Week 1 - Autumn Low Carb Bootcamp

[BIWI]

So here we are! Over 160 of us signed up!

Here is the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness for you to enter your first weight

If you aren't on the list for any reason, just go to the bottom of the list and add your name - the lovely Willie will sort out the alphabetisation later.

From experience of previous Bootcamps, the chat thread can move very quickly! So, if you have a specific or particular question, please post it on the questions thread I will do my best to check it as often as I can, as will other seasoned Bootcampers.

If you have a really burning issue, please feel free to PM me and I will do my very best to help you as soon as possible.

And if you're looking for inspiration for things to cook, here's the recipe thread

Here is a brief reminder of the rules:

We do not eat any of the following during Bootcamp:

bread
rice
pasta/noodles
potatoes
flour
pastry
sugar
chocolate/sweets
biscuits/cookies
crisps

And here are the ten rules of Bootcamp:

1. You must eat breakfast.
2. Avoid processed food
3. Eat lots of fat
4. Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food
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. No alcohol
8. No fruit
9. No nuts/seeds

10. No sugar or artificial sweeteners

More detail/explanation of these rules is on the spreadsheet ? look at the tabs at the bottom.

One final word from me ? the disclaimer! I am not a doctor, a scientist, a dietician nor a nutritionist. The advice that is given here is based on my own experience of low carbing, as well as the reading I have been doing over the last few years.

If you have a medical condition, or you are taking long term medication, please take advice from your GP/consultant before starting to low carb.

Good luck everyone!

true daisychicken. Its not feasible for me, at 5'10 to be the 9-9 and half stone skinny thing I was as a student pre-kids. I lived on coffee, fags and junk. 10 stone is my goal weight and I'm over 40 and do actually want to eat food!
My boys (19 and 20) live on carbs and are ridicuously skinny but they are that age where they burn it off. And booze. Its the 'student diet'! But neither will eat until 4pm. They are different to me, as a middle aged woman.

Lots of water seems to be helping the caffeine withdrawal headaches so no need for paracetamol yet! Im already nearly at 2 litres of water today. Am really missing the diet coke though.

Have got chicken stuffed with cream cheese and spinach wrapped in bacon ready to cook tonight. Will be the first time I've eaten bacon in 25 years so will feel a bit weird.

Didn't have a flaxseed muffin with breakfast. Just had yoghurt and cinnamon and im not hungry yet. Will be having an early lunch as meeting a friend and I don't want to eat lunch out until I have been doing this a lot longer. I just don't want to risk it.

Glad you don't need the paracetamol, Purple! And good going on the water front.

daisy - not sure about the final weight thing. I was 8 stone 11 when I got married, 23 years ago, and I'm not far off that. My lowest weight, before I fell off the wagon a few weeks ago was just 6lbs higher than that, so I'm still hopeful that I might get relatively close to it.

silverangel i don't know what supermarket you shop in but in my local sainsbury's they put the celeriac with the garlic/root ginger/chillis etc, rather than with the root veg as any normal person would expect them to

Willie - I've been to Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsburys - they all have the shelf space but no celeriac!! Its annoying as I generally buy it all the time but I am now on a mission - will try M&S later...

Caught up over pages and pages!

Crabby congratulations indeed on a BMI of 24!

All those with carb flu (and everyone else too) - eat SALT. I've just read this in Dr Briffa's book which finally explained it for me:

"One of insulin's effects is to reduce the rate that sodium is excreted through the kidneys. ... When carbohydrate intake is reduced, insulin levels drop. The kidneys ramp up their excretion of sodium, which takes water with it. This means that some people find themselves urinating more than usual (sound familiar anyone?). ... It can cause sodium levels to drop significantly too. In some people this can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, headache, cramp or lightheadedness. (also, sound familiar?)
One way of countering this is to make a point of adding salt to your food."

I'm off to add some salt to my lunch!

well, despite my cheese misdemeanors, Ive shifted 3 pounds since Monday!

I have a couple of spice grinders with salt and various spices. I sometimes grind a wee bit into my hand and lick it

ah silver i understand your problem now!

yes, clearly a big low-carber area!

i've just had a quick google and it looks as though celeriac is only just coming into season, so it may be a bit scarcer than usual at the moment

Celeriac must be just coming into season as my veg box had it for the first time yesterday. Perhaps the shops have their spaces in readiness for it but haven't taken delivery of it yet.

