I do weigh everyday if I can (even if it’s a real reflect, it helps me to balance myself cause i’m So happy when I lose weight I want to cook even better. Since the day I start eating sugar in February a lost 8kg. I know i did the right choice and i feel well

Weighed this morning again and I’m same as yesterday. Is this normal? I’m sticking to the 800 calories and trying to keep my carbs low.

Hi Jojo – I just signed up to the Forum last week but I’ve done BSD before (2016) and yes, the weight loss is great overall, but it doesn’t drop day by day – or at least it didn’t last time for me. After the first week or so, I’d have a few days where my weight dropped and then other times it stayed the same. But stick with it and it will go – you’re doing great.

Margaret & CJ – I also lost weight first time, but I’ve slowly put 2 stone + back on over the last 6-9 months. I’d lost a lot of weight – over 6 stone. I’m still almost 4 stone down so I’m still feeling positive overall. Also, if we’ve done it once, we can do it again!

I started on Monday and so will weigh on Monday – enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.

Thanks Jennie. That really helps

Another question. Sorry to be a pain. I sort of understand if I’m eating a lot less (only day 9) eventually my stomach will shrink but I’ve noticed that I feel uncomfortably full sometimes already. For example for dinner I had small tin of tuna in water, avocado and small amount of soft cheese to bind the tuna. My tummy is so full it’s sore but how I used to eat that wouldn’t have been a starter. Anyone else have similar experiences?

Hi JoJo,
Weight loss isn’t linear, Our body doesn’t burn fat from a single cell at a time, it burns a little fat from a group of cells replacing the fat used with water, and keeps doing this until the cells are empty of fat when it releases the water. – Search for the whoosh effect and you will find more information on it. – Just keep going and the scales will change eventually. – But its a good idea to take a batch of measurements as well so that you can look for None Scale Victories (NSV).

Good morning everyone.
Weigh day for me today & pleased to be able to report I have lost 3 pounds in weight. I have tried to be very careful to record everything I have eaten & have been drinking this past week & seem to have averaged between 800 -900 calories per day, but have not exercised except for walking slightly more & lots of up & down stairs at home with housework type things. It’s weird because I did test weigh on Friday & had lost no weight so it just shows how our body fluid fluctuates. I did drown my sorrows with a glass of wine🙀 last night thinking I had lost no weight!
I am going to try to do more exercise next week & the latest Trust me I’m a Doctor tv programme showed that Tai Chi is as effective an exercise as Zumba in toning muscles, lowering blood pressure & increasingly antioxidant blood levels!👍😀 I have Tai Chi DVD’s & did go to classes but I hurt my shoulder overstretching 😂 & I have rubbish balance that does need lots of practice to try & improve it so will get them out & try again for some variety. Oh well more to put on my to do list as well as to get below 30 BMI because I’m nearly there & today am 30.4!
Good luck everyone & sticking with it despite my slight variation shows you can lose weight.
Margaret xx

Thank you guys. I really appreciate it. Congrats Margaret. That’s fab x
Think because I’m so big and have so much to lose I was hoping for huge losses on the scales. I have started to worry I’m not doing it properly but I know I am. Going to re-read the book and keep going.
I did have kind of a nsv yesterday. People round me were having biscuits and pringles etc and I did think yummy but then I realised I want to be healthy and lose the weight more than I want that food. First time my brain has ever kicked in like that 😃

Thank you Jojomill & very well done resisting the crisps😀
I think one way to look at so called motivation is instead to just think of it as making a choice that way is much more empowering than thinking you may have poor willpower. Also when in doubt about eating something drink a glass of water because we often mistake hunger for thirst and/or count to ten then choose👍😀 If you then choose to eat something it becomes a conscious choice to build into your day rather than an impulsive thing. You can do this👍👍👍🍀
Margaret xx

