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Low-carb bootcamp

Join discussions about low-carb bootcamp plans, meals and progress. Consider speaking to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Pre-Christmas BootCamp 2022: Week 1

491 replies

prettybird · 17/10/2022 01:02

While @BIWI takes a well-earned break from running BootCamp after many, many years of supporting people in this Way of Eating I have, for my sins, volunteered to run the Pre-Christmans BootCamp Shock. I'll admit to only doing so for selfish reasons: I needed the BootCamp in the run up to Christmas and the accountability of running it would in turn help me to be more accountable Grin

My Big Stick might not be as big as @BIWI's but I will do my best to channel her Wink. And with the support of all the other experienced BootCampers and @FinallyHere's help with the Spreadsheet, I am sure we will see a lot of success in the run up to Christmas.Smile

Here is the link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness You don't need to log your weight if you don't need to but within the various tabs of the Spreadsheet are The Rules ( very important), Vegetarian Rules links to resources that outline how and why this Way of Eating works, menu plans, veg carb counters and many other resources.

I'd strongly recommend that even if you don't weigh yourself (and even if you do), you should measure yourself at the start, especially your waist. That way, if your weight loss stalls, you may still see progress in other ways. BootCamp is very effective at reducing visceral fat, which will manifest itself in a smaller waist measurement.

Anyway, on to the important stuff: here are The Rules

1. Eat three proper meals a day.
You must eat breakfast. It doesn’t have to be a lot, and it doesn’t have to be absolutely first thing, but you must have something. For the rest of the day, if you’re eating enough food and especially enough fat, you shouldn’t be hungry between meals. But if you are hungry, eat something. (Hard boiled eggs make a great snack). After the first two weeks of Bootcamp we will relax this, but these two weeks are critical in terms of helping you switch easily to a low carb way of eating - and if you start to feel hungry, it makes things much harder! Eating this way will ensure that your blood sugar levels are kept stable, which will mean that you are much less likely to experience hunger. A typical high carbohydrate diet can mean that snacking is a routine part of your day. Once your blood sugar levels are stable, by eating low carb, you should find that you no longer want to snack. But the rule of thumb here is ‘if you are hungry, eat!’. (Just make sure you are only choosing low carb snacks, of course!)"

2. Avoid processed foods.
Focus on pure, natural protein as the basis for your meals - meat/fish/eggs. Things like sausages, ham, bacon, pre-prepared burgers etc should be avoided as much as possible. You can have them, but just not at every meal, every day.

3. Eat lots of fat.
Eating fat will not make you fat. Honestly! But it will keep your appetite satisfied, and it sustains your body’s energy requirements perfectly. Fat does not provoke an insulin spike, unlike carbs which do (a lot) and protein (a little). Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though, as this is too sweet), add mayonnaise where you can (just check the carb count on your mayo first). Eat fattier cuts of meat – e.g. pork belly, roast chicken with the skin on and/or eat the fat off your lamb chops. Absolutely no low fat/light/’Lite’ foods of any kind!

4. Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food.
"This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable. But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list. Make sure that you focus on eating those vegetables that are under 5g carb per 100g, and this will ensure that your carb counts are kept low. You don’t have to weigh/count carbs – this is one of the great joys of this WOE (way of eating), but if you’re new to low carbing it can be helpful to weigh your portions of veg in the early days, just so that you know how many carbs are in the sort of portions that you like to eat.

The vegetable carb counter is helpfully colour-coded into green (eat freely), amber (go easy) and red (best avoided as much as possible), which will help you to make your choices."

5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited).
Dairy can impede weight loss for some people. If you are drinking tea/coffee with milk or cream, try to restrict yourself to max 2 cups per day. There are a lot of carbs in milk, so if you are having several cups of tea/coffee per day, you will quickly rack up your daily carb count (e.g. 1 medium latte contains more than 12g carbs!) You may eat cheese but again, don't overdo it. Full fat yoghurt is the best way to include dairy in your diet - but beware, it does contain carbs. You should choose one that’s 10% fat – most of the supermarkets have a Greek yoghurt in their premium ranges with this amount of fat.

6. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.
The more weight you have to lose, the more water you should drink.

This is from www.low-carbdiet.co.uk/:

Water is essential to weight loss for those who follow a low carb way of eating. The minimum consumed in a day should be:
Your Weight.........Litres
140lbs............2.5
160lbs............3.0
180lbs............3.0
200lbs............3.5
220lbs............3.5
240lbs............4.0
260lbs............4.5
280lbs............4.5
300lbs............5.0
320lbs............5.5
340lbs............5.5
360lbs............6.0
380lbs............6.5
400lbs............6.5
"High levels of ketones in the blood stream can lead to a reduction in ketone production, therefore being well hydrated could aid in keeping the levels low and ketone production ongoing. Consuming enough water can have many other positive side effects, e.g. it aids your kidneys with the processing of protein, reduces the retention of water, helps with preventing constipation, and reduces the levels of ketones released by your breath, which in turn will reduce breath odour.

However, drinking a lot of water can mean that you also need to keep an eye on your electrolyte balance. You need to make sure that you are consuming sufficient sodium and potassium. On a low carb way of eating, we should eat more salt, so make sure that you are cooking with salt and adding salt to food, if you like it.

Good, low carb, sources of potassium are spinach (raw), avocado, mushrooms, courgettes and asparagus, as well as salmon and yoghurt."

7. No alcohol.
Alcohol is the easiest source of fuel for the body to burn, so it will always use this first before it starts to burn any fat - which is why you need to restrict it, especially in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, when we are encouraging the body to stop using carbs for its source of fuel and turn to fat-burning instead. If you really can't do this - at least try and restrict it to the weekend. Vodka with soda is the best thing to drink. Or Champagne, red wine or dry white wine.

8. No fruit.
Really. Seriously. Honestly. None at all. Zilch. Nada. After the first two weeks of Bootcamp you will be able to introduce certain fruits, in moderation, but at this stage fruit is simply too carby. We are also trying to break the addiction to sweet things, so cutting fruit out is part of this process. If you are getting all your carbs from vegetables and salad, you will be getting all the nutrients and fibre that you need.

9. No nuts/seeds.
Although they are a good source of nutrition and contain lots of fat – which is great for us – they also contain carbohydrate and, because they’re so moreish, you can quickly end up eating a lot of carbs. When we move to Bootcamp Light, after the first two weeks, you can re-introduce these, but be careful and go easy.

10. No sugar or artificial sweeteners.
Sugar is an obvious ‘no no’, but artificial sweeteners are also an issue. One of the aims of this way of eating is to eat pure and natural foods, so including sweeteners is not recommended. Some people find that artificial sweeteners can impede their weight loss, and there is some suggestion that your body can respond to sweeteners as if they were sugar, by releasing more insulin - and therefore laying down fat. Given that the aim of Bootcamp is to help us lose our sweet tooth and addiction to sweet things, then it is a good idea to avoid sweeteners altogether in this first two weeks.

That's enough for now. I'll post more in the morning: in particular the disclaimer that I am not a medical professional and that if you have any concerns, you should check with a medical professional.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
agnesmartin · 18/10/2022 14:19

stuntnun You are my hero! Hadn't thought of making my own for some reason, and the Brie addition sounds delightfully moreish. Don't have microwave but am sure can do similar under grill. Thank you!

shiphopbump Hope you feel better soon and great work resisting the sandwiches.

I am still low on veg as waiting for supermarket delivery tonight.

B: leftover steak and olives and some cheese
L: tuna mayo and avocado and cheese
D: hopefully I'll get time to make chilli with cabbage, else it'll be picky food again.

But the hungry caterpillar has gone for now (even though period is imminent). Didn't wake until 5am and went back to sleep without snacking (vs at 3am with stomach demanding food before it'll let me go back to sleep). Early days but will take that as a result.

Don't feel exhausted. Bonus.

I remembered to have some salt first thing with my first glasses of water - replacing those electrolytes - which I think helped. No headache so far.

And it's not raining today! I work outdoors mostly (in SW Scotland) so this is rare and beautiful thing in autumn/winter months.

Out for bday treat with mum tomorrow. Would normally involve cake. I shall just have a (hopefully) low carb soup and avoid the bread.

Well done everyone. There's a bit to get your head round at the start but it's so worth it!

BIWI · 18/10/2022 14:21

Sorry to hear of woes @Skiphopbump and @ditavonteesed Flowers

SynchroSpaceDragon · 18/10/2022 15:29

Yes hope you are feeling better soon @Skiphopbump The tooth sounds very painful @ditavonteesed . Do come back when you are feeling better, your posts are very inspiring.
It's taken me a while to catch up with the thread but already so many good ideas and I'm learning a lot.

