Hi Marie123, I’m so looking forward to seeing a 9 on the scales, I’m impressed you managed 9 13 even if it was only for a day. It will be lovely to cheer each other on through the 9s. I’ve recently whispered quietly to myself that 8st 7lbs would be an incredible weight to be so that’s my pipe dream. 9 and a half was my initial goal but I now see there will still be a lot of fat to shift even when I get there. My tummy seems to be the most difficult to lose from. What is your goal?

Just a thought. Has anyone else seen that advert for Jane plan ready diet meals? Am I being particularly thick or do the scales she stands on really say 10 at 28 lbs??!! It fascinates me.

Kazz am so glad your new scales are not as horrendous as mine. I have started the trek towards 9st 12 again. This morning I was 10 st 4 and a quarter 😊

Squidge, I love oats for breakfast – here’s my favourite recipe, just need to LEAVE OUT the brown sugar/maple syrup (really doesn’t need it!)

https://www.theyummylife.com/Slow_Cooker_Apple_Cinnamon_Oatmeal

I make this on a Sunday afternoon and that’s my breakfast sorted for a week – I just heat up a portion each morning with some milk, and sprinkle some extra Cinammon on top. Yes it’s 25g carbs and 145 calories per serve, but I can eat it at 6am and not be hungry for 7 hours.
When I was eating this regularly I was losing weight, but then again I don’t have T2 diabetes.
This morning I had Portabello “toast” with spinach & chickpeas, and had an egg with it too. An hour later I feel hungry! I’m going back to my oats next week!

I have just watched Tom kerridge and just thought that that low fat sugar substitute wasn’t the way to go. I would rather have full fat and have smaller portions than any kind of substitute. Luckily I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth.

Trust me I’m a doctor however intrigued me. I have been drinking fizzy water instead of wine but I hadn’t noticed it making me more hungry. Interesting thoughts!

I have coconut oil in my cupboard so can’t wait for next week’s episode on that one!

I know what you’re thinking. “Why hasn’t Essie posted any of her sweet buys from the post-holiday sales yet? We all know she hit as many of them as humanly possible.” You are correct, my dear phoenixes, and I apologize for the unconscionable delay.

How about a handsome almond-toe pump in a rich magenta color? https://s13.postimg.org/k8oiha0rb/spoolshoes2.jpg

I know what you’re thinking now. “Okay nice enough, I suppose.” Well then allow me to TURN AROUND. https://s13.postimg.org/itmxsn7ev/spoolshoes1.jpg

Oh yeah. Your eyes do not deceive you. Those are ombre’ striped heels shaped like a stack of thread spools and I am so deeply here for them.

What do you think about these? https://s13.postimg.org/4n76xfbzb/toepoimt.jpg

Don’t tell me. I’ll guess. “Handsome neutral dove grey and elegant pointed toe, but of a biz snooze compared to your usual.” SPLADOW! https://s13.postimg.org/lnq363wqf/pow.jpg

That’s right. All this time the messenger of the gods has been among you and you didn’t even know it.

I’ll stop for now but there is more. I’m keeping them in the hopper to give Theo a chance to post her HAWT new awesomely colorful happy minidress and her legendary “party in the back” Christmas/New Year’s look. And I know there are others in this very forum who have some killer festive outfits to post so get on that, would you?

Hi SunnyB no I just leave them much the size they are originally if that makes sense!

OK so i managed 918 cal on my first day and today just over 800, . However its mainly been beetroot and veg soup and cheese ( ends of Christmas cheese ) so I am not too sure its going to show as much of a weight loss.

My start weight this morning was 12.10.5 and I’ve been guzzling water and hanging fire eating until midday .. however yesterday i did find myself nibbling too late in the evening to make the 16.8 today ..

This week feels like a ‘get rid of Christmas sludgy-ness week’ .. although its true i haven’t been that active yet ! . I have dug out my fitbit and rebooted it though (it needed an upgrade and I had to download the new app as had changed my pc since I last used it . I have also re-logged into Myfitness pal .. am pleased to find all my old lists and recipes still there !.

