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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

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TheOnlyMrsW · 20/06/2023 08:24

Good if uninspiring day yesterday, managed all of the water/herbal tea and didn't feel too "sloshy". Rare office day today so I've got my 2l bottle of sparkling water on the end of my desk to ward off evil spirits (or people offering cake!!!!), have had my omelette and have chicken salad with smashed avocado for lunch so should be ok. Biggest temptation is the coffee shop in the building foyer as they are lovely and subsidised!!!!

Does anyone feel like they need more seasoning on this woe? I definitely feel like I needed salt with the omelette even though it was cooked in salted butter and seasoned the eggs before they went into the pan........

LadyBird1973 · 20/06/2023 08:39

@TheOnlyMrsW I find I really miss ketchup, especially on omelettes. I guess it's just wanting that kick of sweetness.

@Rogue1001MNer , I really regret the time I wasted during lockdown sitting on my sofa, eating minstrels! I wish I'd been one of those people who took the opportunity to get fitter!

Yesterday went okay food wise. I ate low carb quiche and a chicken salad sandwich on low carb bread. Plenty of water and no dark chocolate or Diet Coke. The sweeteners will be the hardest thing for me - a diet drink is a comfort food in much the same way chocolate is.

I kept busy yesterday by sorting out all my old clothes and finding the summer stuff I'd put away and by doing housework. My hoover weighs a ton so that counts as exercise, right?

Today I need to do a proper food shop.

I'm tinkering with my HRT as well. I've been reading that either too much or too little Oestrogen can affect weight and do I'm stripping my HRT back to just the lower dose patches with no gel top up, to see if I really do need the gel or if done of my symptoms were to do with lifestyle. At least if my symptoms get worse, I'll know that o really did need the gel and so wasn't getting too much oestrogen.

Good luck everyone for today.

prettybird · 20/06/2023 08:41

@Baystard - your story is a really good reminder that weight loss is not linear. It's helped me stopping beating myself up about my yo-yoing back upwards again: I have never gone back up to to my heaviest and my "average" is gradually getting lower.

It's also worth looking at the psychology: although there's usually been an outside trigger for falling off the wagon (triggering the "fiuck-its" Blush), it also often happens when I get close to 11st, which has been the Holy Grail for a long time, so I suspect there is a degree of self-sabotage Confused

Recognising that is half the battle Halo

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RebeccaSharp · 20/06/2023 08:55

@ItsAsIfWeWereThere - if it helps, my friend used to manage a Wagamamas, and they could pretty much make up a meal however you wanted it - less/ more veg or noodles or whatever. Hopefully that hasn't changed as I thought it was a great idea, their selling point is that everything's made fresh so you would hope it would be ok to customise your meal!

@prettybird I remember pre-DC, I was shocked if I went over 10st, and felt absolutely enormous when I went up to 11st due to a medical condition. Now I'm 14st Blush if I was 11st again I'd feel as light as air!

LittleMy77 · 20/06/2023 09:00

Was a day late with my first weigh in and surprisingly it’s not as bad as I thought! I did pretty well yesterday and went swimming last night, but succumbed to chocolate buttons last night (absolutely not on plan..) we have a pretty stressful family illness situation atm so am trying to get used to not eating through it. The first v successful BC I did, I ended up realising alcohol was a coping mechanism for lots of stuff, and have mostly knocked it on the head now (plus middle age and post covid it makes me feel awful)- hoping I can do the same with sweet stuff as a go to this time round.

Did a Peloton class this morning and now steaming frozen veg for cauliflower cheese later.

prettybird · 20/06/2023 09:03

@Rogue1001MNer - @Baystard 's story of weight loss not being linear (and my follow up) are a reminder that weight loss is never linear, so don't beat yourself up. Losing half a stone in 5 weeks should be do-able: I have confidence in you Flowers

I'll pop on to the laptop and do the link to the recipe threads again (seems to be a problem for some if I do it on the laptop Hmm), but it's not too far down the Boot Camp topic.

@BloomingHazel - hope you had a good time camping, even if you did have too much to eat and drink. WinkThanks for the reminder about the water

@ditavonteesed - great before and after shots Star. Glad the bloat has gone!

@YappyCamper Good start yesterday with resisting the temptation to go for something sweet when faced with a stressful situation. Have a check of the carb count of the coconut milk - they vary and some of them are ok.

@Random789 - I always take the view that if I'm sweating a lot , I need to add extra onto my water allocation.

