Jan 2023 Low Carb Bootcamp - Week 1!

[BIWI]

Welcome everyone! We have over 160 people signed up this time, so things are going to move quickly.

Here's the link to The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness which has been carefully and lovingly curated by the very lovely @FinallyHere

There are a few bits of admin that I need to post before we get going. The first of which is the usual disclaimer:

I am not a medic, a scientist, a dietician or a nutritionist. Everything that I post here is based on my reading and my own experiences of low carbing gained over the last 20 years. You follow the guidance here at your own risk - although I very much hope that there are no risks!

Very importantly, though, if you are on any kind of long-term medication, please talk to your GP/nurse about low carbing. This is especially important if you're on drugs for hypertension, cholesterol and/or diabetes, as a low carb diet should have a positive impact on all of those conditions, which would mean that your dosage may need to be decreased, if not removed altogether.

The second is about etiquette:

Please, please, please read all the posts on the thread before you make your own post. These threads work so much better when we're all here interacting with each other, as that means we can offer help and support when it's needed. Don't just jump on the thread to plop down your meals for the day, your weight that day and then just fuck off. That doesn't help anyone.

More than anything else, it's incredibly irritating when someone posts a question which has already been answered early in the thread. I, and lots of other Bootcampers, spend a considerable amount of time responding to people's questions and concerns, and it's pretty insulting when it's obvious that these haven't been read.

(Oh, and it's very obvious if you haven't read the thread, so take that as a warning )

Well done everyone so far. I’m a bit headachy today too, so will try a bit of salt and lemon juice in water.

Hello everyone!
I'm 24 hours late to the low carb party as my daughter was unwell at the weekend and I didn't have time to go shopping or do any bootcamp prep, but I'm now ready to go! I've entered my weight on the spread sheet, I saw a few familiar names from last summer 😁

@Mercedesbenz2022

There's an explanation here

I know that @StuntNun takes them regularly, but I don't. But if you start to suffer from carb flu, then yes - take some!

I'm not surprised you're hungry if you've exercised and then only eaten some cheese! Why haven't you had any lunch? A piece of cheese doesn't count.

Remember - on this WOE we're not setting out to deprive ourselves. If you're hungry, then EAT! Especially in the first couple of weeks while your body is getting used to it. Otherwise, the risk is that you'll give in and have that piece of fruit.

@naemates In some ways, the number on your scales that you saw when you first weighed in doesn't matter - it's what the number says when you next weigh-in. i.e. the difference between weigh-in 1 and 2.

No point weighing yourselves on other scales as they are 100% guaranteed to be differently calibrated from yours.

(Plus the fact that, as I said earlier, if you weigh later in the day, all you're doing is weighing your clothes plus whatever you've eaten/drunk that day)

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have a favourite yoghurt brand for breakfast they'd recommend?

I had lamb stew with celeriac to bulk it out today - highly recommend the frozen cubes kind to lob into a casserole or make mash.

Hope everyone's doing well.

My favourite yoghurt is the Lidl full fat (ie dark blue writing on the lid) "authentic" Greek yoghurt. NB: not the "Greek style" yoghurt.

It's 10% fat and lovely and creamy - and not too expensive.

I have it with a generous pinch of cinnamon.

oh, I ate breakfast and lunch! my cheese eating was a snack substitute instead of ritz crackers and chocolate

Thanks @BIWI
well noted , I feel slightly headachy , but will see how it goes

So good to see such a busy thread, hoping the positive attitude rubs off on me
I've low-carbed a few times now, it works so well for me if I can stick to it. Was on a bootcamp in 2021 (I think) and lost about 14kg of the 30kg want to lose so hoping for similar success this time without the hideous retreat into fatness at the end! It's deffo easier with friends

Ah, I have some chopped celeriac in the freezer and hadn’t decided what to do with it yet!

I like the Tesco finest Greek yoghurt.

Ive been hungrier today - trying to have a drink first before a (low carb) snack as I know it’s mostly habit and boredom!

@Mercedesbenz2022 the most important of the electrolytes is sodium - what I often find on Bootcamp is that people aren't using much salt on their food, mainly because we're told it's bad for us. But on a low carb diet it's really important, so you need to make sure you're cooking with and also adding it to your food.

Hi all, good to know we are all off to a flying start! This is my third go at BC, although the last time I fell off the wagon early. I am determined to keep to LC WOE this time as I feel better doing it. I stopped drinking alcohol 9 days ago and so far not missing it - alcohol and chocolate are my weakness. I don't feel any deprivation so far - not a big breakfast-eater having done 16-8 for years, so just have a few spoons of greek yoghurt in the morning with a creamy coffee, a huge rocket/olive salad with a couple of gherkins for lunch, dinner last night was sausages and roasted veg, tonight will be baked egg/cream/cheee souffle things with roasted pepper and courgette. Drinking plenty of water and peppermint tea.
But, tomorrow is my birthday and I will struggle not to be tempted!