Hi all – been having a bad week – tragedy with a friend and completely lost focus. Life is sometimes more important. Weighing in tomorrow but not expecting a good number. On top of all I went to a Jamaican Buffet on Friday – definitely not a good idea even though it was delicious.
Welcome to all Newbies – this is a great place to be and I wish you all the very best.
Margaret – congrats on your loss – you’ve obviously worked hard for it. I’m never good at exercising consistently but would like that to change and I’ve been leaving the car at home and walking a lot more. I have the ‘rubbish balance’ you mention and am also considering Tai Chi to try and remedy it – tripped on paving stones a few time recently and I can no longer really trust myself to recover before I land on the pavement – embarrassing apart from anything else. Hope you get your BMI down – not far to go!
Have a good week everyone. Sonia

Thank you Sonia & I’m sorry to hear about your bad week but excellent you are walking more.
Continuing to cope with life’s ups & downs makes focusing on what we eat very difficult as well trying to change our daily routines into better ones. I know from my past experience it takes me at least two weeks to embed a new habit & I need to consciously keep reminding myself but it’s so much easier to distract myself & not do it. I should be doing the knee exercises my physiotherapist gave me each day to strengthen my thigh muscles because I have arthritis in both knees. I’m am writing this to admit that I am not doing them often enough! I know I don’t want my painful knee back but it doesn’t hurt now, because I did do the exercises before, I find it not so seemingly important now! It looks so stupid writing it down but hopefully this will focus me more.
Margaret xx

I’m a new joiner and started the BSD diet on the 13th October – so 3 days in and still going.
I’ve just finished the book and I’m looking to share my journey with you so that it provides me with movitation to keep going and not give up after a few weeks (like I have done with previous diets!!!).
I’m 6 foot (185cm) tall and weigh 18 stone (114kg), my waist line is 49 inches (124cm) – thanks for the around the stomach measurement guideline Michael!
I’m looking to get down to 14 stone 6 pounds (92kgs) – even though this is still over the ‘normal’ BMI threshold for my height – according to BMI (mine is 34.4) my weight should be 85.9kg max – I feel I’ll see massive health benefits by losing 3 and a half stone / 22kgs.
I’ll be tracking my weight every day, although some days I expect there to be no change.
I need to lose 13!!!! inches off my waist line to get back to the ‘normal’ level that is discussed in the book.
I am moderately active and average around 50-60 thousand steps a week. But hope to increase that over time as I become fitter and more active.
Thank you all for the helpful posts in this forum, they really do help with motivation.
Cheers, Bluey

Good morning, lovely to read advice, comments and support from everyone. No time for a full measurement, I tend to go by my clothes but my starting weight this morning was 13st 11lbs. Unfortunately, more than I was when I started this BSD last year, but a few lbs down on where I was a week or two ago. Ideally, I’d like to lose 2 stones, the progress varies considerably depending on family situations which are not ideal at the moment. I’m off to work shortly, so unable to do my walk/run in the morning, so I plan to do it when I get back this evening and will take my commitment here as my motivation!
Hope everyone has a good day/evening depending on your global location.
CJ

Weighed in this morning and amazed to see a 2lb loss. I’ve SO lost focus this week that I didn’t expect anything to go. 6lb over 2 weeks – not wonderful but I’ll take it – obviously.
Good morning to Bluey and CBJA – hope you get off to a good start.
Margaret – have taken your advice on board and am trying to ‘consciously remind’ myself that I need to keep on the go and move as much as possible on a regular basis. Good luck to you with your need to remember your physio – always to easy to forget – or in my case ‘gloss over’ what I really need to do every day to stay as mobile as possible.
Saw a reference you made to using Bovril for the saltiness to counter carb crash and am now wondering if I am doing something wrong. I did Arkins at one point on 20g carbs per day and suffered so badly with Atking ‘flu’ that I gave up. I do pass out rather easily so it made me anxious about public places. Consequently- here I’m sticking to 30-40g carbs [grains/pulses/veggies] daily within the 800 cals more or less but have no carb crash at all. Do you know if that means that the ketosis that everyone strives for is eluding me? More to the point – does it matter? There seems to be something about BSD that I haven’t grasped altho the fact that I feel brighter and more energetic than I have for a long time must mean something good. Apologies if I’m being a bore.
Am planning my meals for the week and hope to stay on the straight and narrow. Best of everything for your week ahead. SoniaX

Hello there all.

