Oh JoJo, I know how you feel! I feel the same, I am disappointed that the scales are showing very little loss and sometimes even up. And also I still feel bloated and full a lot of the time. I have been drinking more water hoping that will shift things.
x

Good morning all
Jojomill – sad to see you’re heartbroken about your 1lb loss – it is discouraging of course, but I suspect you’ll find a bigger loss if you persevere, though some of the great old-timers here will have better advice than I can give. I really love this forum for the good hearted people with so much knowledge that they unstintingly share.
I’ve neither lost nor gained this week – which is a surprise. Was expecting to have gained after a hard week with temptations at every point so I’m just hanging in and hoping next week will be better. Took to heart JGwen’s comment that ‘weightloss is not linear which I found very heartening. Hoping to avoid all social occasions this week which are always my downfall. Need to work on myself about that – taking a leaf out of Fab50’s book and remembering I can order a variation of meals on a menu – giving anything carby a miss without the sky descending on my head – and need to follow the same practice when eating at the homes of friends. Also plan to take an alternative soft low-cal drink to friends when I go anywhere to try and avoid my greatest downfall – WINE! Perhaps just sparkling water would be appropriate after reading alliecat’s info on water and the ‘whoosh’ factor.You’re right alliecat – this is a learning curve and I need to have patience.
Margaret – interesting to see what you have planned for food today – I have stopped pre-planning and I need to get back to that – too much room for ‘slippage’ otherwise. So yes – like you I’m plodding on and determined to do better this week. Could I ask two questions – forgive me. I’m completely with you about skipping breakfast – has always been my preference anyway and I seem to have fought people all my life about that. Late-ish brunch and dinner are what suit and now I have a legitimate reason! SO – when you say ‘coffee and kefir’ for breakfast do you eat the kefir (which I’ve never tried) WITH the coffee or IN the coffee. Am trying to avoid milk – and cream less so – in coffee and wonder if kefir is an alternative. Also – on your non-fast days do you still stick to the 800 cals recommended on BSD?
Plough on – and I will do the same. SoniaX

Good morning jojo! This thread isn’t one that I typically post on, but I’ve just read your entry for today, and
thought I’d add a few words of encouragement . I was once a “lady with lots to lose” too 🙂 Experiencing a
slowdown in week 3 or 4 is extremely common, so don’t become despondent. Trust and believe in the process.
It is still early days for you, and your body is confused by what you are doing to it! No 2 weight loss experiences
are the same, so it’s always best to not compare yourself to others, because it’s far too easy to see oneself
as a “failure” when the giddiness of early losses start to slow down. Weight loss is difficult, there is no easy
fix, and the changes in how we look at food have to be “for life”. If you are weighing and measuring your food,
and faithfully counting the carbs and drinking lots of water, it WILL HAPPEN! It’s interesting to note that it
requires 2 full weeks of no changes on the scale before we can even call it a “plateau”. I had one that lasted
for 18 days about 2 months in. I broke it by taking carbs to <20g/day, and that was the remedy for me. After
that, I reliably lost 3.5 lbs per week, and losses averaged a stone a month. Quite average, nothing spectacular,
just slow and steady, until I reached my goal of being 10 stone down. We’re all in this for the long haul..it’s not
a quick sprint to the finish line, and the real prize is being able to maintain it. If you haven’t read Gary Taubes
book, “Why We Get Fat…and What To Do About It”, you might consider doing so. It was instrumental to fully
understanding insulin resistance for me, and armed with the information there, I think my course was much
easier and better focused as a result. I just plowed on doing the Fast800 without taking any breaks, until
10 months later, when the “job was done”. That was 18 months ago…I know this works, jojo, and many
of us have had the same experience. We’re out and about on the forums, so just shout out with questions
or concerns, and one of us will find you! Experienced BSDers are a real resource, and have been through
every bump and blip on the road to restoring our health. You have everything to be successful within you
already 🙂 Have faith!

Allie

Nickix, I’m also sorry to hear about your health issues and it’ll be nice to see you posting again when you can – best wishes

Margaret – 3/4lb is a tiny (a fraction!) weight gain – disappointing but not too bad given the wine drinking – our bodies don’t let us get away with anything, do they! Good luck for this week – and hats off to your husband for keeping his weight off.
Sonia – yes, wine drinking (even 1 glass) leads me to the fridge or cupboard door later – last time I did BSD one time it even led me to the local garage on the drive home. (Too embarrassing to tell you what and how much I bought). In the end, I pretty much stopped drinking – sad to say, it worked a treat.

Jojo – please don’t be heartbroken – in my experience and reading on this forum, the weight does often come off in unexpected ways. Really sticking to low carbs, I often would lose nothing or 1lb for a couple of weeks, and then lose 4lb or even 5lb quite quickly. It is so frustrating but stick with it – the weight will come off.
Other things – if you’re not checking your carbs it might be worth checking them each day. But also, my weight loss slowed down after 3 weeks for a period – and I know from reading on here that happens to quite a few people.

