Hi all. Just popping in to say hello. So far all is going pretty well – no wine and no snacks after dinner this week. Now need to tackle the afternoon munchies. I suspect I simply have not been eating enough at meal times (duh!) so am concentrating on that. Verano, enjoy those brunches!! I have just returned from market shopping with bags full of aubergines, courgettes, peppers, avocadoes (and plums my weakenss so I won’t mention them!). Ratatouille tonight and aubergine lasagne tomorrow I suspect.

Heartstar well done on getting to day 3! Can you take a pill for the headache? I resorted to paracetamol for a day and then it was all over. I’m still thinking about your daughter’s party on Sunday. Have you decided on a strategy? One approach might be to take a bit of time to make some nice treats for you – rolled smoked salmon with spinach, cream cheese/herb filling, Or even a strawberry sundae with strawberries and whipped double cream. Or frozen yoghurt and raspberry ice lollies…… Then you can tuck in when the rest are having their cake….

Wishing us all continued success!

Hi all, and Heartstar welcome to this way of eating! It sounds like you’ve made a great start already, and have been given some great advice. I’d echo too that the headache is a positive! I’ve been off the wagon for a while, and I know that once the headache comes back I’ll be well on my way!

This morning I had my first taste of my homemade, no added rubbish, breakfast shake and it was delightful! Packed full of seeds, nuts and coconut 😍. Lunch is homemade chicken soup, with cauliflower to thicken rather than starch. Dinner is tagine. Yum! What’s everyone else eating today? x

Thank you all so much! The encouragement is unbelievable, honestly it really makes me want to keep going through the tough bits. I’ve stuck to my planned meals today and this evening I’m going to catch up on my sewing some alterations to a dress and wrapping up the pass the parcel for Sunday, and sorting the party bags. I hope this will keep me distracted until bedtime.
Thanks for the link re headache…it makes it better to understand the why, definitely. I’m going to have a look at diet doctor over the next few evenings.
I am feeling nervous about the party, and getting through it in one piece and not giving in. I think that’s a great idea Caron that I should prepare my own “treats” so I’m not missing out. I’m actually dreading the birthday cake part…I really hope I can get through it, but by Sunday I’ll have done a couple more days of the diet so it should become more embedded with each day. I adore smoked salmon and cream cheese so definitely will make something like that for me.
Just need to get through the evening and that’s another day done. My headache is better than yesterday thankfully, but I’m so snappy with everyone today, I can feel I have a very short fuse at the moment, really hope that that improves soon. Also my energy is pretty low but I guess it’s because 800 calories is a shock to the system! I know good things are around the corner…just have to stick to this…

Heartstar,
You’re doing brilliantly, you really are. Caronl’s idea of preparing some treats for yourself is a great idea. Also think about when to eat – you could have something beforehand so that you are feeling a bit full when all the party food is around, eat your ‘treats’ while others are eating their party food/cake; but also, if it were me, I’d save something special (but not the cake!!) for afterwards – something to look forward to.

Great things are around the corner xx

Yes I’m definitely going to need something to look forward to after the party, I’ve bought some of my favourite cheese to have as soon as everyone has left! I’ve had to portion it out though…those darn calories! I just love birthday cake so much! This is the problem, but I’m really determined to not let myself be defeated on Sunday…it’s definitely the toughest challenge so far. Arghhh! Wish my daughter’s birthday was later on in the year once I was a bit more settled into this diet…ah well. She’s asleep now, so I can begin my sewing and wrapping!

We’ve all got different approaches Heartstar. If I was you I’d call your daughter’s birthday a special day and manage your treats. Don’t deprive yourself of sharing an important day with her. So, cake (you don’t have to eat it all) and other low-carb stuff. Make this way of eating work for you. It’s a lifetime thing so ease yourself into it and be comfortable 😊
Maggie

I agree with. Maggie…. enjoy your daughters birthday and ease into this way of eating. Monday will be a new day, a clean sheet, would just be good if there weren’t too many ‘blips’ !