Am disappointed. I stuck all week to low carb and i went from 10.10 to 10.6 which was great but on the weekend just one day over weekend I went a bit wild. then i blew up like a balloon and weighed in at 10.12. this morning 10.10 so back to beginning. very sad!

what i did notice tho in the week was that every single fibromyalgia pain that i had had (chest, legs, arms, shoulder – everywhere) had literally disappeared. And they are all back this morning after my day of wheat/potatoes etc. so that is interesting.

back on track today!

Onwards and upwards x

goldie – so sorry to see this – I know how disappointing it is when one day makes such a difference to the good efforts any of us have been making. I had a generally bad week and Friday . . . TERRIBLE (tho delicious)! Fortunately I re-couped a bit over Sat/Sun so it can be done quite quickly. Put it all behind you and plough on is probably all you can do. Good news about the improvement in Fibromyalgia – that’s got to be a worthwhile piece of knowledge at least.
Good luck with it all – am wishing you a better week this week.

Welcome Bluey & good luck with your first week & don’t forget to drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.
goldie try not to be disappointed because sometimes our body just does not truly reflect what we have been eating. I have found eating easily digested carbs does cause fluid retention rather than it being added fat, & that is excreted very quickly once I have gone back to the BSD woe. This last week I had not lost any weight when I weighed on Friday but then like Reducia when I weighed a couple of days later on Sunday found that I had. Just go back to BSD & it is interesting that you noticed a bad effect when you ate wheat & potatoes so are probably best avoiding those which you will do following BSD.
Well done Sonia on your weight loss & as you found it is possible to average out calories over the week. I must admit I did relax what I ate yesterday & did have some wine but I’m back on the straight & narrow today with a fast day. I also did my physio exercises yesterday 👍😬
Margaret xx

Good to have this support group, enjoy reading everyone’s journey. The more I read about this diet the more convinced I am of the dangers of sugar. Hope it is ok here to mention a site I have found really useful dietdoctor.com – loads of good videos and recipes about eating low carbs. I never start something that I haven’t researched thoroughly as I use the science behind it to stay motivated. Haven’t craved sugar at all, feel full and have lost 9 lbs in 3 weeks. Hoping too that being on this diet will improve inflammation issues. I have a friend who has come off her chrons disease medication completely and has never felt better following this kind of diet. Persevere and read success stories for inspiration. I was out for dinner on Friday and it felt great to say to the waiter “ no potatoes” and when he asked if I’d like extra greens instead I said yes and did I enjoy the meal less or feel deprived because of no creamy mash? NO! I felt empowered to make my own decisions. Good luck everyone with this week.

Goldie – snap! – it’s the end of my first week and by Saturday morning I’d lost 6lbs, and then this morning I was only 4lbs down. In my case, I think some of my weekend portion sizes have been a bit ‘skewiff’ so for this next week I’m going to focus on weighing and recording everything I eat and drink. The good news is I’ve stuck to the low carb. Onward and upward…. or should that be downward. Btw, that’s a great impact BSD has on your fibromyalgia pain.
Fab50 – 9lbs- what a fantastic result in 3 weeks. I think for me one of the best things will be to regain that sense of control over my food choices.
Hi Bluey –you’re right, I lost 6 stone in total in 2016/17 but I saw great health benefits from early on. Even though I’ve put on a couple of stone I still feel so much healthier and happier – it’ll be great to hear how you go on.

Hope everyone does well this week.

Thanks Sonia, Margaret and Jennie10 for the welcome and words of encouragement.
Today is my 4th day and when I weighed myself this morning I’d lost 4lb (1.9kg) after 3 full days. I’m chuffed with that.
I’m feeling good as I’m taking your advice and drinking plenty of water.
I notice that life long habits are changing – an example – whenever I open an egg carton I look for the largest eggs to use, however, I’m now thinking that the smaller eggs may just taste as good 🙂
To the newbies on the forum good luck.
Cheers, Bluey

Hello, everyone! It’s so nice to see this very old thread revived again 🙂 I’ve been at this way of
life for over 2 years, and it has reversed so many chronic conditions for me as well. Chronic
fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia used to be my constant companions, and they are a
thing of the past now. I lost 50% of my body weight, but the greater accomplishment has
been successfully keeping it off for 18 months. I wish you all much success..this has the
potential to be life changing for everyone who embraces it. Enjoy the journey!

