Get Ready for Summer - Next Low Carb Bootcamp (10 weeks) starts 29 April

[BIWI]

Just to give you a couple of weeks advanced warning, so you can think about it, plan for it, etc.

Wand - if you fall face first into pizza/cake/fizzy pop/chocolate you will end up right back where you were 10 days ago. And possibly heavier!

Don't do it ...

And your weight loss will be slow/slower than others as you really don't have much to lose. (But I've already warned you about that )

In your case, I can really, really recommend that you keep a food diary, because I think it's going to be important for you to keep a really close eye on the things that seem to help or hinder your weight loss.

The bastards wand! The carby cunts!

Please can I join?
Been doing this for three weeks now and have lost 10 pounds and 13.5 inches! :)
Think i need support though as I'm getting a bit sick of meat!

Two poached eggs and mushrooms fried in butter for breakfast.
Salad of leftover pulled pork, leaves, tomato (I know)? Avocado for lunch
Have just scoffed a quarter chicken from Tescos hot counter (reduced to £1.20), haven't eated any veg with it but might have a salad if I get peckish later.

That's day 2 almost over.

I do have pork scratching in the cupboard, but can't remember if they're allowed on Bootcamp.

Have put my name on the other thread - just writing a shopping list for tomorrow so I am well-stocked for getting started - any thoughts for key ingredients to add? (am a veggie)

Cauliflower, Broccoli, leeks, salad leaves, avocados
Mushrooms
Eggs
Ground almonds
Walnuts and almonds (for transportable snacks - I know I need to go easy on them!)
Full fat greek yoghurt/creme fraiche
Mayonnaise
Assorted cheeses
Veggie sausages (checking carb content)

Any ideas for transportable snacks other than nuts/babybel cheese?

Newlark, from my shopping list this week (that isn't on yours already and isn't meat):

Butter
Olive oil
Dijon mustard
White wine vinegar (this and previous two for salad dressings)

Not on my list this week, but there are some nice recipes with double cream on the recipe thread

newlark wonderful idea to do a shopping list. Can I add

coconut oil,
lard,
dripping
goosefat
liquorice tea

wand well done on the pizza victory. After 1 year of LC I find I have zero interest in carby food (apart from homemade chocolate cake and cream cakes! but I only think about these when I pass by Patisserie Valerie near work). Re the oils - I have read that it's best to avoid vegetable oils like sunflower - as they are high in omega 6 and are unstable when heated. Not sure about peanut/sesame to fry, are they the same as veg oils? I try to use coconut oil, ghee, lard or dripping.

re mayonnaise, I would really recommend making your own, it's a little bit time consuming as you have to add the oil one drop at a time to the eggs but then you know what's in it and it's tasty and you can use it for egg/tuna mayo/colesaw etc or use it in salad dressings so you willl easily use up a whole batch over the week. Some bought ones use sunflower oil, I use a not too flavoursome olive oil.

article in the evening standard yesterday

It was linked to on another thread. Cauliflower steak sounds interesting and a good veggie dish potentially

also you've probably heard the news this morning about research that shows sugary soft drinks consumption increases the risk of diabetes. the bbc report linked is still talking about calories, but:

"Commenting on the results, Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research at Diabetes UK, said the link between sugar-sweetened soft drinks and Type-2 diabetes persisted even when body mass index was taken into account.

This suggests the increased risk is not solely due to extra calories, he said."

Thanks for the suggestions - will add a large lettuce and look out for almond butter and coconut oil (our supermarket is quite small but I might take a trip to the health food shop). We have good stocks of other oils, vinegar, mustard and butter at the moment so they will go on next weeks list :).

I'm going to try to reduce carbs today and tomorrow in preparation for Monday (but am out a lot over the weekend at a church thing and with friends so not starting properly yet). Excited about getting started - I had some success at the beginning of last summer following the Rose Elliott book but it all went disastrously wrong on holiday and it was too hard with the children at home - at least I know it will work if I stick to it - hopefully I will establish a new way of eating properly so that I can cope better with them at home :)!

