) of anything really carby that you know is likely to tempt you.

Make a meal plan for the week (or the next two weeks if you can be that organised!) and then make sure you buy everything you need in your next shop.

Cooking a couple of meals ahead is a really good idea - so you know you have something Bootcamp-friendly easily to hand.

For the first week or so, while you're adjusting to a low carb WOE, especially if you're new to it, it's a good idea to have some low carb snacks to hand. As you adapt to it, you'll find that you really aren't hungry between meals, but in the beginning you may need something. Great low carb snacks include:

chunks of cheese
olives
cucumber/celery
hard-boiled eggs
cooked (low carb) sausages

If you're planning on using anything pre-prepared/packaged in your cooking, make sure you've checked the carb count on the back of the packet. It's amazing how something that seems like it should be low in carbs is anything but - because the manufacturers have added sugar, or potato starch, etc.

Make sure that you have read, re-read and read again Bootcamp rules. Ideally save them on to your phone, or print them out and stick them on the fridge. Especially make sure that you've worked out - from Rule 6 - how much water you are going to need to drink each day. The more you weigh, the more water you're going to need to drink.

It can also be a really good idea to keep a food diary - it can be very easy to start with a huge burst of enthusiasm, and then gradually let things start to slip, and then ending up eating stuff you shouldn't, and wonder why the weight isn't shifting. Just reading back through entries from the early weeks can be really helpful here.

As a newcomer to BC who started a week early I decided to read the thread from the first week of the last BC to get hints. I found it really helpful.
increasing my fat intake has been a psychological struggle but I am loving my veg fried in butter, my cream Caesar dressings and creamy prawn and garlic dishes for dinner.
I think my veg is good. Fried veg with eggs for breakfast, salad based lunch, cauliflower rice replacing dinner carbs plus whatever veg is part of dinner.
I was definitely not drinking nearly as much water as I thought. I started tracking it and had to really increase it. For the first time since I was last pregnant I am waking up at night to pee! I hope that is temporary.
Taking a Hi5 zero in the mornings for electrolytes.

My other big struggle is kicking my Diet Coke addiction. I bought some twinnings cold water infusions. I hope they are allowed.

I'm with you on the fat eating Chimney. I know it's in the rules, and it stops hunger, but it's a bit mental!

I have found eating more fat to be the game changer, I reckon - more than getting enough protein. It makes food taste so good! And definitely fills me up. I'm on day 4, so early days, but it feels like this way of eating is possible in a way no other type of restriction ever has. I feel better in every way.
Today I was at a funeral, and being an emotional eater would normally have stuffed myself with peanut m&ms on the drive home, but whilst the thought crossed my mind it wasn't intense, and instead I stopped and bought a small pot of natural greek yoghurt. To just feel level energy-wise, and clear headed throughout the whole day is so refreshing, and really noticeable.

We have been brainwashed over the las 40 years or so to believe that Fat Is Bad.

Obviously some, like transfats are, but in the main it isn't true.

Fat is satisfying and it gives taste to foods. It's also important for growth and development. Importantly, when it comes to this WOE, fat doesn't produce a spike in insulin levels, like carbohydrate does.

OK - as we approach the start of Bootcamp, it's really important that you begin to plan what you're going to eat/cook next week (if you haven't already).

Make sure you've removed as many carby foods/treats as is possible, so that you won't be tempted - and also make sure you have foods to hand that you can snack on, if you need to, while your body transitions to fat burning.

It's obviously much easier if you're at home/working from home, but if you're working out of the home I'd also recommend that you think about taking food into work and/or working out what you can buy near to where you're working.

If you have a Pret or a M&S near you, they usually have plenty of things that are low carb - and Pret's website will also show you the carb counts. Their crayfish and avocado salad bowl is only 9.9g carbs, for example and their smoked salmon protein box is 8.6g carbs

When it comes to evening meals, with the family, I really recommend that you try as much as possible to eat the same things as they do. If you end up cooking separate meals every night you'll soon get tired of that.

There's no reason why partners and children have to have carbs with every meal, and no reason why they shouldn't eat the same as you - but there are plenty of meals where you can give them carbs, and you just leave that component off your plate.

So for example, if your meal was a 'meat and two veg plus potatoes', e.g. pork/lamb chops plus broccoli and cabbage and boiled potatoes, you just give yourself extra green veg.

If you haven't already found them, go and have a look at the Bootcamp recipe threads, which are all in the Low Carb Bootcamp topic. Unfortunately since we moved to the new platform, they have all lost their stickies, so you'll have to scroll through the threads to find them - but they're grouped by food type, so there's one with vegetarian recipes, on with meat, one with chicken, etc.

