Hi Way of life – the itsu seaweeds are great aren’t they 🙂

Glad you are feeling better. Don’t worry about scales for now, so long as you have a starting weight for later comparison. If you feel better, you may start noticing more energy – less likely to fall asleep in front of the telly; better sleep patterns, and probably the first thing – clothes are a bit looser – even watch straps can go one hole tighter. All are good indicators.

Another thing to explore if you have not already – gram flour. There are recipes in the recipe section for gram flower wraps that are good – add into it what you want and because they are chickpea based they are higher protein. They take a bit of organising to make – you need to leave mixture to stand for a few hours, and I always get 8 not 10-12 out of the mixture – so a higher carb that I expected (I have to cut in half) – but they can also be used as a pizza base for a change.

Thanks orchid. I’m going to check the gram flour out. Thanks for the seaweed suggestion, I finally bought some.

I have a starting weight and will look forward to standing on the scale in 7 weeks.

My clothes feel looser and I feel more confident.
Such a long way to go, but it has to be a day at a time. In fact, a couple of days ago it was one meal at a time.

Thanks for your advice.

What a difference a couple of days make.

Lost my way yesterday and much of today…carb central!

Have refocused and instead of thinking I’ll restart tomorrow, I’m restarting now, late afternoon.

Here we go again….

How is everyone else getting on?

HI everyone! Sorry about your carb blow out Way of Life – these things happen! And you’re straight back in the saddle, well done! I had a bit of an incident, shall we say, with red wine and peanuts (hey, at least nuts were low carb high protein!) on Friday night, which has set me back a bit but otherwise doing ok. Have lost 9.5lb in all (4 before starting).

Hi Way of life,
It happens to us all and what is important is you realise and get back on the wagon – which you have done – well done!

Hi way of life,
hope you are feeling better this week?
A quick question about hemp powder – when you started taking it, did you find you were getting a lot of stomach gas? I started using it in soup last week and since then I have been plagued with it – I also had a couple of other changes to what I was eating , but this was the only totally new food.

Hey Orchid – I had a gas issue when I started to take inulin for extra fibre and effectively counteracted this, by taking charcoal capsules – could be worth a try? Remember our bodies are changing on the BSD, so it could be that something you previously eat without any reaction, is also causing a bit of an issue. Either way, some charcoal might help.

Thanks SunnyB,
I made two changes last week at the same time – one was adding hemp powder to soups (totally new to me) for extra protein, the other was making the turmeric late that is on this site – presumably from MM as he mentioned it in a radio broadcast I listened to. That added in turmeric, almond milk and coconut milk to the ‘new foods’ as well. I have had all three in the past – maybe not quite as much in one go, but I never had a problem with them; thus the assumption it was the hemp.
I have not had any of them since Wednesday and still suffering a bit so I thought I’d ask in case others had that experience.

Have you had to keep on taking the charcoal – or has your body adjusted?

Hi Orchid, I just take the charcoal as a matter of course now, which I think is probably no bad thing, given that my diet has been changed considerably and I am still taking the inulin.

Hi everyone! 4 weeks on this diet and still going strong. This weekend I made seitan – looking forward to cooking with it! Also enjoying new Linda McCartney faux duck and chicken in stir fries – yum. I have lost about 16 lb (including 4 lb lost before starting this diet) and have slowed down considerably, which is disappointing, so now the challenge is to stay motivated! (Quite a bit more to lose!)
How is everyone else doing?

Hi VeganSarah.
Well done! Let me know how you get on with the seitan – I am interested in trying I.
Most of us had a plateau week (or two) during the 8 weeks when things seemed to slow down or stop, then it restarted with a woosh. Four weeks is a common time or it, however others have been a bit later – mine was week 6-7 when things stopped, but restarted again and kept up an average of 2kg loss per week over the 8 weeks despite it.
It is however, worth keeping a close on what you have been eating and ensuring you measure everything and double check the carbs in case you are consuming more than you thought. Other than that – keep going, you have done really well.

