New & Nervous

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• posted by Gingerwhingerninja
  on 1 Aug 2021 at 04:45

  

  Hi guys & gals

  So this will be a complete lifestyle change for me. Previously I have used a big well known slimming club where weighing food and portion control was very loose. My hubby and I are doing this together after he came home from work one day with the books after seeing the success his colleague had. Hubby said he looked like a different man altogether.

  I’ve bought all the books and read them. My worry is that my hubby and I often eat at different times due to our kids after school activities and I am self employed and start work at 4am so am often in bed for 8pm.

  Cooking separately each evening seems bloody crazy. I could plate his up for him to reheat but not sure that would be very tasty.

  I am concerned about how little time I actually have too but i guess i will have to see how it goes. Feeling over whelmed if I’m honest. We have fallen into a trap of just sticking something frozen in the oven.

  Also I have a very active job. I literally do or stop from 4am til I finish around 5/6pm and I work 6 days a week (joys of being self employed) I average around 20k steps per day and my ‘lunch break’ is 5 to 10 mins max in the car between jobs.

  One more problem….hubby often has a couple of pints of skimmed milk to drink in the evening as well as milk and suger in his tea. He hates all sweeteners (know they are not recommended anyway) won’t touch herbal tea but will have coffee with no suger. I guess I will have to allow for a bit of milk in coffee for him and cut some calories elsewhere. Nightmare as all the planning etc is up to me.

  Sorry its an essay. I really really want to do this and love the idea of this being our way of life. I have around 2 stone to lose but I’d like 3. Hubby has a lot to lose, weight unknown as yet as he won’t weigh himself. He knows he has to once we start. I wouldn’t be shocked if he had 6 stone to lose. We are currently ‘running the freezer down’ (again!) Then I’m doing it. Any advice would be appreciated.

  Thank you 😊

• posted by sunshine-girl
  on 1 Aug 2021 at 18:37

  

  Hi ginger, I too am a redhead – auburn – ginger with a bit of help from dye and my hairdresser.
  First of all welcome to the site. You dont mention any particular health problems except overweight but if there is anything else it is useful to know (or you can keep it private). This diet is a way of life for a lot of us and has improved our lives and health in so many ways, diabetes reversed, reduced medications, lower BP, lower cholesterol, triglycerides etc. So it is a very healthy diet even though it is very strict.

  You say you dont want to cook different meals at different times or have warmed up meals. What do you do now. You do know that you can make the freezer your best friend and do some batches ready to be defrosted and served for either of you. Stick with basics and dont try to over complicate things. Mince or stew meat, burgers, bolognaise, stews etc all freeze well and can be portioned out per person with just veg to add later. Im sure you will find lots of recipes in the books you have bought.

  Obviously the sugar in hubbys tea will have to stop or at least wean him off it but, rightly you say, dont use sweeteners although they are better than having sugar and if you use something like pure stevia it is a thousand times sweeter than sugar so you only use the tiniest amount. Better not to have at all but hey we cant all be perfect. The problem with having something sweet is it gets the body ready for food and when no food comes the cravings start knocking. Nothing wrong with milk but he needs to keep it within his calorie allowance (800 cals for both of you, no exceptions).

  Another thing. If you get serious about this your hubby will probably lose weight a lot quicker than you. Dont get upset, it is the way things are, anyway he has more to lose so it will even itself out. Read some posts by RubyG. Her and her hubby have been doing this for a while now and doing great and I am sure would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

  We also have a weekly thread called something about the week beginning and it changes dates every Tuesday so currently on 26th July and will change on 2nd August. Short term goals and lots of chat and advice.

  There is a long list of advice to be given but it might be better if you start the diet and shout out if youre not sure of something.

  Good luck.

• posted by Gingerwhingerninja
  on 1 Aug 2021 at 18:50

  

  Hi there

  Thank you do much for your reply.

  No major health issues really. I’ve been asthmatic all my life and still tell people I’ve JUST had a baby. He is 3 🙈.

  Hubby is rarely ill but won’t get his BP, cholesterol checked but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had issues there.

  I know it will come off him quicker, I am really doing this to support him first and foremost bit I am ready for a lifestyle change.

  At the moment the kids eat after school as they have their activities. This means hunny and I often eat quite late at night. I try to stay up so we can eat together if I can but on the nights I can’t then I’ll have something like toast or a pot noodle or pasta. Something quick. Hubby then sorts himself out. It’s not that I don’t want to cook separate or reheat, I just think hubbies tea may be dry or not as nice if it’s reheated.

