Everyone talking about apples and onions been carby but they are included in the recipes especially on the 8 week plan which is what I am currently doing. I’m so confused as I’m concerned my count is off due to the above even though I’m following the 8 week meal plan in the recipe book. Can someone clarify as I like to have a small apple and handful of nuts as snack

I personally have never used the recipes in the book, opting to build my own dishes and menus, but I would say if you are using the menu plans in the book, stick with what they say. I know some people have questioned the calorie content of some of the recipes, but there is no doubt that people have succeeded in losing weight using the recipes/menu plans in the book. However, I would suggest being cautious about snacks, unless they are stipulated in the menu plans.

Zojo when I first came on here I was confused too. A lot of people on here (me included) try to keep our carbs under 50g or 20g a day. In which case, apples and onions are too high. However, the BSD book excludes some fruit and white carbs such as pasta, potatoes and rice. You will lose weight following the book recommendations regardless of carb content. I still use some of the recipes (The Red Slaw and Rainbow Salad are wonderful), but I sometimes substitute scallions for onion.

I hope this has made things a little clearer. Good luck.

Nonna Mary
xxx

The occasional small apple and onion (but not on the same day) are doable at the 40-50g end, as I always had the occasional one as part of meals. Spring onions are better carb wise than the usual white onion. If you want to just follow the recipes in the book do so, the book went much more for an ‘average’ figure over the week of 800 calories, with some days over and some days under, quite probably they did the same with carbs too.

As MnM says, the recipes in the book are approximations, at best, anchor points for you to push off from without having to do all the math yourself. The idea is to ease people in to low carb living, I think, so it includes foods people are comfortable with even when their carb content is high (beets, oatmeal, sugary fruits, etc.) as long as it’s not the simple/refined carbs that are imperative to eliminate.

I understand that he’s not promoting the BSD as entirely carbless and that he’s loosey-goosey about certain categories of whole foods, but to be honest I find it seriously problematic that the calorie counts are so inaccurate, sometimes an enormous amount, like by hundreds of calories. How are you supposed to make a rational meal plan if you don’t know if you need to add 200 calories to a dish to make the numbers add up right for a day? He’s not vague about the 800 cals a day goal like he is about the daily carb limit (which he doesn’t really go into), so messing up the numbers to such a degree based on the idea that things will probably shake out okay by the end of week’s average is, as my father would say, half-assed. All of us seem to be able to calculate recipe and serving calories just fine using MFP or Fat Secret. Why couldn’t he? His wife did it in the follow-up recipe book, and she bothered to include carb counts too.

Zojo, deep breath. You are doing great and you’re going to be even greater. Plenty of people have been successful following the meals in the book, calorie/carb counts notwithstanding, because cutting the bad carbs has a powerful impact on your blood sugar levels. Most of us came from rather dire dietary circumstances, carb-wise. Eliminating bread, pasta, rice, cereal, potatoes and those big bads and going from caloric overload to careful consumption will lead to weight loss.

If you have a lot of weight lose or the losses start stalling, you can always reevaluate, start counting on your own and shave off carbs by ditching onions and apples. That’s in the future and by then you’ll feel more comfortable with the food and maybe even be ready to modify your own old favorites into BSD-friendly versions. Chin up, sister. You’ve got this. 🙂

I was very frustrated by the recipes in the book – but the actual recipe book gives proper food values, and a lot of the recipes look very adaptable.

Ok thanks guys I have the recipe book the woman did and have began to follow the 8 week meal planner they have put the cals in each dish so I just stick to that and weigh myself once a week to confirm it’s working . I only have 2 stone to lose so I will ditch the onion and finish off my apples lol also in regards to nuts I only eat the ones in the book figured it would not be there if I could not have a handleful and they really help especially at work where there is always treats.