Morning everyone – how’s it going as we head into the weekend? How are the birthday plans going Heartstar? I think one thing to bear in mind is that whilst we’re very conscious of our changed eating habits in a social gathering other people don’t really notice, they’re too interested in what they are eating and doing.
Another thing is that diet really is a four letter word to a lot of people; say you’re on a diet and they’ll try and discourage you. They’ll say something asinine like ‘but I like you as you are’, or ‘you don’t need to lose weight ‘ as if their opinion trumps your decision to get healthy. Why is it no-one says ‘that’s a really
great decision, how can I support you?’ Instead there’s the negative facial expressions and it’s clear they’re expecting you to fail. Other people can be shockingly demoralizing; they are a big part of the battle.
I’ve taken the route of saying I’ve cut back on carbs; that isn’t a diet, It’s something that you have chosen to do; it’s a positive choice, not self denial. They probably won’t want to talk about it in case you bore them to death about the whys and wherefores and scare them witless about the poison they’re shovelling in.
We often go out for a pub Sunday lunch and it’s noticeable how people rather envy me asking for more greens rather than have the roast potatoes and Yorkshire Pudding. It certainly doesn’t look like I’m depriving myself.
I don’t know what everyone else thinks, but I’ve found just making it into a positive choice rather than self-denial is a change of mindset that gives me a lot of strength.
Lecture over 😊 Have a fantastic Friday everyone!
Maggie

Morning Maggie! It is 5:12 am in Florida! Thank you so much for the positive spin on this Maggie!

And hot already I imagine ☀️☀️☀️ Violinist.
What works for me is that we are doing something positive and can see how it will work. It’s a different mindset to the misery of deprivation!
Maggie

Morning all, may I join you. I am really needing additional daily support and I have some questions.

What do your macros look like?
How many carbs do you do daily, and is that net of fiber.
Having a hard time increasing fiber without increasing carbs. Can you guys give me a sample day of menus? I can’t digest cream, eggs, gluten. I can do egg whites
Do you pay for diet doctor?
Here is a day for me
5 am – 1 tblspn Jiff whipped peanut butter with coffee
8 am – 1/2 cup egg whites with chopped green pepper 1/4 cup
12 pm – 1 cup spinach, 2 ounces of fish or chicken, kalamata olives – 6, 4 cherry tomatoes, 1/3 cup avocado,1-2 tablespoons oil and apple cider vinegar
3 pm – turkey bone broth-1 cup and 1 tblsp chia seeds
6:30 pm – 4 ounces of boneless pork chop, chicken, salmon or perch and 1/2 cup of a vegie like frozen green beans, broccolli, romaine

Morning all!
Maggie, I’m very in synch with you with respect to mindset! Viewing an exciting new way of eating as “deprivation”
is in a sense “learned helplessness”. The alternative is to see it as empowering 🙂 I think this can be applied to
so many other areas of life as well? Most of us have to prepare meals everyday….It can be thought of as a boring,
repetitive chore, or a creative endeavor with a myriad of possibilities, color, texture, etc., etc. I like to see it as a
big adventure, and one I’d like to be on for the rest of my life 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’ll be back Violinist to talk menu plans, but I really need coffee to become fully functional! More later 🙂

