Yipeeeee everyone, my results are in – HbA1c 5.6, same as last time but on less insulin. Cholesterol Total down from 4.4 to 3.8 – so no increasing my statins darling doctor. Triglycerides down from 1.97 (after Christmas) to 1.69 or nearly perfect (1.71 being top level allowed). Hello sexy doctor, will be seeing you on Friday.

Thrilled for you Sunshine Girl. Well done on your good stats.

Happy birthday, Theodora, have a wonderful day. Being looked after, I hope, after all your “looking after” in the Hotel Theodora:)

Fingers crossed for you, sunshine-girl, hope your results are as you want.

Congrats, MnM, you’ll wow them all:)

Great news sunshine-girl. I’m really pleased for you.

Woo hoo s-g, wonderful set of results. So pleased for you.

Thank you Marsie, and yes being thoroughly spoiled. Just back from lovely lunch with friends and about to gird my loins to meet more friends at the pub for a birthday drink or 2, before heading out to dinner with o/h ! ! Right now I am quaking at the thought – but hey, I’ll probably be a cheap date tonight 😉😜

Really hoping everyone else is having a good day too – even the sun is shining. Feeling blessed 😃

Brilliant news sunshine-girl, you must be really chuffed with that set of results and itching to meet with your doctor.

Glad you’re having a great birthday Theodora – and with a full set of wriggle room pounds too! Have a wonderful evening.

Scales were kind to me this morning, so I am not panicking now about being over the 800 yesterday. Have a meal out coming up on Sunday and an old friend visiting for a few days early next week, so I’m keen to keep good control this week and make a real effort in building that wriggle room. Time is running out now and I really need to make sure I have a few pounds in hand by 26th.

Made my own tofu from scratch today. Only four ingredients (dry soya beans, water, lemon juice and sea salt) but a bit time consuming and quite a faff. Pleased with the results though and it has a really fresh taste, definitely not as bland as shop bought stuff. Just need to find a good use for the left over pulp (okara) now – thinking of using most of it to make some crackers tomorrow – hopefully that will work. Will let you know how they turn out.

So. Down to 70.4 this morning (yay .5kg loss) but lost count of calories (boo). Eating out tricky!

Breakfast: Greek yoghurt/raspberries (3)/10g flaked almonds

Lunch: a ‘naked burrito’ from a place called Tortilla. Lettuce/steak (grilled)/cheese/sour cream/ guacamole (great idea if home made, but I don’t know portion sizes! Mad guesstimate. Also they said they had their own special way of grilling so god knows what that means, calorifically)

Snack: 3 teaspoons cream (in coffee)

Dinner: half fillet salmon (50g).

Still hungry. May need a bit of cheese or something. Think carbs relatively low (MFP says 17, based on my guessing portions) and calories (just) under 1000 but not 800. Ho hum, the hips don’t lie, I’ll see what the scales say tomorrow.

Congratulations Sunshine Girl what happy news! I have to have bloods done this month after cholesterol went up alarmingly in June to 7.2, I don’t know the breakdown. I hope I’ll do as well after more than 6 months of this way of eating.

I started back to basics a week ago so just before this challenge and scales have been kind, hovering a litle below 65kg, my lowest weight in 15 years. I’m hopeful I’ll make it to a healthy weight range by the end of it. 2.3kg to lose.

I hope is a good day for all.

still here, day 4 and great reading all your inspirational posts…been mostly easy back on BSD..though yesterday with a huge work deadline (ie stress) I found myself constantly hungry…got by with an extra boiled egg and roast fava beans…and came in at 900 so fine with that. Hungry again at dinner so had a huge bowl of miso and veg soup…could only lust finish it!!
gym today!!! (promise!)

69.9kg (0.5kg loss) today.

😀😀😀😀

In your face naked burrito.

Not hungry, back to normal feeling (since this BSD).

Tried to eat peanut butter last night – no added sugar. Too sweet now. Also almond butter. Gave up trying to have mini-sulk and had piece of cheese instead (10g melted in microwave, eaten v slowly. So wrong, so right!)

