Hi everyone,
Wondering if anyone can help or has gone through something similar?
I’m a young(ish) type 2 diabetic. I’ve been on the blood sugar diet for just under a week and have lost 7Ibs so far which is great!

My problem is I’m really struggling with the new recipes and food.
Everything is making me queasy, even foods that I enjoyed/loved before that I use to eat with carbs. Every meal time, even though I’m quite hungry, I just don’t want to eat it. I use to quite like celery sticks but after two days of eating it with walnuts, apples and ham, I started retching at the idea of eating it again. I liked bacon with a cooked breakfast but it tasted so salty this time with the spinach sautéed in olive oil (which also tasted a bit grim) It was an oily salty mess.
I’ve noticed im starting to feel this way about other foods like eggs, broccoli, Quorn and garlic, all of which I loved before (but with carbs!!!) I’m not a huge meat eater so Quorn has been my saving grace.
I’m worried now as I know I have to make major lifestyle changes but at the same time, I don’t know how I can do this for the rest of my life. I don’t want to go off all the healthy food I use to eat.
On the plus side though, I’ve loved drinking more water. It’s really helped with hunger pangs.
Has anyone been through this? If anyone could offer any advice that would be great 😊
Thanks,
T

Hi Jazzhands, I am totally with you on this. Tonight I made a steak dinner with cabbage, carrots and red wine gravy and my portion of celeriac mash. I told my husband that I dont really enjoy eating any more. However, there are lots of foods I do enjoy but I feel I have to have these strange foods. You mention celery. I have it once a week with a Ploughmans. Try not to eat any particular food too often just because it is good for you or low in calories. Also eat it with something you love. Find foods and food combinations that you do like, you dont have to fall in love with cauli mash, yes I get sick of it too. Eat the things you love more often than the things you dont. I have recipes I love like Spanish chickpea and chorizo soup. Write yourself a menu using all the foods you like. You say you like eggs but not on this plan, dont eat them for a while and then only eat them now and then. Do something different with them. I love scrambled egg made with eggs and crème fraiche, melted butter with chilli seeds and just as the egg starts to set, add some grated cheese. One of the main downfalls of a diet is eating the same thing over and over. For some people it is salads – I rarely eat salads as I used to know them now. No lettuce and tomatoes and cucumber but change it up with warm chicken and roasted red pepper salad. You have to make this work for you. You say you cannot imagine eating like this for life as a life style change but you dont. If you are just trying to lose weight you eat like this until you are where you want to be and then you can gently add in the things you are craving (and that is the problem) and not have to deprive yourself forever. As a diabetic I might have to because it is a choice of eating things I crave or being really ill. You too have to make that choice, and sorry if I sound harsh but being diabetic there are worse things than eating something you are not too keen on.

Hi Jazzhands and well done on the 7lb !!

My first two weeks on the diet resulted in my body having a few wobbles and having to adjust.
I do think our bodies let us know what they do and dont want so if you dont want to eat it then dont.
I love having a routine menu but perhaps your body needs more variety – I also dont eat meat but I have a renewed interest in fish and finding different things to do with eggs.
The longer i am on this diet, the more my tastes have changed and evolved – using those spice mixes on veggies gives them a whole different profile (I like the cajun one !) and I now know that ACV or Balsamic vinegar makes everything taste better.
This diet has to be sustainable, you cant be feeling like this all the time.
Do you eat cheese ? And do you have any food intolerances ?
I think you just need to find what works for you and that may look quite different to other peoples menu’s – and thats alright as long as you are working within the boundaries of this Way of Eating and the diet approach you want to take.

Hoped that helped – shout if not !

Jazzhands123
The only thing I’d add is where you start isn’t where you end up with this way of eating. I started BSD when I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes three years ago and I remember mourning the foods I loved and that I was being told I couldn’t have. Your body can take a little bit of time adjusting the first few weeks and then your tastes really do change. There are foods now that I love eating which I’d never even heard of back then. It’s definitely a process.

The other thing I found helped me is not thinking too much in terms of the long-term to begin with. When I read where you say ‘….
I know I have to make major lifestyle changes …… I don’t know how I can do this for the rest of my life’…wow, that’s such a big timescale – it’s scary just reading those thoughts!!!. Try not to worry too much about that right now – take the great advice from sunshine-girl and M2019 and of lots of others on here, do what you can as you can, give yourself plenty of time to adjust, and by the time you get to the rest of your life you’ll find you’re doing absolutely great.
Jennie

Edited: just wanted to add one of the benefits of the BSD (with lower carbs) is that after the first couple of weeks (where you might have carb flu) you usually very quickly begin to feel better, with more energy, better blood sugar levels, brighter in yourself – and that really helps make it easier to keep going. xx

Hi jazzhands123, I am coming to the end of the 8 weeks, my first time on the low carb way of eating.
You seem to be very effective in following the WOE, but are suffering from carb flu, feeling queasy, sleeping poorly, a bit constipated?

Taking more salt is usually suggested because of water and salt loss in the early weeks, however salty food doesn’t appeal to you at the moment. I like salty peanuts, so have to be strict with myself or I’d never lose weight! Would a few peanuts appeal to you?

I took Magnesium citrate tablets 150mg which immediately helped me sleep and “move” better. That made me feel better, if it hadn’t I would have discontinued them.

Wishing you all the best, Patricia

Thank you all for your replies. I can’t tell you how helpful you’ve been! I’ve had a bit of a wobble diet wise today but I feel pretty focused now ready for tomorrow. I think I just need to start experimenting a bit more with different foods perhaps. Luckily no food intolerances and I love cheddar too😊 Thank you all for your words of wisdom again. I really appreciate it.
T

Hi jazzhands
For the first few weeks I had a very tasteless diet. I then mixed it up a bit learning what I could eat, and adding small amounts of tasty ingredients to make food interesting again. I’m now enjoying food more than I did before embarking on this diet. I’m feeling a lot healthier because of the diet too of course, and in a much more positive frame of mind to boot.
As has been mentioned, salt is certainly important to maintain mineral levels when fasting.
Hoping your eating experience improves radically.