So I started the diet a week ago because my blood sugars were quite high. But the weekend I fell off the wagon and rolled down the hill into a stream….. I can eat upto 8+ bags of crisps in one hit so I had 10 bags over the last few days. McDonald’s double cheese burger and large chips. Large bag of popcorn etc …/ I know people are going to say Start again tomorrow but That’s the excuse I give myself if I have a blow out.
I was wondering does anyone have snack alternatives?!
Also What’s the deal with popcorn and beans asking for a friend. I can’t have to high of a fat diet either as my trigs were 87 yes not 8.7 I was admitted to hospital with pancreatitis last year. any words of wisdom encouragement all welcome.

https://www.dietdoctor.com/member/courses/jonsson
This may just help you.

Nodemus, perhaps the mindset needed is more, “start again right now” than “start again tomorrow”? Aside for that though it’sbest to rid your home of non-BSD foods if you can to remove instant temptation. And when making food choices, try taking a moment before eating something high carb, to question yourself ….. Am I actually hungry? Will I feel miserable after I’ve eaten this? Is this good for me? and Will eating this help me to get where I want to be? Sometimes just taking a moment to evaluate, is enough to startle you out of mindlessly ploughing ahead.
With regard to snacks, think along the lines of nuts and seeds or berries, with a couple of tbsp of fullgat greek yogurt.
It really sounds to me that your problem is quite as much mindset, as cravings for high carb foods …. worth exploring? Really hope you manage to find a solution. Good news is, if you can battle through, it does get easier. Once your body has adjusted to fat burning, cravings will lessen and the desire for snacks will also abate, making things much more manageable …. unfortunately, the hard miles need to be put in first.
Best wishes

SunnyB is very wise and it does get easier.
Missing salty snacks is what I’ve probably found hardest and it is where I am most likely to fall off….. and i didnt realise i even had a salty snack problem before.
Generally, it is easier not to snack…at all. I have a a glass of fizzy water and / or coffee first and often that is sufficient. Then just my planned meals. I sometime have a salty snack along side a meal….and here is the revelation…… roast cauliflower leaves and roast cabbage leaves!! Both with a little olive oil and salt and roasted for maybe 15-20 mins. Absolutely delicious! Also roast cauliflower and roast broccoli are good but that tends to be part of my main meal rather than a wee side snack.
Other than that – yup, nuts, seeds and red berries. But again i find it hard to ensure moderation unless it is part of a main meal or as a pudding. Generally everything is easier with no snacks between meals.
Honestly, fight it off for 2 weeks and i bet you feel a million times better and you will realise and prove to yourself that you CAN manage just fine without snacks. Life happiness is NOT snack dependant. You will loose the guilt, the feeling of failure and you will feel a massive sense of achievement.
And yes, Sunny is right – dont start tomorrow….. start now, and do it for all the tomorrows. And if you fall off, that is ok, we all do occasionally, get up, find your bearings, point the right way and get going again!!
🙂

Julz, I’m completely addicted to roast cauli, leaves and all and roast broccoli as well. Tried roasted Brussels, but not so keen! I often sprinkle spices over my roast cauli …. coriander, cumin, dry mango powder, turmeric and the like. My spice draw has become my friend again in BSD, helping me to ring the changes.

Totally agree SunnyB. Love indian spiced roast cauliflower – it has become my potato substitute. Whenever i feed tatties to the man types I just have some roast cauli instead. Also good with blackened cajun spices!
Garlic olive oil on the roast leaves is also good!
Courgette crisps are also pretty good.
Parsnips are fab but not quite as BSD friendly…..
Any other suggestions??
🙂

Can I ask a question please? Can you use any cabbage? Do you use whole leaves or cut then into ‘crisp’ size pieces? I need to lose my salty nut habit!

Hi Nodemus
You really have my sympathy. Like you, I used to love crisps and could easily eat a 6 pack in one go, a double cheeseburger was my favourite burger – and for me add in chocolate and we’re there. I spent a lot of years on diets – ‘start again Monday’ was my middle name. I was diagnosed with Type II in 2016 and started this diet. I can only tell you some stuff from my experience that might help.

