Californiagirl – I agree. I actually do the same! (Or did when I was counting everything.) Also – as much as possible I shoehorn a leafy green into every meal – for all those positive benefits you list. But mainly for the fibre!!!

Hi Californiagirl
I think I am with you on that one. I have checked out the info from all our big supermarkets here in the UK and they are all showing curly kale as having virtually no net carbs for 100g.

I made kale and celery soup and it was so full of fibre that my bamix stick blender really struggled to turn it into soup. I had to keep untangling it as all the fibre was stopping it rotating. It made a much more fibrous soup than the broccoli – although just as delicious. So all that fibre must be so good for us.

I always add celery to soup and have never had that problem with my carrot cabbage and celery soup.

Have had lots of kale and other green veg this week and do feel more energetic than usual.

You mentioned that you top your greens with lemon and garlic. I have never added lemon to green veg until today. I bought some frozen lemon zest this morning and had the brilliant idea of adding it to my kale, garlic, cabbage and asparagus stir fry. It was really lovely with the white fish we had for lunch so I will certainly be adding lemon to my greens from now on.

I too eat a couple of cups, at least, of salad greens (usually lettuce, mustard greens, rocket, sorrel and herbs) most evening meals at present. I use the Organic Girl – fresh herbs & greens , 1.5 cups (85g) on MFP to log without weighing/measuring. I really need the greens to fill and for fibre as well. Guess if super strict I would weigh greens (as I do with every other single food), but got to nearly 10 weeks and happy with progress on all fronts. 🙂

*skips lightly back aboard the sleigh*

Have been missing in action for a few days because of work commitments but delighted to report that despite enforced socialising & organising cupcake fests for clients, have stayed resolutely on track – so proud of myself! My treats have been bacon, sausage and tomato hotel breakfasts to set me up for the day, and which have worked perfectly, no need for lunch, then a soup, fish n’ veg room service meal in the early evening away from carby temptation, and a brisk walk round the well-lit hotel grounds morning and evening. I usually try to get a hotel with a pool, but no luck this time.

Was slightly dreading this last big ‘do’ before Christmas. Have surprised myself at how easy it’s has been, but not being a drinker makes a big difference at this time of year – very easy to waste calories on booze!

Am with you on greens, I never weigh or measure, and adore a little bit of olive oil, lemon and black pepper on Spring greens – reminds me of Horta in Greece – always my ‘go to’ veg when on holiday there – yummy!

Good luck for the weekend everyone – stay strong! MKx

Peapod, I have kept the article so I can refer to the photos for inspiration. I bought the book a year ago but thought “no way, can’t do that”. Then read the article looking for a dieter near my age, and saw Lynne’s success. Inspiring, thanks Lynne! Read the book again and bought the recipe book too. Good luck over Christmas.

Maharani kitten – how fantastic that you did so well and stayed so resolutely on track with all that carby temptation around you.

Very well done on planning your strategy and then following it to the letter. Because you had your ‘treats’ with the lovely bacon and sausage hotel breakfast you haven’t come back feeling deprived.

No wonder you skipped lightly back aboard the sleigh.

Mmm, it feels weird to be salivating at the thought of some kale with a touch of garlic and lemon!!!!

Thanks Krysia D
Being good on work trips is important, because BSD is my life from now on.
Blood sugar has been a bit strange this last week or so which means I can’t lose focus,.
That might have made me feel a bit gloomy 2 months ago when I started this, but I can see the way ahead now and this is how I eat. Not so very different from my previous low carb regime. Am just a bit annoyed with myself that I got dragged into their ‘portions of starch’ t2d world for 5 months before I found this. I knew it wasn’t right and should have trusted my intuition. Hope I haven’t harmed myself, but feel I’m on the right track now. MK x

DAY 5 … WEEK 2

Hi everyone

For some reason I’ve not been getting the last posts! Anyway up to date now. There have been so many discussions on these boards about carbs and net carbs I think that you both have the right idea Krysia and Californiagirl. Life just becomes too tedious when you have to weigh a lettuce leaf!!

Talking about which I had deconstructed egg mayo ‘sandwiches’ for lunch yesterday. It’s amazing how good the eggs taste wrapped up in lettuce with some sliced tomato.

Glad to see so many people back on board and new people joining. It really is encouraging to read all the posts. So far this week I’ve put back on all the weight I lost last week!!! Think I need a few days of counting everything, planning and logging on fatsecret to get me back on track. One major problem is that I’m away from tomorrow for 18 days so it’s going to be really hard. I have a pair of scales and my computer so will still be logging in, but I’m really counting on my sleigh mates to help keep me on the straight and narrow!!