So am feeling like i have made a positive start (even if i dont lose this week) .

JGwen – I think an inch off your waist is a great result – my waist measurements are proving impossibly slow to reduce. Also, that’s an interesting conversation about coconut. Might introduce some into my diet and see. Will let you know if I notice any difference in my nails.

JulesP – It looks like we’re going to shift into those 9’s pretty much together. I was 10st but put on 2lbs over Christmas so might be a little behind you, but it’ll be nice to support each other down through the 9s. Where are you hoping to get to?

Jackie – we’ve chatted about this on my recent post – I’ve eaten more meat and yoghurt on BSD than you would believe – in fact, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d eaten steak (3) before BSD. I’m determined to widen out what I eat again and definitely up my greens!

Butterlover – hope today has gone well for you, and everyone else – good wishes for the rest of the week.

Great start, WillotheWisp!

The occasional small apple and onion (but not on the same day) are doable at the 40-50g end, as I always had the occasional one as part of meals. Spring onions are better carb wise than the usual white onion. If you want to just follow the recipes in the book do so, the book went much more for an ‘average’ figure over the week of 800 calories, with some days over and some days under, quite probably they did the same with carbs too.

Allie, I am appropriating the term ‘depleted frontal assets’. You are hilarious.

Not at all, I love you all being here!

Allie, you need not worry that you are missing newies. You are such a stalwart here and I always feel your support, strong and true.

Just a word of caution re fish, some not so reliable sources will list catch from huge, destructive (evil in my view) factory ships as ‘wild caught’. Getting to know your fish monger, local fishing fleets, etc. is one of the few reliable ways ro ensure fish consumption isn’t contributing to the destruction of precious fish stocks and our beautiful oceans.

Theodora, your Christmas sounds like something beautiful on the BBC. We are so casual here in Australia, but I love an opportunity to frock up! Just doesn’t happen often enough.

And while I have so cleverly put the focus on me – this morning I passed the 10kg lossed marker!! 67.9.

Well the Theo style travelling fast worked until I got to my destination when olives, smoked salmon and houmous beckoned, still, quite a light day by comparison with what had gone before. On the reboot now and 2 pounds of my extra water weight is gone already in one day. Hopefully the rest will soon follow… I was under 700 calories yesterday, but over 900 today when the planned menu went out of the window, still okay on average. I have been keeping the fat macro very high as the keto sites recommend, as my body fat is still low enough at around 25% that to go much below 50g would mean likely muscle loss. KOKO everyone 😀

Zojo when I first came on here I was confused too. A lot of people on here (me included) try to keep our carbs under 50g or 20g a day. In which case, apples and onions are too high. However, the BSD book excludes some fruit and white carbs such as pasta, potatoes and rice. You will lose weight following the book recommendations regardless of carb content. I still use some of the recipes (The Red Slaw and Rainbow Salad are wonderful), but I sometimes substitute scallions for onion.

I hope this has made things a little clearer. Good luck.

Nonna Mary
xxx

No worries Allie, will be persevering with the book, maybe it will make more sense once I’ve finished it. I’ve also found myself more and more interested in how my body works and as I’ve said before, this is the first time I ‘ve been successful in losing weight. Still some way to go though, and I’ve been really interested to read the other thread about maintenance. You’ve all done so well and looking forward to joining you all on the maintenance thread whenever that is this year. On the subject of Tom Kerridge, I’m just wondering why he said at the beginning of the programme that he ditched carbs and beer to lose his weight, but his recipes don’t seem to be low carb…

Well done everyone on getting through Christmas and New Year. I too have just made this way of eating part of my life and don’t ever intend to return to being fat. I still sit on/around 60kg with a BMI of 21.3 and simply do a 24 hour fast if I’ve indulged in too many nuts, Greek yoghurt, cheese or cream. My ‘secret’ if you call it that, of maintaining this weight is to keep the carbs low (20-30g per day? I don’t measure anything anymore) and if I want to indulge, I do it with fat, not carbs. I check my ketones via a blood test every week or so just to make sure I’m still on track.

