Ongoing Low Carb Bootcamp Chat Thread

[BIWI]

Well done everyone who completed the Summer Bootcamp!

here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness if you want to continue adding to it

Obviously there are many of us who want to continue, either to lose more weight or just for general support to help with this WOE, so here is a brand new, shiny chat thread.

As for me, having slipped a lot a little when I was away, I'm firmly back on the wagon today.

And can I remind you, that if you haven't completed the survey we would be very grateful for your views/thoughts on how we can improve Bootcamp.

Cherrypi, take some naice ham/ chicken drumsticks and salad in a tub, perhaps? Hope your DC's appt goes smoothly. DD was in for a kidney scan yesterday and it went ok. They're pretty good about not keeping kids waiting too long.

Crabby - I was feeling a bit emotional too last night. Though perhaps due to fact that I joined DP for some Rose wine . Weird rationale has been that we never ever ever get such hot weather and how can I let this time go by without drinking Rose?

Currently TOTM which I am using an excuse for why I seem to be eating excess of berries, prob too many nuts, yoghurt etc. I am not weighing till it is over but hoping that while perhaps not losing, that I am not really gaining. I hope not anyway! Life a bit stressful trying to look after DD2 (baby) and work freelance with patchy childcare until September. She is teething at the moment so not playing ball with my plans to plonk her down and get on with work and is just wanting to be held all the time.

Anyway came on the thread to say well done to everyone losing - newbies, TooExtra, Crabby and anyone else I have missed out.

(Brain a bit mushy at the mo - possibly after staring at hospital door on BBC news channel for about 45 mins waiting to see Royal baby yesterday eve. After I had been sitting there, refusing to get anything for either DD, go to the toilet, make dinner etc, DP walked in door at 7.15pm, just as they all came out of the hospital. Typical. Not that he is much fussed about these things.)

Can I join in, please? I am an experience calorie counter, though no steady weight loss for the last 5 years - I always gain back what I lose, partially because I am not very creative with food and often chose old boring, easy to count options and then get very bored/tired of every day calorie counting.
I hope LC is more relaxed way of life.
I have jumped on LC wagon just this morning, after learning that I will be meeting cousin in 3 weeks time who I have not seen for the last 15 years. I am not expecting to become normal from obese but at least I want to make serious effort.

All your meals sound delicious! I just wonder if I can eat as much as I want on my first days. I do feel terribly hungry, probably because I ate lots of carbs later and felt so unhappy, never satisfied and bloated.

I have started with not the best option but hey it is my very first morning and I am not prepared - Mc Donalds breakfast egg + sausage patty minus muffin, and loads of coffee with Stevia.

Does anyone of you have meal plans for a week? Or just eat what you fancy at a time?

TooExtraImmatureCheddar - thank you

littlecrystal you are welcome to join :) I am a newbie myself and I find this forum very helpful as girls are so kind and friendly, they answer to your questions and help you to understand how this WOE works.

I have read info on spreadsheet and found it very interesting and informative; there are some recipe ideas as well.

I guess McDonalds breakfast is not the bet idea but as you get into this WOE you will learn a lot of delicious and most important filling recipes. :) Best of luck to you

Littlecrystal - read the rules on the spreadsheet (top of thread) - they will give guidelines as to what you should be eating, and what not! We don't count calories at all ; don't beleive in them! This is a total mind-switch from low-cal low-fat stuff. But it works.

Spreadsheet also has some meal plans (under ubercamp tab) and you should really do 2 weeks of strict bootcamp, which is designed to break your addiction to sugar/sweet things (no Stevia!) - and it is an addiction. You may or may not feel a bit flu-ey for a few days to start, but do not waver. You may feel cravings for sweet things - this is your body hankering after sugar in any form. Again, work through it and afterwards you will really feel the benefit.

Just had a look at the spreadsheet.
Does anyone know if frankfurters and full fat soured cream are allowed?
I will shed few tears about Stevia, after willingly giving up my morning Frappe Latte .

So, as I was quite unprepared to start with, my lunch was an omlette with mushroom, tomato and bacon.

Surprised to read on the spreadsheet that bacon is considered processed food.

Frankfurters are processed meat. Full fat soured cream has more carbs that double cream so better with double cream :)

I guess bacon is considered processed food because it usually have salt/sugar/water added to it or it is smoked as well.

Just checked internet, full fat soured cream has lower carb than full fat yogurt and I do not eat yogurt. Must be ok then?

After 3 days Ubercamp, having a tiny splash of milk in my tea seems v decadent! Bloody DH emailed to tell me he's been eating doughnuts .

Littlecrystal, I try to meal plan and shop accordingly, but it is v difficult and I always over-estimate vegetables and they wind up going off, or we cook something for 4 instead of 2 and then don't freeze the extra and it goes off, or we just can't be bothered cooking what's on the list and get something else instead... I followed the Ubercamp recipes until yesterday so I will now have to go shopping tonight and get food for the rest of the week, which I did not think of when shopping on Sunday.

Littlecrystal - we try to keep it below 4-5g/100g carbs, but i dunno what carbs soured cream has. (Isn't soured cream the same as yoghurt? What don't you like about yog? The lidl Greek 10%fat one is lush! - and cheap)

Bacon is a processed food because of the nitrates/salts used to 'cure' it. They can cause water-retention and weight gain. Frankfurters would be out because they are processed, and we try to keep it as 'clean' as possible.

Having said that, most of us eat bacon and eggs for breakfast most some days!