Good luck with today all, onwards and downwards! Xx

This morning 144.7lb (down 0.5lb from yesterday and first time in 144s in a year). Was hit with MASSIVE cravings yesterday, had basically decided that the only thing for it was to eat cake. But I didn’t. I can’t remember the last time I was that stressed and didn’t turn to sugar. It was the fact that I had a food plan on the fridge and the intention to post here that stopped me. Never used a forum before, now I am into week 4 and the honeymoon phase of BSD is well and truly over, it seemed the right time to find a group, and keep on keeping on is EXACTLY the right motto. Hope today brings you all the right sorts of losses. xx

This morning 11 stone 2.8 so another 1.2 pounds down, 2.4 since the start of the challenge. Had a horrible headache though yesterday so didn’t do my usual badminton, had a bubble bath, an ovaltine and an early night instead. Not sure if it was carb or caffeine withdrawal related, but will see if it reoccurs during fast day number 2 today. I am going to stay lower carb over my weekend this week, instead of allowing myself the odd bread bun as had become my habit, and see if I can keep this momentum going for the rest of the first week to give me a good start.

Morning all, my little challenge buddies (and if you’re not little yet I have faith that you will be!). I’m still alive!

Stonking results Sunshine Girl – I’m sure you were doing many a happy dance 🙂

I am pleased to report a 3.75lb loss since the start of the challenge – which, it is hard to believe, was only two days ago. There is some kind of voodoo magic in this plan, I’m sure. I have not cheated once, and have been to the gym, and am wearing my Fitbit so, so far, all is good. However, I fear the ‘dry September’ is going to be a bit of a challenge at the weekend with a meal out with friends. They are a lot of fun but I do tend to throw caution to the wind alcohol wise and we’re going for cocktails…Will try to strategise over the next couple of days!!

I also started to reread MMs original book. I thought it would motivate me, plus I’ve not read it since before I started this plan. This time last year I had just returned from New York and had read it while I was there. I started on 12 September so have 5 days before my 1 year anniversary. It would be great to post a great loss this week and look back at my successes.

Anyway – sorry I’ve rambled a bit – have a successful day all

TC xxx

Want a good laugh everyone- I received an email this morning from Weightwatchers asking me to go back as they miss me. I immediately swiped delete. If only I knew then what I know now. Today I am the lowest weight since starting BSD 136.8 and my BMI is 25.8! I am nearly there! I could achieve my goal during this challenge.

The positivity in these challenges is what drives us all on- keep on keeping on everyone, we’re doing it!

1.6 lbs down since yesterday. I had to get a new, more accurate scale since my last BSD attempt. Those half pounds really count! I am feeling a little light headed before I have breakfast, but I remember this passed quickly last time I was on the diet. I am also remembering the nocturnal visits to pee with all of the water I’m drinking! It’s so nice to read about your successes – we’ve got this!

Hi everyone, wow I just love the enthusiasm on this thread. Great to see so many of you – too many for me to welcome individually but hi to A new me, love that name, well done mokovex and pound is a pound, hey CathyC 2 fingers to weight watchers although they do have their place and I have a friend who has lost tonnes with SW – whatever works for you. Topcac you are amaaaaazing. Welcome to EC and JackieM (if I have already said hi then ignore me) M&M still going great.

I have lost one pound so at the same weight as I was 3 months ago but still have some cruise weight to get rid of. After my doctor appointment tomorrow I will be setting some new goals. BG still down around 4.0 and still doing my happy dance. Funny thing it was my cholesterol that had me worried as it was up from 3.8 to 4.4 and I was being threatened with increased statins now it is back down to 3.8 so no need to worry.

Have a good day everyone. I am hoping to get in the pool sometime even though our weather is turning to Autumn (23 degrees). And dont forget everyone – keep on keeping on…

There is such infectious positivity on this thread, just wanted to add in my little bit too. Have dropped 1.4lb since Tuesday which has made me quite happy. Hope I will be able to increase the loss still further over the coming days.

Have been making some goodies using the soya bean pulp (okara) left over from my tofu making experiment yesterday. This morning I have made some mega thin okara crackers, flavoured with some shawara spice mix (3.43cals/0.33g carbs per cracker), some little choccie cakes in sweet size paper cases (33.76cals and 3.16g carbs a piece and most of them frozen for later use) and I have a roll of dough for cheesy okara biscuits chilling in the fridge, which I will cut to bake a little later (and calculate the cals/carbs per biscuit). Also making okara and tuna patties for lunch – all mixed and waiting for shaping and frying off later.

