January '25 DRY Low Carb Bootcamp - The prep thread

[BIWI]

Welcome! As the title suggests, this Bootcamp is going to be a dry one. However, it will also only last for 4 weeks, so hopefully not too bad.

We'll start on 2 January (or 3 January if you're in Scotland) so that we have a final day of holiday.

Here's a load of information which should give you a good idea of what to expect:

First, a bit about Bootcamp generally:

Bootcamp is a Low Carb way of eating
It’s important to recognise that it’s not a zero carb diet. You aren’t cutting out a whole macronutrient. You will still be eating carbs, except far fewer than you would have been before. Your carbs will come mainly from vegetables, salad and (some) fruits.

A ‘conventional’ UK diet is one that is high in carbohydrates, has a medium amount of protein and is low in fat. What we do when we’re low carbing is to turn that on its head. So it’s low in carbs, still has a medium amount of protein, but is high in fat.

How does Bootcamp work?
Bootcamp is designed to be easy to follow. We don’t count carbs (or calories), and we don’t set a daily limit for carbs. There are just ten rules that we apply.
However. Easy to follow doesn’t mean easy to do. The clue is in the word ‘Bootcamp’! The first two weeks are strict, and the most restrictive. They’re also the weeks where you’re most likely to see pretty significant weight loss. After these first two weeks, you can move on to Bootcamp Light (if you wish).

Low carbing isn’t a very forgiving way of eating. It’s not like calorie counting, where you can compensate for one high calorie meal by having a very low one next time. You need to keep your carbs low at all meals, all day, for it to work optimally for you.

Bootcamp is, though, designed to be nutritionally positive. You will be eating plenty of fresh, unprocessed foods, along with lots of vegetables and salads.

As it’s a Bootcamp, you’ll find (and many of you will know that I’m pretty strict. If you’re not following the rules, I will pick you up on that. Because I know that if you are cheating, then it won’t work for you. Which ultimately means you’ll be disappointed when it comes to weighing-in.

The ten rules
Here is a summary of the rules - the full explanation of these is on the spreadsheet.

1. (In the first two weeks) eat three proper meals a day
2. Avoid processed foods
3. Eat lots of fat
4. Make sure you’re eating vegetables and salad with your meals
5. Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited)
6. You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day
7. (In the first two weeks) no alcohol
8. (In the first two weeks) no fruit
9. (In the first two weeks ) no nuts or seeds
10. No sugar or artificial sweeteners

NB if you’re a vegetarian, you are allowed to include nuts and seeds, and some more processed foods like Quorn, tofu or soya-based products.

As well as following the rules, you need to know which foods you won't be eating during Bootcamp. These are:

• pasta/noodles/rice (of any colour or type)
• bread, in any form
• pastry
• sweet and savoury biscuits/crackers
• cereals
• sugar (which also includes honey, agave syrup and fruit sugar)
• flour (and sauces/gravy thickened with flour)
• cakes
• full sugar fizzy drinks, and squash/cordial
• fruit juice
• potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweetcorn, beetroot
• balsamic vinegar (all other vinegars are fine)
• grains/pulses/legumes (which includes peas)
• sweets

... and alcohol, of course!

For the first two weeks of Bootcamp, you must also exclude:

• all fruit
• nuts/seeds*
• all chocolate

If you want to make this 4-week challenge super strict, then you can continue with this - just make sure that you really are following rule 4, which is that the majority of your carbs should come from veg and salad.

