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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

At last - here it is! BIWI's 2 week Low Carb Bootcamp - starts tomorrow - sign in here

999 replies

BIWI · 15/04/2012 22:36

Lots of you have said you want to do this - now it's time to put your money where your mouth is, so to speak.

Oh, alright, it's free. Grin

The plan is that we have two very strict weeks of low carbing. Which is why, doh, it's called a bootcamp.

There are 'rules of engagement' for the fortnight - but they're different if you're carnivore or a vegetarian. I shall post the rules for us carnivores, and flipflopflap will post the rules for those of you that are vegetarians.

Sign in with your starting weight - in pounds, stones and pounds, kilos or - if you don't want to reveal your weight, with 100 as an index - and what you're wanting to achieve in the two weeks. I know that not everyone is doing this for the purpose of weight loss, so you don't have to do this if you don't want to - but tell us what you want this fortnight to help you achieve.

The Carnivore Rules

1.Eat three, proper meals a day.
You must eat breakfast. It doesn?t have to be a lot, but you must have something. For the rest of the day, if you?re eating enough food and you are in ketosis then you shouldn?t be hungry. But if you are hungry, eat something. (Hard boiled eggs make a great snack)

2.Avoid processed food
Focus on pure, natural protein as the basis for your meals ? meat/fish/eggs. Things like sausages, ham, bacon, pre-prepared burgers etc should be avoided as much as possible. You can have them, but just not every day. Avoid foods marketed as low carb, e.g. Atkins Daybreak bars.

3.Eat lots of fat.

Eating fat helps you to burn fat. Honestly! Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though, as this is too sweet), add mayonnaise where you can (just check the carb count on your mayo first). Eat fattier cuts of meat ? e.g. pork belly, roast chicken with the skin on and/or eat the fat off your lamb chops. Absolutely no low fat/light foods of any kind!

4.Make sure you are eating vegetables and salads with your food ?
This is where your carbs should come from, and this is non-negotiable. But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list. You don?t have to weigh/count carbs ? this is one of the great joys of this WOE (way of eating), but if you?re new to low carbing it can be helpful to weigh your portions of veg in the early days, just so that you know how many carbs are in the sort of portions that you like to eat

*5.Be careful about dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited). It can impede weight loss for some people. If you are still drinking tea/coffee with milk or cream, try to restrict yourself to max 2 cups per day. You may eat cheese, but don't overdo it. Full fat yoghurt is the best way to include dairy in your diet - but beware, it does contain carbs. Total Full Fat is the best.

6.You must drink a minimum of 2 litres of water per day.
The more weight you have to lose, the more water you should drink

7.No alcohol
If you really can't do this - at least try and restrict it to the weekend. Vodka with soda is the best thing to drink. Or Champagne, red wine or dry white wine.

8.No fruit
Really. Seriously. Honestly. None at all. Zilch. Nada.

9.No nuts/seeds
Whilst these are really good to snack on later - it can be too easy to start snacking on these - and before you know it, all your carbs have gone on nuts. Seriously - in bootcamp - don't do it to yourself.

10.No sugar or artificial sweeteners

OP posts:
detachandtrustyourself · 19/04/2012 19:11

I really do not get how eating less/fewer "carbs" in particular helps you lose weight.

I do understand how high protein keeps you full for longer, so end up eating less and losing weight.

And what is wrong with eating fruit?

smokinaces · 19/04/2012 19:12

It was my first attempt!! And thinking it might be better with a stronger flavour than cinnamon. I ate half of it with butter - the other half is in the barrel with the oopsie rolls for tomorrow!!

It does get rid of that cake/carbs/sweet craving though I do admit

ANTagony · 19/04/2012 19:20

watch this and it will possibly explain a calorie isn't a calorie. Its all to do with Entropy and Enthalpy

Godess posted it earlier and I went onto download the free harcombe diet booklet. It made things make a lot of sense.

