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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
Skiphopbump · 19/10/2022 03:41

Good luck with getting your blood sugars down @ZiggZagg . My hba1c was 47 a couple of weeks ago which prompted me to start bootcamp a week earlier than planned. My GP has booked in another blood test in March, apart from a few days off around Christmas I’m planning to stick to bootcamp around then.

@ShineOnYouLikeMorningStar i haven’t noticed that it’s linked to my menstrual cycle but tracking is a good idea so will start doing that.

ShineOnYouLikeMorningStar · 19/10/2022 06:09

@Skiphopbump if you're going to track it, & as you're paying attention to diet as well, I'd recommend you keep a note of food each day. I had to do this a while ago & got a diary just to record food, sleep, pain, periods etc in, it did help in my case.

Rshard · 19/10/2022 06:41

You’ve got this @ZiggZagg , still hard to hear though I bet.

Frenchpoodle · 19/10/2022 06:52

💐for @ZiggZagg Hopefully this way of eating is going to help.
Loving all the meal inspo on this thread. Yesterday I had:
B: rollitos
L: chicken thigh with broccoli, artichoke hearts, olives and salad
D: I’m away working, so had a lovey Turkish meal of chopped salad, yoghurt, aubergine meze and halloumi - absolutely delicious. And I ignored the free bread 😁

Backstreets · 19/10/2022 06:55

Good morning all! Away on a conference today with lunch included (terrible if I know the venue right, not missing out) so I spent the morning scrambling eggs to bring with me. According to scales I’m on track :) makes what I suspect was a touch of keto flu yesterday worth it.
also booked a spinning class tonight - telling you all to keep myself accountable so I won’t cancel at last minute and curl up under the blanket!

Mercedesbenz2022 · 19/10/2022 08:10

Morning !
chin up @ZiggZagg , you got this ! You are already getting into the right was of eating so koko x

2lb down this morning , gives little dance 💃🏻

nothing much in for lunch so tin tuna and some salad from supermarket today

tea will be cod in Parma ham and shoogled sprouts , one of my favourite meals so looking forward to that

koko , drink the water !

agnesmartin · 19/10/2022 08:14

Thanks @FinallyHere. I guess we know the Bootcamp Rules work if you follow them, great to hear the insulin monitor agrees. Sounds like you've been making brilliant progress and hopefully slow and steady means a real and permanent shift of how you eat. I'd love to get there. Am hopefully on the way. Visceral fat be gone! Or at least shrunk.

Food for today:

B: bacon and halloumi
L: lowest carb soup I can find in a cafe full of delicious cakes ...
S: chilli, cheese and shredded cabbage

Woke up twice last night desperate for the loo.

debka · 19/10/2022 08:28

@ZiggZagg bugger for your diagnosis. Did they tell you what your Hba1c was? There's a lot of evidence that it can be reversed with weight loss and radical diet changes, and boot camp is exactly the changes required. Best of luck Flowers

2 days done and I'm feeling fine, sleeping remarkably well. Food today:
B- yoghurt
L- salad, chicken, avocado
D- gammon and cauliflower cheese

I've promised the kids yo sushi on Friday. Does anyone know of there's anything low carb on the menu? I suspect it might be a bit challenging!

BIWI · 19/10/2022 08:34

Yo Sushi isn't the easiest place to low carb!

Looking at their menu it looks like salmon/tuna sashimi, salmon ponzu salsa sashimi and tuna tataki will be your lowest carb options. After that - chicken/beef/mushroom teryaki.

I'd eat before you go, so you're not tempted!

CherryogDog · 19/10/2022 08:35

@Skiphopbump sorry to hear you've been unwell.
I had horrendous stomach pains that tied in with my cycle so original investigations were gynae. Long story short, it turned out to be diverticular disease which didn't show up on any scans or xrays but needed a colonoscopy to confirm.
I've not had a very good start to boot camp (although I have managed to keep up with the thread for a change, does that count as a non weight loss win 😁) but the last of my carby food will be eaten for lunch and then I'm knuckling down
I really struggle with the water, I have a bladder prolapse so I'm always a bit leaky and go through bouts of nocturia.

Lolojojonesi · 19/10/2022 08:38

Sorry to hear about your diabetes @ZiggZagg - though so great that you are already tackling it with bootcamp. Sorry too to hear about @Skiphopbump - I had similar symptoms and it turned out to be an ovarian cyst, but I suppose they'd have seen that on the MRI?

Had a whoosh this morning, and lost 3lbs already - I know it's water weight but SO motivating.
Yesterday I had B - soy milk latte, egg bake, L - chicken salad followed by Greek yoghurt then D- another chicken salad with feta this time, as we had a powercut and I couldn't cook.