I’m not weighing this week – my goal for this week is to re-establish a daily BSD routine I’m happy with.
Good wishes for everyone this week

Edited: I lost my first post so typed this out then inserted – I’ve just seen it’s crossed with the last 2 posts.

It’s lovely reading all your posts & experiences getting used to the BSD way of eating & the ups & downs relating to this. I suppose the main thing I have learnt is to not expect a regular weight loss whilst my body gets used to low carb eating because when we do reduce what we eat our bodies do feel deprived & try very hard to get us back to our previous state of equilibrium even though that is an overweight one! However eating low carb does seem to stop those hunger swings/demands once we give our bodies a chance to get used to that initially depending on an individuals tolerance of that unusual feeling! Modern life seems to have programmed us to eat every 3-4 hours & initially our bodies will expect that but I find on my fast days when I don’t eat until evening that my appestat doesn’t kick in until I do!
Sonia on fast days I try to stay below 800 calories for a larger supper & drink only water or coffee with a little milk, all calorie counted, & kefir is taken separately usually mid afternoon if I feel particularly empty. Michael Mosley also wrote The Clever Guts Diet & writes about the importance of building up & maintaining good bacteria in our digestive system. Kefir is a fermented pre-biotic that introduces good bacteria & it’s the various veg & fruit that feeds them but other foods we can eat including sugars tends to encourage the growth of unhelpful bacteria. The commercially produced pro-biotic stuff such as Actimel & others have sugar in them & are pasteurised killing off previously live bacteria so don’t do much. Most supermarkets now sell kefir & you can grow your own but it’s more complicated than making yoghurt & I now buy it, including kefir made with raw milk from a local farm when we can get there. My husband & I have had kefir for the past year & think it aids our digestive processes & throughput 😬
I hope everyone has a good week & don’t be too despondent with up & down weight & keep on going because that is the important thing.
Margaret xx

Guys you are all so lovely and so supportive. Thank you so much for all your responses.
Alliecat I really appreciate your experience and words.
I am absolutely going to stick with the BSD. My goal is health and obviously weight factors into that massively but I do believe this woe is the way for me to be long term diabetes free.

Thank you all so much xx

Anytime jojo! I’m very happy to hear that you are finding your way forward, and intend to stick with it. I just
know that you’ll be richly rewarded for having done so 🙂 It’s inevitable! There are so many here on the forums
that have reversed diabetes, and when you get out into the community at large, you will hear their very inspiring
stories too. The very best of luck to you! You are in exactly the right place to make it happen 🙂 🙂 🙂

Allie

Margaret, that last post of yours was really helpful. It made me realise that if I just stick to 800 calories as well as low carb for the next 2 weeks, and get into the swing of things again, I’ll be making things a bit easier for myself.
I’ve done OK the last few days – I’ve not weighed myself but I do feel a bit lighter. I’m keeping to low carb; I’m eating around 900 calories a day so not quite at 800, but getting there. I’ve been getting back into 2 meals a day and making soup for lunch which has helped. I’m still having an evening ‘snack’ so stopping that is the next thing I’m focussing on.

I’ve been testing my blood sugars regularly this week – helps keep me focussed.They’re still good at low 6s but they used to be mid-4s to 5s which is where I’m aiming to get them back to.

Hope everyone has been doing well this week and that you have a good, BSD-friendly weekend.

Thank you Jennie10 & if anything I have said has helped you I am so pleased👍😀
I am having a week of ups & downs & feeling rather frustrated at the moment but it’s my second fast day today & I hope that might help redress some “wobbly “ eating this week. It’s much colder today & I am dressed in layers in anticipation of going out to grocery shop. I am refreshing my memory looking at The BSD recipe book for supper ideas.
I hope you are all doing well.
Margaret xx

I have just weighed & lost 0.75lbs that is the weight I gained the week before last so not making much progress at the moment. Oh well I plod on & lunch today is a favourite lamb shanks with carrots & broccoli & a rebellious glass of red wine!
I hope some of you are doing better than me!
Margaret

Have been AWOL this week – have had a horrible cold/cough and stomach issues – no energy etc etc. Weighing in tomorrow but have to accept that any loss will probably return quickly as I get back to normal health and eating. I’ve missed being here for all the encouraging comments and useful info supplied by all of you more experienced than me.
Jennie10 – thank you for your reinforcement that wine – even a little – leads to binges for some of us and REALLY has to be avoided. Nothing I don’t know from experience but happy for the confirmation. Hopefully you have encouraged me to ditch my unfortunate habit.
Alliecat – your information about the Gary Taubes led me to Google him and I can see that I really need to read what he has to say about insulin resistance. I am beginning to suspect that I really am sensitive to insulin and that if so it’s certainly getting in my way and I need to change my habits more than I have thus far. So – thank you.
Margaret – thanks very much for clarifying your 5:2/BSD schedule and how you portion out your cals. Equally for info on kefir – sounds like finding exactly the right formula is not easy but am pursuing possibilities and consulting friends. Must at least give it a try after reading what you have to say – improvement in digestion and throughput would be great. Am sad for your disappointment over today’s weigh-in – at least your gain from last week is gone though I don’t spose that makes you feel much better. Guess a bit on top would have helped. These things happen and I hope you will find the fortitude to put it behind you and plough on to a better week. Enjoy your ‘rebellious red’ and lamb shanks – sounds delish though I don’t eat a lot of meat but do love lamb. I’m about to poach a portabella mushroom and fill with scrambled egg and spinach (no surprise there then!) for brunch which I hope will keep me going till dinner – monkfish tail wrapped in Prosciutto with salad. Fish is my favourite protein source.
Wishing you good luck for the coming week – SoniaX