Allie

ok

Lovely to see you here Violinist and a big welcome!
I’ll try and answer as well as I can, but to be honest I was never organised like other people! On your peanut butter, would it be possible to find one without added oils and sugar? The oils are really unhealthy so if you can find peanut butter without the additional processing that would help.
Leafy vegetables and broccoli have lots of fibre for very few carbs. Seeds like chia and flax are also high fibre, though they do have a fairly high carb count.
I do wonder about the frequency of your eating; basically you’re eating 5 times a day with only 10 and a half hours overnight fasting. This isn’t giving your body a chance to get into fat burning mode. Could you make your meals more satisfying by adding fats to them and just drink water between meals?
My normal eating day is coffee first thing with almond milk and coconut oil, then nothing apart from water until mid afternoon when I’ll have my main meal of some chicken or steak with salad or leafy vegetables- lots of butter on the veg. I might have a small meal about 6, maybe Miso soup and veg or shellfish then nothing till next morning.
So all my eating is within a 4 hour window which allows the body to go into fat burning mode. The morning coconut oil and almond milk don’t trigger an insulin response.
The aim is to prevent those regular insulin spikes and allow insulin to do it’s job properly and not behave like a hyperactive puppy! That’s when you’ll see real results.
You don’t say how much water you’re drinking and if you’re taking real salt like Himalayan? This balances the electrolytes in your body and allows mobilisation of fat.
I hope there’s something useful there!
Maggie

Thanks Maggie!
Ok, yes I am drinking 78 ounces so far of water.
I knew you were going to comment on the frequency, which I have to work on. I was thinking of putting the broth and chia seeds at lunch and dropping the peanut butter and early coffee until breakfast at 8 to start. That would give me 7 pm to 8 am or 13 hours of fasting to start. I could, then, start pushing my breakfast forward toward the latest, 10 am, and on some days skip breakfast until I get back from volunteer stuff I do and my morning orchestra I play in on Tuesdays. Yup, I really play the violin.

I don’t think the coconut oil and almond milk will digest very easily, but haven’t tried.

Also, I am afraid of saturated fat in butter and meats because I fight to keep my triglycerides and cholesteral down. There is so much conflicting info on this.

How many carbs and fiber grams do you get in

Is sea salt okay?

I’m terribly sorry, Violinist 🙂 I didn’t realize your questions were intended for Maggie, not the whole gang over here!
I must sound like a pushy twit!

Hi everyone, just popping in to answer a worry of violinist. When I started this diet my cholesterol was total 6.3 and triglycerides were 1.55 (top allowed is 1.50). Plus I was on 40mg of statins. Last month my total cholesterol was 2.07 and triglycerides 1.34. Plus I am only on 20mg of statins so been able to cut by half.

I do eat butter but as I have nothing much to put it on it is only a small amount per week, main use is when I make scrambled egg, but I now use lashings of rapeseed oil in cooking – before I used to use the real thing but in a spray and even wiped most of it off. I also use olive oil in salad dressings. I now also eat full fat cheese in small amounts and full fat Greek yoghurt. As for meats, I still wouldn’t eat obvious fat on meat nor do I eat chicken skin unless it is extremely crispy. That way all the fat has been rendered out of it. For me the verdict is out on coconut oil although Dr M tested it in a programme and said it increased good cholesterol while having no effect on the bad stuff. I use it just now and then in stir fries where the strong flavour enhanced. The other oils I get from nuts and avocados and a few olives now and then. Although hydrogenated fat is banned in the UK it is still used in America in the making of margarine (and other processed foods) and has been shown to raise LDL cholesterol and increase the risk of atherosclerosis. In any case, my view is if you need a science text book to read the ingredients then it is not going in my body. Just one final note on supplements. Latest reports say that although taking Omega 3 fish oil increases HLD (good chol) it also increases LDL (bad chol). I could refer you to the scientific paper but it talks about long chains and short chains and linking chains etc etc. But if you want to read it just say.

Sorry for butting in.

P.S. I have stopped using statins for a one month trial period and after that I am re-introducing at 10g per day. I am being retested mid September, so we shall see if I can manage without them.

