'Soft' warm-up approach to next week's Low Carb Bootcamp!

[BIWI]

Official Bootcamp starts next Monday - here's the sign-up thread

But I know that lots of people want to ease themselves into it.

If you've never low carbed before, it can be quite a good idea to do this, and it can help minimise the chances of getting 'carb flu' - the withdrawal symptoms when you cut down on your carbohydrates.

So if you're interested, this where it starts!

My advice:

• make sure you've got rid of all your Christmas treats

• ... as well as other carb-heavy stuff like biscuits, cakes, etc

• start thinking about the meals that you're going to eat in w/c 13 Jan - write yourself a meal plan (and think about all your meals, including your lunches as well as family meals, etc), and then make sure you write yourself a proper shopping list

• have a look at hat you're eating on a 'typical' day, and see where you cut down/out on the carbs -breakfast is likely to be your most carb-heavy meal, so think about how you're going to cut the carbs here (clue that will mean ditching toast, cereals, fruit and fruit juice!)

• if your diet is heavily reliant on pasta and rice-based meals, start thinking now about what you're going to cook instead

• make sure you are planning meals for the whole family to eat - try as much as possible to make sure that you're all eating the same food, rather than having to cook separate stuff for you - the idea is that this is a WOE - way of eating - and not a diet. So for example, if you're planning on having meat and two veg, plus potatoes - have meat and three veg instead. No-one will die if they don't have potatoes on their plate!

• look at how much tea/coffee you're drinking; if you drink them white, you will be consuming a lot of carbs in the milk. See if you can cut the number of cups down per day. Try and drink them black or use cream instead of milk

• think about the fact that you will be starting to eat a high fat diet; if you have anything that's low fat in your fridge/cupboard, get rid of it! Butter, cheese and cream as well as olive oil are all now going to be key parts of your diet

• similarly, think about all the artificial sweeteners you're eating/drinking and get shot of them. Diet drinks are not allowed on Bootcamp, so cut them down/out as much as you can

• fruit will not be allowed on Bootcamp (for the first two weeks); if you like to snack on fruit, consider replacing it with veg, e.g. slices of cucumber and peppers

• read, read, read and read more about low carbing have a look at the resources on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness ; there's loads of good stuff here that will help you get your head around what low carbing is all about

• and have a look here some lovely recipes to inspire you

• and here is a link to Bootcamp rules ; make sure you are familiar with them by 13/1!!!

But above all, come and post on here with any of your questions, concerns and suggestions!

Good luck.

Today you can. But next week when we start Bootcamp proper, you can't. It's got sweeteners in it.

My dinner was delicious. I seem to have the knack of steak at long last!
Had it cooked in butter (and a knob of garlic butter too) with cauli and broccoli, all smothered in a sauce made of mushroom/wholegrain mustard/Worcester sauce and cream. Luscious.

Thing to add to the "Things I Never Realised Were So Sweet" list: Cauliflower.

Also, I'm not hungry and I don't want any dinner. Is that ok, or do I have to wedge some in?

calamitykate that sauce sounds lovely

Going to give the cauliflower rice a go next week as well, although I've got to admit I'm far from convinced!

Oh ziggie it's to die for!

Fry mushrooms in butter (a bit of garlic is nice too if you fancy it) until soft then add about a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a few good shakes of Worcester sauce and cream. It's not a precise recipe as you can tell!

It's sooooo good....

Ok so I want a curry. I'm going to have Chicken Shashlik and a veg curry (leaving the potato). I normally like a creamy curry (butter chicken etc), can anyone suggest something to replace this (or can I have it!)?

Are you talking about a take-away curry? It's always difficult to say yes or no, because you just don't know what's in it. IME, the creamy curries often seem very sweet, so I do wonder if there's sugar in them.

There's a recipe for Butter Chicken in the IPD recipe book which people say is very good, if you're thinking about cooking. I've not tried it though so I can't vouch for it.

Are there any LC, quick meal ideas for when time is really short? Eg canned soup etc?

Red wine n a big lump of st.agur yummy bloody yummy!!! One very happy dieter

Yes take away. I'll stick to the Shashlik and veg then :)

Steeleyestan ..... Just read your post about the neighbour asking you about a gastric band.... ...!! Forward indeed . Did make me laugh though x

Right, I've got my menu planned for next week and my shopping list for tomorrow. Today received a £25 Waitrose voucher for doing 4 festive shops, which is nice seeing as I didn't know that they were doing that offer. That will go towards an extra luxurious food shop tomorrow, as I figure the best way to ease myself into the nut-less, berry-less wine-less desert that is the initial bootcamp fortnight, is to plan all my favourite low-carb meals so I've got something to really look forward to each day.

In the past I've found that the absolute key to success with Bootcamp is:

1. Planning.
2. Planning.
3. The sure knowledge that you CANNOT cheat. This is not a forgiving way of eating - the key to its success is that the high fat and often high calories keeps you satiated without triggering the insulin response. If you cheat, at all, and trigger your insulin response by eating carbs, you will lay down all that fat and all those calories as body fat. Cheating just is not worth it. It's only for 10 weeks, we've got the rest of our lives to eat whatever it is we're craving.
4. Planning! Low carb options are rarely available in restaurants/cafes/work function buffets/anywhere else really. If you don't think ahead and find yourself hungry (which for me means NO willpower whatsoever), you are so much more likely to cave to the carbs.

