I have been following the basic idea of this diet for about a week, (ie very low carb, Med diet), but not calorie counting, and I don’t seem to be losing much weight. So today I have been much more vigilant, and followed it to the letter. I had lunch ( avocado with bacon and 1 slice of low carb pumpernickel type bread), and 2 hours later was starving. I have had a small snack, but it is now only 4.45 and I am famished. I don’t have diabetes, but do have reactive hypoglycaemia which is a prediabetic condition. I feel as though my sugar is getting very low, and am going to have to eat again. Why is this diet not working for me, when everyone is raving about it? I know it makes sense, and I do feel better on low carb, but feel the calorie restriction is too much. But I NEED TO LOSE BELLY FAT!!!

I am having Greek yogurt and blueberries then the peanut butter and cream cheese dip for lunch with carrot, celery and pepper. That tends to keep me going I do have an apple with my lunch as well. Some days I have not been hungry at all but I find that is when I am busy, today nit been so busy and I was ready for my evening meal at 5.
Have you tried green tea! That seems to been helping me as well.

The more carbs i eat, the hungrier I am. My doc suggested that i increase my fats, using a few walnuts. That cut down on the hunger too, even on 800 calories. Since Malkay you had avocado, you had the fats. Perhaps it was the bread? It took me about 10 days of experimenting until I could find the right balance of foods that left me feeling satisfied and not hungry.

Thanks, Debsym62. I have to have eggs for breakfast, otherwise I am starving mid morning. I am going to try the peanut butter and cream cheese tomorrow, as that sounds good. I agree about being busy, as I haven’t been busy today. I haven’t tried green tea because it contains caffeine, and my blood sugar seems to drop after caffeine, but I might try it. If you eat at 5 (as I have just done) do you have anything before bed?

gateofheaven, I think you might be right about the bread, even though it was low carb, high protein. I have had it before, and often do feel hungry after, even though I think I shouldn’t!! I am beginning to think that all bread disagrees. I feel as though I have been experimenting forever (I’ve had this condition for 3 years). However, I do believe this way of eating is the answer if only I can manage it. You are very lucky to have a doctor who suggests increasing fats, and obviously ‘gets it’. Mine doesn’t. Thanks for the support.

I also try to add some warm beverage to the meals when I feel particularly hungry. Like de-caf teas (yes there’s a de-caf green tea!). But especially, i like some of the prepared vegetable soups we can get in the States. Imagine brand is organic and makes broccoli, mushroom, and tomato soups that have 70 calories a cup. Miso soup is a nice alternative too. I especially like hibiscus tea because it has a fruity taste. I put a bit of xylitol in it. Lots of different herbal teas to experiment with. I have a boxed de-caf black tea Chai that is quite nice – although one could make it themselves by adding spices. Many recipes for it on the internet.

Thanks again, gateofheaven. I have just bought some miso today, but haven’t had any yet. I thought it would be a good snack when I am hungry. I do drink quite a bit of decaf tea, and I do use xylitol to sweeten my cocoa at night, made with water and a little milk. I will try the decaf green tea. Thanks.

Malkay once I have eaten my evening meal I only have drinks. That is the hard bit as I used to snack all evening which explains why I didn’t do well before. I am just accepting the evening is a no food zone. ( not easy with hubby still snacking 😯)

Hi Malkay
I also have reactive hypo. I have not started the 800 yet and am nervous because of the possibilities of hypo which makes you feel so awful. However, my understanding is it’s the carbs and sugars that make the hypos happen so I think ‘no bread ‘ is the answer , just quinoa and brown rice in very small amounts. According to the theory, a few days after coming off the carbs completely we should stop having the problem. Fingers crossed and good luck.
Penny

Hi pmshrink. I am keeping to the very low carb, but not always managing 800 cals. I’m not very good at counting the calories, so just keeping the carbs very low. Today I have definitely had more than 800, as I have had a lot of protein. I definitely feel better when I don’t eat carbs, but I haven’t reached the stage of not having reactive hypo. I think I probably eat when I don’t need to, as I’m scared of getting hypo, particularly when I’m out. Good luck if you start the diet, and let us know how you get on. Hope it eventually cures us!!

