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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.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Week 1 - Summer Low Carb Bootcamp starts here!

797 replies

BIWI · 29/04/2013 10:34

Morning all! There are over 150 of us signed up for Bootcamp, so it?s going to be busy I think. If you haven?t already put your name on the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness, here is the link so that you can add yourself:

Just add yourself to the bottom of the list and the lovely WillieWaggleDagger, our SpreadsheetMeister, will ensure that it is re-sorted to remain alphabetised. Don?t touch any of the blue columns!
We work in pounds, but if you are a metric person, there?s a tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet that says ?conversion? which will recalculate from metric to imperial.

It?s up to you whether you choose to enter your actual weight or to index it, i.e. you start today at 100, and for every pound you lose you drop by 1.

You will also see on the tabs on the spreadsheet the rules for Bootcamp, as well as rules for those of you who are vegetarian, and rules for Bootcamp Light, which you can move on to after two weeks of Bootcamp.

There are only 10 rules, and the thinking behind Bootcamp is that it should be as straightforward as possible to follow. If you follow the rules (yes, all of them ? and especially no 7!), you will lose weight.

The idea behind Bootcamp is that we have a strict fortnight of low carbing, to break the addiction that we have to carbs and sweet things. You are making sure that you are switching your body from burning carbs to burning fat, and you will go into what is called ketosis in these first two weeks.

All that this means is that you are fat-burning.

In the first few days of low carbing, especially if you haven?t done it before, you may feel a bit rubbish ? you may have headaches or just feel generally tired and achey. This is known as ?carb flu? ? and it means that you are withdrawing from carbohydrates. Sugar (which is essentially how the body views and uses carbs) is highly addictive, and your body will be craving it. Don?t give in! After a couple of days you will feel much better.

If you are feeling odd or ill, make sure that you are getting plenty of sodium, potassium and magnesium. Add salt to your food and cook with salt. Try making a drink from Marmite/Bovril. Good foods to include in your diet are spinach, salmon and avocado. Drink plenty of water and make sure that you really are keeping your fat levels up. Take some paracetamol if you have a headache (not aspirin or ibuprofen as these drugs can impede weight loss).

OP posts:
Bessie123 · 01/05/2013 00:13

Just popping in so the thread is in active convos. Hoping to lose a whole stone on bootcamp so no stuffing my face with chocolate this time round

BIWI you are an angel, thankyou for starting this up again

middleagedspread · 01/05/2013 06:05

Morning all.
I have, ahem, an embarrassing side effect...
I think it's all those eggs & much less fibre than I'm used to.
Don't suppose I could have some stewed prunes or rhubarb?

thekitchenfairy · 01/05/2013 06:21

Love the salad box, thanks for ideas mrshercule today will be something with mozzarella and gammon...

It will pass middleaged drink as much water as you can today... And a mug of water as hot as you can bear it, it might take a few days to adjust, it's just your body getting use to fuelling itself more efficiently ie not so much waste!

ohforfoxsake · 01/05/2013 06:22

OK I'm jumping back on this wagon.

sybilfaulty · 01/05/2013 06:26

Middleaged, poor you. I suffer with that as well and I know that it's miserable. I agree that the hot cup of coffee can help, but also keep up with the water and make sure you are getting plenty of vegetables. It#s easy to have lots of fat and protein but don't forget the veg! Some buttered spinach or cabbage would really help to boost your fibre and get your system back to normal.

I can't remember the carbs of rhubarb except that they are low but obviously you need lots of sweetener as it's so sharp! We are trying to steer clear of artificial things so that wouldn't really work. Plums are very carby as they are so sweet. Both best avoided.

Some of us take psyllium husk (from Holland and barrett) at the beginning to bulk out our poo. Plenty of water should help here too.

Sympathies, as it's horrid. Take care.

HoopaPoop · 01/05/2013 06:36

Is rhubarb ok if it's not sweetened?

rubyrubyruby · 01/05/2013 06:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JaxTellerIsAllMine · 01/05/2013 06:52

woohoo! I was so good yesterday despite being taken out for lunch and being a model in hairdressers for 5 hours! DH brought my dinner in for me.

B - 2 scrambled eggs with lots butter
L - Chicken and Chorizo Salad with pesto dressing
D - Roast lamb, celeriac chips and roast peppers.

Lots of water, and lots of coffee.

halfthesize · 01/05/2013 07:02

morning ladies, ok need some food ideas. l am running an election office tomorrow that has no microwave or cooker just instant hot water.....Shock
I'm feeling very bloated and sluggish today but remember that happening before, so will up water intake today.

