I am in my fifties, 5’5” and am a serial dieter. I have lost and gained STONES over the last 20 years and am currently 16lbs (or 7.3kg) above a normal BMI. Every September (and usually every January), I am 2 stone overweight, recovering from holiday foods and embarking on another “healthy eating plan – see diet XXX). I tried 5:2 – lost 1.5 stones but couldn’t “get back into it” when the holiday period came around again and regained (again!). I have been “on and off” low carb for a number of months (which is why I am not currently 2 stone over my normal BMI) but weight loss has stalled recently and I want to try something more structured. A big problem of mine is catastrophic thinking – I am already thinking about how I will manage in week 7 when I am abroad – knowing my difficulties is never week 7 – it is week 1,2,3!!. I read MM’s original book but bought the recipe one also- because it looks great and I love recipe books. Also it is a better size for the kitchen when working from it. So I am starting today – week1 day1. Will stay as close to the recommneded plan as I can – though I know that life can occasionally get in the way – but will not use that as an excuse to DEFER. Will table my results and weigh-ins here daily to keep me honest.

Had breakfast and lunch according to the plan (the smoked fish pate was delicious, by the way, and very filling for such a small amount of food (small to my BIG eyes, at any rate). I made the thai red chicken curry at lunchtime for this evening as 4 – 6pm is my downfall so trying to be organised in advance of that.

Starting weight 75.5kg or 166 pounds (11 stone 12) in old money. Good luck to all who wander these fora – I have read a lot of your inputs and we have much in common!

Hi Corkie, and welcome.

I’m both older and shorter than you😱 I was also some 6.5 stone heavier than my healthy BMI when I started the BSD in December.

Since then I’ve had social occasions, residential conferences and holidays (one in this country, Prague and Italy). I did wonder how I would cope, especially when abroad.

So I planned in advance wherever possible. Prague was the biggest challenge, partly because of the food available, partly the language (partly a bad holiday). I gained a few pounds, but they disappeared with interest the following week. I learned from the experience to be more careful with portion sizes.

On a 4-day residential conference I stayed the same weight. I knew from experience what the meals were like and planned accordingly. We chose our evening meal earlier in the day, so I deleted the dessert, picked the best main (deleting anything not BSD), then looked at the starter. I couldn’t eat all the meal, far too much food for me! I don’t now normally eat lunch but on the days when th evening meal was going to be served later than I am used to, I had a little cooked meat and salad.

Italy I was staying with friends who took me shopping so I could buy what I could eat while they had this carbs. We ate out several times and always found something that I could eat. At a special ice cream cafe the only thing without sugar was black coffee, so I sat with that while everyone else tucked in to incredible concoctions. And I came back from that holiday a few pounds lighter than when I’d gone away.

Why did I do it this way? Not only did I weigh far too much, but had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and was now being threatened with medication. Plus other issues, including poor mobility

I’d seen the results of following the BSD, including my test results now being in the normal range, and didn’t want to change that. Also, I was feeling so much better – more energy, clearer thinking, better concentration – that I did not want to go back to how I was before.

In short, it can be done. I realised that much of what I’d done before, in a lifetime of diets was habits. But habits can be broken and changed.

Oh – I reached my target weight a week ago having lost 92 pounds in 38 weeks.

Wow Captainlynne – that is one fantastic achievement (or several really as you dealt with all sorts of temptations). Thanks for sharing- I will take some of those tips and tricks onboard! Need to focus on the day to day right now. Just finished my curry. It was delicious! Corkie 🙂

You are very welcome Corkie 😃

I’ve done all kinds of weird things along this journey. And some I never thought I could.

I’ve stopped drinking diet drinks – if it’s not black coffee, it’s water – very cold, preferably sparkling. Nobody could believe I don’t touch Diet Coke any more!

When nothing else was available (on a small railway station) I bought a sandwich, sat on a bench, ate the filling and threw the bread away.

