Hi Wendy and Linda….. no zero coke😢okay
I love the pink fever tree tonic too i have it with my one g&t a week. I have to allow something or I would go nuts. Just a new angle on BSD I am trying. I did try sparkling water with lime and fresh mint and cucumber from the garden and sipped it pretending it was a cocktail. I hope that this sin free drink will reward me with blubber loss. I was ok with the fruit and yogurt this morning but I was ready to chew the postman’s arm off when I got home from work—so hungry but I had a lovely lunch of home made burgers and salad!
It’s great that we are still supporting each other…..speak with you soon!
Miss Ziggy 😏

Hi All, mind if I join, on day 11 but only found this forum yesterday and great to see how everyone else is getting along
So far this month I have lost half a stone (1.5ib gain the last two days) I have come off metformin and getting normal blood sugar readings and I am actually enjoying the diet. I am not as hungry as I thought I might be so need to drop another 1.5stone to get to a decent BMI

Welcome Nicel & it sounds as though you are already doing very well!
Supper tonight is fresh salmon with homemade ratatouille & 100g of flageolet beans. Mea culpa I sinned last night & had a very small glass of wine wine because I had to attend a very boring committee meeting & it was on offer. I am back on the bandwagon today & so far have had no breakfast except coffee, mushroom soup with 40g of Comte cheese, an apple & a few grapes for lunch but am still in my first week working down to 800 daily calories averaging about 8-900! Oh well still getting back into the swing & spending loads of pennies as I lose carbs fluid.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Margaret xx

Morning Wendy Welcome Nicel & Linda and anyone else that has joined us.
Nicel you are doing really well which proves that BSD really does work.
Wendy a glass of wine is allowed so you are not a sinner!!👹👹👹👹
I prepped way too many veggies for this week so…I had a strange breakfast this morning – stir fried veg with two fried eggs . It was delicious!!
My OH is coming home tonight and he has requested something really nice for dinner. He has been staying in a budget golf hotel where to food he says is horrible. So for tonight we are having home made Swedish meatballs with gravy. Now he loves this with mash potatoes so I may just for tonight have mash too. I know this makes me a sinner👹👹👹👹. But I will be right back on track tomorrow. I have been very good this week and him being away has given me the kick start I really needed.
Keep on keeping on.

MIss ZIggy

Thank you Miss Ziggy😬 sometimes life just gets in the way of our best intentions & managing that without guilt & getting back on track is what makes it at all possible so enjoy your meatballs & mash with an easy conscience!
Today is a fast day because I am still combining 5:2 & BSD so nothing to eat until supper that is beef stir fry with lots of veg, pepper sauce & a few rice noodles followed by fresh blueberries with possibly a little full fat organic yoghurt. I am becoming impatient for Sunday which is my weigh in day to see how I have done.😇
The end of the week is almost here!!
Margaret xx

Saturday 15th September . I couldn’t wait until tomorrow & have weighed a day early because I wanted to record my weight loss of 6lbs that is my French holiday weight now gone before going away tomorrow to stay in a hotel in Ipswich for four days. We will take our Nordic walking poles to use when we re-visit Sutton Hoo.
It’s going to be a minefield trying to eat low carb/calories because I don’t want to undo this weight loss & already feel concerned that my resolution & focus will disappear in the face of so many food choices. We will try & stop off at a National Trust property en route where we know we should be able to find a decent bowl of soup but breakfast & dinners will be difficult🙁 Any suggestions anyone? I will try & stick to protein & vegetables & resist puddings & just drink water.
I hope you are all getting on well
Margaret xx

Hi Margaret
I am not an omelette fan but will eat them when away from home. I also love natural yogurt and apple. This year while on holiday in Thailand I tried to stick to BSD where I could but the pina coladas and meals with rice were too hard to resist. Breakfast was a BSD ers dream. Omelettes poached eggs bacon etc. But the really good thing was the range of vegetables available at breakfast time. I would order omelettes and could also help myself to stir fried vegetables or a helping of stir fried prawns . I wish we had the same choices here.
I hope you are doing well and hope everyone else is doing well too. I am drinking a lot of fruit teas at the moment. My favourite is a rhubarb one I take it to work in a flask. I find that warm drinks seem to suppress my appetite 🙂
Miss Ziggy….hope my uniform gets loose😜

