Hello! I’m starting the BSD with my wife on Monday 12/09. We’ve just got back from holiday and we’re writing a shopping list for week one.

At the moment we’re both quite excited.

Hi! I’m just starting out too. Thanks to my fasting my fridge is bare … no junk food in the house at all! Can’t wait to shop for good foods!!
I’m excited and anticipating more energy and better health!!

Good thing that i already love veggies, beans and lentils!!

Bought a blood sugar home testing kit today. I need to fast for twelve hours before doing the test and stupidly I’ve just gone and eaten something before going to bed so I won’t be able to test until 11:30am tomorrow!

We don’t own a car as we live in the middle of London, but at the moment we have a hire car as we’ve just been on holiday. We took a day trip to Margate today and on the way back called in at Tesco to buy all the ingredients for the Week One menu. Around £140 for two people, which isn’t too bad as I won’t be buying any food from the canteen at work or from the shops on the way back home.

@shalimar – are you doing the diet with anyone?

Hi …. the 140 pounds doesn’t sound too bad …. your health is worth it!!
I don’t even know how to drive …. and really it’s a big expense to drive. I can afford that or my private Clay Aiken concerts!! 🙂

I’m not doing my diet with anyone …. except you and my friends here.
But my sister may join me in general weight loss … but she only has 10 pounds or so to loose … while i have about 70.

BUT ….. i do fit into a new bathing suit already …. so i can dump my crappy one when i go to aquabics! 🙂

I haven’t started the 800 calories yet …. but i’ve been sort of fasting for a week. I started with just the 12-hour fast every day for a week.

And i plan to up my exercise from zilch to something!!! Only short walks to date.

OK, so it’s time to reveal the vital statistics and I’ve been unpleasantly surprised by a few of them:

Height: 5′ 10″
Waist: 43″
Waist to Height Ratio: 0.61
Weight: 15st 7lb
Heart rate: 64 bpm
Blood pressure: 120/90
Blood glucose: ~7 mmol/L

The blood glucose level was a surprise, and even a bit of a shock – essentially I’m pre-diabetic, if not diabetic. Last year I cut out refined sugar for about six months and I thought that would have had a positive effect on my insulin resistance, but if it did then it seems not to have lasted. It appears that it’s essential that I do this diet.

My goal is lose 43lb to get me down to 12st 6lb which is what was recommended to me at a Bupa health check up last year.

Here goes…

I’ve been reading a lot of inspirational posts … especially love the interesting side health benefits for a whole range of assorted problems.

And even if we don’t see results on the scale … we may see results in clothes fitting, and reduced fat around the liver and pancreas!

We may even loose our taste for refined sugar — i wish us luck with that 🙂 🙂 …. maybe just as a special treat!! 🙂

So that’s day one complete. I ate breakfast and lunch together at 1pm as I can go without breakfast but need a more substantial lunch. I must get in the habit of drinking more water though.

Black Coffee
Blueberry and green tea shake
Pepper with jewelled feta
Aubergine with beef and pomegranate

Only felt hungry when I got home from work.

I can skip breakfast too … usually did when i was working … usually get hungry by morning coffee break. Usually had a small snack … maybe a banana and then a good lunch. Gotta be careful with the bananas.
I sometimes had an apple … pealed, cored, and cut up … seemed like a real treat. Loved that better than trying to eat it whole …. but then again i have dentures 🙂 🙂
More liquids definitely!
Have fun today!!

Day two. Haven’t had much in the way of hunger pangs and at lunch time I went for a half hour stroll but as the temperature was 30 deg C it was too hot to make it a brisk walk.

Black coffee
Hard boiled egg and half an avocado
No carb ploughman’s lunch
Veg curry with cauliflower rice

I’m taking it in turns with Mrs C to make the food for the following day and I’ve just finished in the kitchen doing tomorrow’s food. I suppose it’s better than sitting in front of the telly!

30 degrees C … is ay to hot for me too!!

My feet were so sore from walking all day in crocs that i found it hard to walk today. Was going to exercise class at the community centre and it was cancelled. Had an appointment with Diabetes North this morning … i didn’t really get much support but what the heck i’ll keep my next appointment anyway. Still looking for a doctor … i would like to get liver and pancreas test to see how much i improve! 🙂

Love cauliflower just steamed plan with browned butter ,,,, but that cauliflower rice sounds pretty good too!

