Have dabbled with 5:2 & Blood Sugar Diet for a couple of months, now need to commit. Annoyed with not feeling and looking my best, too many excuses why not to start. I’m in Australia so heading into summer…

My suggestion is to bite the bullet and go for it JaneR – all you have to lose is the weight. Time to decide if you are going to go the 5:2 or BSD route and get serious.

Keep us posted on your decision and your progress – good luck!

hey JaneR, I will start with you, definitely. I have the book, the shopping arrived today with basic ingredients etc and I am ready to go! Have also been a dabbler and in the last year, have been recovering from a nasty Achilles injury that has had me off my feet for several months. Back walking now though, and want to lose weight, get fit and get healthier from the inside. My danger area will be thinking I don’t need to measure things, and getting creative and ‘adding’ to recipes… but great to do it alongside others! I am in the UK.

I started yesterday and its definitely do-able. Its really nice eating such simple and nice food! I’m making a shopping list today and will try some ideas from the recipe book. I’m a vegetarian. Good luck!

Hi, I started on the 15th. I’m Aussie too….determined to get healthy. All the best to you all

Thank you for your positive responses. Yes agree SunnyB, just start! Have done well since starting on Tues. How is everyone around alcohol? I have a friend’s birthday dinner next Mon and we all love champagne to start then wine…I thought about reducing food intake Monday to have a glass of bubbles?

Hello Everyone, I’ll jump on this bandwagon if I can. I am also an Aussie disgusted with myself that my summer clothes are very tight and that some of my favourites from last summer don’t even fit.I did start this program at the start of Winter and was doing really well for a month until I got pneumonia and ended up in hospital. I was sick for about a month and needless to say I just fell off the wagon. I love reading the success stories and am really motivated to do well. JaneR I have no advice to give you. I’m not a big drinker but I had become a regular drinker. My alcohol free days were getting less each week. That, no doubt, has contributed to my weight gain. I’m going cold turkey with alcohol. My resolve goes out the window when I’ve had a glass of wine. Good luck to you all. I’m looking forward to hearing our own success stories!

hi all, good to know we have a group of us, very encouraging! Re alcohol, I am not a big drinker but it had crept up as a habit really, so have stopped having it completely. I liked the odd gin and tonic, and I gather spirits are better than prosecco or wine, as a measure carries far fewer calories. More than that I don’t know.

I am struggling to measure, in the midst of a busy working week, have prepped as much as possible but I cook creatively with what I’ve got rather than following recipes exactly, and counting calories that way is harder. So I know I have gone over several days, but probably not massively, and I am learning lots about ingredients and dishes so it’s all good. But I need to find several quick dishes that will work around being on the road for work. Good luck everyone!

One week down! How are we all going? Weigh into today I am 2 kilos down, which I’m happy with as three meals out. Is anyone else finding it hard to stay under 800 calories? I seem to be a bit over sometimes. 😉

Am 2.2 kilos down. I had a dinner out on Friday night but was disciplined during the day just to have a black coffee and bowl of salad for lunch. Think I would’ve been down more if I didn’t have 3 glasses of vino! Am measuring as much as possible, need to more.
I haven’t written what I would like to lose but 10-12 kilos is my aim. I am active, pilates once per week with machines, Ashtanga yoga 2-3 times per week and walk every day. I was at a lunch yesterday and declined delicious bread and also no to dessert.

well done JaneR and AussieSue! Had to convert, that’s around 4.5/5 pounds off in one week, good stuff. I was doing reasonably well (note past tense) till my sister came to stay Friday evening; there is something about my own family that just makes me sabotage! We saw a movie with my son and then out for a meal, and I just made really bad choices. No excuses. Although it is a common reaction around my family of origin. But what was interesting having done nearly a week on BSD beforehand, was my body’s reaction to the high sugar content of the food. I felt almost ill with it over the next 2 days, till I felt it had truly gone by Sunday evening. I didn’t weigh myself as I didn’t want to feel despondent, and it was really hard to get back on over the weekend. But I am there and back on it now.

Am really learning lots however about what food does to my body, how I react to sugar (which is not good) and this is changing my motivation. So this is a good but slower path it seems… I could do the 800 with shakes but I really need to learn to do this with real food!