Blimey this thread moves fast! BIWI - you could be right about the water and dairy. So I've now reluctantly ditched morning tea with milk in favour of bulletproof coffee (bit of a pain getting the blender out every morning though!). Will cut down on cheese, and drink more water. Hoping for some loss in time for Monday's weigh-in.
On the positive side, the reduction in appetite is unbelievable!

Daisy - Happy Birthday!

Secondsop - I think celeriac is a 'winter' veg so may be a bit scarce; actually I don;t think I've seen it much either lately.

Prettybird!

i can barely keep up with the thread!

Had scrambled eggs with mushrooms for lunch. I've had 3 coffees with double cream, plus more than 2 litres of water already. Dinner will be baked cod.

I don't eat breakfast - I know you're supposed to but I'm not hungry at breakfast whenever I'm LC-ing. The food is so filling I guess, that dinner lasts overnight til lunch the following day! I am in a position where I am able to cook a good lunch however. If it was a case of having to have lunch "on the hoof" I think I would need to adapt to having breakfast in order to stop myself going off piste at lunch.

I'm 39 today..!

daisy is it your birthday today?

Agree NigellasGuest – I often feel fine to miss breakfast if I'm working from home and know I can make a decent low-carb lunch but yes, good breakfast important on other days as I can't carry lunch box around with me.
Anyway, wish me luck. I'm off for meal at one of our local gasto pub this eve. Will be great, don't get me wrong, but not ideal first weekend of bootcamp. I think I will be fine resisting the bread, fat chips and dessert but I'm debating whether I can allow myself one alcoholic beverage then drink water like crazy on Saturday to flush it through my system.
Will one planned cheat derail me, as long as it remains one cheat?
That is the question...

... and HAPPPY BIRTHDAY highjinx!

Thanks googoo but it's not my birthday and I'm sadly not 39 anymore either I was copying from daisy's post but didn't make it clear

Crikey, I can't keep up!

I was sceptical and terrified of all the fat ive been eating BUT its bloody working - I've lost 3lb since Tuesday.

I think my diet has been a bit cheese heavy so might try to cut that down now. It's funny that I don't miss starchy carbs at all, but I do miss fruit with my morning yogurt.

Coffee with cream is now my guilty pleasure.

Me neither, 39 I mean!!!
Happy Birthday daisy then

Wow the thread is moving too fast. Had off piste eating on Tuesday and Wednesday but did not want to post about it so early on in bootcamp - not a good start! Now firmly back on track, esp after stern talking to by DP.

Holmes I make bullet proof coffee by pouring a mugful of coffee into a flask or bottle adding butter and coconut oil and shaking vigorously for 30 seconds. Works fine and goes frothy...and easy to rinse out.

My biggest sacrifice was freshly squeezed OJ in the morning. I used to refuse to kiss dh not to function until I had had my morning orange juice.

I now barely don't miss it.

I still have work to do on the emotional eating front. :(

Thank you every much to all the info on LC for kids. Ds could never go completely LC as it is split custardy and his father thinks it is a load of crap (his actual words were a lot ruder) But it would be good to get him eating better here and I have already tried to convince my mother that food treats and the way she linked food and emotions in us was really bad. She hasn't accepted that and I suspect there will be an argument on it in the future.

prettybird i suck rock salt crystals when i feel the need. Tis lurvely

Another good LC here, we had scones for afternoon tea at work but seeing as how I was woofing down a LC sausage I barely blinked at them. Last week I had 2
Off to buy ff yogurt for the first time in my life.
Planning on making mini egg/bacon muffin things tomorrow for a weekend treat, wonder if I can freeze them?

Silverangel - just had my waitrose order delivered as I desperately wanted celeriac and it was out of stock.. I've been waiting for it to come into season and was SO looking forward to having celeriac again!!!!

Yup, tis my birthday..... thanks for the wishes can't decide whether to feel old or not (& DH convinced his parents think I'm 40 this year as has a v unexpectedly expensive gift)