Was doing so well, 2nd week was going great and 3 weeks previous to that did strict keto and did well. Then this evening just completely went off the rails…like went through the buffers and didn’t stop! Several chocolate biscuits later, a couple of the kid’s advent chocolates and 3 chocolate wafer biscuits and I’m feeling really cross with myself!

I was feeling tired and unhappy and somehow managed to make that justification enough to plough through all the sugary stuff.

Think I need to sleep on it and just get back on plan tomorrow and not go back to my default of thinking – well, I’ve ruined it now, may as well eat what I want.
I can do this… I can do this….

Hi Nelliecat, it is interesting isn’t it, that we can sort of “throw off” the BSD mindset when we are tired or frustrated or anxious. This path and way of eating is as much a mental activity as it is a physical activity. I found that I had to sort of “space out” when I was losing weight and not really think about anything at all related to it, including weighing myself! If I started to think about it too much, I got derailed.
Don’t worry about the blip — just start again — it’s more important that you develop the “habit” of BSD than any individual day. Day after day keeping with the principles will add up!

Please don’t fall into the old trap of berating yourself, Nellie 🙂 The BSD is very forgiving, so just dust yourself
off and begin again with your very next meal. Julia (Californiagirl) is so right, this all takes practice, practice,
practice! Every day is a learning experience, and in time it will all be second nature to you, and the sugary
stuff will lose its appeal. Tincture of time..it truly works!

Allie

Allie, that’s so true! Giving ourselves a hard time about “blowing it” just makes it worse. Or it justifies even more eating off plan. Best to just dust yourself off, as you say, and get back to it as soon as possible.
I agree, you have to learn how to do this — there is a learning curve and it took me many months to finally integrate the ideas. But then it becomes second nature and you just think differently about food.
It really sets us free!

You can’t go back and change the beginning
But you can start where you are and change the ending

The above is a quote I like to use

Thank you all so much, you all talk so much sense and you’ve been there, and it helps so much to have the support.
What a great quote violinist, yes, I can change the ending!
It definitely is both mental and physical – it was as if something had possessed my body and my brain didn’t want to take no for an answer! The weird thing is I don’t even know if I enjoyed the sugary stuff 🤨 sure as heck don’t feel the love for it this morning, my mouth feels like it’s been out drinking all night and I feel generally yucky!
Back on it this morning, got some egg, veg and turkey bacon muffins for breakfast, and chicken and mushroom soup for lunch, probably chicken for dinner with a lovely load of veg.
Let’s do this!!
Thanks everyone 😊

Good job, Nelliecat. Just koko, as they say here. The road is not straight. Mine is really crooked!

Ahh yes the ‘mental activity’ ! It really is a learning curve both mentally and physically. I have been in the doldrums for quite a while now and I have, literally, only just realised that mentally I have gone back to the ‘old days’. I am a daily weigher, and I have just realised this morning, that when I step on the scales I’m now looking to see how bad the number is looking and not how good. That’s because I’m assessing the ‘damage’ done from the previous day’s food rather than the improvement from a healthy day’s eating ! I have lost that lovely ‘light’ feeling you get after a few days of strict BSD. I will get that feeling back!
Lovely quote Vioinist I have written that in my journal.
Nelliecat just carry on and you will make it in the end.

Thanks, Verano, let’s do this, shall we.

You are right Verano, there is a light feeling after bsd eating, as opposed to that sort of sludgy feeling after sugar.
And you definitely have to be in the right headspace to cut back successfully (being in the doldrums is rubbish isn’t it) but then conversely I feel mentally better when I eat better. It’s so easy to let one bad decision lead to another and mentally spiral down, then get tired because of the sugar you’ve eaten, then crave more because you’re tired 🙄
We’re doing this together and I love that I am a part of this community xx

Violinist …. YES …. we shall!
Nelliecat I really should have learned by now I’ve been here long enough! Mine isn’t a sugar craving because I am past that and in fact I prefer a slice of lemon to anything sweet and I don’t even find that sour anymore. Your taste buds really do change over time. My problem is just too much of the good stuff, cheese and nuts, crispbreads and the odd packet of crisps. The one thing I miss more than anything eating this way is ‘crunch’ and I’m afraid a carrot stick or a piece of celery just doesn’t do it for me!
Your taste buds will change too and you will no longer crave sweet stuff… just keep the faith!