Thanks Orchid! I am tracking everything on MyFitnessPal, which is really useful but I think perhaps I have had less fibre recently. I have learnt that I need to completely avoid wine for the time being, I am less tolerant to it due to the diet which means headaches, and also it knocks me off balance with the diet for a few days. The seitan was a success! Had some last night fried up with onion and mushrooms and fajita spices (a fajita with no wrap!). Even 17 yo son was impressed. I used recipes by Vegan Zombie on youtube, recommended by my local health store. You should definitely try it! I’m off to buy some more vital wheat gluten! Have a good day!

Hi, my name is Irina and I am vegan for over a year, now I am full of love and energy but the first month was very hard -than easier, most importantly do not give up! For beginners, I advise you to read this article! http://happybody.tv/vegan-diet-and-weight-loss/

I’m not entirely certain I agree with that article at all…. with the small exception about calories. A vegan diet is so easy to put weight on. Let’s face it…. we wouldn’t be in a weight loss support thread if we’d eaten correctly in the first place. My diet pre BSD was carbs and fat. I lived on savoury carbs (pasta potatoes rice bread etc) my sweet tooth was cured by peanut butter (pure, but by the jar full and with a spoon), dates (by the box full). Not a healthy diet…. may be a cruelty free diet, but far from healthy. That’s how I put two stone on over a 4 month period.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of vegan junk food too (thankfully I never have as I’ve been a “clean” vegan- despite hating the term clean…. I refer to processed free, home cooked wholefood)…. so a vegan diet is definitely not the cure to losing weight, but maybe clearing your conscience.

I agree with a lot of what you say there, MrsTLC13.
Irina, do you follow the BSD? One of the main principles of success here is low carb, and as the article suggests to people to eating a carbohydrate rich breakfast, I do not think it really belongs on the forum.

Hi everyone!

I am starting this diet on Monday, and while I eat some fish I’m still worried about the recipes.
Hopefully I can get what I need!

Hi Loa,
Welcome on board. The recipes in the BSD book are not great for vegetarians and I had to adapt all of my own. There are now a lot of recipes on this forum (see the recipes tab at the top) and the search engine for specific foods e.g. cauliflower works well and you can find relevant recipes there. The Eight Week Blood Sugar Diet recipe book is better, especially if you eat some fish, but I would suggest you have a look at it in a shop before buying it as you may find small adaptations of your existing recipes are enough for you.
I lost a lot of weight last year following the programme as a vegetarian and have written a lot on this forum about it – look back this thread for ideas and suggestions for getting started.
There are lots of people who will help with advise, personal experiences etc, so ask questions and shout when you need help.
Good luck

Well I’m day 3 in, and I have to say, while slightly hungry, I haven’t had such mental clarity for a LONG time.
Day 3!

I don’t know is someone else has mentioned a book called 5.2 diet for vegetarians with lots of very calorie recipes that you can useon the 8 week diet.

Thanks Daizey, I’m finding it much harder to lose weight this time round. Amazing how few calories the body actually needs 🙁

hi, im just starting, trying to go veggie and i’m lactose intolerant and cant metabolise carbs. so hard to find recipes!

Hi – I’m vegan but so absolutely fed up of thinking about food, so I’m just starting up using meal replacements to see how that goes. Am using Huel which is completely vegan and going to supplement with fresh veg, so I’m going to see how that goes…

Hi Plant Powered Poll,
I used meal replacements to begin with as well, I am vegetarian and just wanted to get started and sort out getting all the foods sorted in the first couple of weeks. Also, having read Prof Taylors work at Newcastle, that programme used meal replacements, but ones I could not get in the UK. I bought some and replaced a couple of meals a day, had one of soup and some salad with one. I did lose weight in the first couple of weeks, and it helped adjust my stomach quickly to smaller portions, but did not find them that filling. What I did notice however, was that I was not losing the same proportion of inches from my waist as I was losing weight, especially compared to others.
The issue is that many of the meal replacements are 200 cals per meal so, yes you lose weight – but they are high carb which is not what is required from this programme – you need a low carb type, which are the ones Prof Taylor used and I could not get. I did find some that were higher protein, but I did not like them that much so I moved to meal plans. By then, I had worked out what I needed to get in and found some recipes I could stick to.
Good luck with your start – just check that these are high fat/protein and not high carb!