Chocasaurus · 19/10/2022 08:44

Please send help, terrible nights sleep and up with DD between 2 and 5, and didn't manage to go back to sleep after she did. Call of carbs is strong this morning but have had some Greek yoghurt and a coffee. Going to be a loong day 😴

prettybird · 19/10/2022 08:48

You've got this @Chocasaurus Flowers

Have another Greek yoghurt if you need it (with cinnamon if you like it). Maybe boil a few eggs so you've got them available for a snack if you're tempted. M

And drink a water or gave a herb tea first every time you feel the call of carbs.

OP posts:
StuntNun · 19/10/2022 08:54

@DurhamDurham I ate nine eggs in a day once when I tried the eggs fast! I love eggs but I probably wouldn't eat more than four in a normal day I'm not making any promises though!

Canthinkofaname79 · 19/10/2022 09:33

Rubbish nights sleep here too, dog needed to go out at 4am then I couldn't get back to sleep. Having our heating ripped out too this week so currently no power or water!
I have lost 1.6lb already though! Very happy. Need more water but currently haven't got any! I do have a coffee though.

venusandmars · 19/10/2022 09:38

There seems to be lots of good cheer and motivation on here today. I've got no excuse not to drink all the water as I'm mostly wfh (brief meeting to attend in the afternoon). Chicken salad for breakfast with a creamy coffee; eggs and salad for lunch; slow cooked sausage casserole for dinner.

Looking after dgc tomorrow which will mean a very early start. Probably 2nd breakfast in a cafe and then chicken rolls for picnic lunch (I'll have chicken salad). Chicken and veg soup to round the day off.

Canthinkofaname79 · 19/10/2022 09:55

Lots of lovely inspiring food on here! I'm definitely going to make some soup at the weekend.

UnOeufIsEnough · 19/10/2022 09:58

@Chocasaurus I remember those days well! Too easy to fall into sugar and caffeine to cope 😬

Stay strong! Protein, fat and lots of caffeine!

FinallyHere · 19/10/2022 10:29

@debka

yo sushi on Friday. Does anyone know of there's anything suitable for Bootcamp

Japanese food is one of my favourite treats. I'd eat a ginormous salad of FLGV for lunch then as BIWI already mentioned stick to sashimi.

I'm known in our local Japanese for only ever ordering salmon sashimi. If we have takeaway, then I happy over order knowing it will be delicious ad scrambled eggs and smoked salmon the next day. Again, with spinach as just salmon doesn't suit my digestion so well.

ditavonteesed · 19/10/2022 10:33

@Chocasaurus lots of sympathy, have a nice cuppa.

I'm still feeling rather sorry for myself this morning, managed to walk dogs and go to shop which is most I've done all week and I'm exhausted. Just sitting down with a cup of buttermint tea and married at first sight.

Had scrambled eggs this morning. Weight is down but I think that's just because I couldn't really eat at all yesterday. My mouth feels really weird, not painful just sort of not right. Bought haddock for later as I might be able to manage fish. I e cancelled my pt session on Friday as I'm not convinced I'll be better.

I did however treat myself to some new shoes to cheer myself up, dh says he'll take me out for dinner when I'm Better and that I ought to buy myself a new dress for the occasion. He's a good one.

NotDonna · 19/10/2022 11:57

@Mercedesbenz2022 ehat are shingled sprouts please? Nothing came up when I googled it.

Chocasaurus · 19/10/2022 12:18

Thanks @prettybird @ditavonteesed @UnOeufIsEnough DD is 20months and used to be a great sleeper so v frustrating it's all gone to pot lately, and can't work out why 😣

I've stayed strong though and just about to have lunch- mushrooms fried in butter, scrambled egg with cream and wilted spinach with a bit more butter! And no doubt another coffee. V thirsty today (not sure if lack of sleep related or not) but at least I'm on track with that.

@ditavonteesed hope you're feeling better soon and DH sounds like a good egg 🥚

humancalculator · 19/10/2022 12:23

Keeping a glass by the kitchen sink and one by the bathroom sink (250ml each). Whenever I’m by one or the other it’s time for a refill!
Made a big pan of shakshuka and that’s serving for breakfast and lunch. Lots of feta on top. Also half an avocado.

Rshard · 19/10/2022 12:35

Well done for resisting the lure of carbs @Chocasaurus !

Your dh is definitely a keeper @ditavonteesed

Am a bit jealous of the sushi/sashimi chat, our Yo Sushi branch didn’t reopen after lockdown 1 sadly.

Mercedesbenz2022 · 19/10/2022 13:04

@NotDonna
shoogled sprouts are cooked in mwave and butter added ( shoogled means shaken )
thanks to @prettybird as she passed her wisdom to bootcampers and now it’s pretty standard dish with lots of us

it’s easy and quick and it’s green veg ! Win win win