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!

well done on no diet coke purple
Happy Birthday Daisy

Ladies if unsure of carb content or whats allowed it all on the fabulous spread sheet, tabs at the bottom. Celeriac is fine I have it as crisps and a gratin made with cheese and cream

Well done for trying, Purple! It can't be easy for you.

So, excitement here in the roobot household... When we lived in the states, DH and I used to go to this fusion restaurant that did this amazing starter called beef nagimaki. it was cream cheese and spring onions rolled up in a sttrip of beef (about the size of a sushi roll), fried in a sweet, sticky sauce. Yum. So today I thought I would make a low card version. I found sliced roast beef in sainsburys (as too lazy to do my own). Sliced a shallot and half an onion in half then made lengthwise strips- softened in coconut oil. Sliced the roast beef in half, making strips about 1.5 by 4 inches. Dollop of cream on one side, the a few of the shallonion strips and roll up. Bung in pan to warm up briefly. They were delish.
ANyway, breaksfast was yoghurt and a dash of cream as we are all not very well and couldn't do eggs!
(Late) lunch was the nagimaki as above
Dinner- cauliflower mash and black farmer snausages

Think I am getting to the not feeling hungry stage as both last night and tonight i haven't quite felt like clearing my plate!

Evening all.

B 3 rashers of streaky bacon and a small leek fried in butter
L wasn't hungry but managed a couple of slices of ham
D lamb chops with asparagus and posh broccoli sautéed in butter

Delicious and stuffed :)

B - Total FF with bullet proof coffee.
L - Green salad, tuna in oil and 2 hard boiled eggs. Mayo.
D - Salmon in philly and double cream sauce, spinach and green beans in butter, celariac chips.
S - 2 baby bel cheeses.

biwi it isn't easy, but I think I have to slow down a bit on whatbi expect of myself and just stick to small amounts of chicken and accept it. I don't mind eating pretty much the same thing every day. Ive done a huge salad and frittata for lunch tomorrow and I enjoy that so it's not too bad. On my next day off im going to try the spinach and ricotta gnocchi that I got off the recipe thread.

A challenge tonight as it's our monthly all-family-home-for-dinner night where I push the boat out in the kitchen and we all tuck in, drink, catch up on news, etc. It's a very sociable foodfest and a bit of an expected event these days. I love doing it (and having all my DCs home from uni/work/whatever) so was worried about how to do it without letting the tradition down. Tonight we were also celebrating a new job for one DC so there had to be sparkling as well. Anyway, hope I didn't sink the low carb ship.

Without listing all the courses and bits and pieces, the ingredients I ate were chicken, tomato, okra, onion, garlic, cauliflower, yoghurt. All of which I think are ok. I skipped the rice and naan. Then there was also some hot plum chutney, which I made so I do know exactly how much fruit and sugar there was in it. I had maybe half a teaspoon in total - so although carboy, maybe only a few grams. And a glass and a half of prosecco. Will this have ruined ketosis for me BIWI? Or should I be ok on that?

I would think you would be fine!

I had boiled cauliflower grilled with cheese. Next time I'll try the mash, thanks Roobot (NC here).

That's a relief! I did really try hard. Am determined.

BTW purple if you want some inspiration on sticking with avoiding diet coke etc, read [http://rhondagessner.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/a-killer-in-your-fridge-sweet-poison-a-must-read/ this]. It's shocking and very informative.

Sorry link fail this

Purple - may I ask why you are forcing yourself to eat meat?
Seems to me you are setting yourself up to fail if you really can't eat it?there are lots of fab veggie LC recipes

Purple - may I ask why you are forcing yourself to eat meat?
Seems to me you are setting yourself up to fail if you really can't eat it?there are lots of fab veggie LC recipes

Sorry for double post

Completely fallen off the low carb wagon.
Ah, well. I tried.

Never mind demented... you can just climb back on!

What happened, dementedma?

I want to be healthier and have more choice especially when I eat out. Although I have been a vegetarian I dony like tomatoes or mushrooms so find a lot of vegetarian meals are ones I can't eat. I also don't like spicy food like curry either. I get really embarrassed when I eat out so I wanted to give myself more choice. I am doing ok with chicken and am happy to continue with that but I think anything else will be a step too far for me.

Just about to read the diet coke link.