Allie

Apparently the size of yolk is the same if you have a medium or large egg, its just the amount of white in the egg that changes.

Thanks JGwen – I’ll stick to the larger ones then. Happy days.

For newbies I also found working through The Blood Sugar Diet Cookery book a good way to learn how to adapt my way of cooking & to use new ingredients. MM likes & recommends eating eggs & omelettes are a quick way to eat.
My husband enjoyed the courgette, herb & chive omelette I made for last nights supper & served with some low sugar/salt Heinz baked beans. I’m probably not being so conscious of counting unrefined low GI carbs & often serve pulses & beans with meals to increase fibre intake & satiety. Today we will have houmous & raw veg crudités for lunch & fresh salmon for supper probably with flageolet beans & fresh green veg. I also often make the Bolognese recipe with lots of added grated carrot served with courgetti that makes two meals for us, then adding beans & fresh chilli to make Chilli con Carne served either with quinoa or cauliflower rice for another meal. It also freezes well. I’m probably adapting too much for BSD officianados but it works for us with my husband having stabilised his weight for two years so just maintaining now he needs to not lose more weight unlike me😿😬
I hope you all have a good week!
Margaret xx

Margaret – some really good stuff here. What works for you foodwise – in health and weight terms – is really what matters. Can see I need to get the cookbook and adapt as I go. I too have started eating a lot more pulses and beans – latest favourite is butterbeans (to replace bread) mixed cold with a little oil/basil/garlic with halved cherry tomatoes and pink salt. A sort of salad that echoes a Spanish tomato crostini I used to love. So still love it – just in a different form. Like the idea of bolognese sauce with grated carrot on courgetti. A bit of inspiration on a rather dull day – and helpful to others I’m sure – thank you. Thanks too for encouragement on my 2lb loss – ‘averaging out the calories’, as you said, soothed my all-or-nothing personality. Will remember for the future and try not go mad when I slip.
Finally – am glad to hear you’re getting back to your physio exercises. Hope you rock through your week – SoniaX

Happy to see from an old hand that this forum has been revived – as a newbie I didn’t know it had ever sunk. Whatever – I think it’s great to be here and be in such good company. Great and encouraging post – thanks Allie. I know how lucky I am not to have many health issues but am interested and delighted to hear what this WOE has done for you. What it is doing for me is make me feel more energetic and is definitely helping me with weightloss so far. My hurdle now is to get a better result at a follow-up check for Pre-diabetes. I feel after what I see here that this may be possible. I hope this may be life-changing for me too – and more to the point that I may continue the WOE even when my weight is down. Wishing you all the best with everything.

Bluey – 4lb down already! Good for you. Wishing you continued success – I haven’t really found it that difficult so far – even with the odd blip – and hope it will be the same for you. X

Thank you for responding, Reducia! There are so many very experienced BSDers out and
about, but it’s difficult to keep up with all the newbie threads, as well as find the very long list
of friends made along the way, each day! You seem to be off to a great start 🙂 Please join
in on any threads that look interesting to you, and you will be given the warmest of welcomes.
We’ve got so many members of the community who have completely reversed their diabetic
status, and their stories are inspirational! The weekly or monthly challenges are a great
way to meet us all, because people at all stages of the journey can be found there. We’re
easy to find, so I hope to see you there, too! Looking forward to following your progress 🙂

Allie

Hi Sonia,
Thank you, yes it’s still going well. Amazingly I lost another 1.75 pounds yesterday (0.8kg). That’s providing me with plenty of encouragement. Keep it up too, hopefully it’s starting to become a habit now.
@margaret – thanks for the recipe ideas. I’m having fun trying new things too.
Cheers, Bluey

I wrote earlier about how I dropped from 10.12 to 10.6 then back up to 10.10. Thank you all those who responded and for keeping me on track. I would have thought “what the hell” and gone to get a chocolate eclair otherwise!

