Hello lovelies.
To those of you who have struggled to stay on track since December (yup, that’s me) – you can do it! Make sure you don’t beat yourself up – just pick yourself up and start afresh. In the past, when I over ate, I used to try to make amends the next day and dramatically cut back my intake – this often led to another day, or two, of overeating due to hunger. Now, I just write off the one day and start afresh (on 800) the next. It certainly helps me stall further bad days. So, this week I have finally managed to get my head, and eating, back on track.
Great to see so many fellow WOL’s on here. Loving the generous support on this site.
SUnshine Girl – glad to hear you are ok and your hubby is on SSG Watch. Take care of yourself.
Here’s hoping Verano pops back on soon to say hello.
X

Oh Krysia – yes, that’s MUCH worse – my fridge is also BSD friendly – what could possibly go wrong!!!!!!!! Can you overdose on boiled eggs and wafer thin ham? Just had a three egg feta and spinach omelette – and now back at my PC (obviously) – head down all the way till 5…that’s the theory

Topcac and Krysia – you’re lucky. I looked in our fridge last night to find it stocked with pizzas that number 2 son had bought for his night in with his mates tomorrow, several gallons of beer, a home-made black forest gateau (for a school do) and a lasagne that they’ll be having for tea tonight.

Fortunately I’m at a client site so will be in a hotel tonight.

My fridge is permanently only half BSD friendly, but I am lucky that OH does not have either a sweet tooth or a desperate need for junk food so is willing to be fed anything I want to cook for him. Naan breads always come in multiples of two though so since he has just finished off one curry and still has a packet left, I now need to spend tonight cooking another couple of chicken curries.

I will be joining in with the challenge but am not starting until Saturday and doing 4 weeks from then. I am going to break my weeks down into individual weeks and try to get some good habits in place for my maintenance on this way of life. Week one will be exercise, and I will attempt to get a minimum of 5000 steps on every day and at least 3 10000 step days in the week. Sitting at a computer all day I find it very hard to get more than this and a lot of my exercise doesn’t count as steps, like badminton. I am trialling this currently and even going the long way to the loo at work I still have almost 2000 steps some days to make up on the cross trainer to get to the basic 5000. Week 2 will be sleep. I will try to get my 8 hours a day minimum on all days (as well as keeping up my new exercise habits hopefully). Week 3 will be nutrition. I will try to get below 40g carb on each day, even the 1500 calories ones (while still exercising and sleeping well hopefully). And finally Week 4 – Graduation. I am on holiday that week, in Cornwall which means no weighing, of either myself or any food. Lots of temptations, and I am going to try not to log food as well. (I am not sure how I will go with that, even with guessed weights it is a bit of a comfort blanket I think at the moment to keep myself in check). I will have my final weigh in and measure after the weeks holiday and see if my weight/waist has stabilised with a more ‘normal’ lifestyle.

Sunshine girl, the glicozide started to bring my sugars down insanely low once I’d been on BSD for four weeks and I stopped taking it with doc’s blessing. Interesting about diabetic friends thinking you’re ‘on the brink’ at 4.5 – 5. If I go much below 5.6 I’m exhausted, grouchy and with a head full of fog. MK

I am actually on holiday the fifth week according to my diary, the fourth week is half term so I will be practicing for my comfort blanket less holiday the week after. Trelawny if you read this, shall we dare a coffee and salad at Trevaskis one day, if you are available that week?

Hi all

Verano has posted on the old thread just in case you didn’t realise. She is currently in hospital (is OK I think). Has intermitent internet access. Thought I’d mention especially for those of you who have been on this journey with her. She may still be on the old thread if you wanted to send your regards.
Just thought I’d mention it (if you weren’t already aware). I know we’ve all been conCerne.