I now wear a bikini when I go swimming, can you believe it! I haven’t worn a bikini since I was in my late teens and now I’m nearly 58😳.

Someone on this forum once said ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ and I’ve never forgotten it. I think about it every time someone offers me sugary or carbs food and it really helps. In saying that, I just don’t have the cravings any more.

We drove 13 hours from Sydney to country Queensland for Christmas lunch in 2017 and no one questioned my way of eating, no one ‘forced’ me to eat what I didn’t want, in fact they were so busy shoving crappy food into their mouths no one even cared.

I had a conversation with one of the adults who runs a school canteen about the availability of sugary drinks in schools and although they no longer sell soft drinks (soda, pop), they still sell juices. When I suggested that juices had as much , if not more sugar in them as soft drinks I was reliably told that fructose was an essential nutrient for children in order for them to get their energy! My husband gave me the look that said ‘shut up now’ so I didn’t pursue it, but I was sorely tempted. Both this woman and her husband are overweight. I do preach this way if eating to everyone that will listen, but I didn’t want to start a fight on Christmas Day!

Thank you so much everyone for your continued support, I don’t post often any more but I do read everyone’s posts and I find it an essential tool for keeping on the straight and narrow!

I hope everyone enjoyed their celebrations and continues to live life to the fullest!
Cheers
Linda

Thanks for the tip on cauli mash V. Mine always tends to be a bit on the sloppy side, so will give your method a whirl – do you cut the florets quite small?

I might try your method for perfect cauli mash, V. Thanks!

The discussion here about braised celery reminded me of a not often
remembered similar dish. I don’t love celery in any of it’s reincarnations,
but I like to cook fennel by the same method, and finish it with fennel
fronds and a quick grating of orange zest, to accompany a plate of fish
and steamed spinach. Maybe some of you would find that interesting?

Let fly with the creativity, everyone!

Allie

I personally have never used the recipes in the book, opting to build my own dishes and menus, but I would say if you are using the menu plans in the book, stick with what they say. I know some people have questioned the calorie content of some of the recipes, but there is no doubt that people have succeeded in losing weight using the recipes/menu plans in the book. However, I would suggest being cautious about snacks, unless they are stipulated in the menu plans.

Hello everyone. Can I join your thread for support? My husband and I started on Jan 1st. I have 3 stone 5lbs to lose.This morning I had lost 5lbs (happy). No alcohol for us either. We are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in June so I am aiming to do three lots of 8 weeks before this date, hoping this will be enough time to lose the 3 stone. We are both looking forward to the challenge of this way of eating. Good luck everyone.

Everyone talking about apples and onions been carby but they are included in the recipes especially on the 8 week plan which is what I am currently doing. I’m so confused as I’m concerned my count is off due to the above even though I’m following the 8 week meal plan in the recipe book. Can someone clarify as I like to have a small apple and handful of nuts as snack

Just needed to post … I have actually worked out how to make perfect cauli mash ….. it’s only taken me 18 months!

I have found mine has been ‘sloppy’. I think the secret, for me, is ultra fresh cauliflower, steam for just 25 mins, put in a hot oven to ‘dry out’ for 5 to 10 minutes then whizz with butter using a hand blender. Tonight’s was the best I’ve ever made much better than mashed potatoes, but the same consistency. Cracked it at last!

Luvtocook, I shall be interested in your experience too. I stuck rigidly to the BSD for the 8 weeks and lost well. I gradually introduced beans and lentils and continued to lose but at a slower rate. I certainly missed the fibre though.

I’ve just made a lentil and spinach Dahl for lunch tomorrow. It comes in quite heavy on the carbs at 15g for 300g but keeps me from feeling hungry and as I won’t be home till 8pm or so, I’m hoping it will keep me on the straight and narrow while I get into the swing of things again.