I did nothing different and it dropped again to 10.7 but today up again. I have no idea why it keeps yo-yoing like this. I stick to everything but perhaps it’s just fluid retention and water. As long as in the long run it goes down. Sometimes I just feel so bloated. I had a bilateral mastectomy a few years ago (without reconstruction) so any bloating is very noticeable. when you look down all you see is belly!!!

I definitely do not want to go back to my comfort eating days!! at least with this, although the weightloss is unpredictable (for me) I don’t have constant cravings!

xx

Hope everyone is doing well today. It’s a beautiful autumn morning here.

Haven’t weighed myself so far this week as I’m also feeling quite bloated – so I’m going to leave that until I’m feeling thinner! Goldie, I think it must be just fluid retention. I’m wondering if drinking more water might help. I always struggle with drinking water – i.e. I don’t really drink any – so I’ve really got to start. I think I need to re-read the BSD book to understand why I need to do it.

Yesterday, I took all my measurements, bust, waist, hips as well as blood pressure, BMI, etc so I can see what’s happening as I go.
Last week, I hadn’t got my portions right so I’ve signed up to fatsecret and started recording all my food and drink. I need to keep a close eye on things as it’s surprising how often little bits of food can just pop into your mouth as your passing by your fridge.

Wendy1947 – I like the sound of that courgette, herb & chive omelette. Think I’m going to give that a go this week.
Bluey – it’s nice to hear you’re doing so well

Reducia – hope your pre-diabetes check goes well – is it soon? The reason I first did the diet (I also did 5:2 but liked this better) was that I have diabetes. Like lots of people on here I managed to put my diabetes into remission by using BSD. Even with the recent weight gain my blood sugars are still good. (But, I know I need to manage the weight now otherwise they won’t be). Keep going and you’ll get there.

Jennie, yes I think you are right about the water! Sometimes I am quite good but I haven’t been the last few days. I just went and got myself a pint of water! So thank you for the nudge!! What a good idea not to weigh when feeling like that. I weighed again this morning and up another pound! Frustrating. My partner moved out recently so the nightly drinking wine has stopped and I am getting a good night sleep so I should be losing, shouldn’t I?

Some carbs did creep in yesterday mind. I had half a slice of rye toast with egg on in the morning but that was only 11 carbs and then later did succumb to Cottage Pie (my go to comfort food). Again 30 grams carb. but nothing else. the rest was just fat/fish and greens. It is quite an eye opener to see carb content of foods. Actually 30g is quite low compared to a lot of the ready meals. (I prefer to cook fresh but Sainsburys over the road so sometimes tempted). And of course it is full of nasty preservatives etc.

I am chuffed with myself for giving up or at least cutting down dramatically quite a lot of things so even if this takes some time, I am headed in the right direction.

All the best to all of you. xx

Hi all – we have a lovely a day here again too – been walking by the sea at the bottom of our square – makes movement very easy on a good day!
Jennie10 – good for you on all the measurements – I probably should do that too but even weighing myself is more than I really want to do – I always know by my clothes whether things are going well. In view of my Pre-diabetes check in early November I may go the local chemist to have everything checked soon and again before I actually go. It’s really motivating me at the moment and I’m being very careful with carbs and cals – long may it last! Good to know that so many others are lowering their BS levels here – thanks. I’m actually amazed at how much easier it all is than I expected. I agree with you about Wendy’s omelette – DEF going to do that soon. Am loaded with veggies at the moment that I can’t see how to finish to any veggies things are good for me.

goldie – sorry you’re so discouraged by the scales – I’ve stopped weighing myself more than once a week – and I don’t always do it that often purely because I’m up and down all the time and it does nothing for my mood or motivation when I’m up for no reason. Hope it all evens out soon. As you say – you’re going in the right direction – guess that’s the thing to hang on to.
Have a good day all of you – SoniaX