Hello everyone,I started the BSD a few months ago,was doing quite well ,then don’t know what happened and I’m heavier than ever.So I decided to start again on Tuesday 23rd and just came across this thread so it fits in with me.I was just thinking today that 8 weeks seems very far off,4 weeks is more doable,then the next 4 weeks should be easier.Last time I weighed myself every day but have so far resisted the urge.I also started back at the gym,was going to cancel my membership but talked myself out of it.I’m trying to do it vegetarian this time,not strictly a veggie but have really gone off meat in recent months.I’ve been reading the veggie threads to get ideas and inspiration.Good luck everyone,we can do it!

thanks doodle, we have all been worried about her. Hopefully it is nothing serious, she seems cheerful enough.

Wendyq, you’re back fantastic! Keep logging on, ups and downs, we’re all on it together, don’t go it alone!

Mixmatch, would be great to meet up. What dates are you down?

Weekly weigh in tomorrow, wish me luck!

So today went reasonably well for me but portion sizes still too big. Tomorrow aiming for a run like today but getting every morsel that meets my mouth logged. Hope the Australians among here had a great Australia day!
One day at a time… we’ll get there!

Week beginning 25th Feb, mum has bought a small house in town so we will be staying there (camping kind of as I am sure it will be short of a lot of things at the moment). It will be great to meet you, and if you prefer to meet somewhere else I will bow to your local knowledge.

It’s nice to be in touch again Trelawny,hope your weigh in is good news,mine is on Tuesday.Weekends are sometimes difficult for me but we have no visitors so no big meals to make .Hubby knows I’m trying to be good and has been very encouraging.Hope everyone can stay on track over the weekend.So far this week I’ve not done too bad,my calorie intake has been between 800-900 calories,still a lot less than what I’ve been eating. Mixnmatch,that’s a good idea focussing on something different every week.Maybe that’s where I went wrong before,trying to do everything at once.

Challenging day and weekend for me. Been up since 4am for early morning flight. Work stuff today followed by family gathering. Keeping the principles firmly in my head. Noting down what I’m eating on my phone to stay on track. Wish me luck. Have a great weekend.

JulesMaigret – your fridge was a nightmare yesterday – thank goodness you were nowhere near it.

Topcac – overdosing on boiled eggs and wafer thin ham is for me quite hard to do. The lovely stilton cheese we get from the delicatessen is much more problematic. Luckily we don’t get to the delicatessen very often so I have to severely ration it.

Was at Tesco this morning and they had loads of fennel this week – am trying it out in a stir fry for lunch.

Hope everyone has a really good day. It is -1 here in East Anglia this morning but it feels a lot lower.

Hello all – been a busy morning – it’s Friday afternoon – yippee!!!

Krysia, I’m all talk really – I only had one boiled egg and about half a dozen slice of ham – logged everything and still only ended up as a 827 cal / 20.9 carb day – and that was including dark chocolate square (I’m limiting myself after ‘bean gate’) I suppose that means that my appetite has come right down – portion control was always my problem – maybe I’ve cracked it? Our Tesco has been very touch and go with fennel lately – glad you found some. We use it in two dishes every week – the spicy chicken and green lentils in the diet (not recipe) book is yummy.

Anyway, my OH and I are going to try fasting this weekend. I’ve been reading up on it and want to give it a go…only spanner in the works is that tomorrow afternoon we are meeting our potential wedding cake maker – and there’s a taster involved!!! :-O I shall have the smallest taste EVER!! I haven’t weighed myself all week – it’s killing me lol but I’m determined – NOT till Monday.

So folks, are we all going to remain strong over the weekend – of COURSE we are!! If you have plans, plan…especially if you’re out to eat at a restaurant – so many of them now have online menus, I find it really useful to decide in advance and then I don’t look at the menu at all.

Right – enough rambling – back to work for me – speak soon xxx

Jules it was the Peak District 3 peaks – but I was in my early 30’s and super fit.