We all of us stumble along the way and for me, it was having the lovely people here to whinge to and have their strength bemed back at me, that ensured I got back to it and made the next day count. You will probably find any damage to be minimal Nelliecat, because you didn’t allow the transgression of one day to become a permission to forget about the BSD.

Verano, have you tried making some almond crackers to provide you with your desired crunch? They can be flavoured with herb or spices to ring the changes and go great with cheese, a little butter and marmite, eaten dips etc. And best of all, they are low carb. I make mine super thin by rolling out between two baking parchments, which helps to keep the calories low as well.

So everyone, forgive yourselves for being human and get right back on plan – that lovely light feeling will soon return.

SunnyB you must be telepathic! This afternoon I have been looking through some old food/recipe threads from early last year and came across your almond cracker recipe! I have copied it to an email and emailed it to myself!
Today I’ve made a good start with no cheese with crispbreads, a lunchtime standby lately, or nuts, anytime of the day, or 90% Lindt with my coffee, forgot to add that to my list! Crisps, well it’s crisp time right now but I’m resisting, probably because the only crisps we have, thanks to OH, are sprout flavoured!!! He did say he wouldn’t buy any more but came home with a mixed bag of Christmas themed crisps yesterday but I doubt if I could ever be desperate enough for crunch to even take one bite of any of them!

Well done on the massive show of determination and resistance, V! It’s so easy to fall into eating patterns without realising isn’t it? Have to say I too am guilty of often reaching for the easiest lunch, which is perhaps too often cheese relates! I’m thinking I should maybe make eggs a bit more of a feature for lunches. Kefir or yogurt are also a backstop for me, if I can’t be bothered to make anything.

I need to make another batch of almond crackers, so we could both be baking tomorrow!

Hi Verano! I too have felt the loss of the “dry crunch” and with help of friends here and outside the forum, have been directed to the Pork Krackle pieces from the chip aisle (well thats where they are in our Aussie supermarkets!) Ive found them to be life-saving when I really needed “a dry crunch fix”. I also have nuts handy for a few to munch on when dinner or lunch hasnt quite hit the spot . . . and it isnt every day that happens so I dont overdo them . . . ! but sometimes they are also a nice addition to a dish Im making for a meal. Hang in there . . . this too will pass and there are definitely brighter days ahead 🙂 Nice also to know we arent in this canoe alone!!!

WoodDuckie I’m doing my best to live without ‘crunch’ at the moment. Bit frightened that if I have any crunchy food it will set me off on a downward spiral again! But thanks for the suggestions.

Ooh yes, the crunch and the stodge, the solid feel of some foods is lacking isn’t it…
A better day for me yesterday after the misemeanors a couple of days ago, although a bit too much of the good stuff, easily done when it’s dark, rainy and you’re tired.
I am intrigued by these almond crackers, was thinking I wanted to make something to go with pate at Christmas. Still torn as to whether to eat the ‘good’ stuff but not count, or allow myself some carby treats. Have a feeling if I go for the latter I may lose control though and let one thing lead to many! Such a complicated relationship with food.. ..
Onwards and upwards everyone (with a few blips along the way 😊)
Have to say I’m so pleased to be here, I joined a couple of Facebook BSD forums and they are nowhere near as supportive, sometimes very harsh and judgemental.
Have a good day everyone 😊

Nelliecat you will get over wanting ‘stodge’ in time but really in early days it’s best to go cold turkey and just get rid of all the refined carbs. There are three weeks before Christmas and if you can stay away from the carbs it may just make it easier to make good decisions. I think you may be right that a few carby ‘treats’ may lead to loss of control. Are they really ‘treats’?

I’ve copied SunnyB’s recipe below for you. I’ve not tried it yet myself but I know Sunny makes them often……

Ingredients
• 200g almond flour
• 2 large egg whites
• 1.5 tbsps. good olive oil
• Couple of generous twists of salt

Method

1 Combine all ingredients to make a dough.
2 Roll out very thinly between sheets of baking parchment.
3 Cut into desired shapes and bake for around 7 mins at about 200C. Keep an eye on them, as they can catch quickly and burn.
4 Allow to cool a little on the tray and then transfer to a cooling rack.

You can add various flavours – nigella seed, other spices, herbs – to ring the changes. These may be added either with the other ingredients so that they are combined in the dough, or sprinkled on and pressed in at the rolling stage. Another way to change the flavour, would be to use an infused olive oil.

