Hello there, Ive been doing this on my own for around 6 weeks now and lurking around the site for a coupe of weeks getting recipies and advice (thanks). I don’t feel that I’m doing very well though and I’m not sure what it is that’s happening. Ive lost 11 pounds (around 5kgs?) which i know is not to be sniffed at but I feel like I hardly eat anything some days and remember loosing more weight on the dreaded slimming clubs.(never kept if off of course!). I have 2 sisters at Slimming World now and they seem to be loosing so much but I do suspect they are eating very little and low carbing. However they dont seen to put weight back on as fast as i do. If I even look at a bottle of wine or some pasta I seem to put 2 lbs on whereas they don’t.They might not loose weight that week but they don’t put it on!
I also see people on here who seem to loose so much weight. I don’t have diabetes but I was around 17 stone and had terrible cravings for refined carbs. I just wondered if it is as necessary for those not watching blood sugars to lay completely off things like potatoes or pasta? Is the actual point of this to be in ketosis? I think what may be happening with me is that I’m not eating much but I’m not in ketosis because I’m not entirely sticking to non-carb foods? I will eat nothing all day except a mushroom omelette and a bit of low carb bread and then low carb dinner but some extra carbs at night (dark chocolate, an oatcake, hummus that kind of thing). Can I still be in ketosis even for a little while or does it take a while to build up? I eat far too much dark chocolate but have managed to get rid of many other cravings. I have a very busy life, working and have 3 children at various ages. Our house is also the community eating centre for the rest of the family. (lots of big dinners) Being so busy and having a big family I wonder if this is the right way forward for me as I feel like I never seem to get a good run at anything and end up sabotaging my good efforts?
Any advice would be great. Thank you x

Welcome Tululah 🙂
Yes – I think it is. (I think the point is ketosis)
Do you count the grammes of carbs you eat a day? You might be surprised that it comes highish. For instance, I probably wouldn’t eat the oatcake, although its different for everyone. I average between 20 – 35g carb a day, and if I go over, there’s very little weight loss – again this varies heaps from person to person!
I’m not watching blood sugars or a diabetic but I just can’t control myself if I’m eating the refined carbs and just don’t loose the weight so fast. Obviously 11lb is fantastic but you may find it much quicker with lower carbs and lots of water to kick off the fat burning process.
My day might include – soup/cheese/meat/nuts/egg/latte/dark chocolate/veg
Most of the carbs there would come from latte, dark chocolate, veg, soup, but if you count carefully its possible to keep it low.
I’m sure others will be on with good advice… but – have you measured? You might be pleasantly surprised that all along you’ve lost several waist inches or inches anywhere! Its a boost when the scales don’t register a loss.

Thank you made to measure, Its a strange one because as I’m writing that post I am almost answering my own queries. I just keep getting drawn to thinking I should just try Slimming World again as they seem to eat way more carbs and still have weight loss. (Thats knowing it has never worked for me but my mind tells me maybe things will be different this time. Sometimes I feel like I’m going mad. I just can’t get my head around it. My sisters are not in ketosis eating more carbs and calories than me but loosing weight. How can that be? I’m so sorry, with all the moaning. Just struggling a bit today. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow. Thank you again. X

Don’t worry Tululah – we need to moan at times and why not anonymously on here!
Before you think further about switching back to Slimming World, read Gary Taubes book called “why we get fat”.
Its really interesting. I’m nearly through it.
I used to do Slimming World – but not again for me…. the trouble is I love carbs and once I’d lost the weight, I’d struggle with maintenance in Slimming World as I wouldn’t have taught myself to eat differently enough.
xx

Tululah, I am probably going to step on a few toes today as I have been re-reading Michael Moseleys book…The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet. I cannot find any reference to Ketosis anywhere! I personally keep my carbs below 20 and I am in ketosis which I measure using keto sticks.

Having said that…this is the Blood Sugar Diet, and the three core principles are in the book….pg 104…Chapter 6. 1) Going Mediterranean (page 105)….2) Getting Active (Page 106)….3) Sorting out your head. Number 3 is probably the hardest!