Sorry if I sound really preachy, typing this all out is reminding me and cementing it all in my head. I thought it might be helpful to people doing this for the first time to read a sample low carb menu, here's mine for next week:

Main meals
Monday Squid puttanesca with courgette 'pappardelle'.
Tuesday Leftovers from night before.
Wednesday Chicken curry with sides of spiced cauliflower and mushrooms with spinach.
Thursday Leftovers from night before.
Friday [[http://feastwithoutregret.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/wild-alaskan-salmon-with-dill-and-shallot-butter-sauce/ Salmon in a dill and shallot butter sauce, with broccoli.
Saturday Steak with mushroom cream sauce, celeriac mash and broccoli.
Sunday [[http://feastwithoutregret.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/simple-slow-roasted-pork-belly/ Slow roasted pork belly with fennel, veg and swede mash.

Lunches
I'm not a breakfast person, and tend to eat brunch/lunch around 11:30. I struggle with this when I'm low carbing and tend to stick to
this but without the pesto in the first fortnight - just mozzarella, little (3.2% carbs) tomatoes and parma ham
Or
Bubble and squeak made in advance: with boiled swede and brussels sprouts, mashed in lots of butter, kept in fridge. For each lunch, chop some smoked bacon up into little strips, fry in olive oil in big frying pan, then fry a big dollop of bubble and squeak in the bacon fat and extra butter until it gets a bit of brown crust on it. Mouth is watering now!

Once the first fortnight is over, I make tarts/quiches on an almond pastry base.

Snacks
Olives! God I love olives when I'm low carbing!
Cheese
Cheese
Cheese
Butter and marmite by the spoonful.
Anchovies

God this is long!

calamity it sounds lovely! I've written it down for next time we have steak. Incidentally, I got a pouch of ready made Tesco steak Diane sauce for 4.4g carbs per 100g for this week, so definitely a viable alternative.

I made a butter chicken tonight which was superb if I may say so myself!

Recipe: fry shallots with tumeric, coriander, garam masala and chilli powder. Add half a tin of tomatoes and reduce. Add a cup of chicken stock. Bung in some cream and put on a low heat. Fry chicken breasts in a seperate pan in butter. When they are browned, chuck them in the sauce and add another table spoon of butter to the curry. Simmer on a low heat for another 20 minutes. Delicious and so easy.

Oh FFS link fail. That'll be because I drunk rather a lot of wine between starting the post, cooking our dinner, and finishing the post.

Hope I don't sound sanctimonious; am still having my last hurrah with much wine and a chocolate (sort of low carb) tart to have later. Our dinner would be fabulously low carb if I hadn't just put loads of suet-y dumplings in the ovens.

That sounds lovely, sj73! Can you post it on the recipe thread?

Despite the link fail that's a great post Crabby - and it's so very true.

You can't rely on things being available at short notice on this WOE. You really do have to plan and make sure you have the right foods to hand.

CalamityKate - most canned soups will be too carby, sadly.

How about something like an omelette or scrambled eggs? They take no time to prepare. A cheese and ham omelette with some salad makes a lovely meal IMO.

BIWI, why is it that you can't have nuts in bootcamp?

this is fabulous! actually fabulous. BIWI will need to approve, but it is delicious and well worth the £5. Tastier than ketchup any day!

My day has run like this:

B: Small pot ff natural yoghurt
L: Scrambled eggs in butter, bok choi and cheddar
D: sausages wrapped in bacon, and leeks and mushrooms fried in garlic butter with ff cream cheese.

Snacks: 2 babybels
Drinks: water, black coffee, diet coke and glass slimline tonic water.

I know about the diet drinks; I know they have to go for next week. But other than that, I think that's a pretty good day

woolfey I also ate because I thought I should at dinner, rather than out of hunger.

Crabby excellent post, your meal plan sounds yummy and thanks for the tips. I'm off to a baby shower in London tomorrow, so I'm going to be driving for 5ish hours all in and then will be offered tea and cakes. Based on your advice, I think I'll take some leftover chicken, perhaps some cheese and celery and salady things. I really don't want to get caught out now I'm nearly a week into BootCamp!

Woolfy your lunch sounds gorgeous.

Food wise I think I've done ok today, though perhaps a bit too much protein and not enough veg. Jumped back on the scales after a shower and it appears I've had another tiny loss, so feeling more positive again.
Breakfast - 2 creamy coffees, 2 scrambled eggs.
2 snacks instead of lunch - bit of chicken and pastrami, woolfed in with the fridge door open, half a flaxseed muffin with butter
Dinner - Steak with a huge load of sprout tops and courgette with chilli flakes and soy sauce, fried mushrooms. Bit of natural yoghurt with vanilla paste and double cream.

About four glasses of water, so not enough. Currently drinking apple tea.

Plenty of fat at least! and I started reading Briffa's Diet Trap thing.

I started l/cing last Sunday because I felt so bloated after Christmas. I normally l/c and put on 10lbs - so happy to have lost 5lbs this week. It's a bit of a relief to get back into this WOE - more energy definitely.