My wife found the BSD book (and the recipe book) and read it in an afternoon and would like us to both go on the fast 800 plan. I have T2 diabetes and last checkup my GP presribed additional medication, glipizide already on metformin for high blood sugars. At the same checkup I was referred to an exercise program and have been going to the gym regularly for 7 weeks and actually find that I am enjoying it. We have been trying out some recipes and cutting down, nearly out, potatoes, rice, pasta and bread and by just doing this I have lost 10lbs in 3 or so weeks. On the whole I dont miss the carbs and like the recipes we have tried and full fat greek yoghurt which was a surprise. My personal weakness is a fondness for Guinness which I will have to cut out completely for the 8 week period. I guess the real question for me is what to do after the 8 weeks finish and we want to return to a more normal calorie intake leaving the carbs out save for once maybe twice a week one spud/spoon of rice/1 slice wholemeal bread and have a few pints now and again – if anyone has been in a similar position I would be grateful for any insights.

One quick question: I do like a curry and usually have chappati/roti instead of rice. We tried the chickpea flour flatbreads and whilst they were OK they came out a bit thick and slightly rubbery – batter may have been a bit thick and the frying pan too small. Any tips for making these would be great.

Thanks in advance for any assistance

Hi Richard56. To answer your question(s) I would need to know more about your condition and how much weight you want to lose. The 8 week plan will see a big improvement in your blood glucose and you may not need the glipizide after all or may be able to cut down if you have already started taking it. I find it gives me big lows in the afternoon so have reduced mine. Your weight loss might not be as dramatic as some as you have already been dieting and going to the gym but for you I think you should totally cut out the bad carbs to give the diet chance to repair your pancreas. Then you ask if you will be able to go back to eating carbs, well that depends on whether you improve your blood glucose and can have self control and that occasional roast spud doesn’t turn into a plate full. You might need more than 8 weeks to ‘cure’ the diabetes depending again on a lot of things. Maybe you could fill out your profile with a bit more information. To be honest, to return to the same way of eating would only lead to a return of poor bg control so for me is not worth it. Maybe you could finish the 8 weeks and then increase your calories or do the 5:2 but just worry about doing the 8 weeks for now.

Your final question on the flatbreads, if you are on 800 calories you wont have enough calories for bread but if you do want it try to thin it out a bit and not put too much in the pan.

Thanks for replying sunshine-girl.

I was diagnosed T2 about 5.5 years ago and put on metformin – previously i had tried to manage increased blood sugar by diet only. Over the 5 years the metformin dose has increased to 2 x 500mg twice a day and I have been taking the glipizide 40mg twice a day for 8 weeks I also take irbesartan and amlodipine for high blood presssure.

I am 56, 5ft 9 ins tall and currently weigh 15st 7lb and my goal is to get down to 13st or even 12.5st so around 15% of current – last seen about 20 years ago.

I have a GP appointment on Thursday and hopefully she will be supportive. My aim is to reduce the amount of meds that I take if possible to none but I am a realist and it will be what it will be. However I am quite stubborn and if I am set a challenge that I want to complete I will see it through.

I hear what you are saying about falling back into eating alot of carbs if you are not careful but at the moment I dont really miss them and I think that trying it out first before taking the full plunge has given me and my wife some confidence that we can do this (she just wants to lose some weight about 2st and go from 12 to 10st) and I actually like spiralised courgette with beansprouts to go with a stir fry and cauli rice. My aim after completing the 8 weeks would be to only have carbs once or twice a week and only small portions ie 1 small potato or 1 tablespoon of rice.

I thought that 1 chickpea flat bread based on the recipe on the site with a sensible portion of homemade curry with some chana daal or lentil daal would work out at about 400-450cals – please correct me if I am wrong.

Hi Richard,

As a fellow stubborn *** (I prefer the word determined but Mme Maigret persists with “stubborn”), I can tell you that this attribute is one of the strongest things in your armoury!

The curry and flatbread sounds reasonable, depending on portion size. My only caution would be the chickpeas or lentils which can rattle up the carbs. I knock up a cauliflower daal which isn’t half bad, I think it might be a Madhur Jaffrey recipe.

Hi Richard- after the end of the 8 weeks yiu can do the 5:2 diet or just carry on as you are but eat say 1000 cals- this is a new way of life- if you read the 20th Feb group you will see our ups and downs- I’ve had many but I am still here plodding on- I do enjoy wine…. Welcome and good luck xx

Hi Richard, even if your curry is around 400 calories that is 50% of your daily allowance in one meal. Does that give you enough for breakfast, lunch and snacks and dont forget to add the little things like milk in drinks and oil / fat for cooking. Chickpea flatbread plus lentil or chickpea dahl is taking you high on carbs a chickpea curry being about 25 grams, add to that the flatbread at another 20 grams. Most people try to stay around 50 grams daily but that is for you to decide for yourself. I personally stick with counting calories and let the carbs take care of themselves as long as they are good carbs.

Hi all thanks for all the replies – it all helps in preparing for the tasks ahead.

Chelle1981 – I have read a few pages of the 20 Feb group interesting stuff. My takeaway from what I have read so far is 1) dont get down on yourself if you have a blip 2) planning is a major key to success 3) drink more water – this is one I will have difficulty with as I have never drunk much water other than in tea or beer, fizzy water and fresh lime juice probably the way for me to go.

Jules – portion control unless we weigh everything will be an issue. Before starting I think that getting the scales out and measuring everything for a couple of days will show me and my wife how small the portions are rather than just going by eye.

sunshine-girl – you are right and probably dont need the flatbread and the daal.

To get us going we will probably stick to the meals in the book although mix and match them keeping within the limits although personally I dont think +/- 10% of the daily calorie allowance so long as it balances out is a bad thing. For me the main goal is to reduce blood sugars so keeping bad carbs to a minimum and an overall low carb intake I guess is key. This may be simplistic but as an overall approach we will be trying for

Breakfast – if I have it yoghurt/berries/seeds/nuts or some sort of egg. Having tried the yoghurt already I find this very filling and keeps me going for ages.
Lunch – salad with tuna/salmon/mackerel in summer and soup in winter. Luckily my wife makes great soups but we will have to research the low cal low carb varieties
Dinner – recipes from the site or book or others that we find that fit in with prior consumption

Snacks – already given up grapes, melon, oranges, bananas which used to be my go to. Celery and carrot sticks or 5/6 nuts usually does the trick with a cup of tea.

But as I said planning willl be key. Over the weekend we will sit down and write down the first two weeks meal plans – put on a spreadsheet and then keep a record of what we actually do. A bit nerdy but a way of keeping track and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

Just writing this down is a useful starting point.

Thanks again.

Richard the scales is a good shout I was and still am really rubbish at guessing volumes or weights by eye.

Yes the key is drinking water carb counting and picking yourself up and not giving in when you make a blip- I use my fitness pal free app to calorie and carb count as yiu really don’t realise what things add up to until you start tracking

I love yoghurt and berries and soup or salad at lunch- i love butternut squash soup but this is soooo high in carbs- I’ve switched to salads now at lunch as summers on its way ( minus the snow yesterday)

I don’t snack- if I am feeling like food I drink water- the first few weeks I was starving by the time I got home from work so either ate a couple of pickled onions or a small corner of cheese but cheese is high in calories do I’ve cut down a bit on cheese too- as you go your body automatically gets used to not eating and you will no longer crave things- this is the beginning of a great journey 🙂 xx