Violinist, I have no idea about my macros – somewhere around 20 or below for carbs protein probably 40ish. I’m not meticulous!
Sea salt is fine.
There is NO relationship between dietary cholesterol and your cholesterol readings. The ‘evidence ‘ produced by Ancel Keys, the 7 countries study to promote his theory was manipulated. If you look in the Take a Look at This thread there are a lot of links to videos and books which totally debunk the cholesterol theory. If you have any links to evidence that supports it I’d be interested to see it.
Great idea to push your time for breaking your fast, that’s what is going to turbocharge your weightloss! I can honestly say that after 10 weeks I rarely feel hungry; it’s getting rid of all the junk I was eating. It doesn’t happen overweight butit does happen 😊
Maggie

Allie, my questions are for anyone who will answer. Thank you!!!
Sunshine, Holy Cow!!!!! I want to be you!!!! Thanks for confirming all my readings about cholesteral and triglycerides!! Do you intermittent fast?

Allie, for heaven’s sake dive in – the more the merrier! Besides, I’m rubbish on meal plans 😂
Maggie

Maggie, yes I do know dietary cholesteral has no relationship. But now that Sunshine has given me her detail, that has confirmed that I do need to be careful with saturated fat in fatty meats, chicken and turkey skin, butter and oils. Thanks so much. I feel more confident I am on the right track. In exactly 8 weeks I have lab tests and really really want to have a good showing

YOU GUYS ATE AWESOME!!!

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!

No, sunshine girl hasn’t given any evidence yet. Just mentioned some research, which I would love to see.
This is a low carb high healthy fat way of eating, that’s the basis of it. That means eating fatty meat if you choose to.
Maggie

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/8/fatty-foods-dont-cause-heart-disease-bread-and-pas/

This was an article featured in dietdoctor a few days ago. It may just be of interest!

Thanks Verano. The evidence is overwhelming, plus the fact that women over 60 with high LDL live longer. There are so many links posted in Take a Look at This – all these people cannot be wrong. Or the evidence of our own bodies.
Maggie

I have some reading to do!

Further to the question of cholesterol ‘The Pioppi Diet’ has a very interesting chapter, chapter 6, ‘Cholesterol: Friend or Foe?’. I’m a fan of this book so I may be biased but there are footnotes to lots of research. The following chapter, goes on to talk about insulin resistance being the main cause of heart disease. Interesting reading anyway.

Maggie for a long time now I’ve been saying that other people are too involved with themselves to notice what anybody else is of isn’t eating. I now just say I don’t eat simple carbs if anybody asks why I’m not eating bread, potatoes etc. They usually leave it at that and don’t question further. I’m really not bothered if people think I’m some sort of crank of following a weird diet. We know it works!

Violinist, I think you misunderstand. Before this diet I NEVER ate fat, real fat. I lived on low fat yogs, low fat cheese, low fat margarine, low fat cottage cheese (even though real cottage cheese only contains 4.9g of fat per 100g so it is naturally low fat). My cholesterol was still super high and even on a 60mg dose of statins would not go down. My doctor put me on 40mg because I moved to France and 40mg is the highest dose allowed. Still I had high cholesterol. One thing that helped was being diagnosed was my diabetes and that was giving me high cholesterol but still out of control. Then came this diet and a started eating FULL FAT everything, cheese, yogs, butter instead of margarine, splashing on the olive oil instead of just a trickle, lashing of rapeseed in cooking instead of putting it in the pan then wiping it out. The reason I dont eat load of the stuff is the calorie count. The reason I dont eat the fat on meat is because it is horrible, same with chicken skin. However, if I have bacon and cook it crispy I eat the rind, same with chicken skin. My point is that since starting to eat real fats like butter I now have very low cholesterol and even lower triglycerides and even lower medication. As far as evidence that eating real fat does not increase cholesterol or maybe it can reduce it is phenomenologically based on what has happened to my cholesterol in the 2 years of this diet. Does that help. By the way I love that word (phenomenological means evidence based on experience rather than evidence).

MaggieBath the item I mentioned was on another subject. That of taking Omega 3 supplements. I will look for the paper when I have a minute but currently doing a nutrition course which is covering a lot of this type of thing.