WillieWaggledagger · 01/05/2013 07:03

Hoopa not in bootcamp but in theory on bootcamp light. It is very tart though

Middleagedspread are you sure it's constipation or just not going as often as you're used to? If definitely constipation, another tactic is to take some magnesium

Attackofthefiftyfootwoman · 01/05/2013 07:29

I have lost 3lb!!!! Need daily motivation so I weigh myself almost daily well happy about that.whoop!!

Chipsbigbowl · 01/05/2013 07:54

Half the size-

A lunchbox with a few boiled eggs, cheese sticks/slices, spinach leaves and M and S do some yummy deli chicken breasts with skin on (they are plain, not in sugar or sauce etc) so low carb and I slice one up and put that in lunch box. Keeps me going!

EwanHoozami · 01/05/2013 07:55

Excellent work, Attack :)

thekitchenfairy I took chromium picolinate from H&B for a while as a separate supplement, now I just make sure my multivit has chromium in.

halfthesize · 01/05/2013 07:56

thanks chips am off to m&s this morning. problem is I start at 5:30 and don't finish till around 11...Confused

Ruprekt · 01/05/2013 07:57

I was laughing out loud at the poster who could not get her mindset round eating chicken skin!!

I was exactly the same in January SmileSmile but now I eat it with glee and gobble it up! Same with pork crackling as dh does not like it sonI get it all!!

Just wait.....you will soon be chomping it down! SmileSmileSmileSmile

middleagedspread · 01/05/2013 07:59

WW, I think it's a combination of both. I've had piping hot coffee & will have spinach omelette for brekkie. Glad it's not just me.
I'm loving this thread, thanks all.

WillieWaggledagger · 01/05/2013 08:06

ruprekt i was the same - totally fat-phobic, hated the taste of butter, but i love it now

Chipsbigbowl · 01/05/2013 08:08

Maybe quite a few boiled eggs then !!! :)

frenchfries22 · 01/05/2013 08:09

Hello
Day three and I am sure carb flu I feel horrible and so so exhausted no appetite but forced an omelette down managed to take dd swimming this morning but been on the sofa all afternoon, I take it just tons of water? Have dinner out tonight and worried I will have a wobble as feel so rubbish -how long will this last?

prettybird · 01/05/2013 08:15

Had a lovely chicken dish last night using a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It involved marinating 6-8 chicken thighs or legs in buttermilk (although I used yoghurt and milk and a squoosh of lemon juice), 5 cloves of garlic, paprika , a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar (don't worry - it gets wiped off anyway or you can leave it out) for 6 to 48 hours, removing from the marinade, drizzling in olive oil, a wee bit more paprika and some sea salt and roasting at 425F for 30 minutes. Yummy Smile

I'll link to it when I'm back on the pc.

WillieWaggledagger · 01/05/2013 08:15

sorry you're feeling rotten frenchfries. it shouldn't last longer than a few days, and it does go to show how physical the desire to eat carbs is

do keep up with the water, and make sure you eat enough too because it's when you're both hungry AND craving carbs that you risk wagon-toppling. make sure your salt levels aren't too low - salmon, avocado etc are good for that, and add a bit of salt to your food as you're drinking lots of water

frenchfries22 · 01/05/2013 08:18

Thanks Willie salts a good idea will make a marmite drink now

BIWI · 01/05/2013 08:33

.... and eat plenty of fat, frenchfries.

It will soon pass, we promise Smile

OP posts:
PennyHofstadter · 01/05/2013 08:46

Morning all, weighed myself this morning and it appears I've dropped another 1.75lb since yesterday. I am v. chuffed and it's a great motivator for me however I know just how much weight can fluctuate.

I will wait and see what the official weigh in on Monday morning brings.

TMI but TOTM has arrived with a vengence this morning and I normally hold onto water and bloat like a balloon so tomorrows foray onto the scales might not be so successful...

Breakfast - 2 hard boiled eggs, avocado
Lunch - tuna mayo with cucumber, green leaf and red cabbage salad
Snack - celery sticks, philly soft cheese
Dinner - not decided yet, maybe some steak with vegetables

BIWI · 01/05/2013 08:55

This has been posted before (and is also on the Spreadsheet in the resources section) but for those of you who are new to low carbing,

It's long at 54 minutes. Just watch the first 10 minutes if you haven't got the time to see the whole thing. To see how obesity rates spread across the USA once people were advised to eat low fat foods is absolutely shocking.

OP posts: