Hi all,
I started the BSD a few weeks back as I am type 2 and medication is no longer working for me.
Doc said its either lose the weight or accept its time for injections.
I have been going well, pretty strict with the diet, especially carbs.
I also train hard every day, weights and walking.
The first couple of weeks was just amazing, I lost 7kg and feel great.
The problem is, during the last week I have lost nothing at all.
Its a bit disappointing but I’m not giving up.
Can anyone offer advice as to why this might be happening please?
Thanks for any replies.

Hi Richy, well done on your loss and well done on joining this group. It is common to hit a wall at week 3 or 4. Something to do with the body trying to hang on to its fat while it catches up with what is going on with the food intake. Stick with it and you will soon be moving again.

Now might be a good time to start counting and measuring again to avoid the dreaded “I think I have got this” creep when you dont bother measuring food portions and carbs because you are used to it. It is easy to misjudge.

Are you taking your BG at all and have there been any improvements. Should be seeing good results in that area so dont worry about your weight too much. Both will happen i.e. weight loss and good BG. I am long term T2 and my doctor was keen to get me on insulin very quickly as I had very bad reaction to all meds he tried. Worst thing I could ever do. First thing is I gained 15 kg in 6 months and never really lost it until I started this plan some 4 years ago and it is still a struggle. Every time I inject (once a day) I know I am putting on weight only to have to be stricter on the diet to fight against it. I have a lovely tummy and midriff area (NOT) covered in dimples, creases and bruises. I can sometime cry over having to stick myself night after night but generally just accept it as I will probably never get off the stuff – sound like an addict but it is just as bad. That is just my experience, hope it doesnt become yours.

Hi Sunshine-girl,
thanks a million for your reply.
I was wondering if it was something like that, the body fighting back and saying “no you dont”.
Good of you to reply to my question, and very helpful.
I will hang in there.
Sounds like you have been having a tough time of it, it must be hard injecting AND knowing it will put weight back on.
Sounds like a never ending battle, but you must keep up the fight always, never give in even when it gets you down.
You must have a good attitude to have dealt with your issues for years.
I havent been doing my BG, I am due for HBA1C in December so hoping to have things under control by then.

Thanks again, take care
Richy

Richy, work hard towards your HbA1c, keep low carb and all will be well. Good luck.

Hi Richy Rich
What a great weight loss already. That’s a fantastic start. As sunshine-girl says you do get plateaus where your weight loss sticks on BSD. My first was in Week 3 and lasted 2 weeks – really frustrating! I just stuck it out but others may have better tips.

What I wanted to add in is that my blood sugar levels started to come down within days/weeks of starting the BSD (I systematically tested with a home kit). I’ve read enough of other people’s experiences and experts to know this is quite common. So, it’s likely things will be working for you already. Also, I had a lot of weight to lose (almost 6 st) but my blood sugars were back in the normal range long, long before I was in my healthy weight range. Just thought this might help with keeping going through your plateau.
As sunshine-girl says, being on insulin does make things really difficult but people on other meds e.g. metformin have been able to gradually come off them.
It’s great that you’re doing it, and again, that’s a great weight loss.
Cheers
Jennie xx

Hi Richy
One tip I forgot to mention. If you aren’t already recording the number of carbs you are having it might be worth doing. It means you have an idea of your average daily carb count. Then, if , at your next hba1c, your blood sugars haven’t lowered as much as you would have liked you could try dropping your daily carbs down a step. I use fatsecret.co.uk to record my carbs (and cals etc) as do lots on here but other apps are available!

Jennie xx
Also, if you haven’t come across Jason Fung I’d recommend his book The Diabetes Code ( or looking up his videos on YouTube – there are lots on there for free). His thing is fasting. I personally never fasted (at least not while I was getting my bgls down) as the BSD worked for me without it, but I found his information on T2 diabetes, the role of insulin, insulin resistance, how to reverse (put in remission) T2 really helpful.

Hi. Measuring progress by the reading of the scales just isnt a good idea.

There is a whole range of factors, for a start, each litre of water we drink weighs 1 kilo. So where we are on the water in / water out makes a difference. Also our weight includes what is in our digestive tracts, so 800 calories of cheese weights a lot less than 800 calories of celery.