I shall be watching the shows tonight. Hilarious how all these “Diet” shows start in January. Diets don’t work, we know that! We have to change our woe permanently. That’s the tough bit but actually easier once we accept it.

Allie, I stayed away from the truffles!

L xx

Theo, I’m completely charmed by your grandaughter’s description of that
little black number for Christmas and New Years. Better keep an eye on your
closet before you find her foraging there. Your dress sounds like an ideal
choice for me with my depleted frontal assets! I like your mini dress, and
yes, I do recognize those telltale pelvic bones. Who’d have ever thought
that we’d be so comfortable in this new and happy place 🙂 🙂 🙂 Essie
could certainly have been a guest at your table of formal attire with her
coat and tails, not to mention the felt fedora! I can’t keep apologizing for
our constant chatter, though, because we seem powerless to ever run out
of things to say to each other, my friend. Never possible to read your posts
without a ludicrous, over sized grin on my face..long may it continue! Who
can predict what we’ll get up to in the year ahead??? Sky’s the limit, I say!

Happy New Year!

xoxo
Allie

p.s. My Mother was a scrabble genius too, and usually put me under the
table with her extensive vocabulary, even at 94 🙂

Quite right. You should be posting it in the phoenixes thread. 😀

Allie, excellent advice on fish buying, thank you. I only buy sustainably line-caught wild fish, either fresh or smoked. I didn’t know about the sneaky Faroe Island trick. Forewarned is forearmed.

Thanks so much for the additional info on Rosemary Conoly, s-g! I will be looking
her up on the web. I can appreciate yours and Sandy’s conclusions re Taubes
books. They do take some extra effort to absorb, and I agree that they amount
to more than yet another diet book. Maybe this is why Mosley’s work is so
important…He writes in an easy style and focuses on the blood sugar issue,
a problem that has reached epidemic proportions in both the UK and USA!
It does really dishearten me that the BSD is virtually unknown here, though
our very small contingent of Americans for so vast a country, Californiagirl,
Esnecca, Luvtcook, and I do our best to spread the word! I’m not very good
at being told what to do though, so Taubes work provides the “why” for me,
and the clouds parted for me after reading it. Thank you all for the interesting
discussion. Having achieved weight loss and maintenance, I’m hyper focused
on increasing my knowledge of nutrition/health in general, so all the
recommendations here are a great place to start.

Thanks everyone for your contributions 🙂

Allie

Been playing catch up all day, as I overslept this morning, so later than usual in posting on the forum today. Do have some positives though:

1) Lovely charity shop find today – a pretty and flattering green lacy top in size 10 for £2.50, which will team beautifully with a new pair of palazzo pants I bought recently.
2) Used up some tired veggies to make a yummy veg and stilton soup, which made a delicious lunch and these plenty for the next day or two as well.
3) Good scales reading this morning, which is probably due to getting rid of water retention from over carbing over new year, but hoping to build on it during the rest of the week.

Like your attitude V, best to concentrate on one day at a time – certainly the way I’m going at the moment.

DON’T GIVE UP
After completing my 8 weeks last January I continued to check the carb and sugar content of all the groceries I would buy from my local supermarkets. I found it very educating reading the nutritional values and soon realised where I was previously going wrong.
After losing 12 pounds have only put 2 pounds back on I feel like I am in control of my diet.

I however am at a point where I feel like getting on my soap box and screaming when I see how many people are in the biscuit and sweets/chocolate isles are in my local supermarket. I wish the government would do something about sugar in foods which contribute to so many hospital visits, the NHS needs beds. Sugar addiction should be taught in school along side of drugs etc.

Sorry for ranting, one the best things I have done is follow the posts on this site. There are some great girls on here who are here to help and give advice to you if you are struggling.

