Hi Mariet,
I am sorry to hear that you have been feeling down. I understand how you feel because I have been considering the level of carb/cal intake I have at present against daily activities and worrying about what this means when it comes to maintenance. I have a much more physically demanding lifestyle than most people, so logically the weight should be falling from me, and it has been just a small steady trickle.
I have a habit of questioning everything, and I went looking for information on the latest research into Insulin Resistance yesterday. I have just come across some podcasts that I found interesting. There is a person called Dr Ben Bikman who’s specialist area of research is insulin resistance. He focuses his research into the impact of insulin on each type of cell in the body.
Best Diet for Insulin Resistance (+ Extra Tips) • Dr Benjamin Bikman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIVwrlqcyUY
I think this pod cast is helpful because he explains that you will not have measurable ketone levels if insulin levels are too high. So rather than having to guess on the amount of carbs we can have and stay in maintenance based on the scales, a ketone tester would help us monitor the effects of different dishes.
https://www.ketovangelist.com/episode-101-dr-ben-bikman-explains-fat-calories-and-metabolism/ Its a bit irritating because the interviewer and him go off topic occasionally, but there is an interesting explanation on how the body burns off surplus calories as heat if insulin levels are low.

You mentioned a keto dessert in your post so you may pick up more information from the podcasts than I did. I would be interested in your point of view.

Good morning Allie,
I was more often ‘offline’ member reading other people’s posts and threads and following the 5 2 plan. My profiles anywhere are as anonymous as possible.
Then gone off BIG TIME and eventually tried to rectify the damage. I tried going ‘nutritarian’ way for some time and lost a stone but but not being able to incorporate fats or eggs or my full fat yoghurt took its toll after about a month and a half and have decided to go back to ‘watch’ or ‘contribute’ on BSD again.
Weighted myself this morning and hope in next four weeks I will see a number that’ll make me smile 🙂
All the best,
S.

Been reviewing my figures and it turns out the conversion I was using was very wrong! I’ve actually only dropped 2lb! How frustrating is that? 😧 lesson learned – don’t trust first online conversion calculator! Ho hum, try again – at least it’s going the right way – I have lost 6lb in total as I started just before this date. Will try and be more accurate with calories to improve weight loss.

Jillie I agree with you. Most ‘books’ meant for a mass market are simplistic summaries, sometimes couched in pseudo-science. I found something that works for me , ‘The Blood Sugar Diet’, when I follow it faithfully. I wasn’t decrying other theories or research I was just saying that, for me, I’ve found something that works to keep my blood glucose in the ‘normal’ range, so no point in ‘tweaking’. It’s horses for courses at the end of the day, and not one size fits all, as they say.

Dear Denise,
I wish I had started BSD right at the beginning of the year. I tried some random diets to see how it goes but to no avail, very little loss and too much time spent on them. I went nutritarian way which was great, it’s a vegan but with no oils ( I mostly ate ‘grass’ that what I called it because it was eating minimum of 1lb or fresh salad a day, minimum before you could have anything else) and I also missed eggs and olive oil and the generally good stuff like meat. although I lost weight I wouldn’t say I could carry on ‘for life’.
I knew deep inside me that eventually I would come back here because it worked last time and although I was an offline member reading other people’s posts and getting inspired I need a proper kick in my backside to be a ‘beautiful wife and mum’ at my birthday ( I still hope I’m going to get a surprise b’day party so want to look a million dollar great :-)) and to have a lot of pictures of me from the day. I’ve got about 8 weeks till my birthday and one 2.5weeks of hols just before then so ‘no pressure’.
As I said before if I could lose at least a stone in that time that would be a bonus but I would still be a stone away from what I wanted to be right at the beginning of the year when I was wasting my time on other diets….
Well, here’s to the new day, hopefully not failed, and the skinny I want to be in me to start appearing.
Have a wonderful day.
S.

Morning
Congratulations on all the weight losses, and to those struggling I am unable to help as I’ve been here just over a week so don’t know enough yet, but I read the replies as I have no doubt it will be me at some point. Good luck.

I just wondered I’d anyone else has/had a bit of constipation? I drink 2-3 litres of water, eat plenty of green leafy veg twice a day, but am having a little trouble 😬 Is there anything I could add to ease this?