Hi Wendy,
I have found that my weight loss patterns on this Way of Eating haven’t matched my experiences with dieting in the past, so I find its as important to monitor measurements as it is the reading on the scales. When I dieted in the past losing a stone usually tallied with dropping a dress size. I used to set targets to loose a certain amount of weight on a diet, and the of course the diet would come to an end and I would go back to stopping counting calories. – If I was going back in time to the start of following the BSD I would advise myself to just use the scales to monitor trends rather than get hung on on trying to loose a specific amount each week. I have found that the benefit of this Way of Eating is to break out the cycle of dieting, and move over to gradually ending up at a place where you are as slim, and fit as you want to be.
– Your weight fluctuates within the course of the day by more than most of us set as a weekly target to loose, We are aiming to drink a couple of litres of water a day, and that daily water target will weigh more than most peoples weekly weight loss targets. Which sort of puts it all in perspective for me.
To put it in context, the first 2 stone loss for me didn’t take my measurements down a single dress size. There has been a period where I lost a dress size but the scales only showed a single kg change, and in the last month I have lost an inch from both my waist and hips but my average weight is a kg heavier. :-} thats why I would recommend monitoring measurements as well as weight.

Thank you Sonia & JGwen for your encouragement & I have actually noticed that I have lost inches on my waist & thighs & tend to measure through the clothes that I can again fit into rather than using a tape measure. I know it sounds counter intuitive but I have also found eating more occasionally seems to confuse my body & I then lose weight again. I did make a conscious choice to have a relaxed eating day today to give myself a break knowing tomorrow is a fast day for me. I have a pair of too tight new jeans hanging on my wardrobe to focus on & an easily accessible new pair of shorts that I want to be able to wear on holiday in January. I also have found my previous weight loss on BSD is not so far being replicated & even though my husband has largely maintained his two stone weight loss & he would like to lose a further 5-6 pounds he is not finding it as easy as before. Perhaps our bodies have become used to effectively operating on fewer calories? It is a bit confusing!
Oh well best feet forward everyone for next week?
Margaret xx

JGwen and Wendy1947
Such interesting posts – you both made me think – so thank you. I am so in agreement with judging weightloss by the fit of our clothes – specially those we are trying to grow back ‘down’ into. I have some success with that currently which has put a smile on my face. I also know from experience that the ‘conscious choice’ you speak of, Margaret – to eat a little more and then resume a tighter regime for a while is good for my body too. Will pretty certainly follow along the lines of your part-fast days and part-BSD800. Very best of luck with the tight jeans and the shorts – you can do it, I’m sure. Your husband too – with a plan that you tailor to your own systems which must be the secret for everyone I feel – we all need to follow our instincts to get to where we want to be rather than slavishly ‘dieting’ – ‘break out of the cycle’ as you say JGwen.
Personally I’m only following a definite course for loss of pounds to get past the pre-diabetic check at the end of next month with some decent numbers. Then I’ll go on from there –medication-free I hope – and try to keep everything in balance in a natural way. I weighed in at 5lb less this morning but I’m not depending on it and expect some of that to return very quickly when I get past this extremely unpleasant cough and cold and stop existing on small amounts of solid food and principally chicken broth. So it remains to be seen, at the moment, how I get on.
Onwards and upwards – or as you say, Margaret, ‘downwards’ – with fortitude and flexibility.
Have a good week. SoniaX

Hi Wendy,
I used to think in terms of cals in/ cals out, then thanks to the BSD started to realise that it was more complex and monitoring the macros (carbs, protein, fat) was more important. We talk a lot on this forum about the role of Insulin. –
Now I realise that the dance between the different hormones is even more complex. – Reducing insulin levels (and increasing time between meals) increases growth hormones. Which in turn results in stronger bones and increase in muscle which increases weight but is healthier for us.
One thing it may be worth checking on is the amount of protein in your diet. – Its not easy to get over the negative publicity for years about keeping levels of fat down if you want to keep your weight down. – And its easy to eat more protein than our bodies need forgetting that excess protein will be stored as fat.

Morning Jgwen, so what are a good set of macros? fat 50/carbs 20/protein 30?