That’s utilised all the okara leftover this time and there are masses of other recipes online to try – seems this by-product is amazingly versatile – so I’m going to have to make some more when this lot has been eaten. There are recipes using it as a rice substitute for fried rice etc. Okara is 77cals/13g carb for 100g, so as an ingredient for cakes, biscuits etc. better on cals than almond flour, but the carbs are much higher, so I’m thinking it could be worth experimenting using half and half for crackers, cakes etc. to see how that might work.

Happy to report that I have lost 1 pound since Tuesday. But I did restart on Sept. the first and lost 5 lbs so far. Tomorrow will be my one week weigh in.
I love reading about everyone’s experience and tips on helping to make this journey easier for me.

So you should be happy dancing, sunshine-girl, go for it:) What great numbers to take to your doctor.

SunnyB, your energy is palpable, and so much to show for it. Good going.

So many happy stories from everyone in the first week of this challenge. I can add my smile here as I have lost a little since Tuesday, and am sitting here fighting the urge to find something to eat. Why do I only have these urges for un-BSD sugar/carb laden “treats” instead of for the lovely, clean tasting foods I eat, and enjoy, for my meals? Don’t worry, it’s a rhetorical question. I know the answer, hence the fight. Too often over the past few weeks, (oh, for heaven’s sake, lets be honest, over the past few months!) I’ve seriously given in to the urge hence, again, the need to sit here fighting it. Just like I did when I first started BSD so long ago now. Yep, I’m fighting the urge…..

Keep on keeping on, all my lovely forum friends xx

Scores on the doors:

Breakfast: not hungry (whaaaat?!)
Lunch: 1/2 avocado/3 cherry toms/lime juice/handful rocket/1 tsp olive oil/1 tsp apple cyder vinegar/1 tub salmon pate

Made a mistake here, quite carby lunch in one hit (13g) but I only found the pate at the end, when I was feeling a bit carb loaded and thought I should find some protein. So it was nice but on reflection less avocado needed. Big fan of the pate tho.

Dinner: 200g (stir fried) chicken/20g cheddar/0.25 red pepper (stir fried)

So about 900 cals but 18g carbs. I may be over-estimating the chicken cos I had some of the kids left-over, about 50g I reckon so added that on to measured portion.

Note to self. This goes better when I weigh it out. No nibbling whilst preparing dinner!!!

HI All.Glad to see some newcommers joining the challenge.I have a definite goal starting at 82.5kg I MUST be under 80kg by the end of this challenge. I have been less disciplined the last few months .So its back to basics.I would like to try a fast but I never get past about 1pm in the afternoon.I always feel like Im having a hypo.Im prediabetic but i do test my bgl every morning and if I feel hungry or weak.it seems that at 4.9 I feel unwell and I give up the fast.How fo I continue to do 24 hours ?open to any suggestions.

Hi Butterlover — I had trouble getting past 18 hours on fasting until I just hung in there one day and made it to 24 — find something to do in those hours and push on — I was surprised how once I had made that 24 hours, it all gone much easier to fast, both mentally and physically. I think it is a mental challenge, more than physical. Your body will cope.

So much water. I mean, you want to hear it sloshing around in your stomach every step you take. I’ve done 4 extended fasts now and I absolutely love them. The last one was 73 hours. Like Californiagirl says, if you make into the second day, you’ll be golden. The second day of a fast is one of the most invigorating things I’ve ever experienced. Three of the four fasts I did the second day was amazing, like I was light as a feather, walking on air, bubbly and happy while accomplishing a million tasks. The time when I didn’t experience that (my second extended fast) wasn’t terrible but there was no joy either. I was hungry and tired the whole time.

If I may suggest, why not try putting aside the bgl testing for a couple of days while you attempt this? You don’t actually have diabetes yet so daily readings are unnecessary, and when you consider how inaccurate home testing machines can be, the readings may be having a sort of reverse placebo effect on you, making you feel ill even though you’re not hypoglycemic.

Morning!

