Summer Low Carb Bootcamp - The Questions Thread

[BIWI]

If you have any questions, just ask them here. From experience, the chat thread moves so quickly, posters' questions often get missed.

Picking up on some that have already been asked today:

Can we eat dairy in Bootcamp?

Yes you can, but be aware that for some people dairy can impede weight loss. Butter is fine - you don't have to worry about that, and yoghurt is apparently better tolerated than milk, cream or cheese.

Cheese is a great low carb food and it's lovely to not have to worry about being able to eat it on the basis of it being a fat.

Milk can become quite carby quite quickly, so if you're having several cups of tea/coffee a day, you need to keep an eye on this. If you can, it's best to have your tea/coffee black - or to substitute cream (double) for the milk.

Cream can be used in cooking (always double, as it has a higher fat content), but again be aware that it might be an issue for you.

The best way to find out if it's a problem for you is to keep a food diary, and then you will be able to see the impact of dairy on your weight loss.

Ewan - yes it's working well!

I have gone pretty hardcore though, I am eating very little carbs at all, only one portion of spinach a day, but i am feeling great and have gone from 13.3 to 12.6 in a week.

I know the extreme version isn't for everyone, but I love it at the mo.

A typical day has been -

Breakfast - 2 fried eggs, I sliev bacon OR A small down of beef mince, fried with low carb sun-dried tomato paste

Lunch - Roast chicken (skin, roasted in a load of butter) with a dollop of mayo

Snack - 2 hard boiled eggs mashed with heaps of mayo

Dinner - Steak/more chicken/pork belly with spinach drenched in butter

I leaned from a previous go at Atkins that I cannot tolerate cheese, cream or more than one slice of bacon a day. I am drinking about 8 pints of water a day and I am feeling really great at the mo and not deprived at all.

Slice of bacon, and BOWL of mince, stupid autocorrect!

Hotcros I'm glad it's working for you and sorry for what a shit time you've had recently. Make sure you're taking a multivitamin or at least vitamin C though, whilst you're eating so few vegetables.

Yeah, I have some vitamin c, thanks. I am really feeling like I am on track with a diet for the first time in ages, not even moaning about drinking all the water!

I started going to WW meetings last week, not to do the diet, obviously, but just to get weighed by someone else, in front of other people so I can't slip up and gain a few and make excuses myself.

When I went this morning, I felt like a fraud (which I totally am, but hey, I am paying lol) when she was harping on about how wonderful my first weeks weight loss was, how amazing Weight Watchers is. While I stood there thinking "all the bloody carbs, and WW cakes and biscuits! Come off it!".

Are you going to do a big reveal at the end and say "actually I've lost all this weight by eating lots of lovely FAT FAT FAT!!"

Lol, I don't think i'd have the guts, it's a big group, I might get lynched!!

When I went for the first meeting, there was a woman there who had just lost her 6th stone, and she was at the front taking about low fat, lots of pasta, jacket pots, cereals, 'sugar free' puddings etc, she was saying how she never touches sugar....it seems utter madness when you research low carb and see how your body uses all those things and insulin levels etc

Hi I'm thinking about low carbing but have a few questions if anyone can help me please?

How many grams of carbs can I have a day?

Is milk an absolute no no or will a couple of cups a tea with milk be ok?

Has anyone suffered with headaches from low carbing as I'm prone to migraines/tension headaches?

Thank you

kneedeep on bootcamp the beauty is there is no counting, just follow the 10 rules on the spreadsheet! It is much easier than weighing and counting anything.

Basically caffeine should be cut right back - a couple I cups of tea with a splash of milk will be fine, but better would be decaf coffee with cream or maybe a fruit/herbal tea?

Some people suffer with 'carb flu' in the first week, but not everyone, most anecdotal evidence suggests that a low carb diet reduces migraines/headaches so hopefully you will be fine.

Do you know where to find the chat thread? We are on the week 5 one - come join us!

come and join us here

Link to spreadsheet with rules an all sorts of useful info is in the OP on that thread!

Anyone taking psyllium husk in powdered rather than tablet form? I wouldn't say it's vile (it's quite a fine powder) but ...
Anyone got any ideas for what drink I could mix it with rather than plain water? (Don't say wine or gin!)
Thanks!

I just sliced a celeriac to do the dauphinoise recipe. Is it meant to smell so rank raw?! It's vile!

