Have just bought the Blood Sugar Diet Book & am put off by the recipes. I am quite a “plain” food person & do not enjoy fussy meal preparation. Is it possible to follow the principles without sticking to the recipes?

Hi Suzie64, I am doing that as I haven’t received the book yet and was impatient to start. I have changed my diet gradually over the past 3 decades gradually cutting out grains, starting with bread what seems now like a very long time ago. We were almost grain free when we started the diet (my husband is doing it with me) a couple of weeks ago. So far I’ve lost about 6 kilograms and he’s lost a couple. All we’ve done is cut out snack and junk foods as well as dessert which we usually had every day.

We eat a lot of vegetables, which I’m noticing can quickly add up the carbs. I finished the potatoes we had in the cupboard – won’t be buying them again for a while! We’re probably eating more veggies than we were before we started the diet. I think we’ll settle into a pattern of eating two main meals a day instead of the traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the moment we’re having a whey powder fortified smoothie as one meal but I’m thinking of incorporating the yoghurt into one of the main meals.

I’ve noticed that by measuring the cheese we’ve cut back considerably on our use of it – we were huge cheese eaters. Now instead of snacking on cheese it adds flavour to the meals. We are basically eating what we ate before with a few minor adjustments. I don’t think we could have done this if we hadn’t made those earlier changes to our diet: we were brought up on traditional English diets of meat with 3 veg (one of them potato!) and dessert for reward for eating dinner every day. With sandwiches for lunch, followed by cake. I think it would be more challenging to follow the blood sugar diet if were starting from there.

I am keeping a food diary http://bsdfast800.blogspot.com.au/ as I find it helps me stay on track. I have a shocking memory and I know that without writing down everything I’m eating and keeping myself accountable that way I’d soon become despondent. Plus, it helps me track what is and what isn’t working.

I’m looking forward to receiving my copy of the book because I think I need some discipline around food preparation and making it a priority in my life (rather than something I ‘have’ to do at the last minute) and I have a sneaking feeling that exploring different recipes will really help me stay on track with a Mediterranean style diet long term. I’m convinced it will build the health me and my husband need.

Good luck – definitely work out your own menu plans – do whatever works for you. 🙂

Hi Suzie – absolutely!

I’ve cut out all bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. So instead of sandwiches I have salad. Instead of the other starches I have more green veg or salad.

I’ve cut out all junk food and desserts. Eating full-fat dairy keeps me feeling full, a knob of butter on veg is yummy, nuts and seeds are great for snacks.

It’s very do-able.

Hi suzie, you don’t need to stick to the recipes in the book BUT you do need to stick to the PRINCIPLES of the diet so:
1. Count the calories
2. Keep carbs to under 50g a day
3. Drink 2-3 litres of water a day
4. Eat FAT – it’s important and helps keep you full
5. There is a photo in the book showing typical foods for the diet, that should help you
6. Look at the thread What have you eaten today, it is full of ideas for meals
7. There is a recipe tab on the tool bar, you may find something you like on there 🙂

Finally – welcome to the forums and the BSD way of life.shout if you need help, there are always people to help.
If you are a British Citizen please can you sign our petition 🙂

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, I am trying to cut out bread & reduce potatoes etc. Cheese is one of my greatest loves, I suppose I must reduce the quantity sadly! I am hoping to get my husband keen as well as that will make it easier-we both already snack on nuts – much preferred to biscuits or cake. Will let you know if I get my head around it all. Thanks again.

Cheese is fine as long as you count the calories.

Cheese is useful and easy to eat, I find it difficult to come up with packed lunch options for work which don’t include bread, are quick & easy to eat but filling. Have been taking hard boiled egg, 2 baby bell cheeses, a few tomatoes, some nuts & 3 or 4 oat cakes. Is this o.k.? Any more simple suggestions please. Thanks in advance!

Hi suzie:

Any kind of salad – ie tuna fish, chicken, ham etc

The no carb ploughmans

Any of the dips from the book (the peanut butter/ cream cheese dip takes seconds to make )

Fritatta

Pot of FF yoghurt and some berries /seeds

A flask of soup

Piece of cheese and some nuts

Hope that helps! 🙂

Thanks Hashimoto, very helpful. Have also looked at the Forums showing “what I ate today”. Lots of tips there, also looked at recipes, might try some of the flatbreads. Been having the no carb ploughman’s, that is really nice.