I have friends staying with me next week. I am nervous as we all love food and wine. It’s a favourite pastime of ours to find a little bar, chat whilst sampling delicious morsels, naturally with bubbles then vino. I’ve told them what I’m doing so hopefully that helps. I’m thinking of my strategy. I’m going to have a drink or 2…will not each much during the day. I have been drinking lots of hot water plain or a slice of ginger…that seems to curb my appetite. I love food…I love long lunches and dinner with friends. I have curbed some socialising but not going to be sustainable coming into Festive season!
Hints anyone? ?

Hi JaneR,

I’m in the same boat! I love this time of year for getting together with people and enjoying lots of festive treats. I’ve been thinking about how I might cope with lots of meals out and suchlike and think what I might do is definitely budget (calories-wise) for a couple of long drinks and make them last or intersperse them with sparkling water or similar. Regarding food, I will check the menu beforehand and check what fits in with the BSD and if there’s very little, I will make sure to eat before and then try to keep to either a small starter (if it’s a meal out) or just a couple of bar snacks such as nuts, pork rinds etc (if just going for drinks and nibbles). I have heard of some people contacting restaurants directly before they visit to explain they’re on this plan and see if they could be catered for. Not sure that’s something I would brave doing but it could be an option if you wanted it! Good luck!

Hey guys
I’m a Sydney sider and am now on maintenance after losing 33kg since April and going from a size 16 to a size 8!

My advice re alcohol, DON’T.

Go cold turkey and have mineral/soda water with fresh lemon or lime. You meet your friends to enjoy their company and catch up, you don’t have to drink. I used to ask myself, do I want to be fat and unhealthy or do I want this drink?

In order to keep your body in ketosis where it is burning your fat for energy instead of glucose, you have to keep your carbs (that includes alcohol) to between 20-50g carbs per day. How much will depend on your metabolism and every time you have a binge of carbs, your body will convert back to burning glucose and you’ll suffer the ‘carb flu’ effects again.

For anyone that would like to learn a bit more, here’s a link to a Keto podcast that I listened to this morning.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-ketovangelist-podcast/id999487887?mt=2&i=363227460

Any questions, just help, I’m only to happy to help.
Cheers
Linda

Hi Linda, that is amazing. Did you do BSD to lose that weight? What did you find worked the best for you?

Thanks for the link LINDA and well done JANE and AUSSIE SUE on making a great start! XX
I was at my wits end almost 20 weeks ago,nothing fitted and i felt i cdnt face yet another diet or fast.
But i made an enormous effort to commit to BSD and am now 4 stone down,everything fits,i feel like ive got my mojo back,my b pressure and blood sugar results are down. I only committed to one week initially as it seemed too drastic,but i then found it far easier than i thought..the less carbs you eat,the less you crave. Kick the carb monster to the kerb and the weight and inches start to drop off. xx

Yep, count me in. I actually started on 14.11.16 so close enough. Type 2 for 15+ years and struggle to lower my blood sugars. Well I can say that it’s really working as I’ve halved my insulin and lost 4 pounds. Also started doing resistance exercises using a TRX (Google it). Great way to strengthen my muscles (they must be under the outer fat).
Now to do more walking.

Hi Tony,

I have a version of TRX which is great to use when I’m away on business as all you need is a (sturdy) door. You can also make it as easy or as difficult as you need.

My TRX is also one that can be placed over a door. So easy and quick to set up. As I’ve never really loved exercise this makes it so easy.