Hi Everyone
So, this last week I’ve focused on keeping to the low calories and low carbs as I planned, getting used to following this way of eating again, and I’m pretty pleased with how I’ve done. I’ve had 2 meals – soup for lunch and protein and green veg or salad for evening meal. (Sonia, that monkfish tail wrapped in Prosciutto sounds delicious!) I’ve stopped my evening snack (well, I’m now having 50g yoghurt with my evening meal instead of later). Next steps, I want to reduce my coffee intake and start doing 16:8. I jumped on the scales this morning and I’ve lost 6lb which I’m pleased about. Of course, this is the same 6lb I lost my first week, (started 8th October) then put back on again, so I’m not going to start jumping up and down about it quite yet. But, I do feel in a really positive frame of mind now which is good.

Sonia & Margaret – yes, I agree – sometimes when you’ve stayed the same, eating a bit more can help unstick you. I’ll bear that in mind for when I’m a bit further on. Margaret, I think I will also give the fasting days a go once I’ve got into the swing of things.
Sonia – hope you’re feeling better soon.
Margaret – hope both you and your husband have a good week.
JGwen, Thanks for that info, and for the reminder about the protein. I’ve been recording my food intake on fatsecret but have just been looking at the carbs and cals so will start checking protein, fat, sugar etc.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Edited: Just read Alan’s post – it’s 8 weeks to Christmas – one complete BSD round – think I’ll go for it!

Hi Everyone
I plan to start the 800 cal diet tomorrow. I live in Australia, have type 2 diabetes (approx 17 yrs), I’m on tablets and large doses of insulin and weigh about 18 and a half stone (am 5ft 8ins) I have been on every diet and every diet tablet known to man and even though I do lose weight, it never stays off. i have battled with weight since I was a child. I lose weight then put it on and so it goes on.

The trouble is I like my food too much…all the wrong food. I would like to go on this journey with others who are also battling with their weight and possible diabetes. I need help and support which I’m not getting. I also suffer from lower back pain and arthritis in my hips and both knees so I can’t walk very far, in fact I use a mobility scooter to get around which pretty much makes exercise impossible. The date of tomorrow here in OZ will be 31st Oct, which is when I’m starting the diet.

Hi hadenough
Your story is a familiar one on these boards. Can I just give you some hope. Lots of us have reversed our diabetes, I’d been diagnosed for 11 years, so it is possible for you too. Krysia was dependent on insulin and had other diabetes’s related health issues. She is now insulin free and healthy again. Alliecat, although not suffering with diabetes, lost half of her body weight in 10 months and she was heavier than you at the start. There are lots of success stories, Captainlynne, Esnecca, to name but a few, just type the names in the search box above on the right hand side and read for yourself.
The fact that you are overweight is probably not helping your joints. You will find that the back pain etc eases when you lose weight. I also have mobility problems and use crutches. I resist scooters where possible and try to move as much as I can. I know how hard it is when you are in pain but keeping as active as you can will help in the long run.
The BSD way of eating does take some getting used to as it contradicts all we have been force fed about fats and low fat diets. The most important thing is to keep your carbs less than 50g a day. It is possible to eat low calorie but still be quite high carbs. It’s the carbs that cause the blood sugar spikes and keep you feeling hungry. You need to weigh and log all you eat and drink so maybe try the app/computer program Myfitnesspal or Fatsecret.
Sorry to bombard you but please be assured that this plan works if you stick with it. Best of luck on your journey back to good health.

P.S. hadenough take a look at the Dietdoctor website it has great graphics of carb values in food. You will be surprised at how carb laden sone foods, which we consider ‘ healthy’ , really are!

Kgwen, good macros are what, exactly?

Jgwen, you had mentioned good macros are essential. What is an example of good macros

Some people can cope with 50g of carbs a day but others have to drop to under 20g of carbs. – Protein levels are an interesting question. I have seen various formulas. But around 0.8g per kilo of target weight seems to be a sensible middle of the range value. If you are weight training to actively increase muscles then protein levels may need to rise to 1g per kilo of target weight. With healthy fat making up the rest of your calories.

When you move over to maintenance you keep carb and protein levels the same but increase the calories from good fat.

Thanks Jgwen

Jgwen – thank you so much for the info on protein and carb levels. I can now calculate a personal protein need. -Carbs are a bit more of a problem for me and I guess have a lot of trial and error processing to do. I’m currently trying to stick to 30-40g and working downwards. I did Atkins for a while with some success but I got Atkins flu on 20g so badly that I passed out a couple of times – so embarrassing – and worrying! No medic was prepared to consider a diagnosis, telling me to ‘stay away from Atkins’ – so I gave up rather foolishly. With all the support here from people like you I feel prepared to plough on until I find my optimum level.
Your advice is much appreciated – thanks again – Reducia

Jgwen thank you also from me for the protein & carb guidelines. I have just worked out my goal weight multiplied by 0.8g & that makes 51g of protein that I can use as a baseline for me & my husband will be higher at 58-60 now he is around his goal weight. Like Reducia I am also trying to further reduce carbs but like eating beans & pulses & will have to start recording the carbs in these. Supper today will be pesto fresh salmon, with black beans & fresh veg & butternut squash soup for lunch. I have frozen slices of the brilliant soda bread I made to reduce temptation because each slice is 210calories & 29g carbs & 7g protein.
Margaret xx

Hi Reducia
It was likely the lack of electrolytes that caused you to pass out, not the lack of carbohydrates. The same thing happened to me a couple of times in the early days and since I figured it out and keep my salt and magnesium intake up, it hasn’t happened again in the last 2 years and I’m sometimes no carb and I fast often (up to 4.5 days so far and regularly for 24-48 hours).