Store the crackers in an airtight container.

Hi Nellucat, don’t worry, we all fall foukl of this at some stage. It’s called ‘catastrophic eating’ and there is a lot of emerging research about it. Our brains crave the dopamine release that you get after a sugar hit, the trick is to use certain techniques to avoid it. I’ve just read a book called ‘The binge code’, fascinating reading. It has given me some tools to cope with those thoughts when they come along. It includes some mindfulness exercises and a few meditation audio files.
I’ve realised that I am an addict, I am addicted to sugar and the hit it gives me. It’s my personality type I guess. I’ve realised that now though and am working through it. I’ve just finished day 4 of under 20g carbs, and I have been through hell with the most awful carb flu, fed up, angry you name it. I feel like I’m coming to the end of it now and may actually smile again ! What it has done though is show me how severely addicted I was, and that scared me. I am starting to see carb laden food as poison, as it makes me into a different person.
This is the start of a long road to recovery for me, but I’m feeling hopeful….

We hear that a lot here, Nelliecat, about facebook groups! I’m delighted that you feel as though you’ve
found a “home” here. There is an occasional “disturbance”, but I think we all work hard to keep this
a welcoming and safe place in which to share our experiences. Holidays on the forum are a good
place to discuss strategies for navigating the festive season. I know myself only too well, so I take
a pretty hard line. I don’t want to start the new year doing damage control…I would find that depressing.
We are all different though, so just have a plan, and try to stick with it. You won’t regret it, I promise 🙂

Allie

Hi Nelliecat,
Having been lurking on this forum for over a year, and 12 days away from a year of posting I remember all the debates that the festive season caused last year, as well as having gained some perspective after eating low carb for over a year.
It may help to think of the fat you are carrying around as the carby treats you have had in the past but have not yet fully digested. – So just as you might think that you had dessert with your meal just an hour ago so don’t need a second portion, so you can think of the “treats” your body didn’t need so has stored as fat and do you need a second portion? That little voice in your head telling you to go on and indulge in sugar, that’s the voice of the sugar loving bacteria in your gut who want you to eat carbs so that they can multiply. Focus instead on your own needs for a long healthy life.

There were huge debates with strongly held views on either side last year about staying low carb v stepping off the wagon for Christmas. My gut feeling is that the debate will start up again.
After you have been eating low carb for a period of time you don’t enjoy high carb food nearly as much as you think you will. But it is hard to keep the carb monster in the box initially.
I think the secret to a successful festive season is to eat well but low carb before you go out for meals with well meaning family or friends who put a high carb dish in front of you. Then you will not be hungry and it will be easier to either refuse, or just have a small sliver of cake or a spoon full of roast potatoes.
From last year, there were some members of the forum who indulged and then saw the rapid climb of the scales that they were warned would happen and came back to the forum to say lesson learned, help, there were others who stayed low carb, and there were others who just disappeared.
Would it help if you thought of it as the challenge of enjoying yourself without putting lots of money in the chemical food industries bank account?
We will be here after the festive season to help those who need a hand to dust themselves off and climb back on the wagon and to celebrate with those who don’t.

A very enlightened post, SeaDog! Thank you 🙂 I share your opinion that carbs and sugar are an addiction,
like any other, and it’s good thinking to approach it that way. To think along those lines removes it from
the realm of a “character flaw” and externalizes it into the category of a medical problem that we must
manage for life. I really do enjoy this way of life, and feel finally free of self recrimination! It’s so liberating…
I wish it for every one in our community. It does take practice, practice, practice, but when we master it,
life is a very different place 🙂

Allie

Like you JGwen, I suspect the debate might well resurrect. There are many varying opinions on how we should approach the festive season and I guess that what we each of us decides on, will depend on our personal situations, attitudes and approaches to the BSD way of life and what’s right for one person, is not necessarily what is right for another.

Think those of us who have been with BSD for a good while, have grown to understand our personal approaches, pitfalls and triggers and so are maybe better equipped to cope with the challenges the holidays can present. But as you, whatever happens come the New Year, we will be here to provide support and encouragement to those finding things didn’t go to plan BSD-wise through the holiday period. I’m catering Christmas at home, so it will be easier for me than some, but that’s not to say some overindulgence will not happen, ‘cos there will definitely be champagne!