Travelling in a car with friends on the way to a conference they stopped at a burger van for lunch. I knew dinner would be very late that night so thought I should eat something. So I ordered a bacon roll, ate the bacon (burning my fingers!) and threw the bread away. It might look and/or feel,strange, but these are some of the coping strategies I found. Note to self: perhaps I should always carry some plastic cutlery!

Hi Corkie, tomorrow I am going to have the oven baked chicken (thighs) coated with plain yoghurt (recipe say mayo but I’ve run out) and crushed almonds. Sounds great.

Hi all,

More great tips – I am tucking them all away safely! And your chicken dish sounds great sunshine girl – let us know how it turns out.
Well the first day went well. Prepared dinner at lunchtime (which was just as well as I ended up arriving home at 7pm and wouldn’t want to be starting prep then – would be well past my “hangry” phase!) The thai chicken curry was very tasty and filled me up nicely. Didn’t get the nine pm nibbles and skipped the naan bread that I added for other family members.
I feel very virtuous – always a warning sign that I am about to fail spectacularly! – but spent about 20 minutes last night preparing my first 2 meals of the day. I am travelling for the day so have packed both breakfast and lunch to enable me to keep away from the scones and sandwiches that will be populating my meetings. Haven’t prepped dinner but should be home before 6pm and it is pork chops with mustard sauce and greens tonight – should be quick!
After week 1, day 1 weight is 74.9kg (-600g). Week 1 day 2, here I come. Best of luck to all today! Corkie

Week 1 Day 2. I felt like Delia Smith or Rachel Allen today. I was up at 5.30 and travelling all day so brought my breakfast and lunch with me. Breakfast was great (yoghurt, berries, nuts). Lunch was the tuna salsa lettuce wrap. I found it a bit bland. Now I admit that I didn’t add the coriander – I had it in the fridge but just couldn’t face adding that to my picnic box I was hauling around for the day!! Next time I will add a bit of chilli to give it a little kick. Dinner was pork chop in a mustard sauce and broccoli anchovies and garlic. It was delicious! I am not overly fond of pork but the sauce was to die for!! I did feel hungry and added half a sweet potato.
Now for confession- I also had a couple of bites of a scone that was staring me out on my sideboard all day! It fell out of the cupboard before I left for work, so I left it out hoping that some of my offspring would hoover it up. They didn’t, so it was stil staring at me when I got home and forced 2 bites into my mouth before I threw it away. Who know that scones were such bullies!! Also went visiting and was handed a few squares of chocolate with the cup of tea. Ate them also…I could have made a big deal of my “new regime” but didn’t.
After week 1, day 2 weight is 73.9 (-1kg!!) – even with the deviations!! Good to all. Corkie

Hi Corkie, I made the chicken thighs dipped in yoghurt and crushed nuts and it was very nice. I saw she used drumsticks, I would use breast meat in future. 2 reasons, the thighs took much longer to cook (not 20 mins as stated for the drumsticks) more like 40 mins and, I find meat on the bone too much effort for little reward. I will say I went completely off her recipe as I didn’t use any parmesan cheese in the coating and used real nuts not ground almonds. I saved about 200 calories (recipe says 440 cals mine were 240), Still it is good to get ideas from.

Have you seen the danger recipes, lentil carrot and avocado salad 31 grams carbs per serving, spicy stuffed red peppers at 35 grams carbs and, wait for it taaaa daaaa moroccan style chickpea salad at 60 grams carb per portion. They will be given a wide berth or adjusted. I am doing the red pepper but instead of stuffing with lentils I will use lean lamb mince and increase the calories to reduce the carbs.

What else have you tried. Last night hubby had oven chips with his fritatta and 2 or 3 fell off his plate into my mouth, they were very dry but it was too late, gone.

My book arrived yesterday and there are some lovely sounding interesting recipes am hoping to try
Thanks for the heads up Sunshine re carbs

Tonight am doing the chicken biriani , smells divine and just added a bowl of the raita too so hoping its all worth it…

I got the book last week and have tried a few of the recipes this week.