Getting back into the exercise, swimming on Wednesday and 50 mins aerobics this morning. I reduced my insulin by one unit last night so this morning BG is 5.8, if it drops low this afternoon (as it has for the last 2) I will cut my Glycizide by half a tablet which is 15mg but as we say in France en verra (we will see). So far this week I have lost quarter of a pound – ‘waves flag’ so I need to be super strict over the weekend, deffo no wine.

Keep strong everyone.

Or even “on verra” <* cheeky pedantic grin *>

No amount of self deprecating remarks will make that comment anything other than boorish Jules. But now we know what a superior, sophisticated person you think you are. I am sure sunshinegirl is appropriately crushed

Weigh in day today, down 3/4lb, it’s a minus! Disappointed, but it’s a minus! Must be positive, it’s a minus. Yay!

Mixmatch will have a look at eateries around the town and let you know.

Every little lost, is a step towards the goal, so embrace it and celebrate! It is definitely a positive and who knows, it could be the forerunner of a much better loss next time.

Have a good w/e.

thanks Jules, spelling used to be my strength but now I have 3 languages in my head I get confused. Last week had to write formal how are you and wrote common ça va instead of comment.

Trelawny – a minus is always a win. Well done.

Sunshine-girl – I followed your advice and got online access to all my medical records. I know you told us about this months ago – but my surgery has only just started doing this.

They are facinating. The one thing I have worried about is because I have gone quite low in carbs because of the diabetes my fat intake is fairly high. Also, I really bought into all that stuff about saturated fat increases the cholesterol. So was really pleased to see that in November 2016 after 5 months of highish fat (especially dairy) and low carb my total cholesterol was 4.8. Actually over the last four years it has hovered around 4.9.

What was really interesting though was when I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2012 it was 6.2. For about 6 months before diagnosis I had huge cravings for carbs and fruit juice so was having loads. I had been at that time staying quite low on saturated fat. So it very much confirms that it is the carbs that are the problem with cholesterol.

Hi everyone, again, 2nd visit of the day. Krysia you have me mixed up with someone else (captainlynne or verano) as I know nothing about online medical records, I live in France so it is outside my knowledge. even though I am a bit of a know-it-all. 🙂

Just done my BG at normal evening time and it was 3.7, so I have had 3 consecutive days at 3.2, 3.6 and 3.7 so tomorrow morning I will be cutting a glycizide in half, reducing by 15mg to 45mg – hopefully that will stabilise things for me.

Have a good weekend everyone.

HI Krysia

Like you I worried that all this full fat would have an impact on my cholesterol so I got mine tested when I had my HBA1C done a couple of weeks ago and like you mine has gone down. It was 5.2 last July, 4.9 in September and now 4.7.

On 1000 calories a day I can convince myself that a ‘healthy’ proportion of full fat is OK, whether, when the time comes, I will feel the same on a maintenance level of 1600 a day, remains to be seen. Just need to keep the faith!

At least, the Doctor has now dropped the idea of Statins, so, as they say, ‘That’s all good, then’.

Hi everyone, a bit of an odd setback, has anyone experienced something similar?
I fasted till 12pm yesterday then had an egg and a small amount of spinach and haloumi for lunch,
Dinner was teriyaki chicken, a bit of a larger portion than I normally would have had, a few sips of iced lemon tea ( to stop wine cravings!!) but thought I was pretty close to 800 cals for the day. Today I am 2kg or 4-ish pounds up from yesterday!! Devastated. All I can think of is that I didn’t have as much water yesterday…

That’s probably water retention, particularly if you under hydrated during the day, the body gets a bit upset when it starts to get dehydrated and hangs on to whatever it can. Other possible causes are constipation or hormonal water retention, either time of the month or stress can also cause water retention. Just keep on keeping on, and up the water (maybe add a little salt as well).

Thanks Mixnmatch, that will be my goal today! Good tip about the salt, too. Perhaps I’ll have a whoosh tomorrow!