@Porridgeislife (you'll need to change that user name Wink): good strategy to eat HFLC before an event where you'll be faced with an array of carby foods.

@SummerSazz - some of us are now fully menopausal so it can be done! It particularly helps with the thickening of the waist as this WoE is good for reducing visceral fat Smile

@ItsAsIfWeWereThere - it's ages since I've eaten at Wagamama (but I know others on here are more familiar with the menus). Can you post the menu up and we can look at the choices and advise.

@TheOnlyMrsW - you absolutely need more seasoning on this WOE: as you drinking so much, your body will be wanting extra salts to compensate for the salts that are being flushed through.

OP posts:
venusandmars · 20/06/2023 09:12

I'm another who loves reading everyone's food plans and getting inspiration. Have just looked up the Golden Egg curry and it's on the list for next week (with cauli rice and spinach).

I'm 0.2 of a pound lighter this morning which takes me (just) into the next stone bracket. That is motivation for this week.

Brunch today of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. Then I'm off to get my wisdom tooth out... Maybe some yogurt and double cream for dinner. I know that's not enough food for a normal day - and no vegetables - but I can only eat lightly before I go and there are lots of vegetable soups ready for the next few days.

OldandTired66 · 20/06/2023 09:12

Good first day recognising where I've let bad habits slip in; just one new potato, the daily biscuit, another glass of wine? Why not...and loved the before and after pics, very inspirational.
Found pork puffs in Sainsburys but not sure I like - lovely salty crunch but then too dry to swallow! In a bid not to have salad with every meal, last night's dinner was salmon, roast peppers and creamy savoy cabbage with asparagus tips (steam cabbage and tips for 5 mins, lob into pan with butter, cream and seasoning. Even the carbivores enjoyed it.

Today is boiled egg, cafe for lunch with friends so will do my best, spag bol for tea - more savoy cabbage instead of pasta.

prettybird · 20/06/2023 09:16

@RebeccaSharp - ditto. But as I've got older my weight distribution has changed and if I were to go under 10st, I'd be positively skeletal Shock My current (initial ultimate) goal is to get to the top end of a normal BMI, which iirc is 10st 9lb, and then re-assess. People think I look very slim at 11st 2lb though Smile

@LittleMy77 - the Big Stick is twitching at the mention of chocolate buttons Shock but I'll let you off on this occasion given the stressful family situation at the moment. But you do know that the carbs are, like the alcohol, are just a coping mechanism Wink

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SummerSazz · 20/06/2023 09:25

My DD's love creamy cabbage and creamy leeks. Adding asparagus tips sounds lovely 😊

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ItsAsIfWeWereThere · 20/06/2023 09:53

I bought a big multi bag of pork puffs @OldandTired66 and like you I enjoy the initial bite in but agree after that they are so dry!
I wonder if dipping them into something might help? Anyone tried this? I might make a sour cream dip and have a go.

ItsAsIfWeWereThere · 20/06/2023 09:59

Here is the Wagamama menu @prettybird. I think @RebeccaSharp might be right that it’s best to go slightly off menu.

Summer 2023 Boot Camp, Week 1: Here we go!
Random789 · 20/06/2023 10:01

Amazed to hear of all these meat crisps, pork puffs, etc that seem to be around in the supermarket. I might give them a go as a snack option. Though I must admit that they sound worryingly similar to the most disgusting kinds of dog treats - pigs ears, goat pizzle, etc.

A difficulty I'm having at the moment is coffee. In the evenings I find that I am having coffee after a meal just because I am in search of a 'pudding'. I have Nespresso coffee with cream (so delicious) and although I try and be disciplined about the amount of cream, anything more than 2 coffees a day probably means too much cream.

CherryogDog · 20/06/2023 10:04

Morning everyone, I've tried several times to join these threads but they're so fast paced I can't keep up!
I will try my hardest though as I really need to sort myself out.
Honestly I have read everything so far, but every spreadsheet link I open has January not June, can anyone tell me what I've done wrong?

About 9 years ago I lost a shed load of weight from doing boot camp light, I was exercising and doing really well. I kept it up for three years then life got difficult and the weight has been creeping up. It's only around a stone, but it's a stone of flab with not a toned muscle in sight.
Yesterday a memory popped up on Facebook from when I ran the London mile, looking fit and toned. Last night I went to put on some summer walking trousers, every pair I tried either wouldn't go past my thighs or wouldn't do up.
Que a massive breakdown.
I naturally eat in a 16:8 pattern, only eat when I'm hungry, cannot stomach breakfast at all. My diet consists of far too much UPF, and every so often I go on a crisp and chocolate bender, usually means a migraine is looming.
I used to eat before work just in case I got hungry, and would eat whenever I could, the not be hungry at lunchtime, then hungry in the afternoons (long NHS shifts).
If @FinallyHere would be kind enough to add me to the spreadsheet I'd be very grateful, although I quite expect to be beaten with the stick quite regularly for not keeping up!