BIWIWhoMustBeObeyed · 19/04/2012 19:37

detachandtrustyourself - if you've bothered to read the whole thread, and the links that have been postsed then you might have some kind of clue.

And fruit isn't good because it contains loads of sugar, which sends your blood sugar levels sky high. And the whole point of low carbing is to stabilise blood sugar levels, thus preventing the release of insulin, which lays down fat.

But were you really asking because you wanted to know?

Not quite sure why you're posting!

SharonGless · 19/04/2012 19:42

Ok so after last nights disaster I had fried egg and mushrooms for breakfast, tuna salad with mayo for lunch and dinner pork belly with buttered leeks and cabbage.

I just love the taste of proper butter and mayo with the veg and feel like I am tasting flavours again. The only problem is that I have used food as a comfort for so long I need to find other ways to "reward" myself and break the habit of going to fridge/biscuit tin

TheGoddessBlossom · 19/04/2012 19:48

Antagony.... I particularly like her food intolerances theory. I fall smack bang into candida.

I need to get me some of this pork belly of which you speak...

Smoked mackerel, spinach, red pepper, mushrooms for tea, yum yum.

detachandtrustyourself · 19/04/2012 19:49

I am really sorry BIWI and everyone, I do want to know, but posted badly as I am in a bad mood.

CheerfulYank · 19/04/2012 19:50

BIWI I live in Minnesota and am six hours behind you. :) So that was breakfast/snacky stuff.

It's almost 2 here and I've also had a big salad with some chicken in mayo on top.

MariaCallous · 19/04/2012 20:11

Good Evening All! Callous household is all happy.

Breakfast - 2 sausages (0.4g carb per 100) and a boiled egg.
Lunch - Chicken salad with utterly delish cheese and chive dip and a boiled egg. Ingested a few bits of sweetcorn (literally).

Dinner - Meatballs with salad and low carb veg.

Have so much energy it's amazing (sorry to all you folks that are feeling like hell). Tomorrow will be a challenge, off to soft play with some friends then cinema with DD and dinner. I can do salad out for lunch and I am thinking a big steak with garlic butter and salad for dinner. No urge to drink yummy wine (which is a bit odd, Thursday night is usually greeted with a few drinks).

Do you think I could have a flat white tomorrow? I'm not dropping caffeine at all. But the milk (it would be my only milk all day)...

MariaCallous · 19/04/2012 20:16

Just answered my own question on flat white - 10 grams of carbs. Oh well.

flipflopflap · 19/04/2012 20:27

Crikey Maria, I didn't think there were that many carbs in a flat white, have you tried it with soy? That would bring the carbs down surely?

BIWIWhoMustBeObeyed · 19/04/2012 20:29

detached - OK - welcome then! Sorry I snapped back at you. But it's a fairly common reaction for people to regard low carbing as 'bad' and fruit as 'good'.

Anyway, we have 81 people signed up to this so far - if you wanted to be the 82nd you would be very welcome.

Have a read through this and the other Bootcamp threads - there's lot of info about low carbing to be found.

BIWIWhoMustBeObeyed · 19/04/2012 20:34

Phew CheerfulYank!

Today's good news: I have resisted the wine
Today's sort-of good news: We had to have a takeaway because I'm still working and didn't have time to cook. We used a new takeaway and it was shite. I ordered chicken tikka and spinach bhaji (a good choice anyway) and it was so poor only ate half of it!
Today's not-so-good-at-all news: I haven't given up coffee yet

Presentation is tomorrow, and then after that I will be freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And I will stop drinking so much coffee. From Monday I will drop it altogether.

WizzyBizzy · 19/04/2012 20:37

Evening all.

Blossom I bloody love you and your red wine theories. I am SO excited about finishing bootcamp!!!!

Daisy good luck for your interview tomorrow.

Right. Me me me.
B: 2 boiled eggs and 2 slices of chorizo
L: Chicken with veg stir fry (it included red pepper, I've just realised that's probably not allowed. Why am I so bad at picking the right veg??! I need to stick an allowed list on my fridge).
Snack: I've had 3 more slices of chorizo as bloody DH still isn't bloody home from bloody work and for some godforsaken reason I am waiting for him before I eat....
D: which will be more chicken, coated in basil and spinach mush, served with leeks and courgettes. I may treat myself to an avocado for pudding.

I'm feeling quite good, although I was ravenous peckish earlier. Think I've done ok on the water but not really counting. Have definitely filled up my 1L water bottle a few times. And still no booze

Anybody know anything about Turkish food please??

WizzyBizzy · 19/04/2012 20:38

p.s. creme fraiche apparently 1.6g carb per 30ml heaped tablespoon - about what I'd put in a sauce for me and DH. So I guess that's ok?? (And, I know, I know, it's dairy. I'm downright failing on that front but I'm over it...)

detachandtrustyourself · 19/04/2012 20:56

Thanks BIWI. I will start with the grated chhese biscuits as I love snacking on cheesy crackers. Also love cauliflower cheese, and the cheese sauce looks easier to make than messing about with flour. (Shame I just bought two tubs of instant bisto cheese sauce mix though). Is quorn ok? Sorry, being lazy, want a quick answer.

coocoocachoo · 19/04/2012 21:10

smokinaces - just did the MIM - but forgot the baking powder so bsically cinammon bread. I know what you mean now, not too sure myself but didn't stop me from scoffing the lot - cakey/bready fix....[slobbers over keyboard].

I will definitely persevere and really want to try with cocoa powder.....1.5g per half tablespoon. Is that possibly acceptable?

LackaDAILYcarb · 19/04/2012 21:11

Thanks for the good lucks....I hope your presentation goes well tomorrow too BIWI.

Have just spent a happy two hours shopping and now have a new suit and a bag that cost almost as much as the suit Shock but it is a thing of beauty.

Now to nail the presentation and hone up on a few possible interview questions; it may be a long night...

Feeling much better; I had a swig of milk out of the bottle and it seemed to settle things, but I still can't face food. Not sure what it'll have done to the plan though

Turkish food....I think if you stick to kebabby type things with veg/salad it will be fine. Is baba ganoush turkish? It's made with aubergines so should be ok? And other dips are yogurt based so probably not too bad.

Right I am not here...am switching off.

ohforfoxsake · 19/04/2012 21:18

Good Luck Daisy!!! Grin

BIWIWhoMustBeObeyed · 19/04/2012 21:18

Oh yes - very good luck for tomorrow, LackaDaisy!

Turkish food is pretty good for low carbing - lots of grilled meats and salads. Also lots of beany/legumey things which are delish, but not great on bootcamp.

MrsNouveauRichards · 19/04/2012 21:19

Evening all.

Have been a bit bad today. Went to a friends for dinner, she had made an amazing beef casserole pie. I didn't have the pastry but did have some peas with it and I had a nibble of DD's pastry. Then I had a spoonful of DS's custard :o but I actually didn't feel I was missing out by not having the pastry and pudding. Small steps and all that.

Have been a bit thirstier this evening which is good as I need to drink more water!

ShirtyKnot · 19/04/2012 21:21

Best of luck Lack!

teaandthorazine · 19/04/2012 21:28

Good luck daisy and BIWI!

Am watching Cupcake Wars on the Food Channel - must be insane. Nutella cupcakes with Dulche de Leche frosting!

Anyway, am finally in ketosis! Woohoo! Couldn't resist the lure of the little white sticks I'm afraid... Just eaten half a pack of that Cauldron marinated tofu with some spinach wilted in butter, and am just finishing water litre no. 3.

Plus, the colon cleanse tablets have worked, so that's another pound off Grin (TMI??)

GreenEyesAndHam · 19/04/2012 21:29

Good luck lack (daisy?)

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