Was kind of exhaused today to had an afternoon nap … the luxuries of retirement. Going to the gym tomorrow and going to aquabics class with my sister on Thursday!!
Still fasting so far!!

At work today, around 4pm, I really felt like eating just for the hell of it but staved off the feeling with a bottle of sparkling water. I was at Toastmasters this evening and had a diet coke, although I prefer to avoid pop altogether. Had a half hour walk at lunchtime.

Black coffee
No-carb bircher
Veg frittata
Beetroot falafels – it’s like having four cakes for tea!
Diet coke

I’m supporting a software release tonight from 2:30am which could make tomorrow a bit difficult. Luckily, I’ll be working from home for the rest of the day.

It’s funny how my mouth feels like it has been underused from not chewing food so much. A weird sensation.

I had some diet coke today too!! …. Came home after aquabics and it was just quick~!!

What’s bircher??

I do feel like eating but i bought some small vegetable juice cans put put in my gym bag just in case i over exert myself! Had some very nice Chai Tea the Stash brand … very nice, esp. with a bit of xylitol. Spending lots of money on nice and fancy teas and coffees. My sister bought me one of those Keurig coffee makers … and while its very expensive i feel it would be bad to put it away … so i look for sales and such. I still keep my regular small coffee maker handy.

Dr. Mosley is right when he says fast weight loss is very encouraging … i have felt like quiting but the results are just too grand~! It’s nice to fit nicely into clothes … even though some of my clothes will have to be donated to the Diabetes Assoc. clothes drive — they have a Value Village here that gives a good portion of the profits to the Diabetes Assoc. Value Village is like Goodwill or Salvation Army just more oranized, neat and a tad more expensive. I buy retail but i shop there too.

Looking forward to aquabics class with my sister tomorrow!

Good luck with the software release!!

The software release went well but I didn’t finish until 7am. Then I managed 4 hours of interrupted sleep on the sofa. I worked from home for the rest of the day and I can’t remember how many times I walked up to the fridge, had a look in and then walked away reminding myself I couldn’t have anything. By 8pm I was really really tired and feeling very irritable and grumpy. When we finally sat down to dinner everything seemed to feel a lot better after the first few mouthfuls of food. Interesting.

Black coffee
Mushroom with goats cheese and pine nuts
Butternut squash salad
Steamed haddock and vegetables – I hate warmed up tomatoes and their juice so must try to avoid them. Love them every other way though.

Food didn’t feel very fulfilling today – I think that’s because we swapped the sardine dip for the salad – perhaps we could have used tuna or smoked mackerel instead of sardines. Tomorrow’s menu looks like you can at least get your teeth into something.

@shalimar – probably the best description of a real Bircher is the one given by Titanne in the comments on this recipe https://thebloodsugardiet.com/recipes/bircher-muesli/

Food probably didn’t feel fulfilling because you didn’t sleep enough …. it can make us feel stressed and grouchy.

I’m not getting enough liquid i think …. plus i don’t sleep that well … and i wake up NOT feeling great.

No weight loss for me today …. i think i need to stop looking every day when i’m at my gym.

Did actually take the Aquabics class with my sister this morning and that was pretty good … did more exercise than me just trying to to some on my own. Did you for a couple of short walks also but i felt kind of sluggish, when yesterday when i got home from the gym i was energized and actually wanted to do more!!

The Bircher sounds pretty good to me!

Have some fun tomorrow!!

I’m going to a small farmers market tomorrow a.m. and i hope to pick up some local honey. Getting local honey is supposed help your immune system against stuff in your local area.

@shalimar – be careful not to over-do the honey – it’s refined sugar after all – it’s just refined by the very finest of refiners: the lovely, wonderful bees!

Dropped my son off at nursery, headed to work on the train but had to turn back due to the major disruptions on all the lines. Worked from home instead. I’ve had a headache this afternoon and I’m not sure what caused it – lack of coffee, looking at my small laptop screen, drinking too much water or the diet. A half hour swim in the evening sorted that out though.