I’ll put Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt crystals on my tongue and let them dissolve, especially in the hot Australian summers. Works a treat. (Try and avoid processed salt)
Also remember to keep your water intake up. I can’t stress how important that is.
Cheers
Linda

Hi Emily

I have started this morning. I need to lose at least 30kg (4 1/2 stone)., so it’s going to be a long hard slog but I am sick of having 4 injections a day and taking tablets as well., it’s all very depressing. I have never joined a group online before so I’m unsure of how we would keep in contact to see how we are going? But I feel I need the support of others who are doing the same journey 🙂

Thanks for your advice, much appreciated. I have just had a look at the diet doctor website and I can’t thankyou enough, for recommending it to me. What a valuable site, I am now going to spend some time looking at everything on this site.
I know it’s going to be a hard journey but I really want to be successful at it and I’m happy that Dr Mosley has told us that losing weight quickly is a good way to go as we have always been told to lose it slowly.

Reading other people’s posts, I can see I am not alone in my struggle to lose weight and to try and reverse my diabetes or at least to stop having to take so much insulin and tablets for it. It is depressing and sometimes I just want to stop all me diabetes meds, especially the insulin and doing constant finger pricking.
Cheers

Hi

I am starting today and would very much like to join in this group. It’s also a long way for me to go to get to my ideal weight! I weigh 118.4kgs (18 and a half stone ) am 5ft 8ins and am 60 yrs old, live in Australia. Sick to death of multiple injections a day plus tablets.
Would appreciate any help and advice along my way.
cheers

Hello Hadenough,
I too am in my 60’s and from Australia. I am the same height and weigh 110kg. I was 116kg when I started the BSD a month ago. It can be difficult at times as I’ve seen my weight go up by 700gm overnight and I have no idea why. I think I don’t drink enough water. I find it really useful to keep a simple table of my blood sugar levels and what I eat. It’s encouraging to see a reduction. I highlighted every result over 9 in the beginning and there were many but in my 4th week this is down to 1 or 2 per week. It helps me to understand how my body reacts and gives a sense of control over eating which is often missing. My blood sugar can continue to rise even if I haven’t eaten for 6 hours but fasting bloods are around 5.2 – 5.7. I’m still working on reducing this but permanently take prednisolone which can have the effect of raising blood sugar. Once you have been sticking to the diet for a couple of weeks it will be so much easier and you won’t feel like all the foods you had before. I gave into temptation and had a delicious peanut butter and chocolate icecream but the resulting high levels convinced me it wasn’t worth it no matter how much i enjoyed the food!! As I’m now in retirement I want it to be a healthy one. You will find lots of lovely people supporting you on this site without judgement so just keep posting and we’ll be here.

LindaA! I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your info about electrolytes. I have always thought – after some online research anyway – that the passing out was due to an electrolyte imbalance but I could never get anyone medical to listen. Just wanted confirmation that it wasn’t serious. My mistake was mentioning Atkins – wish I’d known how anti-Atkins my doctor was! Particularly annoying because it wasn’t happening only whilst on Atkins and I muddied the water – irrevocably as far as he was concerned. I DID know there was nothing seriously wrong because on one memorable occasion I crashed to the floor from a stool during an act in a cabaret club so altho I was conscious again quickly as always, an ambulance had already been called and they took all my vital signs and did bloods immediately. Everything was clear – obviously a good thing but also meant I still got no answers. SO – the relief you have provided is very welcome. Didn’t know about the Himalayan salt ‘treatment’ but it’s always in the house so putting it on my tongue is no problem. My only question is how much and how often – give or take? I also take potassium (tho looks like I can stop that now) and magnesium supplements every day – totally self-prescribed but I needed to try what I could. I am however rubbish at drinking water – but in view of your obvious knowledge I really will acquire the habit – should have been doing it anyway and now I really have the motivation. On top of all, I can get on with this WOE and hopefully sort out my Pre-diabetes without worry 🙂
Not to labour the point but I am VERY happy to learn from your experience and finally to have some answers. So – again – thank you for sharing. SoniaX

hadenough HI! Just want to wish you the very best of luck and fortitude on your first day. It’s true that you’re facing a long hard journey but it IS do-able – as you must see from the success stories – and in a very good cause – YOU! I have only been here one month and wish to lose some weight and reverse a Pre-diabetes diagnosis and there are so many people here with knowledge and good-will always happy to advise and encourage. I’m very happy I joined and you will be too.
Keep posting – even (and especially) on your bad days. We are all here for each other. SoniaX

i have lost 5 pounds so far. I downloaded at App called Happy Scale which lets you put in your weight daily and i find it helps because instead of worrying that i have gone up a bit (sometimes a lot) i look at the overall trend and that keeps me going. it works for me and it’s free.
i roped in a couple of friends as well on the weekend so now we are watsapping – accountability to each other, stating how much water we drank each day (aiming for 2 litres) and how many steps (aiming for 10,000) but it’s not a competition. they are both very low carb = atkins. i’m not so because i get too down about it but i have cut way back on carbs. and i’m happy which is the main thing. even if i lose more slowly.
i am not sure if it is this way of eating that has made me happier or the CBD oil i started taking but i feel a real shift in mood.
wishing everyone well. hope some of these suggestions might help someone.
xx

