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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.

Summer 2023 Boot Camp, Week 1: Here we go!

487 replies

prettybird · 18/06/2023 22:54

19 June is just about upon us and here we are at Week 1 of a 8 week Boot Camp. Are you ready? Smile I'm posting this on the Sunday so that those of you who are early risers can get stuck right in Grin

I'll start a new thread every week.

It will take me a few posts as I blatantly copy across from @BIWI ‘s excellent introductory posts and I’m doing this on the app which makes it more award.

First off the major caveat: I am not a doctor, nor a dietican. This Way of Eating works for me and has done for many others. I’ve followed BIWI on these Boot Camps for many years and there is a lot of support but if you have any medical issues or concerns, you need to make your own choices. You need to be particularly careful if you are pregnant or breastfeeding (in which case follow Boot Camp Light), diabetic or if you are taking any medication, as you may need to liaise with your doctor regarding dosage. I'll post a follow up post with more details.

The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness is here @FinallyHere is Spreadsheet Monitor and most weeks will post the link in one of the following posts after my OP as I usually post via the App and links can be a bit hit or miss. I'll do a link but it might not work for everyone Confused also, if you experience any problems with the Spreadsheet, tag @FinallyHere and she will work her magic on it! Grin

And so to the rules. These are the rules for the first two weeks. After that, we do relax things a little:

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!)

Experienced Boot Campers may follow intermittent fasting (IF) (16:8 or similar) and therefore not have breakfast or another meal but if you’re new to this Way of Eating, wait until you’ve got used to it before starting on IF.

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, which you'll find on the spreadsheet.

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 originally came from www.low-carbdiet.co.uk/ but although the site is now defunct, there are other sources which advise similar quantities of water.

It does of course go without saying not to drink the entire amount in one go: you should spread it out over the day.

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.

The water is really important - any time I’ve noticed myself stalling, I’ve noticed that my water consumption had dipped. I like to think of it as helping to pee the fat away Wink

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. On the spreadsheet, you'll find a nut carb counter, which illustrates just how much they vary in terms of their carb counts.

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 us off and running. I'll follow up with a few Housekeeping posts but I think that's plenty to get started with. Grin

OP posts:
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prettybird · 25/06/2023 09:46

@Jenasaurus - that's shit news Sad

A really close friend of dh's and mine died suddenly last October: we knew he had bowel cancer but he'd thought he had years left (in fact, he was due to get married on 10 June ie this month and hadn't brought the wedding forward Sad). The end was fast and unexpected.

It's hard. Sad

Look after yourself Flowers We'll still be around when and if you're ready to rejoin.

OP posts:
venusandmars · 25/06/2023 10:27

@YappyCamper I agree with you about the horror of people watching what you are eating and commenting on your weight. Even if it rarely happens, it's the feeling that they might... So one of the other things I love about this way of eating is that it never appears to other people that you are 'on a diet'. There's no miserable dry salad or low calorie diet bars. Yes I may avoid the cake / desert but I'm tucking into cheese and butter, having a liberal amount of olive oil, enjoying avocado mashed with cream cheese, eating confit duck and pork belly. No-one would suspect.

Andi2020 · 25/06/2023 10:28

@prettybird yes they said O can go rent somewhere else an use insurance money for rent but with a family, school work it's not just that simple so they are doing 2 claims I suggested I use the one from the kitchen leak to do the bathroom as it has been tore up and concrete refilled but just rug over where tiles are now missing.

I had a sneaky weigh in and thought yippee list 5lb but no I decided to weigh again and its under 2lb but that is more my style slow loss 1lb a week is my target to get back to 140 this BC.
Hope everyone has lively Sunday and good weigh in tomorrow

B Greek yogurt with cream Water Ginger Tea
D Boiled gammon broccoli greenbeans with cheese Water
S Boiled Eggs Chicken Water
Coffee with cream
Water and Ginger Tea through out the day.