*if you're a vegetarian there are different rules for you, and you can include nuts and seeds - in moderation, being careful which ones you choose - from the start

After the first two weeks of Bootcamp, if you wish, you can move to Bootcamp Light, which means you can add in:

• some fruit - berries are the best
• some nuts/seeds - in moderation, and choosing them carefully as the carb counts can vary dramatically
• some chocolate - dark, high cocoa-content chocolate only

Foods you CAN eat and enjoy:

In the main, things you generally can't eat on any other diet! Low carb means high fat, so you will be able to enjoy things like:

• butter
• lard
• cream
• cheese
• mayonnaise
• olive oil
• full fat yoghurt
• No light/lite or low fat anything!
• all meat/fish/seafood (although keep processed options to a minimum); fattier cuts/types of fish are encouraged
• eggs (no restriction on how many per day/week)
• oily dressings (especially using extra virgin olive oil/avocado oil)
• lard/coconut oil (as well as butter) for frying food
• LOTS of vegetables and salad

The very lovely @FinallyHere will be running the spreadsheet, where we record our progress each week - and which has loads of other information and resources for you. I'll post a link when we get going, but here's a link to the current spreadsheet.

Very importantly:

THE DISCLAIMER
I, and any of the other MNetters who give advice here, are not medics and we are not qualified in nutrition or dietetics. Recommendations and support are based on our experiences and understanding of low carbing. Before starting, if you are on any kind of long-term medication (especially for hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol), please check with your GP, as the results of low carbing can mean you may need to reduce your dosage. And if you’re pregnant or breast-feeding, we suggest you follow Bootcamp Light. If you have a history of disordered eating, please consi

Hi! No need for the spreadsheet but I'm joining!

Had Christmas off plan, gained weight, bloated, achy!

Can't wait to be back on.

Signing in! I am no longer a meat eater so will be meal planning mostly veggie meals with some fish. Cannot wait to start

Thanks @BIWI 🤗

I haven't done this for a few years but it's time I did again so I'm in

Thanks @BIWI for sorting this out as ever

I need this! Count me in :) can't wait

Thanks BIWI! Looking forward to it!

Thank you! I've done this before (probably under a different name) but dropped off. Now I really need the accountability. I was doing lazy/dirty keto for ages but gave up totally just before Xmas and have really indulged. Looking forward to a good old reset!

I’m in! Thanks @BIWI! 🙌🏽

I lost a fair bit of weight with this WOE but fell off the waggon (and into a giant pile of sourdough) and undid quite a lot of my good work. Thanks for running this @BIWI and @FinallyHere . I am planning to start on 6 Jan as will be on holiday until then.

Morning campers.
Looking forward to this!
Will be starting on the 1st even though not really back to work (apart from a brief log on on Friday) until the 6th.
But am fully committed hence why doing it from the 1st.
Helps that we don't get paid early in December so my wages will signify the new start and take me off to Aldi to buy all the lovely full fat stuff and green veg.

Thanks @BIWI The cupboard clear out has been done and I’ve stocked up on all the allowed foods. A couple of Christmas bits to finish before Thursday but DS is home from university so that won’t be a problem!

I'd love to join but I've never done this to this extent before and I'm actually pretty scared.
My biggest worry is the sugar in my tea - I literally survive on it and I gave it up for 4 days last year and was exhausted and just had to start having it again.

Any words of wisdom to stop me feeling to apprehensive?

I have half a stone from round my waist to lose that I put on over the last 3 months so not loads really. My eating habits are bad though - toast and butter, crackers and butter, cheese (lots), crisps and sugary tea.

@specialsauce a low carb diet is a high fat one, and you'll be getting energy from the fat (and protein) that you're eating. If, when you gave up sugar, you weren't adding more fat into your diet, that would not have helped. But I suspect that it could also be psychological?

If it helps, you'll also be able to eat the butter and the cheese!

What else are you eating? What's a typical day's food and drink for you? Perhaps if we show you how to adapt that to a low carb WOE (way of eating) that might make you feel more comfortable.

And a bit more about preparing for Bootcamp (shamelessly copied from an earlier prep thread!)

Planning and preparation is absolutely key to success

Make sure you have planned all of your meals - not just the ones in the evening with your family, but all your lunches as well.

Make sure that, as far as possible, you have removed all the carby treats from the cupboards/fridge/freezer.