4 wk challenge:
start 5th Sept – 145.5lb
today – 144.2 (-1.3lb)

Finding the slow losses difficult to manage. I’m guessing that in reality, this isn’t a slow loss but is merely a matter of perception. When I started the 8 wk BSD, I was a physical wreck. I have 2 chronic headaches (greedy, I know) and was struggling to put one foot in front of the other as my energy was non existent. I know that sugar and grains contribute to my ill health but was stuck in a pretty grim rut. I read about the BSD and knew that this could help, DH is lovely and so decided to keep me company by totally committing to it. Now he LOVES this woe and is losing quickly and with annoying regularity. My weight loss by comparison is slow, so that is the false perception. I need to remember that so far (24days) I have lost 13.8lb, 5inches off my waist and the pain levels in my head have decreased dramatically. There! that feels better, to have written it down and focused on the gains which are huge brought about by small daily losses.

Love hearing about all of your successes, Sunshine girl, I hope your numbers continue to bring a smile to your face and all the best for your appointment today.

Go well all, xx

69.4kg (down 0.4kg). All systems are GO I repeat, all systems are GO.

😀😀😀😀

HAVE A GOOD DAY Y’all, be careful out there! Xxxx

And with today’s weigh in I am back into healthy BMI on 24.9 at 11 stone 0.8, so another 2 pounds off since yesterday and 4.4 pounds off since Tuesday. I know it isn’t fat, at this speed of loss it can’t be but it does feel better to be able to say that. So with my normal slightly more indulgent weekend modified this week by cutting out the occasional bread or cake and beer that had started being a bit of a feature over my holiday, I hope to at least maintain this for the next three days before my next fast day on Monday, and then lose a bit more over the next few weeks to get below my target weight again.

I have been enjoying a spot of extra thick cream on my berries in the morning too! We had some that needed using up – I will stick with my usual thick and creamy full fat yogurt now it is finished! It did feel luxurious while it lasted though!

I weighed in this morning, as I started on 1/9, rather than 4/9. 6lbs gone, which is a good start! My weight loss always slows down dramatically after the first two weeks, so the fast start helps to keep me motivated.

Weigh in this morning was 13st 12lbs.

I will weigh in on Monday again to get properly in synch with you all. I am planning on doing the full eight weeks again, although DH and I may go away for a few days on 20/10, so might finish a week early and then do a four week one for Nov, before the Christmas party season kicks off properly. We are going on a cruise at Christmas time, so would like to shift as much as possible before then!

Hi All, I started in the 1st, so my first full weeks results in….lost 7 lbs, happy with this but another 20 to go!

Hope everyone else is doing well. About 4 to 5 days in I felt really flat, but knew if I carried on the energy would come back and it has. So if anyone else is in that same place- keep going it gets better

Morning everyone, although it is just afternoon here in France. I can report a further weight loss but will save it for tomorrow and my BG is around 4.2. Mokovex, my hubby is the same. When I started he used to have his extras like potato or pasta / rice with our main meal. Now he just doesn’t bother and often just say “not for me” or “i’ll have it as it comes”. He had lost his tum and around half a stone. (he is not overweight) but better than that his blood pressure is back to normal although he suffers from white coat syndrome and it is always high at the doctors so he cant get rid of his meds. Good to know this diet is helping so many people with different problems, not just diabetes but even down to improving PCOS, acne, aching limbs and so on. Have any of you noticed unexpected improvement in your lives or in your families.

I have my appointment with doctor gorgeous (he puts my BP up) at 2.15 so going to have lunch now. Oh by the way I wanted to be the same weight as at my last appointment well today I am 74.4 and 3 months ago I was 74.2, so keeping it real and maintaining.

So well done with your BMI, Mixnmatch, keep on keeping on👏👏👏

Interesting changes, sunshine-girl. My OH (coeliac disease, lactose intolerance) is a pain about vegetables, always had been. Except for potato, especially, carrot and broccoli. Green beans, cabbage, spinach if I stare him down, and a big no to anything else. I manage to “hide” some vegs in pasta sauces or casseroles. Lately, when I ask if he’d like potato with this or that (and I’m not having), he’s said no, and while not overweight the little pot belly he was developing has disappeared.

