'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.

Been reading and catching up on threads. Thanks for doing this again lovely BIWI. You really are a star. X

It is my pleasure! You know I like torturing everyone ...

So what is everyone planning for breakfast tomorrow? I think I'll have 2 poached eggs with lashings of butter and some mushrooms fried/stewed in butter. Butter butter butter.

Whoknowswhocares - if you do lots of cardio exercise I'd recommend reading Lauren Cordain's book 'Paleo for Athletes'. Paleo isn't the same 'rules' as low carb bootcamp but is still a low-carb way of eating, which in this books case is adapted for people doing significant amounts of endurance exercise.

Maryz Do you have a butcher locally? You could always try going there and asking if they will sell you some skin to roast.

PseudoBadger tomorrow will be two boiled eggs for me

I'm kind of doing this already, so definitely count me in.

Ooh, I'm chuffed to see this thread, because I was already planning a Bootcamp Light week this week. I have a spare tyre post Christmas, and it has to go. I put on a jumper dress today, and looked a right porker.

The main problem is the amount of Christmas goodies I still have in the cupboard; much of it will be hoovered by the DCs, but there are a few bits that they won't eat, and I hate waste. I might do what I did last year, and take them into work - my colleagues will happily take care of them!

Good plan, Cointreau!

Excellent! Thanks BIWI

I'm starting bootcamp-lite tomorrow. Today was my birthday so have gone out with a final hurrah to carbs and wine

I'm actually surprised by how much I'm looking forwards to this!

Happy birthday!

I'm doing a soft start tomorrow I plan to take measurements as well as weighing myself as last time I found there were some weeks when I didn't loose pounds, but my clothes got looser. I might even take before pics, but I'm not posting them on here!

I'm here too!

Never done bootcamp before, but I've been low carbing for some years (originally started on the old-fashioned Atkins) and lost a bunch of weight, but I've got complacent since last summer. More and more dark chocolate, wine, nuts, berries, the odd carby treat... Nothing too bad, but enough to stop the weightloss. And then Christmas happened...

I've been trying to behave since NY, but this week will be great for looking up meal ideas and making sure there's nothing in the cupboards that's not supposed to be there. :)

Santa brought me a blood glucose monitor (I'm not diabetic but nosy and have risk factors and like gadgets ), so I think I'll do a pre-Bootcamp check on how my blood sugar's doing for a few days too, so I can compare later on.

MrsJoeHart Wimp

Did you say on the last thread what your posting name was last time - can you PM me if you don't mind people knowing?! I can't keep up with all the namechanging - it seems low carb does wonders for my bloods, something for my weight, but still absolutely nothing for my memory

Heggarty Happy Birthday

thereinmadnesslies - I wont lie to you, it is hard to do as a veggie, though quite a bit easier if you eat eggs (I don't), especially if you are trying to keep dairy to a minimum. I don't enjoy cooking either, which really doesn't help! I tend to have much the same thing most days -

B - whole avocado, Food Doctor seeds (& cheddar cheese if I haven't convinced myself it stalls me)

L - rocket, raddish, raw mushrooms, ( a few sneaky cherry tomatoes sometimes too!) with Food Doctor seeds and either basil infused tofu (Taipan ready to eat), cheese or cold veggie sausage (cauldron are the lowest carb I have found). Vegetarian egg free mayo.

D - (a variety of veg from) brocolli, courgettes, spinach, peppers, aubergines, mushrooms, leeks, cauliflower, bok choy in either a cheese or mushroom sauce (saute mushrooms with cream or cream with cheese) or stir fry or roasted - but mostly with cheese sauce, though I am going to try to change that a bit this time to reduce the dairy. I tend to make a huge batch of this then take portions and cook them in the fry pan with more butter so it's a bit 'bubble & squeak' ish, then add either a few raw or blanched veg for a bit of a crunch.

Red pepper cut in half with pesto, mushrooms, blue cheese then cooked in the oven for half an hour is also really good.

Some people find soup good, but I don't find it does the job for dinner without bread, I need to 'eat' so I don't have it.

My saviours are Food Doctor seeds & Kingsland Roasted & Salted Almonds (from Costco) though I am going to try not to be so dependent on them this time.

Steeleyestan - I would love to know what your readings are and how they change if you don't mind sharing. Mine came down loads when I started LCing, I have been a proper carby twat over christmas and they have been fairly good all considered, but I went out for dinner the other night and if there was a carb to be had I ate it or drank it - they were 'not good' Tuesday I am back on the old wagon!!

Hello everyone!

I'm 3 days in as I couldn't face feeling post-Christmas and bloated anymore. I'd given up sugar before Christmas, had a blip for Christmas, and now full on bootcamp.

My first day I felt tired and grotty as if I'd fasted all day but bizarrely without being hungry. Properly hungry day 2 and a bit tired. A bit hungry today and thought I'd got it about right but now I can't sleep! Have just had a bit to eat and a decaf coffee with cream and I'm going to try again.

Good luck everyone!

Chipping I'll happily share.
I put on 2lb despite having a stomach bug afterwards... Lots of chocolate and mince pies happened. Kudos on low carbing as a veggie!

Happy Birthday Heggarty!

Someone asked what everyone is having for breakfast. Two eggs fried in butter and coffee with coconut oil for me. That used to be my staple. Lately I've been more into Greek yoghurt with seeds and berries, but I'll ditch that for now. :)

Very sorry to jump in...reading with interest...SteeleyeStan - coffee with coconut oil - is that nice?

lurking.

going to read the info.

Been meaning to try lowcarb forevvvvah, but, never really understood it. However, a medic once said to me that it was helpful with PCOS type folk, of which I am one.

If giving up pasta means my tache behaves itself....well. Worth. It.

MrsT you can google Bullet Proof Coffee. Many LCers swear by it, I love coffee, but personally I'd rather drink my own wee than BPC You should try it though, others love it.

gussie it's certainly helpful for diabetics and I've heard for PCOS too (both treat with metformin - so??) Good luck.

SteeleyeStan - great, look forward to seeing how your levels go :) I am not getting on the scales until Tuesday, but I can tell you we will be talking about a gain of at least half a stone. I am hoping lots of it is glycogen store and not fat wishful bloody thinking!!

Thanks, Chipping, I'd never heard of it before.

MrsTwgtwf - might be an acquired taste? I don't really like bulletproof coffee (coffee blended with butter) and thought at first that coconut oily coffee was a bit weird too, but now I love it.

So how do you make yours, Steeleye? I love coconut oil and would be ready to shove it in coffee if it helped me be healthier.

Found this by googling:

wellnessmama.com/5673/the-only-way-i-drink-coffee/

I tried it with butter, coconut oil etc etc - just couldn't take to any of it, but as I said, lots of others do and say it 'sets them up' for the day. I really, really wanted to like it as the idea of feeling that fab after a cup of coffee was appealing!!