Violinist I have only ever fasted when I was young and had the ability to go without food. These days I am diabetic and going without food is the most dangerous thing I could do to myself. I even snack between meals to prevent my BG levels going too low.

Coffee on board, Violinist, so hopefully I can focus on your eating plan 🙂 I see a lot of really healthy choices there!
I’ve always found restricting my eating window a challenge, and it’s only recently that I’ve gotten into the swing of
keeping it to 6 hrs a day. Jason Fung’s work is extensive on the subject, and the benefits seem irrefutable. I had
a quick look at your brand of peanut butter, and the second ingredient, after peanuts, is sugar. Whole Foods, as well
as health food stores all carry healthier versions. Our British friends use mililiters and grams as a units of measure,
while we perversely use cups, ounces and measuring spoons! Everything that you have posted is easily relatable
to me, however. During the 10 month weight loss phase, my macros were 48-50g protein, <20g carbs, and fiber
was usually 20g/day. These particular foods, i.e., 1/3 c raspberries, thawed, 1/3 avocado, 1 T chia seeds and
1 T raw unsweetened cacao nibs were my staples. Spinach is an interesting case in point…1 c raw spinach has
.7g of fiber, but 8oz frozen leaf spinach as 7g! Here’s a quick look at a very typical day’s menu for me.

Breakfast
1/2c greek yogurt
8-10 raspberries
1 T chia
1 T. raw cacao

Lunch
raw spinach
1T Newman’s Own original oil and vinegar dressing
1/3 avocado
hardboiled egg or 2oz chicken breast
4 cherry tomatoes, halved

Dinner
3.5oz fish or free range chicken breast
8oz steamed spinach + 1/2c broccoli OR 1c broccoli + 1/2c roasted cauliflower
Very occasionally, a small serving of roasted root veg. like carrots or beets, or squash

During the hot summer months, we often have avocado and egg for lunch,, then a lot of barely steamed and raw
vegetables in a large mixed green salad with the cooked protein thrown in. Is any of this helpful?

Allie

P.S. Pink Himalayan sea salt is a great choice!

Verano – an absolutely brilliant article. As a ‘fat phobic ‘ person who absolutely believed for decades that low fat was the way to go, and that saturated fat was especially evil, I have been so indoctrinated that l still get worried about eating saturated fat. Intellectually I do understand that it is the carbohydrates that cause the problems – but I still cannot shake off my out of date beliefs.

So l really appreciate that posters on this forum keep me updated with all the latest research.

One sentence really stood out for me – ‘The researchers found that people who ate the least saturated fat — about the same amount currently recommended for heart patients — had the highest rates of heart disease and mortality. Meanwhile, people who consumed the most saturated fat had the lowest rate of strokes’.

Although actually – maybe I shouldn’t try to change my mindset because I feel so intensely wicked every time I eat the delicious slightly browned skin from the chicken or gently fry my mushrooms in butter or put a teaspoon of cream in my coffee that it certainly helps me to feel that I am not being deprived at all by following this way of eating.

Alliecat, thank you so very much for the detail!!!! I am very fond of Jason Fung’s work and will be happy to be full fat!

I can only find the review in the Cochrane report on scientific evidence which makes comment on papers and allows other academics to give their view. The evidence did not say that taking the supplement was bad for you, that appears to be what the newspapers chose to report on although it is not mentioned in this review. Papers print headlines not truth.

So here it is if you want to read it.

Prof Tim Chico, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, University of Sheffield, said:
“Although diet plays an important role in preventing heart disease, this is complex and unlikely to relate much to any single element of the diet. In addition, it is hard to know whether the effects of diet are due directly to what someone actually eats, or other influences such as income.
“Previous experience has shown that although some types of diet are linked to lower risk of heart disease, when we try to identify the beneficial element of the diet and give it as a supplement it generally has little or no benefit. This was the case for vitamins; we know a diet rich in vitamins is associated with lower risk of heart disease, but studies giving people vitamin pills showed that these gave no benefit and indeed may have caused harm.
“This analysis of many studies shows clearly that omega-3 supplements do not reduce heart disease. This is in keeping with medical practice; although there was a period where people who had suffered a heart attack were prescribed these on the NHS, this stopped some years ago. Such supplements come with a significant cost, so my advice to anyone buying them in the hope that they reduce the risk of heart disease, I’d advise them to spend their money on vegetables instead.”