Hi everyone! You have revived an old thread, so I’d like to welcome all of you newbies to
the exciting and life changing journey known as the BSD 🙂 If you don’t mind a little unsolicited
advice from a long timer well into maintenance for a year and a 1/2, the importance of water
can’t be underestimated. As fat cells release the fat, they fill up with water, causing the cells to
eventually collapse, and something referred to as “the whoosh” effect takes place. Several
pounds can drop from the scale overnight. Drinking 2-3 liters a day facilitates this process.
Thinking of you, Jennie 🙂 Carbs hold onto fluid, and wine has the same effect! We really do
need all of that water. Congratulations to all of you who have the fatsecret app. Carbs
hide in surprising places, so the sooner you begin to record and recognize them, as well
as count them, you will be well on your way to seeing fantastic results. We call this the
“learning curve”, and soon it will be second nature to you. There is much knowledge and
generosity of spirit to be shared here, so just shout out if you have any questions, and
someone will be along to answer them. Wishing you all the best!!!

Allie

Hi everyone ,
I am so happy to see this thread active again and most of you seem to be doing so well. I also agree with Reducia. I feel so much better on BSD. I have been so busy this week working in the greenhouse and tidying up the allotment. And tidying up the very messy study. Some days I don’t even feel hungry😱but I do make sure I eat. Something that helps me on BSD is to eat for non breakfast foods at breakfast…for example yesterday I ate a salmon steak with a poached egg and spinach for my breakfast and throughly enjoyed it!! One morning I ate a home made burger with onions peppers and mushrooms. It works for me🤣🤣🤣🤣
My husband has just home from golf and he is cooking my steak as I type. So its steak and salad tonight. I have no fresh berries but have loads in the freezer. I might defrost some and swirl it through some yogurt for dessert!…

Keep on keeping on!!! Bye for now
Miss Ziggy

Hi guys.
Was down for a few days because of the scales however I’ve stuck to the plan and stopped weighing myself every day. Trying for only once a week.
It’s so lovely to have the experienced members joining in and helping. I’m definitely taking alliecats advice about water and drinking s much as I can. I cannot wait for my whoosh effect 😃
Salmon for breakfast sounds fab miss ziggy. Might try that

Hi Jeremy — two weeks won’t get you very far — the Blood Sugar Diet is not really just a diet, and it isn’t about just losing weight. It is truly a new way of thinking about food and health and if you want it to be successful, you need to keep on it for long enough for the mental switch to be triggered — so you don’t just return to the eating patterns that got you fat and sick in the first place.
The research is absolutely clear — to lose weight and protect your brain and your body, you need to stop eating simple, refined carbohydrate.
Two weeks will just barely get you past the “ditching the carbs” phase — most of us have gone multiple 8 week programs to achieve our goals.
And somewhere along that path a light bulb goes on and suddenly it is not a diet, but a wonderful new way of life.
The BSD will give you your life back. I doubt that two week diet can offer you the same miracle.

Hi Jeremy, you say you are looking to lose significant weight and are interested in an
honest opinion from members of this community. The BSD is based on solid research,
not just testimonials with before and after photos. It isn’t a quick fix, and it involves a
different way of looking at food long term. The advertisement you forwarded looks like
nothing more than an advertising scheme designed to appeal to the most vulnerable among
us. There are “real people” in this community who would happily welcome you and share
their experience and guidance in reaching your goals. And no fees required! I’m highly
skeptical of any program that offers guarantees, and I’d steer clear of this one 🙂 Best of
luck to you!

Allie

I suspect that the post about the 2 week plan is a marketing technique, and have reported it to the moderators.

Lovely to read and catch up with all the posts and this is where I’m struggling. It’s great to read all the successes – in every shape and form and to take on the advice of more experienced BSDers and I’m guessing that we’re a slightly more senior forum given the varied reasons for wanting to lose weight – the healty perspective from so many of us. I just wish that I had the time to come on more often but I’m self-employed and have recently been given some work (needs must and all that) which means that I can’t get on here as often as I would like (and need!) and can’t fit in my regular exercise. I’m having a real problem with my lack of motivation plus being exhausted so while I start the day well, by the time I get home I’m hungry and find myself picking at food. I’m trying to go by overall fit of clothes rather than weight on the scales, but I seem to have hit an impasse and am going backwards and forwards, lose a bit, gain it back, lose it again, gain it back… I know that if I stick to the plan, as I did the last time, it will work, but I just can’t seem to find the motivation that I had before.
Any advice, carrot/stick would be very welcome! In the meantime, I’m enjoying reading about how well you’re all doing and trying to make that my motivation.