In the first few days you may find yourself hungry between meals - something that really will go away after a week or so - so make sure you have things to hand, that are low carb, that you can grab if you need to. This WOE (way of eating) isn't about deprivation, and so if you're hungry, then eat.

Good low carb snack options include:

sliced cold meats/fish
cooked low carb sausages
hard-boiled eggs
olives
cheese
celery/cucumber slices with pâté

Once you're in the swing of things you will find - I promise! - that you simply aren't hungry between meals. In fact, you may not even be hungry when it's mealtime. This is quite normal! What low carbing is doing for you is keeping the key hormones insulin, grehlin and leptin in balance, so your blood sugar is even. This controls your appetite.

Try, as far as possible, to cook the same meal for everyone in the household that you're eating. If you start to have to cook two different meals every day you'll soon get tired of that, and will be tempted to give in. Don't cook foods that you know are going to tempt you - now is the time to row right back from pasta and/or rice-based meals.

Have a look at all the threads that are in the Low Carb Bootcamp topic for some inspiration.

And it's also worth having a read of

Thanks for the offer of help @BIWI
I typically eat:
breakfast: 2 eggs and toast
lunch: an avocado with olive oil/cider vinegar/mustard dressing, a large banana and crisps
tea: a curry with rice and paratha/lasagne/steak and kidney pie, perhaps a magnum and a greek yoghurt for pudding and a twirl,
Snacks after work: crisps and toast, crackers and cheese and chutney
6/7 cups of tea with 1 sugar or honey

Sorry to disappear @specialsauce!

Here are my thoughts/suggestions:

breakfast: 2 eggs and toast
Eggs are always brilliant - but for Bootcamp you'll need to drop the toast!

lunch: an avocado with olive oil/cider vinegar/mustard dressing, a large banana and crisps
Avocado is perfect low carb/Bootcamp food - but forget the banana and the crisps! After the first two weeks of Bootcamp you can reintroduce some fruit - ideally berries though; bananas are very, very high in carbs so not allowed on Bootcamp (19.3g carbs per 100g, compared with 4.4g per 100g for raspberries). Crisps are definitely out!

Maybe add some more salad stuff to your avocado, or have it with some ham/cheese?

tea: a curry with rice and paratha/lasagne/steak and kidney pie, perhaps a magnum and a greek yoghurt for pudding and a twirl
All of these are pretty carb heavy - and there's very little mention of any veg here - on Bootcamp one of the rules is to make sure you're getting your carbs from veg and salad, to ensure good nutrition.

So - nothing wrong with curry, but you need to have it without the rice/paratha. Sounds weird, but you do get used to it. Lasagne is obviously out, as it's pasta-based - instead, you could just have the Bolognese sauce, and add lots of cheese to it, and serve with or on some veg. Lots of people used spiralised courgettes, or thinly shredded white/green cabbage. Any pie is out, because of the pastry.

And certainly the Magnum and Twirl are not allowed! After the first two weeks of Bootcamp you can have some chocolate, but it needs to be at least 70% cocoa content. Greek yoghurt is perfect - assuming you're eating the high fat version, and not eating ones sweetened? The best ones tend to be the supermarkets premium brands (Finest/Taste the Difference/The Best/No 1, etc), as these are 10% fat.

Snacks after work: crisps and toast, crackers and cheese and chutney
Well, the cheese is OK ... !

6/7 cups of tea with 1 sugar or honey
Sorry, but the sugar/honey will have to go. If you really can't do it 'cold turkey' then try cutting down the number of cups and tapering down the amount of sugar.

I know that all of this must sound very daunting, and it is a completely different way of eating - but you will be able to eat delicious food, without feeling deprived, and still lose weight.

To give you an example - here's the sort of stuff that I eat:

Breakfast
I often don't eat breakfast these days (you only have to eat breakfast in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, and that's to make sure that you're not getting hungry before it's time to eat lunch - to stop you being tempted by biscuits mid-morning!), but if I do, it will most likely be FF (full fat) Greek yoghurt. Sometimes with freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries, sometimes with some peanut butter.

