New to BSD and have a huge amount of weight to lose, I made hummous for lunch with crudités, I’ve had chilli this evening, I snacked on cherries x10 and 15 almonds. Now I’m watching tv feeling a bit headachy with yet another glass of water……….. I’ve never thought about food so much and it’s only day 1 😩

Clarissa
Hang in there, if like me you are used to eating big amounts and carbs it will take time to adjust. Drink water, fruit tea, take a bath, read keep busy. It does pass with time and now I have moments when I really need food but mostly its just my mouth hunger. I often feel slightly hungry going to bed but am not when I wake up. We are all different but at some point everyone will have had to overcome something on this new way of life. I no longer think it is a’diet’ . I can honestly say I now feel better being off the carbs. I have mental clarity and am achieving more, less bloating, sluggishness etc. I am just starting week 6, have had set backs but not gone completely off course just ate more than 800. I took a long time to get this fat and I reckon it will take a year to shift it all (5 stones).So its not a race ,try to take one meal at a time , tick the box that meal done etc. Wishing you much success, research says it takes time to change habits.
xx from Collie

Thank you Collie for your kindness, I do feel a bit better, slightly hungry but I think your right it’s a bit of boredom and I’m used to much larger portions and a huge amount of carbs!
Looking forward to the change in lifestyle and myself…… And hoping I wake up a size 14!! X

Hi Clarissa
Make sure you have plenty of fat in your diet, don’t have any low fat or ‘lite’ products, everything has to be full fat, and drink at least 2-3 litres of non calorie drinks per day. Also get in the habit of walking. I haven’t done any more exercise than that and I’ve lost over 11kg in 7 weeks. Once you’re over the first few days, you’ll find you won’t be hungry.
Good luck and post if you need to😀
Linda

Hi Clarissa,
Welcome on board. I found the first two weeks were the hardest for wanting to keep eating between meals, but after that I rarely looked for anything between meals. That coincided with me starting on full fat not low fat products as well – full fat yoghurt was a revelation. If you have not made that move – and it was the hardest thing I did psychologically over the 8 weeks, then stop the low fat dairy and take full fat instead. Calories are not much higher and it keeps you full for much longer.
I snacked on almonds and cherry tomatoes or a piece of cucumber – which is a slow eat, very few calories and refreshing to eat.
I also went back to cooking from scratch so was spending more time cooking, making soup and freezing some for another day) which kept me busy. Soups are also a great thing to keep you feeling full for a long period and very economical calorie-wise.
As collie said, keep occupied and the cravings do go.
Good luck with the journey!

Hi Clarrisa! Welcome to the BSD! You are going to laugh at yourself in six weeks when four nuts will seem like a truly decent snack! Don’t give up — in the beginning it just seems like there’s not enough food, but by week 8 you will think it’s just about right! Keep a journal — I love going back and reading what I thought In the first few weeks of the diet — I have come as far mentally (with food and food issues) as I have physically.

Thank you ladies for your support, happy to report day 2 was good, busy day at work so less time to think about food, , I had chilli with cauliflower rice for dinner, CAULIFLOWER RICE is a taste sensation… Who know, and I feel full. Should I add the calorie content of herbs and spices???

Hi Clarissa, although I’m just starting week 4 I only recently found this forum. I have a huge amount of weight to lose too, the first week was tough but I lost 7lbs and wasn’t really following the nutrition guidelines properly – I didn’t fully appreciate this aspect but scrolling through the forum and finding all the advice here has helped me so much, and kept me occupied! After 3 weeks I’m down 12lbs, I didn’t take my measurements until week 2 but even since then I’ve lost 1″ from my bust and 1/2″ from my waist & hips so hold in there.
So pleased day 2 has been better for you. I must try this cauliflower rice! I don’t think herbs and spices count in the quantities usually used but I’m no expert.
Good luck and look forward to hearing how you get on.
Jules

there’s a really good article on BBC Good Food that compares different ways of cooking cauliflower rice – still to try it myself, I found it at the weekend but didn’t have time.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/whats-best-way-cook-cauliflower-rice

Hi Frog and Jules2112,
Yes, the cauliflower rice is great. Any recipes pre-BSD that I would have had rice or noodles with I now substitute cauliflower rice.

The other gem using cauliflower is the cauliflower pizza base. Now I can have my Friday night pizza and eat it too!

With both of the recipes I don’t microwave the cauliflower first. With the pizza base I make it (see BSD recipe section) and as it’s quite moist I slow bake the base on a low heat first, then add the toppings and bake the whole thing. Hope you can enjoy these as part of your BSD journey.

Hi Clarissa, I’m pleased to read that Day 2 was better for you.

thanks Switzerland – I’ll look for the pizza base recipe
I found one for gram flour pizza base that I made on a previous diet and liked – a bit carby, but not too bad compared to standard pizza, but a cauliflower one should be even better.
I need to have a plan B for when I get a real pizza craving!

Thanks for BBC link Frog. I tried once to bake in oven and had to throw away about half as it got burnt at edges. Will try again maybe with cooler oven or smaller tray so layer is a bit thicker. Liking some of the variations ideas in the comments with the recipe.

Hi Frog, Thank-you for the BBC link to the Cauli Rice – interesting to see the different ways of cooking it. I have not yet made it from scratch as it always seemed to take too long. I did find some premade that I bought and used – it was nothing special and I would rather do without and have more veg with sauce than use it again.
I will try the cauli rice again from scratch with the info from that link – not adding salt till after plus the difference in microwave to oven cooking is good information. I have also just started using a spiralizer – I was very sceptical that courgette could be made to be interesting. The only think I ever used it for before was to add to Ratatouille – it was not a veg I particularly liked. I had expected to use the spiralizer for carrots which I love grated, but decided to give courgetti a go – it really is a revelation and a quick and easy meal if you just add some flavoured olive oil to it.
Clarissa – glad you got through day 2 – personally I do add in the herbs and spices – but I don’t think it is necessary. I just do it for completeness sake, and also to check I am not getting some carbs I did not know about! I would still use the herbs/spices even with extra carbs as it adds flavour making the food enjoyable, but would know to adjust somewhere else if I was going to my daily carb target!

Oo thanks for that link Frog. I tried cauliflower rice with herbs just cooked in a pot already and it was filling anyway… not sure if much else ;-)) Think the baked version might be a big improvement though, will try that one next. I definitely found it tasted a bit better then next day actually – had it for lunch.

I made this pizza base before BSD days so will have to work out the numbers but it was really tasty! Might be worth a go.
http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/green-pizza-with-a-cauliflower-base/

Orchid I love spiralising too – courgette so delicious with garlic and lemon and pepper!