Hi all

I’m starting on Tuesday and at the moment m reading through the book and about to start writing a shopping list and meal planning – does anyone have any good tips / must haves / recommendations / warnings?

I don’t have diabetes but have about 3stone to lose and have diabetes type 2 on the paternal side so think I should take action!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Helen x

Top tips are; drink plenty of water as recommended, this is very important to get the weight shifting, full fat dairy is not only allowed but very useful in keeping you satiated, don’t go for low fat versions of anything, even if they have not got added sugar for palatability they may well have a higher proportion of carbs, watch carbs in general, and drop the proportion if not losing weight. Specifics will depend on where you are, if in the UK then Fage Total Greek style yoghurt is frequently recommended. If weight loss stalls try, upping exercise, upping water, upping fat, upping salt, cutting carbs. Do not cut calories further. If you succumb to temptation for one meal or one whole day, draw a line under it and get back to normal as soon as you can. You cannot break this way of life by having the odd blow out.

Good luck Helen, my top tips are to 1) definitely drink lots of water – doesn’t have to be plain water. I have sparkling mineral water a few times a day as it keeps hunger at bay, also fruit teas (can have hot or cold).
2) Don’t be put off if you are really hungry in the first few days (doesn’t happen to everyone though) – it definitely gets easier. Yesterday for example I had less than 700 calories the whole day and wasn’t hungry. I found having some snacks on hand, in case I needed them, helped at first – a few almonds, small piece of cheese, tablespoon of yoghurt for example. I also keep tins of tuna, sachets of miso soup in my drawer at work.
3) plan as much as you can. Each afternoon/evening I plan the next days meals and enter it into My Fitness Pal app. You can always edit if needed.
4) Batch cook and freeze portions, or cook an extra portion or two when making meals. I had a few busy nights last week and it’s great to just pull out a container of chilli and a bag of cauliflower rice and dinner is ready in a few minutes 🙂
5) not sure if you are cooking for a family or not, but I’ve been giving my family the same meals, I just add pasta/potato/bread etc to theirs or give them a larger portion. I even had the family over for lunch on Australia Day and made all BSD friendly foods – no one realised they were eating “diet” foods!
6) I’m going to be honest. If you are following the 800 cal a day version of BSD then 800 is 800, and I’ve read some really good results on here. Then there’s people like me who occasionally (well ok a few times a week!) find it hard to stick to 800 calories, I go up to 900 or 1000. I’ve still managed to lose 3.2kg in 3 weeks (7lb) by sticking to the BSD principles. As I don’t have diabetes, have 20-25kg to lose, I’m happy for it to take a bit longer.
7) Don’t get too hung up by the number on the scales. You may have weeks where you don’t lose much weight at all but keep going anyway – others have described plateaus on here.
I lost 2.3kg in week 1, 0.2kg in week 2, and 0.7kg in week 3.
But I’ve had other benefits – I have a chronic health condition which has really improved in only 3 weeks and I have loads more energy, today I’m wearing a dress that I couldn’t button up a few weeks ago.
8) Keep reading the posts on these forums – they are so helpful and encouraging,
There you go, 8 tips for the 8 weeks! I’m sure other members will have more.
Hope this helps and good luck!

Hi Helen
I’ve been doing the med style plan since end of November. Started at 12st 3lbs now at 11st 2lbs. I don’t count the calories or carbs I stick to the principles. I don’t have T2D but my husband does so slowly we are trying to make changes and new habits together. This for me is about a long term way of life. I feel so much better physically and mentally eating this way. I find that I’ve gone from being someone who had to eat the minute I woke up in the morning to someone who can have a cup of coffee, not feel hungry and wait until lunch without struggling. I’d suggest ensuring you take on board the required amount of water. I’d also recommend variety with your meals. I too cook and freeze so that there are healthy ready meals in the freezer. I love and eat plenty of vegetables. I’ve cut right down on the wine (keeping it for occasions rather than every Friday night). I also don’t worry about what other people think. I’ve realised most people are too interested in what they are eating or doing or saying to even notice that I’m not eating the refined carbs. If I think of anything else I’ll let you know. I’ve found reading this forum excellent especially in the early days for help with motivation. I continue to read to take inspiration. Good luck.

Hi, I’m starting tomorrow. I’ve written a food plan and a shopping list!

Thanks mixnmatch. I am in the UK and my husband eats a lot of Fage Total greek yoghurt so that’s a good start! Drinking water is a struggle but I’ll get some Badoit in and also I’ve ordered lemons and mint to try to increase the flavour.

Is it ok to still drink tea and coffee – or should I be limiting milk intake? I don’t remember seeing much about this in the book.

Helen

Helster milk is okay but you have to count the calories, I think full fat milk in tea would be around 30 or 40 cals. I drink green tea without milk so not sure exact calories in milk, the site I use to check is a diet site so only shows fat free. Doh

Thanks SueBlue – 8 tips for 8 weeks! I’m so grateful to you for taking the time to write such a detailed response.

I’ve just had my Tesco delivery with loads of delicious veg and some fruit and nuts. My husband does most of the cooking and he is low carb so it won’t be too much of a change in the evenings – we’ve been eating cauli rice and courgetti for a while now. But being prepared for breakfast and lunch is where I fall down. Then I end up eating crisps. I’m also guilty of enjoying wine so that will also be a big adjustment. Just recently I’ve started to crave salt and this leads me to eating bread with butter and marmite late in the evening.

Soup is one of my favourite things – so I will be making my own and freezing it – hoping there are some good soup recipes in the recipe part of the website.

I did 5:2 three years ago and lost lots of weight and didn’t find it too hard at all – but then I had a bereavement and just lost control of myself and haven’t been able to motivate myself until now.

Helen

Seems like all of the people in the forums are really helpful and supportive so I will definitely follow your tip on using the site.

Thanks Doodledootoo

I will definitely take your advice about batch cooking and getting healthy meals in the freezer. That way I won’t ever be tempted to buy something for lunch at work that isn’t a good option! I am bad at drinking much water so that really needs to be a focus like you say.

Helen