Having found some old threads, I started following bootcamp rules early and lost over 7lb in two weeks! Then things flatlined but I expect it is due to me not keeping on top of the water and letting the rules slide slightly, so it's good to be in a place where accountability is required and the water reminders are frequent!
I have the opposite problem to @debka (I think) as I keep waking up at stupid o'clock. I don't think I have slept past 5.30am since starting low carb. Mind you, I don't feel tired at all, I'm full of beans which is apparently "very annoying" (to channel my teens and DH).
Thanks to @prettybird and @FinallyHere for organising this BC and to @BIWI for the resources.

BIWI · 18/10/2022 15:39

@SynchroSpaceDragon it's very, very, VERY common to see weight loss tail off/stop (even reverse) in weeks 3 and 4 - sometimes even in week 5. So nothing to do with what you're doing - assuming you're following the rules of course! You know it works, if you lost half a stone in two weeks, so our general advice is just to KOKO - keep on keeping on!

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/10/2022 15:42

@StuntNun selfishly I'm glad someone else can't wat those fibre-fest foods. Try saying that three times fast. I thought everyone else was so lucky. I suppose it keeps us off the 'fake food' train.

Today:

B: nothing (LT)
L: chicken leg with courgette and tomato (and lashings of butter)
D: steak and whatever veg and fat looks good. Probably blue cheese and spinach

LesLavandes · 18/10/2022 15:44

What are 'shoogled sprouts'? I have sprouts and want to shoogle them!

Is there a section somewhere with low carb recipes?

JudyBlumesBlubber · 18/10/2022 15:46

@Skiphopbump i hope you’re soon feeling well but given the circumstances a sandwich from your hospital bed is not the worst thing. Anyone would struggle to eat properly when in that situation.

It’s only day 2 and I’m still in the game. I’m doing okay (no breakfast due to circumstances and 3 egg omelette for lunch) but not enough water. I must focus on this.

ditavonteesed · 18/10/2022 16:03

@LesLavandes put the sprouts in a bowl with tons of lovely butter on top, microwave for 2 minutes, then shake them up and put salt and pepper on, microwave for another 2 minutes. They are amazing. I think it was @prettybird that introduced them.

SynchroSpaceDragon · 18/10/2022 16:05

Thanks @BIWI That's good to know! I'll KOKO... and also drink more water as I'm definitely guilty of letting that slide.

LesLavandes · 18/10/2022 16:05

Thank you v much!

ShineOnYouLikeMorningStar · 18/10/2022 16:19

Afternoon all. Hope @Skiphopbump & @ditavonteesed feel better soon.

I’m finding I feel a bit nauseous if I eat breakfast, lunch & dinner, I’ve never really been a “3 meals a day” sort of person. I usually skip either breakfast or lunch & feel much better. I’ve been on low carb a few weeks so is it ok if I just go back to 2 a day or occasionally fast until evening?

Anyway, today:
Boiled eggs with asparagus
Cheese, salad, a pickled onion
Sausage & vegetable casserole tonight, I have got turnip, loads of kale, some leeks, pepper, & celery to put in. And half a tin of tomatoes.

Annoyed about the boiled egg. My egg cooker betrayed me for the first time ever & overcooked them.

LiesDoNotBecomeUs · 18/10/2022 16:35

No eggs today! The farm lady has not yet delivered :(

Today's menu
10% fat Greek yogurt - cream -black coffee (really good ground coffee using my son's coffee dripper and grinder... he is a coffee nerd and I hate to encourage him but it was amazing)

Slices of chorizo (toasted) with cherry tomatoes and colslaw (made with good mayo) pork scratchings (I would have added halloumi to the chorizo but having had dairy for breakfast due to our egg-dessert-conditions I held off.)
tea with milk
2 litres of water so far.

Probably:
Salmon roasted in olive oil and veg (probably roasted sprouts/asparagus)
a tea with milk
and more water

LiesDoNotBecomeUs · 18/10/2022 16:36

egg-desert!

ditavonteesed · 18/10/2022 16:49

@ShineOnYouLikeMorningStar what on earth is an egg cooker and do I need one?

prettybird · 18/10/2022 17:16

@ChimneyPot - the bread and rolls from the Seriously Carb Company are, I believe, ok to have in the first 2 weeks. It's is however expensive and you also need to keep it in the freezer as it goes mouldy quickly. I've never tried it though.