Hi Sonia
You’ve got to be careful with potassium as you need to balance it carefully with the other electrolytes. If you’re going to give it up, make sure you include avocados into your diet as they have more potassium than bananas and minerals are better from natural food sources. I still take magnesium supplements, specifically magnesium citrate as it helps with constipation as that can sometimes be an issue.

A lot of people are also deficient in B12. Its super important to get enough:
Check this out:
.https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-HealthProfessional/

You can’t have too much salt, your body will give you very quick feedback by making you want to throw up. I generally grab a generous pinch and have that when I’m feeling a bit weak or hungry as it also helps with that when I’m fasting.

Have a look at this website – http://2ketodudes.com/#about
They also have podcasts that you can listen to. Start from number 1 and listen to them all until you’ve caught up. It had been the best thing I ever did to stay motivated and I’ve learnt so much along the way.

I’ve managed to stay at goal weight for over 2 years after losing 37 kgs. My HSCRP (levels of inflammation) are great, my Insulin levels are well under 10 (currently 6) but it means that I will never be able to go back to eating sugar or starchy carbs or I will just end up looking the way I did before.

Regardless of whether I’m eating at a restaurant or travelling overseas, I will not compromise. (I just got back yesterday after travelling for 3 weeks in India and Nepal and managed to come back 3kgs lighter!). This has to be a lifetime commitment, I’ve lost weight too many times in the past only to put it all + more back on.

Restaurants are only too happy to give you want you want as they want you to come back. I was out at dinner tonight and managed to get them to modify both the entree and main course so I could avoid sugar in the marinades and all starches and they were happy to swap out the potatoes for salad with no dressing!

Give up the alcohol completely until you reach goal weight (my drink of choice is now sparkling water with fresh lemon or lime juice) and avoid all artificial and substitute sugars). You can have a little bit of alcohol every now and again once you are at your goal weight and I mean I’ll now sit on 1/2 a glass of red wine throughout a whole dinner. Avoid all other alcohol, too much sugar. Sorry!

Any more questions, just ask. One of us oldies will be here to help.
Cheers
Linda

Hi Everyone ,

Just thought I’d share a recipe with you that is a favourite of mine when doing BSD. I dont serve mine with bread or tortilla chips as the recipe suggests. I cook my chicken breasts in the oven after rubbing them with hot smoked paprika. I add my own olive oil dressing to serve.
Hope you like it.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4433/cumin-chicken-and-avocado-salad

Miss Ziggy🙂

Thanks for your words of encouragement. Well I got through my first day LOL. Starting day 2 feeling quite positive. I went to bed with a BSL of 6 and woke this morning to a BSL of 5.7. I’m amazed because usually it’s around 10 or 15. I guess not eating anything after my evening meal helped. My biggest downfall is snacking after my evening meal which is why I wake up with high readings. So far things are looking good, but it’s very early days yet. 🙂

I just wanted to add my welcome to all the newbies👍😀 This WOE has really helped my husband & I keep very well & for the past two years he has kept his weight loss off & reduced his medication although for him he had had Type 2 diabetes for 24 years before we found this BSD & has damage to his pancreas so still needs to take 1000mg of Metformin twice daily & Trajenta 5mg once a day. He is now able to not take Gliclacide & has never had to take insulin & has recovered some feeling in his feet that were previously much more numb. He is otherwise very well & we are both very rarely ill although I had familial breast cancer 17 years ago.
I think the emphasis on eating freshly prepared food with higher fats helps me focus more on what we are eating although I do have my wobbles & still like Kelly’s icecream, that does have far fewer additives than other ones, & a glass of wine as an occasional treat. However I will never give up this WOE or my twice weekly fast days! Another way of me adding salt to the diet is a cup of Bovril on fast days & I also take a daily multivitamin pill.
Good luck everyone & keep on going because you will feel well eating this way.
Margaret xx

Linda – Thanks yet again for all the time you have given to such a full reply regarding vitamins and minerals to help with carb crash. VERY useful for me and for many others of us too. I’m working my way through the links and learning a lot as I go. REALLY appreciate the trouble you too.
India and Nepal sound wonderful – am planning a trip to India at the beginning of next year. Must have been a wonderful experience and weight loss too – congrats on all that determination. Need to take a leaf from your book! Giving up alcohol is the one I will struggle with most but it’s a habit like any other that needs to be abandoned – plainly possible as you’ve done it and I will find a way.
All the best to you and thanks yet again for passing on your invaluable knowledge. SoniaX