That was Dr Chico’s results – if you want to read the full thing then go to: https://www.cochrane.org/news/scientific-expert-reaction-cochrane-review-omega-3-fatty-acids

Sunshine-girl – I absolutely agree that people who have diabetes and are injecting insulin or are on meds that lower blood sugars should absolutely not fast unless it is under strict medical supervision (which actually is highly unlikely to happen here in the UK).

When I was on insulin it was scary enough just lowering my carbs and I absolutely would not have done any fasting as it would have been too dangerous.

However, as a person with type 2 diabetes who is now not on any medication at all, and not injecting insulin, it is not at all unsafe. I quite like the 16/8 and 18/6 type of intermittent fasting because it suits my metabolism. OK – l do know that Michael Mosley did the 5:2 version of intermittent fasting to sort his diabetes, but it just doesn’t suit my very active 7 day a week lifestyle.

I am finding that intermittent fasting is gradually improving my insulin sensitivity when combined with the 20g carbs. My dream is to be able to eat more carbs (I dream about eating hummus – an impossible dream at the moment) without spiking my BS and it is really looking as though intermittent fasting will help me achieve that.

My diabetes nurse did put my mind at rest re: low blood sugars. They will only go dangerously low when you inject or take meds that lower BS. Although I did in the beginning go a bit overboard on the testing just to make sure she was right. And she was right.

On the subject of eating fat, and saturated fat, from my binge-listening of podcasts it is becoming increasingly clear that it is NOT the raised GLUCOSE levels that cause damage in the body (eye damage, neuropathy, kidney damage, brain damage and Alzheimer’s).
Instead, the evidence increasingly shows that it is the INSULIN ITSELF that is causing the damage.
So the damage is being caused for years and years before we ever get raised glucose levels — probably ten to fifteen years of damage before you even know you have high insulin levels because you start to test diabetic or pre-diabetic.
Fat and saturated fat do not appreciably raise your insulin levels. They also do not cause high cholesterol — high cholesterol is caused by eating easily digestible carbohydrates in excess quantities. Fat and saturated fat are your body’s best friends.
The evidence continues to convince me personally that we should really, aggressively, control carbohydrates ALL the time, not just for weight loss but for simple good health.
Try Jason Fungs podcast about kidney disease for a great discussion on these findings.

Californiagirl – I must have been looking at similar stuff to you. When I realised that it was the raised insulin itself that caused all the damage I realised that it was absolutely bonkers to inject even more insulin to control the blood sugars. Knowing this helped me find a level of carbs that my body could cope with without spinking my blood sugars and needing the insulin injections.

Funnily enough it was only after a long period of injecting insulin and having good blood sugars that my body began to show damage from the diabetes. When I lowered my carbs and eventually stopped injecting the damage just went away – it was almost like magic. Disappeared completely. So now I will keep my eyesight and feet – you wouldn’t believe just how much this matters to me. Just thinking about it moves me to tears. So keeping to the 20g carbs to keep myself insulin free is not a big price to pay – especially as the food I can eat is so delicious.

If only we could easily measure just how much insulin our bodies are producing and just how insulin resistant we are – it would be so helpful. Still – there are signs that the intermittent fasting is making me more insulin sensitive.

I’m a great Jason Fung fan, too.
Californiagirl – I agree with everything you’ve said – and that managing your insulin and this woe is good for everybody’s health not just for people with Type II, pre-diabetes etc.