Had the roasted pepper and butternut squash soup yesterday, was lovely, pretty easy to make, just need to roast the veg a bit longer or a bit higher temp next time. Also had the Moroccan meatballs in tomato sauce yesterday, tasty and again pretty easy to make, but i think the portion should be for 4 people not 6 as it would be too small for a main meal. The pork with mustard sauce was quick and v easy, had it with cauli mash from the book also.

I’m happy this book came out now as for me it’s the perfect time to refresh the meals we are eating with the new recipes. I’ve been on the diet for 5 months now and it feels normal to do this now and it is working – have lost 5st / 70lbs doing this, have more to lose so just gonna carry on.

Going to try and fit in a new recipe each day or so, keeps everything interesting and the intro of the book just reaffirms the principles. Yeah there are some high carb (relatively speaking) in the book but with a few tweaks they could probably fit in with the 30g carbs i’m aiming for each day.

Hi all,
Great to hear that there are a number of experimenters! Thanks for the tips on the yoghurt/almond chicken thighs sunshine girl. Helsbells, Wow, you are an inspiration to us newbies.
Week 1 day 3, I had the green eggs and ham for breakfast, hummus for lunch (delicious and very easy to make. I won’t buy commercial hummus in a hurry again). I had the baked cod with chorizo and Mediterranean vegetables for dinner. All in all, I felt very satisfied with the meals today. Weight 73.7 kg (-200g), that’s 1.8 kg overall.
Let’s keep it up!
Corkie

Corkie – thanks, don’t know about an inspiration, there are people on here who post more and have been doing it longer but its the easiest eating plan i’ve ever been on. Apart from around my period when i get very snacky at night, i’m not hungry at all and not craving carby foods, which is amazing to me. When i started i kept getting on and off the scales as i was losing so much weight, it felt like someone was just messing with the scales!

So keep up the good work and let us know if you try any more of the recipes and what alterations you’re making to them.

Hels

The recipes sound divine! I ordered the book this week and can’t wait to start trying the recipes.

The new recipe book arrived yesterday, so that is my lunchtime reading sorted! I had a quick scan through and some of the things sound great.

Hubby made the skinny chilli last night which has become a favourite now. Tonight I am making Chicken wrapped in Parma Ham, 320 calories and zero carbs, think I will have it with cauli garlic mash which adds 140 calories and 4 grams of carbs.

Day 4. Travelling again so packed my yoghurt, nuts and berries for breakfast, and had the tuna, artichoke and Butterbean salad for lunch. (Never bought artichokes before. Not sure whether I really like the tinned version). Still it was a very satisfying lunch. Made the easy bolonnaise for dinner with courgetti. Now bolonnaise is a regular in my house. I found the BSD version was sweeter than my usual (I wouldn’t usually add carrots). Still it was nice for a change and the family liked the variation. I added a glass of red wine and a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese!
I have a family event at the weekend and was doing some baking for same – trying out two variations of scones recipes. Reader, I had to test them – well half of both types with some butter, so the old 800 calls went to 1337. But scales were still kind this am 73.3kg, so now down 2.2 kg.
Good luck to all!
Corkie

We also tried the chicken with garlic cheese and wrapped in parma ham, had it with the simple roasted cauli, was great, easy to do and v tasty, my mum loved it. Would also be lovely with the roast mediterranean veg recipe we had from the book last night with some salmon.

Loving all the new stuff we’re eating!

Keep up the good work Corkie.

The prawn and tuna fried rice ( page 111 in recipe book ) for evening meal tonight was massive and totally delicious!!

Am another enjoying all these different recipes….

1960amp – thanks for the info, will have to try the fried rice this week some time.

Had the quiche in a dish today, it was easy to make, needed a longer cooking time, an extra 5 min or so but tasted just like a normal quiche, so we’ll be having the other half for lunch tmrw.

Going to have the cod with chorizo on roasted veg tomorrow night, so will report back as to its success.

