I’ve been trying to diet now for a few weeks but I’ve suddenly lost focus and everything has gone to pot. I had some advice from my GP to cut down the carbs and that is what I did. I’m already wheat intolerant but totally cut out all the things like pasta, biscuits, rice etc. Thought I was doing okay with that and I mean that took a huge effort but I had no other guidance. I continued along this track and got turned around by trying to find the right diet to follow for me. I looked at Keto, Low carb and have been calorie counting but I’m not happy with being on anything at the moment. It all seems to be too restrictive for me. But, I need to lose the weight. I already am prediabetic, high cholesterol, and have thyroid issues alongside pernicious anemia. That’s not including my likes and dislikes and a phobia which restricts me further.

I have checked what my normal diet would be without changes and I’m way too high on the old carbs so I know this is one thing to change. I’m hoping that the BSD is right for me although I’m concerned about the restriction in calories. I have also done 5:2 which worked well for me and Time Restricted Eating which didn’t have any impact at all. MY weakness is scoffing in the evening so am trying not to do that. I don’t drink, or smoke and am trying to up my exercise (I have some issues with chronic pain and balance) so it’s not all so easy. All exercise that I like requires a partner (which I don’t have able to join me) and horse riding which is expensive and out of the question for now. I’ve bought a cycling machine, I have a step machine, Youtube and balance board. I do have a habit of sabotaging things by eating what I shouldn’t.

Any tips or advice please just to help me stay on and keep on track with the BSD? How does everyone get through the low calorie period? I know it’s supposed to get easier.

Hello Tina, glad you are at least still with us. It is not easy to go on a change of eating (not a diet) and not have cravings, bad days, absolutely sick to death days – I know I do.

First of all stop being so hard on yourself, you are not failing, just not in the right frame of mind. Ask yourself what your motivation is, or as some would say on here, what is your why. I know you want to lose weight and I know you are pre-diabetic. These are the things you need to concentrate on. Also, you dont have to do everything at once. Just take it a step at a time. This is not a diet, it is a live style change. For example, you are wheat intolerant so you already have to make some changes. Next you must totally eliminate cakes and biscuits, they are a big no no. Now change just one more thing, like not eating either rice or pasta, change for cauliflower rice or courgetti spaghetti. If you head for the biscuit tin one night it is not a disaster, you have not failed, just forget it and get back on plan. However, unless you have family who eat loads of crap (you say you don’t have a partner) then get rid of this stuff for your house or your sight. Dont worry about the calories for now, if you stop eating a lot of the carbs you will be cutting down on cals anyway.

You say 5:2 worked well for you so why don’t you do that again. Have you got the book or are you just winging it. If you are doing 5:2 then don’t go mad on the ‘off diet’ days, stick with something like the Mediterranean diet and still keep the carbs out.

I want to give you a virtual kick up the backside for one thing. You are pre-diabetic and I am sure they are just words to you. In six months or so (without making changes) the words will have changed from pre-diabetic to Type 2 diabetic. First it will be on your medical records for the rest of your life as doctors generally don’t believe it can be changed or reversed (ask Verano, she has been in remission for 7 years but they wont change her medical status). So it will effect things like whether you can drive, travel insurance, life insurance and so many other ways it will effect you. It is a label for life. Hope that is enough to take in for now but remember, you are not being judged, we are here to help and support you. No matter what you want to know and even if it has been asked 100 times, we will still be happy to help.

Just to start off why dont you pick a date in the very near future. Clear out the junk, write a shopping list, look at recipes and plan a menu, do the shop and then start when you have all the tools to help you. Do you have the BSD book.

Sorry this is a bit long and might be a lot to take in but I just write as I am thinking about things. Yes it is a challenge but it is one you can take on and beat.

Denise

Hi Denise

Thank you so much for your response! Yes, I’m still trying 😀 When I first started this weight loss thing, I did cut out all cakes and biscuits, too. It really makes me feel guilty just looking at them now. But, I couldn’t resist some gluten free crumbly cakes…ahem…way too gorgeous!