I did well with Australia Day eating, not so well at my daughter’s sleep-over birthday party last night. A lot of potato chips and some m&ms. (I didn’t “sleep-over” except I live here, we had a lounge-room full of very giggly 13 year olds on air mattresses.)

When I start another round of BSD fast 800 on Tuesday I am going to give up chocolate for the duration, just because I don’t know if I can and I don’t want to be that reliant on any food! Come join my Easter Challenge thread if you want.

Sunshine-girl – you always give such good advice that I was sure I was you.

JulesMaigret – I feel exactly the same. It is so hard to change long held beliefs. It’s great that your doctor has dropped the idea of statins. The BSD way of eating seems to lower cholesterol as effectively as statins but with no side effects.

Inka13 – an excellent reply from Mixnmatch. Hopefully you will have a whoosh very shortly.

So I have no wicked stuff left in the fridge and sandwiches for the family packed lunches are made and in the freezer (they are not a temptation when frozen, out of sight is out of mind). I have excelled myself preparing cauliflower mash with pheasant and spring greens for tomorrow. Reduced counter special – don’t usually buy pheasant so hope it’s okay. Wine and tomatoes in the sauce. Meatball and veg stew made too. Really tiring week so planning is crucial for the weekend meals. A long run planned tomorrow to catch up on exercise after a much busier week than normal. I set this out so I make myself accountable as the temptation is to let the run slip otherwise. Happy weekend fellow BSDers.

Now that is seriously impressive planning.

Enjoy the pheasant and have a great weekend!

Good morning all and happy Chinese new year to anyone celebrating. 2017 is the year of the Fire Rooster and according to the Sydney Morning Herald it “augurs well for those prepared to work hard” and “heralds an enterprising and fruitful year, a year of results, achievements. This year we can fulfil all of our dreams”. What a great year for all us BSDers 🙂

My official weigh in this morning was just 2 hairs short of a 20kg reduction in 16 weeks! (Any thoughts on why round numbers are so appealing? 🙂 ) The last 4 weeks have been a little less structured for me than my first 8 weeks on the BSD. I did 2 fasts of 4-5 days, and now I seemed to have slipped into a habit of intermittent fasting during the work week (no breakfast or lunch, and a light supper) and then a more “normal” BSD program on the weekends. I think I’m almost doing a reverse 5:2 🙂 My weight loss has generally remained consistent and I’m averaging just under 1kg per week. I find it much harder to fast on the weekends. My food cravings have also completely changed – I now crave fats like peanut butter and cheese and cream. I can (and do 🙂 ) eat the peanut butter straight out the jar! The strange thing is that even though I don’t crave sugar, if I start eating something sweet, I don’t want to stop. I’m not even enjoying it much, but it sparks the “eat more more more” reaction. So I know I will always need to be careful of those monster carbs.

Hope everyone is having a great BSD weekend!

Lara – I am finding now as I get less and less scared of eating fats that it is cheese and cream and now and again it is peanut butter – which I wonder is really a salt craving.

Crave is definitely the right word for it but I find 20g of stilton or 2 teaspoons of peanut butter is all it takes to satisfy the craving whereas in pre-BSD days maybe even 1000 calories of the sweet stuff wouldn’t.

I also from time to time get quite strong cravings for mushrooms or kale which is slightly weird.

Some interesting posts here. A reminder about planning ahead – it would never occur to make the OH’s lunchtime sanwiches in bulk and freeze them, but it means no bread in the house – result! Thanks Jules. Some encouragement and inspiration from Lara – 16 kg in 16 weeks is awesome, and a reminder from Inka of something that was continually reiterated on the low carb forum I followed for a few years. Weight loss is not linear, and results aren’t instant. In fact, we always used to reckon that the whoosh fairy followed us around a week late. So all will be well in time, I’m sure. When we’re doing the right thing, we’ get our reward in the end.

