Hi , I am planning my diet probably overthinking but does anyone have any good strategies for the negative peeps , I need a good answer not rude just a positive reply. I have made the mistake of researching the diet on the net and seen +++ comments against slating the research. However looking on the forum it is mostly positive. I guess as it is such a life changer both in results and in the level of commitment I just need some considered opinions please.
I am pre diabetic and 4 stone over !! 😥

Hi Collie and welcome to the forums.

You will notice there are a lot of people on here who now say this is the way of life for them now due to the improvements in their health and well being.

I have had the odd comments about starvation diets : my answer is that no other diet has worked for me, that this 800 is a short term plan and if I am overweight I have enough blubber to supply my body with energy!! Also, as Dr Mosley points out: people who have had bariatric surgery can only eat 600 calories a day FOR LIFE!!! so it can’t be bad.

I also tell people to read the forums.

If people comment with things like ‘Don’t you think you have lost enough weight now’ or ‘Don’t lose any more you will look gaunt’ To the first I say I am now in the middle of the healthy weight range according to the NHS site – before I was in the healthy weight range I pointed out that I was in the overweight range. To the latter, rather rude comment, I just say I am doing this for my health not my looks. It tends to shut people up. If you are lucky enough to have your gP or nurse on board ( thankfully mine are) then I say my Gp/nurse is happy with what I am doing and are pleased with my health improvements.

You never know, you may get some doubters on board when they see how you improve!!! 🙂

Thank you hashimoto , I can hear the joy in most people’s post. I am a carb lover but also am aware of the reason why I like them so much. I am pleased you have the gp and nurse on board , I am having bloods done this week so this will open up the conversation for me and get me a baseline reading. So one day one meal at a time. Thanks

Hi Collie. As you’ve seen most folk on here are getting great results on the BSD, including me. Unfortunately much of the medical profession is sticking with the ‘official line’, and there are folk who would sooner follow that advice, go to slimming clubs and take increasing amounts of medication.

I’m a 65 year old female. Diagnosed type 2 diabetic, diet controlled but threatened with Metformin before starting the BSD. In 19 weeks my fasting blood readings have moved down into the normal range and I have lost 3.5 stone (2.5 still to go). You’ll also see on here that other health issues are also improving.

I think that when something comes along that upsets conventional wisdom (like this) if takes a while for the ‘experts’ to come on board. They are reluctant to change. Bur, in this case, we are the experts. We know our own bodies and are collating the evidence of our results as we progress with the BSD.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Hi Collie you will be shocked at how many people ( myself included) have tried a bit of carby food and suffered the consequences of feeling bloated, sluggish, unwell etc. It is becoming clear that carbs drain us of energy. I now won’t even have a single roast potato when it’s Christmas. It’s not worth it!!!

I would like to gently correct the ‘bariatric surgery and 600 cals for life’ thing. All it does is limit the stomach size, it may be low calorie during the healing process whilst they eat fluids, and whilst ghrelin production causes a drop in appetite, but after that – having only room for small servings makes no restriction on the TYPE of serving eaten, nor the frequency. Highly processed carbs are in fact the most well-tolerated and slip through bands etc faster than protein and veg.

Its a bit different for people with bypasses and associated dumping syndrome and malabsorption, but even then, those people are perfectly capable of eating one slice of regular pizza at a sitting. Wait half an hour and eat another…

If something goes badly wrong then patients have to be tube-fed constantly, and for more then 600 cals p/day to avoid eventual death. 800cal is fine longish term when you have fat stores to consume. It would become a medical emergency fairly quickly for someone with a BMI of 18 or less after a few weeks.

I have friends and relatives and know someone on the web with the last mentioned issue, so I’m not being third-hand.

BUT there is NOTHING WRONG with what we are all doing, the book even lays out scenarios for TOFI people who have success – they just get to where they need to be and then increase calories! That may also be a good strategy for naysayers – point out that the 800BSD also works well for people already in the healthy range BMI, and is recommended!

and of course, as Hashimoto points out – you can eschew all of the simple carbs and get most of yours from veg and pulses etc. for life with no problems at all.

I stand corrected Chongolo! Fortunately no one I have said that too knew any different so it didn’t increase negative comments.

I have heard though that some people have continued constantly stuffing food in with short gaps til they have expanded their stomachs and put weight on again.

yup, too true, It seems bands do nasty things to tums, and they tend to balloon above the band location/eat into the stomach – I would recommend the sleeve before a band. And I have heard of sleeve patients stretching through constant overeating, it’s not as common though. The other point to make is with sleeves, the stomach heals and naturally the swelling goes down and it stretches out over a year or so post-surgery – so the volume increase with time as part of the healing process! Ghrelin production is taken over by the liver, (apparently?) so appetite returns to normal, especially if you have insulin resistant tendencies and get carb cravings just like anyone else.