Hi Malkay
I absolutely understand. I think people couldn’t possibly imagine what it’s like. Basically your brain stops working properly. It’s so horrible. And takes ages to go if it’s bad. I look at other people and think how can you not eat for hours? I’m sure they’re wondering why I snack all the time. Are you on My Fitness Pal or one of the other apps? I find it easy to track my carbs on that. Also there’s a BloodSugarDiet support group on there. Basically if you put in 100 grams of rice it will tell you the calories. I’m definitely starting g the diet soon but need to have everything in place so I won’t get a hypo and fail straight away. I ll keep you updated.
Penny

Thanks for that pmshrink. I have downloaded MyFitnessPal, but think I may be missing something, as I’m finding it very difficult to use. It seems very time consuming putting everything in manually. I don’t think I’ve got the hang of it properly, as I know everyone else seems to think it’s easy. I’ll have another look at it tomorrow. As for the snacking, I am finding that I can eat less than I used to, but not sure I will ever get down to 800 cals. For the time being, I’m just doing my best, keeping the carbs down, and generally cutting down. However, although my weight has stabilised, it isn’t shifting very well. About a pound (half a kilo) every few days if I’m very strict. Just hoping that as my sugar stabilises, I will be able to cut down more, and shift some more weight! Good luck when you start.

My doc told me to concentrate on fats to keep from being hypo. That as my body shifted over to fat burning from carb and protein the lows would ease. In the beginning I ate only according to the bloodsugar diet. After I added healthy fats, the blood sugars evened out and I felt better. My doc said that it would take a while for my body to become fat burning. He said breakfast was particularly important that i keep it high fat, moderate protein and low carb. Dr. Mosley’s ‘eggs for breakfast’ works wonders.

Hi Malkay
Re MFP. It’s best to use ‘my foods’ and ‘my recipes’ as much as possible so you’re not scrolling through lots of irrelevant stuff, especially as we tend to eat the same things frequently. But searching for foods shouldn’t be difficult. Obviously it does take a bit of time. Did you find the BSD group? It comes under ‘ community’.
Penny

Hi again Gateofheaven
I just put a two egg omelet with one teaspoon of olive oil in My Fitness Pal to check the nutrition.
74% fat, 25% protein, 1% carbs.
Great! And so not what we ve been told to do for years. I just looked at the NHS website as well. It says base your diet on potatoes, bread and pasta, with some protein and a small amount of fat. Once you’ve read Michaels book, that sounds like madness.
Penny

Hi guys, thanks for the tip on the group on myfitnesspal, I shall look you all up as I love using it. Only on day 4 but feel better, no don’t think any weight is going. I think this way of eating can be difficult to judge exact calories as we are making everything ourselves and trying to get carbs down. Anyway I’m going to keep trucking and see how it goes. Keep the posts coming they are a great motivator.

pmshrink – thanks for that. But I am obviously being really stupid. I have just tried it again. I go to ‘My Foods’, then ‘Create New Food’ . Then there are only 3 options, including brand name and serving size???? How do I add a food when there is no brand name etc? Sorry to be so stupid!

Hi Malkay
It’s just confusing at first. If there’s no brand name just put whatever name you like eg ‘apple’ then apple again in description. Then on the next page, calories. It’s obviously good if you put on all the other optional nutrients which you can google for. Then MFP will monitor all your intake of all nutrients. It’s a bit of work but only once for each thing then you ve got it there.

On 28 Jan 2016, at 16:33, The Blood Sugar Diet <tech@thebloodsugardiet.com> wrote:

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You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to the topic Help, anyone??. Links to unsubscribe are below.

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malkay wrote on Help, anyone??:

pmshrink – thanks for that. But I am obviously being really stupid. I have just tried it again. I go to ‘My Foods’, then ‘Create New Food’ . Then there are only 3 options, including brand name and serving size???? How do I add a food when there is no brand name etc? Sorry to be so stupid!