Occasionally on the forum over the past year and a bit somebody will comment on their nails strengthening, probably due to the full cream we’ve gone back to after so many years. I couldn’t have agreed until the last 2-3 weeks. I’m almost too scared to think my very weak, splitting, tearing fingernails are looking much better, but, well … I think it’s so. NSV.🎉

Cheers all x

Just got back from the doctors. Everything is good and he is very pleased with me although according to his scales I am 1kg up on last time – it was his trainee who weighed me before and I didn’t think she read the scales right but hey ho, all is good. I always give him a list of all the meds it need as I can change from time to time. This time no insulin (I have enough for 3 months), no bandalettes and no needles. I asked him to consider how much we could save the French Health Service if all his patients were on this diet – but I dont think he really gets it. He always says he cannot ask a Frenchman / woman to go without their daily baguette. Shame. Anyway I have also told him I am going to be insulin free in the next 12 months so there is a goal to aim for in the long term.

I was asked to start this keep on keeping on thread because that has always been my catchphrase and people thought it should be my thread. However, I have to take a short break – I will be around but – I have 2 friends arriving tomorrow and have already bought the wine and booked restaurants over the next week, not too many. I will be checking in daily and following you all but my pledge for the next week is to remain under 75 kg and keep my BG under 5.0. So have a good week everyone and keep on keeping on…

Have a good break with your friends, sunshine-girl. What a good place you are in at the moment with your health and this WOL, happy for you.

Wow, 90% chocolate is something else! It’s like ganache. Can’t manage more than 1 square … am sure tolerance will grow! 14g carbs per 100g.

Hello everyone! 4 lbs down this morning. I am so happy and feeling motivated. It’s my daughter’s birthday today, so we will be going out to dinner and I have already planned my low carb meal from the menu: salad and fish. I am making a birthday cake for her, so I’ll have to restrain myself and only have the tiniest piece. I don’t want to avoid having a small treat on an appropriate occasion. Wish me luck and strength.

Really good going, A New Me, you’re really on a roll! Keep going and you’ll be posting a huge result on Tuesday.

Good news that your Doctor is happy, sunshine-girl, shame he doesn’t understand that the woe could be the answer for other patients too, but at least you have control over you. Best of luck for getting rid of the insulin in the months to come. Have a good time catching up with your friends, you deserve to kick back for a few days.

I’m doing okay, no loss in the last couple of days, but stable. Hoping to make more headway before Tuesday, but we’ll see. I’m tracking everything and although I have been over on cals a couple of days, carbs have been 32g or lower, so no gains thankfully. Currently 3.2lb below target weight, so happy with that – just don’t want to see any gains at this point, so I’ll need to keep control and dine out tomorrow as well.

Anyway, have a good w/e everyone and I’ll look forward to the end of week one weigh in results.

JackieM reporting for duty:

Breakfast – nope.
Lunch – 3.15pm – 2 egg omelette/20g cheddar/rocket dressed with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil and balsamic (each)/15g 90% chocolate.

Dinner – 100g tuna steak cooked in butter/rocket/cucumber/yellow pepper and raw broccoli salad, dressed in Dijon mustard/balsamic/olive oil. 50g Fage Greek yoghurt/3 raspberries and 5g flaked almonds (a pinch in other words). Done by 8.15pm

Just under 800 cals and 17g carbs. Go me!!

Most of morning spent clearing out cupboards and shelves as could not leave house because of workmen fixing windows. Do not like eating in front of people much, so this helped, though very expensive way of going about things!

See you all tomorrow xx

Lovely to read everyone’s updates and successes 🙂
I wondered why I hadn’t been receiving any email notifications, then realised I hadn’t actually joined in this thread yet after finishing the last 4 week challenge!
I don’t have any big goals for this 4 weeks, I’m a slow loser as many of you know, and September brings my birthday and wedding anniversary so expecting a few blips.
I downloaded an app on my phone recently to record weight loss, and it shows weeks or months. While my weight can fluctuate weekly, on the monthly setting I can clearly see the downward trend.
I’m still aiming to get to an ‘over weight’ BMI, rather than obese, so I’ll just be Keeping on keeping on towards that goal, which is only a few kilos away now.