Hello Miss Ziggy
An omelette wasn’t available for breakfast at the hotel so I had some plain yoghurt & fruit then bacon & eggs & that lasted me until supper. Again I focused on protein but did succumb to temptation having some puddings & glasses of wine because the food was good. We walked quite a bit visiting Sutton Hoo, The Rural Museum of East Anglia & the delightful mill painted by Constable. I also had a massage & a facial that I very much enjoyed. There must be something about the starkness of Hotel full length mirrors because I think I look very overweight at the moment, although compared to some ladies in the hotel felt positively svelte. I think the increased obesity in the population is much more obvious now. I am not standing on my scales until Sunday after three days much lighter eating when hopefully I will be able to say I haven’t gained any weight this week. Then it’s back to the BSD diet with a vengeance this no more social commitments for awhile.
I hope you are finding your uniform is getting looser😀👍 but a word of warning on fruit teas that can be acid & affect our teeth enamel that was recently mentioned in MMs Trust Me I’m a Doctor. I’m not sure about rhubarb but lemon & fruit teas were mentioned with mint & vegetables & herb ones being less acid. I drink a lot of coffee & that probably stains my teeth so you can’t win on all counts. Oh well on we go & hopefully getter lighter & healthier as well.
How is everyone getting on?
Margaret xx

Hi…can I join please. My doctor recommended this diet and having read the book, I am now on Day 4. Day 3 was a disaster with hunger and lack of willpower leading to 1640 calories and 78 g carbs (I won’t tell you where they came from; hangs head in shame). However, today is a new day and so far I have eaten nothing and drunk only water.
Eggs planned for breakfast (or might skip it).
Veg and chicken stir fry for lunch
Thai pork with cauliflower rice for dinner
That will take me to 1038 calories and 25g carb. I am using FatSecret to keep track and the Net Carbs to check carbs.
I am really struggling to get under 800 calories though. And I am hungry all the time!

Hello mouche 202 & well done for starting & joining in!
Hunger settles down but in the meantime have a drink of water if you feel hungry because we often don’t so easily identify thirst & think we are hungry😀 soup is also filling & satisfying because it stays for longer in the stomach. Eating any low fibre carbs will make you feel hungry because they are so quickly digested so I try & avoid all bread, rice, pasta etc & have pulses or loads of vegetables as accompaniments. Do stick with it because your feelings of hunger will subside & just try to ignore them & distract yourself or drink something😀 Working your way downwards in calories is a good idea for your first week. I am doing the same thing getting back into the swing having been away for four days managing hotel eating.
Good luck👍🍀
Margaret

Hello Mouche and welcome🙂
Just wished water was more interesting😭😭😭😭

MIss ZIggy

hi folks sorry been poorly and our internet was playing up or down and didn’t feel well enough to fix it!!! i know that following this keeps my illness away so now and now my birthday is over (yesterday) i’m definitely back on. it. so pleased to see our new friends. welcome. lets all get together and help each other. we can all do this and not sure if this will motivate any others but my hubb”s been saying why can’t i be motivated like last time when i followed this WOE as i was so amazing and looked so fantastic and it made me glow! so onwards and downwards folks 💞 xx

Hello Nickix
I’m sorry to hear you have been unwell & hope you are fully recovered now & a belated Happy Birthday 🎁👏🍷
I agree Miss Ziggy that water is rather boring but I enjoy drinking water & enjoy a glass of wine even more😂
I am back from my three day hotel stay & pleased to say I have lost 1/2lb despite coping with hotel breakfast & delicious dinners. I did have some wine but walked quite a lot visiting Sutton Hoo, Flatford Mill & the East Anglian Rural Museum. I am getting back on track now with roast chicken & lots of vegetables for lunch today.
I hope everyone is doing well? Do post your progress whether up or down😀
Margaret xx

Hi everyone so good to here everyone’s stories. I’m struggling ar mo, has anyone tried using Lyn’s 8 week diary on amazing? Was wondering if it would be helpful? So tired at moment so even though I’ve got meals prepped in freezer just don’t fancy them? Would be lovely to liok and feel better by Xmas. Everyone agree? 😘 xx

