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!

Thank you all - yes I am here at Starbucks with a little thing of cream and a vat of water.
I am quite the pathetic sight

That's the great thing about this boot camp though - on my own would have thought 'oh bollocks, that's just not do-able' but reading about other people coping with parties or provided lunches is making me a bit more determined. Preparing for the morning has helped me.
I am feeling hung over today which is bloody outrageous as I haven't had a drink all week. It's the detox I think .

Well done MRs snuffle on avoiding the cake.

Pag - why do you have to stay there for hours? The detox thing is weird isn't how your body copes with getting rid of toxins etc

It is bloody weird

DD swims for a club. Sunday morning is one hour land training, two hours swimming. She is only just 11 and asthmatic so I stay on site. Usually I can wander around or sit poolside or go to the gym here but on a Sunday I have DS2 for whom the only option is setting up his laptop in Starbucks. I can't leave him except for a few minutes at a time to check on DD.

I don't mind it too much - I do all the school stuff, emails, check on my mum etc but a couple of cappuccinos used to be part of the deal . Ah well

Pagwatch - much as I loved my cappuccinos when I was waiting around at the velodrome while ds trained/raced, I've learnt to enjoy an Americano instead and it's cheaper too

Christ, I know!
The money I spent each week. I might stick it in a money box and buy myself a skirt when my arse is the size of a walnut

Does ds still race? It's weird and kind of bad watching intense training while eating and siting down isn't it

Some people are doing so well. Brilliant!

Commiserations to those who are struggling. If you fall off, pick up 2l of water and get back on. Some days are easy to negotiate and others frankly impossible. I think if you are a guest you have to eat what you are given. Obviously if it is your mum or someone close to whom you can say that you are not eating potatoes right now, that's great but if you get faced with a lasagne or risotto, you just have to go for it (small helping) and chalk it up to experience. I have done plenty of situations where I've only had a few potatoes and then left them, but had to eat dodgy things like cannelloni as someone has lovingly made them. It'll all even out in the wash .

I definitely think this WOE is easier for those of us without a sweet tooth. I don't particularly care for biscuits or chocolate so don't miss them. Crisps are my downfall, but i can have pork crackling instead and next week nuts! Hurray! The food is so tasty and so plentiful. Who would have thought that BAB was diet food?

Was at work for 12 hours yesterday so had ham, philly, egg mayo, lettuce, cucumber, celery and water. 5l of water. Thank god everything was a bit salty as I drank so much. Felt great though and not too tired. However, when I got home, I succumbed to a glass of wine and promptly fell asleep. Woke up for my steak and salad then off to bed.

Today we are going to the country for a walk then family supper of roast pork. Tomorrow is my son's first full day at school. I now have 2 days a week with no work and no kids. I am off swimming

HAve a lovely day everyone.

Ds was supposed to be doing a 10 mile TT this morning but it was cancelled 5 minutes before we were due to leave the house (fortunately the start is only about 15 minutes away) but it had already meant that I'd had to get up at 7.15 on a Subday morning

Thank goodness for the lovely warm dry indoor velodrome. He does a mix of road and track - and is going to try his first CX at the end of the month. spectating at them sounds cold!

Rugby game today not yet cancelled but I can stay in the nice warm club house with the good view of the pitches

Unfortunately I had also made a quadruple batch of chocolate chip cookies for the cake stalls at both the cycling and the rugby.....

morning all, how annoying pretty can you freeze cookies or send to school for the class
so it's not raining here yet but supposed to be bad later. I have managed to stick to woe and will weigh in tomorrow. Don't expect big loss as I have been doing this a long time now, but fingers crossed.
For all off you that have had a bump along the way, water, water and more water

kinky well done on loss that's amazing and shows how this woe works. Sorry to hear about periods, mine are a nightmare but putting it down to 3 children and getting closer to 40

Rugby still on for the older kids - so I'll just have plenty to sell!

Ds is now at secondary school - don't think he would want me to hand in a tin of home-made biscuits!

I fell into a bag of Minstrels last night oops! I have monstrous period pains and chocolate is medicine (tru fax). Resisted a big comforting bowl of porridge and honey this am though and had a bulletproof coffee instead. Lots of water today!
I think totm is the hardest thing on this WOE for me. I get extreme pains and nausea and when I am nauseous I want salty carby blandness or fruit. The thought of fatty tasting food makes me feel sick. Does anyone else feel like this?

Same here with me last night Bullet I've been craving chocolate for a few days (& I did give in on Friday though i blamed that on my bday ) 'twas only yesterday with horrendous pain that I realised that it was totm. For me, once the pain goes, I'm back to normal, I just have to work through the craving days the best I can....

I know I said I'd have a big breakfast, but I've no appetite this morning at all.

Tbh, since I started this WOE three weeks ago, I've barely felt any hunger.

I've lost 9lbs in the last three weeks. That's after losing 21lbs and plateauing for two months while calorie counting.