I agree, JGwen, I think that I have seen that post before – cynical marketing ploy/scam.
Have a good day, everyone.
CJ

I hope you can get back on track CJ because you know you will feel better when you do. I notice when I go from eating the BSD with low carbs my body objects now & I have a feeling of indigestion.
Yesterday for me was very off piste having lunch at a friends house mainly because of having wine but we were also served quiche as a starter, a good beany casserole with potatoes & few other vegetables as the main then a rather delicious chocolate flan with berries & strawberries for pudding. We got home & had broccoli soup for supper but I hope to redress the balance today with a fasting day & suspect I’ve poleaxed any weight loss this week!
Life & temptation always gets in the way but the beauty of this WOE is the chance to start again because we have learnt a better way of more healthy eating. I do find it’s so simple to just not buy any low fat stuff, sugar, bread, pastry, cakes or potatoes & choose any more processed food very carefully but I do buy soup & houmous to save time making them. Oh well I’m off to my ancient history class this morning & then food shopping at Waitrose afterwards.
I hope you are all having a good week & roll on Sunday for me to weigh & see how I have done this week!
Margaret xx

Hi CJBA, I am also self employed and have times of the year which are busier than others. – First of all this isn’t a race, there is absolutely nothing wrong in taking a couple of months where you stay eating low carb but stay in a holding pattern while you deal with other aspects of life. – No one says you have to achieve weight loss every week until you get down to your final target. I found taking a few months away from the pressure of trying to loose weight was good for me while work was hectic because it demonstrated to me that if I stick to low carb eating and keeping calories eaten in proportion on average to cals burnt the weight doesn’t pile back on, and I felt fresher and ready to restart once work was less demanding.
Also the scales can be deceptive. Are you monitoring to see if your measurements are still changing even if the scales are not? – Muscle is much more dense than fat so takes up less space, and it could be that the inch changes are occurring in locations other than your waist and hips. My body seems to love taunting me by taking inches from places that I don’t expect rather than from the spare tyre.
Finally, you may have seen it before on this forum because its a piece of advice that I have shared before, but for me working out a WHY is very important in motivation. When you have all the other demands on your time, and temptations a reading on a scale that only you will see isn’t such a strong motivator. – Working out why getting to a lower weight is important to you is much more powerful.

Good morning CJ, JGwen and Wendy and Allie (most recent posters), I agree too, I think the two week diet post is an advertisement but just on the off chance that someone might take it seriously, I thought I would answer it truthfully. Also, in the past I have assumed some posts were fakes and then they turned out to be real people!
JGwen, my body did the same, I lost everywhere on my body EXCEPT my belly. Interestingly though, now if I gain a pound or two it goes to my upper thighs and my butt — my stomach seems much less a storage site than it used to be and I believe it is due to my lowered insulin. It had taken two years to get that response but I really believe it happens if you stay low carb. It is very interesting!
I support the “long view” too — taking time for a break along the way and staying low carb is a good way to relax the pressure of the diet and try out what it means to be in maintenance.
I know some folk were incredibly focused (Allie for one) and able to stay the course until they reached gol but I went back and forth for many months and although it wasn’t as fast, I got there. The great thing about the BSD is that it works with so many approaches. The critical piece for me was finally understanding the insulin/carbohydrate link.

Firstly, thanks Allie for the info on why the water. Sounds like a great birthday celebration and your husband sounds lovely.

CJ – I think we’re similar in that I’ve done the BSD before too, need to lose about 2 stone and am struggling a bit with motivation this time around. So, I’m not really in a great place to give advice. But just wanted to let you know what I’ve decided. Starting today, I’m just going to do it 1 day at a time. I’m preparing some food for the freezer today and pulling out the slow cooker. I’m making soups for quickness. I’m not going to bother about weighing myself for now. Maybe if you can pre-prepare things that you can heat up quickly when you get in from work it might help. Or maybe have a BSD-friendly snack in the fridge to tide you over when you first get home e.g. a pre-weighed handful of nuts, a cold boiled egg (or whatever works for you!)
Also, if you really like exercise and it helps, then I’d definitely go for it, but if it’s just another pressure then maybe leave that out for now? It sounds to me like you’ve had/got a lot to deal with so maybe you need to be gentle with yourself. We’ve both done it before so we’ll get there.