Random789 · 20/06/2023 10:05

Actually, all those truely vile dog treats have serious potential as low-carb snacks -- if they had a bit of a makeover and some intense rebranding.Grin
If we pooled our recipe and marketing skills it could be a way to monetise Bootcamp.

CherryogDog · 20/06/2023 10:05

PS, I went from 14 stone to 9, back in my BCL time, so providing I don't fall off the wagon again I know it's doable for me!

FinallyHere · 20/06/2023 10:19

Hello @Andi2020 (sorted A-Z OK) and @CherryogDog (added) & welcome.

Lovely to have you on board. It can get quite busy here, take all the time you need. The Spreadsheet of Fabulousness has loads of information as well as the sign up sheet. No pressure, log / don't log, weigh / don't weight, it's all good

June 2023 Bootcamp

Weigh-in sheet 141,Original Start Date,Original Weight (lbs),Starting Weight (lbs) 19th June,Total Loss since original start,% loss since original start,26th June Week 2,Weekly Loss,Total Loss this Bootcamp,% loss this Bootcamp,Total Loss since origin...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-rBSRgexwWV_BIF6-nakA6U9buIFsgl2XU8tdYG5xOM/edit?usp=sharing

YappyCamper · 20/06/2023 11:33

Random789 · 20/06/2023 10:05

Actually, all those truely vile dog treats have serious potential as low-carb snacks -- if they had a bit of a makeover and some intense rebranding.Grin
If we pooled our recipe and marketing skills it could be a way to monetise Bootcamp.

I learned watching the apprentice that pet food has to meet the same standards as food designed for human consumption - not volunteering to give it a go though 😂

@venusandmars the golden egg curry was a recommendation from a vegetarian friend and it's really delicious but so so hot. I leave out the finger chillis and it still makes my nose run!

ditavonteesed · 20/06/2023 11:40

@Random789 I found some Nespresso pods in sainsburys a while ago that are vanilla and caramel flavour (separate) so I have those black, really like a lovely sweet treat.

SummerSazz · 20/06/2023 11:45

I agree with the pork puffs and the bbq ones are nicest. They do provide a good crunch and an excuse for lots of water 💦

Also cheesiest - I quite often get discount codes which I can share if one comes through during BC. I might log on to the website and see if it generates one for me Grin

HappiDaze · 20/06/2023 12:11

@ditavonteesed great photos. I'm currently definitely your before photo

Thanks everyone for posting your before and after photos. It's really inspiring

My DS randomly handed me half a large pack of crisps last night he hadn't finished. I rolled it up and taped it down and told him it'll be fine for when he next wanted it.

I was very pleased I restrained myself from finishing them off.

I didn't want to be that rubbish bin.

My lovely DD is upholding her promise to go for a long walk with me today. So we're off later. She knows I was a bit meh re my photos at the weekend. She's a teen and a gorgeous leggy size 4. So of course I see her all the time so when I do look in the mirror I get more of a shock at my size due to the juxtaposition I guess.

HappiDaze · 20/06/2023 12:14

Im enjoying reading everyone's posts on this thread.

I feel like I'm now part of a huge positive change in my life

Andi2020 · 20/06/2023 12:25

@FinallyHere thanks for moving me was heavier this morning so had to change weight as did a rough guess last night when I saw new bootcamp starting.
It 8s so easy to start putting on a wee pound here and there when not following bootcamp so my advice to everyone stick to the rules given by the experienced bootcampers.
Log your food so they can give advice.
B Pint water Greek yogurt Gonger tea
L salad Spinach Chicken 2 boiled eggs Pint water
D Quiche without crust Pint water
Drinking pints water when glass empty
Probably 6 pints water a day first 2 weeks anyway for my weight.
This works if you follow the rules.

Skiphopbump · 20/06/2023 12:34

I had tandoori salmon and some really delicious tomatoes for lunch. Followed by some also delicious strawberries.

Usually go to the gym in the morning but haven’t had a chance yet, will go soon.

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