Many thanks

Jacqui

Hi all,
I’ve lost 3lbs this week which I’m really happy with, my goal is 2.5 per week which will take me to my goal in a month.
Those who are stalling, I once stalled for about 2 weeks, and felt that I was doing everything right, and then I had a whoosh and then went back to consistent weight loss. So have hope and keep at it! Bodies are funny things 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hi all
I’ve had a great week – I have lost 9lbs since last Tuesday :0 which makes a total loss of 2 st 8 lbs 🙂 ‘m not back to the lowest I’ve been since January but hope I will be next week.
I’m sorry there are so many despondent people on this thread today – I’m not sure how I can help. I have found that as long as I follow this woe I do lose weight, but I do have a lot to lose and no where near maintenance. I really do hope you find your way.
Welcome newcomers and hope you’re getting to grips with it – it is difficult leaving those foods you have always relied on as your staples. I grew up in an Italian household and pasta was the staple food – as an adult I’ve always relied on pasta because it was an easy veggie choice for me. But I know it’s not my friend so it can’t be a part of my life.

Good to see there are a few 80s girls out there 🙂 here’s to the shoulder pad 🙂

Good luck everyone – KOKO
x

Hello Jacqui,
Not sure whether it would help but my ‘go to’ to tackle constipation is pears and then lentils or beans stews. they always help me.
also the prunes are good but they are too sweet and not much approved on BSD diet.
Having a pear in the evening made my mornings and brought a smile :-).

Try and let me know what you think. Hopefully, it will disappear soon.
S.

Hi Jacqui! Much has been posted on the topic of “transit issues” on the forum. If you type “constipation” into the Search
box, you will be able to access it. My Mother used to swear by pears, but at 20+g of net carbs, certainly not BSD
friendly 🙂 I hope this isn’t an indelicate question, but have your habits simply changed, or are you physically un-
comfortable? When the carbs are out of the diet, there is a great deal less bulk to “waste”, so it’s not unusual to
only eliminate waste every 2-3 days. That was my experience, too. However, if you are uncomfortable, try to include
more BSD friendly fiber in your diet. Chia seeds, avocado, raspberries are all quite high in fiber, and dark leafy greens
are excellent too. You seem to have the latter covered already, though 🙂 Some folks use inulin, but I don’t have
any experience with that. Also, 3 liters of water/day. I’m sure others will be along to share their tips, too. Very best
of luck,

Allie

Gattina, that’s what I call a wildly successful reboot! Well done 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’m rather narrow in terms of my body type,
so I rather appreciated those shoulder pads! Now, the big permed hair, maybe not so much…

Nicki, what a great week that you’ve had also! I think you’ve got this 🙂 🙂 🙂

Carry On, ladies!

Allie

Well done all on your scale and non-scale victories – always a boost to read how other people are doing and that this WOL does work.
No losses for me this week, but no gains either – so that’s a win as far as I am concerned.
Tricky 2 days coming up now – works lunch tomorrow, followed by my village ladies all going out for our monthly dinner, and then out with my OH Thurs night for a catch up dinner with friends. Will be doing the 16/8 or longer if poss fast for both days to try and buffer the less than BSD friendly food I will be having. But what the heck.

Hi Maid2Measure,
I went through some upward spikes a couple of weeks ago. Weight would go up each day for a few days then there was a dramatic whoosh. There were a couple of days where my weight went up by over 1kg despite sticking to the diet. – I had increased my salt intake at the time, I don’t normally add any salt to food but I had been trying to add fish to my diet to ring the changes and I can only stomach fish if its swimming in salt and vinegar to mask the taste.
I find that every time I have a stall my measurements are changing, its just not always the obvious ones like waist and hip. – my body is back on reducing my legs, again. :-}

Hi MirandaG,
I am sorry you are feeling down. I don’t understand why but I always find that after a period where the scales haven’t changed my inches have. Not necessarily from where I expect, I am showing my age now, but at this rate I will be able to do a good Max Wall impression if I were to wear leggings. 🙂 It will happen, we have people like Alliecat as examples that with time we will get there. In the meantime, look back on the progress you have made so far for a few minutes, pat yourself on the back for having reached this stage, start to think of some NSV you can add to your list of targets, and then KOKO.

Jacqui, my top tip for er….. “moving things on” would be a small portion of the BSD red cabbage coleslaw, followed by good amounts of water, followed by (preferably the next morning) a brisk walk. Hope that helps!