Why I have decided to write this is that my brother has just asked me why I drink unsweetened roasted almond milk. After a while I remembered that I was struggling at one point on the diet, and found i could not drop and further pounds. I was advised to look at my milk intake from one of the girls on here…(and I was putting a lot of semi-skimmed in my tea). However, I did not realise how many calories it added up to throughout the day(please measure yours). The carb and sugar levels were quire high also, unlike almond milk which has zero carbs and sugar content well Alpro unsweetened doesn’t haven’t checked other brands.Please note I do not work for Alpro.

Good luck everyone ..keep going..its not a diet now to me…its the way I eat to stay healthy

Chris

Jut wanted to add my condolences. A loss such as yours throws one into a period of huge adjustment and turmoil. It has to be said that you are very brave and bold to be taking charge of your health and wellbeing at such a difficult time. There has already been plenty of advice posted for you, so I will just say I hope we will see you on other threads as well, as the challenge threads offer wonderful support.

Final word – please be gentle and kind to yourself.

Hey Theo, good to see you back. It’s just sinusitis, not coffee. Phew! 🤪

Thanks for starting this thread Verano, great idea! I did buy the Gary Taubes book after recommendation (might have been yours Allie!) but am also finding it hardgoing. Thanks for making me feel better about that s-g, thought it was just me ☺

Glad things are improving for your family Theo and that you have managed to gain a few pounds to put you in a more comfortable position weight-wise. I’m feeling good about taking control again with the 800/20 and 16:8. Had an excellent day yesterday and things are looking good today as well. Not posting any results until weekly weigh-ins, even though I weigh daily – like things to settle and consolidate before I make anything public!

Well done to all those maintaining successfully.

Nice dress

Sorry to be late to the party today. Somehow I overslept and seem to have been playing catch up all day. Have managed to read most of today’s posts on the thread though and it seem that everyone has made a strong start. I’m pleased to report my scales showed a drop this morning, but so as not to tempt fate, I’ll only post the weekly consolidated result. Can say I was under on both cals and carbs yesterday and so far today, things are headed in the right direction too. It feels so right to take back control and to be doing the 800/20 again.

As I had various veg in the fridge, that were getting close to being past their best – leeks, swede, celery and romanesco cauli – I made a stilton and veg soup today and a batch of cauli mash. The soup is very tasty and I’m looking forward to some cauli mash with dinner this evening.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Thank you Essie. Good to be back, though still having a few family issues (mostly, but not exclusively, health related) but things do seem to be improving, albeit slowly.

Funnily enough, I recently treated myself to a new little mini-dress……

https://s9.postimg.org/tunhrqf3z/20171215_122239-1.jpg

Hey, Allie, yes 10 days with my mother was something to be treasured, although she gets very frustrated with herself at having to be taken out and about whilst staying with us. She lives in a big city, with easy public transport links so goes out and about by herself every day. My lovely coastal retreat, on the other hand, doesn’t even know the meaning of public transport! She used to come and stay and walk everywhere, but it is rather hilly and she can’t manage it these days. Plus the weather was appalling, gale force winds and torrential rain virtually non-stop, so a lot of scrabble was played! (She can still beat me as often as I can beat her) and we did a couple of 1,000 piece jigsaws as a family, which was fun.

No I didn’t wear the sequins on New Year’s Eve (though, despite what it looked like in the photo, they are not gold, more of a steely platinum colour, which goes with my grey hair far better than gold) I actually wore the same thing for both Christmas and New Year’s Eve dinner (we always dress for Christmas Dinner, black tie/dinner jacket – guess you’d call it a tux?) and, sorry to disappoint Essie, because I know she likes colour, but I was in black – a lovely outfit I bought way back in May to celebrate reaching maintenance and which my 17 year old granddaughter describes as “business at the front, party at the back” which is a very apt description, from the front it does appear all sleek and elegant, but the back………..!!!!!😛. I was saving it for something special, and Christmas and New Year seemed to fit the bill. Sadly the walk home was not at all romantic – we had to change into full wet weather gear and wellies (could have done with thigh length galoshes) as the weather was so atrocious! But, hey, we’d had a lovely evening with good friends, fantastic home cooked food and, if I’m honest, far too much wine /champagne, so getting soaked on the way home was totally worth it.