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hi Malkay. Honestly you’re not being stupid, they should make it clearer. I’ve been doing g it for a few years do have got used to it.
If you want to make a ‘food’ and it has no brand name, just put in what would help you. It might be ‘Apple’ or ‘medium apple ‘ etc. Or I’ve put in some things I have at the local cafe ( the sleepy owl) such as ‘the sleepy owl salad nicoise’ then in the description you could put
‘Apple’ again or ‘salad nicoise’ – it’s just so it’s easy to find them. You will end up with a list. You search in the search box or scroll through the list.
After you ve done the description go to the next page and pug in calories and other nutrients which is useful as MFPwill then monitor you’re input of all nutrients. You can google for the nutrients. It’s a bit of work but inly once for each item then it’s there every time.
Let me know how you get on
Penny

Thanks again, pmshrink. I’ve got that far. What do you put in ‘serving size’, and ‘servings per container’? It’s telling me I have to do it in cups, which seems strange for a salad!

Hi Malkay
For serving size for a salad you could put 1 plate or 1 bowl, or .5 plate etc. It suggests cups but you can put other things.
For servings per container put 1 in the case of the salad.
Sometimes I make hummus then I might have 4 servings in the container.
Hope this helps!
Penny

That makes perfect sense, thanks so much!! Now I can get on with it!

You can make the servings whatever you want. I do mine in grams. Just click on Units and type the first letter.

Just going out, but will come back to this in an hour or two. On the Create Food page, where do I find all the nutrition facts?

Hi Malkay
They don’t have the nutritional facts so we have to look them up on google.
Re serving size. It can be grams or millilitres as well
Penny

Thanks for all your help, pmshrink. I am finally getting there. It still doesn’t seem that quick to me, but I guess once you’ve got all your regular foods entered, its easy. I’ll persevere and see how I get on. Thanks again.

I’m sure you ll get used to it!
Penny

It was quite a bit of work for me in the beginning. I still weigh everything on a sensitive kitchen scale. Even lettuce. I’m not using a program, so write everything down (calories per gram and protein counts because i’m watching that). Once down, it’s a piece of cake. Just use my calculator and some algebra when i have something i’ve made and frozen to see how many calories. Sounds like your calculators would be faster. Perhaps i’ll learn to use those later. Now it is quite simple for me.

I do that too then put it into My Fitness Pal. I admit I don’t weigh lettuce!
Penny

lol, pmshrink! I was surprised to find that lettuce is 10 to 20 calories for the salad i make. Then i add a veg or three – also weighed. I found to my surprise that oftimes the veges were around 40 to 50 calories, so they add up. I do try to add something green every day and also some low glycemic fruit at the end of one meal. I’m being very strict right now for the first 8 weeks, just because the results are so gratifying. But unless things change, i’ll gladly go to two days a week at the end of the 8 weeks!

That all sounds very well organised. I might follow your example!
Penny

Hi could someone reply to me what would happen if I stayed on 8week blood sugar diet a lot longer then 8 weeks …
Thx

Hi all, I’m new here too. Started the 800 cal diet 21st Jan and lost nothing at all yet. Scales atuck at 75kg which gives me a BMI of 30 so I am obese.

Not eaten ANY bread, potatoes, rice or pasta at all during these 10 days. Counted calories and usually am over by 150 or 180 only but a women my age would need 1600 calories a day so why would I not be using them up I wonder?

Had flu during this time but went to the gym yesterday first time since being unwell and burned off 300 calories. Regularly spend an hour there walking, cross trainer and bike or Zumba and never butn less than 300. Should I increase my intake on days when I do this?

Just confused really as to why I didn’t lose weight so far and what to do about future gym work and calories used up there.