Miss Ziggy – thanks for that link to the chicken dish. Sounds great and am making it tonight. I had virtually given up eating meat – by preference not really principle – but since starting here I feel I should be eating some meat as well as my normal fish. My organic veggie box arrived today containing all the necessary salad goods, so it has all fallen well. Looking forward to my supper – much appreciate the new recipe and your tip about smoked paprika – one of my favourite spices. Cheers SoniaX

hadenough – Very pleased to see your first day went so well – always cheering to get off to a good start.
Joining Wendy1947 in welcoming you and all the newbies here and wishing you well. I am certainly not an old hand (this is week 5 for me) but am delighted that I have lost 11lb and feel much brighter and more energetic. I’m aiming at better numbers when I have a check made on my recently diagnosed Pre-diabetes – remains to be seen how that goes but people here who have been through a lot worst than Pre-diabetes assure me that if I persevere I will find everything has improved – if not reversed.
Wendy/Margaret – thanks for the tip about Bovril for a ‘salty’addition when I get the low-carb wobbles. Am also investigating supplements since I tried to follow your example and had a fast day. It went well so I’ll repeat it but am aware that I need to take something regularly against the days when I do that. Heartening to hear from a longstanding BSD-er – and faster – how you have benefitted from the regime. Keep at it – I will be doing the same. SoniaX

hadenough – I’m happy to hear you got off to a great start. It really is amazing what it does for your blood sugar levels.
goldie – I like the sound of that Happy Scale app. I’m not very app-able. Would it work on a computer? I used the weigh-in on fatsecret when I was first losing my weight and it was the trend downward that I liked, too. When I first did BSD in 2016, I definitely experienced a lift in my mood. It was one of the best things about it. That and getting a good night’s sleep. Btw, what is CBD oil? Or is that a really stupid question?
Reducia/Sonia – 11lbs is a great loss and how brilliant to feel that much better already. You must be delighted.
LindaA – thanks for the information. I’ll be sure to read those links. For magnesium I throw a handful of Epsom Salts in my bath every now and again. It’s a Jason Fung tip I got from here (sorry, forgot who, it was a while ago).
Miss Ziggy – yes that recipe looks delicious. I can’t really do the kidney beans (though I love them) but apart from them I’m definitely going to give it a go. Smoked paprika is a favourite spice of mine, too.
Wendy/Margaret – I got my diagnosis early 2016 so the BSD came at just the right time for me. I’m glad that your husband has been able to reduce his medications and that his feet have got some feeling back in them. And, he’s kept his weight off. That’s a real achievement.

So, I’ve lost 1lb so far this week – so that’s a 7lb loss altogether. I’m away in Poland until Tuesday now, so I’m going to try and do one meal a day and lots of walking to keep me right. Have a good weekend everyone.

Well done Jennie10 for losing a pound & your 7 pound loss in weight. I’m not doing too well with only losing 3.5lbs in October so I really need to become more active although I think because my energy levels are low that I am being affected by SAD with the greyer days & colder weather. I do have a SAD light & am using it.
My husband just merrily bumbles along going up or down 1-2 pounds in weight maintaining his two stone weight loss & as I am the chef it feels a bit unfair with me still having a couple of stone to lose. Sorry to moan I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself! Oh well I had my over 60+ flu jab yesterday & otherwise feel well so I am battling on still hoping I can lose at least a stone before Christmas & live in hope😂
Very well done to everyone sticking with this WOE it’s the way to go👏👏👍
Margaret xx

Hi Happygirl
I found I was the same on the 5.2 diet. I’m finding this one much easier. I started on the 31st Oct. I’m 60yrs old, live in Australia and have battled with weight since I was a child…put weight on – take it off and around around i go lol.
Apart fro wanting to lose weight (fast) my diabetes and insulin use is out of control which is why I’m now trying to do something positive about my out of control carb eating.

I have two more days before I weigh myself after being on this diet for one week. Surprisingly I’m not finding myself hungry but trips to the supermarket are very hard as I look at all the stuff I was buying such as chocolate, potato chips, and lots more. I have to avoid my eyes looking at these items. NOT EASY

For snacks I have been eating celery with cheese and I made some chicken balls. Minced chicken with a little tasty cheese, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper mixed through, roll them up into whatever size balls you like and bake them until cooked through. They have been a better alternative than my usual unhealthy late night snacks. Since I am carb addicted I am sooooooo missing my bread, haven’t had any for 6 days these have been a good snack.

Also my blood sugar levels are almost normal and instead of having 4 to 5 injections a day, since starting this I have only been having 1 to 2 injections, mainly one,. I am hoping to lose quite a bit of weight before Xmas.
Has anyone got some good snacking ideas? I find in the evening after dinner is when I start snacking.

