I just started the 8-week blood sugar diet today. I have no idea if I have raised blood sugar levels or if I am pre-diabetic. There is nobody in my family who ever has been, as far as I know. But I have been putting on weight very slowly but steadily over the past ten years, and have found it hard to shift. I get so far on a diet and then fall off the wagon. I have been reading some of the threads on here and identify with many of the feelings about my diet/weight, for example, eating to avoid dealing with other things or to procrastinate, emotional eating, feeling a bit addicted to sugar and so on. I just want to get back to a place where I have a healthy, normal relationship with food, rather than a guilt-ridden toxic relationship. I have about two stone to lose, and given the fact that this diet seems to deliver fast results, I thought it might be the one for me, as typically I fall off the wagon on things like WW or SW after a month or two. The other major reason is that I need to reprogram my body’s relationship with carbohydrates. I definitely eat too many carbs and too much sugar, and it is just never enough. I always want more. It can only get worse.

So anyway, that’s why I am starting. I have bought the book and read it all and made menu plans for the next three weeks. I thought I’d just post on the forum to introduce myself. I think it is hugely helpful to be able to talk to people doing the same diet, and get advice and encouragement.

So hello! I am sure I will be posting soon with progress and looking for support/encouragement when I start craving sugar as I am sure I will.

Just one question … today is only the first day but I have quite a bad headache. I have drunk over two litres of rosehip tea. Is this normal at the beginning of the diet? Thank you!

Welcome to the forums.
Yes headaches and flu like symptoms are common in the first few days.
It is down to carb withdrawal and goes away in a couple of days.
Keep the fluid intake up and take your painkiller of choice for the headaches.
This time next week you’ll be feeling much better and celebrating your week 1 results.

Thanks Bill1954. I had a terrible headache yesterday but took some ibuprofen and another litre of rosehip tea and it got bearable. It was okay this morning but getting bad again now. I am drinking lots. I was going to go for a run at lunchtime but I did a 5k run yesterday lunchtime and I think that may have caused the headache. Partly anyway. So maybe I will just do a walk instead. I am feeling hungry today. I think 9am-12 is my worst period in terms of wanting to stuff carbs in my gob! I have been doing the 5:2 for several weeks before starting the BSD and that is my danger time. I lost 9lbs on the 5:2 so it was obviously working in terms of weight loss but I wasn’t changing my habits. On the other days, I was not sticking to the low carb med diet and frequently eating high sugar, high carb, unhealthy foods. This is why I thought I could kickstart a good change to my habits by doing this diet for 8 weeks, then going back to 5:2 but sticking to the low carb med diet on the 5 other days.

Does anyone know if rosehip tea is as good as water for hydrating? It just has 50% rosehip and 50% hibiscus. I find it easier to drink throughout the day than water. I often drink it cold.

Also, what do you do when you get the BIG cravings for food/carbs/sugar? I am just drinking tea and I ate 3 nuts. But I am struggling still!

Hi Brazil nut,
A small serve of cheese eaten very slowly, almost left to melt on the tongue used to help me through the carb cravings. Also a slice of lemon in hot water, not sure how that worked but it did!
Congrats on starting the BSD, you’ll soon start feeling the benefit of this great way of life. 🙂

Thanks Cherrianne. I will try the water and lemon! I have quite a bad headache and am feeling really low today. I am unsure if it’s related to the diet, because I have been doing 5:2 with no side effects like this. Maybe coincidence.

I always feel sick and miserable on day three. I say “always” because I’ve experienced day three several times! I fall off the wagon and have to go through withdrawal all over again.

Hello Brazilnut, I also started the BSD diet yesterday. I too have been eating way too may carbs and can’t resist anything with sugar, until now.
I’m excited to be on the journey.
May the 4th be with you (so sorry but it does seem apt).