I say do the restriction without the surgery, and avoid the rare but potentially terrible side effects. Especially the paralysed tum one, that seems so awful to live with :(.

We’ve said it for years but it hasn’t really sunk in yet with the mass consciousness that ‘diets’ only help you to lose weight (maybe!). Its the change in lifestyle that keeps it off. Probably the most frequent thing I hear when discussing this programme is ‘what will I do afterwards?’ After what? There is no ‘after’. This is my life now – low carb, end of. Judith and I have both been on the sticky end of a carb invasion this week and I hope you are now starting to feel better Judith. Mine wasn’t as debilitating as yours but I did enough damage to realise that my body just cannot cope with having carbs forced on it anymore. Being ‘clean’ for nearly three months seems to have made me even more sensitive than before. So I am now looking forward to a very easy weight management programme of life without carbs. I know our veterans, Bill, Lynne, Penny and Cherrianne (and others!) would agree that is the way to go from here to eternity….

Hi Janet, I’m not quite right but I hope you are feeling better. My awful episode with a GF brownie was after approximately 16 weeks of this diet, with increased calories after week 8. I really did not expect to be debilitated by it – let alone so severely or so long!
I hope you are over the worst of your carb invasion, I know only too well what the after effects are now. Never again will I eat any simple carbs. So far I have lost 2 entire nights sleep due to it.

The most surprising thing to me is I am still losing a little bit of fat from my stomach – very slowly. A week goes by and then a bit drops off, but I am eating more calories (1650 rather than 1000) than I could before and not putting weight on. I know for sure I can eat the low carb way for life – like Janet, Bill, Lynne, Penny, Cherrianne and others. I think for diabetics this is the only way to go and after what Clare (Michael’s wife) said to me about inflammatory markers that goes for people with hypothyroidism as well. There was no other way I could stop the weight from piling on or feeling constantly ill. Or my stomach being bloated to the point of looking pregnant – not a good look at 63!!!

In fact, I think if I see, even a GF, carb in future I will associate it with how awful I have felt since that brownie.

I think you may be correct about being more sensitive now we have had a clean diet for over 3 months or we just lived with how awful it felt and it considered it normal. It isn’t nice being robbed of your new ‘normal’ even for a few days.
My niece, her hubby and my sister have started this diet and seeing results in their first week. My sister and her husband have tried the baked bean recipe from this site and say they prefer it to tinned beans. I shall have to try it myself!

So as you say Janet, from here to eternity!!

The thing that really occurs to me is that 800 calories a day and plenty of protein is a far far better diet than zillions of people are ever lucky enough to eat. It’s certainly a better diet than I’ve been eating for most of my life. I am keen to try it because I’m a carb addict and I find it easier to cut carbs out than just to cut down on them.

Utterly and totally agree with you on that DemiMondaine!!!!

You really should try it – like a lot of us you may find you go right off carbs and see them as monsters not treats after several weeks of this diet!! 🙂

Hi Collie
You don’t have to apologise or explain to anyone. YOU made this decision for yourself. Well done & brave. We are the pioneers of this diet. Real food in real time. Doing it for ourselves. If others want to listen, good. You like carbs BUT THEY DONT LIKE YOU. Spend your time on yourself not sceptics!!
GO FOR IT. 😀 Keep on keeping on

I went to a country show today, and knowing there would be lots of “bad” food there, I took a hard boiled egg and water. I snacked on that whilst OH had chocolate brownie and coffee. That has never happened to me before when on a diet, I found it easy to say no – it absolutely amazes me.

Later I had a quorn burger with salad, and ate less than half a burger roll. I haven’t had any bread for a month, but no ill effects thank goodness. Next time, I will just eat the burger. All counted on MFP, all OK and minestrone soup tonight (will make from the recipe here, sounds good).

I am telling people I’ve cut out sugar and processed food, which is true.

Eventually (in about a year when I’ve lost all the weight) I originally thought I’d like to be able to eat the occasional piece of cake, but from your experiences Hashimoto and Janet, that may not be the case. Still I’d rather be slim and healthy than eat cake.

