I managed 2 weeks last year with good results but did not keep it up or a med style diet! I’m back to try again. I managed 9 days bit over the last 4 I’ve gradually fallen further off the diet. It’s so Frustrating! I find the diet, even at 800 calories, keeping me feel relatively full, but I get such awful sugar cravings! All it takes is a couple of nights of interrupted sleep and I just can’t stop myself. I wish I had more will power. 😢So I’m going to start again tomorrow. Already ate a hot cross bun today. Doh! I’ve joined to forum to get some support. I find it so hard to keep going with 2 young kids and a husband who is not on the diet. Anyone else the same and succeeding? Help!

Hey JJBram – the sugar cravings are quite normal, I know that doesn’t make them easier to whether, but there might be some small comfort in knowing others have and do suffer in the same way. Don’t waste time beating yourself up over the issues you have had to date and try not to think of this as a diet, but a new way of eating.

Begin again tomorrow and start absolutely from scratch – weigh and measure yourself and record it all, then start back on the 800 calories and record everything you consume. Make sure you are staying well hydrated and that there are fats in your diet, as this will help with the feeling of fullness. Be prepared to ride out the cravings for the first couple of weeks, but once you get past there, they should drop off to almost nothing. The problem with carbs is that they are primarily what drives the hunger, so it becomes a vicious cycle – you eat carbs, so your body demands more, so you eat carbs, etc., etc. Once you manage to break the cycle, the carby foods – especially sweet stuff – will become much less palatable.

There is a thread on the forums for mini-goals – search for it using the box in the top right corner of the page – and I suggest setting yourself a mini-goal of resisting the carbs, especially sugar for 14 days. This will help to make you accountable and give you a sense of achievement once you get there.

Hope some of that helps. We all struggle from time to time and new to offload and ask for support, so don’t be scared to shout out and someone will be there to respond. Make sure to keep us posted on progress and remember any loss is a loss and needs to be celebrated! Good luck!!

Hi JJ — ok, so this happens. You get tired or frazzled by children or just life and sugar is a wonderful calming antidote. Actually, it really is, because when you eat sugar you are getting a dopamine rush and it really does calm you down. You’ve got both the actual physical response and your mental “trained” response — so don’t give yourself a hard time and don’t use this as a reason to quit — you just have to tweak this a bit so you find a healthier response.
First, can you put things on hold for a while — cut out all unimportant activities and things that you think should be done and just focus on the most important thing here, wrapping your mind fully around this new way of eating. I know children are busy but they can do less for a while — it will take the frazzle out of your days.
Secondly, just start again at your next meal — don’t sweat the calories of that day, just pick up and start again. The more you do that, the more you retrain your brain to go there as your default position and that is what you want.
Get rid of any non-BSD friendly food from the house. Your children will be healthier for it. Make sweets a big deal, go OUT for sweets (for them) and make it an adventure (you can have coffee). I still remember best the days we went out for an ice cream cone and ate it on the wall at the beach.
Stock some good BSD snacks for quick access in your purse or car, wherever you are getting tempted.
And, if all else fails and you eat a hot cross bun, no worries, this is not a pass/fail diet — this is a new way of thinking about food and slipping does not get you a black mark! Just think a bit about why it happened and make a plan for next time. Practice the plan in your mind — then next time, you can trot out your pre planned response — I do it before I go to restaurants and it has seriously helped me.
Please, just don’t quit — it will become second nature after a few months and you will never go back to eating the old way again. You are going to amaze yourself in short order!