My log in weight is 118.4kg – 18st 6lbs I would like to get down to at least 90kg -14st so I want to lose about 4st or 25.4kg more would be good but I’d be happy with 4st.
Good luck to everyone –

Hi Sandgroper
Thanks for your comments. Tomorrow I weigh in for my first week on the diet. I am surprised at not being as hungry as I thought I’d be but I’m not sure I could make this a permanent lifestyle, which is a depressing thought. I am missing my bread and am already sick of salad and vegetables. lol
anyway I am positive for now. I don’t understand why blood sugar levels go up and down either, especially when you don’t eat anything. Sometimes I just feel like stopping all my meds. But one good thing is that this week I’ve hardly had to have any insulin as my levels have been really good. Of course with xmas only about 7 weeks away there’s no guarantee I won’t be a bit naughty over a few days 🙂

Hope all goes well with you and everyone else who’s doing this BSL diet 🙂

Hi Jennie, well CBD oil is cannabis oil without the high! so it’s legal and available everywhere now. i get mine online at Simply CBD (this isn’t a plug – i have no connection to them but like that they support animals but if you google CBD there are millions) . anyway i have had cancer so look out for things that might help me. Also was recommended for fibro I’m not sure if it is the CBD that is working because i am also taking CoQ10 and have cut out alcohol and dairy for the most part but i am sleeping so much better and feel overall optimistic even though I have all sorts of stresses going on in life at the moment.

i feel less bloated so think i am heading in the right direction.

x

Sadly I’m on a down with weightloss – nothing lost at all. Totally my own fault. I lost quite a bit two weeks ago , partly because I wasn’t well and not eating much so it was probably a false reading. This week I got fed up with portioning and weighing food properly on top of which an Indian friend who does a pop-up restaurant close by gave a delicious Diwali feast – loved it all – but death to this regime. MUST make more of an effort this week.
Margaret – sorry to hear you’re rather low. My partner suffers from SAD and I know how much it changes life when it strikes. Hope the lamp works some magic. Understand how unfair it is when you work so hard to provide meals that keep your husband in range but aren’t doing the same for you!
Keep at it – have all fingers crossed that it’ll come good.
Miss Ziggy – thanks for that link to the chicken dish- it went well and will definitely make it again
Jennie10 – hope your week in Poland has gone well and that you stuck with your resolutions
hadenough
Glad you’re not finding yourself hungry but understand what a challenge the supermarket is – specially the bread for you apparently. I was the same but it DOES pass and you’ve already avoided it for six days so you’re getting into it.
Your chicken balls sound delish – am certainly going to give them a go.
Great that your blood sugar levels are almost normal – a very good reason to persevere with this
Hope the weigh-in goes well.

Hi everyone,
Well it’s a while since I’ve reported in. I am trying so hard but progress is so much slower than when I started this diet the first time around. However my work trousers are no longer cutting me in two but the fat around my tummy seems so jelly like at the moment. It’s almost like it’s flowing about rather than the pot belly I am used to. It’s not a good look. So for now I would have to say the fat is still there but softer 😱😱😱. I am trying to make BSD away of life. I have a few events leading up to Christmas which started today with my birthday. My husband took me out tonight for a lovely meal which wasn’t BSD, a weekend away this coming weekend, I have a work Christmas Dinner next month, and of course Christmas Day. In between all of this I will eat BSD and then get back to it after Christmas. The jelly belly is depressing though😭. Hope you are doing better than I am
Miss Ziggy

My starting weight was 118.4, this morning I have just weighed myself and woohoo I am now 115.3 that’s a loss of 3.1kgs which is 6lb 8oz. It has motivated me to keep going. I was feeling a bit low yesterday and thought about giving up but since getting on the scales today I am happy and will keep going.
The thing is although I am not at all hungry at all, I am missing my addiction to carbs. All the blasted ads on tv are mostly on food…chocolate, KFC, McDonalds, all foods high in carbs and I’m finding the supermarket trips a real challenge.

Anyway so far I’ve been sticking to almost no carbs. Some people are saying you should eat under 30 carbs a day and others are saying under 50 carbs. Can anyone tell me which one it should be?

Well I’m off to have a nice ham salad for lunch. Guess I need to take a day at a time and realise if I do have a bad day (it hasn’t happened yet) then I shouldn’t beat myself up but get back on track.

Hi hadenough
It really depends on how insulin resistant you are. If you are pre diabetic or diabetic you may have to go as low as 20g, if you’re not, then you can probably get away with 50g. If you find your weight loss slows down, then reduce the carbs until you start losing again.

A lot of this is about creating new habits that will last a lifetime. I tell myself that carb = sickness and because I want to live a long healthy life, I’m creating new habits that don’t involve carbs. Instead of watching the TV, go for a walk, have a nice bath (add Epsom salts), read a book or make yourself a sparkling water with some fresh lemon or lime juice added and drink it every time a carby advert comes onto the TV. It will remind you why you are doing this. Weight loss at the end of the day is a nice side effect, but the goal is to get and stay healthy.

If you have to overindulge, do it with protein or fat, not carbs.
Cheers
Linda