@QforCucumber you have my utmost sympathies. My almost 4 year old ds doesn't sleep through and it's a killer.

My 8 year old dd on the other hand loves her bed and goes to bed at 630 most nights and sleeps til 7!

I think my son has been sent to test me!!

What should you do if you’re just not hungry? Can I skip dinner? I’m really not hungry at all.

Ah shit! I ate a small handful of blueberries after dinner (decided on the cauliflower kedgerre in the end) 😬 I thought we are allowed berries but that's not til after the first two weeks. Crap. Oh well I've been very low carb today so hopefully it wont make much of a difference.

Drank my water already, I'm really surprised how easy I'm finding that, I thought 3ltrs would be hard. The lemon juice makes it much nicer too!

@Rayna37 If you are happy with 5% plain yogurt, Arla do a 5% fat skyr in 450g tubs. It's £1.25 in most supermarkets at the minute or 2 for £2.50 but it's nearly always on offer somewhere. It's 3.9g carb per 100g so similar to fage..not quite as delicious but a good bit cheaper.
Alpro also do a zero carb plain soya yogurt that I'm going to try this week. It's quite low fat so I'll mix it with some 5 or 10% Greek yogurt to bulk it out.

@CarbyLite - if you are absolutely confident that you won't end up hungry, then yes, you can skip a meal (many of the more experienced BCers intermittent and longer fast anyway).

If you've not been doing this WoE long, make sure you've got something HFLC to eat - eg some boiled eggs - in case you do feel hungry. That's when it's easy to fall face first into comforting carb ms

Great tip thanks- I think I had it once and liked it but then only seemed to see fat free skyr in the shops so forgot about it and stopped looking. I've googled it so I know what I'm looking for now!

Carbylite - possibly a bit early in the day to declare you're not hungry for dinner- you might not be now but be prepared to want something by 7/8pm!

Checking in for the day.

I have had
B: 10% Greek yogurt and will def try adding some cinnamon tomorrow. I do like it plain. I've been having it for a year or so but with a huge serving of granola .
My go to is Aldi Greek yogurt (not Greek style) 10%.

Lunch is always a bit trickier. I get it free at work so not always sure of ingredients. But they have a fab salad bar. So I have tuna mayo, some plain tuna too as not sure on mayo carb content, lettuce, boiled eggs, roasted mushrooms, some red cabbage, and some roasted veg full of olives. Delicious but not sure if any of that is not the best choice.

Dinner will be bolognese sauce on buttery courgetti.

I've been drinking more water since New Year's Day. And I've finally adjusted from weeing every 25 minutes or so and can now last 2 hours. Think I'm up to 2.5l today but being small think I only need 2 or so.

I think I'll have to get some sprouts. Never been a fan before but am tempted.

I’ve had the following today (am on bootcamp light)

Lunch - chicken thighs and salad, Greek yogurt with blueberries (about 7) and three strawberries and a touch of cream.
Dinner - sausages and salad
Snacks - two mini cheese and a mini pepperami

By half way through the last bootcamp I could stretch until about 2/3 o’clock until I needed lunch but at the moment I’m eating around half 12 to 1.

@MaryDoll84

Alpro also do a zero carb plain soya yogurt that I'm going to try this week

I really wouldn't advise this one - look at the ingredients list:

Soya Base (Water, Hulled Soya Beans (10.7%)),
Calcium (Tri-Calcium Citrate),
Acidity Regulators (Sodium Citrates, Citric Acid), Stabiliser (Pectins),
Natural Flavouring,
Sea Salt,
Antioxidants (Tocopherol-Rich Extract, Fatty Acid Esters of Ascorbic Acid), Vitamins (B12, D2),
Yogurt Cultures (S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus)

Compare that to Total 5%:

Pasteurised Skimmed Milk,
Cream (Milk),
Live Active Yoghurt Cultures (L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus L. Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. Casei)

Egg breakfast, halloumi lunch, soup dinner today. Water weight already coming off and easy to get back on the WoE. Bit challenging not to regulate emotions with food but at least everything I'm eating is delicious!

Today's food:
B: mushrooms, 2eggs, sprinkling of grated mozzarella, butter and truffle oil
L: tomato and cheese 3 egg omelette. Small portion of yogurt.
D: halloumi broccoli harissa sprouts with pancetta. Delicious!

Not the best day for water, need to keep going on that!

I've just made the most delicious dinner and I could easily have eaten 2 or 3 bowls of it!

Pork mince with loads of fennel seeds, chilli flakes, black pepper sea salt flakes and nutmeg
A shallot fried in butter with courgettes and green beans
All mixed together and topped off with some leftover Christmas Comte 😂

So so satisfying and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow (if OH doesn't have another portion...)