July '22 Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

Welcome everybody!

Here, thinks to @FinallyHere, is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

This Bootcamp will last for eight weeks, with (as ever) the first two weeks being the most strict.

I'll post again tomorrow, but just wanted to get things underway for now

I know. I’m dreadful.

Failure to prepare, prepare to fail. I have a meal
plan today which is gonna keep me on track!

Is Rose wine considered ok as a treat? I saw white wine and champagne is. I’m haven’t drank since Saturday and plan to stay that way but I have an event on Saturday….

Well, alcohol is not allowed in the first two weeks!

If you have to have a drink, make sure it's dry rosé, and not horrible sweet, like blush can be.

But you would be better off having a clear spirit and no-sugar mixer.

Cheating

While I'm on the subject ...

Low carbing is, as I said above, not a forgiving way of eating. You can't eat 'well' at one meal to compensate for a meal where you ate too many carbs - it's not like counting your calories.

The first two weeks of Bootcamp are deliberately the most strict, as this is what will switch our bodies from burning carbs for fuel to burning fat for fuel.

If we cheat, we will delay/stop this process - so all that we're doing is self-sabotage

Good morning all, I've woken up for day 2 and not feeling hungry whatsoever but shall follow the rules!

Breakfast - crustless quiche
Lunch - Halloumi & avocado salad
Dinner - Roast chicken & Mediterranean veg

I've followed a low carb diet before, South Beach diet, probably 20 years ago now and was amazed at how many inches disappeared especially around the middle. Definitely what I need being menopausal.

I've blood pressure and my dr suggested increasing my dose so I'm interested to see if my blood pressure goes down. I'm going to dig out my blood pressure monitor and start keeping my eye on it

@loopylu26 two things about your post:

Firstly, my waist circumference has gone from 36" with the tape tight, to 27" with the tape just on. A huge difference!

The second thing is your blood pressure. Do go and see your GP (as @Biwi recommends in her first post) and tell them that you're doing low carb. At the beginning of the last bootcamp, I didn't think that applied to me because I wasn't having blood pressure treated, I only took medication for my migraines. However, one of them was an antihypertensive. I had a very nasty vasovagal incident about a week in, and had to go to the GP for an ECG and blood tests. He said that although my candesartan was for my migraines, it must have been working on my BP too, and my BP had dropped due to low carbing. I've had to come off it altogether because it was dropping my BP into my boots.

@Lougle I am so with you on the carbs ‘don’t make me feel good’…. I started low carb lite last week which is how I’m going to do it (basically keeping fruit) and I felt amazing, plus saw an immediate difference.
This week it’s on hold as we’re on a large-group camping week where everything is mass catered: cereal for breakfast, packed lunches, lasagne for supper etc… After two days I feel digestively pretty awful! It’s been a helpful ‘proof’ to me that this carby way of eating genuinely does me no favours and so I can’t wait to get back to it…. I think this experience will give me confidence when people no doubt presume I’m just following a fad!

Hi, I am joining in but just for the health benefits and not weight loss. I suffer from interstitial cystitis and am in a lot of pain which goes when I follow low carb. Following meal ideas and general support, so thank you BIWI
for this thread.

Wait, wait… I can have tomatoes? Soaked in herby olive oil? My life is complete. I never noticed they were on the green list, I just assumed they’d be a no-go. My salads are happier already.

I spent a he night in the bathroom about every 90 mins so I’m a bit knackered. A couple of times I had to get back up again before I’d properly fallen asleep from my previous trip.

this morning I had Greek yoghurt, and in a while I’m going to see a client. Usually this would end in Starbucks but I’ve packed a flask of coffee, some cream in a jar and a feta salad. Will eat all these and n the park before driving home.

@StuntNun and @venusandmars thanks for handy tips.

Heaps of fizzy water here,just remembered I have mint growing in the garden so will crush it and there’s my drink sorted. I was looking at halloumi but never had it before so will need to try it.

