Just to prove how little is actually new in the world I picked up a copy of this book in Oxfam today. Title as the thread title and subtitled ‘The lifelong solution to yo-yo dieting’ and addressed ‘To the untold numbers of carbohydrate addicts who deep down have always known that it was not their fault’ this book was first published in the UK in 1992, the year I got married and I had never heard of it! Just think, maybe if I had picked up a new copy when I was losing the weight to fit into my wedding dress the first time round I wouldn’t have had to go through the whole yo-yo process at all!!

Mixnmatch – how right you are – the book does prove how little is actually new in the world.

My first diet was in 1967 and remarkably similar to the BSD. The perceived wisdom at that time was that it was the sugar, bread and potatoes that made you fat and all you had to do was cut them out and you would lose weight. It was a fabulously successful diet.

Two things then happened which resulted in 50 years of yo yo dieting and out of control eating – I met my lovely carb addict husband and suddenly the health advice changed and it was the fat that was the baddy – not the carbs. A recipe for disaster for me as it turned out I was much more of a carb addict than my husband and the carbs had a much more devastating effect on me than they did on him.

I love the fact that the book is addressed to the unknown numbers of carbohydrate addicts who deep down have always known it was not their fault.

Interestingly, the book builds on a significant number of people helped in a clinic in New York and claims over 80% maintain the weight loss for many years after the diet period, something we seem to be experiencing now with BSD. The special factor they introduced from some more reading was possibly not as diabetic friendly as they allowed a 60 minute period every day in which you could eat high carbohydrate food. Almost like intermittent fasting but not quite.

Mixnmatch – how interesting that the results mirror what we are finding on the BSD.

The 60 minute window where you can eat high carb is interesting. I did wonder if the authors had any idea just how many carbs a true carb addict (like myself) could eat in 60 minutes. If they had met me they might have been shocked.

I think it was supposed to be a proper meal with dessert rather than just raiding the cupboards, but I agree. I think our moderate carbs method is more sustainable. They devised a test people could take, just a quick survey with weighted values to yes/no answers to 17 questions, to determine whether people would respond to the diet, which I may reproduce here with full acknowledgment, as it may help people decide if BSD is for them too. All the science in the book agrees with BSD so far, although low fat still rears it’s head in the recipes and recommendations.

Interesting conversation ladies.

Who knew that “carb addiction” was even a thing? We’d say with a smile “oh yes, I’m a real chocoholic” or “no, I prefer savoury things”, never thinking of the sugar in crackers, breads etc. Innocents in the jungle, that was us!

Marsie – I like that. “Innocents in the jungle” is exactly what we were.

Yes that’s a great phrase ‘Innocents in the jungle’.

How apt. Forever, we have all gone along with the thinking of the day, eventually being brainwashed by the ‘low fat’ lobby. It’s such a shame that this book didn’t have the same amount of publicity back in the 90’s.

On the bright side at least we now ‘know’ the best way to go.