Hi

I started yesterday as well and also want to lose about 2 stone (or a little more if possible). I drank loads so didn’t really get a headache but I found that when I went for a run before tea last night I really struggled. No energy, or willpower to keep running and I felt very sort of “buzzy” all day (almost as if I’d drank too much coffee – but all I drank was green tea, water and one cup of proper tea in the afternoon).

So far today it’s not been too bad, I am hungry and totally coveting my colleagues baguette and cheese sarnie but I’m slowly eating an egg salad and have fruit and yogurt to look forward to as well. I’m skipping breakfast so I can have fruit after my lunch.

Best of luck I’ll be pleased to hear how you’re getting on.

Hi Natalie, Ziggsmum and Bongo! Nice to meet some people also starting, or getting back on the wagon. Natalie, I have come to the conclusion after many years of falling OFF the wagon, that it is the getting back up and starting again immediately that counts. Everyone has blips. It’s when you just keep going after the blip that you are successful. Unfortunately, even though I know this, I have spent the past 5 years NOT keeping going after the blip!

Ziggysmum, I am a nightmare for the carbs/sugar. I just got into terrible habits. I have realized that it has to stop forever. Not all carbs but the binging on sugar and fat and carbs. If I continued as I was I would just get bigger and bigger and start facing health problems, and it’s not like it’s even more enjoyable when you eat more. I think it must be a bit like a drug. The more you have, the more you need to get the same feeling from it. So I just suddenly though enough now. Time to change. But it is daunting!

I couldn’t even face a run yesterday at first, Bongo … I would normally go before eating and eat after but I just couldn’t. So I ate a salad and then I went for a run and it was fine. I am guessing it will be harder though until I settle into this diet. Going to stick to 5k for a week or two before upping my mileage a bit, just want to be running 10ks regularly again (I was last year but an injury slowed me down since February). Running really really helps with my head, I feel less anxious/stressed/low when I run regularly.

Oh I agree about the sugar / carbs / fat combo. I think if I hadn’t chanced upon the BSD book I could well have ended up like Monty Python’s Mr Creosote. I knew I needed to do something but couldn’t decide what and used that as an excuse not to.
I also feel daunted, any ingrained habit is difficult to crack and my eating habits have been exactly that – a bad habit.
I smoked for years and was bet I couldn’t give up, but I did because I wanted to and twelve years later have not had a puff since. I now look back and think ‘you fool, WHY did you smoke?’ and the answer is because I liked it and I’d got into the habit, exactly the same with food for me.
I’m feeling determined to get slimmer and fitter and I guess exactly the same self-discipline and commitment as my stopping smoking is all that is needed for any of us to achieve our goals.
Hoorah keep it up everyone.

PS hope you are feeling better Brazilnut

Thanks Ziggysmum. I kind of want to not rely on willpower. I just want to find a way to eat that is sustainable long term and not be worrying/thinking about food too much. I find 5:2 is doable and sustainable, but what I need for it to really be so is to kick this crazy fat/carb/sugar binging habit I have so that I do two fast days but then the rest of the week I eat normally and healthily (i.e. don’t use the fast days as an excuse to then binge on the other days) and only have the occasional treat. And let it be a treat. Not a binge! Even though the 5:2 was working in terms of weight loss (fairly slowly but consistently 1-2lbs a week), in order to try and shift my bad habits/negative mentality around food, I decided to do this diet for eight weeks (albeit with a planned ‘blip’ in a few weeks for a major celebration I will be attending, not planning to go too mad but want to have a nice meal and some drinks and not worry about it) and hopefully it will help shift my mentality so when I then go back on the 5:2 I will eat more healthily on the non fast days. That’s the plan anyway. I had such a hard time today, was hungry from 9-3 but once I’d had a few strawberries I am now okay again. It will bring me over 800 cals but better than cracking and eating something like toast I think!