B: curd cheese with chives and creme fraiche, good dollop of Lidl’s Greek yoghurt (probably the best you can get)

Funny enough no sore muscles today after last night’s session

Off to entertain my offspring now, day 3246 of school holidays ;)

@Lougle wow 9 inches is a lot, at almost 54 I'd be content with half. My starting size is the same so your loss is a good gauge.

I've a telephone appointment with my Dr in a few weeks' time so I'll mention. My BP machine has an app which exports the results to excel, and I submit my readings to my Drs every few months so they can monitor. Since putting on just over a stone since Christmas my BP has crept up so fingers crossed I can lose enough weight that I don't need to up my meds

@Rshard @FancyFelix
Thanks for the takeaway suggestions. My local Indian does some of its food in a chill cabinet too so lists the nutrients. I checked them last night and Chicken Korma and Chicken Tikka Masala seem to be BC compatible so now I have options for when temptation strikes. They do a nice cauliflower side if I don’t fancy my cauliflower rice.

i didn’t fancy breakfast this morning before dropping DS to his camp so I went to a cafe afterwards because there is no way I could shop on an empty stomach.
Fried eggs with spinach and mushroom. Black coffee and they put a litre carafe of water on the table which I am working my way through.
Lunch will be tuna mayo lettuce wraps because I could finish all the tuna mayo I prepared yesterday.
Dinner will be steak and kale for me Steak, mash potatoes and kale for the rest of the family except my pescatarian who will have cod.

I am snacking in the evening which is a habit I am hoping to drop but for now I am getting hungry then so have some combination of cheese/pate/olives/gherkins/celery/smoked aubergine.

I was looking at an Aubergine Parmigiana recipe last night that seems BC compliant so might try that later in the week.

B- scrambled eggs, one sausage, wilted spinich. Iced latte (home made no sugar)
L- I’m going to make whipped feta with crudités
D- Thai curry no rice.

no Diet Coke and no alcohol. No alcohol for 2 weeks!

@WhoAteTheChips hope you’re ok?
I have an online heath check coming up, which will give me a half decent of slightly delayed starting point.

So far today I have had to leave two meetings halfway through in order to go and have a wee!

Woohoo! Already down 2lb which means that I am back below 13 stone

Some of that will be due to the multiple trips to the loo over yesterday and especially overnight. For newbies to this WoE (Way of Eating), these multiple trips to the loo and broken sleep do settle down as your body releases the water from its glycogen stores (I think I got the reason right ) and your kidneys (and brain) get used to the increased water intake.

I have a terrible habit of forgetting to drink so I have made it a rule that whenever I go for a wee I get another drink of water before I head back to work.

@Mirrorsforyou here's a technique I use which you might find helpful. I have a large bottle which contains 750ml and I aim to dink min 4 bottles a day. I can't have my morning coffee until I have one drank, the second one has to be finished before I have my breakfast an hour or so later and the third before my lunch. It kind of bookmarks the reminders for me throughout the morning. The last thing I feel like having first thing is a big bottle of water but knowing I can't have my coffee (which I actually want) until I do makes me do it, and actually it's not too bad once I just get stuck in. I'll have my 4th and possibly a 5th between lunch and bedtime. I also find front loading the day with water consumption helps with all the overnight weeing

@Mirrorsforyou I also have a 750ml bottle. My DH brings me a cup of tea in the morning (lucky!) So I make sure I drink that and a whole bottle of water before I get up.

When I started in May, I had the reminder on my water drinking app turned on, so I got a sound of a tap filling a glass every so often. Now I've turned it off because I've got so used to drinking regularly that I have had the water before the reminder.

I've set a repeat alarm on my phone, every time it goes I refill my water glass (250ml). If it's not already empty I drink the remainder. I feel that it also helps me to get up from my desk every hour. I am determined that this bootcamp I WILL drink all the water. I also have a few mugs of herbal tea, and one coffee, but still trying to keep to the water as a routine. According to the table I don't need vast quantities of water, but inspired by @Lougle 's 3-4 litre, and the success you are having, so will up my water this time round.