Red, Jackie, mix, esnecca, sunshine and all – well done on your losses! I have gone the other way and put Ina kilo from a week go on bsd one day then overeating fancy dinners the next day. Ready now to recommit and had a good day today.

Butter you asked about fasts o agree with esnecca to drink like crazy. I also personally find that between 5pm and bed time is the hardest on day 1 and you just gotta tough it out- I add apple cider vinegar to water which seems to help and I would say just go to bed super early and keep two litres of water by the bed. Decide that you are giving your body a real rest and break. No one really suffers from starvation without food for 24 hours so it is really just psychological . Hope that helps! E

Onetowatch glad to have you back on board, was wondering where you had got to.

Reporting loss of 200g 😳 Serves me right for being so pleased with self. Think I did not drink enough.

Still all under control, that 68kg just teasing me and so today am going to watch daughter play lacrosse (so funny, she’s so posh and I’m so not!) with lots of water with me.

Oops, best go wake her up else there’ll be trouble. Glad to report she is making her own scrambled eggs in the morning now, so at least they start the day well, even if Match Tea (again, sounds so posh) is cake et all.

Keep on keeping on guys, we’ve got this!

Xx

Good to hear everyone is doing well so far on this challenge.

Except me😕 My 2 birthday meals out (lunch AND dinner on same day😲) plus a post-birthday evening in the pub with friends have taken their toll and, whilst on Wednesday morning (birthday) I had a whole 5lbs wriggle room, that has now been reduced to only 2lbs😢 Sheer over-indulgence, so totally my own fault! Still under target but feeling fat and bloated!! Back to plan is the plan.

What I find amazing is that, having carried more than 3st excess weight around, never really noticing how it was creeping up, now I’ve been in maintenence for 18 weeks I don’t even have to get on the scales to know if I have lost or gained. My body just knows and is accurate to within a pound or less – I wake up feeling thin if I’ve lost and fat and bloated if I’ve gained. Remarkable how sensitive my body has become. Or maybe it always was, but I just wasn’t listening? That is something that, if we let it, this WOE teaches us to do – listen to our bodies. Maybe that is the reason why, unlike other diets, we can be successful in maintaining our weight loss?

Will try to get back on plan over the weekend, despite another social minefield, so that I can report better results on our weigh-in day on Tuesday.

Good luck everyone and keep on keeping on.

A little 0.4 pound gain today, after a non fast day with my first alcohol since last Sunday, which is on plan. I am sticking to my dry 4 days, two of which were fast days this week. I think I am still retaining a little water so will up the water intake over the weekend and see if that helps. I am not tracking calories, even on fast days for this challenge yet, although if the weight goes the wrong way I will start for the next phase, I am relying on knowing what to avoid/eat on fast days to keep the calories down after so many months of tracking. So far so good and still 4 pounds down from the start of the challenge.

So I am doing the 8 week challenge and have completed 5 days of 800 cals a day and it has gone pretty well. I have had the odd pang which is OK but the tricky part was yesterday when my concentration was shot to pieces!! I have lost about 1.5kg (88kg) so far which is great and motivating to keep going. I had done the 5:2 non-BSD before which went pretty well then went on holiday at Easter and well and truly fell off it – unfortunately my scales showed the last time I had weighed myself as being more than a stone heavier. I can only blame myself and all the alcohol (mainly craft beer) – nothing else!. It doesn’t matter I just have to grit my teeth and get back to that point or lower. I have booked another holiday for Easter 2018 so that is my motivation. Tonight I am out at a friend’s birthday so just need to be careful with what I eat.

So,

Breakfast: still no interest

Lunch: 12:00 noon: can tuna/100g pepper/5 cherry tomatoes/50g cucumber/2 tablespoons mayo

Dinner: 200g bolognese (homemade)/30g cheddar cheese

17g carbs 761 cals. May go wild and have some 90% chocolate when kids finally go to bed. (Go to bloody bed, children!)

Night night xx

JackieM- I really enjoy seeing your daily meal diary and love your sense of humour. Thanks for posting!

Morning, on Tuesday I weighed 11.11.6 and this morning weigh 11.9.0 … pretty chuffed with myself as I’m usually a very slow loser.
Hope everyone’s having a great weekend.

ClarinetCathy – thankyou!

