Hi, I have just begun this journey and am so happy to see so many also doing the Blood Sugar Diet! I hope to gather some good tips from everyone. I have planned out the first week and oh my…it is not much food! Only just begun and I am very hungry! I see from comments that the first week is the toughest! Thanks for being here.
Jude

Hi Judycakes

I have just started today too, I don’t feel hungry – after wolfing down my dinner of chicken breast sprinkled with a bit of coconut flour, squeeze of lemon green beans and courgetti with a spoon of delicious pesto – I feel positive, … and determined its great to see people here all supporting each other – I pray I can keep to it, and I haven’t weighed myself yet – the battery is gone from the scales but I will tomorrow I promise..

Looking forward to getting to know everyone

WIG xx

Hi
It’s surprising how much food you can squeeze into 800 calories.
Everyone will tell you how they don’t feel hungry as they are cutting the carbs and replacing them with fats.
Make sure you drink as much water as you can, at least 2 to 3 ltrs / day
Make full use of the recipe section, there’s some awesome food in there.
Browse the forums, there are loads of tips and advice in there
Above all enjoy the next, incredible 8 weeks
You are both going to be amazed

Ooohhh Two more newbies😃

Welcome to the club. It really is amazing how effective the BSD is.

Keep us posted on your progress.

This is my second day. I’ve been hungry by the time I’ve made each meal – but not horribly so and really we should be hungry before we eat, shouldn’t we?

Hi Patsy,
For many of us that hungry feeling is a new experience. I used to graze my way through the day. Now I very rarely snack between meals. The urge just isn’t there anymore.
Welcome Jude and WIG, you can get the most volume of food for your 800 cals by heaping salads and leafy veg on your plate. Make sure you eat full fat, even adding a teaspoon of butter or oil to your veg will help you to feel full. The fat really does make a difference.
As you won’t be eating so many carbs you won’t be getting the insulin/ blood sugar spikes so hunger isn’t a problem. It only takes a few days for the hungry feeling to pass, and within a couple of weeks the sugar/ carb cravings will be gone 🙂

Hi Wig!
So nice we are starting together…we can be diet buddies! Well got through the first day…but did have a few cracker (soda) in the evening. I am not upset about it, it is an amazing change for me as I usually snacked continually at night. Had the Muesli this morning, quite tasty. Have you weighed yourself today? I weighed myself, but need to take the picture and measure. So excited to be on this journey to good health!
Jude

Hi everyone else that took the time to post:).. I appreciate all the great advise and kind words of encouragement. I will check in each day to see how you are doing! Thanks again
Jude

Good start Judy
By the end of 8 weeks we’ll be calling you Judynocakes 😉

Hahhaha…Judynocakes…I like that..thanks Bill:)

Hi everyone. I’m just going to be starting on this blood sugar diet today. Am off to the supermarket to get some healthy food. Any tips on what I should buy, as I am such a fussy eater, love pasta, and white rice and really really love fruit. Fruit is probably my biggest downfall, but don’t know what else to buy other than salad stuff or vegetables. Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Cherrianne, you’re right about being new to feeling hungry. Definitely something I’m not used to. Used to eat just because it was a meal time, or I was offered a snack, or passed a cake shop … Day 3 today and I’ve already turned down biscuits, chips, chocolate and wine! I’m just telling myself I can’t have them, as though I was allergic, and it’s not been hard.

Karra, if you like yoghurt, get some of that. You can have a small amount of fruit in it as a breakfast, so needn’t miss out on one of your favourites.

Chick peas are great. I hadn’t tried them before. They’re quite filling and feel as though you’re eating carbs. After the 8 weeks, I might switch to them instead of rice.

I didn’t know we could have muesli, Judy! What’s in the one you’re eating?

Hi Patsy, it is the one in the book. Raisins, apples juice, greek yogurt, walnuts and flax seeds. I liked it…but then I am hungry so everything tastes great!..lol.. I am doing ok during the day,…but have trouble at night. That is when I did most of my snacking and bad habits are hard to break. Can anyone make any suggestions to get me through. I had grapes last night…which I thought would be better than what I would normally snack on. …..thanks for any ideas!
Jude

Ah – I did see that but didn’t think of it as muesli as it’s so different to what I’d normally eat.

Have you tried the chilli? I had that last night and there was loads! It’s very filling too. If you had something like that quite late in the evening, would that stop you snacking? (The recipe is for 8 portions. I made half the amount and put half in the fridge and we’ll have it tomorrow.)

You could cut up some carrot and celery to nibble on. If they’re done already so you can just grab them, you might be able to persuade yourself to eat them instead of something else. Also try to avoid buying whatever you’d usually have eaten. If other people in the house want it too, can you persuade them to switch to something you don’t like so much, at least for a few weeks?