2nd week of lc. first week was tough, major sugar cravings. This week much better, didn't feel hungry between meals, drinking loads of water, cut out the diet coke. but today I had a slip and had some cake and it didn't taste right and I only had about a quarter of a slice. now I feel really sick. have I undone all my good work? would some extra excercise help getting back om track? I feel so lethargic this afternoon

nearly - just get straight back on track and drink lots of water - you will be fine! All of us have occasional slip ups. The worst thing about slip ups for me is that they make me much more likely to eat carbs again the next day, not so much how bad they are in themselves.

Littlecrystal I have sour cream occasionally, full fat obviously

I don't like sausages but as others have said they are processed so provided the carb count on the brand you have is low, they are ok but don't have them too frequently. I restrict bacon consumption to weekends only.

thanks negroni
can I say goodbye to any weightloss this week because of this slip?
how long does it take to get back in ketosis?

Hello

I'm on Day 3 after a bit of a slip over the weekend (Raymond Blanc's Cherry Tart, I had to, Miss).

I think I'm doing ok but am very confused and worried about the whole coffee thing. If I'm allowed cream, can I not just have that in coffee? What's the difference between cream and milk, carbwise? I am addicted to coffee so it's very hard to let it go. I'm drinking lots of water

I'm having lots of fish, chicken and vegetables/salad, and some cheese - not much. But lots of the recipes seem to involve loads of cheese and cream - is there really no limit to the fat intake?

Sorry if these are stupid questions - really trying to get my head around this. I really, really want it to work. Have done Dukan, 5:2 and raw food in the past six months, and honestly, cutting out carbs is the only thing that works. But I don't like the rigidity of Dukan, although it gets the weight off.

I thought you weren't supposed to feel hungry on this woe cos I'm starving! I suspect DH's inadequate dinner may be to blame as dinner is where I usually get most of my calories and fat. I may have to make a second dinner to keep me going.

B: 6 strawberries and 160g Greek yoghurt
L: Subway steak and cheese salad
S: roasted chicken thigh left over from yesterday
D: stir fry (chicken breast, red pepper, leek and baby corn)

StuntNun - eat if you're hungry! Looks not enough fat to me.

I added up the calories for the day and it's only 1000! It looks like I need another whole meal today. It's difficult to get the extra fat in. I could fry some mushrooms in butter, roast a few more chicken thighs (DH got a job lot from the factory shop for £1) and eat a few spoonfuls of cream and then don't let DH cook again after last night's steamed broccoli incident as well.

Crabby do you do recipes by request on your blog? Mine and DH's late night snack of choice is salt and chilli deep fried ribs from the Chinese takeaway now that a curry chip is off the menu. I had a brainwave today that we could make them ourselves in the deep fat fryer if only we had a genuine low carb recipe to follow! A cursory Google search has revealed non-LC-friendly ingredients such as cornflour. Just a thought anyway, in case you were looking for ideas.

My menu today

B a small piece of cheddar. I wasn't hungry but as I am on bootcamp I had to have breakfast
L chicken breast and mushrooms fried in butter with broccoli and cream. Very yummy. I had quite a big portion of it.
D I made tzaziki ( not sure about the spelling :) ) - greated cucumber with some garlic and yogurt. I also added some white wine vinegar and mayo and a bit of oil. It was really nice. I ate it with cooked turkey slices :)

And a lot of water. Probably more than 3 litres.

I have checked my balsamic vinegar label and it says no carbs. Can I use it then?

CJCregg what is you tried having coffee without milk? I know it tastes a bit different but you could try and get used to having just black coffee. That's what I drink...

Help!! I have no energy whatsoever for my workouts! It's a v male dominated boxing class and I look like such a wuss if I can't keep up with the boys (I usually can!). I tried eating half a one pot meal (with chickpeas but no other carbs) before going but it didn't help. Anyone have any suggestions? I was going to go for a couple of bananas tomorrow before class... Bad idea? Otherwise I have no apetite and managing to resist all carbs!

If you're doing intensive exercise then you may need some carbs to be able to keep up with the class but it will delay your switch over to fat-burning where you will be able to do the exercise from a fasting state. Could you lay off the exercise for a week or two while you let your body adjust to the woe?

Beenie I am unfit so my exercise is at a much lower level than yours but I often make cream cheese pancakes with some added peanut butter for flavour, topped with greek yoghurt and a few blueberries and flaked almonds.

I think on a previous thread when I mentioned having this BIWI said that some low-carb diets add an occasional slice of wholemeal bread so to do that once a week would not hurt. I had 2 poached eggs on a small slice toast with butter!

Welcome to all newcomers. Littlecrystal you are in the right place, no more calorie counting here.

CJCregg no-one has ever mentioned a limit to the fat intake, but it is important to eat fat. I think I know of at least 3 reasons: 1. Otherwise you will be hungry and miserable. 2. a low-fat low-carb diet will slow down your metabolism, make it harder to lose weight and easier to put it on again (body adjusting to what it thinks is a famine) 3. prevent constipation!

Lots of people warn against too much of that fat being dairy - so I think you would be right to keep some moderation on the cheese and cream. Butter is good, oil is good, fat on meat & oily fish good, eggs good.

The other fact I've picked up is that - ooo straining the brain here and probably not quite biologically correct - fat gets turned into ketones in our blood. If you drink enough water the ketones get flushed out in your wee. Then there is space to burn some more fat into more ketones. If your body doesn't have enough spare water to flush away the ketones, the fat burning stops.

So - everyone go and drink some water!