Have a good day and weekend.

Verano – thank you for your list.

What an inspirational set of recent posts. There are a couple of go-to websites for me when it comes to info: http://www.foodfacts.mercola.com (I won’t confuse the kale issue further by telling you what he says!) and http://www.dietdoctor.com . The latter is a subscription one but there’s lots of info available free of charge. For those of us who don’t have fitbit or similar, I use an app called Monitor Your Weight, it’s a way to do just that, simply (after set up) enter your current wt and it calculates your BMI, overall loss, average weekly loss, even how many cals it thinks you should be eating per day in order to reach your goals (I ignore that bit & stick to the BSD protocol) etc.

Californiagirl, I agree about veggies, I think it’s fairly hard to eat too much. I like to make a salad dressing of 50/50 Greek yoghurt and mayonnaise and add garlic, lemon (or a teeny bit of ACV) and dill. It tastes really buttery and rich!

My family’s Christmas plans have now been reorganised (previously, I think the grinch was working overtime!) in terms of who’s where when – you get the drift, and it’s going to be a little trickier than the original plans but my main “what if…” is will I get unwell if I eat carbs even for one day!? Hopefully there will be enough of us together that my declining carbs won’t be noticed!

Keep at it everyone, the encouragement, the tips and advice, the ups and downs are all helpful!

Hi

Never to give in I just want to mention the ‘K’ word once more!! I think that you’re right chicken106 it’s to do with the stalks and leaves. All the UK figures are for curly kale leaves in bags. It makes sense that the stalks would hold a greater amount of carbs/sugars!!!
Lets just eat them with gay abandon!

Thank you Determinedthistime -I have found the list in recipes.
X B

Verano – have just looked at my bag of K. You are right – it is just leaves. So thank you for solving the mystery and I can happily carry on eating it with gay abandon.

GingerbredMama – what is even more weird is that when I was getting my lunch ready for work (kale soup – what else) I thought how nice it would be to have a very small bowl of it before my scrambled eggs. I wondered what it would taste like cold – it was lovely. If my pre-BSD self was reading this now she would be horrified.

Maharani kitten – my b/s fluctuates a bit also on occasions – which is why I know that I can never go back to eating the starch. My feeling is that if we keep off the starch and sugars and continue to build our lean muscle mass while eating all this fantastically healthy food our bodies will continue to heal and we will gradually repair any damage our bodies have suffered from our previous high carb diets. I teach a lot of rehab pilates and I am often amazed by the ability our bodies have to repair long-term damage that has gone on for years.

Verano I am glad you will still keep in touch while you are away. Do have a wonderful 18 days.

California girl – thank you, Im going to stop weighing lettuce, kale etc. And certainly going to try putting lemon & garlic on my greens. Sounds gorgeous!

Another surprising tasty companion to cooked greens is a sprinkling of nutmeg!

Anyone else finding the new taste discoveries something of an adventure? One food my previous self would not countenance was sprouts, but just for experimentation’s sake I sliced and sauted some in ghee the other day and they were absolutely delicious! Who knew 🙂

Pinterest is a great resource for low carb inspo too.

Hi all,

Well done MK on planning for your personal wellbeing while on your business trip, 👏👏 Making the right choices gives such a sense of satisfaction, doesn’t it? In direct contrast to the angst after making a poor choice of course.
KrysiaD, you continue to enlighten with your musings on your journey. Thank you 👏👏

Verano, l hope you enjoy your time away without being too hard on yourself. For myself, I have it in mind to follow the BSD principles as best I can on the days we have social “events” and more strictly on the few quiet days I can see on the calendar.

Butterlover, thinking of you with your big Christmas party this weekend. Enjoy:)

Good wishes to all in what we know here as the “silly season” which doesn’t seem to stop until after New Year xx

Maharani kitten

Great that you were able to stay with BSD in the hotel 😀

It really is a way of life now for so many of us.

Only in BSD-land does a leafy green gain its own moniker…… “K”. Ok, so if we’re talking K, I have another amazing recipe for that wonder green: chop K small but roughly, put in bowl. Add one can drained and rinsed canellini beans (use canellini if possible for best taste but if you cannot find, another big white bean would work). Make a dressing of lots of fresh chopped garlic, lemon juice, fresh grated lemon zest, good quality olive oil, salt (be liberal) and lots of fresh ground black pepper. Dress K and beans, working it about a bit so the K really absorbs the dressing. Add a couple handfuls shredded Parmesan and mix again. For me this is a main dish — you can add/subtract oil, beans, cheese to control your overall calories so you could make it richer for maintenance or lighter for low-cal days. OH inhales this dish. And that wraps up another “Adventure in K Land”….😜

Californiagirl that looks super tasty and simple. OH and I adore salads that are a meal in one so this is going onto the menu. Thanks!

