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 )

And again, you might want to look at your menu and see where you can add more fat, @SpottyBumPony - it all sounds lovely, but potentially is a bit low in fat.

I'd add cheese to your omelette, and make sure your salad has an oily dressing, as well as some mayo on the side. And make sure your broccoli is being roasted in plenty of oil!

Morning everyone. Sneaky jump on the scales - numbers going down, hurrah. Lunch out cancelled due to urgent errand across country so lunch on the road somewhere. Breakfast was streaky bacon and fried egg, dinner, cod and swede fries and brocolli. Son is cooking this evening so will be interested to see what he comes up with. I've explained the rules.

Dealing with the weekend

The weekend is always a dangerous time for low carbing! It's very tempting to open that bottle of wine, open the snacks, order a take-away/nip down to the pub ...

All of which is very dangerous if we're trying to keep our carbs low and our alcohol intake at zero!

With regard to alcohol, if you really can't go alcohol-free then try to keep your intake low, and drink dry wine or a clear spirit with a low calorie mixer.

But beware, if you're a gin/vodka and tonic drinker, that all the new/trendy 'light' tonics do have some sugar in them, and thus are much. more carby than if you could have Slimline tonic. (In my experience, fewer and fewer bars/pubs/restaurants stock the Slimline brand, and have brands like Fevertree, which aren't carb/calorie-free). In which case, try drinking something like rum and soda - choosing a golden rum like Mount Gay Eclipse. With some fresh lime in it, it's very palatable.

Remember that alcohol is the easiest source of fuel for your body, so all the time you're drinking it, you're not burning fat. Even if it's a low carb drink, this is still the case.

If you're going out, or ordering a take-away, try and look at the menu first, so you can make your choice before you've had a drink! It's very easy, once the alcohol starts, to think 'fuck it' and just order what you want/fancy.

Focus on how you'll feel on Monday morning, when you step on those scales, or take those measurements, or try on those too-tight trousers, if you find nothing has happened or, worse, you've gained.

Or just imagine I'm sitting next to you in the pub wielding The Big Stick

Lunch out isnt happening - secretly pleased as didn't want to stray too much.

I see pate mentioned - any recommendations? Fancy that with some celery as seen it mentioned a few times

My recommendation is STOP weighing daily or every other day and only do it weekly or fortnightly. It doesn’t help or show an accurate picture doing it so often.

I'm out shopping with my oldest child who, fortunately for me, selected Five Guys for lunch.

@MuthaHubbard I'm another one whose lunch got cancelled - at a vegan restaurant which was v difficult to navigate menu-wise

I ended up using the cavolo nero in chicken soup with loads of garlic and butter and shallots, with some celeriac to bullk it out. Not bad at all. I've also got a chicken carcass boiling away for stock. It needs to be boiled for 4-6 hrs to release the goodness from the bones so it's not cheap to make, but very good for you. I'm still under the weather and can't seem to kick this cough, so hoping all these nutrient rich food will help.

Wishing you all a good weekend.

@moleeye well done for staying on track, hope you feel better soon

@StuntNun I like the idea of home made Greek yogurt, I might try this. I have a very warm cupboard that might be a suitable place for yogurt making.

@greatly and @CarbyLite I've found that not daily weighing has made a big difference to the sustainability of this WOE in the longer term. In the past I've weighed daily, and obsessed a bit about wanting to see the number decreasing. Then if I went off piste, even for a day, it gave a big spike on the scales which, even though I knew it was water, would make me feel really unmotivated and down and often precipitated falling off the wagon completely.

Weighed at the start of this BC and my challenge now is to avoid weighing until the start of week 5! 5 days in, only 23 to go!

Family chinese takeaway tonight but I'm going to have leftovers from a previous indian takeaway (very LC things) that I have in the freezer.

B: had to be quick, so just 2 eggs scrambled with butter
L: impromptu decision to avoid yet another omelette and had shoogled broccoli and sprouts with Parmesan, a dollop of cream cheese and lots of pepper.

I got busted trying to buy 5 boxes of eggs last night; didn't see the sign and forgot the 3 box restriction. Apparently I was the first person he'd had to pull up on it; felt reminiscent of all my underage drink purchases

@BIWI
I didn't eat first thing as I had a really early shift and just couldn't face it. I did have ff yog and cinnamon not long after I posted.

For lunch I'm having cauliflower soup with added evoo.

I've not thought about my evening meal yet but I'm thinking mushroom and cheese omelette maybe.