Anyway, I’m hopefully back on track and have decided to go back to what worked for me before: The 5:2 but will be going down to 800 as opposed to 500. Sometimes I may even have more than 2 days fasting as it all depends on how I feel. I followed the diet to the letter before but have given the books away. I have almost bought all of Dr Michael Mosley’s books. I have the BSD diet book and the recipe book but I’m not keen on most of the recipes in the book and will probably make use of the quick recipes at the back. I live alone although I have a partner so it’s my fault if I buy things I shouldn’t! However, he’s not exactly healthy with his diet so can’t really help me with mine.

I definitely do not want to be labelled a Diabetic type 2. I have enough diagnosis’ to be going on with. It’s a struggle to get the help for those. I am on a weight loss programme, MyLife Plan or something but I’m doing all my logging on an app, called MyNetDiary. Basically, I’m not good with groups so they figured I’d be better off with the digital program. It’s okay but it’s just like I’m doing it on my own anyway.

I’m starting officially on the 5:2/low carb/BSD diet on Monday although I’m still calorie counting now. I’ve set up the MyNetDiary app to do 2 days a week at 800 calories and the remainder days on 1, 763 calories which is what the MyLife suggests. If I can do more than 2 days at 800 I will and I’m not going to beat myself up if I fall off the wagon sometimes.

Thank you so much for your help and support. I appreciate it so much! I’m pretty much on my own with this and I’ve been stupidly buying all sorts of diet books etc, trying to find the right one for me. I’m not keen on going down the keto route as that is not a healthy state to put your body in. It’s effectively what diabetics are trying to avoid!

Glad you are starting. Is today the day. Someone else has been saying that low carb med style diet is helpful as it is not so strict, that could be your diet on none fast days.

Not saying you should do keto but it has come a long way since the days of Dr Atkins. Today, and the one we follow is more low carbs than high fat. In fact the super high saturated fat he advocated is totally discredited. For us, high fat means good fats like avocado, olive oil, almonds, oily fish, meats still have obvious fat cut out etc. No one here believes in eating fried sausages with bacon and fried eggs but you can occasionally have something like chicken sausage grilled or bacon grilled with a poached egg.. Someone asked if I was on keto and when I said yes, they said I couldnt be because I didnt eat fried foods. They still had the old diet in their minds.

Anyway, good luck with your first day and keep in touch.

Hiya! Yes, Monday was the day and I effed up. I’m finding the low carb side of things very difficult because some of these foods were my go-to and helped in other different ways. I stayed under my calorie quota on Monday but then went over my recommended carb quota by eating oats and a turmeric latte with no added sugar and made with oat milk. Turmeric is good for the stomach which is why I drink it. I also drink matcha latte, another change to what I would usually choose to drink.

I love oats and I eat them so often I have become intolerant to them. However, they were something recommended to eat because they help lower cholesterol (a problem I have). Potatoes were another staple of mine. So, this is why I’m finding things tricky at the moment. As well as not seeing any positive changes to encourage me to continue with some of these changes. I have to admit to still being in a pickle as I’m still being bombarded with conflicting information such as a diabetic book puts almond milk and oats in the red list, and says that low fat dairy (sugar added) is the way to go. I have personal problems with this, not only because I don’t understand the reasoning and again, more restrictions. Then you take a long look at how many items of food are in the red list and how little there is in the green list. Not a sustainable way of living at all.

It’s like reading a particular book by a lady with goddess in her name, who claims to help you lower sugar in your diet and then says that Rice syrup or something similar is ok! It’s all sugar ffs! Make up your mind and these are the experts! NO wonder I’m confused.
So, I’ve decided to make changes in my diet according to what I feel happier with. Like eating full fat dairy because I don’t like sticking unnecessary sugar in my body if I can help it. I will go low carb but I’m consuming potatoes (will try and eat new potatoes more than baked and look towards resistant starch and low GL) and oats but not in excess. Otherwise I will not have anything left to eat!