Miranda x

Thanks skinny and allie for the suggestions. I hadn’t thought about how there is less waste following this woe, and with being recently diagnosed with coeliac disease I was used to going a lot, so I’m still not sure what my normal is even before staring this. I have even a little uncomfortable today, I already have avocado and raspberries so will count some into today’s calories. And I never even thought to use the search bar, so I’m away to have a good search and read lol.

Jacqui

JGwen, yes I remember now reading about you having weight spikes. It was one thing last week to plateau, it frustrated me, but nothing so despondent as actually gaining weight so I’m intrigued you did it also. Doesn’t it seem so unfair that you should gain it although measurements may decrease for you!

Hi all
I have had a really strange week.
Started off at 11st 9ibs last Monday – all going well weighed myself on Thursday morning 11st 6.75lbs
Happy and all going well
Weighed myself Friday morning and 11 8.5

Normally I would have the answer – I had been swilling wine or eating bread or other reasons, but this time I had been good, I had even managed to drink 3 litres of water on Thursday – the first time ever.

I was more perplexed than upset; I really have not been able to understand it. The weight stayed the same over the weekend despite expending a large amount of calories (knocking in 3 fence posts in the horse fields; walking miles sorting out electric fencing etc). I have been really good with the carbohydrates and the booze.
I did go over calories on Saturday at a friends for a meal but avoided the rice the bread and most of the Doritos
Yesterday still 11st 8.5
Today back to 11st 6.75!!!

Any ideas – does anyone have any idea what the blue blazes is going on?? Is this the famous whooose I have heard about as I am keeping the water intake up?
The positives – I have lost weight!
I did not give up and drink a bottle of wine (though I think that is due to being totally perplexed and knowing that this was not right).
During the above missive I read some others and it seems I am not alone
Anyway I would like a bit more off this week – setting a target of 2.5lbs
MM

Thank you JGwen. I’ve spent a bit of time this morning trying to pull myself together. I’ve gone through several scenarios in my head of how I’d be dealing with this sort of the feeling in the past. First of which would be a trip to the supermarket and buying a couple of Cadbury triple packs and 6 doughnuts for 50p. However, I’m past that point and realise my body deserves better.
Based on your post above, I’ve just measured my waist….its half an inch down on this time last week. That’s a casing point for the measuring tapes vs scales argument! That’s a total of 5 inches lost since 12th March.
Thank you again for your wise words, they mean a lot
Miranda x

Hi Madmare,
I get the same pattern sometimes. I know in my case that the cause is – water in doesn’t equal water out every day. – From what I have read the body doesn’t empty one fat cell at a time, as some of the fat is taken out of each cell its replaced by water until all the fat has been taken out when the cell empties and collapses. When that process is happening to a large enough area of fat cells you get some spectacular whooshes.

It took me so long to type up my missive that I missed JGwens post!
So I am not the only one who is having weight spikes
I will take heart from that and wont get freaked by it if it happens again!
Ahh shoulder pads… as an 80’s girl I remember them fondly. unlike Allie I have swimmers shoulders and used to have to remove them unless I was going for the American football hero look.
Once receiving the comment – great shoulder pads I replied ‘I am not wearing any…’
Ho hum that was when I was young and skinny!
MM

Miranda! 5 inches off your waist since 12th March? Go girl – that is so good.
I’ve lost 2 since 26th March – did show 3 at one point but genuinely seemed to put one back on. Anyway – 2 less is two less.

Excellent, just EXCELLENT, Madmare!!! I was hoping that you’d be checking in today 🙂 I think perhaps 2 things are
happening in a positive way for you. Upping your consumption of water as well as passing on the weekend libations!
During weight loss for me, wine was a colossal impediment. I think that you’ve had a break through, and I couldn’t
be happier for you!

Allie

Hi MirandaG,
NSV don’t just have to be about inches in specific locations. Perhaps there is a walk or an activity you often do that you could time yourself so you notice improvements in fitness levels as well?

–

Good thinking JGwen…..it’s one of my traits to become too focused (obsessed!) with certain things . I’ve done 6 marathons in my time…I would dearly love to get back to being to run more than 2.5 miles in one go.