Hi Nickix 👋
Yes I would love to look like gorgeous by Xmas too. We can do it we’ve done it before and we know it works. It’s just that some times I am more motivated. I too am finding it hard to find the motivation. I went to my allotment this morning and harvested the last courgettes some carrots and a beautiful red cabbage. We are having chicken and a couple of slices of haloumi for dinner tonight and will make a salad and some coleslaw. I have been snacking on pepparami …not sure how good or bad a pepperami is but I do find it useful especially when my husband is tucking into crisps😭😭. I tried green tea for the first time … it’s okay and it really does taste like it’s a health food because it’s not very nice 🤣😂🤣😂
Work trousers seem a little looser NHS trousers have elastic and this last week they haven’t been cutting into me as much! As you all know I hate scales and try to avoid them.
OK …. I do have an incentive. It’s my annual spa day with my size 8 friend😏 now I know this seems childish but I would love to feel comfortable by the pool and swimming when I am with her. She has never made me feel self conscious it’s all my own insecurities that come into play. We are planning this spa day for mid January so I have sometime to get my act together. Just want to feel good in a swimsuit again.
Miss Ziggy

Hi Miss Ziggy lovely to hear about your allotment. I had steak and asparagus with fried onions which was lovely. But I was so busy at work so didn’t get a break or cuppa till 2.15!! Then had smoked salmon and cream cheese but with seeded biscuits as I didn’t know what else to have and I only had 15 minutes! Cause of patients. You’re so lucky you’re trousers are elasticated! Ours aren’t and there getting tighter! So yes we must do this. That sounds like a lovely thing a spa day with a friend. Ok lets do this! Xx 👍🤣🤪🤪😆

A little P.S to all of you. If you haven’t watched it try to watch an American TV show called Diet-land. I have just watched to pilot and I am hooked. For those that like reading a book is available too.

Miss ZIggy

I will join you. I am also doing the 800 but started yesterday. Next Monday l will do some work related travel for a week so l wanted to get as many days as possible with BSD before that. 800 kcal is much than l normally eat but so far so good☺
I am turning 61 soon and live in Bergen, Norway. I would love be down 50 pound (25kg) from the 189 kg today. My height is 172 cm. The meals l have had so far has been very good.

Hi Bergen,
I am glad you are joining us. The more the merrier!!
I hope we can all help each other with tips and advice.
MIss ZIggy

Hello Bergen & welcome & Miss Ziggy & everyone else in this thread😀👍
I’m not doing too well at the moment & am disappointed to only lose 1/2lb this past week. My mistake I think is not keeping more strictly to 800 calories & with some days creeping up to 1000 plus🙀 However still trying to keep to low carb but occasional wine & icecream is creeping in! I realise this past year that I have wasted time gaining then losing about the same amount of weight but not making inroads into my overall weight gain to reach my goal weight!! I am now finding it so frustrating & need a good boot up my derrière to get back on track.
I hope you are all doing better than me! It was steak & ratatouille plus some mashed sweet potato for lunch today with homemade brambly apple purée & icecream for pudding plus wine because one of our sons came for lunch. My willpower disappeared & we then watched the Dr Strange film😂
Oh dear,
Margaret xx

Hi Margaret and everyone else! I agree Margaret I’m struggling too! But I’m starting again tomorrow or shall I say carrying on tomorrow as I know this way of life works. I went out yesterday to have my eyes checked and while out got speaking to a skin expert and mentioned about the spots on my cheeks and she said that that’s a sign of food intolerance! And to look at gluten and bread! And guess what I’ve been eating more of! Soo here goes. Here’s to us👍 We can do this ❤️ Love to all xxxx

Oooh i just realised! Guess what date it is tomorrow! 😳 xx

Welcome Bergen!
It’s fun to have another voice from Norway! My husband and I have visited Norway for the past five years in the winter, to cross-country ski in the Rondane National Park. We take the train from the airport in Oslo into Ringebu (near Lillehammer) and drive up into the park to the most wonderful, country hotel — FjellHotel — all meals (totally BSD friendly!!, homemade pickles, fresh fish, smoked meats, lots of vegetable, moose patties, so so good!!) — what fun that is — and everyone is so nice and we hope to visit in the summer also soon,
On the way back we always stay in Oslo and visit the National Theatre which has had AMAZING ballet — Anna Karenina was just incredible ballet, best I have ever seen, anywhere in the world.
Please tell us about where you live in Bergen and welcome to the forums!
Julia

Hi Julia
I live in Bergen which is located on the west coast of Norway and l live just outside down town. So amazed that you go to Norway to go skiing every winter.
Bergen is surrounded with mountains and sea. The mountains is not so high but high enough to be able to do some cc skiing just at a top, Fløyen, by the city center or we can go 45 minutes by car to better facilities. I think we have everything here but my sisters that lives in Oslo do not agree😆. They say the weather is so much better there. We do have a lot of rain here, like now. It is pouring down every day after 3.5 months with summer. Where are you living?
Britt

Hi from sunny Scotland. Been on diet for 1 week and lost 5 and a half pounds. Not hungry but missing my toast in the morning. Determined to keep on going. Good luck to everyone starting on 1st October. My advice is to remember to go for a walk, even if it’s just round the block. I am an emotional eater so keeping my endorphins up is a big help. Looking forward to keeping in touch with everyone’s journey.

