I just started the BSD and my Dad is also interested in starting it, because he’s pre-diabetic, but I’d like some advice on how to simplify things for him.

Dad’s in his 70s, and a bit nervous about cooking because Mum used to do all the cooking for him. He can cook meat-and-two-veg, a full english breakfast, a simple curry or stew, and he does know how to use the microwave. But he doesn’t know how to measure ingredients, or use things like food processors or complicated kitchen equipment.

Dad’s also a bit put off by ‘fancy’ or ‘faddy’ ingredients. He’s very attached to microwaveable ready meals, bread and potatoes. He does have quite a lot of frozen veg, but he hardly buys any fresh. His ‘spice rack’ is a cruet set: salt, pepper, oil and vinegar, mustard.

We’re going to have to buy quite a lot (and I don’t think almond flour or goji berries will be on his list) and I’m honestly not sure where to start. I really want him to find foods he’ll be comfortable with, and really simple recipes that can serve one without him having to throw away a lot of food. (Dad hates wasting food).

Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Hi, I started th diet 5days ago now and immediately noticed that a lot of the foods weren’t really my kind of foods. I do cook a lot and am a bit of a foodie but from a Yorkshire background we like our meat and two veg in large portions as well. I’ve basically gone off piste this week making all my recipes from scratch not the book but incorporating then stuff I don’t like very much ( don’t know if they are correct nutritional but hey it’s working and I’ve lol 3kg already and my blood sugar is trending down daily) not been hungry once and strangely feel absolutely fine, no headaches etc. I’d be willing to share my recipes with you if it helps. As for frozen veg, this is just as nutritious as fresh providing the are low starch and there’s much less waste. As for not being able to use the scales I would suggest getting the book carbs and cals for him as its in association with diabetes uk and is a brilliant book generally as it has info along with pictures of portion sizes, for me it’s an invaluable resource I use many times a day. I got mine from Amazon and th ISBN was 978-1-9082610-6-9
As for cost, it doesn’t cost a lot to be on this diet for me. I didn’t buy loads of stuff, I am ploughing through loads of fresh veg though but that’s my choice, and I do supplement with frozen berries and veg if I run out of fresh. The portion sizes I make usually make 2 or 4 and I’m freezing the spare ones so this might suit your dad as well.
Anyway good luck, and a huge well done for taking on the challenge

Meat and two veg is fine, actually – perfect in many ways. Eggs and bacon would presumably be another thing he’d like, with maybe tomatoes and / or mushrooms? Eggs are about 90 calories each if boiled, and around 130 cals or so for fried or scrambled with a tsp of butter.

The key is simplicity – you don’t actually have to cook complicated recipes. If he’s into ping meals make that work for him by buying prepared veggies that can go in the microwave – you know, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, leek and cabbage etc – anything like that, as the calorie count is on the bag. Can be served up with chicken breast, lamb/pork chops, 4oz steak etc. If he likes tea with milk, a drop of milk in a mug is about 20-30 cals.

Oh and just to add – stew is great on this plan. I’ve had both chicken and beef stew. Thing is, once you’ve added up the calories in the ingredients you don’t have to keep doing it if you make a note of what you added and keep quantities the same every time you make it. Yesterday I made a beef stew that was 360 calories for a pretty big portion – 200g of beef, carrots, leek, onion and some stock – and it was great. Plus it meant I had another portion for today (I made it with 400g of beef).

Hi Lilly, I am not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination but I do like to try. What do you use for stock in your beef and chicken stews and can I throw this into the slow cooker to have ready for e evening?. Thank you. This is day 2 of me on the plan….

Hi CTB

I’ve been using Knorr Stockpots – yes, there’s a tiny bit of sugar in there but not really much. They’re little oval pots of concentrated stock in jelly form. And I’ve been using my slow cooker. I put diced lean beef, a sliced carrot and half an onion in the slow cooker and cover it with about a pint of water (in which I’ve dissolved the stockpot) and that’s it – a few hours later yummy stew. You could add black pepper, mixed herbs etc but I haven’t bothered to be honest – it was still great.

Well done on getting to day 2! I’m on day 5, so not really that far ahead of you. 🙂

I often still have “meat and two veg” kind of meals, except they are “small piece of meat and four veg” now! Salad, roast veg, microwaved, any way he usually has veg but more of it, with a bit less meat and no bread/potato. You don’t really need fancy new recipes or ingredients unless you want to. A big pile of vegetables is very filling.