RE: the almond crackers, please be aware that the dough once rolled, is not liftable, which is one of the reasons why it’s rolled out between sheets of parchment, so that it can be easily moved onto a baking sheet. The other reason is that the dough can easily be rolled very thinly if done this way.

Didn’t get around to making crackers myself today, as I got sidetracked with village hall responsibilities, but hopefully will have time tomorrow.

Hi everyone. Hope you’ve all had or are having a good day.
I agree with you Seadog about carbs and sugar being addictive. I did the keto diet for a few weeks before I found BSD and oh my goodness, the headaches, the insomnia, the irritability, it was horrid.
Also for me when I eat a load of sugary stuff I suffer huge depressive feelings in the subsequent days. I have for a long time had depression and major depression and am now wondering how much the two are linked, for me anyway.
That recipe for the almond crackers looks brilliant! Thanks SunnyB for creating it and thanks Verano for copying it out 😊 I am thinking I will make some smoked salmon pate and maybe chicken liver pate for Christmas and it will be wonderful to have a crunch to go with it.
Allie, I think you’re right, approaching the new year having massively overindulged wouldn’t be great. That time of year is hard enough as it is I think. Wouldn’t we feel good having had some control over Christmas then entering the new year feeling fairly healthy. Of course you’re all ahead of me and old hands at this way of eating. I’ll be asking for your support in the next few weeks I’m sure!

I am following this thread with interest . I am always in awe of JGwen and her insightful, knowledgeable posts. JGwen you are the BSD Sage !

I understand about emotional eating. I used to justify eating starchy carbs, bread in particular after having a hard day when I could hear a little voice in my head saying ‘ I deserve this’ as if food could somehow provide comfort . I honestly think I have cracked that mind set now and in my 3 months of BSD I haven’t had any moments where I have turned to food to provide some form of solace.

I know what carbs taste like but their power has gone. I love what you said JGwen about all those carbs being stocked in the body..I do think of sugar as a monster, not a friend !

I was not here last year to witness the heated debate about indulging or not over the festive season but I do hope that if opinions are voiced again, then it can be done with consideration and courtesy.

I for one will be staying on plan because I want to be healthy more than I want sugar or carbs. As I keep saying on the other thread ( Festive Focus ) I want January 2019 to be a continuation of my journey since September. Serial January dieting is over !
Nelliecat ..keep reading the posts on this thread. JGwen, Seadog, SunnyB, Julia, WoodDuckie ,Violinist and Verano and of course Allie , are talking from experience and we can learn so much from these wonderful l, generous ladies. . I love the quote too Violinist !

I hear you Wendleg, and will also be staying on track as if my life depended on it. Wait, my life does depend on it!

That’s brilliant Violinist ! Who else is staying on track with us ?

I will be doing my best to stay on track because . . . . next week . . . Im heading away from home for two weeks. Im taking certain things with me that I wont be able to access for most of that time as I will not have my car to independently go to the stores or cafes. Am taking some small cans of tuna and salmon . . . containers of nuts and pork krackles . . . will buy a bag of salad mix minutes before boarding the train and taking it in a cooler bag which will also have my prepackaged lunch and dinner therein. Not trusting what might be available in the dining car for the 7 hour trip. The rest of the time at the mercy of food at a care facility where my friend lives . . . and . . . my sister-in0law’s who SWEARS she has tried this to drop some weight and assist her joints . . . and after 3 weeks nothing had happened!!! SO . . . it will be a challenge but . . . Im doing my best because . . . GP visit today brought smiles and encouragement of well done and keep going . . . (no questions about what Ive actually changed!!!) – and . . . while weight is staying steady at 83kgs. I have discarded YET ANOTHER 5 cms from my girth!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That means only 1 to go in 8 weeks before seeing the endocrinologist again for follow up. I also saw the Diabetic Nurse while leaving the med centre. I asked she remember what I told her and ever so gently but proudly informed her of the (obvious) weight loss and halved HbA1c reading doing what I had shared with her and asked she incorporate in her appointments. Her look of “Do I know you . . .?” said it all. you see, I have an axe to grind . . . . and for as long as I can remember if Im given a challenge and/or need to prove a point or get answers . . . complete a project . . . then watch out because hell or high water Ill meet it!!! Just to say I can!! Enjoy the rest of the week folks and thank you for the opportunity to talk things out with like minded souls also fighting the battles and challenges 🙂

Nice job, woody!!!!!!!