The past 5 days I've had ff yoghurt for breakfast.

Lunches have been cauliflower soup, a combo of cheese, cucumber, tomato, low carb coleslaw.

Dinners have been cauliflower cheese
Veggie chilli with guac or cauliflower rice.
Eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes
All with added fat.

I don't eat meat.

@BIWI really? I thought with the 10%fat yogurt, cheese, mayo, 5 eggs and butter to cook the cauliflower rice in, I was doing OK😬I'll probably snack on a bit more cheese later and can start adding cream to the yogurt. I'll definitely add in a few nuts/seeds and a square or 2 of dark chocolate in bootcamp lite to up the fat a bit.
@QforCucumber I think it's a generational thing. My mam is the same. She grew up working out to the green goddess😂and with the 80s mantra that fat is evil and low fat carbs are the way forward. I've tried explaining that science has moved on but it's like she's been brainwashed. She does actually have phases of eating low carb for weight loss but she still buys low fat cheese and lean meat etc coz she can't get over the fat phobia.

I do wonder if I'm being a bit too light on the fat.

I mean how much is too much?
I don't think I can quite shake the watching the fat.
I'm ģetting there but it feels alien.

All that aside ny hunger is reducing for sure.
Noticed it last night and today. I'm not clockwatching waiting for lunch.

I meant I grew up to her working out to the green goddess. She wasn't prancing about in her leg warmers as a wee nipper. That green leotard though😂

I find daily weighing keeps me on track - the scales do fluctuate but I enter my weight into an app called happy scale and can see the overall trend is downward. The only time I haven’t weighed daily was over Christmas as I was well aware the scales were moving up!

@BIWI thanks for replying. I’m technically on week 2 as I started on my own on Jan 3rd and lost 4 pounds. However I only joined this group mid week and from Monday I plan to do the intensive 2 weeks because I have been eating berries & nuts because I thought this was ok and I’ve been using up as I can’t afford to throw food away. They’re all gone now!

so this week my diet has been:

Monday

Berries, kefir and coffee with a little milk
Lunch - omelette with bacon and tomato

Dinner - homemade coriander pesto with asparagus and chicken

Tuesday
Berries, kefir and coffee with a little milk

Left over homemade coriander pesto with asparagus and chicken with 1 boiled egg

Pork strips marinated in oyster sauce (1 tbsp) with ginger, garlic, red chilli and broccoli, served with celeriac mash

Wed
Berries, kefir and coffee with a little milk

Left over pork and miso soup

Roast chicken with salad

Thursday
Kefir and coffee with a little milk

Omelette with bacon, tomato and avocado

No dinner but a handful of nuts.

Today so far
Kefir and coffee with a little milk

Greek salad with chicken

I’ve tried to drink lots of water & unsweetened fruit tea.

a couple of other days I’ve had a handful of nuts mid afternoon but not every day. I also brought these disgusting keto biscuits in tk maxx, I had about 3 early week. No alcohol at all..

I suspect it’s a combination of little things that are stopping me losing my this week. Onwards and upwards!

I tried a sneaky weigh in this morning and discovered the battery has run out on the scales! Time to get new ones before Monday. Probably for the best anyway.

Went on a 4 mile walk and struggled so much up the final hill. Feeling vv tired! No achy or anything, just pooped! Hopefully I'll get a new burst of energy over the weekend.

On fat "how much is too much"?? I think the key is eating enough so you're not hungry; for satiety. Beyond that I'm not sure it's necessary (though prepare to defer to superior knowledge!). Also the lower fat foods often compensate by having higher carbs which you don't want.

It's hard for us to tell what exactly you're eating from a daily food list as some may assume plenty of butter in your eggs and plenty of oil in your salad is a given, and adding fat if your protein is lean (like a creamy sauce or buttery veg) but others may not.

I think we do find upping fat can cure a stall, but we shouldn't be at that stage just yet!

I felt virtuous though watching dh with his cake and cappuccino while I had my black coffee at the cafe on the walk.

@CarbyLite for sure, daily weighing doesn't work for everyone. But for others, it can help to keep them on track. Certainly for me, and others who have posted about it over the years, I always know when I'm falling off the wagon as I find excuses not to get on the scales!

But yes, you have to be able to cope with seeing upward as well as downward fluctuations if you're weighing daily. Although, that said, it can be very instructive to see just how things do vary daily - especially if you're still menstruating. You can see just how of an impact your period has on your weight.

@katesbushh with your focus on veg, it's possible that you may be eating a few too many carbs (but it's difficult to know without knowing exactly what veg you've been eating/how much!)

