Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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.

Week 1 - New Year Low Carb Bootcamp - And We're Off!

999 replies

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 07:40

Morning, soon-to-be-losers!

Come and confess all on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

Here is a reminder of the rules of Bootcamp:

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, and 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. Avoid foods marketed as low carb, e.g. Atkins Daybreak bars.

3.Maximise your fat intake.
Fry in butter, add butter to vegetables, eat salad with a home-made vinaigrette dressing (not made with balsamic vinegar though), 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.
But choose only those vegetables that are on the allowed list (see below). 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.Minimal dairy (apart from butter, which is unlimited).
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 only in small amounts.

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

8.No fruit

9.No nuts/seeds

10.No sugar or artificial sweeteners

OP posts:
mumat39 · 07/01/2013 11:41

Ewan, is it Kara milk you use? Or a different one? I'm wondering if I could use Kara?

Thanks

WillieWaggledagger · 07/01/2013 11:45

mumat39 the column headings and names down the side should be frozen - do they not appear that way for you? you enter your weight in column C if that helps

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 07/01/2013 11:45

Babybel now do a Goats Cheese one, each one only has a trace of carbs Grin

They are lovely!

mumat39 · 07/01/2013 11:47

Thanks Willie. Frames not freezing for me but am on an ipad so maybe that's the problem..

Column c, column c, column c. I really am like dory in Finding Nemo. Maybe I should make up a song about column c. Thanks so much, again. xxx

NoelHeadbands · 07/01/2013 11:51

Ewan thank you for your calming words. You're right, I do feel slimmer- in fact I feel fantastic (apart from when walking up stairs. Then I feel knacked) so I'm sure I'll see the scales move soon Thanks

Ruprekt · 07/01/2013 11:57

Almond Milk

0.2g of carbs per 100ml!!!!!!!

Can I have it? Tastes fine in coffee!

littlemissstan · 07/01/2013 11:58

Right, can anyone recommend ANYTHING to rid me of the freakish metallic dry mouth thing??? longs for an extra strong mint

Biscuit357 · 07/01/2013 12:08

I put this on the other thread and then realised most people were over here (wrong room at a party syndrome!)

Here you go:
I've inputted my weight and realised I'm one of the heaviest on there - eek! Good motivation though. It's amazing how delusional you can be about your weight - a size 18 and 16 stone is not 'curvey' it's fat!

Anyhoo, as mentioned before I have lost a lot of weight on low carb before so I thought I would share some things that have worked well for me in the past (and will hopefully again!)

  • "Black Farmer" products are excellent - sausages, burgers etc. All v.low carb because they aren't filled with a load of rubbish. Good to keep cold sausages in the fridge for breakfast on the run (dipped in english mustard!)
  • Birds Eye Simply Baked to Perfection range is very good to keep in the freezer for when you have forgotten to shop. Not the sweet chilli prawns though (obviously) although they are delicious.
  • If nobody has said it already - courgettes are excellent as a pasta substitute. Just ribbon them with a potato peeler (stop when you reach the seeds as they are too watery) and saute briefly. Not to cook, just to take the rawness of them. I often cooks lardons for a bit, add the courgette, cook a bit longer and then a dash of cream until reduced. Finish with Parmesan. Kind of like carbonara.
  • Again, if nobody has said it already, cauliflower mash. Sounds disgusting, tastes great. Especially as on this 'diet' you can put a huge amount of butter in it! Once you've boiled and drained cauliflower, make sure you put back on heat for a bit to make sure it's really dry otherwise the mash is a bit watery. Nice for a shepherds pie topping.
  • It sounds obvious, but when you are out for supper make sure you ask them to replace chips (or whatever) with green beans etc. Don't ask for them as a side dish as you'll get charged for them! (Took me ages to work that out - doh!)
  • If you are stuck out, sandwich fillers are often your best option. If you have an M&S near you try their prawn cocktail (full fat, obviously) its gorgeous and v.filling.

WOW...sorry, longer than intended. Hope this helps people!

troyandabedinthemorning · 07/01/2013 12:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Spamspamspam · 07/01/2013 12:08

Noel - don't panic!! I am in the same boat - no alcohol for 6 days (which is saying something for me!) strict low carb, loads of water, walking 4-5 miles a day and 1lb lost. However it does sometimes go like this so please don't worry I am not Smile. I lost two stone 2 years ago and distinctly remember losing nothing in the first week and then it all dropped off Grin I kept if off apart from last summer I put on about 6 lbs, restarted in September and lost the 6lbs in the first week Shock. I put on that 6lbs and another 2 or 3 between Beginning of December to end December and this time round only a 1lb loss in the first week - there are no set rules for this...it's the way it goes sometimes. Stay with me and I bet we have a good loss next week!