Hi Bunlover- great name!
It must be so disheartening not to lose.
I am only making some guesses here.
Having the flu so presumably having to sit about waiting for it to go will have taken up half at least if the days so far?? That would affect your losing weight. Maybe it’s crucial to not go over 150-180 every day? That’s about 20% extra cals. I suppose they’ve worked out 800 is the right amount. I think you don’t increase your intake on those days but I’m not sure. Maybe follow the excercise regime Michael suggests instead? ie 10,000 steps, and the exercises he uses?
Are you managing to track the fluid intake, which I find difficult I must say, both tracking it and managing so much. Re carbs. What about fruit?
One helpful thing would be to join the group for The BloodSugar Diet on My Fitness Pal. You find it in ‘community’ .Very supportive and MFP is great for tracking and tells you what carbs etc you’ve had. ( maybe you’re on it already!)
Hope this helps.
Penny

Hi there I have following since Monday this week but I have lost 5 lbs I have similar health issues to you and need to get my large waist down to natch my otherwise small frame I am not feeing cravings -I am eating very little carbs -only 30 g porridge oats made with water ,2 cups of tea with semi skimmed and odd small yoghurt and everything else is either veg meat fish chicken bit fruit and nuts , am drinking glass of water before every meal and in between

Thanks for your reply Penny. Yes, I have not been active whilst having flu. Tried once to go to the gym but coughed so much I had to leave in disgrace : ) for fear of making everyone ill.

But an inactive person my age and gender would burn 1600 without trying it seems! So I have to find out what works for me.

I have the Fitness Pal app and count everything even the little milk in tea etc. The only carbs have been in the porridge (allowed i think) and the veggies (no potatoes). No cheating except for one scone in all that time.

Will join the group you mention and battle on anyway. Hope it is all going well for you?

Hi bunlover

I am in my 60s too and have been using gym for 20 years but carrying an extra stone now , you probably shouldn’t be in the gym so soon after flu so not surprised that you were puffing .would have thought you should be losing the weight by just dieting and normal Day to day exercise without going to gym you don’t seem to be doing anything wrong so I think just tweaking a bit here and there would help
Just reading your post -how big a portion of porridge are you having and are you using half/half milk water ? And most importantly is it rolled / jumbo oats or the instant variety . I was surprised by cal content of the instant variety

Hello Cat, thanks for your reply. Yes, just eating the jumbo cheapo oats, nothing processed. 40g with 100ml milk and some water. Like it with mixed berries and a tsp of sugar but all calories counted : )

Wondering if it is a cortisol or insulin issue here as I should really be losing weight I think, even on 1,000 calories. Will get tested on Wednesday.

You have lost 5lbs in a week – well done, so encouraging!

It’s not the calories that will be the problem in your porridge but the sugar, including those in the milk and berries.

Berries are low glycemic. On Mediterranean diet.
Milk, per Dr. Mosley is good, especially whole milk.
He posted research about whole milk on the bsd.com
Sugar will boost the insulin levels and that will stop weight loss.
This diet is 800 calories – p.113. That’s because quick weight loss is motivating. I’ve found that to be true, happily. 1,000 calories is 200 calories over the limit.
Double check your oats, Dr. Mosley says to look for the least processed – but in SMALL quantities (p.131)
Hope this helps, 🙂

Don’t consider the oats a problem. As a type 2 diabetic the sugar is not an answer for me, all I would get is a blood sugar spike from sugar.

Hi,
The book says the diet is best for those with pre-diabetes or diabetes type 2. I think it would be safest for you to speak with your Doctor before continuing to decide whether this is the right diet for you considering your Hypoglycemia. Better safe than sorry.
All the best,
Spencer

“The book says the diet is best for those with pre-diabetes or diabetes type 2.”

Which I have. I have high blood sugar because I my body doesn’t take it up. That’s why I am on the diet so I can loose the visceral fat and hopefully do something about it.

Sugar is something I avoided long before the diet, now I avoid the sugary fruit I thought was doing me good like melon, pineapple and grapes. As I am loosing weight I am a happy bunny and will stick with it, without the sugar.

It is the blood sugar diet?