Very occasionally I might have a fried breakfast - eggs, bacon, mushrooms. Sometimes I might have scrambled eggs.

Lunch - these tend to be my 'go tos':

• A couple of boiled eggs
• A couple of hard boiled eggs, mashed with butter and/or mayo
• Cheese and/or ham omelette with salad, with an oily dressing
• Can of tuna in oil, with some finely chopped shallot and mayo
• Ham, cheese, tomato and salad, with an oily dressing
• Occasionally leftovers from the previous night's dinner

Dinner - these are fairly typical meals (which I make for all of us - I never cook two separate meals)

• Shepherd's pie - but I make the mash with celeriac and leeks - served with buttery cabbage or griddled courgettes
• Stir-fried pork fillet or salmon, with shallots, cabbage, peppers, baby sweetcorn, ginger, garlic and chilli, with soy sauce, coconut milk and lime. I serve DH/DC either noodles or fried rice, but I have mine with Bare Naked Noodles or cauliflower 'rice'
• Baked aubergine with garlic and chilli-infused olive oil, with Feta, and some kind of green veg (usually leeks or broccoli) or a green salad
• Aubergines and courgettes, griddled, then layered with a tomato sauce, mozzarella and topped with Parmesan, with a green salad
• Cauliflower cheese - cheese sauce is double cream with mature cheddar melted into it, with green veg
• Sausages (low carb ones) with roasted veg - usually onion/shallot, peppers, courgettes, cauliflower, leek, garlic. Roasted in plenty of olive oil. Occasionally I'll replace the sausages with halloumi.
• Roast chicken or pork, with mashed swede, celeriac 'chips', cabbage, broccoli and a gravy/jus made with the juices from the roasting tin. (I put the meat on a trivet made from onion and carrot, and then add water and wine or lemon juice - then when the meat is resting, I blitz the veg into the liquid left in the tin, which makes a very flavourful gravy that hasn't been thickened with flour).

Most Fridays we have a take-away curry; if in a strict phase of Bootcamp, my usual choice will be a chicken shashlik or tikka chicken, with a cauliflower bhaji and a mushroom bhaji. In a less strict phase, I'll have any main of my choice (although avoiding the sweeter curries like tikka masala), with the same bhaji. Never rice or bread.

I hope some of that helps! But obviously if you have any other concerns or questions, then just shout.

Thank you @BIWI. Your meal suggestion are actually perfect as I love parmigiana and a celeriac mash!
I think I will actually use all your suggestions as my menu for the first 2 weeks as I love all those foods - including the Indian takeaway.
Last Q concerning the takeaway: would tarka dhal be allowed? It's my absolute favourite . . .

Sadly not on Bootcamp! (And I say that very sadly as I love it )

It's something you can reintroduce when you've reached your target - and as you say you only have half a stone to go, should be reasonably soon. Just don't add back the rice and paratha at the same time, otherwise you'll undo all your good work.

@specialsauce when you say you survive on sugar in tea, what are you surviving? Stress, tiredness, mood?

I find that you do get tired on this way of eating (WOE) for the first week at least. And sugar is a nasty, addictive drug. But once you're off, you feel so much better. You don't 'need' sugar because the sugar was creating the need for itself IYSWIM.

I was eating sugar and carbs at Christmas and the best way of describing what I felt like was old. Achy, lethargic, slow, bloated. Like I'd added 10 years instead of pounds.

But you do have to get over the initial hump and that takes a week IME totally off the sugar.

Thanks @BIWI

@MrsTerryPratchett I was famished all the time when I stopped the sugar in tea, and lethargic too, yes. Also tea just tasted horrible, not at all satisfying, felt like I was forcing myself to drink it.

I didn't cut out sugar or carbs anywhere else though - just the tea, so I guess I was wading through mud for no reason.

Thanks @BIWI , I am very up for this!