OTTMummA · 07/01/2013 12:09

ugh, just weighed in since beginning of december and have put on 2lbs over xmas, not too bad considering how much wine and chocolate i have put away, but still :S
I had a 2 egg omlette with butter and a sprinkle of cheddar for breakfast.
Lunch is braised cabbage leftovers and chicken salad.
Dinner is Tuna and boiled egg salad with mustard dressing.

I roasted the chicken yesterday and poured all the fat from the tin into a cup and then into the fridge, i remember my nan used to do this with beef and then eat the dripping or use the fat to cook with, can i do this with the chicken fat? or would that just be minging Grin

Biscuit357 · 07/01/2013 12:09

Oh, also, look for fish pates when you are out. Sounds gross but tuna pate in waitrose (for example) is just tuna, may, horseradish and lemon juice. Much nice than the sandwich filler.

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 12:11

TomHardysPinky watch this about Pepsi Max

On Bootcamp, no artificial sweeteners, because we are aiming to eat 'clean', natural and unprocessed foods. There is also some evidence that they interfere with weight loss - as discussed in the blog.

OP posts:
GibbsGirl · 07/01/2013 12:14

Like Ewan I'm also loving everyones food plans

B - Spinach Omlette, with mushrooms & a couple of baby tomatoes
L - Salad, avocado, leaves & whatever I can find in the fridge with mayo
D - Salmon pieces are out and defrosting and thinking soy, ginger, chilli with buttered spinach but can I have soy? Otherwise salmon & coconut milk curry with green beans if that's OK?

Would welcome any help with dinner!

FurryDogMother · 07/01/2013 12:14

Troy - I've got an 'orrible cold too - started last night. Luckily I read the Lemsip pack before taking any - 'contains sucrose' ie sugar - so am surviving on plain paracetemol until tomorrow's Tesco order arrives, with some decongestant pills in it.

Planning on something with loads of chilli in it for dinner - probably a spicy chicken paprika. Can't taste much else!

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 12:19

littlemisstan - that awful taste is a really good sign - it means you are in ketosis, therefore you are now burning fat rather than carbs! Drink plenty of water. If it still persists, get some sugar-free mints or chewing gum. They're not ideal, given their artificial ingredients, but should only be needed for a short period of time.

OP posts:
troyandabedinthemorning · 07/01/2013 12:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ruprekt · 07/01/2013 12:20

low carb recipe page

BlackAffronted · 07/01/2013 12:21

HiDeHi Campers!

Day 3 going very well so far, am about 2 litres down already! (Im another who has to glug over 4litres of water a day :( )

Looks like everyone has made a great start Grin

Breakfast was 2 eggs, 2 bacon & a large mushroom, with mayo

Lunch is going to be a pork chop with creamy garlic mushrooms

Dinner tonigt is low carb sausages (found some in Lidl that are 1.5 carbs per 100g, thats ok?) and braised cabbage (yum, my favourite!)

I'd also like to know if almond milk is ok to have?

BlackAffronted · 07/01/2013 12:23

Gibbs, you can have a small amount of soy sauce I think. Id go for teh coconut curry & green beans though, sounds delicious!

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 12:23

GibbsGirl - you can have soy, but be careful as it does have carbs in it, and they vary enormously according to which brand you're using.. Amoy Light Soy sauce (light in colour/flavour rather than being low fat!) has 10.5g carbs per 100ml.

Amoy Dark has 25.6g per 100mL Shock

OP posts:
GibbsGirl · 07/01/2013 12:23

Great link thanks Ruprekt

littlemissstan · 07/01/2013 12:29

Thanks BIWI - good to know it's positive, I had thought it might be! Probably not helping myself by wolfing down Mr Stan's homemade coleslaw with it's raw cabbage and a bit of onion, but there we go. Good to know I can resort to something minty if my colleagues start avoiding me :)

HavingAnOffDAy · 07/01/2013 12:30

Ooops - just remembered that I need to add my weight to the spreadsheet!

I'll note down my food so far whilst I'm here

B: 2 Debbie&Andrews pork sausages, some Greek yog & 2 slices of Gouda
L: Curried cauliflower soup (from the recipe thread
D: Will be smoked haddock, cauliflower, brocoli, leeks & cabbage

Good luck everyone Smile

BigStickBIWI · 07/01/2013 12:33

BlackAffronted - Alpro almond milk - 3g carbs per 100ml, compared with 5g carbs per 100ml for Sainsbury's semi-skimmed milk, so looks OK to me!

OP posts: