Hi
I’ve just got the BSD book & am keen to start but I’ve a few reservations (not least the amount of times I’ve started a diet & “failed”)
But one concern is I haven’t yet come across any info on milk intake. I love coffee & one of my simple pleasures is relaxing with a milky coffee. Is this something I’m going to have to sacrifice on the plan?
Also I’m a busy SAH Mum to 20 m twins. How realistic is it to think I can do this? Has anyone been in this position and succeeded?
How hard is it really? What can I realistically expect? I don’t know how I’ll get through it if I feel even more tired!
Any advice welcome. Thanks.

Hello Hpethers and welcome.
Someone else will have to come back to you re the SAH mum with little children as I’m not in that position! But I am sure it could work.
With regards to the coffee (note my name?) – I have one latte style coffee a day. About 140ml of milk and 15ml cream – it does use up a chunk of calories but if you love coffee like you say, it is well worth it. I think it’s about 6 or 7g carb so still doable to keep them low. Absolutely no reason why you should sacrifice it, if it works for you to incorporate it 😉 I personally couldn’t manage very well otherwise.
All the best on your journey!

Hi Hpethers — welcome to the forums and welcome to the BSD — if you just start and don’t give up, this is going to be amazingly successful for you — it is not “just another diet”, it is a way to finally make friends with your body and to realize your body has been holding on for you for years, waiting for food that supports it — you will find it gets easier and easier as you move forward.
As a mom of 20m twins, I really recommend you taking a longer view of things — instead of 8 weeks, can you look at it as a “by next spring” or “by next summer” plan? It is incredibly stressful to have two little babies and adding a tight 8-week-BSD-schedule to it might be hard on you and your family. Time flies by and you will be losing weight so you will be feeling and looking better but keep a little room in there for tired nights and exhausted days — those are always part of life.
Here’s the great news: even if you do this diet poorly, it is going to work for you. Just start again, and again and again — you will LEARN how to do it and you will get better and better at it.
Milk in your coffee is fine but look up the carbohydrate count and measure it so you can figure that into your carbohydrate totals for the day. Don’t worry — you will develop automatic carbohydrate and calorie estimating skills within weeks!
Milk is a sugar, lactose. One of your goals is to reduce sugars in all forms (that means carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrate). You are seeking to lower your insulin levels (insulin is the “fat-storage” hormone) and the best way to do that, other than fasting, is to lower your carbohydrate intake.
Your little ones will benefit from a low sugar diet too!
Best of luck! You will be our first mom of twins on the forum!

Oops, just re-read my post and realized that I said milk is a sugar — it HAS sugar in it (lactose) but it is also fat and protein — sorry about that simplification

Hi Hpethers,

As a mother of young twins your post spoke to me. I attempted the 5:2 diet when my twins were same age as yours. I lasted about a month, lost one stone but it was too stressful for me to carry on. One year on, life is slightly more back to normal and I started bsd 3,5 weeks ago. For me, it seems bsd is easier to follow than 5:2! Think the difference is less cravings as intake of carbs is low every day plus 800 kcals are waay better than the 600 I attempted last year.

Life with young toddlers are very stressful at times and for me it is key to not beat myself up if I go over kcal limit. Today I will probably end up around 1100 kcals but that’s Ok. Still much lower than I would eat normally! In the 3,5 weeks since I started I have lost a stone. (This includes 5 days I was completely off diet as I had a mini break away)

I have a milky coffee every morning and then one in the afternoon. The rest of the day I stick to black.

Best of luck!

Thank you all so much for your replies, they have been very inspiring & reassuring. I’m just planning my meals for the first week which I’m planning on starting on Sunday.
Just another quick question; I’ve got the 8 wk BSD book & the recipe book. When they say things like “soft cheese”, “mayonnaise”, “Creme fraiche”, “minced lamb” etc are these ordinary/full fat versions? And what size is a chicken breast?
Maybe I’m overthinking this but I really want this to work!
Pauley, thank you for your post. It’s nice to hear someone with twins is succeeding but also understands how crazy/busy/exhausting it can be! Did you find your energy levels dipped when you started and so you have more energy now?? X

It is the full fat options that are recommended, protein and fat makes you feel fuller and give less cravings than carbs. I think you need to weigh chicken breast as they Can differ in size.

For me it works to push the first meal of the day until noon time, sounds weird but often it makes you less hungry to simply not eat in the morning. A lot of people limit their eating window to an 8 hour period, for instance only eating between 12 and 8 and find that it helps.

With regards to my energy levels I honestly don’t know how diet has impacted. With young twins some days are purely about survival and I think my energy levels are very much tied up to the kids. It must be said that I am not a SAHM. I find being at work makes diet easier as it is a more controlled environment. Weekends are the hardest for me, easier to roam around kitchen and be tempted plus stress is sometimes overwhelming.

Most people see results quicker on this diet than a normal diet, that in itself is very motivating and gives energy. I recommend tons of water and a cup of broth/stock every day to keep salts up in the beginning.

Wish you luck for your start tomorrow and will be rooting for you!