Help, I am making the chickpea chilli in the BSD book page 104 for the second time. IT IS GORGEOUS but having logged the recipe into My Fitness Pal the calories per portion come to over 600 per person, not the 270 quoted. The volume of food is huge and I am wondering if the serving of 2 quoted should have been 4??? I genuinely couldn’t eat half of the quantity. If I cut it to 4 portions it comes out at around 310 calories which is more like it. Any comments welcome. Thank you!

I’ve got the book but haven’t used it because I don’t trust it. Look at the carbs, they’re horrendous.
Hello freezer?
Maggie🤨

the 400 grams can of chickpeas is actually 200g of actual chickpeas so you would get 100g – but even that is 260 calories. I dont think the calories come in at much over 300 as there is hardly anything else in it – some mushrooms, half a carrot, canned tomatoes.

Half a tin of kidney beans – 120 calories and 21 carbs.

I’m confused by the recipe book, too 🙂 Going by a calorie count of 270, the portion size must be
a cup of beans, plus tomatoes? My chart indicates that 1 c. of garbanzo beans is 220 cal, 14g of
protein and 26g carbs. I suppose this might fit into <50g of carbs per day if you are doing a less strict
version of the BSD, but for those of us who are impatient to get where we want to go and are also
insulin resistant, this wouldn’t be a good option. The tomatoes would boost the carbs too, so maybe
30g in total? I used to love turkey chili with black beans, but at 12g carbs per 1/2c of beans, I gave
it up, until I was introduced to canned blacksoybeans to use as a substitute. At only 1g carb per 1/2 cup,
they absorb the flavors beautifully, and I can’t tell the difference 🙂

Hi Allie
I know quite a few people have commented on the inaccuracies in the recipes in the original BSD book – don’t know about the recipe book. Haven’t read the book for a while but from memory I don’t think Michael Mosley really talked that much about very low carbs e.g. <20 g, did he ?

No marie, Dr Mosley never mentioned a figure to aim for but to cut the starchy carbs. I think if you are worrying about the carbs in canned tomatoes you would be taking things a bit too seriously – 100g of canned tomatoes has 42 calories and 7g of carbs so you are not looking at big numbers. I still eat carrots and onions although some people say they are too high but Dr M has recipes that have beetroot in which I always think of as high but it has only 43 cals per 100g and 10g of carbs. I think portion size can be very important too. I hope you didn’t make the recipe with the chickpeas and the kidney beans, I think it is meant to be one or the other and in fact the kidney beans would be more calories at 330 per 100g and 60g of carbs. Wow.

I think you’re right, Marie! Most of us have had to count carbs ourselves, and arrive at a level that
works for us 🙂 The independent research that I’ve done on what constitutes a “low carb” diet seems
to cross reference at <50g per day on a variety of websites. Only the keto component, i.e., how to get
into guaranteed ketosis, uses <20g per day. Perhaps little reference to these facts has been left
out of MMosley’s books for a reason. It gives everyone the option to fashion the BSD to suit
themselves. Extended fasting isn’t specifically recommended either, but many have incorporated it into
their own programs, with great results! It’s all BSD principled though, whatever are individual goals
might be. Definitely true for maintenance, as well. By the process of trial and error, I know exactly
where my tipping point is, and as long as I stay below it, I can easily eat up to my TDEE with no
regain. That’s true freedom for me 🙂 🙂 🙂

When I first did the diet I took the recipes shown in the Daily Mail, and then bought the book. I never counted carbs , just followed the recipes and lost nearly 3 stone. I didn’t take any notice of the carb count or the calorie count. I was doing it for weight loss though, not diabetes control. Michael never suggested any upper carb limit from what I remember, and it still worked for me. I am back doing the diet again after a knee op and gaining a stone, trying to keep to the diet principles , not necessarily counting carbs , just using what I call ‘good carbs’ as used in the recipes , eg no bread pasta rice sugary things or processed carbs, keeping within the 800 etc.

That’s a great result, Anna. I hope that your knee replacement rehab is going well. I’m of
an age where several of my contemporaries have undergone the same procedure, so I
can sympathize. I wasn’t diabetic either, but highly insulin resistant. Carb counting was
the answer for me, but it’s not necessary for everyone. Very best wishes for your recovery!

Thanks alliecat! (Yes the knee replacement club is one that a few of my friends are in too, not a membership I was looking forward to. ) I think after doing the recipes for a while you become sort of ‘carb savvy’ anyway and automatically know what you should be eating to achieve results. Anyway – strictly 800 today so onwards and downwards !

My can of chickpeas cooked in water, shows (400g gross = 240g after draining) and says that the tin drained = 276 cals and 33g carbs. so the calorie count, at least, looks about right to me 🙂