Hi,
I am also starting today at 70 kilos wanting to get to 56 kilos and fit my clothes again! Really looking for a lifestyle change and to break the carb addiction! Also hoping the reduction in sugar will help with reducing my anxiety. Heres hoping! All prepped and ready for the week, would love to see how everyone gets on and what kind of weight loss to expect?

Hi, I am starting today, crash read the book last night and this morning.

I am 54, I live in the UK, I weigh 10. 8 and I am 5ft5. I would like to get back down to between 9 and 9.5.

I have done something similar before on 1200 and I did find that fun although even then it seemed low calorie, will have to get used to making some wise choices.

I think I comfort eat a lot!!!!!

All the best everyone.

SO pleased to find this thread here. I need all the encouragement I can get and hope to do the same in return.
Very happy to post a regular account of my progress and see how others are doing.
I’m 5ft 10 and weight 13st. 7lb. I’m 74 years old and don’t want to lose too much weight – need something to pad out the wrinkles in my face! So I’m aiming at the top of my BMI – 12st 7lb. Hope that will be enough to take me out of the recently diagnosed Pre-diabetic category. I love all veggies and rarely eat bread so am hoping that will stand me in good stead. What I definitely need to do is put more movement in my day – I get less and less inclined to move as I get older and we all know that less agility can lead to falls and other troubles. So I’m embarking on this today in the hopes of a healthier lifestyle for myself and for everyone else here.

Hello!
Just joining for my second attempt. Lost one stone in 2016, and now hoping to lose the second this time in two months, and get back to the lovely sleep I enjoyed last time around. This time I will complete what I started!
Looking forward to going you all

Welcome GADP
This group is looking strong again which is great!! Just killing time while our spicy chicken thighs are cooking so I thought I’d list foods that I love to keep in the house when on BSD. These are my go to foods and have become invaluable.
Halloumi
Goats cheese
Individually wrapped cheddar or any cheese for snacking
Almonds for snacking
Tinned salmon
Tinned tuna
Tinned tomatoes
Tinned lentils
Eggs ready boiled
Chicken wings batch cooked and kept in the fridge.
I couldn’t do this diet without them.
What are your favourite “go to foods”?

Miss Ziggy

I would like to join you and start the fast 800 today. I’m 57 165cm and 89kg (14stone). That means I could drop 25kg to reach the ‘not overweight’ bracket! My obstacle is lousy blood sugar; I’ve been cutting down for two weeks already and finding it really tough as my body is weak from lack of the sugary snacks I got used to over 20 years of putting on weight!

SI-IGH!! DAY 1 yesterday. Was rocking along with no problems –
Breakfast – half an avocado and salad leaves
Lunch – 1 scrambled egg with spinach and 2 tsp parmesan
Dinner – 2 tiny Thai fishcakes made from a calorie counted recipe and salad leaves
According to the online calculator I use = 571 calories including two cups of coffee.
Then I was rung about the death of a friend so a group of us went out to commiserate with each other. Had one glass of wine – which may or may not have been ‘illegal’ though didn’t take me over 800 cals – would be grateful for advice re wine from someone, please.
HOWEVER – as always let my guard down after alcohol and went home and ate a salad and goats cheese wrap which took me over by about 100 cals. MUST TRY HARDER as my school reports used to say.
Today is another day and I WILL try harder.

Hi Miss Ziggy
Your list completely mirrors mine – ALL of them in my fridge right now – but have to add spinach. Can’t live without wilted spinach/garlic accompaniment to practically anything. Not a major vice!