Off into town with a big charity bag and to buy an emergency pair of work trousers as mine fell down yesterday and a work colleague said ‘we’ve all wondered when you’d bite the bullet and GET RID – now you’ll have to! ‘They’re the last pair that ‘fit’ – and I use the term loosely in every sense, but with another stone and a half to lose it’ll just be a couple of pairs of cheapies to see me through the winter, then I’ll spring from my chubby chrysalis in April with a proper shopping spree. Can’t wait! Happy weekend everyone. MKx

Krysia, I have had exactly the same thought about salt. To the extent that I’ve even had a salt crystal or two instead of nuts and found that dealt with it. And every now and then I get a craving for leafy greens – cabbage, spinach and broccoli. Mr Snoop came home with a pack of bargain caramel panna cottas yesterday. I had one to keep him happy, but I won’t eat any of the others. Far too sweet.

Will record this here as it’ll keep me on the straight and narrow this weekend (out for lunch on Sunday…): weigh-in this morning read 78.5 kg, so down 1.3 kg since Tuesday. Very good going for me and perhaps not ‘real’ as it represents a drop of 600 g since yesterday!

Snoop – it did cross my mind that I should perhaps try the salt and see if this takes away the craving for peanut butter or salted nuts. I will do that next time – thanks for posting your thoughts – very helpful.

Not doing too well on this 28 day challenge so far and attaining my goal of a loss of 3.6kg is looking less and less likely (holiday to contend with in the middle of the challenge too!)

Five days in and my scales are reading exactly the same, so no loss at all so far, and feeling a little discouraged, particularly as the tape measure around my waist is also reading the same, and I have been really really strict, and adhered to BSD800 100%, and actually often only about 700calories, and averaging 27g of carbs.

Have increased my water intake this week in the hope it would help, but so far the only result is to send me running to the loo with monotonous regularity 🙁 Am desperately hoping for a whoosh this week, as next weekend I go away for 10 days and will face all sorts of temptations, which will be far more difficult to resist if I feel BSD is stalling 🙁

Oh well, for the moment I guess I will just have to keep on keeping on – but to achieve my goal, I now need a loss of 1.2kg a week for the next 3 weeks!!!

On the subject of salt and exercise, a small spoon of taramasalata does it for me. Very salty stuff if you like the fishy flavour.

Day going well for me so far – hope you are all enjoying the weekend.
Done my running in sleet and fog. It was strangely beautiful though with so much water coursing through the streams. Awaiting my reward of a hot bath and will see how the braised pheasant turns out later.

So impressed by all the strong support here.

Hi Theodora, it’s so frustrating when our bodies don’t co-operate! Especially when you have been putting in the effort and not seeing the results you desire. Hope your whoosh happens this week, to give you something positive to work with. Good luck!

Hi all, nothing much to report, weight the same, so Theodora we are in the same boat, the week is not over yet, we might get a whoosh. My morning BG is 4.6 and I have reduced Glicazide by 15mg to 45mg so will see what happens this afternoon. Hopefully, it will stop the hypos, although they don’t scare me anymore. So that is insulin down and G down. Steady does it.

Nothing to add, we are decorating the living room, him painting, me cleaning. Good opportunity to get behind bookcase and TV set and give it a proper clean. Oh how exciting is my life, not.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Another salty delight is half a teaspoon or so of miso paste in a small mug/big cup of boiling water. Delicious. If I just have salt, Krysia, I have a flake or two of Malden salt. The crunchiness is also pleasing. I’m pretty sure I eat nuts sometimes just for the crunchiness. I’m definitely not the kind of person who could diet using powdered shakes!

I second the miso. We have semi regular Japanese visitors so have lots of varieties of it.
Theodora – I actually gained weight last week (my fault for eating lots of wrong stuff due to stress) so now working extra hard to take it off. Try not to check the scales for a few days maybe? I feel your pain, but let’s hang in there all together and try and look longer term. Preaching to myself here!