Thank you Violinist! I believe if we all share our little hints, clues, shortcuts and ideas . . . while we may not implement them all due to our own individual circumstances, we may find oddments to enhance our daily application, and help others to visualise helpful avenues which they may not have considered! Strength in numbers!!! United we stand!!! Hip hip tally-ho and all that!! 🙂 heheh Have a GREAT day all!

That’s brilliant WoodDuckie 😊 and good luck in that dining car and care facility. Difficult when you’re in the right frame of mind but aren’t able to have much input into what you eat…

I seem to be faced with constant temptation! 3 teenagers who are always hungry and my job as a care giver for elderly people means most days I cook a client’s dinner. On Wednesday I had to do one meal of jacket potato, baked beans and sausages, then another client wanted sausages, chips and peas! And it all smelt so good…. By the time I got home I was ravenous. It’s hard to refuse biscuits when they’re offered too. But I have been 😁

Stepped on the scales this morning and am only half a pound off being in the next stone down – shocked is an understatement!!

Add a big, broad smile to that, Nelliecat!! Nice work 🙂

Allie

Allie, I can hardly believe it! Never thought I’d see those kind of figures on the scale again!

This is only the beginning ,Nelliecat! It’s all out there, waiting for you…And we all get to travel the road
along with you. It’s exciting!

Thank you for your understanding. WOW Nellie! Congratulations on being at another roundabout . . . AND an extra fist pump for temptation recognition and resistance . . oh wait THATS TWO FIST PUMPS!!! These tiny steps are massive milestones in our change. And Im beginning to understand that others not on our pathway of eating really dont quite get the enormity of the subtle achievements, or the massive turnarounds which arent always noticeable. I had cause to visit GP tis week for a check on BP after a drop in dosage . . . I asked she measure my girth to see if I had made any further progress in those past two weeks. Measured over my clothes (which from memory were similar to previous visit) – yes – ANOTHER 4 cms gone! She was astonished. But now . . . THAT small proof to her of what I’M doing working, might have some leverage and credibility where she is concerned to push the BSD – (which I ALWAYS clarify is NOT a diet as we once would have understood it to be!!!) My follow-up appointment with the endocrinologist in 6 weeks time will now mean I can present with his request – that I discard – (I dont use the word lose because my inner voice will then think it might have to FIND it! Simple change of word which has a huge impact on the mind) – another 10 cms from my middle and he will leave me alone 🙂 I now have 2 to go!!! Have a great day all xxx Quack Quack!!

Hanging my head in shame!! Have been away this w/e and Saturday in particular, really got away from me and became way, way too carby – quiche, 2 tiny roast potatoes, mini-mince pie, 2 mini sausage rolls, 2 glasses of red wine and 2 liqueur chocs and a liqueur….. why???!!!!!!! And that was just on Saturday – there was some bread and lentils today too.

Frustratingly it seems that even now, two years in, social pressure can still knock me off course. I’m annoyed with myself for lacking control and discipline and I can’t honestly say I much enjoyed any of what I consumed – with the possible exception of the wine.

Dreading getting on the scales tomorrow and finding what the damage is, but will take it on the chin, refocus and get back with the program immediately.

WoodDuckie! Wow! You are fab 😁 and only 2cms to go! Haha! Yes discard, you don’t want to find it again, that made me have a little chuckle, picturing us hunting around the house looking for lost weight!
Aw SunnyB…. But you will do it again, you’re a pro at this woe 😊
I somehow managed to chuck 3 chocolate biscuits down my throat on Friday night. I have no idea why I did that as I was just on my way to bed, didn’t need them, just had a little fancy… Oh my goodness, the night I had! Huge tummy ache, wind, feeling wired, heart feeling like it was racing, generally felt very rough all over. Does this mean whenever I eat any carbs now I’m going to be in pain and suffering from it? What is going on in my body?!
Not nice…
We can do this SunnyB, let’s have a healthy day, we deserve it xx

Hi Nellie – I have suffered in a similar way from eating carbs, but I wonder if it is more connected to eating them just before bedtime. Still, it’s a good deterrent.

Scales kinder than I deserved today, but it’s likely that the real damage will show tomorrow. Still, back on track today, with a 22hr overnight fast and a low carb meal lunchtime, when youngest daughter and friend came over. I know the day isn’t over, but no intention of messing it up. Hope your day is going equally well too Nellie.