Am having last minute nerves. I'm worried I'll cave after a week and end up fatter. You do feel satisfied with what you're eating after a few weeks don't you? You do stop craving carbs this badly don't you? I'm such a wuss

theorchardkeeper, yes, the cravings do subside dramatically. and you should be satisfied with what you're eating from the word go - don't eat things you aren't enjoying. or do you mean that you feel like you should have something sweet after dinner? if so, then yes, as you break the craving for sweet tastes it does get easier.

TBH, you might cave after a week, it's always possible, but you're the only person in control of that.

however, once you've done a week I would say that you're over the worst and you're less likely to fall off the wagon as you will likely have stabilised your blood sugar levels and your body will be more used to living with fewer carbs. also, having us all here for support really does make a difference IME - if you have an unbearable craving come on here and BIWI will wave her big stick at you and we will remind you why it is that you're following this WOE. hopefully you should also be seeing some of the other benefits - less tired, less bloated etc - which help to spur you on.

Morning ladies :)

I'm in a foul mood - can't go into details as it would definitely out me in rl but its making me want to just go to the pub!

Anyway, I had BAs lovely pancakes again this morning and even DP likes them :) though I told him to keep his hands off my food! I also made the tiffin but was disappointed as it wasn't as chocolatey as it looked. Has anyone done the lemon shortbread? I might try that next.

Willie I am going to go to the cinema when in PB (and resist the popcorn and ice cream by eating before I go... I hope!) and I've just found a comedy show. I have a car so can drive to surrounding areas but suspect most things will be closed by the time I finish in the evening.

Well I survived day 1. Dinner was yummy. A peppered steak from M&S. I also had some tender stem broccoli and cabbage and leeks and a pepper which I story fried in some sesame oil with some chilli flakes. The steak came with a separate pepper sauce but it had sugar in. I added a little to the pan of veg and then added some creme Fraiche and some more black pepper. It was delicious.

Was hungry later and had some cheese and a chicken leg.

Drank loads of water through the day. I do love my cups of tea so did still have them - I take very little milk. Fancied something sweet while watching tv so had a cup of lemon and ginger tea which helped.

Weighed this morning and have lost a pound!

I did Atkins years ago so am ressurecting some of the stuff I had then. Needed a quick and easy breakfast this morning so had ham rolls - slices of ham spread with Philadelphia and rolled up.

Lunch will be a big bowl of salad with either salmon or chicken. I think dinner might be an omelette.

AuntieMaggie - sorry you are in a foul mood. Times like that I realise how much of an emotional eater and drinker I am.

TheOrchardKeeper - cravings can be hunger. Eat something (obv not carbs!) and have a glass of water. The cravings do pass. They say it takes 3 days I think.

Story fried? Stir fried!

ciderwithbuda high five on your first day, made me feel much more positive about the impending doom that Monday had become in my head.

Have just started reading the Briffa book and it is all starting to make enough sense for me to embrace my butter dish.

Thanks WW

I'm pretty sure I can keep myself on the wagon, just more worried about long term & the initial cravings (as they are worse than i expected but I did know I was eating more than was good so wasn't expecting it to be easy). Glad to hear that 'small treat wish' isn't as obvious after a while. It's the evenings that I find hardest, when DS is in bed & I'm not that busy etc!

i hear you orchardkeeper, the call of the carbs is strong! and evenings really are tough. but i promise you you're strong enough, and the cravings now just show how eating carbs makes you want more carbs, regardless of hunger or genuine need for sustenance.

often people think they aren't disciplined enough for weight loss (when on low calorie/low fat etc) but when they try low carbing they find that they are, because so much of the craving aspect is physical due to blood sugar crashes caused by high carb intake, and low carbing gets rid of that.

i'm not saying that you won't ever have a craving again, but they do get easier to deal with (and tbh we all have our fuck-it moments!), and i know you will manage it

That helps a lot thanks

Craving this badly makes me really want to stick to it, cus it shows just how the more you eat the more you want. I certainly don't miss that sugar crash I used to get every afternoon.

This is the first day i've not missed that diet coke fix too

I feel your pain. Had a wobble when I was doing the food shop earlier over tesco's own cupcakes. They're like a pure shot of sugar & carbs! I didn't though, as I knew the second the high wore off I'd be so pissed off with myself & be right back to square one with the cravings.

Bought some chicken breast & veg to do a nice baked dish instead.

I can do it...