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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:
Thread gallery
28
FinallyHere · 20/06/2023 16:35

an honourable mention for Cafe Nero whose menu includes espresso con panna

Summer 2023 Boot Camp, Week 1: Here we go!
prettybird · 20/06/2023 17:19

@FinallyHere - I haven't even got an interview yet, let alone the job Grin

....as dh said, cross that bridge when I need to Wink gives me time to lose a couple more pounds Grin

I have worked out that I have a pair of chinos and a good pair of black trousers that I could wear. They'll both be a bit tight on the thighs but never mind Wink

OP posts:
MilsonandJim · 20/06/2023 17:45

@Flishflashfresh what's this cocoa with salt? I can't imagine but would be keen to try. Do you just mix cocoa powder with hot water and add salt?

prettybird · 20/06/2023 18:07

I've never tried but I do occasionally have an Americano (we have a bean to cup machine, so we drink faaaar too much coffee Blush) into which I put the tiniest pinch of salt. It somehow reduces the bitterness - it doesn't taste salty at all Confused

OP posts:
moleeye · 20/06/2023 18:13

Hi all, haven't read through the whole thread yet but wanted to jump on and thank @prettybird and @FinallyHere for this BC.

I need a kick up the bum to shift this last stone (well 1.5!) before my hen do at the end of July.

Going to start in earnest tomorrow, go back to basics and re-set as it's needed!

Good luck to everyone!

HappiDaze · 20/06/2023 18:40

I've walked loads today and had an ice coffee Americano in Costa - there was next to no milk in it. I sat across from DD who had a Frappe and a panini. I ate nothing. Ok I had one tiny sip of her Frappe and a teeny half bite of the panini.

DS asked me to bring back his favourite Korean sweet chilli chicken takeaway for him which I'd usually also get for myself because I love it but I didn't. I did have one bite though of the chicken before I gave it to him.

I'm about to roast some chicken breast in those Maggi herb bags to have in a salad.

SummerSazz · 20/06/2023 18:44

Well done @prettybird for being the leading candidate 👏 . I'm sure by the time you start (Wink) you'll have lost the tightness

BCL today:

  • FFGY, raspberries and strawberries
  • chicken & mozzarella salad with FLGV
  • likely salmon something for dinner

Also need to go out for a walk now as been sat in the office today and nowhere near my 10k step target

Lucienandjean · 20/06/2023 18:51

Just reporting in for the day. I've been so tired today, I'm not sure why. It's all been easy food as I can't be bothered to cook anything fancy.

B: nothing
L: tuna mayo, pepper and cucumber sticks, a slice of Brie.
D: (eaten early with the grandchildren) roast chicken including skin, broccoli, cauliflower cheese.

I resisted eating the potatoes which I cooked for the children, so that's good. I suspect I'll be hungry later as I've had dinner early, but if I need to I'll have a hard boiled egg or some FF yogurt.

It feels good to be back on BC properly. Thanks for organising it, @prettybird.

prettybird · 20/06/2023 18:52

Can I just remind people (as @Andi2020 pointed out), that if they are now on Boot Camp Light, they should say so (ideally including "and why" Wink) when they're describing what they're eating/have eaten. It's important for newbies to understand that it is important to be strict for the first 2 weeks.

@SummerSazz - I seem to recall that like me, you started early (actually even earlier than me, iirc) so you've gone beyond the first 2 weeks so are now allowed berries. So I don't need to get the Big Stick out Grin

OP posts:
mauveiscurious · 20/06/2023 18:53

Can you add me please

prettybird · 20/06/2023 18:56

@HappiDaze - well done on just having the ice coffee Americano - but you need to get out the habit of having even a wee bite of things like a panini.

You seem to be a Costa aficionado so I'm sure you already know what the panini tastes like. So you didn't need to taste it Hmm. And was it even that good anyway? Shock

OP posts:
prettybird · 20/06/2023 19:00

@mauveiscurious - welcome Flowers

Can you access the spreadsheet? (@FinallyHere linked to it again earlier to day, with a link called "Spreadsheet of Fabulousness").