TheOnlyMrsW · 25/06/2023 11:09

Thanks @prettybird didn't even think of string 🤦🤦🤦, will raid the shed later I have a feeling a lot of the tummy podge will have gone this week but still interested to see how I fare over the rest of BC.

Felt pretty lousy most of yesterday and was in bed and asleep before 10pm 😯 but much better this morning, had the electrolyte tab with water whilst DH tucked into bacon sandwiches and have waved him off to make noise so I get a few hours of peace!!!! Funny day today, DC is working 4-9 so awkward for meals........they will have brunch before going and DH will be back just afterwards. Not much of a plan but will be getting ready for next week and plenty in the fridge for now. Signed up for a veg box delivery from a local wholefood shop which arrives Wednesday so looking forward to seeing what we get 😊

ItsAsIfWeWereThere · 25/06/2023 11:23

Hello everyone. I’ve been plodding through the first week happily enough. Don’t think I’ve deviated from the allowed food, and I’m pleased with my water consumption as that’s something I often struggle with. I’m not missing carby foods.

I do feel however that I am eating too much. With a calorie restricted died I can happily get the need to not pick at food when I’m full. With this WOE I admit I still struggle with overeating and mindless eating - so this is what I have to work on in the upcoming week and beyond.

Can I double check about almond milk… Am I correct that it’s not allowed at the moment but will be in bookcamp lite? I’m a bit alarmed at my cream consumption and feel it’s something I need to reduce somewhat!

Ive weighed myself and I’m only 0.5lb down, but I’m happy enough with this. I had a bigger loss last week and have lost 3stone+ in the past 6 months so i’m not expecting consistent big numbers. Plus I have been eating a lot 😬

Random789 · 25/06/2023 12:18

Sorry to post again, but do you think it is legit to count my two early morning coffees with double cream as breakfast? It's 12.15 now and I've just realised that I haven't even thought about eating a proper meal yet. This is very normal for me. In the first few days of bootcamp I did manage to correct it, but the structurelessness of the weekend has made it harder to remember to eat three meals a day.
Also, it is HOT and I have been for a run, so I have zero appetite. I know the pitfalls of this failure to eat - the risk is that I will be too hungry in the evening and eat too much too fast. But I just can't bring myself to eat right now.

LittleMy77 · 25/06/2023 12:39

Dh’s birthday weekend and we had a night away without DS for the first time since he was born (he’s nearly 8!) as he’s at beavers camp

Went to a Michelin restaurant and sort of off plan, so i suspect my weigh in tomorrow will be same as last week, but hopefully no gain.

We also did a big hike and I didn’t stuff myself with pastries / scones, plus we went for the cheese plate after dinner, after which I didn’t fancy a dessert, which is monumental for me :D

similar at unlimited breakfast today - started with ffgy, then had scrambled eggs and salmon and didn’t touch the pastries or v high sugar fruits

Usually I cave at all that but I’ve actively gone for lesser carb food or tried to balance it, so feeling pretty good mentally, which I’ll take as a win.

prettybird · 25/06/2023 12:40

@venusandmars - indeed, the lovely thing about this WoE is that it doesn't look or feel like a diet. Last night ds was going on about how good peppers were ( Envy <= not envy) as they were mostly water, so good for weight loss. I couldn't be bothered trying to explain to him.

@Andi2020 - how frustrating. But remember, this too will pass eventually Wink

@TheOnlyMrsW - glad you're feeling better today. Flowers

@ItsAsIfWeWereThere - I think almond milk in moderation is ok at this point showing my inexperience Blush It's the actual nuts that are a problem. But do check the carb count as they vary a lot.

If you've been doing this a long time and are still struggling with mindless eating, maybe intermittent fasting might help, so that you have a "rule" about when you can't snack.

Also, are you having enough fat? You know the drill: tell us what you've been eating the last few days and we can review it.

@Random789 - as you've been doing this a while, I think you can count the coffees and cream as "breakfast" - or even a sort of intermittent fast.

