January '25 - Low Carb Bootcamp (Dry!) - week 1 (of 4ish)

[BIWI]

Good morning all, and a very happy new year

So today sees the start of the first low carb Bootcamp of 2025, and to get us off to the best start, this one is short and sharp. Only 4 weeks (ish, depending on when you actually start!), but also a dry one.

As with all Bootcamps, our first two weeks will be the strictest but with the option after this of moving on to Bootcamp Light for the remaining two weeks. The only difference being that we're aiming to be alcohol-free for the whole time.

Many thanks, as always, to the very lovely @FinallyHere, who is womanning the spreadsheet for us; you'll see that it allows for different start dates. Some of us are starting today, those in Scotland get an extra bank holiday so might be starting tomorrow - and several people are on holiday until 6 January. Exactly when you choose to weigh-in is entirely up to you!

Please have a good read of the spreadsheet!. Not only are the rules on there, there's also a huge amount of really useful information, along with a veg carb counter, helpfully traffic light colour-coded, to show you which are the best (and worst) options. You'll also find plenty of resources about low carbing, which will give you a good understanding of the science behind this WOE (way of eating).

As ever, any questions please post them here - or send me a PM if you prefer - as well as any meal suggestions and just general observations about how things are going for you.

Good luck to us all!

Home late last night via a 50th birthday party, volunteered to be des so alcohol wasn't an issue 😊. Packing up the car again this morning for a snowy drive to take DD back to uni - planning yogurt for breakfast, have plenty of snacks for the car and spicy pork casserole in the slow cooker for dinner. Water is always difficult on travelling days so I dont have to stop at every single services!!!

A couple of pounds down already which is good, will add my weight properly from tomorrow.
The kale and leek bake sounds fab so will be going onto the meal plan somewhere.

@SemmaLina Made up meals are my favourite kind! And that sounds delicious, thank you.

Good morning, I have added my name to the spreadsheet. Only minimal weight loss sought as not far off my natural ideal - but I have found that eating lower carb is better for me in so many ways and in December I drank enough to sink a battleship.
I am looking forward to experiencing greater mental focus, lessening of perimenopause symptoms (including anxiety) and better skin!
I have a lot to do this month and can’t be getting distracted by booze and leftover mince pies.

Hello!

@Calyx72 no answer on the Prosecco but just agreeing it’s hard to go dry after a boozy Christmas… I do dry Jan every year and I think the first weekend is hard but it gets easier (and in fact last year I did a dry Lent too).

Yesterday was harder than I expected as my whole day was thrown by non normal mealtimes (for me)…. I had to meet someone for a 10.30am brunch (they needed some moral support) and so tried to not eat breakfast… then there wasn’t really a filling enough choice at brunch, and then I was out until 4pm, and was famished… all low carb, but I prefer three normal mealtimes!!!

• shakshuka (1 poached egg in a yummy tomatoey baked sauce plus a tablespoon or so of whipped feta) - I’d have made with less of the sauce, more eggs, more feta and bulked with salad or something with an oily dressing
• starving by 4pm so then LOTS of snacking on charcuterie and hard boiled eggs which I had to hand in the fridge
• air fryer roast chicken thighs (bone in, skin on), roast cauli asaparagus and leeks, and a big salad

all fine but normally I’m not at all hungry with low carb eating… I was famished!!

I'm definitely going to try the shakshuka, @legallyblond . I googled for recipes and it looks delicious.

I expect this question has already been asked on earlier bootcamps, but are airfryers worth ir? I have one friend who calls them an absolute game changer, but I have heard others say that they are in essence just little ovens that waste worktop space.
I hate clutter on my worktop so if I got an airfryer it would have to really pull its weight, in terms of both convenience and deliciousness.

I’ve got a small air fryer and use it far more than my oven. It takes seconds to heat up and cooks really quickly. Did stuffed peppers in mine last night in 15 minutes. A couple of my friends also use them more than their main ovens. In fact, if my cooker stopped working tomorrow, I’m not sure I’d replace it.