I am enjoying the new recipes very much, looking forward to Tom Kerridge’s diet/cook book out in January, be interesting to see what he did to lose so much weight so quickly as he gave up the booze and the white carbs as far as i can tell from interviews he’s given.

I made the chicken biryani with thighs instead of breasts and had with broccoli and raita, really enjoyed it and the leftovers the next day were even better! Also enjoyed the bacon, broccoli and cheese fry up.
The celeriac and apple soup …. meh …… a little bland. But I’ve got TONS of it now, so I’ll pep it up with some chilli and blue cheese.
Overall though, enjoying the recipes.

Hi all,
Ended up away from home for a few days so wasn’t cooking much. What I did do though was the “low sugar sweet chilli sauce” so called. It was tasty and maybe it was me – perhaps I needed to dice the pepper more, but it wasn’t sauce-like and I couldn’t imagine it stretching to 6 portions. It was like a spicy chutney and hadn’t enough liquid in it to be a sauce. But as I said – it might be the cook! Served the sweet chilli chutney! with Michael’s thai fish cakes which went down a wow with my teenagers! They loved them and it is a very economical dish. Also had the garlic and thyme roast chicken yesterday – succulent! But my best dish to date was the feta and avocado wrap for lunch yesterday – I would never have thought of mashing those together, but it was decadent! I did feel slightly guilty eating an entire avocado myself – guilt is a hangover from the low fat era. It was very satisfying though.

Good tips on the quiche and celeriac and apple soup, Helsbels and Bissell – will keep these in mind when I get around to making these. Cauliflower cheese tonight!!!

Thanks all. I’ve tried the Thai Red Curry – delicious though quite rich. Bolognese – strong and tangy, also the portion size was huge. And the peanut butter and cream cheese dip. I added extra veg to all of them. All really tasty and very filling. I don’t eat meat and have found it easy to substitute fish/tofu/quorn.

Good luck everyone.

Had the cod with chorizo and fennel baked in the oven, flavours were good but the fish wasnt quite done after the time and temp in the book, so will try it at a higher temp next time as i don’t think 190 is high enough.

The salmon crusted with lemon zest and dill and ground almonds with roasted veg was tasty enough, times and temp were right, as fish was cooked through, but might need a bit more lemon zest or a drizzle of lemon, for my taste as i like strong flavours.

Next might try the skinny cottage pie, so fingers crossed its good, with be nice comfort food on winter nights.

I’m not overkeen on fennel (I used Fennel toothpaste for years, so fennel in/with food or drink always tastes like … well, cleaning my teeth)
– but cod with chorizo sounds delicious – & I have a chorizo sitting in the fridge when I get home
Maybe on a bed of leeks, instead of the fennel.

I made the creamy fish bake tonight. Too labour intensive, used 4 pans, one for onions and garlic, then one for cream and fish, boiling eggs, and another for cooking celeriac, felt like I was juggling. The end result was, to quote my husband ‘tasteless and boring’. I took it from him as he is a fish lover, and I’m not. I put in parsley, tarragon, salt and pepper and topped with cheddar cheese but the overpowering taste was the cream.

Tomorrow it is skinny cottage pie, wish me luck, or wish my poor husband luck.

Think i’m doing the skinny cottage pie for Saturday too, have nearly all the ingredients in bar the mince beef, so hopefully its not too much of a faff. Thanks for the heads up about the creamy fish bake. Anyone else have any experience with it?

Despite posting on another thread that I was adapting my usual recipes I have been inspired by this thread & just downloaded the recipe book. Unfortunately started to read it at 6am and am now ravenous! I really fancy cooking the cod and chorizo but don’t like fennel but leeks would be great. Thanks for the suggestion Frog. So that is tonight sorted.
Probably won’t be tempted to do any of the lunch dishes as my half pot of Waitrose soup regime is working well. However last week I wasn”t going to buy the recipe book so that may very well change.
Just about to look up nutrition data on butternut squash – from 3 plants I have grown 15 down at the allotment! I suspect I will roast, mash and make soup. Any other suggestions will be gratefully received.