Hi all, although it’s late here I’m just catching up on the last couple of days’ worth of posts as I’ve been a bit sidetracked by family matters. Not drastic but time consuming.

Such great reading. Maharani kitten, couldn’t help giggling about your trousers but what wonderful proof, if ever you needed it, that your efforts are definitely paying off. Inspiration for the rest of us to keep on keeping on.

Theodora, I’m feeling your pain, also sunshine-girl, Julia18togo, but my own doing, still snacking impulsively – not so much non-BSD food, just not knowing when to stop. Sigh…..mindfulness needed.

Interesting discussion re salt and crunchiness. I have some Murray River pink salt here which has a lovely crunch and I’ve not thought to use it to consciously stave off cravings. I’m going to try it. Thanks Snoop. And I agree with you about the diet shakes, couldn’t do it. No satisfying mouth feel there. Don’t even like thin soups, prefer the texture of thicker unblended soups.

Hot and humid in Perth today and tonight. A brief shower about an hour ago, just enough to raise the humidity even further. Not conducive to a good night’s sleep usually but I’m just starting to feel tired enough. So, lights out, nighty night everyone. Hope the rest of the weekend is good for everyone xx

Ah, Marsie, my shopping trip was a bit frustrating. I’m a smaller size – two sizes smaller since I started in October (OCTOBER!!) but I am not the shape I was when last at this weight, I am a very odd shape! Trousers this season seem to be cut for people with small waists and chunkier hips and thighs . No smart work trousers in 8 shops that fit me in any size . Those that fit my waist hung baggy, like jodhpurs, round my bum, hips and thighs – even the 12’s were big round there. Of course, an £89 wool pair in John Lewis fit perfectly. Doh! Part of me thinks ‘wear them every day and it’s a tenner a week till you reach goal.if you stay on track. But…

Ended up settling for some stretchy very black jeggings which I’ll wear with boots and smart jackets & coats, and a lovely knitted silk and wool dress in the final reductions at Mint Velver. It’s plenty long for my 5’10 frame, my OH said ‘you look amazing’ – will be easy wear and a feminine alternative to usual ‘don’t look at me’ all-in-black trousers. Reduced from £89 to £13 – reader, I bought two! Shame it was the last shop I tried – was a bit too hot, disheveled and cross to properly enjoy my bargain. Happy to be home, gloating. I look normal. Not amazing, but not standing out as fat fat fat. That’ll do, pig, that’ll do…. Mkx

Maharani kitten
Your shopping trip sounds as though it was a great success. I so do love a real bargain in the sales – I would have definitely bought two also.

Update on the peanut butter cravings. After a very active and fairly low salt day I got the peanut butter cravings again. Had some sea salt and the craving disappeared completely. In fact I absolutely did not want any peanut butter at all. So now know what to do next time I get the peanut butter or salted nuts cravings.

Thanks for the tips about salt. I do drink a lot of fluids and it’s been hot here in Melbourne, so will increase the salt intake a bit. Probably explains a few days of foot cramps too!

MK – sounds like a good shopping trip overall, even if a bit frustrating. I have been enjoying throwing out nearly all of my old pants and skirts – my bottom half has just about disappeared, but annoyingly my belly and excess back flab remain. Grrrrr. I’ve been trying old items on as I’ve lost weight and can’t believe I used to wear some of these clothes. All the pants look like clown jodhpurs. Fortunately for my new shape there are a lot of “skinny” stretch pants around which seem to work better for me (slim in the hips and legs and a bit of stretch around the middle 🙂 )

Also bought myself a very cute 50s pin-up style halter top yesterday – could never have dreamed of wearing something like that 4 months ago, but I love it as it almost makes me look like I have some cleavage 🙂

Hi Lara
For me, the belly and excess back flab were the very last to go, do don’t give up, it will happen. I started off squeezing into a size 16 pants and now I’m into size 8!! I still can’t believe it!
Keep going, it will happen.
Cheers
Linda