Maid2measure, thank you. Gives you an indication of my shape (I’m only 5ft 4) and precisely where I needed to shed the weight from! I am proud of that, I sincerely hope you are proud of your loss too. Sending you a mahoosive virtual pat on the back.

On the subject of exercise….has anyone experienced extreme thirst despite exceptional hydration levels? I’ve started to incorporate a bit of jogging in when I take our dog out walking. Very quickly, my mouth goes really dry and all I can think of is water! It does feel quite desperate. I do have one of those holdy bottle things but have never really needed it under 10 miles before. Any ideas?

Miranda and M2M, those are significant NSV’s. You’re both doing GREAT 🙂 With just a bit of creativity, you’ll begin
to recognize them everywhere! Miranda, when I’m worried about something, I become very quiet, too 🙂 It’s about
the only time that I AM quiet, probably! Weight loss is anything but linear, so just try to trust the process. Things
often go in fits and starts, with the odd plateau thrown in. Keep up the fluids, weigh and measure calories and
carbs, and things will get moving again. There is always someone out and about, so just shout if you have any
concerns 🙂

Allie

Hi all. Just checking in after my week away, but not weighing in until tomorrow. Can’t imagine I’ve lost any but hopefully I won’t have put too much on. If I have, I know to get straight back into it. Lots of oldies and newbies here. Great to see. Well done Allie, you came up trumps again. This time (same as last time!) I am hoping to get under 10st. I am reducing steroids (down to 3mgs a day) so quite stiff and sore muscles and bones! But I’m coping and I don’t feel “ill” in myself as I did last year when I had to come off them altogether. Maybe I’ll be lucky with the weight and get off steroids as well! Here’s to it. Good luck everyone with your aims. We’re all heading to our own goals. Well all get there at different times but WE WILL GET THERE!!
Tilly x

Hi all,
I was showing a slight gain on the scales this morning which was frustrating considering yesterday was a fast day. However, I’m putting it down to transit issues which resolved later in the day. So I may not have registered a loss, but I’m not counting it as a gain. Plan is to eat healthily to TDEE today and tomorrow then to tackle another fast day on Thursday. I’m really busy during at work these days which is making the fast days relatively easy.
Allie, I’ll definitely be trying out some strange concoctions myself once I have a bit of time to experiment in the kitchen. I managed to find some hemp protein powder and was thrilled to see how high it was in iron as well as fibre and protein and low carb to boot. I just need some time and head space now to figure out what to do with it.

Glad to have you back in the fold, Tillybud! You sound well and energized, and I’m glad that you had an opportunity
to get away. How did “Mum” manage with the caregivers that you found to take over? I hope everything went well 🙂

Allie

Articfox, we must have been posting at the same time. I’m glad that you found hemp protein powder. I used it
for green smoothies in the first BSD summer. I used some avocado, kale, spinach, chlorella (single cell
algae powder (high in protein). fresh ginger and 1/2 apple. Very bright green! I’m sure that I have my recipe in my nutrition
notebook, so if you want to go this route, I’m sure that I can find it for you!

Sorry, been MIA over the past few days!
Great to see so many good losses – keep going to those who are feeling despondent ❤️ Well done everyone for getting through the weekend with no disasters!

Went a little off plan for my brother’s bday on Saturday, but it wasn’t disasterous and I was back firmly on plan on Sunday.

I was too anxious to weigh yesterday so I hopped on the scales this morning and another 1.6lbs off! That’s 3.6lbs since 15th April 😊

Btw – after reading through the posts I noticed that the people who were reporting no loss all had one thing in common – they’d been drinking LOTS of water. I was in the same position a few days ago then there was a whoosh (I am now convinced this is an actual thing!) and I lost 2lbs overnight. I honestly think the same will happen to you ladies 😊

Finishing on 548 kcals today as I just don’t feel hungry 🤷🏻‍♀️

Allie – thanks for the info on nuts and carbs but unfortunately I don’t have much choice in which nuts I eat as I am allergic to peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts. I’m also allergic to soy, and many fresh fruits and vegetables (such as carrots and apples) due to pollen food (oral allergy) syndrome. Absolute nightmare when trying to eat healthily!