Agreed. To succeed I hope to be far nore careful with my eating in the future. I certainly don’t want to go back to eating the bad stuff, although I accept that after the first eight weeks I might let myself have a few carbs. However I’ve got several spare tyres to shift.
Recently I’ve sat and felt guilty every time there has been anything on the news about being overweight / eating sugar / drinking too much wine and finally the penny dropped that I just have to change what I was eating and take more exercise.
Life would be dull if we couldn’t all look forward to and enjoy the odd celebration. I for one will be trying hard not to go over the top but enjoy these things.

Totally agree. You have to be able to manage the odd celebration/treat as part of a balanced diet, without then going crazy and falling off the wagon. Slim people are careful 90-95% of the time I would say (judging by my slim sisters) and allow themselves a lovely treat on special occasions but just go back to their usual healthy habits immediately afterwards. I know one of my sisters would never dream of eating pizza/fries/cream etc. more or less ever, but if we were out for a meal or if I made her a meal, she would eat it all, including dessert (she still wouldn’t take cream though!). But she’d never eat dessert at home, or choose an unhealthy meal if eating out. She’s just careful most of the time and tends to eat a lot of fruit and veg. Other sister eats plenty fats (avocado, cooks with coconut oil etc.) but makes loads of veg curries etc and always has brown rice and when she bakes makes things with bran and fruit and avoids full on sugar carb loading. I don’t think she even thinks about it that much. She just doesn’t binge. I need to be more like them!

Hello All,

I’m on my 3rd day of the 8-week diet and I’m feeling pretty good. I weighed myself this morning and I’m already down 1.8 pounds. I have about 40 lbs to lose, and thinking about that is very discouraging. I don’t have diabetes or any other health problems, just really need to get this weight off. I’ve struggled with weight my whole adult life, and have become addicted to carbs an sugar. This diet is my last hope as I’ve tried every diet imaginable. I need all of the motivation I can get! Please share your success stories with me so I can get inspired and stay on track.

Thanks everyone!

Hi Brazil-nut,
Welcome to the BSD. I’ve been doing it a while – there will be ups & downs but just work your way through them. You are clearly aware of the perils of falling off the wagon but know that the important thing is to dust yourself down and get right back on. I’ve had my blips (biggest one yet was this weekend just gone) – you just have to admit to them, try & figure out why it happened. There are plenty of people on this forum who will give good advice & encouragement – so don’t despair if you ever have a tough time. But as Bill1954 has pointed out on another thread sugar is an addictive substance and that’s why it has caused us all problems.

I think willpower is overrated (there are times when I have none) – I prefer the word “discipline”. Get yourself organised – little things like writing shopping lists, putting tempting things in cupboards (i.e. out of sight), taking every opportunity to be active (I used to curse when I left things upstairs, now it’s an opportunity to tear upstairs and burn another calorie or two).

Sounds like you have good role models in your sisters.

Take care & good luck!

Hi JSR! I’m new too so we can support each other.

Thanks Roxy. I have so far stuck to the diet but I really do get starving mid-morning and mid-afternoon/early evening. It is difficult to get my meal before 8 because of putting kids to bed (too small to eat as a family yet) so I really am starving by the time I eat, but I can’t figure out a better way because of having to finish work, pick up kids etc. Maybe I just need to eat both breakfast and lunch a couple of hours later and shift my day up a bit. Today I walked 27415 steps so far. I am exhausted! My normal ‘commute’ involves around 9 miles of either walk or bus getting to and from stations at either end (1.5 miles – 3 miles – 3 miles – 1.5 miles) but I normally get the bus at least for the last 1.5 miles but today I did it all. Sore feet!

So Day 3 is over. I am nervous about the weekend … but have planned meals for the next three weeks and intend to stick to it. Weekend breakfasts involve avocado and egg, which is my fave weekend breakfast anyway, just it used to be on toast.

Nervous about weighing next Monday. I know from previous diets that I don’t usually lose much weight (1lb or maybe 2 at most, if any) in the first week and it comes off the second week but I need to remember that on Monday and not get discouraged!