Welcome to everyone new👍😀
I think I should be much better at this WOE now being so used to fasting for the past 2-3 years but it’s the keeping to 800 calories each day that is tripping me up. To introduce myself to newbies I am 5ft 3inches tall, aged 70 & am ashamed to say weigh 12 stone 10 lbs! I want to get down to 10 stone & re-evaluate then but that is the higher end of BMI & should probably be seven pounds less than that. I am going on a big holiday to New Zealand & Australia early next year via Singapore & want to weigh much less then. I am not pre-diabetic but became involved with the BS Diet two years ago to help my Type 2 diabetic husband to lose his excess weight in eight weeks & reduce his medication. He succeeded very well & has maintained his weight loss since then but I’m ashamed to say I lost 1 1/2 stone but have put most of that back with holiday eating this year & being tempted by other foods creeping back & larger portions & wine! Oh well my situation revealed & hopefully this will help me focus now.
Good luck everyone & Fab50 you have made a great start with losing 5 1/2 lbs!
Miss Ziggy my go to food are tins of beans such as flageolet, good with fish, black beans, black eyed peas & chickpeas made into spicy dishes with tinned tomatoes. Also lots of fresh veg & sweet potatoes to accompany meat & small amounts of cous cous & quinoa as substitutes for other carbs because my husband has seriously gone off cauliflower rice although I still like that. Oh & I never eat breakfast & we usually have soup or houmous & crudités for lunch. I also like Caesar salad with chicken pieces either hot or cold. Supper tonight is a slice of ham, fried eggs & some left over sweet potatoes mash made with a little milk. I’m probably at the moment focusing too much on protein & veg accompanied by some selected carbs as go to simple meals & will see how I go this week. Supper last night was fresh salmon with homemade ratatouille.
Onwards & hopefully downwards this week!
Margaret xx

Wendy1947 – very interested to see your overall meal favourites – thanks for sharing. This is just what I was hoping for here – new ideas for meals and also hoping some of mine might appeal too. Your big holiday sounds exciting – sure it’ll be loads of fun. Have my fingers crossed for your weightloss to make it even more enjoyable.

Hello oldies (Happy Anniversary) and newbies ….. well here I am again and I’m afraid I haven’t done very well over the last year. Congrats to all of you who have and an understanding hug for those like me!I
I have realised that my problems lay with my lack of will power, the NHS work rota (earlies, lates, long days, twilights, long twilights and the dreaded nights) this work seesaw played havoc with planning menus .. keeping to them and finding suitable meals. I also realised I need a simpler menu and shopping list suitable for one. I did notice that Miss Ziggy listed her store cupboard items which gave me some good ideas, and the smaller plate of course.
So today I have rejoined you all in action … no more real ales (OMG .. you didn’t! Oh yes I did .. for months with great gusto) so will have to try the ‘pretend’ sparkling mint and cucumber cocktail.
I hope to regain my energy and enthusiasm for life which I know will come if I manage to stay with you all.
Good luck everyone!

Hi gyllyb – thanks for the welcome. -As a newbie I totally know I could well be facing difficulties too. Somehow life tends to get in my way for all sorts of different reasons and I end up tailing off and then starting again – often somewhere else. This time it’s directly for my health so I’m hoping that will raise my determination to see it through. I also was grateful for Miss Ziggies food list – and the ‘pretend’ cocktail will be very useful. Wine is my tipple and it gets me in trouble in so many ways – don’t ask! I’m ambivalent about stopping it but I know it’s what I need to do.
I wish you the best of luck here.

Thank you Reducia & welcome back gyllyb 😀 I really don’t know where the last year has gone & I am already missing summer.
My store cupboard also has low sugar Heinz baked beans that are filling eaten with an omelette filled with courgette strips, spring onion, & some herbs ( I have still growing chives & sage ) that adds more flavour as well as a fresh chilli or chilli flakes for more spice! This is my fastest supper when I’m eating on my own. If there are spare calories some grated cheese is nice on the omelette. I suppose various beans are my go to keeping hunger at bay as well as drinking plenty of water because it’s easy to mistake thirst as hunger. Other than that I don’t like any tea but drink up to four mugs of coffee daily but not after six because the caffeine stops me sleeping & as a treat have a square of 85% dark chocolate. Wine is also my favourite tipple & I’m trying to not have any which is difficult having brought many bottles back from my Normandy holiday plus some Calvados 🙀 I am restricting myself to a glass of something on Saturday nights or not depending on my willpower 😂😿
Best feet forward everyone👍
Margaret xx