Don't give up demented it will work, give it another go

If you are fine with chicken then go for it!

Demented some people can jump on and stay on the wagon, some people have to have a few bounces to get to stay on. Don't give up. Write the day off and start afresh tomo. I will join you on that. I always seem to fall off once or twice in the first week but do much better in the second.

ARGH!

I got home about an hour or so ago after being away all week having been told by DP that dinner would be gammon and eggs and would be ready when I get home to then find that the gammon was off so I have no dinner. DP had something else... so what am I going to have I ask... 'there's some bread in the bread bin' and then 'why don't you order a takeaway to be delivered'... seriously why do I bother? Now its not the fact that he hasn't sorted anything else out I'm cross about its the fact that he didn't tell me before I got home when I could've got something else on the way home but waited til I was home and then suggested stuff i'm not eating! I mean ffs. And I'm working tomorrow so I also have to somehow sort lunch out to take with me too as well as breakfast.

Sorry to rant

I've just caught up with the thread now I have a rare moment on an actual computer instead of a blackberry. Everyone is doing great :)

Newstart I really suffer from emotional eating and sometimes completely don't realise that's what I'm doing... (good news = celebrate with beers and a takeaway... night in alone = ditto... bad day = ditto...) I need someone to reprogram my brain

Tbh it was one of those days where there were so many straws that could have been the one to break the camels back. I knew what i was doing and did it anyway and am actually regretted what i did because in the end it is only me who suffers as a result and doesn't fix anything in the long run.

Not surprised you are ranting AuntieM I would be too. Hope you managed to get something sorted without too much hassle and stress!!

Wow, it's taken me so long to catch up with the thread!!

Thank you everyone who commented about my doctors visit and BMI - I was going to list you all but that seems slightly silly you know who you are!

"Livelong and Kinky"... Is that an instruction/recommendation, BIWI, sort of like live long and prosper?

According to the label on my celeriac (Waitrose), the carb content is 2.3%, so you can eat as much as you like (I do)! I've been able to get it in Waitrose or Sainsburys all year. Waitrose would probably order it in for you if that branch doesn't normally stock it.

Re low carbing for kids... I modified DD's diet on the last bootcamp and found it really helped with her mood. It's not a low carb diet, more of a low GI diet really. I cut out as much processed crap as possible, and only give her pasta and rice occasionally now. I'm lucky in that she loves beans (cannellini, butter, black, kidney etc) so one meal a day (she insists on a cooked lunch ) is often beans with peas and a bit of leftover meat. I worry about chemicals in tins so I buy the pouches - not that they're probably any better! Sometimes I soak and cook beans but it's such a faff. I should do it more and use the pouches less, though.

DD's always been mega fussy about vegetables but she'll eat peas and sweetcorn til the cows come home, and I'm sneaking frozen spinach and green beans into things more and more. I give her other veg from time to time and she moans as though I've poisoned her. Tomato sauces and tomatoey things like hunters' chicken always go down well. She likes farro (a spelt-like grain, cooks in 10 mins) and bulgar wheat too, both of which are low GI. A bulgar wheat salad would be good for lunch boxes. DD loves almonds and has them most days for breakfast and snacks. My Sains do a huge (700g) bag of raw almonds for £5.50 that lasts us about a week - it's in the world foods section. Crustless quiche would be good for lunchboxes.

Happy Birthday Daisy!!!

There's so much going on the thread that I'm finding it difficult to keep up with everyone and namecheck - I read through and there are things I want to respond to but by the time I get to the bottom I've forgotten them all! Sorry!

Food today:
L - usual mozzarella, tomatoes, slice of parma ham, pesto
S - prawns/shrimp and mayonnaise, gruyere cheese
D - low carb fish pie - adapted the recipe I usually used and I'm quite pleased with it. I took photos and will put it up on the blog if I can be arsed/people want me to. I used double and clotted cream for the sauce and rolled the raw fish pieces in ground almonds to stop the fish (raw when the sauce goes on and it goes in the oven) from making the sauce too watery. Sauce had bulb fennel, shallot and spinach in, fish pie mix (salmon, cod, smoked haddock) was on offer and I added in prawns (shrimp). Topping was roasted celeriac, mashed with roasted garlic and gruyere cheese. It was rather nice.
Too much tea today - four cups - and lots of water. NO WINE! ON A FRIDAY!