Hi everyone, it’s good to see so many of you doing well with both weight loss and NSVs.
I’ve had an ok-ish sort of week. I haven’t lost, but I haven’t gained either. I’ve eaten mainly on plan foods but my calories have averaged 1200 per day. This is fine for maintenance but not for loss (for me), so this week I’m going to attempt to stay on 800-900 calories.
In regards to weight, I read a good quote this week, from a nutritionist. He said we shouldn’t expect our weight to be a certain number, but should allow a 5lb range to allow for the body’s fluctuations. So you should aim on getting your range down rather than focussing on a single number.
I’ve noticed that I have fluctuated between 93.7 & 94.1kgs for many weeks now. I just need to lose 20kgs from that range and I’ll be laughing!
Tillybud – good to hear that you are tapering down steroids. I did this between Oct last year and January this year. I fully expected weight to drop off once I was off them but sadly not for me…I’m still happy to be off them though as they have caused early cataracts in both my eyes.
Cathy – I used to find my weight would fluctuate with RA flares. It must be the inflammation I think. Hopefully it settles down for you soon. My RA has been pretty stable since I started on the new medication earlier this year. I’m still yet to experience the possible side effect of one of them – weight loss!
It’s Anzac Day here today in Australia. I’m just planning on having a quiet day at home, cooking some BSD meals and sides to make the next few days easier. It’s so much nicer when I come home from work at night and dinner is already sorted 🙂
Have a good week everyone!

Thanks everyone for your commiserations and suggestions. Yesterday evening I went to trivia and being in a huff at my body, I had a glass and a half of champagne. Today down 1.5lb, go figure.

It’s interesting reading how everyone is tackling this WOE and the results you are all getting. Thanks for the link JGwen, I’m not home today but I’ll look at it tonight. It’s Anzac Day here (like Memorial Day or Armistice Day) and I’m at a local club, just had the ceremony which is always moving. It always brings back to me the time I spent near Ypres a few years ago. Have made good choices as regards food and feeling more optimistic than I was yesterday.

Hope everyone’s week is going well.

Morning everyone! Well I’m quite happy with my first weigh in on this thread. 10st 2.5 lbs. Up just over a pound from last Tuesday. So I know what I have to do now.
Allie, mum was fine, thank you for asking. I asked her if we could do it again and she said “Oh yes.” So we’ll try another few days in May. Phew, what a relief. It was me that was the problem all along!
I forgot to say that a week last Sunday I weighed myself and I was actually 10st anda quarter lb! I think I must have celebrated getting so close as on Tuesday of last week I was 10 st 1 and a quarter 😬. Ah well. KOKO XX
Good luck to each for this week. Onwards and downwards. Tilly x

Hi Kirstily,
In response to your mention of allergies I thought I would mention a batch of research into the importance of Omega 3 in allergic reactions. Apparently the body needs a large supply to respond to histamine. So anyone who relies on anti-histamine tablets can reduce the this by ensuring they have enough Omega 3 in their diet .

Hi Alliecat,
I share the others concern that you may be feeling stressed out having been kind enough to create this 4 weekly thread. It never occurred to me that anyone starting a thread like this would feel that they need to respond to everyone’s posts. Please don’t feel you have to take on this workload.

Hi All, some great posts to keep me motivated. I feeling so much happier I’m not hungry or sluggish but unfortunately I’m now constipated 😬 from reading posts I see that this often happens at the start of the BSD….I am drinking plenty….can’t face any more water at about 2L a day. Is there anything else I can try rather than going to pharmacy at getting Senna tablets???? Eating plenty veg or salad …..all suggestions greatly received
Mandy

I decided to be better at recording what I eat and downloaded Fat Secret and log everything I eat.I’m trying to stick between 20-30g carbs a day which I was doing before without too much problem,writing everything down in a notebook.To my dismay the carbs are higher on Fat Secret than what I was looking at before so now I’m over every day!I’d be grateful to know what you all think.For example I joined a low carb Facebook group and they have a document which lists the carbs and calories in veg ,according to them 100g spinach is 1.6 carbs but on Fat Secret it’s 3.63.Maybe I’d lose more weight if I stuck with Fat Secret as I’d have to eat much less!

Hello Sadteacher – this simple trick always works for me
Drink a glass of water – I drink a pink but it may work with less
Then lie down for a bit
Very soon I have to get up and go and end the constipation!
(even better with coffee)

Hi Wendy I’m not sure about the accuracy of any of these apps. I know on Fatsecret you can check broccoli, for example, or another vegetable, and Tesco, Asda, Aldi etc etc will all have a different value. I always thought broccoli was broccoli! Then some are raw and some are cooked. I’m not sure whether Myfitnesspal is more consistent. I guess you could always use a nutritional website but stick to the same one. Maybe Wikipedia.