Maharani kitten I loved reading how resolute you were when you were away, how those strategies came together, and how successful it all was! It would have been the downfall of many but just shows you are on a roll 🙂

captainlynne congratulations on maintaining just where you want to be! Its relatively easy to lose the weight compared to keeping it off, as we all know. You have it so worked out. Success breeds success and all that. Keep showing us how its all done 🙂

Californiagirl I’ve been having a really low day …. happens sometimes! Then I read your post and it made me smile …. almost laugh out loud!!! You describe what could almost be a deconstructed ‘K’ hummous!!! Sounds really lovely and I will definitely give it a go.

Some fab advice and a couple of tasty recipe ideas.

I’ve never had kale so after reading the posts I headed to the supermarket and bought some. Going to try some tomorrow.

Rollercoaster of a day. Close to giving up again but have made it.

Day 3 ✅

Thanks to all of you for posting. The encouragement, humorous comments and advice have got me through.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to advise.
The only tip I have at the moment is to take it one day at a time. 8 weeks seemed too daunting for me.

Well done everyone.

Thanks again VERANO! X 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Hi. Have just looked for a kale soup recipe on the BSD site but cannot find one. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Have also googled but they tend to have potato on the list of ingredients.

Many thanks. NM

Hi tigs

Thanks.

I’m probably going to start a new thread on my first BSD anniversary on 19th December.

When I first posted, it was for myself – to record my progress. Then I made friends on here. We compared notes, learning as we went and keeping each other accountable. Now my weight loss journey is over and Imwork on maintenance. Many of my old BSD friends no longer post on here, but now I have new friends on here too.

I will continue to post my ramblings, talking with friends old and new.

I think you’re right – success breeds success. The rapid results I experienced at the start of BSD made me want to keep on and not cheat along the way. Why spoil a good thing? I wrote everything in a series of notebooks as evidence to show the medical professionals. My current notebook will see me to the end of 2016 and I have a 2017 diary (page a day) ready and waiting for next year’s records.

If there is anything specific you would like me to write about, please ask. Otherwise I will just carry on as I have been doing.

Hi Nedds mum

I made kale soup – loosely based on the broccoli soup recipe in the recipes on this forum.

I sliced a medium onion and lightly fried it in butter with some frozen garlic (probably 2 or 3 cloves) and a teaspoon of frozen mixed herbs (dried would work). I then added some chicken stock (I made up some from Lakeland chicken stock powder but I am sure any chicken stock would be fine). I added some sliced up celery (about 100g) to the saucepan plus 100g of Kale (that was half a pack). I also used a teaspoon of Coleman’s mustard powder but you could use whole grain mustard. I think the mustard is the secret ingredient that really brings out the flavour in both the kale and the broccoli soups. I also added salt and pepper and simmered it until everything was tender – probably about half an hour – I didn’t really time it.

The hard part was trying to liquidise it. I used a stick blender and it was so full of fibre it kept clogging it up. I actually love it as it is but it is even more special if you add some grated cheddar cheese just before serving – I added 20g just before serving it.

So ends “Another adventure in K land”

Perfect. Thank you krysia.
Will enjoy that tomorrow 🙂👍

I do hope you like it Nedds mum – it is so easy to make.

I’m sure I will krysiaD. Thanks again

Heading to bed as have the munchies. I completed day 3 and don’t want to spoil it!

Roll on day 4…

DAY 6 …. WEEK 2

Hi everyone

Well almost the end of week 2 just 2 more days to go so lets make them count! Hope you are all doing well….. very poor performance here!!! Anyway, I’m a bit short of time this morning but will catch up with you all later.

Hope the soup works out OK Nedds mum!!

Have a good day

Hello fellow sleigh riders! This is such an active thread that it can be hard to keep up but I have enjoyed the recent discussions re lettuce leaf burger “buns” and various kale adventures. I must admit to really disliking kale. I tried it a few times pre BSD and just couldn’t develop a taste for it. Perhaps I need to give it another try now that my taste buds have been reprogrammed 🙂 If you had told me 8 weeks ago I would be looking forward to lettuce leaf “tacos”, I would have seriously doubted your sanity – amazing how quickly life can change 🙂

Yesterday marked the end of my 1st 8 weeks on BSD. I’ve posted my updated stats on my “home” forum with the 10 October starters, but wanted to share my news here as well as I’ve benefitted so much from the combined wisdom of all the regular posters on this thread – a big thank you to all! I’ve lost 12.4kgs in 8 weeks, which is 14.2% of my starting weight. I’m really proud of myself for sticking with it. I’ll be continuing on as I still have 8kgs to go to get to the top end of a healthy BMI. My next mini-goal is to hit 15kgs lost, which I should do by Christmas 🙂

Hi there, I have been quiet for a few days. Not feeling too well, seem to have finally caught hubbys cough and cold, although being a woman it is not so bad as he had and I may even be getting over it after just 3 days. My weight has been strange, gained half a pound lost a pound and gained back half a pound, no reason, been sticking to it rigidly. Still going to stick with it as the whoosh might come tomorrow so not going to spoil it.

