[latia]

Hi everybody,
I decided to start the oprah's boot camp program and I have some questions.
I've doing what I understand from the web site for the past 9 days.
I am 50 lbs overweight and want to lose them. i've been overweight since I am 11. I am 34 old young mom of a boy age 6.5 months. I live in Israel and found the diet plan and want to do it.

Here are my questions:
- The basics stated in oprah's site talks about:
1 month without carbs
lean protein
drink plenty of water
workout 7 times a week, etc(I do pilates 1-2 times a week)

I wanted to ask some questions:
- How many meals a day are allowed? Can I eat between meals?
- How many portions of protein are allowed? meat, cheese, eggs a day?
- How long needs the workout needs to be? how long cardio? and how long weights?
- when I incorporate the carbs after one month: how many portions of carbs are allowed a day? which carbs are allowed?
- can u post a typical eating day so I can get an idea on how to eat?
- what is the average weight loss rythm that I can expect?
thanks so much

Latia

[MistySeptember]

Hi Latia! Welcome!

I did this a year ago and I am not sure if anyone else is doing it right now though. Here's what I did...

Workouts: Boot camp requires 8 workouts a week. I did Oprah recommended (listed on the website with pictures and descriptions) arm exercises 6 days a week along with 40 minutes on the treadmill. 2 days a week I did a second workout in the evening which included 30-40 minutes on the treadmill. Oprah listed a circuit workout, but it wa snot possible for me to do b/c of limited space.

Eating: The plan says no white stuff. many people mistakenly assumed that cut out things like lowfat milk, cheese, yogurt, cauliflower. These things are allowed and recommended. You just can't have white potatoes, white rice, flour, sugar, corn syrup etc. Artificial sweeteners like Splenda are allowed.

I basically ate from the meal plans found on Dr. Phil's website. They were created by his nutrionist. They fit the Oprah plan. I am not sure if those things are avaialble in your area, but I foudn it helpful to have set meal plans laid out. But it became too expensive for me to find many of teh fresh fruits and vegtables in the winter.

My understanding is you have at least 2 3 ounce portions of lean portein a day. Once you are able to introduce carbs, you limit them to once or twice a day and you eat ONLY 100% whole grain. The less refined the better. You are still not allowed sugar, white flour, white rice, white potatoes.

You can eat unlimited amounts of vegetables, especially green ones. Try to eat a variety of colors and textures. Basically I ate one 3 ounce portion of protein and then lots of salad and veggies.

I did well on the program and lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks. But after that it was just too expensive and not really practical to limit my white stuff, b/c frankly that's what is cheap and that's what I can afford. I went back to Weight Watchers b/c it doesn't limit that stff if you do the flex plan. However, WW has the core plan also. It is very similar to the bootcamp as far as eating.

Really the bootcamp is about pushing yourself to increase your exercise. It is about being commited to challenging yourself each day to do a little more. As well as cutting out refined, processed sugars and startches, which more and more eating plans are encouraging. You don't have to cut out carbs like fruit. You are allowed those, just eat more veggies than fruit. This program is not about cutting out food groups it's about eating the right foods. It's very similar also to south beach, and sugar busters. Just Oprah added in that exercise element.

You may find more information in Bob Greene's book as he is the one who taught Oprah this.

I hope this helps a little. We are doing a Christmas challenge on this THREAD. yOUA RE WELCOME TO JOIN US THERE FOR DAILY SUPPORT. wE ARE ALL DOING DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND ALL ARE WELCOME. lET ME KNOW IF i CAN HELP YOU FURTHER.

sorry my son hit the caps lock and I am in a hurry.

[QuilterInVA]

Just so you know you can eliminate white stuff and eat cheap. I buy whole grains in bulk, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, etc. Sweet potatoes and very filling and full of fiber. Sugar and white flour, rice etc. have little nutritional value so you are wasting your money. Brown rice is only a few cents more than white, same with whole wheat pasta. Beans are very cheap and a great source of protein.

[MistySeptember]

Very true. But fruits and veggies, lean cuts of meat, those things that the Oprah plan emphasis are much more expensive. Getting fruits and veggies especially fresh ones are quite expensive in rural PA in the middle of winter. I rely heavily on frozen. But the choices are very limited in frozen. But I agree that many whole grains and such are cheaper when bought in bulk. But things like spices and other non calorie contributing ways to increase flavor can be expensive also for good quality ones.

I think though that I will use more thinsg like sweet potatoes.