Hi Judycakes,
I would suggest something with fewer carbs. Fats fill you up better than carbs, and a bit of protein too helps. Grapes are not too good on either of these!
I did a few sums and assume 5 grapes are 24.5g; that is 0.18g protein; 0.04g fat; 4.43 carbs; 16.91g cals.
Some warm milk – full cream or Greek yoghurt would be better. The same amount of milk (24.5g) is 0.81g protein; 0.98g fat and 1.1g carbs – 16.41 cals or Greek yoghurt with 1.1g protein; 2.3 fat; 1.57 carbs and 31.61 cals. Greek yogurt (full fat) is most likely to leave you feeling full longest.
Why not try leaving 50 cals and 3g carbs for the end of the day? You can have 35g Greek Yoghurt and 5 blueberries in it – 49 cals and 3g carb?
Alternatively, I have a hot drink before bed – cocoa – and yes plain cocoa NOT hot chocolate. I started it a year ago when there was some publicity about elements in cocoa that were reversing memory loss in dementia patients. There is dementia in the family so I decided it could do no harm to try it. I have 5 grams cocoa powder mixed with a little cold water to a paste, then fill up with hot water. It took a few days to get used to as it had no milk or sugar in it, but it has become a nightly ritual to have it about 9-9.30, PC and phone off and relax before getting ready for bed.
The cocoa fits in with med diet as small quantities of chocolate (dark) are recommended in it so I have continued. Five grams cocoa powder (I use G&B, other brands are available) is 17 cals; 1.13g protein; 1.13g fats and 0.63g carbs. Hot water is nothing! Note I don’t take milk in tea or coffee so this is my only milk and I am vegetarian.
Having been on low fat since it was introduced in the 80’s, having greek yoghurt not fat free yoghurt and semi-skimmed or full fat milk were an anathema to me and it took 3-4 week into the diet before I tried greek yoghurt – full fat. It works. It fills you up and the calorie difference is much smaller than I had thought it would be. I use 60ml greek yoghurt for breakfast where I used to take 100 ml skimmed yoghurt and feel just as full. Higher protein as well, calories about the same.
In the last 2 weeks, if I have enough calories left at day end, I have the cocoa with 100ml semi skimmed milk (not quite got myself onto full fat milk yet) and top the cup up with hot water. It is a real treat and great way to wind down – reminiscent of childhood drinks! If I don’t have enough cals spare for the for the milk – or don’t want to up the carbs then I stick to the hot water on it’s own.
If you took 5g cocoa plus 75 ml semi-skimmed milk topped up with water to top of mug, the total is 3.68g protein, 2.40g fat, 4.16g carb and 51.75 cals.
Play around with some foods you like, concentrate on the protein and fat content higher than carbs to give you a longer lasting ‘full’ feeling for that evening snack.
Good luck.

I’ve been thinking about your snacking habit, Judycakes. Are you always doing the same thing when tempted to snack? If so, would doing something slightly different in the evening help? Eg if you usually watch TV then read or do puzzles instead. Changing your routine might make it easier to break the habit.

Hi Ladies,
The longer you can fast overnight the easier it is for your body to burn fat. If you do need to snack choose a high fat option as it will satisfy your taste buds and body for longer. One of my fave snacks is a piece of cheese, 20g = 86cals 0.1g carbs and 5.4g protein. Doesn’t sound like a lot of cheese but if you cut a thin slice and break it into small pieces as you eat and let it melt on your tongue you can make it last. A handful of hulled sunflower seeds can replace nuts if they are a snack you would normally choose. Especially if you dry fry them in a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce or tamari for gluten intolerant people. Yummy salty snack at 200 cals 9g protein and 1g carb per 1/4 cup prepared this way. You wouldn’t need 1/4 cup of them.
Strawberries are a good snack if you want something sweet, 5 medium are 1.6g carb and only 13 cals. Add a tablespoon full fat Greek yoghurt for an extra 26 cals and 2.7g carb.
I think the problems we’ve had with snacking in recent years is the snacks have almost become a meal in themselves. Snacks have become high sugar, high cal foods and we can easily eat all day without thinking. Those of us doing the BSD are now much more mindful of what we eat, and it’s a shock to think back on our previous eating habits. You quickly become satisfied with less though and the cravings disappear completely for most people.

I read the full fat tip in the book but struggled to get my head considering double calories on the likes of Greek yoghurt etc. However, I have done my 3 day of full fat today (wk 4 of BSD) and feel so much better! The hunger, cravings etc really do subside whith the increase of fat. I have full fat Greek yoghurt, coconut oil in my scrabbled egg, anchovies in olive oil and a teaspoon of butter in a low carb microwave cake in a cup ( almond flour, egg, butter, cacao, desiccated coconut).