Hi there, I see this thread is a year out of date but hope there are still some veggie or vegans around. I have just watched Saturday Kitchen and a young chef called Rosie Birkett was making a lovely dish. It was kale cooking in garlic and herb butter, blanched celeriac ribbons with roasted pumpkin seeds and grated veggie cheese. All stirred in together and look delicious. You can go on line to see the full recipe and look out for her other recipes on line and a new book she has out.

I am not veggie but I am going to make this.

Thanks for that, I’ll check it out – it sounds delicious! I love celeriac and have been eating a lot of it recently.

I do hope other people will join in the conversation about vegetarian and vegan eating on this plan. This is my fourth post in these forums in the last fortnight, but I have yet to have a response. So to anyone reading this thread and wonder whether to post: please do join in. It would be great to have others to share veggie tips with!

RBeany, I’m not vegetarian so afraid I can’t be of any help to you.
However, there are many past threads you can locate by typing
“Vegetarian” in the Search box at the top right on your screen.
It might be of some help.

The very best of luck to you on your journey!

Allie

I am vegetarian and allergic to soy, so I’m finding it quite difficult to keep to low carb sources of protein. I have been relying too much on eggs and cheese especially as I also need to get my LDL cholesterol down, and have increased my lentil and bean consumption. I am trying to eat mostly real foods, but have been relying on a pea protein powder called Vega One to make occassional meal replacement shakes. It is 160 cal, 20g protein and 4g net carbs for a scoop (quite a large scoop). I mix it in the blender with some kale, almond milk and frozen berries. It is sweetened with stevia and now that my tastes are changing, I am finding it a bit too sweet.

Can you eat quorn pieces? Like you, I like to eat natural foods, and don’t usually use quorn much – but I’m finding it useful for this diet. I’m also eating a lot more eggs than usual, but that’s not a problem for me. I also love eating cottage cheese mixed up with garlic and fresh herbs, and could eat it with every meal. I add a little olive oil to raise the fat level a bit. Talking of pulses, I particularly liked the beetroot falafel recipe on page 209 of the 8-week BSD book. I’ve made them before in a much more complicated way, but these were very quick and simple to make, and tasted at least as good. And we had a fantastic harvest of them on the allotment this year, so lots of beetroots to use. The only change I made was an accidental one: when I opened the tin of chickpeas, I realised they were cannelloni beans! I’m going to try other combinations of veg and pulses.

Thanks for answering! 🙂

It’s not really help I need as much as people to share the diet with. I’ve already searched the threads and posted on some, but until now I hadn’t had any responses. Now Arcticfox has answered, and I hope that more veggies will now come out of the woodwork!

Hi RBeany, quorn is not available in my country, and one of the reasons is because it tends to trigger an allergic reaction in about 5% of people who try it. I’d probably be really wary of trying it even if it was available because of my experience with soy. I used to consume a lot of soy but then developed the allergy. Because I didn’t realize what was causing it at first (symptoms come on about 30min after eating it and I always had it with other things so didn’t make the connection), I kept eating it and eventually developed anaphalaxis which was super scary. It’s made me a bit reluctant to try new things. I’m going shopping in a little while and I may see if I can find some seitan, as that is wheat gluten and I’ve never had any issues with that before.
I like the idea of adding some olive oil to cottage cheese. I’ll have to try that.

Wheat derivatives, like wheat itself, aren’t very BSD-friendly. Seitan has 14 grams of carbohydrate per 100 gram serving, only half a gram of them fiber. I think you should probably be cautious about relying on a high-carb grain as a protein source, both since it doesn’t contain all the essential amino acids and because of your history of developing food allergies with regular exposure to a product. Eating too much of a high gluten food might trigger a whole new allergy or sensitivity. And that only applies to seitan you made at home which is the best-case scenario. If you check the ingredient lists of most commercial seitan, you’ll find even more sources of carbs and allergens, like added flour, soy sauce, sugar and other such nasties.