Melon, blueberry, pomegranate and spinach smoothie – tasted awful, like ‘health food’!
Halloumi salad
Spicy chicken with lentils

Mrs C and I don’t feel hungry going to bed tonight, which is a good sign.

Oh i don’t intend to use the local honey, not right now … and only in moderation later, it’s only that local honey is scarce so when i got a line on some i went for it. I may even give some away cause i got 3 jars.
It seems that headaches are a familiar symptom since we are changing so much of our diet that it’s even difficult to determine the exact cause.

I had a veggie drink at the mall … asked for the nutrition information and they had it handy esp. since they are called Freshly Squeezed. I had a kale, spinich, raspberry, ginger and cucumber mix. It wasn’t sweet so i hope it was just the 190 calories stated.

Didn’t weigh in because i didn’t go to the gym. Was tired by the time i got home. Did get a cloth tape measure so i took my measurements … 44,42,44. Not an hour glass figure and far from Scarlett O’Hara’s 19 inch waist 🙂 🙂 🙂
and i turned to my sister at aquabics and said “Don’t i look pretty!” It’s all relative … I look at 229 pounds and feel joy … others would not.

@shalimar – of course, the free abundance of honey in the supermarket makes you forget just what a precious commodity it is. Did you know that “an average worker bee makes only about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.” That’s according to the Golden Blossom website.

Took my son swimming this morning, and then spent ages unsuccessfully trying to get him to sleep in his pushchair. So it wasn’t until 14:45 that we had “brunch”! I was starving. Went to see original illustrations by Quentin Blake for the BFG and Kitty-in-Boots books at the House of Illustration, and stopped at Waitress to get some missing ingredients, some more tubs for taking breakfast and lunch into work, and a spiralizer.

Black coffee
Smoked salmon and poached egg stack – absolutely delicious!
Harissa Chicken – Mrs C did this a bit differently – she roasted the chicken with the pine nuts, parsley, oil, spring onions, and the Harissa paste, raisins. We steamed the haricot beans and served them both on a green salad with mint. It tasted delicious. We agreed that it would have been better with a small portion of veg on the side rather than the salad.

First thing tomorrow is measurements day. Looking forward to it!

Waitrose not Waitress. I must turn auto-correct off – who needs it on a computer with a proper keyboard?!

Sunday morning weigh-in stats:

Height: 5′ 10″ (I’m not expecting this to change!)
Waist: 41″ (2″ gone)
Waist to Height Ratio: 0.58
Weight: 14st 12.4lb (8.6lb gone)
Heart rate: 73 bpm
Blood pressure: 125/88

Very pleased! Mrs C has also lost 8lb but nothing off her waist – anyone know why this might be?

About to tuck into cheesy beans.

Started the day with an hours walk followed by half a portion of cheesy beans on portobello mushroom which was really tasty. Had the same thing a few hours later after we’d spent a couple of hours at the playground. I think in retrospect I would have preferred to eat it all in one go, as intended. Funnily enough though, the sugar in the beans made Mrs C go all wobbly for a bit.

This evening we were invited to a friend’s BBQ, possibly the last of the summer. I pre-prepared steak with creme fraiche and peppercorn sauce. I rubbed the oil, butter and steak salt into the meat and put it in a Tupperware tub. I made the red wine sauce and reduced it to a very small bowl of thick sauce and I made a salad with spiralized cucumber and mixed leaves (with a squeeze of lime juice to stop it being so dry.)

At the BBQ I cooked the meat on both sides for three minutes – it was so hot it cooked the meat perfectly.

The steak was delicious and we swapped Prosecco for Pellegrino and a slice of lemon. Didn’t feel hard done by at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Other people were a little bit jealous. We’d been chatting about the diet and everyone assumed that a box of salad was all we were going to have. They were quite surprised when we dropped a couple of sirloin steaks on the barbie!

Today has been surprisingly easy when I thought it was going to be one of the toughest.

Glad you surprised your BBQ friends. 🙂
I think people loose weight in different places at different times. I usually loose weight off my collar bones first. I’m trying to get rid of my belly fat … which i call Candy Mountain Jr. after a local ski hill. I try and do aquabics which twist my midsection … not ready to tackle sit ups because of my back … but i have instructions from a chiropractor who said i could do sitting sit ups on the floor with the couch a little away from my back and lean back using what stomach muscles i have.