KrysiaD – I haven’t done IF regularly (well, I suppose I eat within a small window as I skip breakfast), but I have done a few one-off 32, 36 and 42 hour fasts. As a Type II diabetic, like you, I was extremely careful and monitored closely but did come to the same view about the difference between being on meds/insulin or being on no meds or insulin and Fasting.(I’ve never been on meds).

Have you seen the ??? Bikman (can’t remember his first name and can’t look it up) interview video that JGwen posted a bit ago. He talks about different ways to measure your insulin level/response, including asking for it to be done next time you get your bloods done, paying for the blood test yourself, or that a good proxy that can be used at home is to measure your ketones. Worth a look.

Excuse me Maggie and everyone for interrupting but wanted to provide link for KrysiaD
Krysia,
Benjamin Bikman – posted by JGwen on Take a Look at This thread, but here’s the YouTube link. He talks about measuring insulin at about 17-18 mins in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1521&v=uIVwrlqcyUY
There’s something about this guy that I really like – he makes me smile – although he may not have worked as well for me as Jason Fung/Michael Mosely, when I was first starting out.

JGwen – another great find xx

KrysiaD, I really really understand why that would move you to tears. Thank god you found this way of eating before more damage was done! I agree — the food we get to eat is amazingly delicious and as time goes on and on I don’t even want the breads and sugars anymore — it just doesn’t occur to me to eat them or buy them — that is SO different than before that I can’t even say how shocked I still am that I’m not craving that stuff.
I am noticing some interesting things as I move into my third year of maintaining — I too seem to be getting more and more insulin sensitive (even now) and I am definitely burning more calories as time goes on — as long as I control the carbs I can eat 2000 calories (or more).
Marie123, yes, this is how everyone should eat — I bet within twenty years we will have new recommendations — it took FOREVER for them to recommend avoiding trans fats (hydrogenated fats) even though I was reading about how bad they were back in the 1970’s. So I figure it won’t happen quickly but the research just continues to roll in!
And yes, Dr. Bikman says to ask for your insulin level when you do your blood work. It’s cheap and easy.
It would be interesting to have measured our insulin when we started and now after so many months of following this — I’m absolutely certain mine has just plummeted.

Wow there are so many posts on here! I need to sit and have a proper read through them all. Today has been super busy as I’ve been food shopping and prepping food and decorations for party of Sunday. I’ve made sure I’ve got lots of veg and dips for me and different cheeses, and then when the party is over I’m treating myself to pate…which I adore! I shall sit down this evening and catch up with all the posts, but just wanted to say a quick hi as I’ve not been on here all day! It’s actually been really good to be so busy, it’s kept my mind thinking about other things and provided lots of distraction so I’m pleased about that! Xx

Thanks for dropping in Heartstar – I was hoping it was all going well for you 🙂 Well done on planning a post party treat, you’re absolutely right to think about yourself and your reward. Have a fun party and I hope your daughter loves her day.
Maggie

Thank you for the link and California Girl, thank you for the comments on saturated fat. I have been worried about it.

Marie123 – thank you so much for the link. I came home from teaching my classes this evening and have watched the Dr Benjamin Bikman podcast from beginning to end. It has given me a much clearer understanding of insulin resistance and how to combat it. Thank you also to JGwen for posting the link originally.

Very interesting that he a advocates the sort of intermittent fasting that really suits me. He also called it restricted time eating – which probably is a more accurate name for it. After watching the podcast I feel very optimistic that I will beat this insulin resistance.

I really do like Dr Bikman – he makes me smile also.

Californiagirl – yes it is amazing that we don’t crave the bad carbs anymore. So interesting that you are still seeing improvements – even though you are moving into your third year of maintenance. You are setting such a good example on how to do this successfully.

Star – very well done for planning so well your strategy for coping with the party. Hope you have a lovely time on Sunday.

