hi all,hoping for some encouragement please . i started diet about 3 weeks ago but the weight is not falling off as i had hoped but i have lost 3 lbs and 2 inches off my waist to date. i have not been diagnosed as diabetic but due to menopause and being overweight i decided to help myself by doing the diet. i am struggling with a lack of certain hormones , weight gain, increased blood pressure and very heavy periods, so thought i would ask on here how other ladies are getting on. doctor is sending me for blood tests due to possibility of anaemia and to see gynae. i am determined to stick to the diet as i know it can only be good for me as i am about 3 stone overweight.i am drinking in excess of 2 litres of water daily. i have a physically demanding job and work from home(a farmer) but struggling to increase my exercise levels more due to the heavy blood loss i have on an almost constant basis ie 3 weeks in 4 isnt easy to live with!

Hi Hetty,
You are doing well sticking to the diet in view of all your health issues. Your wayward hormones won’t be doing you any favours so well done for persevering. I can only imagine how tired you must get with that level of blood loss and a demanding job.
You seem to be drinking plenty so I’m wondering if you could be relying more on carbs to fill you up instead of fat?
Sometimes it’s worth a quick check and a little tweaking there might be enough to put you back into fat burning mode.
Make sure you are getting enough iron in your diet too to replace what you are losing. Apart from obvious sources like liver, beef and seafood, there are dark green leafy veg, sunflower seeds, nuts, beans and tofu. I read years ago that having vitamin c rich foods with the same meal helps your body to absorb iron. So a squeeze of lemon on your cooked leafy greens, or a nice big salad with tomatoes and raw red peppers should help.
I wouldn’t be worrying about not getting enough exercise if your job is physically demanding you are probably doing more than you think. If you are anaemic you’d probably get a bit puffed out and dizzy if you overdid it anyway.
Keep posting and let us know how you’re getting on. There’s usually someone who can help.

hi cherrianne, thanks for support. have had a bit of a rethink today and i think you were right about not having enough fat. i have also realised that i have been snacking on too many nuts especially cashew which i hadnt realised were so high in carbs so its back to the drawing board. at the moment i feel as though me and my body are at loggerheads with each other!

Hi Hetty

I think you are doing so well juggling all that you are AND still having your numbers move in the right direction (albeit slower than you’d hoped) . I hope you get some answers to the medical issues – sounds awful to be dealing with all of that. My 10 year old boy said – ‘Mum, women have all the hard stuff- having babies and pains and periods! ‘ (training him early 😉) – and he doesn’t even know about the crappy menopause stuff.

Sounds like you’ve already found some ways to begin to tweak things. I agree with Cherrianne, keep posting and keep up with the positive changes you are making.

OP

Hang in there Hetty, I’m sure you’ll start seeing weight loss again soon. You’ve probably found the problem already in the cashews! I love nuts too but cashews are pretty high. I try and stick to 6 walnut halves or some almonds and I put them in a little ziplock bag with some sunflower seeds ( hulled). The sunflower seeds are low carb, high protein and taste pretty good. That’s my allowance of nuts/ seeds for the day to snack on.
I really hope you get the gynae appt. and treatment underway soon. The hormone changes around menopause are bad enough without your very excessive blood loss.
As OP says, you are doing really well! Stay positive, things have to get better soon 🙂

Hi Hetty – it’s worth pointing out that lots of us on the BSD diet experience plateaus during the process, where the scales resolutely refuse to budge, even though we are religiously sticking to the letter of the diet. I have has experience of this myself during weeks 2 and 3. Elsewhere on the forums, the conventional wisdom is this is absolutely normal and that if you just stick with the regime, the weight will start to fall again. Of course, it is worth reviewing what you are actually eating, but if tweaking this doesn’t work immediately, don’t be disheartened, if you are sticking with low-carb 800 cals a day, the weight loss will eventually start again.

Well done on progress to date and all achieved under particularly difficult circumstances as well. Stay focused and make the most of the forums – there’s lots of support and encouragement out there. It’s certainly helped me.

I’m also premenopausal, and have hypothyroidism, and I lost just under a stone in the first three weeks of the BSD. The weight loss is noticeable too and comments from friends and family are very motivating. However, week 4 has been horrendous. My scale weight has been yoyoing all week, in some cases showing more than half a kilo gain in a day, even though I’m sticking like glue to the diet. I have also registered more in the morning than I was the night before. Because of the premenopause, I have been taking Duphaston tablets from day 16 to 25 of my cycle, when it’s there, and I started this month’s lot 3 days ago. Just wondered if anyone else is taking this, or something like it, and noticed any changes in weight. I wondered if it causes water retention, since visibly it can be seen that the fat is going, but the scales tell a different story.

Hi HettyB, you are doing great. I consider myself to be premenopausal but haven’t had anything like the severity of symptoms that you have. I only posted this week about premenstrual weight gain making my scales go up instead if down- it’s souls destroying, but I can report that they have started moving in the right direction now! This forum is great too, as I read that plateau-ing is common at weeks 2 and 3, which is where I am at now. Hope you get some answers from your Bloods soon. It may also be a good idea to let your GP know you are doing this diet- if you are found to be anaemic, you may need to get that tarted first- just a thought. Good luck and hope you feel better soon x

*sorted*