Not liking meat means you're also getting less protein. Can you add in some oily fish into your days?

It could also be that you're sensitive to dairy - all the yoghurt and cream and cheese may not be working for you.

You also need to make sure you really are drinking all the water.

BUT - that said - we are only on day 5, so I wouldn't panic quite yet

@MaryDoll84

Plan for today
B:FF yogurt
L:hard boiled eggs, cheese, pickled onions, celery, cucumber, dollop of mayo
D:egg fried cauliflower rice,loads of veg mixed in

The breakfast is fine - obviously I don't know your portion size!

But your lunch seems a bit low in fat - don't know how much cheese or mayo

Dinner sounds like it's low in fat as it's a stir-fry, which generally tend to use only a small amount of fat - and if it's loads of veg mixed in, then you're adding carbs rather than fat or protein!

As I said - just watch it - obviously without seeing exactly what you've been using to cook with, it's hard to tell exactly. But remember this is a high fat diet, with medium protein and low carb.

@BIWI
I did think similar.
I eat haddock and cod so may try for those a bit more next week.

I think I'll carry on as I am and see what happens after the period arrives.

I'm not getting huge sugar cravings
... usually this close to my period I start to crave sugar.

Afternoon!

Is xanthan gum ok - I hope so - need to read up on carbs and net carbs, but not had time to sit and read and digest yet.

Had a lush lunch and made gravy using this so praying the 0 net carbs means its LC friendly!

Thanks :)

@50notout

Well, you have already lost 4lbs, so that's very positive and a great start!

Monday
Berries, kefir and coffee with a little milk
Lunch - omelette with bacon and tomato
Dinner - homemade coriander pesto with asparagus and chicken

OK - I know you know now that berries aren't allowed! But the rest of this sounds quite low in fat. Without knowing exactly how you cooked stuff it's obviously hard to tell, but - for example - how much fat was in your omelette? What cut of chicken did you use? If it was breast meat, without the skin, then it will have been very low in fat. (Also, depending on how you made it, there would have been pine nuts in your pesto which are also not allowed!)

Tuesday
Berries, kefir and coffee with a little milk
Left over homemade coriander pesto with asparagus and chicken with 1 boiled egg
Pork strips marinated in oyster sauce (1 tbsp) with ginger, garlic, red chilli and broccoli, served with celeriac mash

Again, sounds light on fat. What kind of pork did you use? And how did you cook it? If it was a stir-fry, suggests not much fat.

Wed
Berries, kefir and coffee with a little milk
Left over pork and miso soup
Roast chicken with salad

Again, no idea what cut of pork you had, so can't comment if it was too low in fat, but miso is very low fat.
Did you eat the skin on your chicken? Did you roast it in plenty of fat? Did you have an oily dressing and/or mayo on your salad?

Thursday
Kefir and coffee with a little milk
Omelette with bacon, tomato and avocado
No dinner but a handful of nuts.

Nuts are also not allowed on Bootcamp! And sounds like you didn't eat much altogether, never mind it being overall light on fat.

Today so far
Kefir and coffee with a little milk
Greek salad with chicken
I’ve tried to drink lots of water & unsweetened fruit tea.

Again, how much fat is there in your salad/what kind of chicken?
I don't know how much you have to lose, as you're not on the spreadsheet, but what do you mean by 'I've tried to drink lots of water'?! This is non-negotiable, and is one of the key rules of Bootcamp!

a couple of other days I’ve had a handful of nuts mid afternoon but not every day. I also brought these disgusting keto biscuits in tk maxx, I had about 3 early week. No alcohol at all..

Nuts aren't allowed in the first two weeks, so you need to knock these on the head. As your body gets used to low carbing you should find that you're not hungry between meals, so you won't want them anyway.

Good job the biscuits were horrible! Best avoiding anything like this, as we're trying to break the hold that sweet stuff has over us.

Very well done on the no alcohol!

@naemates as far as I know the sauerkraut in jars been batch made and then put in jars with antioxidants to preserve so once opened it's a race against airborne bacteria - hence the 2 days with all that surface area. If you want live it'll be in the chilled section and sold in the live brine and all that happens once you open it is it keeps on slowly fermenting like it was doing with the lid on.

I make my own and the process starts in a cupboard and then when brewed into the fridge for upto a week or so.

Happily @Brassbumblebee I'll make instructions as I've simplified the process to what's online.

mums taxi now, I'll make it my mission tonight