TBH I just want to be able to sit down with a dietician or nutritionist and ask them a load of questions that I have instead of being shoved onto an online diet programme that is not overseen by anyone just because I can’t do groups.

Can you tell that I’m extremely angry, lol! And,yes, I’ve just read somewhere that once you have the diagnosis of diabetes, then you’re stuck with it and some experts don’t believe that it can be reversed by diet or exercise. What a load of *****!

Tina x

Dont be disheartened Tina. I am in a pickle myself. Trying to lose weight for a friends visit in September and have completely gone the other way. Trying to keep carbs low and that meant my calories were too low. It is a frigging hard balance. S’cue French,

First of all I am full blown diabetic so I have to be really strict on this diet as far as carbs go. I have always said, if I wasn’t diabetic there is no way I would do such a strict diet as it is too hard for most people. It is only because I know it is good for me. Now you are not diabetic yet, you just need to knock the pre diagnosis firmly on the head. So maybe you can accept that this will not be your diet forever although you will always have to be a bit careful around carbs. So this is just for now. When are you seeing your doctor for re-testing. Set yourself a goal date. That said….

Oats are good for you but if you normally have 40g or more then you just need to pare it back a bit. Around 30 to 35g. And yes you are right, sugar is sugar is sugar. As for the oat milk you can get unsweetened which is different from low sugar, just not had anything added. I get cross when I see low carb recipes which then add maple syrup or honey as if it is something good for you. Next, dairy. I think you have realised that low cal or low fat means some other crap has been added. Nothing tastes better than real cheese, I used to always have low fat and it was like eating wax. Yoghurts, stick with plain with no flavourings. Skyr is good. If you want flavour just add some berries (get a bag for the freezer). Throw on a few nuts, yes they are carbs but good ones and they are good for you in moderation. This is a good breakfast on the days you are not having oats and eggs are good too.

Now for the nutritionist. That was my worst mistake. I still have the diet sheet she gave me, and remember this is a diabetic diet she was giving me. Cereal or toast for breakfast, carb snack mid morning, rice or pasta with a salad for lunch, carb snack mid afternoon and potatoes or rice with dinner, then toast or rice cake before bed. Turns out they want to keep your blood glucose high so you dont have hypos. She recommended carbs with every meal and 3 carb snacks and claimed it was fine as long as I cut out SUGAR, but carbs are sugar. I paid to see her so I stuck to it for 6 weeks as recommended and gained 5kgs and my BG went from pretty normal (around 90) to over 200. I showed it to my doctor and he said it was rubbish and even he couldn’t eat that much every day.

I am going to find some videos for you to watch, people who have a different take on food and diabetes, who don’t talk a load of old rubbish. You will get there, just take it at your own pace. The first one I recommend is TedTalks Sarah Hallberg, called Reversing Type 2 Diabetes Starts by Ignoring the Guidelines. She is wonderful. BTW the potatoes. This is not an all or nothing diet, just cut your portion size so you get the satisfaction but cut the cals and carbs.

As I always say, keep on keeping on…

Tina, your last post seems to have disappeared although it is still on the opening page and on my email.

You ask if I am diabetic. Yes, 18 years and 7 years on this diet with excellent results but not managed to get into remissions. Injecting insulin daily and always having to be careful with my diet.

That said, you must realise if you cant get to grips with some sort of meal management and especially reducing your carbs (not necessarily cutting out completely) you are likely to end up in the same situation. When I was first diagnosed I faced the same issues as you. Doctor says, your diabetic, go away and eat less and do more exercise. At that time I was on a WW type diet and always done lots of exercise so didnt see what else I could do. Then came the nutritionist as like you I was desperate for someone to give me guidance. That didnt work out well. Then I found this site and my life was turned around. I used to cry most days when my BG didnt go down. No one tells you what to eat, all advice is conflicting, it is all a mess and medical people are as useless as we all are. So from being diagnosed you will be put on medication, so will help but not much. If that doesnt work you might have to use insulin injections as I do, which will give you great control at great cost. But you have the perfect opportunity not to go down that road. Today we know what to eat and what not to eat. Carbs, carbs carbs are the main culprit for sugar in our blood. One average bowl of pasta without sauce has the same as 30 teaspoons of sugar.