Hi all – Day 2 yesterday and I did OK – 21 cals over according to the tracker I use but MUCH better than Day 1
Breakfast – half avocado – simply on it’s own
Lunch – scrambled egg and spinach with parmesan – my go to dish for any meal
Dinner – prawns and mussels – small portions simply cooked and more spinach
NB Wendy – NO WINE – big victory for me! Hope I can stick to that.
Wishing to reduce the calories slightly and generally stay in the swing of things.
Good luck to all you shrinking folk – hope to be one of you,

Well done Reducia sticking to the guidelines & no wine👏😬 Scrambled egg with spinach sounds yummy & I must try that. I also stuck to slightly over 800 calories yesterday because I had an apple to eat in the evening & no wine! However I will have some wine on Sunday because my husband & I are going to our sons & daughter in law for a roast Sunday lunch that will also be a challenge food wise but I will resist potatoes & just have more vegetables although I’m sure there will be a tempting pudding.
Today we are eating soup for lunch with pulled pork for supper with a mushroom sauce, steamed broccoli & carrots with a little cous cous. I found the meat in my freezer & will have to make do with that & try to keep below 800 with carefully weighing my cous cous & could also do courgetti to pad it out a bit.
Margaret x

Hi all and those new BSD’ers that have joined in.
I am suffering today with a pulled muscle in my back. So painfull. I feel so sorry for myself. Lucky I have no naughty food in the house because I certainly would have comforted myself if there was some. Last night for dinner we ate roasted tomato soup for dinner. All the tomatoes came From the greenhouse and it was a delicious soup! I think roasting the toms gives it a really good flavour but home grown toms always taste good. Husband ate olive bread with his😡. I mixed in some cheddar cheese into mine.
I am as we speak hooked up to my TENS Machine. Hope I will be out of pain tomorrow.

Miss Ziggy

Miss Ziggy – So sorry to read about your back pain – really does affect pretty well everything we want to do. DO hope yours is gone – or at least much improved – tomorrow. Love the sound of roasted tomato soup – def going to try that. Unfortunately I have nowhere to grow my own but my organic veggie box arrives tomorrow complete with tomatoes – next best thing :-} Thanks for the hint.

Wendy1947 – Your pork and mushroom sauce sounds good – how do you make the sauce without flour? Probably a silly question but would love to know. Courgetti is such a godsend isn’t it? As you say it will pad out your meal nicely. I love courgettes and think it was you who recently mentioned courgette batons and cheese omelette – sounds good and have it in mind to try. Will have my fingers crossed for your Sunday lunch – I love family get-togethers but they sure are ‘dangerous’ – hope you get through with minimum mishap. I’m extremely lucky that I really don’t like anything sweet at all so at least pudding wouldn’t be a problem for me – have SO many others though. Keep at it – I’m doing well today and hope to get into bed before that changes! SoniaXX

Miss Ziggy I’m so sorry to read about your pulled muscle in your back I know how painful that is. I hope your TENS machine is helping you!
Reducia I have to own up that the mushroom sauce was a left over Waitrose pasta sauce I bought for my son but I only had a little to moisten my pork & vegetables & in the end didn’t cook any cous cous. I think the lowest calorie way to thicken any sauce is a teaspoon of cornflour although have also used the BSD cookery book recommendations to use Chia seeds for thickening stewed fruit that makes a sort of tasteless gel & that works well. I think that it would drive me nuts if I couldn’t mix & match some prepared bought food with completely freshly made & buy houmous rather than making my own. I work on the basis that it’s sugar, bread, pasta & potatoes that I never buy & I don’t buy cakes, biscuits or any pastry or made up dessert or pudding to try to keep it simple when shopping so I suppose I’m doing a slightly modified BSD. However I always work out my calories of everything I eat before I eat it so I know my calories for the day. I am working my way through my freezer stored food that still does include some bread crumbed chicken & fish pieces but only serve those with vegetables. Spinach is definitely going on my shopping list today because I love that👍 You are certainly making me question what I am preparing 😀🤔
Margaret xx