Morning all and welcome to another sunny Saturday – at least I hope it is where you are 😎
I was making a salad yesterday and using anchovies and really enjoyed the salty flavour, more so than I ever remember before. Which led me to wonder whether once we break our carb addiction we can get back in touch with our bodies?
Large quadrupeds look for salt when they need it, some dogs will lick bare skin and all dogs know when to eat grass.
I know that 10 weeks in I’m getting a better understanding of the difference between hunger and fancying something to eat; in fact looking back I can see that a lot of my eating wasn’t driven by hunger.
I wonder If thinking too much about food makes us vulnerable? Jason Fung’s Facebook page forbids pictures of food on the fasting threads, whereas one of the BSD groups is forever posting images of food which seems to me amazingly unhelpful, to stimulate thoughts of food which weren’t there.
Have any of you long term BSD’ers got any thoughts?
Maggie

Morning Maggie!

Hi there Violinist, another hot day on the Gulf!!

Hi Maggie!
Yes, hubby and I spend afternoons poolside. I swim laps for an hour and he floats!

It is 5:44 am and I am reviewing my menu for today. Not really down to 800 calories yet and am up so early that extending breakfast to later is difficult. Heavy cream in coffee is not digestible for me. Have to experiment with this, I guess.

Morning, ladies! I’m up roaming around at this hour, too, Violinist, and I quite enjoy a chat with you and Maggie this time
of day, when the house is still quiet.. Have you tried unsweetened almond milk in your coffee? Like you, it’s a long
stretch to afternoon, when you’ve been awake since 3:15am. Black coffee just seems to make me hungrier, but the
addition of almond milk doesn’t! Per 8oz is 30cal and no carbs. I just measure out 1/2c for the day, so it’s really
damage free 🙂 The scales are moving in your favor I see..Congrats!!!

Hi Maggie! I hope the painting/staining job looks great. The subject of tastes changing and becoming more aware
of how are bodies become more finely tuned to our individual needs is one that is often revisited on these boards.
It’s one of most difficult concepts to describe for our new members. I think it varies from person to person, but
it does happen for everyone who stays very low carb and sugar free. Everything begins to taste wonderful, even
the simplest of foods! Salty or sour flavors shine, and I can now detect even the smallest quantity of sugar in food
that I hadn’t even noticed pre BSD. Raw unsweetened cacao nibs is the perfect example…the first time I tasted
them I found them to be shockingly bitter. Now I add them to my yogurt, and find the flavor and crunch just perfect!
Last summer I inadvertently picked up a glass of artificially sweetened diet cola, and I couldn’t even swallow it
because it was disgustingly sweet tasting to me. I found all of these changes miraculous, and it is the lynch pin
to why it becomes effortless to stay away from the bad food forever 🙂 I often use the term “life changing”, but
I passionately believe it truly is. Willpower is no longer even a part of the equation, because the desire is no longer
there 🙂 I think it’s also tremendously powerful to keep reading and absorbing new information every day before
the transition takes place. Really helps to reinforce why we have set out on this path in the first place, and why
we all come to celebrate it as a way of life, not a diet! I think I’m just preaching to the choir with you…as you have
indeed GOT IT, my fellow stoner 🙂 I do enjoy reading your posts, and notice that you hop around from thread to
thread like me, sharing the word. The fact that we enjoy it is all part of the joy of discovery!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! HeartStar, enjoy the little one’s birthday party. It sounds like you have some
good strategies in place!

Allie

Hi Maggie A lovely sunny Saturday here too – in the Netherlands. 🙂 You were asking whether tastes had changed. I’m not sure I can claim that I now instinctively hunt out the nutrients I need (as a dog eats grass/hunts salt etc). But I am sure that my sense of taste is far more acute now. I have just had the most delicious lunch of avocado, ham with salad and used up some remaining Caesar dressing (yoghurt whizzed with an anchovy, garlic clove and parmesan cheese). And lots of lemon juice on the avocado. It was super. Feels a bit like when I stopped smoking – the fug in my mouth has gone!