Get into good fats all. X

I struggled with the full fat idea, mostly because my old dieting philosophy was “get the most food for the least calories” so cutting out fat was the way to go – and that’s what “they” said, over and over again. Fat’s nasty, dirty and bad for you anyway, “they” said.

I still catch myself thinking low fat – I am so used to thinking “I can dry fry this” or “if I get the low fat version I can have twice as much”

No longer, though – the portion sizes come down but satiety goes up. 0% yoghurt is the work of the devil!

I tried to buy ordinary, plain full fat youghurt in our local – and big – supermarket. I could get all kinds of flavours, but they all had sugar in. I could get low fat and fat free and Greek full fat (and Greek low fat and fat free) and there were various versions of set yoghurts, but no plain, simple ordinary un messed about with, full fat yoghurt.

I noticed that too and I hate Greek yogurt as it’s too tart. I suppose you could put some stevia and berries to it to make it interesting.

I bought low fat. It’s probably not much different and the best option until I can shop elsewhere.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried Greek yoghurt. Can’t think why not, other than habit. Perhaps I should give it a try, even if just out of interest.

Hi Skinnykins, I’ve never been fond of plain yogurts so when I started this diet I had to try a few to find one I could stick with. Yes, they can be too tart but eventually I settled on Tesco’s Finest Greek Yogurt. I also have the occasional pot of Arla’s Skyr (available in Tesco), it’s not really a yogurt, more of a cream cheese – it’s not the pukka Icelandic stuff but it’s the closest you can get in the UK (I’ve had a couple of holidays in Iceland and have developed a taste for the stuff). I find it quite filling.
As you suggest, sprinkling some stevia or berries over yogurt helps get over the tartness and eventually your taste buds adapt. I’ve also tried a sprinkling of cinnamon.

I tried Skyr and didn’t like it. The texture didn’t appeal, but I’m sure some people will like it. It’s surprising how much variation in taste and texture there is between different plain yoghurts. Worth trying a few to see which we prefer.

Hi, evenings were my worst time too have taken to leaving just enough calories for either coffee with double cream, 67 cals for a tablespoon, or about the same in calories for Brazil nuts or almonds. I find the fat in these keeps me full and most importantly, keeps me feeling that I have been ‘treated’ to something that on previous diets would have been classed as sinful!!!
The hunger quietens down after a few days and I can happily go from a coffee and cream breakfast through until 2pm before needing to eat again, it really helps me to be able too mileage the majority of my food until later, plus it hopefully is an added bonus of a longer fasting period.

Good luck on your journey, this is such a great way of eating you will soon settle in and enjoy it….not to mention all the benefits that then come with it 😀

Skyr is low fat, so probably best avoided in favour of full fat options, which will make you feel fuller for longer and encourage fat burning too. I use the Lidl’s Turkish Style Yogurt, which is a yogurt/cream combination and 10% fat. It is quite smooth and creamy and can be matched with sweet or savoury. I have it most breakfasts with berries and a ground seed topping and as it’s so satisfying I have also had 30g with a quarter spoon of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon as a little afternoon treat if I’m feeling peckish.

Managed to buy ordinary, plain low fat yoghurt (Yeo) we were out today so got two big pots. Unless I’m remembering incorrectly the calorie difference between that and the low fat one is hardly anything.

I’m with RozyDozy and SunnyB: Tesco finest and Lidl but Milbona Greek style. Fage is yum too but less fat (and that’s not the 0% or 2% they do!)

Have you tried the rhubarb compote recipe that Michael has put in the book? It made two small tubs so I have froze one and have calculated that I’ll get 5 scoops from each pot for my tasting. I added some nutmeg to it.

I’m going to try to make a porridge tomorrow with Eat Water Slim Rice, Greek full fat yoghurt, fresh cream and top with some of the rhubarb and flaxseed. I use a ramekin to control quantity and tell myself if I want another portion 30 mins after my last mouthful, I can have one. Of course, I never do! I sip my coffee and enter my food into myfitnesspal and clear up, forgetting the idea of further portions.

Hi Patsy – as I said, really it’s best to going for full fat yogurt rather than low fat, it’s much more satisfying and fat is important on the BSD. I know it’s counterintuitive and takes a while to get your head around, but it’s definitely worthwhile.

Hi Debbie – love the sound of the ‘porridge’. I have ordered some ‘rice’ so I’ll give that a go – will make a nice variation on my yogurt breakfasts.