Aah – have found some recipes with BNS! Lamb hotpot and a lovely looking soup. Now tempted to change my lunch regime.

Put the skinny cottage pie recipe in my calculator and it comes out at 310 cals as it says in the book and 10 carbs not 8 and I have left out one of the cheeses. So it must be higher calories than it says. I always check first.

Just double checked all ingredients and it works out at 380 calories not 310, so be careful out there peeeps

Cooked the cod with chorizo this evening on a bed of leeks. Put in extra chorizo – and counted the calories on MFP – came out at 380. Absolutely delish!
Mr BB has now read the book – I put it on his kindle – and found it ‘very interesting’. Loved his supper. Maybe he will join me?

Had the skinny cottage pie tonight, was very nice, having some more tomorrow for dinner and got 2 portions of the mince mixture in the freezer for a quick dinner one night, just have to add the mash on top and pop in the oven.

Sunshine-girl – re the carbs and cals in the cottage pie, i entered the recipe in fatsecret and got 300 cals and 7.9g net carbs, thats with the cheeses. Fatsecret seems quite reliable for me but i guess there are variations in all these calculators, anything that seems hinky i double check with nutritional values online just to make sure i’m not adding something that is wildly out.

Ok I am very encouraged to get the book! Those recipes sound delicious. Does it have calories and macros measures with each recipe?

Hi , I have the book and am on my second day.. I just wondered if you think the nutritional values down the left hand side of each recipe is per serve or for the whole dish ?? Also does it say anywhere how many grams of protein you should have each day ? Many thanks.
Helen

Hi Heleliz

It says on page 9 of the new book that calorie counts are calculated for a single portion (rounded to the nearest 10)

Thanks for that , didn’t read it closely enough !

Hi all,
Tried the cauliflower cheese – added Jalapeno peppers to it as MM suggests – and glad was I that I did. I found it to be a bit bland – somewhat as sunshine girl found the fish dish. I won’t be trying that (the fish pie) in the near future SG as I am not a big fan of fish pie, but will up the dijon mustard after your report. Also did the courgetti with bacon and beans (quick and filling) and the turkey burgers (also needs a kick for me so I upped the chilli flakes). Keep cooking!!
Corkie

Hi Corkie,

I’ve commented on this in the past but after starting on BSD I’ve noticed I have a taste for spicier and more “tasteful” food. I’m guessing this is just the palate moving from a carb-rich diet. My conservatory is full of herbs and I have slightly more spices in the cupboard than my local Morrisons.

Corkie – good to know about the cauliflower cheese recipe, i do love a good kick to my food.

Just had the carbonara – pg 110, was very quick and easy to do, and really did taste like carbonara, i feel like i’ve been out for an italian, i upped the courgette in the recipe, as half a courgette each just doesn’t seem like enough, and used bacon as tesco werent stocking the turkey bacon from the recipe, maybe next time, but was delicious.

My mum, who is prediabetic, has just watched a tv programme about diabetes and the cost to the nhs, think it shocked her all the lower limb amputations etc. We’ll have to send our GP a thank you card for telling us to try this diet, my mum who is v inactive through various ailments and being 81, lost 14lb in the 8 weeks and has continued eating that way and hopefully her blood sugar levels are under control although we haven’t tested it yet.

I made the Cauliflower Cheese yesterday and really enjoyed it, I used quite a strong cheddar in it though and plenty of pepper. I have also made the Roasted Pepper and Butternut Squash Soup and that is delish!!

I’m going to attempt something with courgetti tonight, I haven’t used courgetti before.

I am also trying out recipes from the new cookbook. The pork with mustard sauce was very tasty and quick to make.