When you say 'vile', what do you mean? Celeriac has a sort of mild aniseedy flavour but I can't remember a particularly strong smell from it!

It smells really strongly of tomato plants, mixed with dirt!

My celeriac usually just smells mildly of celery.

But tomato plants smell lovely!

viking I don't particularly like e smell, about the only thing I can't eat/really dislike is parsnip, just the smell of it makes me feel sick. I find celeriac has a slight parsnippy whiff to it, but once cooked as much better.

Hi everyone. I started low carb last Tuesday & in my first week I lost 5lbs :)

I wasn't hugely strict because I am such a fussy eater/drinker but I seemed to have been ok.

2.5 litres was made up of 1 litre flavoured fizzy water. 1 can coke zero & 1 litre of plain water(yuck)! Do you think I be be able to continue like this?

Also I am going to the cinema tonight & will try to be strong but if sweet popcorn should fall into my mouth how much damage am I doing? Anyone know the carb content?

Yesterday I made a lovely desert by mixing total yoghurt, double cream & 2 squares albeit largish squares of dark chocolate (76% cocoa). It was delicious. Would this be an acceptable occasional treat?

Hi Abouttime

Well done on your loss so far!

If you were following Bootcamp I would say the following:

• drop the flavoured water, it's full of artificial ingredients/sweeteners, which we're aiming to avoid. Partly because they aren't natural but mainly because we're also trying to break the hold that sweet things have on us
• ditto to the Coke
• I don't know how much you weigh, but the amount of water you drink needs to increase the more you weigh; 2.5 litres sounds good, but it depends on your weight
• don't go anywhere near the popcorn! If you really have to, then salty popcorn would be better, but still not good (sweet popcorn is around 77g carbs per 100g so it is really high; plain is 48g)
• the chocolate is something that you should avoid, certainly in the early stages of low carbing, as we are trying to avoid sweet things

All of that said, whether or not you can eat/drink these things depends entirely on what kind of plan you are following. Why not come and join us on Bootcamp?

And, just to warn you, it is very common for low carbers to see a good weight loss in weeks 1 and 2, but then for the weight loss to stop altogether in weeks 3 and 4 (or even 5). If this happens to you, once you have established that you are keeping your carbs low enough, don't panic - just keep on keeping on, and the weight will start to shift again after that.

Good luck!

I pressed on with the celeriac - my hands still reek of it, but the cooked article is really nice!

I do still have the pregnancy superhuman sense of smell, though DD is now 15m!

Hello everyone.

I also started last Tuesday and have lots 5lbs (though I am pretty a lot of that was water weight in the first 24 hours). I have been lurking on all the bootcamp threads but I have a couple of questions I can't find the answers to.

Should I be in ketosis by now? I still experience carb cravings from time to time which makes me think I can't be.

I only have about a further half a stone I want to lose and was wondering whether this means I will lose weight slowly with this WOE?

I exercise most days either cardio or weights, is this why I still crave carbs? (I also breastfeed, but only once a day)

Thanks very much I really want to make a go of this!

Oh one more question. Most days I find it really tough to stick to 3 meals. I either end up with 2 meals and a third split into two sit ins or I manage with just a snack and three meals. I know we are not supposed to do this but I get so hungry, is this really bad?

GreatBags - if you're keeping your carbs low, and you have been consistent about this, then you will be in ketosis. Carb cravings just indicate the addictive power that they have!

Yes, you will lose weight slowly if you only have half a stone to go.

If you're getting hungry, then you aren't eating enough fat. List out for me what your typical meals have been over the last few days.

Thanks for responding BWIW.

Greek yogurt for breakfast, coffee with double cream both days
Lunch yesterday smoked salmon, 2 scrambled large eggs with butter; today large salad with olives and egg (2) mayo and avocado.
Dinner last night was king prawn shaslick and okra, tonight I came home hungry and ate a tonne of cheese whilst making fried cheese fritters which I had with green beans and carrots.

I have been a bit busy so mealtimes have been rushed, the lack of fat might explain why I was craving the cheese so much this evening.

I don't like chicken or meat. I have been eating a lot of fish but was a bit fished out the last couple of days

And I have been good I think. Nothing off the bootcamp list and having small portions of things like onion and tomato

In which case, your hunger is allowed - just eat!

But - you also might want to keep an eye on the dairy, so try and avoid eating too much cheese. Olives are a good low carb snack.