Page 113 gives you advice on what you can eat and what to avoid, so I would advise you to read it again. I have made a quick precis for you.
1)First, cut right down on sugar, sugary treats, drinks and desserts.
2)Minimise or avoid the starchy “white stuff”
3) Avoid most breakfast cereals (high in sugar)
4) Full-fat yogurt is also good (add berries)
5) Start the day with eggs.
6) snack on nuts
7) Eat more healthy fats and oils
8) Avoid margarine, use butter instead. Cheese in moderation is fine.
9) High quality proteins. Processed meats only a few times a week.
10) Eat plenty of different coloured veg.
11) Avoid too many sweet fruits..berries, apples or pears are fine, but sweet tropical fruits such as mango, pineapple, melon and bananas are full of sugar. (This is a direct quote from page 114)

It goes without saying that you need to move more (notice I didn’t say exercise..)

Just so you know my “credentials”…I have been eating this way since October 2016. I weighed in at 20 stone (probably more I got to a point where I was scared to get on the scale). At the moment I weigh 14 stone 7 pounds. It has not been easy. It has taken a long while. Did you get fat overnight? I didn’t… it took years. Therefore, taking a couple of years to get healthier, slimmer and younger feeling (I no longer carry 5 stone of fat…that’s equivalent to a 7 year old child!) is reasonable.

What I can say is, keep going… but looking at a “normal” day for you, it is probably more than 800 calories. Log and weigh everything and you can’t help but lose weight.

I hope this has helped.

Good luck
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Hello Tululah, and welcome! It does seem that you have some decisions to make 🙂 The point of ketosis is to be
burning your own fat stores for energy, instead of carbs. This can only be accomplished when you toss the carbs.
Gary Taubes book, “Why We Get Fat, and What To Do About It” is my “Bible” for weight loss. I was fortunate to
find it at the beginning of my journey, and once I had absorbed its wisdom, I made really quick work of losing the
140lbs it took me 17 years to acquire. MMosley’s book is nothing short of a miracle if you are either pre diabetic
or T2D, but I was seeking weight loss only, and Taubes set the right course for me. Additionally, it is consistent
with BSD principles. It only took 10 months to lose 140lbs and I’ve been maintaining that loss for a year. I’m not
at all a patient person, so I was grateful to find a path consistent with my personality. The most important break
through was when I realized that I was highly insulin resistant, and adjusted my net carbs down to ketogenic diet
guidelines of <20 net carbs per day. It’s possible that your sisters are less insulin resistant than you are, and
that they don’t have to take the same measures. A general guideline is that if your waist measurement is significantly
more than 1/2 your height, it’s highly probable that you are insulin resistant/metabolic syndrome, even if you
aren’t pre diabetic or diabetic yet.
I’m completely in agreement with maidtomeasure’s recommendation. Have a look at Taubes book before making
up your mind. It’s not much of your time, and quite possibly could change your life forever. It’s changed mine 🙂

Very best wishes,

Allie

Hi Mary
Really good advice to Tululah and by the way – congratulations for your fantastic weight loss. I absolutely agree that nowhere does MM say in his book that you need to go into ketosis nor does Prof. Taylor. The blood sugar diet has been a lifesaver for me but I do think that I would have been one of those people who Prof. Taylor reports were only able to reduce their meds and not reverse diabetes because they had diabetes for so many years if I hadn’t after many months dropped my carbs to 20g.

By following the BSD guidelines and reducing my good carbs to 20g I am able to be totally insulin free (I was on fast acting insulin with every single piece of food I ate and a long acting insulin at night). You know – I am not sure if that level of carbs takes me into ketosis or not. You mention you are on 20g also – is that to help with the weight loss or for your blood sugars?

Hi KrisiaD. I was finding it very hard to lose weight so decided to try the 20g way. I had been misdiagnosed with diabetes (never had a blood sugar level anywhere near prediabetic, but GP wont let me be classed as non diabetic only in remission!) I also read about fasting and thought that might suit me. So I usually fast for 24 hours and stay under 20g. Sometimes my weight still stalls so there is some science not yet discovered as to why. I do sometimes feel however, that we forget the name of this forum, which is basically The Blood Sugar Diet, and anyone reading the book and coming on here gets confused by us telling them to go below 50g and not eat things like apples when MM, obviously says you can. I just think everyone should see all sides of the polygon. I miss eating apples!