Will give that a go…I’ve heard that strong coffee works so I may combine the two!!!😃 I’m hoping that it is just lack of food bulk from all the carbs and rubbish I used to eat and reading a post from Allie seems to confirm that…..
Thanks for help
Mandy

Hi Mandy,

I take a spoonful or two of inulin in my coffee which is high fibre and seems to sort me out!

Hello everyone,hope this is going to be a great day for all of us.I thought I posted something a while ago but cannot find it so here I go again.I was writing everything I ate in a notebook but decided to join Fat Secret and log everything on.Unfortunately their database has higher carbs for things than others e.g. they say 100g spinach is 3.63 carbs and another one said 1.6.So what am I to believe?I’ve been having between 20-30g of carbs a day but now it is much more according to Fat Secret,maybe this is why my weight loss hasn’t been as good!What do you think?

Sorry,I found my post,tried to delete this one but couldn’t!

Another 1.6lbs off this morning! Weight loss seems to have sped up in the second week for me?

JGwen – My mum used to give me Omega 3 supplements when I was little but they never really made a difference! I do eat lots of fish though, which is high in Omega 3 😊 Doctor wants to try immunotherapy soon, so I’m hoping that improves things!

For those struggling to go – I second the coffee suggestion!

Hi all, one day to go till I complete my first 8 weeks for this my second time 2 years after my first.
I have had a 4 week section with no weight loss so depressing like so many of us and was convinced it was something to do with second time around. Thanks JGwen for the Dr Ben Birkman so interesting. I loved the 3 steps 1. Control carbs 2. Prioritise Protein to get to 500-600 calories then 3.fill up with fat to control Insulin and be healthy
SLEEP is also a must when you read about weight loss & I struggle like so many of us but have learnt you need to be in bed for it to happen!!
I was also interested in his theory of weight retention with water filling the fat cells and got this from another source but might help us all through those periods of doing it right but loosing nothing!!
It will probably surprise you to learn that almost ALL scale movements are the result of fat burn that happened days, or even weeks before
Did you catch that? When the scale goes down while dieting, it’s usually because of fat that you lost several days (or even weeks) ago, and your body is finally expelling the water that took its place.

Put another way, even though you may be in a state where you are constantly burning fat, the results of that effort may not show up on the scale immediately. And more likely, they’ll show all at once, one day, where you’ll have a sudden “whoosh” of weight-loss!
Wish I could explain it better but when we dispel fat from a cell it turns into CO2 and water so we breathe it out and Pee! Hence when we exercise & sleep CO2 levels raise and the water intake fills the fat cells until they full and then collapse and shrink so is important to sleep, drink, exercise and be patient.
Hope this makes sense and helps those of us who have long periods of either no loss or even put some on xx

Hi Wendy! I used fat secret website, and I agree with the very good advice given to stay with one site or app, because
they DO show differing nutritional breakdowns. It seems that it isn’t an “exact science” after all 🙂 🙂 🙂 I’ve rather
enjoyed keeping a notebook too, I like the routine of pre-planning menus in advance.

Thank you, Jillie 🙂 I’m not feeling stressed, though! I post often because I’m passionate about this WOL, and I
do truly believe that it saves lives. I’m also somewhat of a social creature, and I like the exchange of ideas. I am
the oldest of 3 children, so looking after everyone was ingrained in me from a very early age, and apparently the
instinct is still alive and well with me today! Verano, Mariet, Marsie and Krysia put everything in perspective for
me with their wise advice and generous counsel over on the “Positives for Today” thread. I KNOW that I can’t
be everywhere at once 🙂 But then I don’t have to be, for I always breathe a sigh of relief when you’ve found a
newbie post before I have, for I know the new member is in good hands with you!

After coffee, I will return!

Allie

Thanks Denise Susan/Jillie – hopefully that will carry me through the plateaus and weight gains

Hi everyone sorry just a short footnote which I am sure we all know but forget about is the hot Lemon drink first thing in the morning!! It works its magic just like the vinegar, turmeric, & cinnamon that I always forget!! D