@FancyFelix no Leon outlets here in Scotland :( the nearest is apparently in Harrogate!

@rushka I'm 100% with you on digestion. On this woe my guts are really quiet and calm. With lots of carb comes lots of wind (none of it trapped!).

@loopylu26 Before I ever did low carb I had catastrophically high blood pressure. Through various hard work approaches (no salt, very little meat, no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol) I lost weight and combined with medication reduced my blood pressure to an acceptable level. My GP's approach was "don't worry if your BP rises again, there's always more medication we can give you". That doesn't sit very comfortably with me, so I investigated and found low carb, and after doing that on my own for a while, found @BIWI 's bootcamps. I now take a sub-clinical dose of medication (although strangely although it is not prescribed at that dose (I break a tablet in half), it serves to keep my BP stable and low - without it there's a lot of fluctuation.

However, sadly my GP is not at all interested in low carb. He justs says' well you've lots weight and you must be exercising more (I am definitely not - I hate exercise)

Feeling tired this afternoon. Feel like I'm in hibernation mode waiting for initial side effects to properly kick in then hopefully wear off - early night for me this evening!

In anticipation of the dreaded headaches, I ordered High5 Zero on Amazon yesterday, they arrived earlier and I've had one dose and it's really helped this afternoon. It may be too early for these, but it's definitely made me feel better.

Love the idea of front loading the water to earlier in the day to avoid the night toilet trips.

@venusandmars I've had high BP for nearly 25 years after getting glandular fever in my 30s. I've battled to keep it as low as I could with healthy(ish) lifestyle but it became worse with the stress of lockdown plus being menopausal so I gave in and finally asked for the meds. My Dr is the opposite of yours and prefers not to pull out the prescription pad. My BP was so high by that time that the machine in the surgery wouldn't work so it had to be taken the old fashioned manual way.

@5thWisdom I'm the same, headache yesterday and today. I ordered some High5 Zero earlier today so hoping they'll help. Ordered some top up Gaviscon too, as awful heartburn past 2 days

@bella1426 Great idea drinking majority of water earlier - I was up twice in the night!

I'm loving all the tips so far! Early NSV (!) today - I had breakfast at my normal time, went to work and suddenly it was 3.30 pm and I hadn't even thought about lunch! I'm not sure that's exactly within the rules of the first two weeks (it wasn't intentional, I genuinely didn't notice the time) but it's still pretty amazing to me, I'm usually ready to eat my desk by lunchtime.

B: Greek yoghurt, coffee with cream
L: random bits from the fridge that needed using - big pile of salad, slice of ham, bit of tuna mayonnaise, bit of coleslaw
D: will be creamy salmon courgetti with other random veg

Water: lost track but either 2.5 or 2.9 L.

Got through the day, but have been pretty low energy. Looking forward to when it all comes together and I feel fabulous!

B- smoothie with Greek yogurt, avocado, flax seed and protein powder. I now realise the protein powder won't be allowed. It's v low carb but v processed. Won't do it again!
L - spinach gratin and salad
D - mozzarella, avocado, olives, salad, fried courgettes in butter
A shed load of water

B cold roast beef and cucumber
L roasted courgette salad
D lamb Balti with more roasted courgettes

Water 4 litres - and celebratory balloons on my water tracker app!

@FancyFelix I like Twinings Buttermint tea when I have a taste for something sweet.

Sounds like everyone is doing so well already and I’m so pleased tomatoes are on the green list!
some lovely recipe ideas here so far so thanks everyone.

I properly started today as had an event yesterday
B - scrambled egg with mushrooms and spinach cooked in butter
L - Greek yoghurt, olives, babybel
D - roasted salmon and broccoli with melted butter
S - 3 cherry tomatoes

2 cups of green tea this morning, lots of water - not kept an eye on actual amount but I know I’ve drunk loads as I haven’t stopped going to toilet!

does anyone have any good air fryer recipes?