You are here, you dont have to wait years for someone to tell you what to eat, we know what you should eat, you can get support, the rest is up to you. If you are going down the veggie, plant based diet then I have no knowledge of this and you will be making another total change to your diet adding yet more complicated decision like how much to eat, what to eat etc. You might as well stick with your every day diet and just cut out the carbs or have the same as usual with a smaller portion of carbs and see how that goes in a couple of weeks. Take your BG tomorrow morning before breakfast then try the diet and check again in 2 weeks. If you dont do something your will be forced to change because diabetes is for life unless we do something to stop it. For me every day in a chore, what to eat, 10 tablets a day, 1 injection every evening. I cant just get fed up with it and throw a hissy fit, the diabetes will still be there.

If you think I am being a bit harsh with you just remember, I have been there and I dont want to see even one other person have to go through the same life changes and worry that I have.

You might want to look on YouTube at Dr Becky – 3 day eating plan to start or restart low carb dieting. Her first words are Have you failed to get on track , then you need a plan.

Hi all, I’m new to this forum but just wanted to share how thing’s are going for me. I’m on my 5th week of the BSD and have used a combination of shakes, soups (for convenience when out over Summer hols) and recipes from the book. I started this diet to prevent diabetes after my sister developed type 2 (and also has AKI as a result) a couple of year’s ago. I would say the first couple of week’s were the hardest, but I’m now feeling many benefits, including increased energy and a reduction in migraine and headaches (which I’ve always suffered with) as well as some weight loss. I am also sleeping better and no longer crave the foods I thought I would greatly miss, such as bread, pastry, sweets and biscuits etc. I did decide to treat myself the other evening and made the sponge fruit pudding pg 193 in the BSD recipe book, and have to say it was a huge success! Delicious and filling, I had it with creme fraiche as a combined tea/dessert. The chocolate brownie recipe pg 191 is also a healthier option if craving something sweet. I am lucky, in that I like a wide variety of foods and get as much enjoyment from fish, pulses and veg as I do from sweet option’s, but my sister’s diagnosis was a wake-up call. My uncle and several cousin’s also have diabetes and my grandfather lost a leg due to the condition, though that was over 40 year’s ago. I do also believe that you have to be in the right frame of mind before you embark on a lifestyle change and have faith in yourself.
Try and remove doubt, negativity, and fear of not being able to see it through from your mind! Hang in there, and the benefits are evident!! Wishing everyone luck.

Hi Lisagal, I hope your experiences can spur Tinajcollins to try this way of eating out. It is not easy but all the effort is worth it. I hope you can maybe convince members of your family to have a healthier life.

In the meantime we keep trying to encourage people with medical problems that life doesnt have to be like that and a little sacrifice now can safe your life. It is frightening and people get stuck and afraid of failing but just giving it a try is worth it.

Glad it is working well for you.

Thanks sunshine- girl. I truly believe that once past the first 2-3 week’s, things become easier. Not least because you can see and feel positive results after this short period of time. I do hope you can regain focus Tinajcollins, and get back on track! My sister is aware her type 2 can be reversed, but say’s she would rather have her treats and take the small dose of medication she is currently on! Her choice I guess . . But I may still try some gentle persuasion! I also feel we should be aware of when we are creating our own barriers and obstacles. There’s not much point saying “I prefer exercising with a partner” if that’s not an option! I understand that probably sounds harsh, but you have to work with what’s available, and try and improvise where possible. Similar to saying I love bread and cake etc, which I do . . But I know its not part of this lifestyle change, isn’t good for me, and 5 week’s in I’m feeling better without those foods! Plus there are much healthier yet decadent treats in the recipe book, as i mentioned yesterday. Focus on the positives and what you will achieve, rather than despairing about the negatives and how difficult it could be! Hope this is encouraging, rather than sounding like a lecture! I believe anyone can do this of they really want to, though it may not be easy! X