You have done amazing things whilst eating this way and I you are one of my icons. You have shown that lowering carbs is beneficial for anyone with blood sugar issues, didn’t you have an issue with your eyes that was resolved?. Talulah doesn’t have any so maybe she doesn’t need to go so low, especially as she is trying to run a very busy household. Just a by the by…if I had my way I would ban all white carbs, chocolate and alcohol, plus fizzy drinks and cakes, biscuits etc. But that may be a bit extreme lol. I don’t eat any of those things now, (used to drink alcohol and eat white carbs) and I don’t crave them (I do miss fruit though). I find this way of life so easy and I do spread the word!

I think we know that we have to find out own way of making this work. I am hoping I have found mine, and I am hoping other people find theirs.

Lots of love and deep regard,
Nonna Mary
xxx

I think you have found yours, Mary! You are a role model of persistence, and I certainly respect that 🙂 🙂 🙂 One of the
things that I admire the most about Mosley’s work is that there is so much flexibility to it! The real prize is maintenance,
so weeks without any losses is excellent practice for that eventuality. As long as we are trending downward, we are
succeeding. How far are you from breaking 200lbs? You must be very close now….and I’m getting excited for you!!
Post it everywhere, Mare, I don’t want to miss it 🙂

Hi Mary – I agree with Allie that you have definitely found your own way of making this work and also that there is so much flexibility in Mosley’s work. Many many people do so well on 50g+ good carbs – but there are some of us who don’t. A really brilliant consultant advised me that even berries were too much for my body to cope with – I know that advice is right but do mix a truly miniscule portion of blueberries in with my kefir, inulin, ground flaxseeds and yoghurt breakfast because I love berries so much.

You are so right though that we must make sure that new people do try the cutting out the bad carbs only in the first instance as it would be quite sad if they cut out good carbs when they didn’t need to.

Like you I would also ban the bad sugary starchy carbs and don’t crave them either. It’s so sad that so many people are being damaged by the bad stuff. But a big bowl of strawberries or blueberries is completely a different matter and I do miss being able to eat lots of berries.

I did have diabetic macular oedema and retinopathy and had to have Lucentis injected into my eye to stop me losing my sight. These injections were £600 an injection and they didn’t cure it so you had to have them fairly regularly. So basically I was single handedly bankrupting the NHS.

The eye consultant said I have reversed the eye problems – they have completely gone. I must admit that I would have done absolutely anything to avoid the eye injections as I have a phobia about injections into my eyes. Luckily I absolutely love BSD food (a little too much as the 5lb gain since Christmas shows)

Hi Tululah
You are quite correct that the point of the diet is to be in ketosis. “Ketosis describes a condition where fat stores are broken down to produce energy, which also produces ketones” so every diet intended to break down fat is about ketosis.
To explain – Ketones and insulin are mutually exclusive. Your body produces insulin to reduce blood sugar levels, and while in that state your body can not break down fat for energy. If you have high levels of insulin circulating then you will not have any ketones. If your level of ketones are high enough to be measurable, then it means your blood sugar and insulin levels will be low enough so that your body can gain energy from breaking down fat cells.

You don’t have to measure ketones as part of the diet, but because each of us is different in how many carbs we can have and still loose weight, measuring ketones can be helpful in working out how tolerant of carbs your body is.

Thank you all so very much for taking the time to reply. I will buy the book you suggested. I mostly do stick to low carbing but I am overeating even that way, bits of cheese here, dark chocolate there. Its a whole new way of life and that’s the thing isn’t it? I have to be committed, hard to keep it up though with 3 kids and a massive family who are used to you being a certain way (birthdays, parties, dinners nights out, BBQ’s and so on). Anyway Ill read the book and hopefully get some more inspiration. I guess I have to remember I am 11 lbs down and have been for 5 weeks. If I do another 11lbs over the next 5 weeks I would be happy. Thanks again x