@AlbertCamusflage we bought an air-fryer when we had the kitchen renovation , we’ve had the new kitchen for 18 months or so and still love the air-fryer
I use it for crispy bacon , salmon fillets , pork chops …

( though we do have a cupboard for it when not in use )

@AlbertCamusflage I'm with you about the air fryer. I have one that was given to me, and it is tiny. Must be the smallest one available, and each time I've used it, only a handful of times, it just seems to dry things up.
Admittedly, it didn't come with instructions so I'm guessing temps/times for whatever meat I'm cooking, but I haven't been blown away with it so far.

My oven was broken for a while, so we survived on the airfryer. Must admit I am happy to have the extra cooking space back now the oven is fixed, as with a family of 4 I had to do a lot of things in batches. The airfryer is still good though, and faster, but I think extra convenient if there are just one or two of you for meals.

I have woken up today with a headache and feeling slightly hungover, which is annoying as I did all the right things yesterday - loads of sleep, loads of water, loads of veg (and of course no alcohol). Thought I would have been bouncing out of bed. Could this be a low carb thing, or maybe it is a Dry Jan one? Could I have been drinking too much water? Once I start I find it very hard to stop.

Meals yesterday
Brunch mid morning - low carb sausages, bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomato, avocado
Mid afternoon- Greek yoghurt
Dinner - pan fried basa with a few prawns, with lardons, red pepper and red onion (I think I shouldn't have had the red onion, but I forgot to tell DH in time), salad
Snacks: celery sticks, cheese bites (think they are called Cheesies - from TK Maxx, just crunchy bits of cheese)

Meals planned today
Breakfast- Greek yoghurt
Lunch - probably either omelette or tinned mackerel and salad, avocado
Dinner - roast chicken, cauliflower cheese, broccoli, carrots. Making roast potatoes and gravy for everyone else, so that will be a temptation I need to avoid!

Morning all

Ive lost 2lb, which I'm VERY pleased about because it's only been 2 days.

KOKO everyone, and good luck to those weighing tomorrow

No! Just get back on the wagon.

It is hard, and it's harder at the weekend - so much easier to justify it. Lots of people aren't starting Bootcamp till tomorrow, so make this your 'reset' and pretend it never happened

@ColouringPencils sounds like carb flu. Have a read of the FAQs (which I have posted about and are now also on the spreadsheet) for more information/how to deal with it.

now that I have read the rules 😬 I am flying.

yesterday I had scrambled eggs and ham for brunch and last Night I had beef stroganoff. I have lost 3lbs since 2nd. I know that’s just the initial whoosh and it’ll Slow down from now on but it’s really motivating to keep going.

I had a lovely lunch on Friday by the way. I made a very thin omelette (one egg one egg white) and used It like a wrap and had chicken tikka and salad inside plus a dressing made with yogurt and a bit of Sriracha. It was lovely and I’ll definitely have it again.

now that I have read the rules 😬 I am flying.

I felt like that yesterday @ColouringPencils so just had an easy day and added some electrolytes to my water. I do live on my own though so can please myself, it’s harder when you have other commitments. Today is a different matter, feeling full of beans to the point where I might even do my ironing!

Thanks, all, for the airfryer opinions. I like the idea of a tiny one! I will have a look to see how small they go.

One thing that seems to have clicked for me in the last 24 hours is the realisation that the bootcamp is not about restricting how much i eat. It is a preparatory phase, in which I just seek to become fat adapted and learn positive eating habits. It doesn't matter if I don't lose weight and it doesn't matter if i eat heartily. Really what I need to do is lose the diet mentality, which has f**ked up my relationship with food and with my body.

If I learn to eat healthily on a low carb diet, that will reduce cravings and also help to unpick the demoralised emotional eating habits that dieting has caused. So in the longer term, I would hope to be able to lose weight . But for now, I think I need to tell myself that I can eat as much of the permitted foods as I like provided that I don't graze or wolf down giant portions. It already seems like I feel less vulnerable to the latter habit because I am not letting myself get starving.

Thanks @KittenPause, @legallyblond and @BIWI I will stay on the wagon and keep going.