Firstly, the diet works to get your blood sugar down. On diagnosis my hba1c was 106 (or 104 – anyway high) and within 4 months my Hba1c was 35 (normal range). Lots of people on here have done it and you can too – and that’s a fantastic thing to be able to do.
I tested my bgls daily and they started to come down really quickly (within days to weeks rather than months) and while I’d lost some weight, my bgls were back in the normal range long, long before I’d lost all the weight I needed to be at a healthy BMI. (Experts like Jason Fung say the same thing happens with their patients). So good things can happen quite quickly.
SunnyB’s right about the mind. When I started, the absolute truth in my head was that I couldn’t diet. But that isn’t ‘the truth’ , it’s just what’s in your head. If you have that idea push it to one side.
It helped me not to think in terms of big numbers (I had a lot to lose), or look too far ahead to an end point. For me that was too deflating. So, I just set very small but ‘meaningful to me’ targets that could easily be reached.
When you go low carb it’s such a big change – so initially I focused on the low carb food I liked and went from there. I also kept it simple. If I was going out somewhere where there were old style tempting foods I’d make sure I had something at home that was a genuine low carb/low cal treat to look forward to when I got home. I often didn’t bother when I got home but knowing it was there did the trick.
I often planned to have all my particular favourite low carb things at the weekend to stop me falling off the wagon.
Somebody on here once said if you’re going to have a breakout up your calories not your carbs – that’s a great tip.
I started with 3 meals a day but quickly went to 2 meals a day so my 800 cals went further.
As WindyJulz and SunnyB say, it really does get easier. If you can stick with it tightly for 2 or 3 weeks you break the carb addiction. It reminds me of when you first give up smoking and you’re desperate for a cigarette and then that desire goes – the same thing happens – it’s weird but it’s great and nothing to do with willpower, I promise.
Pork scratchings are a good low carb snack if you need a bit of crunch and you like them – not sure how many calories but they’re often recommended by people with T2 as a good snack.
Take care
Jennie xx
Sorry, didn’t realise it was such a long post – I’ve almost written a novel!

Hi Jennie,
Your carb addiction may not all be your own doing. – Our mix of gut bacteria develop based on our diet. – The higher our carb intake the more gut bacteria we have to digest carbs.. – These bacteria can not change to feeding off other good sources, as you reduce your intake of carbs you are starving them into lower numbers.
As it happens these are the same bacteria which are responsible for causing inflammation and damage to our bodies. So reducing their numbers is good for us.
But they have a mechanism through which they can signal to our brains to feed them. – So that little voice in your head telling you to eat carbs is just your bad bacteria begging you to feed them.
This type of bacteria are the ones which most rapidly die off, – but they are also the ones which increase most rapidly as a result of stepping off the wagon. So each time you eat carbs you will extend the period of having them try to nag you into feeding them.
I am not sure what country you are in, but if you are in the UK you will probably have seen the cartoon TV adverts with bacteria living in toilets reacting to toilet cleaning products. Just use those pictures to think of the bad gut bacteria trying to get you to feed them.

Such great advice. I am trying but failing at every hurdle it’s like a ‘drug’ addiction. I feel this week I needed more carbs to kill the cravings. I’m really emotional without carbs. It’s shocking me how much I’m really struggling. I know one thing I’m going to try and go to bed earlier. I’m terrible for late night snacking eg I had two fried egg bagels and two slices of thick toast. And still I could have carried on eating. But I’m going to try and give it another go I have to keep trying

The advice is great. I really need to have a word with myself. But I’m finding cauliflower boring and need to have meal ideas that are 800 and under. When I did follow the plan I found that I’m really hungry on the low calories. this hunger kick starts the carb craving and I NEED the carb hit. But yes I will break down my goals and try not to put to much pressure on myself.

Nodemus, the only thing that is making you feel this way is carbs. They are feeding (literally) you addiction for more carbs and more carbs make you feel bad. Have you tried other forms of starchy carbs that are slow burners like oats for breakfast, lentils, chickpeas, quinoa etc. You wouldnt be allowed much i.e. the porridge breakfast is around 20 to 25 g of oats but it might just satisfy your cravings without doing too much dietary damage.

Hi all
An interesting article (I hope the link works) – on how the food industry works REALLY hard to make us Addicted to Carbs!
https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/should-we-really-beware-the-bliss-point-hiding-in-healthy-foods-20200625-p55686.html#comments
Eating these carbs just tells our bodies we must have More!
So we need to find our new bliss points – great fresh food combinations with healthy fats etc.
I feel your anguish Nodemus, but we can break this carb addiction. You will go through some withdrawal for a couple of weeks (look up carb flu) but will then start to feel better. Step1 is to remove ALL the white carbs from your home – toast, breads, cereals, rice, flour, cookies, pasta etc – so you wont be tempted by them (bin them or give them away) – and stock up on avocados, eggs, meat and fish (if you eat it them), and fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc) and nuts like pecans and pistachios.
Lots of food ideas on dietdoctor.com You don’t need to pay for these – just look under the recipes link. Also this page has some helpful hints – https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb#advice
Merry 🌺🌻🌼

Sorry you are still struggling so much, Nodemus. I’d suggest that until you get a grip on ditching the carbs, you ignore the calories. Try to avoid all the obviously heavy carb foods – potatoes, rice, pasta (well, anything made of flour inc. bread, cakes, etc). If you have to have something starchy, opt for lentils, chickpeas and the like, but as Merry said, keep portions small.

Don’t know your living situation and whether there are others in the household wanting bagels, bread etc., but if not, maybe consider not having any in the house? If it isn’t there, it can’t be eaten – especially important when running on impulse. And if there are others in the household, can they be recruited to support your efforts and help you when the snacking monster ambushes you?

Keep trying, Nodemus and we’ll keep offering suggestions and support.

I find cold meat a very good snack, very filling and quite low calorie. Cheese is also very good (but high calorie). I suggest eating as much of either as you need until you’re full. I agree with SunnyB – don’t worry about calories to start with – just keep low carb. The reduce calories once you’ve got used to it.