Hi Jcee
I don’t know what would happen if you did but I think Michael says go on the BSD Way of Life after the 8 weeks.
Maybe if you felt you still needed to you could do that for a while then do another stint on 800??
Penny

Hi Malkay
I hope you’re getting used to MFP.
I have just finished day 2. Yesterday I was hungry all the time including in the night- couldn’t sleep. And felt fairly brainless in the day in that hypo way. But today that didn’t happen. I wasn’t hungry and had a very slight hypo- y feeling late afternoon. I had a snack of yogurt and nuts then I was ok. So I think it’s working having absolutely no bread, potatoes etc, just like it should in theory. And I’ve lost a pound!
Hope you’re doing ok.
Penny

Hi pmshrink
I have been using MFP just to count my calories. I was doing quite well, having lost 4lb over about 4 days, and feeling as though my blood sugar was stabilising. Then yesterday, for no obvious reason, I had a crash mid morning, having had 2 eggs for breakfast. I had to have a snack, and then similar again in the afternoon. That took me well over 800 cals. Today I was working, and again haven’t managed to stick to it. I have had healthy low calorie meals, (eggs, chicken salad, courgette Bolognese), but have had to have snacks too. I have just weighed myself, and appear to have put 2lbs back on. Also feeling a bit bloated. I haven’t lost hope, but a bit disappointed. Am at home tomorrow, so will try really hard. But if I get a crash, I get nervous and just have to eat. Do you ride them out? I was hoping the crashes would have stopped by now, after such a promising start. Glad you’re doing well.

To avoid the crashes, this is what i do. I eat 3 good meals a day. I eat 2 eggs, 1 tsp olive oil, 1/4 C. Daiya cheese (vegan cheese that has carbs in it). 1/2 C blueberries.

All meals I eat protein, fat and some carbs. Carbs mostly in low glycemic veggies. Sometimes a small mandarin orange or 1/2 cup berries.

Yesterday I had a high fat palak paneer for lunch. So for dinner I had 1 1/2 cups of asparagus (cooked in 1 tsp olive oil, lemon juice and salt) and pea pods (1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil and soysauce) (I was craving salt and need it cuz i don’t store it).

I have a small 4th meal to take meds a few hours before bed of store bought hummus. 50 calories of fat, protein and carbs.

I am finding that the extra healthy fats seem to keep me on an even keel.

I am under my doc’s watchful eye and going whole hog with this as i am heading towards pancreatic diabetes and want to avoid that at all costs. Once the pancreas is destroyed, there is nothing to tell the liver to release sugars, so hypo is a constant danger.

Good luck.
it will be interesting to hear what others do.

Some good ideas, gateofheaven. I like the idea of hummus at night, as it is filling and healthy. I have to have something at night, otherwise I just don’t sleep. You are right about fats, they definitely help. But I seem to struggle at going for longer than 3 hours without anything to eat.

It would be helpful for me to understand exactly what you mean by “crashing”, please. We may have different definitions.

Hi Malkay
Poor you. It’s so horrible.
I’ve only done 2 days. Yesterday I did feel fairly awful in the afternoon but the nuts and yogurt seemed to help a lot. Then today I hardly felt hypo at all.
What are your snacks? I know the total urge is to eat carbs but if you are please don’t. 😞
I think Gateofheaven really knows her stuff.
I think the nervousness is part of what happens to our brains- a sort of panic sets in. If you can have 100 gms of yogurt and a few nuts and sit it out you ll probably recover. And maybe then they ll lessen.
Penny

For the sweetness, on page 113, Dr. Mosley has some helpful things to say. He does say we can use Stevia and Xylitol instead of sugar, but he says, “try to wean yourself off your sweet tooth”. Perhaps that will make the oatmeal be a happy experience. I use Xylitol mostly for its laxative effect and am surprised by my sweet tooth disappearing on its own – although please don’t put a bunch of cookies in front of me, yet! I am finding that my urge for sweets is well rewarded by berries like raspberries!!! Into 4 th week and things seem very easy now, but were quite difficult in the beginning.