Remember the other rule of this WoE (which is why we relax the 3 meals a day Rule after the 1st 2 weeks/for experienced BCers) is not to eat if unless you're hungry.

OP posts:
dimples76 · 25/06/2023 12:50

Goodiewhemper you took the dog eating your dinner well!

I had a really difficult time yesterday afternoon with my DS10. He has learning disabilities and totally lost it at a classmate's birthday party at tea time - running around screaming, hitting other children on the head, ignoring me then hitting me too including wacking me in the eye. So I tried to get us out of there as quickly as possible when DD3 decided she was doing her own thing. I drove home with DS hitting me. I think that the heat and noise got to him but he's never been this bad before. Normally I would have a glass of wine and some nice food in the evening to try to make me feel better - although I know it doesn't work. However, I managed to stop myself from comfort eating so feeling quite proud. I also don't have any wine in the house which helped!

I have some chicken legs roasting in the oven with courgettes and peppers for lunch.

ItsAsIfWeWereThere · 25/06/2023 13:40

Thanks @prettybird. I bought some almond milk that is very low carb, so I think I’ll use that to make coffees from now on. Well I’ll allow myself a creamy coffee to start the day with and then switch…
I’m fairly certain I’m getting enough fat. Lots of butter, cream, olive oil, cheese etc. I do like my rich foods :-)
Intermittent fasting is probably a good idea though. I like having rules to follow. How long is the eating window? 8 hrs?

Todays menu has been/will be
B coffee and cream, boiled egg and a crispy bacon slice
L salad of spinach, bacon lardons, blue cheese, chicken and garlic mayo dressing.
D chicken curry (cream based sauce) and broccoli with olive oil.

No snacks yet - but yesterday I was picking at ham, FFGY (added cream), cheese and avocado. And then I ate dinner despite not even being hungry 😬
Ive been slack about posting food up here but will start doing so properly for accountability.

Thanks.

prettybird · 25/06/2023 13:43

The most common interval for IF is 16:8. So if you eat your evening meal at 8, you can't eat again until 12 the following day.

We often eat late because of various activities so 9/9.30, which means I can eat again until 1/1.30.

OP posts:
ItsAsIfWeWereThere · 25/06/2023 13:47

Oh and one more question - is FF Greek style yoghurt a total no-no?
Some brands seem to have similar carb content as the authentic Greek yoghurt.

prettybird · 25/06/2023 14:29

FF Greek Style Yoghurt is absolutely fine Smile - it's just that most some of us prefer the authentic Greek yoghurt. Check the ingredients and make sure that it is just milk with no fillers Wink

OP posts:
EvenmoreDisorganised · 25/06/2023 16:05

We have that with activities too, not eating till very late (after 9) on some nights.

I have been good and made my breakfasts and packed lunches for the next three days plus a tub of cheese and parma ham rollitos for snacks. About to make some soup with stock from last weeks chicken carcas.

prettybird · 25/06/2023 16:21

I made myself some crispy chicken skin today on the spur of the moment. I was straining the chicken stock I'd made from last Sunday's roast chicken and thought to pull some bits of chicken skin from the carcass.

I then microwaved them for (I think) 3+1 minutes (might have been 2+1) on the glass tray in the microwave.

Left them to cool, seasoned with salt then ate.

I wish I'd made more of an effort find more skin to pull off Grin Why have I never done this before?! Shock

OP posts:
Random789 · 25/06/2023 16:40

That sounds lovely prettybird. The only problem for me would be that I would scoff the skin strainght from the carcass.

I have very fond memories of chicken dripping sandwiches in childhood. I wonder if there could be a low-carb recreation of that. Dripping smeared on celery perhaps. With plenty of salt.

YappyCamper · 25/06/2023 18:40

EvenmoreDisorganised · 25/06/2023 16:05

We have that with activities too, not eating till very late (after 9) on some nights.

I have been good and made my breakfasts and packed lunches for the next three days plus a tub of cheese and parma ham rollitos for snacks. About to make some soup with stock from last weeks chicken carcas.