Also high levels of insulin inhibits our bodies system for maintaining the strength of bones and building muscle. Its really not unusual to have periods where our body composition is changing but our weight is not. Which means we are loosing inches but not lbs.

Some of us measure progress by how our clothes fit, or have a target item, but if you have a lot of weight to discard you will be surprised by the order in which the body prefers to loose weight, a lot of us have found that collar bones emerge and we drop a shoe size before the body starts on the waist and hips.

Hi Jennie10,
thanks for all the tips and advice.
I will take a look at fatsecret.co.uk as I am not currently recording carbs.
Also, fasting is something I have been thinking about, maybe that will help.
I will also have a look at the Jason Fung videos.
Good luck and best wishes with your health!

Hi JGwen,
thanks for your reply.
I am receiving good answers and support so far.
Your reply is making me think, it makes total sense really.
Dr. Moseleys 8W BSD talks about weighing frequently, and is one of the main ways to monitor progress.
However, as you point out it can be misleading and is not the only measure of progress.
I myself have nice slim collarbones now!
My main point of stored fat is my tummy, and it is 50% smaller now.
However, as you mentioned fat seems to go from other places too, legs, face, neck etc even though I dont have much fat there!
I am going to start measuring myself, and get a BS monitor too as mine does not work.
Thanks again for taking the time to help!

Hi Richy, can I just say that my sad story was not for me, but a warning to you what going onto injections is like. Avoid it if you can. However, you didnt say what meds you are on, doses etc. I am asking this as, someone has already mentioned, you can see very fast BG results on this plan. I went from a shocking 190 to 150 in 3 days and down to 120 a couple of days later. For this reason you have to be very aware of the possibility of having a very low reading or even going hypo. Do you know how you feel when you are too low. Do you need any tips to keep you on plan but protect yourself at the same time. Also, be careful with fasting, it is certainly not recommended for diabetics although some people do manage it but not in these early days. Just take care.

Hi, Richy Rich,

Its really common for people to come to the forum in despair because they have not seen a change in scales for hours. – It can be really disheartening for those who focus on the scales alone. I think the key point is as you say, Dr MM calls monitoring weight as one of ways of monitoring progress, not the only one. So many people focus on weight only.

One piece of advice, don’t just monitor weight, and inches around the waist. – Think about fitness as well.

The advice to monitor carbs is a good one. – The bottom line is keep carbs low enough to keep insulin low and your body will heal, Once that healing has occurred then it gets simple, keep insulin low so your body is using fat as fuel and either your body uses fat you eat for fuel, or it uses body fat. – Its up to you on the amount of calories you eat.

Hi Sunshine-girl,
thanks for the tips – I dont think I suffer from hypos though, seem to have enough energy to exercise every day even with the BSD.
I will however be cautious with the fasting, I might try once a week, skip breakfast and lunch, and see how it goes from there.
I have been having porridge for breakfast because its low GI.
It seems however that the Oat-So-Simple falvoured pouches are not so good for BG and weight loss.
Porridge is not on the menu now.
Take care and thanks again
Richy Rich

Hi JGwen,
you are right, it is awesome when you see the weight falling off each day, but not good when it stays the same.
I am a newbie at this and it is clearly a learning process, and slightly different for each person.
I will shift my focus to fitness, health and shape rather than just weight.
I stay pretty fit, and have intensified my training since I started the BSD.
I like your point about lowering insulin and the body healing, it is a new way of looking at the problem for me.
Thanks and take care,
Richy Rich

Gidday from Australia Richy.

My experience is weight loss is not linear and you loss the same each week.

In fact sometimes you increase weight, or at least it looks that way as muscle increases, and muscle weights more than fat.

You can go for quite a while with no apparent weight loss and then boom a lot comes off.

G’day Midfielder,
thanks for taking the time to reply to my message.
I am training fairly hard, mostly weights and floor exercises, so was wondering if it could be muscle mass.
I suspect it is something to do with the body hanging on to any fat.
I am sticking with the diet, so hopefully will see progress soon.
Cheers,
Richy Rich