If you want to be on the Weigh-in sheet, you can add your name and starting weight to the bottom of the list. FinallyHere will re-alphabetise periodically Smile

OP posts:
HappiDaze · 20/06/2023 19:20

prettybird · 20/06/2023 18:56

@HappiDaze - well done on just having the ice coffee Americano - but you need to get out the habit of having even a wee bite of things like a panini.

You seem to be a Costa aficionado so I'm sure you already know what the panini tastes like. So you didn't need to taste it Hmm. And was it even that good anyway? Shock

Bizarrely I never go to Costa coffee or any coffee shop really. DD does when she's in town with friends. I just have my morning coffee at home or work and I'm done.

We just needed to sit down so popped in there. I was going to get her some food from Tesco to eat in the park but then decided it might be too damp after yesterday's torrential downpour. That's why I wanted to try the Frappe and panini.

prettybird · 20/06/2023 19:25

Hmmmm - sounds like post hoc justification excuses Wink But given that your dd had supported you in going out for a walk, I'll let you off this time Wink

Trust me, my Big Stick is nowhere near as big as BIWI's Grin

OP posts:
HappiDaze · 20/06/2023 19:26

No the panini didn't even taste that great mainly because the bit I had was so small Grin

Walking home though I felt really happy that this thread is making me make good choices and it's there in my head so I think by week 8 there'll be significant inroads into permanently changing my WoE

prettybird · 20/06/2023 19:41

Brilliant Flowers

OP posts:
FinallyHere · 20/06/2023 19:50

@HappiDaze ice coffee Americano

Great idea thank you. I really enjoy a coffee after a meal, but found myself a bit put off creme-y coffee in this heat. Now happily drinking americano over ice.

ListenLinda · 20/06/2023 19:51

I managed to resist a couple of the leftover chips from the kids tea. I would have stuffed them in without thinking about it pre Monday 😁

I think it can sometimes take us by surprise the little habits we all had when it comes to carby foods!

MilsonandJim · 20/06/2023 19:54

Popped out to buy a gift with DD today. She asked for a magnum at the freezer by the till. I hovered over picking one up for myself then pictured you lot watching me in anticipation... And picked up a bottle of fizzy water instead 🤣

TheOnlyMrsW · 20/06/2023 20:01

Home and managed to swerve the stupid amounts of pizzain the office and resist the lovely frothy coffee machine, absolutely shattered from the drive and extra long day!

Steak cooked in butter with roast veg and salad for tea, DH had onion rings as well. So far have had 2.5l of fizzy water, 3 cups of herbal tea and a coffee with milk. Hoping that the need to constantly be in the bathroom abates soon 🤣

LadyBird1973 · 20/06/2023 20:09

Have not been at all hungry today, which is nice. Had scrambled eggs and one slice of low carb toast for breakfast, leftover roast chicken and mayo for lunch and a very small bowl of chicken and chorizo casserole with buttered savoy cabbage (which I couldn't finish). Have had some coffee with cream though.
Keeping busy is helping to keep me away from the dark chocolate and Diet Coke though.

FinallyHere · 20/06/2023 20:15

hello lovely bootcampers

@Sunseed

@letitgoagain
@MyShinyThing

@mrsp1999
@Goodiewhemper
@moleeye

You have been 'sorted', in a mysterious process which may involve the Bootcamp sorting hat, you will find your record in the Weigh-in Sheet amongst the other rows, which are listed in in alphabetic order.

HappiDaze · 20/06/2023 20:26

Yum I've just finished dinner which was a salad of chicken breast (very moist baked in a mixed herb Maggi bag) broccoli, spring onion, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, olive oil and lemon.

Very filling and tasty.

HedgehogHill · 20/06/2023 20:30

Hi all, been really tired today (think it may be something to do with the 30min aerobics session I did yesterday morning!), as well as occupied, and not drank as much water as I should have..but I've continued to resist all manner of high carb food that DH and kids are having, that I wouldn't have been able to last week.

B: FFGY + cream + whey isolate protein powder
L: Feta Salad (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, pepper) w. xv olive oil + cider vinegar
D: Same as above
S: More FFGY + cream (I think I'm going to ditch the cream on the next food shop..I definitely had too much today, my will power is just shite when I'm tired and craving a treat).

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