Since reducing insulin my BG have levelled out at 5.0 to 5.3, all good as I don’t want to go too low but hoping it will be a steady reduction again. Just want rid of the insulin eventually.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. P.S. Am I the only one who didn’t like the broccoli soup!!

Thanks for the K soup inspiration! I had some for lunch, with some crispy fried Parma ham slices as a crunchy topping! Yum!

Lara
12.4kg is a fantastic achievement. Good luck with your mini goal of 15kg by Christmas. Doesn’t it feel good to have this success. Sometimes I feel I need to pinch myself just to check it isn’t a dream.

Sunshine-girl – there are some horrible viruses going around at the moment – hope you feel 100% very soon. Your bg is continuing to look good and I am sure you will continue with a steady reduction. Fingers crossed for the whoosh.

Something weird is going on with my weight. The scales haven’t moved but my clothes are definitely looser and several people have commented that I have lost a lot more weight in the last couple of weeks. So maybe I will get a whoosh shortly.

GingerbredMama
I am so pleased you enjoyed the K soup. Crispy fried Parma ham topping sounds absolutely delicious – I will add it to my recipe.

Captainlynne
I am so pleased you have continued to post even though you have reached your goals.

Maintenance is much less scary now as I have noted how you have handled it and I have realised that I can do it in exactly the same way and be successful also. Also it is lovely that it doesn’t seem to be too hard to do.

On Saturday there was an event going on in the second hall at the church where I teach my classes. When I was microwaving my soup they were preparing their food. It had all been prepared by M&S and looked and smelt absolutely lovely but there wasn’t one thing that was BSD friendly. I wouldn’t have swapped my soup and fage yoghurt for even one bite of it.

Before BSD I would have been overjoyed if I had been offered some. It is lovely how this way of eating changes how we view food.

I am stopping classes at the end of next week and can’t wait to start the search for some new clothes. Work trousers are a priority as mine are resembling clown trousers a little more each day. Have arranged with my sister to spend a day clothes shopping. Husband was visibly relieved that he doesn’t need to come shopping with me now.

KrysiaD – I think what’s helped me maintain is keeping off the carbs but slowly adding more low-carb foods in. And posting helps too. Might start a new thread on 19th (my first BSD anniversary)

I need new trousers, but they have to be navy blue. The shops have lots of black trousers and jeans, but very few navy trousers. Most of those they do have are the wrong size and/or style. Sorry, but I do not want elasticated waists!😱 Hope you have more success. Enjoy your clothes shopping.

Well…kale soup made 🙂🙂 First ever kale experience. As I was preparing and cooking it I wasn’t ‘feeling it’.

After I added the mustard, herbs and pepper and blended and then tasted I was certainly feeling it. Delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe.

Probably ate too much of it. Is this possible though given it was just kale, onion, stock and seasoning??

Day 4 nearly complete ✅

Less headachy today and not been feeling as hungry.

Reading the posts is continuing to help. Such positive comments, so encouraging.

Hope you have all had a good day 🙂

Captainlynne
Keeping off the carbs looks to be the best way forward for me also. I am hoping to drop at least 3 or 4 more pounds then I will follow your lead and slowly increase the low carb foods.

I agree that we absolutely do not want elasticated waists! Hope you find some nice navy trousers. Luckily black will be ok for me. I thought I would buy a nice jumper in a bright colour last week but in the two shops I visited the colours were so dark and muted. Also I like cowl necks but couldn’t see any. Hopefully I will when I have more time to browse.

Nedds mum
I am so pleased you like the kale soup. Don’t think you can eat too much of it. It is very filling – especially with the added cheese. I was soup making today also so that I have some nice lunches in the coming week. Am pleased you are less headachy and less hungry today.

Lara🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Amazing 8 week results, and good luck with your mini-goal of 15kg.
I weigh for the end of my first 8 weeks tomorrow morning so, fingers crossed.
Have come to bed with a hwb and a good book as I can’t seem to get warm tonight and am worried I’ll eat!
Have had calories and carbs for today so it’s a sugar free apple and cinnamon tea and an early night for this chubby wee haggis… Tried my Christmas dress on this afternoon. It fits! It fits! And it also looks lovely.