I'm the lightest I've been my entire adult life, but I'm not hungry. It's crazy.

The 'medicinal' thing you want from chocolate, that endorphin-raising, ant-oxidant-providing whoomph - it's not from shite like Minstrels with all the sugar. It'll pick you up for half an hour then you'll be left feeling worse.

For TOTM-related absolute chocolate emergency a couple of squares of 80% dark chocolate will see you right. Promise. Ideally not in the first two weeks of Bootcamp, but y'know. We've all been there.

And anyone who's really struggling with sweet cravings I can recommend Chromium Picolonate supplement for evening out blood sugar.

The cravings WILL go. It's an odd sensation after years of conditioning that sugary stuff = treats, but they will. I'll tell you what is a treat - eating a 3-egg, oregano and feta omelette cooked in butter for breakfast whilst browsing for some size 10 jeans because my size 12s are falling down

KinkyD well done on the 12lbs weight loss in just 3 weeks.

Well done to all on your first week and looking forward to tales of encouraging losses tomorrow!
I've had a BAB today too!
Those with period problems - oestragen is bound up in your fat, so once the fat cells are mobilised, your hormones will be a bit all over theplace. I remember BlackAffronted had 'bleeding' for about 12 weeks on one bootcamp! Horrendous, but it does get easier!

Purple - well done on the diet coke ! Seriously - I'd be surprised if you ever go back to that junk. After a few weeks of low-carbing your tastes change and it will be sooooooooo sweet it'll make your teeth hurt.

Thanks captainmummy I am so glad the headaches have stopped. I've not been craving it today. I will probably have it again one day just to see if Its too sweet. Won't be for a long time though. Going to try a lot of herbal teas and see which ones I like. Are there any I should avoid that are too high in carbs or caffeine?

Sorry Ewan but that just isn't true! I felt a lot better after my minstrels! I know that high percentage choc is better nutritionally (and most of the time I prefer it) but it just doesn't hit the same spot as milk chocolate at that totm. And as for you omelette - usually YUM! But the thought of eating that when I'm nauseous
Just managed a cold boiled egg with salt for brekkie -it was meant to be two but fussy DS asked if he could have one and I'm not about to refuse him a new healthy food!

Morning losers! One last day before weigh in. Hope everything's going well for everyone.

Lazy day here, big ass breakfast of sausage and egg lunch of tuna mayo salad then a big beef stew for dinner.

First week nearly done!

Big test going on here... I'm trying decaff bulletproof coffee (butter not oil). I've tried caffeinated bulletproof coffee but although it was delicious it had the same effect on me as any other coffee - makes me a bit crazy then gives me a smacking headache (I thought maybe it wouldn't because of the fat content). God knows why as I can mainline tea without it affecting me like that. I love the taste but I can only drink coffee with a really big fatty fryup (at MIL's with a hangover ) or after a big meal.

If the decaff doesn't give me the jitters then I could see myself developing a whole new habit.

I think totm cravings are not nutritional just a craving for sugar - that pure "feel good so it must help" feeling! I don't get sweet cravings when low carb'ing at any other time!

However, like others, I also find when I do have something sweet after months of low carb'ing that its just too sweet and makes me feel a little sick as if I've pigged out on an ultra rich pudding or eaten a whole bar of chocolate. I can happily ignore sweets, chocs, crisps, cakes etc etc as long as totm is not 2-4 days away(!)

I'matot have you had anything to eat at all? If not, put some snacks in your bag... Nothing worse than feeling peckish when you are out and having nothing to suitable to eat! I only skip a meal if I'm at home because I know when I do get hungry, I can have that meal I've missed!

How much coconut oil do people put in their coffees? I think I put too much in as it made me nauseous afterwards. At least I didn't put butter in as well!

The thing is Bullet if you pesist in cheating there is no point doing this WOE, obviously its your choice but honestly once you get over the cravings they are gone for good. Its my totm also and I used to suffer the same as you, but the amazing thing about this woe is the PMT, Pain, Cravings all reduce massively

Ewan I think your breakfast sounds scrummy, I had scrambled eggs with cream and chilli

I put a very generous tablespoon of coconut oil Stunt and a tablespoon of butter. Do you whizz it up with a blender/ electric whisk? It is a very rich taste and I think it does take some getting used to. You are using real coffee aren't you? Instant would be revolting!

half I don't persist in cheating. I had one bag of minstrels - I don't think I have even come out of Keto tbh. I have been doing this WOE since April and I know what I am doing. A mindful 'cheat' is not the same as giving up.
As daisy said its not a sugar craving its a comfort craving - I still want cakes, chips etc some times because I know they taste nice and that's not something that I'm going to forget!
I think the "is this the last cake on earth? Can I just have it another time when I'm not losing weight? Will I get more pleasure from the cake or knowing I am getting slimmer?" Kind of mantra is really helpful. Kidding our selves that cake is going to be too sweet and unpleasant once you've been doing this WOE for a while is not.