After the first two weeks there are various recipes using physilum husk/almond flour that you can try making yourself

@Lucienandjean Welcome back Flowers

@ZiggZagg I'm impressed at your preparations for tasty meals planned Smile

@Backstreets - I'll just say "Water, water, water" to you Wink

@Rocklobstershell - I also find that this WOE gives me more energy - and definitely stops the dreadful highs and lows and stopping the mid-afternoon slump (I used to be notorious for falling asleep in early afternoon meetings Blush)

@Skiphopbump - sorry to hear about that Sad and hope they manage to establish what's causing the pain.

@ditavonteesed - sorry about your tooth. We'll still be here when you're ready to come back. You've made sooooo much progress.

@agnesmartin I often alternate my pints of water with an electrolyte pint - one to which I've added a shake of Lo-Salt (for the magnesium) and a squoosh of lemon juice (to make it more palatable)

@SynchroSpaceDragon - depending on when you started, you could just have hit the dreaded Weeks 3, 4 and sometimes even 5 plateau (Week 4 is the most common). Just KOKO and your progress will resume. If you want to detail what you've been eating, we can see if anything jumps out at us that you need to fine tune. But you're right: water makes such a difference. (I've now seen that BIWI has already told you this. Wink)

@LesLavandes - I see that @ditavonteesed has already provided the "recipe" for shoogled sprouts Grin. The same process works for cauliflower, baby sweet corn, broccoli, sliced cabbage - but there is something about shoogled sprouts that makes them extra delicious (they're ice cold too). There are various recipe threads for veg/chicken/beef/lamb etc. When I've finished this post I'll do links to them. BTW: "shoogled" just means "shaken" in Scottish - that's where the name comes from Grin

OP posts:
prettybird · 18/10/2022 17:17

Vegetarian Low Carb Recipes http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/3146576-Vegetarian-Low-Carb-Recipes

OP posts:
prettybird · 18/10/2022 17:18

Low Carb Meat recipes (beef/pork/lamb/venison) http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/3148498-Low-Carb-Meat-recipes-beef-pork-lamb-venison

OP posts:
prettybird · 18/10/2022 17:19

Low carb recipes for chicken/duck (and other poultry) http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/3153013-Low-carb-recipes-for-chicken-duck-and-other-poultry

OP posts:
prettybird · 18/10/2022 17:21

For after the first two weeks of Boot Camp Wink

Desserts and other sweet things Recipe thread http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/3409598-Desserts-and-other-sweet-things-Recipe-thread

OP posts:
prettybird · 18/10/2022 17:21

Low carb fish and seafood recipes http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/lowcarbb_bootcamp/3171876-Low-carb-fish-and-seafood-recipes

OP posts:
Skiphopbump · 18/10/2022 17:44

Thanks all for the well wishes. I had an abdominal CT and all looked normal which is positive but means we have no clue why every few weeks for the last year I’ve have been having horrendous pains - the first time it was worse than labour! Maybe it won’t happen again if I’m lucky.

@ditavonteesed I hope you heal quickly.

I bought a couple of cheese strings and a pack of fridge raiders on the way out of the hospital. I’ve decided that I don’t like cheese strings anymore! I quite fancy an omelette for dinner so will get on with that soon as I need some sleep.

Skiphopbump · 18/10/2022 17:50

I have a non scale victory - my watch is comfortable on the third hole, when that hole is too tight I know I’ve gained too much weight!

FinallyHere · 18/10/2022 18:04

@LesLavandes

The recipe threads are further down this 'low carb boot camp' area. Usually the thread title includes 'recipe' and then an indication of the type of recipes: veg, beef etc I'll have a go at links to some of them.

chicken, duck and other poultry recipe

vegetarian

To find these, I gave up scrolling down and searched all MN for low card recipe. Hope you find lots to interest you, the food and new recipes is one of my most favourite things about low carb book camp.

FinallyHere · 18/10/2022 18:06

Sorry @prettybird I should have scrolled to the end before starting to hunt for the recipe threads. This thread is moving fast, isn't it. Sign of a good LCBC :-)

ZiggZagg · 18/10/2022 18:08

So, after my escapades with the dr yesterday and getting blood taken, he has summoned me at 6.45pm Sad for the results! I'm really really hoping he's stayed late to tell me I'm fine Wink