Hi all,

My friend and work colleague told me about this lifestyle change (I don’t want to call it diet) and I thought, yeh that makes so much sense. I have tried all the well known slimming clubs and I get so far and hit a plateau, nothing shifts after that and after a year I would stop. The weight would go back on and more too. I am now early 40’s and after a trip to the GP I weigh 18 stone, 5’7, blood pressure is good, plasma glucose is 5.8 (prediabetic I am told) and cholesterol is 5. I have PCOS and M.E. and I am fed up of feeling and looking as I do, I want my self confidence back. So, I bought the book and recipe book, read it from cover to cover and preparing to start my lifestyle change on Monday. Until recently I have been quite couch potato like. Now I have a job that requires a lot of walking and an allotment that requires a lot of work to get it going so I am hoping this will help with the exercise side of things. I do worry that if I lose a lot of weight quickly that I will end up with baggy excess skin…..but I need to do this, for me. If anyone has any suggestions or advice please feel free…..

Hi SammyG – welcome! Good news that you have found the BSD way of eating and are determined to make this change for yourself. I would say the key things are, be conscious of what you are eating – it can be surprising where carbs hide, so keep a watch on carbs as well as calories. Make sure to stay well hydrated and to include fats in your meals, ‘cos this helps to kick start the fat burning process. Sounds like you have things that will get you moving around more, which is a great start.

Weigh, measure and record, not just your stats, but those of all you are consuming. Keeping track in this way, will help you see progress when things get sticky and where any potential errors occurred in what you have consumed. You might suffer carb withdrawal or carb ‘flu’ in the early days, but it will pass so stick with it. Be aware that there will almost certainly be times when weight loss stalls, you might even plateau, which can happen at almost any point along the way but is common in weeks two or three so don’t panic if this happens, it’s just your body adjusting and weight loss will start to happen again if you persist.

Whether you lose weight quickly or slowly, there is the risk of excess skin if you have been overweight for sometime, but it is much more important to be healthy and you will probably find you are so delighted to be dropping dress sizes, any excess skin won’t seem so significant.

Make good use of the forum – you can search for particular points of interest using the search box in the top right of the page. Shout if you need advise though and there is lots of support and encouragement if needed.

Good luck for Monday, I’m sure you will settle into this way of eating quickly and be reporting positive results soon.

I have PCOS too and the BSD has worked wonders for me. I’ve lost a lot of weight, which is the most obvious change, but like you said, it’s really a total change of outlook and approach to life. I’ve found it invigorating, enough to carry me through the occasional “why hasn’t the scale moved a week?” and “how come other people can eat Girl Scout cookies by the box and I can’t?” meltdowns.

I second all of SunnyB’s advice. For me, the important thing to underscore is to weigh measure and calculate EVERYTHING when you first start out. Most of us didn’t get to this point by being great at estimating portion sizes, calorie and carb counts, and when you have only 800 calories to play with, it’s essential to be precise in your calculations.

I use My Fitness Pal (http://www.myfitnesspal.com) to log everything I eat and to plan meals. Because of the lovely insulin resistance PCOS has gifted me with, I keep my daily carb limit very low, 20 grams, but a lot people on the forum tend to aim for 50 grams a day. If you use My Fitness Pal and are confused about how much carb/protein/fat you should set the daily goals to, this post by LindaA will show you how to calculate the percentages: https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/20th-feb-starters/page/4/#post-58403 .

Welcome to your new life, Sammy!

Hi both, Thank you for the welcoming comments and advice. So much to learn as it really is a different way of life to what I have been used to.

Just been out and done a shop to last for a few days. I am going to try one of the soups in the book plus a some other recipes and meal replacement shakes – although the shakes don’t equal the 600 calories it refers to in the book. I am only doing it this way so I can get used to structuring meals etc during the evening as I work full time. I will do this for a couple of weeks and then review and change to real food once I have the hang of it lol.

Clearing my cupboards out tomorrow – but can anyone tell me whether things like tinned tomatos (chopped) and pasata are ok? It would be for making a large batch of Bolognese sauce or chilli which would then be split into 4 portions. I also have a lovely recipe for roasted red pepper and tomato soup which has red peppers, tomatos, olive oil and basil in it. Would this be okay?

If the shakes only equate to 500 calories, could the remaining 300 calories be evening meals (instead of the 200 it says in the book based on 600 calories for shakes) – still sticking to the 800 calories a day?

Sorry for all the questions – off to download myfitnesspal

Sam

It’s all about portions SammyG – passata is higher in carbs than canned toms, but both are okay to use, you just need to account for the carb content. When you make your bolognaise, you’ll need to add all the cals of everything you put in, all the carbs too and then divide those by the number of portions made, so you know the value of each portion.

Thing is not all calories are equal, so you need to keep an eye on the carbs as well as the calories, but myfitnesspal will help you track all that. I’m sure you will soon get the hang of things – it will eventually become second nature.

Have a good w/e and good luck for making a great start on the BSD.

Thanks SunnyB.

Just had call from GP, one of my blood test results was late coming in and they want to see me….bit worrying because they had said the others were ok. Seeing them Tuesday.

Sam

Try not to worry Sam and be kind to yourself over the w/e. You can’t deal with anything until you know what the issue is, so try to put your focus elsewhere for now. Maybe make a gentle start on the BSD, think about the changes you are going to make in your eating patterns etc. Clear out those cupboards and may be do that cooking and get something in the freezer. Shout out if you need to vent or need some encouragement, we’ll be here.

SammyG, if your appointment is on Tuesday you will have already have started the plan. If you have some numbers that the doctor doesn’t like you can at least say you are addressing things. Try not to worry and dont put off the new you.