Good news weight wise for me … now below 230 pounds … at 228. Haven’t seen that in years and years … went looking for some pants i might fit … and ended up taking winter and now-fitting stuff out of storage and putting my summer stuff in. Charity will be getting lots of clothes etc. as i am purging the entire house … and pitching stuff out and giving stuff away. New rule … something comes in the house … something goes out.

Good thing …. i’ve spent the weekend doing cleaning, clearing, moving furniture. My sister is giving me living room furniture … leather and in very good shape. It’s much better than what i have and i certainly am not too proud to accept. I donate to charity but i shop at the thrift shops myself. I buy new too … but not unless i really, really, really like it or can’t get it cheaper.

It has been a real lesson in buying wisely … because i gave away stuff with price tags still on it.

Lots of lessons in diet and life. Still fasting but i’ve added raw eggs. In childhood we ate raw eggs beaten with a teeny bit of sugar … of course i used xylitol and noticed no difference.

Food i ate as a German child … pickled herring and herring embryos, blood sausage …. Sounds good to me!!

Looking forward to Tuesday … when i get a sofa, loveseat and a great rocker!!
L
Yoga class was a bust … not beginner as it was advertised. I have a book i my try if i have time and just try and get some advice in class about the proper way to do a few things. Lift my ass of the floor while on my back … i don’t think so!!! 🙂

Hope you have a great week.

I’ve only done about 6000 steps today. Worked through lunch and didn’t get chance for a lunchtime stroll. I have a sedentary lifestyle – I truly am a desk jockey.

Had a three hour meeting in the afternoon and mercifully the previous meeting had left a trolley of refreshments including several bottles of fizzy water, so I had plenty to drink.

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon – don’t think I’d add creme fraiche again as it made it a bit watery
Medi platter
Chicken and asparagus salad

@shalimar – great work on the weight loss so far. And raw eggs and sugar? – well that’s a new one for me! Not sure I’ll be trying it – even with xylitol.

I thought I would starve when I saw today’s menu but no. Managed a stroll at lunchtime. I felt focussed and got a lot done at work. Mrs C had a phenomenal day – she’s been everywhere, done everything and she’s still full of energy: 28000 steps and yoga.

Black coffee
Yoghurt with almonds and pomegranate
Beetroot and apple soup – nice, but went right through me!
Luxury fish pie – fantastic!

Love Mrs. C’s energy day! I love those!

Didn’t do too much today. Just sitting here admiring my “new” furniture. Got rid of lots of old stuff. Moved furniture. Fell off the bottom rung of a ladder trying to change a light fixture — Most of my house has high ceilings.

After a frustrating day of work in the house i was dying for the cool refreshing pool at the gym club … but getting back on the bus was a big problem … so i decided to stop by the Liquor store *both at the shopping mall) andgot some stuff for later, heavy stuff so i justified a taxi home. Of course i dipped in … and i do not recommend that on a fast! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’m not a big drinker but i sometimes like a glass of wine but i usually don’t get to the liquor store (the province regulates it and you can only buy liquor in a few places). My gym bag is enough to carry…. although once i’m eating the grocery store there will be great for fresh veggies and stuff.

I intend to get back on the exercise horse tomorrow. 🙂

Hmm, that’s funny. Just lost my last post into the wilderness. I’ll try again…

@shalimar – when you said you were getting a “a sofa, loveseat and a great rocker!!” I thought you were talking about a private Clay Aitken concert.

Work was busy with quite a few issues to sort out but I did go swimming in the evening. I felt a lot fitter, but when I left the pool I was drained. I literally dragged my feet around Sainsbury’s getting in the food for the rest of the week.

Blueberry and green tea shake
Chicken and butterbean salad – nice and filling
Crabcakes – they tasted nice but the recipe has too much liquid and we ended up frying a sloppy mess – I wouldn’t add the lemon juice next time

There’s a party going on in the block of flats next to ours and it sounds like there are a few idiots in attendance. Quality sleep may not be guaranteed tonight!

Feeling drained after swimming …. thats way i carry around a small can of emergency vegetable juice. Might still do that even though i’m not fasting anymore.