Hi JaneR
Yes, I did the BSD Fast 800 to lose all the weight.
The best thing for me was just to say ‘No’ to all simple carbs so that the only carbs I ate were complex carbs found in vegetables and berries. Once you give yourself permission to cheat ‘just once’ or because it’s a special occasion, for me, I knew I could then find another excuse and another and another! Once your body gets sugar out of its system, you stop craving it, but have one thing and the process has to start over.
The other tips I can offer are:
– Don’t eat any low fat, lite or diet products, eat full fat everything and then some more.
– Drink at least 2-3 litres of non calorie fluid per day. For me it was water and passionfruit tea.
– Exercise every day. I started off doing a brisk 30 min walk and built it up to 1 hour on the 3 days that I work and longer on the days that I don’t.
– Do some form of mindfulness, I took up yoga which I do 2 times a week
– Check the labels of everything that you buy. I now buy very little processed foods, but when I do, if it contains any more than 2g/100g of sugar, I put it back on the shelf. Similar products can vary greatly, Fish Sauce is a great example. Ayam has none, but there’s up to 20% sugar in other brands.
– When friends suggest meeting up for a coffee, I suggest meeting up for a walk. I reckon I’ve caught the train to Milsons Point station and walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and through the botanical gardens at least a dozen times since April!
– Eat real food rather than packaged foods. Most packaged foods and take aways contain polyunsaturated oils which is very highly processed and contains omega 6 which is a pro inflammatory. Although your body needs a small amount, there is enough in real food to satisfy the body’s needs.
– Most of the day I eat is saturated or monounsaturated – butter, cream, avocados, nuts, olive oil are my friends, they fill me up and keep me satiated for longer so that I actually eat less. Obviously that was somewhat restricted whilst I was still losing, but now I can have as much as I want.
– Count, weigh and record everything, carbs lurk in the strangest places. Don’t guess.
– When I go out to dinner, I tend to stick to steak and salad with no dressing, only olive oil and I avoid Asian restaurants as most of their sauces contain huge amounts of sugar.
I hope this helps😀
Any questions, just ask.
Linda

One more thing, stick to less than 50g of carbs per day and if that is not working for you, drop it down by 10g per day at a time until you are losing.

Really great tips Linda!

Hi all, have not done well over last 2 weeks, hence no posts! Have had friends staying, mornings started well with a smoothie I make but it went downhill from there. On the positive side I hardly drank any wine which wasn’t as hard as I thought. The first week had a girlfriend stay who drinks every night ( she is about 30 kilos overweight) I only joined her 1 night for red wine. Next week 2 other friends stayed and I explained I wasn’t drinking but it was bread and some desserts that I found difficult to say no to. I haven’t weighed myself all week. I have just been interstate for 4 days to Melbourne, city renowned for great cafés and restaurants. Had dinners with friends every night luckily only 1 glass of wine each night but share plates of food. Walked few hours every day. My Blood sugar diet cookbook arrived yesterday so am back to today 100% commitment. Anyone else struggling? ?

Yes I am big time though I notice I am making alot better choices still not eatting bread or pasta or spuds though tell a lie was asked to make a potato salad for a bbq on thursday which i did and then didnt have any , infact i mostly ate salad and quite enjoyed it as the 3 salads there were different to what I make infact partly why I have fallen off the wagon is I tend to eat the same things week in, week out , my salads consist of lettuce tomato cuecumber and capsicum and thats it basically. Got to get my thinking cap on though , family all coming to us at xmas….I think there will be alot of restarters come the new year including me sadly ….😕

Hi Llandudno – I eat salads most days for lunch and often dinner too. Try mixing it up with cooked veggies like zucchini (courgettes), or even broccoli or cauliflower cold in a mixed salad can be good. I also use things like grated carrot (in moderation as its fairly high carb, but a little can give a nice sweetness to the salad if you need it), finely chopped celery (gives a nice crunch), marinated artichokes or red peppers, beetroot etc. I mainly use spinach as my base. You can add a small sprinkling of chopped nuts or pumpkin seeds for texture. I also always dress my salads, usually with a combo of olive oil and lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with a dash of mustard. Lost of options to keep it interesting, just remember to keep a check on the calorie / carb count 🙂

Hello everyone,
JaneR I really appreciated your honesty. I have fallen off the wagon a few times now…even been run over by the jolly thing! I could blame a really busy/stressful time at work- I’m a Kindergarten teacher and we have been writing reports and getting ready for end of year concerts and presentations and the list goes on, but I know I’m just using that as an excuse. We have had lots of social functions on and they will increase over the next week. I have found that I have avoided obvious carbs, bread, potatoes, rice, etc but the glass of wine (or two) at the end of the day is a hard habit to break. I’d like to know your thoughts on the cook book. Is it ‘ Australian friendly’? There are lots of comments about vegetables not widely available here and certainly not available where we live in our small rural community. I continue to wish us all the best of luck! xx