Hi everyone!
I’m following Day 1 of the 8 week plan given in the BSD recipe book and using MyFitnessPal to track my food. I’ve followed the recipe for Smoked Fish Pate exactly as written but according to MyFitnessPal my meal was 440 calories not 270 and I’ve yet to prepare my Thai Red Curry with cauliflower rice which should be 300 calories.. I had the Perfect Scrambled Eggs for breakfast which was on target at 209 calories. I only have 136 calories left out of the 780 the plan says the day should add up to. Thankfully carbs are at 10g so far today.

My question is, should I not worry too much about the calories and focus on the carbs? Or make the recipes as given and eat half a portion if the calories add up to more than the recipe states?

Many thanks for your advice!

I’ve not tried the recipes in the books but I’ve heard from others that they don’t quite match the actual calories.
I’m personally never exact in my calories, as long as I’m in a close range it’s fine.
The lower the calories, the quicker the weightloss, but if you need to go above it’s not the end of the world. The low carbs is more important I think.
It depends on what you are like with cooking and creating recipes as to whether you stick to the recipes in the book.
I personally just look at recipes for ideas and throw it together myself, but other people need to follow a recipe.

Hi, Welcome to the forum and this way of eating.
The errors in the book recipes for the number of calories is a topic that comes up often. You are correct, a lot of the calorie counts are out in the book.
I couldn’t follow them myself anyway as I am a vegetarian, but it seems to me that most people use the mobile phone apps to track what they eat and maybe take inspiration from the book on meals. The most important thing when starting out on this Way of Eating is keeping carbs. low. The calories are not as important as carb levels.

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There are a few of us who just read the latest posts option on the forum so we see all the posts that come in but most people just follow a couple of common threads. There is the weekly challenge which starts each week on a tuesday, and a longer road trip thread to take us up to summer if you want to set aims for a longer period. You will find a mixture of newcomers and those who have followed this way of eating into maintenance on either thread do come in an join the chat.

I have not gone by the calories or carbs in the book from day one as I was told they were out! I have used My Fitness Pal and although it is still not brilliant as people put their own info in but we have to rely on something and I use the barcodes wherever possible. I think I would have been lost without MFP, it also helps you keep on track as it is horrible seeing yourself going over your daily targets!🤣. Well it is for me anyway. Good luck and I am sure you will find your way. Birdy💞🦜

Thank you both for your helpful replies. I will focus on carbs then instead of calories. I’ve just finished adding the day’s food to MyFitnessPal and all the values are way off – calories are 1300, carbs at 45g/14%, protein at 58g/18% and fat at 97g/68%

I’m concerned the diet won’t work and I won’t lose weight being so far above what I was expecting. I’ll stick at it as written for a week and see what happens. At least I won’t be eating anywhere near as many carbs as I have been which hopefully will have an impact.

Hi ladyhawkeye planning is the key and putting everything into your app before you actually eat it and then that way if it looks like it is going to go over you can change what you were going to eat for something lower. Also just by cutting out all processed carbs like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes and drinking your 3 litres of water you will discard. Don’t worry too much you don’t have to be perfect for this WOE to work. You are already made the best decision by starting this amazing WOE and we are all here to support you and cheer you on. I have not been brilliant on it the last week or so as I have had a lot going on but I am still discarding inches and that for me is amazing. I am sure you will be surprised by the scales and your clothes very soon. Birdy 💞🦜

Ladyh Birdy talking about inches made me remember to suggest you measure your waist etc. now and then periodically. The scales sometimes seem to stall but the inches disappear anyway! Enjoy your journey.

Oh yes Verano is right, I did it and it has saved a lot of disappointment when the scales don’t budge🤣🤗.

Thank you so much for your help and support – I really appreciate it! I have 5 stones to lose so am determined to make this work!
Thank you again xx

Ladyh that is exactly what we are here for and we are very happy to do so. I have my pom poms at the ready to cheer you on. 💞🦜

😂 Bless you! I’ll let you know how my first week goes xx

Oh dear, I’ve just registered and this is the first forum post I’ve read. I’ve been doing the diet 5:2 and pleased with the results 3 weeks in but starting to play with the recipes. Now i wonder if i should abandon the recipes altogether…..
My question was going to be regarding book recipes eg how to jazz up chicken breast – is there a set recipe for a salad to go with it which is a particular calorie count? If i have to count ever individual item i will lose the will to live! That’s why i liked the recipes; i like to follow instructions! If i go freestyle i will be naughty…..

I found the best way to deal with the recipes was to do the calculations before I actually ate the meal. I regularly make the mackerel dip with carrot, red pepper, celery sticks and it comes in at 280 cals but I substitue the mackerel for canned tuna. Mackerel 305 cals per 100g, tuna 109 cals per 100g. It is something you have to play around with.

You do need to be counting the calories IF you are on the 800 calorie diet. Just dont believe the numbers quoted for the recipes in the books. If you can stick to around 800 and leave at as many of the white starchy carbs, the carbs will be reduced anyway. The carb reduction is (or was originally) for people with diabetes as starchy carbs raise blood glucose but if your main aim is weight loss then you need to be sticking with the calorie level you are on and as you have posted under BSD I am assuming you are aiming for 800 cals.

Thank you sunshine-girl, that’s helpful.
I am sticking to 800 on 2 days and limiting carbs (and aiming for good carbs ) but not calorie counting on the other 5.
I will do as you sugget and then note my own recipes to use regularly, then this will save time and prevent me going “off piste” on the 2 days. 😊