Hi everyone thanks you Wendy and Reducia i am feeling much better today😃 sitting in bed right now thinking of getting up to test this back. My husband bought me a cup of tea and pain killers this morning. I fear that this might be a trapped nerve bought on by vigorously hoeing the weeds in the garden on Tuesday.
Here is that recipe link for the roasted tomato soup.
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/2177/roasted-tomato-soup.aspx
Next time I will add other things to it e.g.roast chicken, vegetables beans etc. I added a tiny amount of chilli to mine to give it a kick!! And I sieved it .
Some have you have mentioned spinach and I just wanted to mention Swiss Chard. I grow it at the allotment and it tastes like spinach but it lasts all year and well into winter. It’s a cut and come again vegetable. I grow it every year and I would recommend it if you love spinach. You can grow it amongst your plants in flower garden as it’s beautiful too. I would suggest a variety of seed called Bright Lights. It’s easy to grow in pots too. I promise you will have a supply of spinach for months. It will last until the next year but to be honest it’s best to start off new plants in the spring as the leaves get bitter if you keep it going i to the new season.in
Ok off to slowly make my way to the shower!!
Miss Ziggy

Miss Ziggy – hope you continue to progress – do know how painful a trapped nerve can be. Truly you have my sympathy.
MANY thanks for the recipe link – and for the handy hints to enhance it. Will report back when I get it done but I know it’s going to be delish.
I love chard too and do know how pretty it is in a border. Very sadly I have moved from a house to a flat. I didn’t begin to imagine how much I would miss my garden but it still causes me pain. Fortunately I live in a grassy tree -scattered square with interesting nooks and crannies so I can pretend a bit but I can’t plant anything. Allotments are practically impossible to get hold of here in crowded Brighton so have no hope of growing my own chard. It’s not easy to get in greengrocers tho occasionally it’s in my organic veggie box along with cavolo nero which is another favourite.
Thanks again – and take care of that back.

Wendy 1947 – *You are certainly making me question what I am preparing*
Last thing I want to do is make anyone question how they live their lives. I am in the fortunate position of being retired – children left home and plenty of time to please myself. That freedom – as far as food is concerned – has been rather indulgent up to now – in a poor way and I’m trying to find my way through the lifestyle ideas here – this website is great with great people on the forums and looking around it looks to me like folk are modifying BSD intelligently to suit their own needs – which is how it should be.
I also count cals before I eat anything (and any white carbs disagree with me lately so they’re easy to avoid) but was often transgressing heavily despite all my planning. Feel I have a chance of sticking to my good intentions here – fingers crossed.
Good day yesterday – made a chunky Mediterranean veggie packed tomato sauce to use up the end of my veggie box – new one due today. Poached’ an egg in some in the morning topped with grilled cheddar and mixed some into middle eastern-ish spiced lentils in the evening. 691 cals – GO ME! Hope I can maintain the impetus. Yeah I know – ‘step back from that wine bottle’. X

I’m pleased to hear your back is a little better Miss Ziggy👍
Reducia I was being honest with my comment but also meant it humorously😬 I know over the past couple of years that I have acquired some bad habits & thinking more carefully now is what I need to do to lose weight. I do know that unless something changes I will stay the same😿 life also gets in the way & I think success is in accommodating this new way of eating into a daily then weekly routine. Take today as an example when I looked in the fridge & found a tub of mozzarella & marinated tomatoes needing to be used so instead of my usual soup so we have eaten fresh spinach with the mozzarella & half a red pepper. My husband also wanted sausages for supper so I’m now making a cassoulet type dish with tinned tomatoes, bacon lardons & probably one of my store cupboard tins of Heinz low sugar/salt baked beans served with some mixed vegetables. It’s all going to add up to about 950 total calories for the day. Tomorrow is our fast day so we won’t eat until supper & I will try & keep supper around 600 calories to balance the two days. Oh dear the best plans of mice & men😂
Roll on Sunday when I will weigh & good luck everyone.
Margaret xx

Wendy1947 – love the idea of mozzarella and marinated tomatoes – with my favorite spinach too! Hope your cassoulet was good – I totally love Cassoulet – misspent late teens (and a lot of later time) living in France. Have been looking on Spark People for a recipe – they’re all calorie counted recipes on there so it’s easy to find something I feel is safe – although they are mostly member recipes so some seem a bit dodgy. Useful though. Didn’t realise you were doing 5:2 as well – sounds like a good idea and balancing out calories over several days is a really good idea. May have to adopt it. I was scrabbling around yesterday for something more – and legal – to eat because I was well under again. Amazing how much this BSD seems to be reducing my appetite by zillions! Enjoy your weekend and be nice to yourself. SoniaX

May i join you all?

I’m Ali, mum of 2, age 37, and i have 5 stones or thereabouts to lose. I’m on medication which makes me at increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the future so i’m trying to prevent the inevitable. I started on the 2nd and so far, managing ok.