I’ve got an Instant Vortex 4-in-1 air fryer if that helps @AlbertCamusflage It doesn’t take up much space on the worktop at all. In fact less than the toaster which has been banished to the cupboard for the duration of Boot Camp. It’s 3.8 litres and currently on offer for £50. https://instantpot.co.uk/shop-all-products/instant/cooking-appliances/air-fryers/instant-vortex-4-in-1-air-fryer-3-8l/?cjdata=MXxZfDB8WXww&cjevent=d9c84ae7cb5611ef822d0cad0a18b8fa&utm_source=CJ&utm_medium=affiliate

@AlbertCamusflage

One thing that seems to have clicked for me in the last 24 hours is the realisation that the bootcamp is not about restricting how much i eat. It is a preparatory phase, in which I just seek to become fat adapted and learn positive eating habits. It doesn't matter if I don't lose weight and it doesn't matter if i eat heartily. Really what I need to do is lose the diet mentality, which has f**ked up my relationship with food and with my body.

This is so, so true. It's also why we talk about this as a way of eating (WOE) more than it being a diet. Evidently, Bootcamp itself - especially the first two weeks - is a diet, as its focus is very much weight loss. But in the longer term it's about resetting what we eat, and how many carbs we will/can include in our day-to-day eating.

If you cast your minds back to what people would have been eating in, say, the 50s and 60s, food would very much have been 3 meals a day, with minimal snacking. Main meals would have been 'meat and 2 veg with potatoes', so not meals based around a carb, like pasta or rice or pizza. We didn't have a million and one coffee shops or takeaways on every high street, and we didn't feel compelled to snack throughout the day! In many ways, a low carb diet is a return to that kind of approach. (Although meat and 3 veg, rather than 2 veg and the potatoes!)

That's not to say that higher carb foods and meals can't be included - of course they can. But it's really about moving away from our whole day's meals being high carb.

That is how I hope to be tomorrow! (Although probably not ironing, just going to work). Today I am taking it very slow - had a shower and now reading my book in bed.

I'm finding these first few days tough, both booze-wise and the tempting snack cupboard, which is still overflowing a bit. But I know that after a week or so on the last bootcamp it became easy (certainly on the sugar front), so just trying to persevere until it doesn't feel like a big effort.

Food today:
*Breakfast - fried egg, a bit of chorizo, asparagus and mushrooms
*Lunch - maybe tuna steak and stir fry broccoli or maybe a salad
*Roast chicken, cauliflower cheese, roasted green beans

Thanks for the link, @Iheartmysmart. That does look manageably compact. I love the idea of ditching the carb ally toaster to make way for it!

I fell too yesterday @Calyx72, so we'll restart together. Having resisted so many temptations, I caved and had a couple of (admittedly tiny) glasses of Port because it was leftover from Christmas and, well, leftovers 🤦‍♀️

Started today well though. MrPunks makes me breakfast in bed on a Sunday, if we're not busy and presented me with LC sausages, mushrooms and fried eggs. There was also a glass of orange juice, which I politely declined in favour of water 💪
(Sorry if this sounds smug, DH has his pain the arse moments too 😄)

Not sure about lunch yet, dinner is (boiled) chicken and veg, so I'll have a useful emergency broth too.

I'm having thyme infused frothing butter steak tonight

I got a le Creuset sauté pan for my Christmas from dh (and sort of my dad - dh had even found an old gift tag from him - as he'd bought me a Le Creuset roasting pan one year for my birthday which we absolutely adore as it's such a dream to clean), so I'm going to try doing 3 steaks at once (ds is coming over for dinner - his girlfriend will get the other mushroom wellington that I made for her Christmas dinner and froze one).

I'm going to do savoy cabbage with pancetta alongside and celeriac chips for me and roast potatoes for everyone else.

Dh will be having wine (he's starting this WoE tomorrow as he has to get back into his kilt more comfortably by March ) but I won't I've already lost 5lb since Thursday I know that's mostly water and also because I'd given in to the Christmas excesses in the final few days before starting Boot Camp