Do you have access to any hemp products? In the US, Tempt makes the most delicious non-dairy milk I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried them all) from hemp seeds. A serving contains all essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. They make a tofu substitute as well that is a marvel. No soy whatsoever in it and a very short list of ingredients — water, hulled, hemp seeds, a plant gum emulsifier and assorted seasonings. In one 8-oz package there are 30, you read that right, 30 grams of protein and only 2 grams net carbs (8 grams of fiber!). Slice it and pan-sear it quickly in a hot pan for a great main protein. Sautee some spinach, kale or broccoli rabe with garlic and hot peppers for a side. That’ll be a big ol’ pile of non-soy, entirely vegetarian (vegan, even) protein on your plate.

What kind of exercise level would you say were at, arcticfox? Do you have a clear idea of what your protein intake should be vs. what it is? I’d be curious to see if we could brainstorm a couple of days’ worth of lunches and dinners that would help you accomplish your macro goals.

Hi RBeany,
I did the BSD last year as a veggie and wrote extensively over the year about my experiences which you can look up – especially my views and experience on the level of carbs per day! I still follow a couple of the blogs – this an the weekly weigh in one and if I spot a veggie question will try to answer/help.
Getting the right amount of protein is hard and I realised that I have probably been eating too little for years, and filling up with carbs. Only last year did I find out that I should have been having .75g protein per kilo of weight per day – so as 73Kg I needed 54-55g protein per day. It sent me off looking for other sources and I tried a few things including adding hemp powder to soup. Others have added it to meals successfully, but I personally found it gave me to much wind so I stopped. it. It may work for you tho’ so worth a try. I stick to eggs, dairy, cheese, humous and beans with some soya.
I’ve been looking into MM’s new work on getting healthy gut biome as mine was not and after 15 days of antibiotics in the summer, (first for many years) that has been my focus. One trick from that book is to take 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar (raw – cloudy) in a glass of water (fizzy us nice) before lunch and dinner. It helps reduce cholesterol, so if you are worried about the cholesterol with the amount of cheese, this may help.
good luck

Hi Orchid, just this year I discovered that most of my problems of the last 20 years were due to protein deficiency.
The reason it took so long to realise, is that back when they started, the amount of protein I was eating was, according to UK guidlines, enough. Back then, ‘protein deficiency’ was only really known about in connection with body building and serious athletic training. I was not in that environment, nor even very active.
To cut a long story short, if you haven’t been suffering symptoms, and changing the composition of your diet hasn’t brought on symptoms, you don’t need to worry about getting x amount. However, if you DO get symptoms, you need to adjust your intake upwards, and .75g per kg might not be enough!! I really want to underline that last bit, but can’t!

Exercising more, and increased levels of stress increase protein requirements, but UK guidelines do not mention this, let alone suggest how much more.
I need more protein than most people seem to need, but exercising more still increases my requirements still further. Last week I suffered a slight relapse following a long session of swimming, even though I had significantly over 1g per kg.

Unless you are tired and listless, (or have even more pronounced symptoms), you don’t need to worry about protein.

As you said you need ideas for helping vegans so i would recommend you to check out http://www.beegans.com/ where many ideas and articles related to vegans are available.

Hi Esnecca, thanks for your information. I wasn’t able to find any ready made seitan, so was saved from going down that path. Only one shop had wheat gluten and it was quite expensive and I haven’t had much time to spend in the kitchen over the last little while anyway. Not much luck with hemp protein either. I can find seeds and oil, but not protein powder. I could probably order it online, but I’m doing a bit better at the moment anyway. I found a protein powder based on pumpkin seeds which only has 2g net carbs, so bought a couple of sachets to try. It’s not bad, but I prefer Vega One. I found out that Vega does offer an unsweetened variety that is available online. I still have 1/2 a tub of what I already have to use up first though.
I am doing a moderate amount of exercise, but focusing pretty heavily on building up core strength at the moment. So three pretty tough strength workouts with a HIIT component for cardio each week with lots of walking and some swimming in between. I have managed to increase my protein intake by about 10g per day, but am probably still 15-20g short per day. So sitting at about 60g per day when I think I would be doing better at 75-80g. When I was doing quite intense amounts of exercise I needed to be getting around 110g per day to not feel run down, but should be able to get away with less than that now that I’m not doing so much.
I’ve been using RBeany’s idea of having lower fat dairy products but adding in healthy fats, and that is working well for me. I might do something similar and use egg whites rather than whole eggs so I get a high quality complete protein but add healthy fats back in. I’ve also decided to not worry too much about my cholesterol for the time being as it didn’t become elevated until I put on the weight, so hopefully just taking the weight off will help.