Rose88 – awesome!

Theodora – that comment about having loads of weight and not noticing is spot on. How can I have let myself get obese? I just told myself lots of lies, I think and thought thin people looked a bit frail. Educating my mind biggest part of this. Both what portion sizes are and what the right size of me is. I feel so liberated.

Me: 68.9kg – the barrier is broken! We are on our way! Whoop whoop! Despite 2 slices prosciutto and 1 piece of 90% chocolate after last entry. My cheats have changed a lot in content and calories.

I’ve just ordered some kefir. Thoughts anyone?

Son up in night with D&V – fortunately safely contained – but sleepy tired now. Me and him!

I am off on vacation, so I will be away from the scales for a week. Good luck this coming week! I hope to occasionally pop in for inspiration, but I will mostly be off line. I love reading your comments to keep focused.

My body and I communicate in much the same way these days, Theodora. I find if I lay on my back when I wake up in the morning and run my hand over my abdomen, I can pretty much accurately predict what the scales are going to show. Having 2lb wriggle room left is good going, by the way. You know some of that will be water retention and you will soon be back at the full 5lb wriggle room again once you get back to being in proper control again.

I am content with how things are going so far on this challenge and I’m pleased to see that lots of others are reporting good things too. Well done everyone who has lost, no matter how much – and keep on keeping on everyone. I too am a slow loser, but at the moment, things are going in the right direction. Just need to hold on to that and hopefully be able to report a good loss on Tuesday, after official weigh-in.

Sadly, my friend has had to cancel her visit early next week, however, this means I won’t have to worry about catering and eating out now, which in some ways is a bonus for me at this point. At our family meal out yesterday, I kept control by having salad and belly pork, with just 8 or 10 sweet potato chips. Also, as I was a bit headachy, I opted for sparkling water and not wine, which also helped I’m sure. That was all I ate yesterday and the only other thing I consumed that had a cal/carb content, was approx. 160ml kefir. Scales read fractionally lower again this morning. Confess I didn’t count anything yesterday and won’t be today, however, I will be again from tomorrow.

Keep on going people, we can do this, all we have to do is keep on keeping on!

On the topic of kefir, JackieM, I’ve been making my own for a month or so now. I have some everyday and am convinced it is helping to regulate bowel movement – something that has always been an issue for me. The kefir keeps very well in the fridge and when I have a bit of a back log, I suspend production for a couple of days, by putting the grains in a batch of milk and store it in the fridge for a couple of days. You can use kefir to add to dishes (like yogurt, don’t boil it, as it will cause a sauce to curdle), could be used to make ice cream, eaten with berries, nuts etc. I keep a whole frozen lime in my freezer and just grate a little of the complete fruit (peel and all) over kefir – really refreshing.

Hey Theodora and SunnyB — I am in complete agreement about how differently we are communicating with our bodies after doing BSD for a while — my body has gone from an inert fatty lump to telling me what it wants — one of my favorite things about the BSD is that my body is my FRIEND now, not my endlessly thickening enemy that it had become before.
It seemed like I couldn’t stop gaining before the BSD — dieting didn’t work anymore and I was always mad about how hopeless it seemed. I was really stuffing myself every day and barely registering all that food.
I feel bad for treating my body so poorly back then — given my eating habits, it is a wonder I wasn’t twice as fat! My body must have been working overtime trying to control the gain.
I can still eat too much on some days but now I quickly feel gross and recognize that as my body saying “stop eating lady!”

Just been out for Sunday lunch to our favourite vegetarian restaurant. I had soup to start and gave my husband my warm crusty bread- and didn’t even want it. When I ordered my Sunday Nut Roast I asked for no potatoes and asked if they would give me extra extra veg. I did eat the coconut and jam sponge pudding and custard which I enjoyed (considered choice) it wasn’t a large portion and had a coffee with cream. I ordered a bottle of sparkling water. Mostly good BSD food choices!!! I feel absolutely stuffed now- not had that feeling for a long time! Am planning to fast tomorrow in the hope that on Tuesday there won’t be a gain this week. I want to get used to eating out and dealing with choices that may not always be BSD friendly as I am aware that this way of living is going to be for life. I know I have the tools to be in control of my weight now for ever.