To help, here's an example of some of the meals that we'll be eating next week:

• Roasted veg (aubergine, courgettes, shallots, pepper, garlic) and halloumi, with a green salad

• Marinated salmon fillet (marinade of olive oil, lemon, oregano and garlic) with roasted broccoli and courgettes pan-fried with shallots and chilli

• Chilli (no beans or rice!), served with grated cheddar, full fat Greek yoghurt and sliced jalapeños

• Sort-of 'chef's salad' - salad which basically uses stuff in the fridge! But will start with green/mixed leaves, and then have either ham or fried bacon/pancetta lardons, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, cucumber, radishes, olives, cheese. With a vinaigrette dressing (made with extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, either wholegrain or Dijon mustard, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, possibly with a bit of crushed garlic too)

• Pork fillet stir-fry - very thinly sliced pork fillet which is marinated in sesame oil, garlic, Chinese 5 spice and soy sauce, served with wok-fried onion (or shallots), thinly sliced green/white cabbage, garlic, ginger, chilli, beansprouts and fresh coriander. I also add a packet of Bare Naked Noodles

Very much looking forward to this positive change - and perfect timing personally for me.

Can I check, are there weekly threads to check in?

When I've tried low carb previously, I've often felt awful with headaches at around day 3/4 - the latest round, the headaches lasted over a week. Is that down to not enough water, do you think? Any other tips in advance to keep headaches at bay?

@5thWisdom

Yes, I start a new thread each week - usually on a Monday morning, sometimes on a Sunday evening. Each week I also post a link to our spreadsheet.

The headache is carb flu - it's only temporary and reflects the fact that you're moving away from carbs to using fat for your fuel. It's not about water - although keeping your water intake up is important - it's about an imbalance of key electrolytes, specifically sodium, magnesium and potassium.

So make sure you're using salt in cooking and on your food - in the first few days you could also try a hot drink made with Oxo or Marmite or Bovril.

Good food sources are salmon, avocado, spinach, mushrooms and full fat natural yoghurt.

Alternatively you could buy a supplement - the one I usually recommend is Zero, by High5

@BIWI that's incredibly helpful, thank you.

Another question - when you share it, do we fill in the new spreadsheet ourselves with our numbers, etc each week?

I'm away from later today until end of July so will jump in to post after that... hope everyone has a great first week!

When we start next week, you'll put in the date you first started (as some people have started before Bootcamp), as well as the Bootcamp start date, along with your starting weight(s).

Then each week all you do is to enter your new weight. The spreadsheet does the rest!

And it's fine to jump in a bit late. Have a good holiday!

I'm going to do a call out here for everyone signed up so far, just to make sure that you have a chance to read this thread.

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@easelArt

@stayathomegardener

@GalactatingGoddess

@flightofthesevenmillionbumblebees

@FinallyHere

@FrenchBoule

@Scissorsandsellotape

@Lougle

@TorviShieldMaiden

@GeorgeCat1

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@Lucienandjean

@Patapouf

@SaSamhradh

@pinknsparkly

@peacelily3

@Comfortablyfrumpy

@Bananajam

@SummerSazz

@BloomingHazel

@ditavonteesed

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@TwinkleToesStrikesAgain

@venusandmars

@FancyFelix

@ChairOfInvisibleStudies

@StellaGibson2022

@prettybird

@Mrshoho

@Chocasaurus

@Britneyisfree

@FlibbertyGibbit

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@pag2020

@wherearetheturrets

@Pisseslikeahorse

@ellieboolou

@Havifus

@TheOnlyMrsW

@ChimneyPot

Thanks @BIWI - I'd already added this to my watch list but hadn't actually contributed😄We exchanged on our new house today, and will be moving in a months time. So this bootcamp is either perfectly timed, to get me through a stressful time without stress eating carbs, or terribly timed!!! Fingers crossed for the latter!

@CrunchyCarrot

@Latebloomingleo

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@Bluefortheready

@Onelittlepiglet

@RShard

@Whicker

@Mirrorsforyou

@ZombieKettle

@HaveGogglesWillTravel

@CleanQueen123

@greentrees9

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@bella1426

@catwithflowers

@SweetSenorita

@Glenthebattleostrich

@ihatethecoldinmybones

@Kleptronic

@5thWisdom

@Foxlover47

Drawing your attention to the prep thread:

@CarpetMollusc

@Rongon

@exitlight

@cardboardbox24

@FatToFitPart3

Sorry for so many posts, but it transpired that two names on the sign-up list are not recognised by MNHQ, and - of course - I didn't know which two, so had to post in 'lumps' to be able to narrow it down!