Many people don’t know that Clay Aiken CAN rock it out when he puts his mind to it. He does give a great hug too! I just love his voice …. even though he’s gay … his voice can put you in that loveseat 🙂 🙂 He is a fascinating and very warm person! He does however not suffer fools gladly.

Couldn’t sleep last night … i was finally so hungry i just went for it! Was still okay for carbs and calories til i dipped into the alcohol!! Mainly canned salmon and canned tuna. I did indulge in some green relish with the salmon but even that didn’t put me over on 50 carbs.

No exercise.

Still admiring my new furniture 🙂 🙂

My blood sugar was 4.8 late yesterday … and now only 5.9. This summer i was having trouble … mostly in the high 20’s even with metformin. Have only taken 2 metformin in the last few weeks and it made me feel sick. If i can keep my blood sugar in single digits without metformin that would be amazing.

Went off-piste today and had quark with blueberries and flax seeds for breakfast. Unfortunately, it seems we bought vanilla quark and the flavouring is made entirely of different types of sugar. For ten minutes I felt on top of the world, and, while I didn’t crash, I did feel hungry for the rest of the day.

This may also have been because I didn’t sleep well last night. The party I was fretting about fizzled out fairly rapidly. But at around 3am the world and his dog seemed intent on making some kind of noise outside our window.

Vanilla quark with blueberries and flax seeds
Lettuce cups
Roast chicken and white bean mash

Feeling listless and tired this evening. Will have to jolt my body into action at the weekend.

Totally off the track yesterday!
A tad hung over.
Better today.
Broth with assorted beans
Salmon with Miracle Whip

The beans made the carbs go up to 98.

Total calories 840, Carbs 104.
NO alcohol
No exercise …. Feeling not so sick now.
Seem to have turned my days into nights. I will work on that. Meeting a friend for lunch and used book shopping…. so i will have to be awake!!

Going to have a diet coke …. going to up the calories a bit with a lemon in the coke.

Rocky start for me ….. but things can only go up now! 🙂 🙂 🙂

P. S. Someone suggested this so i did it.

I just wrote down my motivation, my plan, and put it in my purse …. and set an interim goal to be done by Dec. 10, which is a weight loss of approx. 2 lbs. per week and normal blood sugar. Then i will set a new goal.

This should be very achievable and i will feel wonderful when i get it down early. Should leave some room for Christmas …. and restrain me from going overboard on either exercise or food — so i don’t get exhausted and light headed and grumpy from trying to do too much too fast. My aim is to feel wonderful both during and after the BSD …. and frankly the extreme fast was torturous many times.

Shalimar why did you do an extreme fast? Just curious sounds really really tough!

I’ve done fasting a couple of times before …. after the first 2 days i usually felt great, although i did have some episodes of feeling faint. I did just over 3 weeks one time …. only quit fasting because i was still working then and it’s difficult to maintain.

Perhaps it was because my diabetes was worse and of longer duration, plus i decided to get back to doing aquabics and walking … this time i really didn’t enjoy the fasting experience and was just doing it because i had a head of steam up about loosing weight and wanted to take advantage of the extreme focus. I was so sick a few months ago it scared me.

I’ve just had a couple of days of overeating and drinking …. and i’ve settled down emotionally. I’m still focused but not fanatically so. I’m going to work the 800 calorie, low carb BSD. And i’m going to increase my exercise as i feel up to it. Not going to worry about a slip up now and then …. and take the results as they come.

I think i’ll be fine with that.

Sunday morning weigh-in stats:

Height: 5′ 10″ (I’m not expecting this to change!)
Waist: 40″ (1″ gone, 3″ total)
Waist to Height Ratio: 0.57
Weight: 14st 7.6lb (another 4.8lb gone, 13.4lb total)
Heart rate: 63 bpm
Blood pressure: 123/87 (coming down slowly)

I managed a big software release this weekend which went surprisingly well. However, I was awake from 7am Friday to about midday Saturday because of it. Foodwise, all was going well until around 6pm Friday but my brain just wasn’t working to my liking, so I started gorging on some of the food that I’d brought in for the people doing the implementation! Anyway, to cut a long story short I finished off the day with a bacon butty at midday Saturday and haven’t eaten since. Pretty sure I would have broken the 1 stone mark if it had been a normal day, but overnight working can never be considered normal.

