Tomorrow is my first day of the 8 week diet. I did 5:2 for 3 years but that was a long time ago now and I’m nervous about the hunger. I’m also wondering if i’m absolutely going to give up on bread. It seems unimaginable.
My plan for tomorrow is yogurt and apple for breakfast. And a veg frittata for dinner. None of that is too far beyond my normal diet. Although I’ll be skipping the grenola and the sugar sweetened stewed fruit with my yogurt.
I can’t imagine lunch without a slice of bread. would it be acceptable to start off tomorrow with just one thin slice of grain sourdough at lunch time? Is is reasonable to wean myself off that lunch time slice over the first week? Or should I go cold turkey? What have others done?
I do feel nervous. I have just been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. My husband is a full on insolin using diabetic but in denial. I feel I have to take this step but I’d rather not! I’ll try to take it one day at a time and also get on the exercise thing as well. I already do the meditation daily so that will be helpful. I’m glad there is a forum to hold my hand. See you round and I’ll let you know how I get on tomorrow.

Hi Sallyo,
A lot of us have found that eating carbs makes the body crave carbs. – So that slice of bread will make your body want another. Its not easy changing away from your traditional ways of eating, but cutting carbs right back will, after a short period of adjustment, be easier as you will not crave carbs, and you will not feel hungry.

Sallyo, as you are pre-diabetic you are better to completely lose the bread and other high starch carbs and you will have a perfect opportunity to reverse your diagnosis. I know you want to help your husband too and you might have your work cut out if he is in denial but you will be giving yourselves the best chance. Why not just ditch it and see how it goes. By the way, you will have withdrawal symptoms as it is like giving up anything that our bodies have become used to but cutting down doesn’t work as, JGwen has already said, if you keep eating it you will continue to need it. Give it a go and see how it effects you. Do you have any medical appointments that will help you compare how you (both) are now and how you will improve.
By the way there is another thread by someone else who couldn’t face the hunger and then wanted to eat bread, look for them in the search, type in bread for one and hunger for the other and read what has been said and how that person is getting on.

Sally, I know this sounds so discouraging, but JGwen and Sunshine-girl are right…..weaning off of wheat bread will get you no where as the carbs in the bread spike your insulin, which stimulate hunger hormones. If you eat carbs you are just setting yourself up for failure.

There are however low carb non-wheat bread recipes out there if you don’t mind a bit of cooking.

The one below is a “mug muffin” and cooks for 60 seconds in a microwave….toasts beautifully for breakfast as well (cook, then split and pop in a toaster or can butter lightly and grill in a skillet to toast one side). Great with sugar free jam ….also great to have for lunch with tuna fish.

These websites have recipes for loaves of bread…..eash uses various special ingredients with either almond flour or coconut flour as a base, to give it a bready texture.

I was a hard core bread lover before going on low carb and then BSD….so I hear ya. But try some of these recipes if you cook a bit.

GOOD LUCK!

LTC

If not….can try this from Amazon (or see if you can buy locally) its is really good. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Josephs-Whole-Wheat-Pitta-Bread/dp/B00OFX62E6/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1526155933&sr=8-1&keywords=low+carb+pita

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Easy Breakfast Biscuit for One

A healthy, low-carb breakfast biscuit/scone. Serves 1.

1 1/2 TBS golden flaxseed meal (finely ground)
1 TBS coconut flour
¼ tsp ground psyllium husk powder (try 1/2 tsp)
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. butter, best if cold…can grate cold butter on rasp grater
1 large egg, very well beaten

Beat egg very well until no steaks for white remain.

Add dry ingredients and stir well.

Using a small grater, grate butter into mixture and stir just to mix (can also simply finely chop/dice butter and add).

Spoon into a well greased 4-inch ramekin (or a flat bottomed coffee cup).

Microwave for about 60 seconds.

Turn out and let partially cool on a rack before slicing open (I use my oven rack if oven is cold).

Split in half with a serrated knife. Toast if desired (toasts well).