Tonight I have done the Spanish Chicken with chorizo & beans (page 141). This is very flavoursome, I enjoyed it very much & there’s plenty left over for tomorrow. However, I would point out one omission in the instructions: nowhere does it say to add the 400g of beans (listed at the bottom of the ingredients list)! It gives suggestions of what to serve with the dish but no mention of the beans – I chose to lob my cannellini beans into the casserole along with everything else, it seemed the most obvious solution. But I very nearly forgot to put them in…

Making the chicken and mushroom ‘pie’ tonight, it smells and looks delish, cant wait to eat it in 20 mins

Chicken and mushroom pie was delish. Will certainly be making that again.

I made the Parmesan Crisps – wonderfully tasty cheesy snack, very moreish. Had a couple for lunch today with cream cheese on top with salad.
However, I am wondering if the recipe is entirely accurate – I think a cooking time of 2 minutes at 150C is a bit optimistic – I gave them a while longer, and increased the heat. I assume the idea is that the cheeses melt and meld with the ground almonds to form something more solid. After cooling, the base was crispy but the top was still rather crumbly, and they tend to break up easily. Also, the recipe states the mixture makes 8 – I actually ended up with 14, and I was using generously heaped tablespoons when I put dollops on the baking tray (not the dessertspoon mentioned in the recipe).
I will make these again but maybe I will tweak the quantities…

Turkey burgers – I made these last week. Worked very well – good both hot and cold. Assume they freeze well.

Rozy, I had them last night, instead of making 2 medium burgers I made 2 smallish and one very small. I saved the very small for my supper and it tasted even better cold. Hubby had his 2 in a big chunk of baguette, drool, I was a bit jealous.

I’ve also made the Orange & Pistachio Cupcakes (p185) – these worked well, with a very nice orange flavour coming through. I froze 3 for later scoffing. Nice on their own (well, accompanying a coffee) but I had one for dessert with a dollop of greek yoghurt.
Did my shopping yesterday – planning on doing the Lamb Tagine in the coming days. Got a red cabbage so it looks like the Gammon &Red Cabbage as well as the Steak & Red Coleslaw will be on my menu.
I’m sure I’m doing more cooking from scratch since being on this diet – had my kitchen refitted last year so I really ought to use it!

Hi all,
Great to get the results of all these experiments and tips. Helsbels, that is great news about your mum. That panorama programme is on my To Be Watched list, though I am not diabetic. It looks interesting and is called diabetes the hidden killer. It is on YouTube for those of us who cannot access the BBC player.
Sazzle50, the cheese might have been my problem with the cauliflower cheese. My teenagers had eaten all the cheddar so used montego cheese, now that I remember. What cheddar did you use?
Rozydozy, some great tips! Want to try those cupcakes now this weekend.
I tried the seed flapjacks. They were delicious but mine were very soft. Tended to crumble, which meant that (in the interest of tidiness), I ate about 3 anytime I opened the tin, just clearing up crumbs! Let us know if anyone else tries them and manages to make them firm.
Also did Cajun spiced bean burgers- very tasty! Courgetti with pesto, peas and goats cheese went down really well with my gang and was quick to make. Also did the gammon steak and red cabbage, but with pork chops as I couldn’t find gammon in my local shop. I love red cabbage but some of my gang don’t and I think it would go better with gammon. Still some in the fridge for when I find gammon!!
Keep cooking !
Corkie

Made the courgetti and meatballs last night, was easy enough to make but i found the meatballs a bit lacking, not sure what but definitely lacking in something. Loving the carbonara recipe though.

Think i’ll try the turkey burgers and the chicken and mushroom pie this week, we’ll see.

Hi Corkie,
Glad you found my experience helpful. I too have tried the seedy flapjacks & found them a bit crumbly – I don’t have a food processor (just a hand one) so I assume I didn’t get the “bits” smashed to smithereens quite enough to hold things together. In the good old-fashioned flapjacks I used to enjoy (pre-BSD) there was so much butter, golden syrup & sugar to melt into a gooey mess, crumbly flapjacks were well nigh impossible! Those were the days……
Maybe a little tweaking with the fat content for extra “glue”.
Rose