MK x

KrysiaD – it’ll be after Christmas now before I even think of clothes shopping, I’m too busy until then. Wonder if I’ll find something in the sales? And I’ve got a shopping day to York planned for 1st February, as well as a week in Italy in March. Surely I’ll find some clothes I like and that fit somewhere!

I’ve found the colours horrible for a while. Like you I’ve been looking for something bright, without success. And I prefer v-necks to cowls, but have seen a lot of Bardot necklines – no good to me at all.

Hello everyone…. just wanted to say that I’m just into my 6th week and have reached my first mini goal of 10 kilos lost. I don’t post much but want to say thanks to you all for your inspiring comments and common sense wisdom which are keeping me on track 😊… onwards and downwards til Christmas 😊

Alex49 – congratulations on reaching your first mini goal. 10 kilos lost is a really good weight loss. I have found this forum invaluable also – it has certainly kept me on track and helped me believe that I could really lose the weight this time.

Captainlynne – so it is not just here in East Anglia. The colours are horrible. I have worn black for so long (in the hope that it hid the weight gain) and now I want to wear bright colours but they are just not in the shops. I can’t wear Bardot necklines either.

Hi everyone I’ve just finished my 8 weeks so I’m moving over here for the extra two before Christmas instead of keeping one foot on each sleigh (at least they were going in the same direction).

I lost a total of 4.8 kg, basically all the first five weeks, since then I’ve kept falling face first into pizza and cake. 4.8 kg is obviously not as much as I’d hoped for but on the other hand I’m happy that I’ve maintained since starting to slip instead of putting it all back on! I want to lose a little more before my Christmas break then back into it.

No, KrysiaD, it’s here in the north east too! And try finding plain, black, court shoes (not patent or suede).

My work uniform is navy and white, so my wardrobe has been full of those colours for too long. Even my non-work trousers and skirts have been navy – so they could be worn for work or leisure.

Now colour is sneaking in though. Except my jeans and jeggings – indigo (navy!) of course.

Hopefully the new season’s colours will be more to ours taste.

Natalie
Its nice to see you here on ‘Strictly’. You have done well to maintain without putting it all back on. I would imagine that there are not all that many people on this forum who have lost weight every week – I certainly haven’t. Its lovely when the scales move downwards but on weeks that the scales don’t move I still think of it as a win because I know that the scales will move downwards again.

Captainlynne

Jeans and jeggins do look lovely in indigo. I do hope also that the new season’s colours will be more to our taste.

I wore black from top to toe for work. I know it didn’t hide the bulges but I was always hopeful that if I wore black no one would notice them. In the Autumn a garden centre that also sold clothes had a massive sale and I bought several Regatta lightweight fleeces in a lovely rasberry colour – I thought they were a nice change from the black fleeces I always wore for winter when I taught classes. Some of my clients who had been coming to my classes for years and years were shocked when I suddenly turned up in my new rasberry coloured winter uniform because they had only ever seen me in black.

DAY 7 ….. WEEK 2

Good morning everyone

Well last day of Week 2. I can’t believe we are almost half way through this challenge.
For those of you doing well, great and just keep going only 15 says left! To anybody on the same sleigh as me …. ok … 15 days left we really really must make them count!!!!!!

Well done Lara and Alex49 and don’t be disheartened Natalue a loss is a loss.

Krysia … loose clothes .. great!!! Forget the scales and ‘listen’ to your body! Funny how we’ve changed …. you having soup instead of M&S goodies and me sitting in an airport eating ‘deconstructed’ egg mayo ‘sandwiches’!!!!!!!

Hope you’re feeling better today sunshine-girl. Do you have a doctors visit today? Hope it goes well if you do your BG numbers look really good.

To everyone else I’ve missed out glad all is well with you.

Let!s make today a good one!

My last weigh in at 8 weeks.

27lbs (12.4kg) down, blood sugar under control (though still slightly medicated), and feel great.

Will continue till Christmas aboard the Strictly sleigh, hoping to lose another 5lbs.

Hey I can hear those sleigh bells ringing! Good news I lost 4 pounds this week not sure how but hurray! It’s amazing how motivating this thread is. Can it really be only 15 days to go? Yikes. Am super excited as one son is visiting from the USA they never stop being your little boys! I am trying to be calm but what the heck I am rather happy. The other is coming with his partner, there may be no mince pies for me but every time I feel a moment of weakness coming on I will just have to hug them instead..can you hear a ” oh mum” somewhere in the background?

Keep going folks

Very determined today 😅😅😅