Cal 178, 1.4 net carbs 46% fat

With 2 oz sausage: 398 1.4 net carbs 17 gm protien

RECIPE SITE LINKS:

https://www.gnom-gnom.com/gluten-free-paleo-keto-bread/

https://sugarfreelondoner.com/rustic-paleo-bread-seeds/

https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/the-keto-bread

Thank you everyone for your wise replies. I will take it on!
Had 150gm of full fat Greek yogurt and a serve of raspberries for breakfast.
Now the big one, lunch: I had lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, basil, ricotta cheese and chicken in a salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing. It was filling and I am happy.
Busy day today so may not get to the steps goal. I am going to try to increase my steps by 500 a day, as advised in the book, from a low base of 4,500 steos. But there will be a lot of sitting in meetings today so that may not happen. I will try to do a walk when I get back and there is no reason at all why I can’t do my knee strengthening exercises. Mindfulness practice already done: an hour in Quaker Meeting for Worship.
Dinner is the vegetable frittata from the book. I always have eggs on Sunday so that will be a normal Sunday night tea. But no dessert or wine.
Day 1 is going well.

Sallyo, how goes it? You are on Day 3 now….managing ok? Hoping you are getting on well. LTC

HI Lovetocook. I love to cook too.
It’s going well. On Day 2 I made the beetroot falafels and the haloumi salad for dinner guests. I made flat breads but didn’t eat them which felt very empowering. Didn’t drink wine either, and served it to everyone else.
Day 3 went ok, although I had a bit of a break out with peanuts and cider – I had to buy it for the roast pork gravy, and then I had to finish off the stubby. But then I found out that peanuts are not considered high carb so I felt better about it. I need to make sure dinner is ready in good time so I don’t have that hungry desperation which can lead to uncontrolled break outs.
I am thinking that counting calories every day isn’t something I can do. Also I wonder what would happen if I just cut the carbs and eat to my appetite à la Amanda Sainsbury Salis Don’t Go Hungry Diet.
Exercise is another big challenge for me and I have certainly upped the walking. Yesterday did a lovely long walk on the beach with a friend. This is just as important in fighting my diabetes as the food.
The good news is that at the start of day 4, I have lost an inch off my waist measurement. That is hugely encouraging.

Day 4. Went pretty well. mushroom omelette with ricotta cheese for breakfast. A café latte for lunch and an avocado and nuts. Dinner was the Moroccan meat balls with a tomato sauce and cauliflower rice. I was delighted by the cauliflower rice which I didn’t have high hopes for but it actually worked like rice and was quite filling, soaking up the lovely flavours of the sauce. Also managed a longish walk along the railway track through the bush, noticing the baby wattle buds waiting to burst open in Spring. It was nice to think that I will be doing that walk often and will get to notice them growing and opening. Feeling a bit peckish now – so I’ll have a glass of soda water. Going surprisingly well!

Hope you don’t mind me joining your thread? I started the 8 weeks on Tuesday (although, I have done for a few weeks once before but got ill and had to stop – not as a result of the diet, I hasten to add!) Desperate to shift at least 2 stone in the 8 weeks. Hoping that is achievable? I need to lose 3.5 stone at the v least…
My top tip is a banana pancake (it’s really an omelette). I have it for breakfast every day and it keeps me full all morning. Whenever I do anything else for breakfast, I am starving hungry ALL DAY! 1 banana mashed, mix in 2 eggs, fry and flip and serve up with cinnamon on top. 295 calories. Eggs are the only way to survive on this diet!
I didn’t feel overly peckish on Tuesday and Wednesday but constantly thinking about food today. Probably not particularly hungry, but it’s habit! Slightly dreading the weekend with no booze!

Delighted to have you join my thread and travel on this path together, tummymummy. The banana pancake sounds like a go-er. I am mostly enjoying Greek yogurt and either grated apple or raspberries- which is a treat. That seems to fill me up till lunch time more than an egg. It was my usual breakfast previously except before I had fruit stewed with sugar and my honey/maple syrup grenola. So i’v cut the sweet stuff. I did find myself craving sugar yesterday, dreaming of jelly babies of all things! Yes, i’m Finding the alcohol question challenging too. But on the plus side the recipes in the book are really good. I am surprised by how good they are. We had burghal wheat risotto last night and it was yummy! My diabetic husband – who is not on the diet- was also impressed. And we had raspberries without sugar with cream and it almost felt like old times! Sleeping has been a bit light but I had a better night last night.
We can do it!