  Batch cooking did cross my mind. I do it now to a certain extent. If I make lasagne I’ll do a huge one and freeze portions, same with curry etc…
  We have fallen into bring lazy cooks and ots usually convenience/frozen food with chips or similar. Bad habits like something sweet after our evening meal. I did worry about the cost of this new way of life on BSD but to be honest we are spending a fortune now on bad food that isn’t nutritionally satisfying really.
  We are both ready for a change for our health and I guess we will find our way.
  I very much appreciate your advice. No doubt I’ll be on here having a breakdown regularly lol

  Xxx

• posted by sunshine-girl
  on 1 Aug 2021 at 22:22

  

  Breakdown allowed, we are ready to pick you up.

• posted by RubyG
  on 2 Aug 2021 at 10:16

  

  Hi Ginger, and welcome!
  Sunshine-girl has been a real inspiration and font of knowledge for me 🙂 and hubby basically goes along with what I feed him, with occasional forays into the fridge or cupboard.

  Hubby and I started this in Oct 2021, following his pre-diabetes blood results (he already had high BP and was medicated for that). I started a thread which is more of a diary https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/new-starting-bsd-today/

  Key things which worked for us for the first 8 weeks were:
  1) NO refined carbs at all – no sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, flour in sauces, deep-fried batter – nothing
  2) No snacks if possible – 3 decent meals per day to make up the 800cals
  3) Track and weigh EVERYTHING you put in your mouth
  4) Drink lots of water, fizzy water, black tea/coffee, etc.

  And as SG has said, with you both eating 800cals and low-carb, your hubby should lose at a faster rate than you, but in a way that should motivate him to get on board and do this for the main reason of improving his health.

  You don’t say your ages, and don’t need to if you don’t want to, but at some point he will have to face up to his weight, blood tests, doctor’s visits etc. and avoiding them doesn’t mean the bad results aren’t there.

  Feel free to ask any questions and I will try to help where I can.

  And good luck!

• posted by RubyG
  on 2 Aug 2021 at 14:03

  

  Oops, make that we started in Oct 2020 🙂

• posted by SunnyB
  on 2 Aug 2021 at 20:14

  

  Welcome Ginger …. this way of eating definitely feels daunting at the beginning and there is quite a learning curve, but it doesn’t need to be complicated and soo becomes second nature. As SG said, try to keep things simple. Look at what you cook now and how it can be adapted to make it BSD friendly, but can also be part of everyone’s meal. Batch cook where possible, or at least cook enough for an extra portion or two to freeze, for those times when needed.
  Know that there will ‘slips and trips’ along the way, be prepared for errors, we’re all human. As Ruby says, if you need advice, support, encouragement etc., just shout. A good place to be, is on the weekly thread (new one kicked off this evening with 3rd Aug in the title), as this has new comers and folks for whom this way of eating is already an established way of life posting. There is loads of experience based knowledge to draw on there, making it a great resource and all are welcome to join in there too.

• posted by freester
  on 3 Aug 2021 at 15:15

  

  Hi and welcome. 48 yr old male here who has had great success with the Blood Sugar Diet starting in jan 2020 and successfully maintaining since… GP threatening to medicate my high BP and I’m sure it was only time before T2 diabetes caught up with me.

  The posters above have answered a lot of your questions. I really only have a couple of comments to add to specific points. A lot of the food is really good to make in batches for freezing and / or reheating later. In fact I think a lot of the recipes are better if left and reheated as the flavours fuse (chilli and curry always better the day after right?).

  I stuck to black / green tea and black coffee for the first few weeks of the 800 cals phase. After 2 or 3 weeks I started allowing myself one coffee a day with a splash of milk.

  Once you get sorted allow yourself a treat from the recipe books after a meal. Lots of dark chocolate and nut based flap jacks type recipes. I’m at the point now where I do this at least a few times a week.

  Just treat it with a positive mindset. Try and enjoy what you eat, not what ‘you’re not allowed’. My tastes have changed beyond all recognition now, I don’t miss the stuff I used to live on. Enjoy the cooking. You say you’ve ‘fallen into’ becoming lazy cooks which suggests you used to enjoy meal preparation.

  Don’t be scared. The ‘whole fat’ aspect of the diet will keep you full for longer. I was surprised how I wasn’t that hungry for most of the time. Then after a while your body retrains and you ignore the occasional hunger pang (as they pass away rather than get worse).

  For me regular cups of green tea / black milk helped me past the occasional hunger. The two times I was properly hungry a few nuts / seedy cracker from the BSD Recipe Book sorted me out (as MM says it’s better to snack on plan right?).

  Plan a weeks meals – add up the calories. I didn’t worry about going too much over or under the 800 as long as it averaged around 800 cals per day over the week.

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