The most wonderful thing for me with this way of life, is I am losing 2 to 3 pounds per week, slow but steady, and it’s no effort !!! 🙂

Hi All ,
Thank you for your very helpful and considered replies. They have had helped me in my resolve and given me some ideas as replies. Interestingly i feed my dogs a low carb diet i.e. raw food and grain free natural diet, they look amazing and most of my friends do similar and their dogs have very few weight or health issues. Whilst I fully understand that canines digestions are different the processed concept is the same. So here goes into the breach I go – day 1 tomorrow. Just loading up my recipes on MFP and about to make a batch of soup.x

Hi Hashimoto,
What’s the tie in to hypothyroid? I have been on the same meds for it for 25 years until last year when they lowered my meds. That alone made me gain 50 lbs. A doctor 25 years ago told me I should only way 800 cal a day when I was first diagnosed but of course that seemed ridiculous 😳😳😳
So here I am now – ha.
Thanks for any info!!
🌷

Hi HappyLife,
I’m assuming you are asking about hypothyroidism and inflammatory markers?

If you have Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism it is an autoimmune disease and causes inflammatory markers in the body in the same way as type 1 diabetes.
When I was eventually diagnosed with Hashimoto’s it was because of the goitre – not the blood tests which kept coming back ‘low end of normal’ until a more expensive test was used.
The consultant told me I had a high chance of developing diabetes.

For most people with hypothyroidism levothyroxine meds stay stable for life – but not always! Mine is always all over the place.

If you have Hashimoto’s this diet will reduce the inflammatory markers, just as it is doing for the diabetics. This in turn lessons some other health problems which lots of us are experiencing as insulin resistance is also reduced. Improving asthma symptoms is one of the benefits for me as is less arthritic pain and no acid reflux.

I don’t know if I have explained this very well.

My weight had massively increased before this diet – and it was all on my torso – a fairly typical problem with hypothyroidism!

If you have put a lot of weight on after having your meds reduced I wonder if you need a higher dose?
🙂

Hi Collie,

quite honestly I try and point other people to the research but lots of people believe what they’ve been told for years by the diet industry, government industry and that ol’ chestnut – common sense (as they see it). I would just tell people that it is what you are choosing to do and you’d rather they be supportive or just not mention it at all. If you are stuck then there is always gazillions of support here or a friendly ear.

Good luck with it although after a few days the luck will take care of itself and the carbs won’t have the same siren call 😀

Hi Hashimoto, thanks for your response! The reason it was lowered was for the first time in years my thyroid levels were better. On any higher dose I get heart palpitations (hyperthyroid) so the level was changed.
Thanks for all of your advice, it’s really appreciated!!
🌷

Hi happylife, oh I see, I know having too high a level can cause heart problems. Getting levels right can be a tricky business
🙂

Thank you one and all , I am new to forums such as this and to be honest usually avoid them, but I am struck by the considered and thoughtful replies . One day at a time is my mantra. Just off to walk the dogs ,it’s led again .xxx

Hi Collie, I do a blog on another site and I have had all the usual comments, like, when you come off you will gain it all and more, when I come off what, this is not a diet. My body will rebel and my metabolism will shut down, no, that theory comes from the 1946 Minnisota starvation experiment using men out of concentration camps whose bodies had already shut down. My body will start to eat itself and my muscles will shrivel, only if I stop eating fats and proteins and can be avoided if I do some simple exercises. We all lose half a pound of muscle every year over a certain age if we don’t do strength exercises so they are probably also at risk. It is SIMPLE carbs I have given up, not even carbs in general. Most people could not face life without potatoes or rice, how hard is it to give them up.

Give them the facts, let them know you have done your research, give a few quotes. Failing that tell them what your future is as a pre-diabetic then diabetic, the medications, the injections (I have to), the life threatening illnesses yet to come and the disabilities that are possible. This is really hard core and can stop idiots in their tracks but be a bit easier on well meaning friends and family.

God I’m a tough old bird.

sunshine-girl

Heard most of those comments on my BSD journey. Plus ‘you will lose weight if you don’t eat’ – I eat what I need and when I need! When people started to notice my weight loss I’ve been told I’m boney, getting too thin etc. Last time my nose saw me he said that soon I’d not need to open the door to get through – I could get through the crack. And a neighbour said my door would open and shed not be able to see me!

How do I respond? If I’m asked how I’ve done it, I explain. I’ve lent/given several copies of the book away and spent a lot of time talking to medical professionals. And I smile (sometimes with gritted teeth). I can only give the information. If they choose not to follow up on it, that’s not my problem.

CaptainLynne, sorry but I cant work it out, last time my ‘nose’ saw me. Even with my fingers on the wrong keys I cant make that one out. Giggle……

When my doctor asked about the 800 calories I explained that most women eat 1800 calories, 1000 calories of which is rubbish and 800 calories of good food, I’ve just eliminated the 1000 calories of rubbish. He thought that was very funny.

Ahh … Sorry, missed that one. Should read ‘boss’ LOL