Hi articfox, your post came in as I am about to leave for the day – I’ll add more detail this evening once I am home again! If you are UK, got Hemp Powder from Planet Organic online, but I am sure at the time Sainsbury’s had it as well. Your protein is absolutely fine at 60g per day! That is on the high end unless you are very tall – I need 55g at 5ft 8″ (173cm)!. I can find references for you this evening on that, likewise on eating the whole egg not just a part of it.
Your exercise regime sounds great – I wish I could keep that going in that way 🙁

Hi arcticfox,
I ‘finished’ bsd last year and have kept most of the weight off, but with family issues giving a lot of stress, I’ve put on a bit. I’m not going back on BSD, but am now back on a Mediterranean diet and about to do a short period of 5:2 and then onto 6:1, with as many days in the week as possible eating between 8 and 9am and then before 5.30pm, leaving as long as possible for fasting.
I’ve been following the new MM book on your gut and the gut’s biom with interested especially since mine got blasted with 10 days, followed 2 weeks later by another 7 days general antibiotics in June. I am now working hard to get it back to a good balance and fasting is certainly a pat of that as well as a very wide range of fruit and veg.
The subject of the amount of protein and eating whole eggs both came up in the recipe book Dr Clare Bailey has just published – it is the best of the recipe books I have seen and had a lot of good veggie recipes in it, or easily adaptable ones.

‘Protein As protein cannot be stored, the average adult needs to eat around 45-60g of it a day. However, unless you are doing a very physical job or extreme amounts of exercise, more is not necessarily better. This is a moderate-protein diet, not a high-protein diet.

Bailey, Claire. The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book: 150 delicious recipes to mend your gut and boost your health and wellbeing (Kindle Locations 113-116). Short Books. Kindle Edition.

BSD is also a moderate protein diet.
On eggs;
6. Eggs. Not so long ago we were warned not to eat more than a couple of eggs a week, yet it turns out that the fear of cholesterol in eggs was totally misplaced. Eggs are a superb source of protein, rich in vitamins and minerals.

Bailey, Claire. The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book: 150 delicious recipes to mend your gut and boost your health and wellbeing (Kindle Locations 182-184). Short Books. Kindle Edition.

On the hemp products, I am not sure which country you live in. If it is the UK, the Sainsbury’s online has hemp powder, hemp oil, hemp seed and hemp ‘milk’. My local Sainsbury’s certainly had hemp powder available.
Hope the info is useful.
good luck

Hi guys,

I just thought I would join in on this topic, I am fortunate at present that as I have Asperger syndrome (high end functioning version of Autism) I can cope with very repetitive meal combinations for longer than most but once I get down to maintenance levels I will need to pick up on suggestions to widen my options. I am a vegetarian, I can’t tolerate the fat in meat or the smell of fish.

Hi JGwen,
Happy New Year! I ‘formally’ finished BSD 15 months ago and am still trying to find a ‘maintenance way’. A couple of things I have learned along the way – for me, the most important thing is to keep a track of what I am eating and cook everything (90%+) from scratch.
During the BSD period (9 months) I recorded (almost) every morsel that I ate. It was a hassle and I was happy to stop that. I am back doing it because without that restraint, I found it too easy to overeat. I am also back on cooking everything from scratch, and freezing portions – that way I know what is going into my body. I aim for my resting base calorie intake per day which is a few hundred less than my actual required intake, that allows for a little over eating and or miscalculations. I do not count my carbs as religiously as I did, but always aim for 35-45% of total daily intake as carbs. Before I started BSD, I was on 60-65% daily intake as carbs – pasta was the goto quick fix food. Form my blood sugars, I have also recently rechecked my FBS and it was 5.4 mm, which is fine – my blood sugar under control. I also noticed last week, that the day after I have exercised (even 30 minutes moderate walking) my FBS is under 4.9 mm or lower. So with me, exercise is playing a big part in control.
In terms of food plans, I am still finding my way – I’ve been trying the healthy gut book and there are some interesting recipes in there for veggies and other that can be easily adapted (look at it in a book shop first to see if it makes sense for you). From that approach I have included a slice of rye sourdough (about 50g) a couple of days a week, plus most days I have home-make soup with either a couple of oatcakes, or about 45g focaccia sourdough. I am also working through a wide range of cheeses. The recipes in Claire Bailey’s book (see my reply of 18 Nov) for the 5:2 I find useful. Unlike the original 5:2 book, these are approximately 800 cals per day so link in well with BSD. I am starting 5:2 this week and will choose one or two recipes for those two days and stick to it. Thinking about your Asperger’s syndrome, I wonder if that 5:2 might suit you as well as you say you can manage a more repetitive food regime relatively easily? Using the 5:2 approach is definitely a good way to ease off of BSD.
Good luck!