Btw, JGwen and Californiagirl, I really like your ‘long view’ ideas – it really helped me – thanks.

Hope everyone else is doing well. No weigh-in for me this week but I’ll look out for yours tomorrow, Margaret.
Jennie

Oh, and I forgot to mention, my hubby is doing BSD with me this time round. He’s lost 12lbs which is fantastic but talk about wounds, salt and things…… !

Good morning from a lovely sunny Sussex. I have just weighed & I have gained 3/4lb that is disappointing but as previously mentioned I had lunch at a friends house on Thursday which was not low carb & we were drinking wine. Not surprising I suppose but it shows how quickly our bodies can be affected by ingesting more carbs when previously not doing so. I suspect that some of the gain is fluid retention because it takes many more calories than I ate on one day to gain 3/4 lb in fat. I will have to do better this next week & have no other lunches out planned😬 I hope you are all doing well?
Margaret xx

Margaret! Well well – can also wish you good morning from divinely sunny Sussex – so lucky to have such beautiful Autumn mornings. About to walk down my square to the sea – exercise and pleasure. Can’t be bad.
Sad to hear about your 3/4 lb – but I know you’ll re-coup because you have such a good understanding of what you’re doing. Definitely have my fingers crossed for you for a good week to come.
I am kind of in the same position – weighing in tomorrow but with little hope of loss. Have been to not one – but two – funerals this week and although I did my best with buffet choices I slipped – as I always do – with the wine. That led – as it always does – to less well-judged dinners at home in the evening. I KNOW wine does this to me and still I don’t manage to resist when it’s under my nose.
SO – onwards and upwards in the effort stakes for both of us. Best of luck to you – or do I mean determination? SoniaX

Good morning Sonia
Thank you for your good wishes & so sorry you had to attend two funerals!
Yes I think it’s all about immediately climbing back onto the BSD bandwagon & also I think that because I am still fasting twice a week that seems to also bring in a control factor & the acceptance & tolerance of feeling hungry knowing that it’s not a problem. Before this way of eating I like many others was locked into the routine of eating three meals a day & I now know that I can choose not to eat breakfast because for me it just means more calories consumed then that I prefer to keep for my supper. I am also a bit of a coffeeholic & just prefer coffee & some kefir to keep my gut happy. Today we will have soup for lunch & roasted lamb chops with sweet potato mash & a mixture of vegetables to go with it. I have made stewed apple, raisin & cinnamon compote that we have for pudding with a tablespoon of organic full fat natural yoghurt. However like you I do like a glass of wine & we have an open bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge?😂🤔
Oh well I am plodding on refocused for next week & hope you are too? Fast day tomorrow for my husband & I & he lost nealy two pounds in weight last week, but he drank much less wine at the friends lunch because he was driving, that feels so unfair however he is brilliantly maintaining his weight now for two years but would still like to lose a couple more pounds.
Margaret xx

hi folks i agree with miss Ziggy so lovely to see the thread thriving and everyone helping and supporting each other. sorry haven’t been around for a while but having a few health problems and lots of hospital appointments over the last few weeks. no excuse i know and i know that i need to get back on as this way of eating helps me health wise. just hoping i won’t carry on feeling nauseous. i’ve got the tools and with your support i’ll loose the inches i’ve re gained. thanks for listening xxxx

Hello Nickix I’m so sorry to hear you are having a tough time healthwise & hope you will soon be feeling much better!
Margaret xx

Hi guys

Congrats to all on the losses. I’ve had a good week food wise and stuck to my plan but my scales are showing only 1lb off this week which to be honest has broken my heart. I’m trying so hard and for some reason it’s not working for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️
I’ll keep trying