Friday:
Portobello mushroom ‘toast’ with butterbeans and spinach
Hummus and cucumber
Crayfish salad

Then from 6pm to 12pm on Saturday:
Not saying! Making up for it by fasting until lunchtime Sunday.

You’re doing pretty darn good …. i see you’ve started to see some results!!! Yeah!

I have had 2 days this week where i was either under the calorie limit OR the carb limit, not both. I’m still going with the 800 calories/no more than 50 carbs …. just haven’t succeeded this week.

Came off the fast eating too much … healthy but too much for a fasting body.

I actually haven’t been tempted (much) by the unhealthy carbs … but i do like beans and lentils in soups and stews and chilli. I miss cheese and certain fruits too!

Totally sick yesterday, In bed all day.

But early early this morning i made a veggie soup with beans (too bad beans are so full of carbs because i love them). I was very proud of myself on Friday because i had dinner out with my girlfriend and had fish and chips … but I had steamed veggies instead of chips. Got some great used books too … we were exploring a huge used bookstore that we hadn’t been to before.

I am hoping the stress of being sick is what raised my blood sugar to 9.2 this a.m. after it had been so great.

Hope i feel better in a couple of hours and can go to aquabics!

Broke a 26 hour fast with the ‘no-carb’ waffles (we don’t have a waffle maker so they were actually big thick pancakes), strawbs, raspberries and greek yoghurt – very tasty – a real treat.

Took the bus out to Battersea Park and walked back with my son in the pushchair – about an hour – and got 11K steps in. Average for the week is very poor so I need to pay attention to the amount of activity I do.

This evening we had chilli and broccoli. The chilli has a couple of pieces of dark chocolate in it which makes it very decadent!

I’ve found that doing my updates on the laptop just before bed has been affecting my sleep. Found an app called f.lux which filters out the blue light in the evening – it works really well.

@shalimar – we’re following the menus in the book for the first four weeks so we don’t have to think too much about it. As we’re doing it together it’s a lot easier. Not sure what we’ll do for the following four weeks, but I doubt we’ll get too religious about carbs and just focus on Med-style. What books did you get?

Today is better for me too. Had a Denver sandwich, egg ham onion … but only ate 1/4 piece of the bread. Then had 3 small chicken drumsticks. I may have a bit of chicken broth with cauliflower and spinach later. Should be okay on calories and carbs!!

Battersea Park walk … sounds like a lovely day!

I do have the 8 week blood sugar diet book coming on Wednesday (right now i have the library book). I ordered the Fast Life book by Michael Mosley too …. but more for the pictures and exercise advice.

8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Cookbook by Clare Bailey and Sarah Schenker … i will get this when it is cheaper … the Canada one isn’t due out until December.

I did get a whole lot of diabetic cookbooks a while back … i was trying to find ones that were a) simple and b) didn’t use cottage cheese or diet sweeteners in the recipies. Just got Vegetarian low-carb diet by Rose Elliot for the recipes.

For pictures and what seem like great recipes i like The Ultimate diabetes cookbook by Diabetic Living (400 recipies). For less recipes but whole food ones … The New Diabetes Cookbook, 100 mouthwatering seasonal whole-food recipes by Kate Gardner. I find browsing through cookbooks relaxing.

I look at amazon.ca …. but if they’re expensive i buy them off the used book lists at amazon … i also check the public library.

You can also “search” the recipes here … put in chicken, eggs, whatever and see what’s available that looks good.

I’m limited right now by 3 things … i never really learned how to cook, no stove and only a teeny fridge. Lots of money being spent on necessary home repairs … so major appliances are broken and have been for a while. I may go for it this fall … really miss having a freezer. And everyone tells me that roasting vegetables is VERY tasty and easy to do!!

I to look through the cookbooks for recipes with easy preparation with ingredients that are easy to get.Sometimes you can get the special ingredient but how many times are you going to use it.

I still haven’t gotten on board with mindfullness and meditation ….. maybe that will help with sleep.

How’s the week going?? Hoping all is well with you and your family and you’re getting good sleep.

still having my ups and downs … really swollen feet but i’ve taken some steps that will help.

Finding lots of helpful hints in these forums!!

Quick catchup as we’ve been really busy. On Monday we had:
Avocado with tuna and spring onion
Chickpea and pecan nut salad
Courgetti prawns

On Tuesday:
Pears, cottage cheese and walnuts
Spanish chickpea and spinach soup
Stir fry chicken

On Wednesday:
Hard boiled egg and half an avocado
Chilli and green veg
Feta cheese, courgette and raspberry salad

Wednesday was also my birthday. I bought some tubs of chocolate sweets (small brownies etc) from M&S to share round at work. I ate two of them, which is fairly restrained for me! But I shouldn’t have done it. In the evening it was Toastmasters and I was Timekeeper so it seemed appropriate to mention that it was my birthday. Needless to say I ended up having a pint of lager or two (four actually) bought for me. Well you know what lager does to your hunger levels. On the way home I had 7 of the 8 cookies in a packet of Fox’s Crunch. Erk! Well, it was my birthday. Back to normal On Thursday.

I think there’s a lesson to be learnt here though. Be prepared for failure. If I think I’m going to waiver, accept the fact but make sure I have a better alternative e.g. Red wine instead of beer. Some healthy food in my bag instead of biscuits from the late night shop.

Thursday’s food:
Cottage cheese, raspberries and spinach (I’d have happily left out the spinach)
Crayfish lettuce cups
Another small M&S brownie (last one, promise)
Harissa chicken

No Caldini – the lesson to learn is that champagne is tons less carby than lager 🙂
belated happy Birthday
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/alcohol

Happy Birthday!!!

I read Hairless Chicken in that last line~?~… 🙂 and thought what new recipe is that! LOL!

We seem to be in sync …. in that we both has some slip ups.

Finally weighed in … 236 pounds …. so i gained some. Blood sugar over 10 but that’s back down to 8 also.

Food Thursday : Cheese Omelette with side of bacon, coffees with cream, diet Dr. Pepper.

Was looking for some low carb goat cheese … and i found some … now i don’t remember what recipe that was for.

Got lots of good groceries … big bags of kale and spinach, sweet kale, solid white tuna packed in water, English cucumber, Grape tomatoes, Ready to eat breast chicken, cauliflower, avocadoes …. sure i can feast on some of that.

p.s. i started that free online course in mindfulness noted in that section here …. that’s going to be sooooo interesting and something i’ve started on before. That’s because i realized that when i reach for alcohol and sugar that something is wrong that has nothing to do with food (other than one’s birthday and Thanksgiving and Christmas 🙂 ). Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up in 2 weeks … and i will probably have something extra … but i will not feel guilty about it.

Lets keep on keeping on!

@frog – that’s great advice – I love a glass or two of bubbles. I guess it’s like an Aero – diet chocolate! 🤔

@shalimar – got to be realistic. Slip ups happen. As long as you keep following the plan all of the rest of the time you’re OK!

Thursday and Friday have been OK. Work has been tough, but busy enough to keep my mind off food – in fact I rarely feel hungry these days, except the couple of hours before I’m expecting to eat. If food gets delayed for some reason I can get quite short tempered. It’s good to recognise that though – I can keep it in check.

On Friday evening, a lovely friend of ours babysat for us, and we went to see the David Hockney exhibition at the RA. It was really good. We sat outside eating our Grapefruit and Cheddar salad waiting for our time slot to enter the gallery and had a decaf coffee in the restaurant.

Portobello Mushroom and Goats Cheese
Braised cod with lettuce and peas
Grapefruit and Cheddar salad
Decaf Coffee

A quiet day today. Took my son to the park in the rain. He loved splashing in the puddles in his wellies. When we got home he slept for three and a half hours which is a monumental nap! We vegged out in front of the telly and planned next week’s food and made a shopping list and an online order.

Later on we went into town to get a new frying pan – we went for a GreenPan fry pan and sauté pan.

My wife went out for the evening with a friend. Didn’t get my son to sleep until 10pm – I wonder why?!

Feel like I’ve eaten loads today but that’s not true at all:

Baked eggs with pea and feta salad – this was delicious. The eggs needed 20 mins, not 10 – 12 like it says in the book. They rose up just like soufflés and were a very tasty treat.
Turkey burgers and Moroccan salad – loved these as they were nice and spicy

Splashing in water and children … life in heaven!!!

Haven you noticed that when you are hungry that food tastes great????

I’m starting to enjoy vegetables without dip …

Made some soup with lentils, beans, cauliflower, spinach with you-can’t-kill-me chopped kale!! Boy that kale is tough!!

Went to yoga …. but had to leave as i got sick. I think now it was my dry sinuses … the air seemed to full of dust it was somewhat painful … was wondering why no one else noticed. Did chair yoga … i could actually do some of it until i got really feeling like i was going to barf!

They had a rummage/jumble sale there …. and i got 3 cookbooks by Giada de Laurentis … had been looking around for a copy of Everyday Italian …. and a Readers Digest big book of salads. I think i can adapt some recipes to BSD. Salad book has some good ideas. Only 2 dollars per book!! That’s almost free.

Kept to the BSD diet today … being sick helped!!! a lot!!!

@shalimar – did you use a blender on the soup?

Sunday morning weigh-in stats:
Height: 70″ (I’m not expecting this to change!)
Waist: 39″ (1″ gone, 4″ total)
Waist to Height Ratio: 0.56
Weight: 14st 4.4lb (another 3.2lb gone, 16.6lb total)
Heart rate: 63 bpm
Blood pressure: 119/87 (coming down slowly)

Week 3 done!

I want to get into the 13st bracket this week but we’re going away for the weekend (mother-in-law’s 70th) and I can’t guarantee being good all the time. So next weigh in will be Saturday morning, with a check-in on Tuesday to record the damage.

Mrs C has lost 1st 2lb and 3″ off her waist! She’s looking fabulous (as ever).

Congrats to you and Mrs C.!!
I have Canadian Thanksgiving upcoming weekend so i will likely be off the BSD for a day …. although i shall try and splurge on healthy food and perhaps a glass of wine.

Didn’t use a blender on soup …. i kind of like rustic over smooth. I even like chunky mashed potatoes with skin on —- not that i have that anymore 🙂 🙂 🙂

Laid up this weekend … dry sinuses and very sore throat!!

Happy birthday to your mother in law!

Delighted with the results of my weigh-in this morning – although I do weigh myself every day and I know I’ve been this weight for the past three days. Yesterday though, I took a top my wife bought me for my birthday back to the shop – to exchange a large for a medium!

Had smoked salmon stack for brunch and went to St James’ Church for the Fun Palace in the afternoon. On the way home I nipped to the swimming pool for half an hour of front crawl / breast stroke.

Mrs C used some unused food from the fridge freezer to make meatballs in a tomato, bacon, mushroom, onion and fennel sauce. Served with roast butternut squash and green veg it was simply perfect. Restaurant quality!

WOW!!! You and Mrs. C. are having fun with the results so far …. and cooking up some great stuff!!!

Love exchanging clothes for SMALLER sizes!

You guys rock!!!

Thanks @shalimar! Hope you’re starting to see the benefits too.

Had a new starter in my team and hosted a couple of meetings today so lots of talking was done. You can tell I’m dehydrated – I just couldn’t find the right words for the ends of my sentences.

Rhubarb compote and yoghurt
Medi platter
Fish pie and broccoli

How nice …. a new starter on your team!!!

Got a cold … so i am really appreciating my new pear and pineapple flavored tea!! Swigging some of my liquid multivitamin/mineral …. taste is not so great though!!!

So far today i just had bacon and eggs and some roasted pumpkin seeds …. although when this bacon is gone i think i will confine my bacon to restaurants … it’s too tempting to have more than 2 rashers.

Half way through The Great Reckoning by Louise Penny …. one of my favorite authors. Very sorry to see that her husband has dementia (gotta do all we can to avoid that) … but she and Michael seem to have found multiple silver linings!!

Gotta look up that rhubarb compote …. we used to have that in our garden growing up … my mom made lots of good things with that.

Wish i was well enough to got to the pool and do some aquabics …. but i am sneezing like crazy … and using up boxes and boxes of tissues!!

Hachoooooo!!!