Hi, I’ve just started the BSD and am also looking for ideas and recipes as a veggie.
This morning I just had 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast and for dinner I had 1/2 a tin of cannelini beans with some cherry tomatoes chopped up, 30g of feta cheese and balsamic vinegar. Delicious!
Tea was even better – cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, shallots, red onions, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, cooked down for an hour until it was soft and absolutely fantastic.

However, that’s about my repertoire without carbs! I’m planning on cauliflower and broccoli with some Quorn chicken roast fillets with gravy.tomorrow and then I’m very short of ideas.

Really hope this works for me – I’ve tried every diet under the sun. They all work, once, and then I put it all back on again.

Tomatoes and balsamic vinegar are both high in sugar. You can still use them, but portion control is essential. Don’t approximate or guestimate anything. Weigh, measure and calculate the cost in carbs before you eat them. Quorn can also be questionable, depending on which kind you’re eating. Check the igredients for added starches, wheat, sugar, etc. Use an app like MyFitnessPal or Fat Secret to tally all your food. You’ll be shocked, I think, at enormously high in carbs the food you think is “healthy” really is.

Beans can be problematic as well depending on how your system responds to sugar. I know veggies often feel compelled to eat them as a protein source, but there are other solutions that are close to carb-free: tofu, lupini beans, hemp products, seeds, nuts, dairy (if you eat it), sea vegetables from chlorella powder to kelp noodles.

You can tame this beast, Caz Scho, but you’re going to have to go a little further afield than you’ve been used to. Don’t be afraid. Think of it as a culinary playground and have fun finding new things. Good luck! 🙂

Hi Caz,
There’s a great recipe website the link of which I think is on the good eats thread but it’s basically 150 of the best keto side dishes, mostly vegetarian so a great resource although I know you are also looking for protein ideas but this has many, many delicious things to try!
Good luck!

Hi Caz,
I’m a veggie too and over the past 3 years have often thought it would be easier with meat. Having said that. I’m now officially not a diabetic! I do 2-3 weeks a year on BSD800 then maintain on low carb, to let my skin settle down.
I focussed on a few recipes that I loved, to make it easier.
Salad + quorn slices + roasted asparagus.
Boiled egg, spinach, tomatoes.
‘Moussaka’ made with aubergine/courgette slices and if I’m feeling lazy, passata. With bit of cream cheese and parmesan (fake veggie one) on top.
Lots of soups- lentil & veg mainly.
Tofu cubes with tamari & citus juice baked in the oven for 20 mins, then eaten with veg. Spiralised courgette is remarkably like noodles.
Veg curry with quorn pieces or chickpeas.

It gets more interesting when you can eat more cals- lots of tempeh and pulses and olives.

Good luck 🙂

Thanks everyone, some good ideas here which I’ll be trying!
I do use MyFitnessPal, and every day has been below 800 cals and 50-60g carbs so hopefully I’m on the right track.

I have found https://thetinyvegankitchen.com/category/recipes/ A great help . They aren’t all low carb but a lot of them are , and the vegan yuk sung is delicious but a sugar free sweet chilli sauce recipe is needed.
I love this blog , its brilliant. I hope it helps .