You definitely need a new username Grin

TheOnlyMrsW · 25/06/2023 19:10

@Random789 I pick the skin straight out of the oven and eat it - chef's treats in our house!!!

Makeshift picnic this evening as what I'd planned went out of the window due to teens and husbands!!!! The potatoes and bread was DH's, and I had a salad for lunch - not felt very hungry at all today though........also aware that veg needs to be better at weekends.

Catching up on Glastonbury now until it's time to pick up DC from work

Summer 2023 Boot Camp, Week 1: Here we go!
onthecoast · 25/06/2023 21:59

HappiDaze · 24/06/2023 18:31

I used to buy the big tubs of 'Regucol' psyllium husk powder from Holland & Barrett because it's meant to good for fatty organs. I just kind of stopped using it. They've sold out but I might try and get hold of some.

Cheaper on Amazon.

prettybird · 25/06/2023 22:26

This was my supper tonight: Lidl extra thick fillet steaks cooked in thyme infused frothing butter, served with buttery sweet corn and home grown broad beans, double podded and finished off in butter Smilenot sure if they are Boot Camp compatible-- Blush but they were lovely--

I'll not post up the picture of the dessert until next week when we are officially able move on to Boot Camp Light Wink - I'm a week ahead of the rest of you Grin

Summer 2023 Boot Camp, Week 1: Here we go!
OP posts:
Lucienandjean · 25/06/2023 22:46

That steak looks amazing, @prettybird!

Todays food

B: nothing
L: a strange buffet-style meal where we ate lots of leftovers! A bit of chicken curry, a cold sausage, some roast chicken, salad, leftover coleslaw. It was delicious!
D: bacon and eggs, mushrooms.

I've resisted weighing all week. Now I'm worrying about weighing tomorrow morning! Hoping for a decent loss - I've been strict this week. But that's pressure too, isn't it?

Goodiewhemper · 25/06/2023 22:52

@Random798 when I first looked at the cloud bread recipe I thought the same but it is really not that bad. And once you have made it a couple of times it gets even easier. I can whip it up with my eyes closed (almost) by now! 😁
There are lots of cauliflower crust recipes out there but what I find works the best is to thaw a bag of cauliflower rice (or two if you want it larger and double up the rest of the ingredients). Then you need to squeeze all the water out. I do it in the bag and then give it a final good squeeze in a tea towel. I then add a tblsp of cream cheese, good pinch of salt and half an egg. Mix it all together. I usually add a tblsp of ground almond but because of the no nuts part of BC last night I added some grated mozzarella instead. I mix it all together and then spread it out evenly on a greased sheet of oven paper. Bake in the oven about (180°C) until it is cooked through and starting to get crispy. Add your toppings and finish in the oven. I think the key is not to have it too wet or dry. If you think it is too wet add a little extra almond or mozzarella. If it is too dry at another splash of egg or small amount if cream cheese. Do it a few times and you will get the hang of it. It is surprisingly good. I think the key is getting all the water out of the cauliflower. Then it is just a matter of adjusting the other ingredients until you get the consistentcy right.

HappiDaze · 25/06/2023 22:56

I wasn't very hungry today but I ate quite a lot yesterday.

B - nothing but water
L - half an avocado, salsa, with a boiled egg and some cold chicken, cup of tea

D - FFGY, boiled egg and 5 grapes, cup of tea

I've had a fair bit of water throughout the day but I usually drink a fair bit.

Goodiewhemper · 25/06/2023 23:00

I forgot to add my food intake for today to my last thread.
B - FFGY with two coffees and cream
L - Roast beef and tomato sandwich on cloud bread. Green salad.
D - Barbecued pork belly, chicken thighs and grilled peppers, courgettes and aubergine.
Lots of water.
Have a good night's sleep everyone and see you all tomorrow.

EvenmoreDisorganised · 25/06/2023 23:23

YappyCamper · 25/06/2023 18:40

You definitely need a new username Grin

Grin I didn't get round to the soup but I have made some yogurt instead.

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