This low carb boot camp diet is a higher protein, lower carbohydrate diet. Research tends to show us again and again that low carb diets are better for weight loss compared to low calorie or low fat diets. Research from Harvard School of Public Health investigated what would happen to people who ate a 1500-calorie low fat diet (1800 calories for men) compared to an 1800-calorie low carb diet (2100 calorie for men). The findings were that the higher calorie low carb dieters lost more weight than the lower calorie low fat dieters. A third group was studied who consumed a 1500-calorie (1800 calories for men) low carb diet and these people lost the most weight.
Beyond eating abtter diet read how gut bacteria, vitamin D and B vitamin deficiency and toxicity can make you fat:
A modern approach to weight loss
Another study looked at people on a calorie matched low carbohydrate or low fat diet, the food ratios were as follows:
• Low-fat diet: 60% carbohydrate, 20% fat and 20% protein.
• Lower-carb diet: 45% carbohydrate, 35% fat and 20% protein.
Women eating the low carb diet lost an average of 3.4 lbs (1.5 kg) more than the women eating the low fat diet (an average of 19.6 lbs v 16.2 lbs). Even the low carb diet was still fairly high in carbohydrates and could have been reduced further to maximise weight loss results. Again clearly demonstrating that calories are not the only important thing to consider when eating to lose weight, but also the type of food you eat.
Reducing carbohydrate usually means an increase in protein and fat. But most people fear eating too much fat because they think it will make them fat (remember 1g of fat contains 9 calories) and get advised against eating too much protein as it damages the kidneys and affects bone health. Both of these points are contentious issues and a thorough discussion of this topic is not warranted here, but suffice to say that a higher protein diet (43% carbohydrate, 33% protein and 22% fat) was more favourable in terms of weight loss when combined with resistance exercise to a conventional diet (53% carbohydrate, 19% protein and 26% fat) and exercise. Furthermore the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association reported that a low glycemic load (GL) diet helps to reduce insulin, triglycerides and aids weight loss in overweight and obese people.
This two week phase is certainly not the “Atkins Diet”, there is no restriction on the amount of carbs you can eat, just the type of carbs and it will form the foundation of how you should eat to not only lose weight initially but then – with certain foods added back in for a fuller varied diet – help you maintain a healthy weight.
This type of “low carb” boot camp phase for weight loss is the staple of many successful weight loss programmes including, but not exclusively:
• Anne Louise Gittleman – Fat Flush plan
• Charles Poliquin – BioSignature
• Patrick Holford – The low GL diet
I have taken different things from the above named programmes as well as from the likes of Jonny Bowden and Mauro Di Pasquale to create the following 2-week bootcamp.
After the initial two weeks are over other foods are gradually added back to the diet to make it a more balanced diet to meet all your nutritional needs. This is a core component of my nutritionist for weight loss programme.
So here it is…
Principle number 1
Protein in Greek means “of first importance” so make sure your first choice in a meal is a good quality portion of protein. Once you have worked out your daily protein requirement simply divided this by 3 or 5 (depending on whether you eat 3 or 5 meals a day) and eat that amount of protein at each meal.
To work out roughly your protein requirement take your body weight in kilos and times by 1.2 if you are female or 1.5 if you are male:
• 58kg female needs to eat 70g of protein a day
• 75kg male needs to eat 112g of protein a day
Remember that all meat, fish seafood and poultry is roughly 22% protein and you can work out how much you actually need to eat.
• 70g of protein x 5 = 350g of animal flesh
• 112g of protein x 5 = 560g of animal flesh
Example
Protein requirement = 550g per day
• Breakfast: 120g
• Snack: 40g
• Lunch: 150g
• Snack: 40g
• Dinner: 200g
Weigh your protein after it has been cooked to make sure you are getting the right amount at each meal. Do this for just a few days so you can get an idea of how much things weigh, after that don’t get anal about it just make an educated guess on your portion size and don’t stress out if one day you are slightly over the required amount or if on another day you are slightly under.
However, make sure to eat quality organic meat and fish to avoid oestrogens, growth hormones, antibiotics and pesticides stored in animal fat.
Principle number 2
For 14 days eat a 100% strict LOW carbohydrate diet (NO alcohol, grains, fruits, dairy, starchy vegetables etc…) except:
Artichokes, avocado (1 a day), asparagus, aubergine, bamboo shoots, beetroot greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, raw carrots, celery, chard, collards, courgette, cucumber, fennel, green beans, kale, lettuce leaves (all types), mushrooms, olives (3 a day), onions, parsley, peas, peppers, radishes, sauerkraut, spinach, tomatoes, turnips, water chestnuts and watercress.
You can eat as much of these fibrous carbohydrates a day as you can as they are in low carbohydrate content, high in fibre, rich in vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients and they cause only a little insulin to be released.
Aim to eat 4-5 servings a day of these vegetables (yes that includes breakfast). Fibrous carbohydrates DO NOT include any grains, breads or starches – only the vegetables on the list above.
You can also eat:
• 2 eggs a day
• 2-3 servings a day of nuts or 2 tablespoons of nut butter
• Lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, horseradish and pickles.
• Ginger, garlic, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, turmeric, basil, thyme, oregano, black pepper, sage, cardamom etc…
• Butter, olive oil, walnut, avocado and sesame oil.
Here’s an example for a 75 kg male
Breakfast: 7am
100g salmon, 6-10 nuts, black coffee and water.
Mid morning snack: 10am
Large Romaine lettuce leaves, 50g of sliced beef, horseradish – crepes.
Lunch: 1pm
170g chicken breast with mixed leaf salad, tomato, ½ avocado, radishes and 1 tbsp olive oil.
Mid afternoon snack: 3:30pm
Crudités of carrot, pepper and courgette with 50g of prawns
Dinner: 7pm
150g steak, steamed broccoli, cauliflower and a small slice of butter to season the vegetables
Beverages
1.5 l of water throughout the day
2 cups of green tea
NO ALCOHOL
Supplements
• HCL every meal
• 2-3 g of fish oil every meal
• Multivitamin and mineral 1 a day
This is also a great programme for women especially if you need to get in shape for a wedding.
Weight loss for brides and bridesmaids
So if you need to get in shape and lose some weight go here to find out how.