Maybe next year we can wear sequins together?😀

PS Sorry to usurp the “2 week in” thread chatting to my BSD twin.😜

Yay, Essie, what an excellent description of what cake represents to our bodies!
I can just picture this “wired” kid bouncing in the aisles of your restaurant,
and parents finding nothing at all unacceptable about it. Macaroni and cheese
in pizza form makes me nauseous, as does macaroni and cheese in general.

Kazzi, great idea to start sourcing your own food! I can’t wait for the summer
months when we can return to locally grown vegetables. Nothing compares
with locally grown heirloom tomatoes, which is probably the only time I
indulge in tomatoes much. August/Sept. is the height of the season here,
but next up will be the locally grown seasonal asparagus in March, which
we generally OD on, but only for a limited period of time… I hope that you
can locate a local fish monger that sells “wild caught” fish, preferrably from
cold water. Anything “farmed” is rubbish, and has probably been fed grains
and the cleanliness of the farm can vary wildly from place to place besides.
Making friends with the fishmonger helps a lot, they can be full of great
preparation ideas if they are passionate about what they do. We are very
fortunate to have a great fish market about 30 min. from home, so we don’t
have to rely on prepackaged stuff from the grocery store where you can’t
even smell it to determine how fresh it is. There are always little sneaky
marketing tools besides. I’ve seen “wild faroe island salmon” on offer here,
and faroe island is actually a farm! Deception in advertising, to say the least.
I know that cold water fish isn’t available to everyone, but includes some
of the following: halibut, grouper, salmon to name a few. Happy sourcing!

Hi, Theo! I’m very happy to see you out and about sharing your good cheer,
after your recent holiday hotel duties. I’m very happy that you were able to
spend time with your Mother, too. I lost mine at the age of 94 following
a massive stroke 2 years ago. I always dreaded the arrival of such an
event, but we can never be truly prepared for it. Treasure your moments
together, as I’m sure that you do! I was thinking of you NYE as you were
trudging your way home under moonlight and torch. It painted a romantic
picture in my mind. You and I will hit that magic year in maintenance in
about 3 1/2 months, my sister, separated at birth. Did you wear that splendid
gold sequined retro jacket to your dinner party? I spent the evening in a
bathrobe in front of the fire, where I quickly nodded off. I much prefer
your way of celebrating 🙂 🙂 🙂 My sequins will have to wait for next year!

Great start everyone!

Allie

Thanks to Jax for the encouragement and Topcac for the reassurance – body in protest today with hunger, wooziness and general zonkdom, but hanging on in there! I like the two week review suggestion, it gives a shorter term goal to aim for. Apparently the hunger should’ve passed by then …

Thought I was doing well but pride comes before a fall. Day 6 and the hunger monster hit this morning which lunch couldn’t really touch, followed by a real slump. Good thing is I haven’t caved, just had a quiet day and a few more calories, adding big side salads with avocado. Still riding the wave and just about standing on the surf board. Other good thing: daughter asked what I was missing most and I realised there wasn’t anything, except perhaps a bigger breakfast.

Granny, I do have a sort of suggestion for a low-carb snack. I’m not doing snacking coz I’m trying to break the habit of constantly topping up I was in; I’ve also got a memory of a comment by Clare Bailey that there was some fasting type benefit in being hungry between meals. But the one exception I made was to have a nibble on some cinnamon sticks, which was at least tasty and interesting – though probably not for everyone!

Theo! I was just thinking about you yesterday hoping all was well with you. I’m delighted to see you back and in fine form. How’s the family? May your New Year be full of recovery and renewal. (And maybe a sequined jacket and mini-dress or two. 😀 )

Hi Allie, Rosemary Conley was a diet guru in the 80’s in the UK. Due to gall stones she developed a low fat diet but at the time ‘low fat’ everything manufactured didn’t exist, she just told you to read the labels so for example, with cheese, you could have cottage cheese but not full fat cheeses like Cheddar. From this trend the food manufacturers started to produce ‘low fat’ versions of foods like yoghurts and cheeses. I am sure some American also thought about it or got there first, just like Michael Mosley is copying the Banting diet for the late 1800’s. Which was nicked from a French doctor who developed low carbing for diabetics. It all comes back round.

Gary Taubes, sorry but I cannot get into this book. It is so technical with so many examples of peoples of other cultures – more like a book on anthropology than a diet book. I will keep picking it up but it is such hard going.

Flick, totally echoing everything Allie has just said. You are an inspiration to so many newbies, well done. You will soon be another maintainer to join our growing band and, as Allie says, you really MUST stick around, as your positive attitude and growing experience is an invaluable asset to our little community.

The lovely thing about this forum is that we all have cheerleaders – newbies, old hands and maintainers alike. Everyone is so thrilled for our successes, and full of commiserations and encouragement when things go slightly awry. But it is sometimes difficult to keep up with everyone’s news, but that certainly doesn’t mean we don’t care.

Grannyvee, my sincere condolences on your loss. What a dreadful and emotional time for you, but huge congratulations on trying to take control of your own health in such circumstances. As Esnecca says, your husband would want the very best for you, and that is most certainly not diabetes!

Wonderful post, Essie, really helpful and supportive – Grannyvee, I hope it helps. And yes, we have your back and, given the chance, will support and encourage you through this!

Thanks Bissell – the 16th is the day!!

And you are quite right, I never dreamed a year ago that I could possibly ever be considered too thin, and the words Theo and scrawny would never, ever be deemed possible in the same sentence. But in December they were – and even I could see that it was true. So very happy to have regained a few pounds – even at 8st 1lb, I still only have a BMI of about 20!! But feeling great, and even after 8 months in maintenance, never a day goes by when o/h doesn’t tell me how fantastic I look (he’s always been naturally slender, though eats like the proverbial horse!!).

I’m going to state for the record something I’m sure you already know: there is no comfort to be found in certain foodstuffs over others. The notion of “comfort food” is an insidious one that drives you to seek an emotional fulfillment that elevates your mood for a minute only to depress you even more once the binge is over. Considering your recent trauma, the looping emotional rollercoaster of grief, you need food to be your true ally, to nourish your body and mind and fill your emotional arsenal.

That’s no to say you can’t find a viable substitute that would tide you over to get out of a craving cycle. Luvtcook and others have posted several excellent bread replacement recipes and the web is full of them too. Here are a few of my favorites:
https://thebloodsugardiet.com/recipes/manna-from-heaven-low-carb-bread/
https://thebloodsugardiet.com/recipes/easy-savory-breakfast-bun/
https://thebloodsugardiet.com/recipes/broccoli-sandwich-bread/
https://detoxinista.com/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/

For pasta, have you tried shirataki noodles yet? They’re made out of the root of the konjac plant which is entirely insoluble fiber so the carbs net out to zero. They look and taste somewhat like ramen, and a recently released line with oat fiber by Zeroodle has a surprisingly pasta-like texture and toothsomeness. I use them to make versions of my old favorite pasta recipes (I don’t eat high sugar veg like onions, tomatoes, carrots, though, so no red sauce) and they work a treat. I made a mushroom Alfredo sauce with them a couple of weeks ago that was yum. The best part is that they are so rock bottom low in calories and all the carbs are fiber so you can eat the whole bag yourself if you feel like it. You won’t feel like it. The fiber fills you up like crazy.

https://www3.netrition.com/zeroodle-premium-shirataki-oat-fiber.html

I’m so sorry for your bereavement, Grannyvee. I know you must feel chewed up inside and grief is so emotionally and physically taxing it’s difficult to imagine a way forward. Your husband wanted you to be healthy and happy, I’m sure of it. You have to incarnate his love for you and care for yourself the way he would have. Taking on your diabetes diagnosis with determination and slaying the carb monster who wants to drag you back into cravings and soaring blood sugar destroying your body’s systems would be a most fitting tribute to your years of loving support for each other. He’s got your back, and so do we.

Esnecca – you and LTC should collaborate and write a cookery book or something! Between you, I’m always drooling! 🙂

Allie and gang – I finally tracked down a farm shop that sells grass fed meat! It’s their own farm. So I will probably take a tootle out to see them at the weekend. Now, just need to find somewhere to buy fish from, the equivalent of grass fed, what would that be, line caught? All suggestions welcome! 🙂

2018 here we come! 🙂

Kazzxxx

Thank you V – and a very happy and healthy new year to you too, and all our maintainer buddies.

It seems as though we have all managed to negotiate the festive season rather well, with no carb fests and very little increase in weight. Big pat on the back to us all.

Sunny, you’ll be hitting 8st in no time at all, I have every confidence, you’re not far off after all.

Cathy, only gaining 1.2lbs whilst spending Christmas in the States is totally awe-inspiring, well done you. So pleased you had a wonderful time – back to reality now!

Krysia, so sorry to hear about your family conflict, how upsetting for you all. I do hope it is all resolved quickly and amicably, but well done for not finding comfort in a carb-fest. Just goes to show how ingrained this WOE is becoming to us all. One pound is neither here nor there, and could be seen as a simple daily fluctuation (which it probably was). I don’t know if gut bacteria has made a difference to us, but I agree, the sweet sugary stuff really isn’t doing it for me any more either. Wasn’t even tempted by cake, mince pies, chocolates etc over Christmas – but probably had a bit too much in the way of delicious cheeses and nuts!

Allie – only 0.5lbs? That’s barely even measureable, and totally amazing. Bet you enjoyed the champagne!!

MnM – how did the Theo-style travelling fast go? Hopefully well?

Jackie, sorry to hear you were struck down with a nasty cold, and really hope you are now getting back to full health. Really hope it’s not the coffee affecting you – as far as I’m concerned, a life without coffee is no life at all – but then I am a total coffee addict!

Jande9, 8lbs is quite a gain for a few days over-indulgence but, as you have proven, we now have the tools to deal with these gains if and when they happen, so well done on losing it so quickly. I’m sure that dealing with these little gains immediately is the key to keeping the weight off long term.

Now all guests have gone (finally drove my mother home yesterday, rather a gruelling 8 hour round trip) and both Christmas and the New Year celebrations are behind us, I am heading into 2018 with a gain of approx. 4lbs, which I am pleased about as I dropped a few too many in December due to some turmoil and worry, and was looking and feeling too thin (some might – and did – say scrawny!!). But I have 6lbs wriggle room, which is more or less what I have averaged since entering maintenance last May, so am very happy with that, and hope to continue much the same.

Happy maintaining everyone.

Hi Tillybud – thanks for asking about the scales….

The new scales weight 2.2lb heavier! I’m quite pleased about that. I was dreading them being 5 lbs or more higher. So, on my new scales I am 16 stone 5.2 lbs. Was 18.6, when I began (on my old scales). I am eating once per day this week and twice Sat/Sun and will weigh in on Tuesday, so I can join the 4 week challenge.

Happy N Year to everyone! 🙂

Kxx

I am little late in reporting the results of my first weigh in on this 4 week challenge. My weight is only 0.1kg different from the previous week, but I have lost nearly another inch off my waist, so I will take it as a positive result, especially as I haven’t been as strict as I should be with the diet over the festive season.

I have taken up knitting again, nothing special, just making a cushion cover using a repetitive pattern but it does distract from the munchie moments when watching TV.

Hi Esnecca – Its not just humans who are having health problems as a result of high carb diets, horses are also suffering from a similar reaction to sugars to diabetes, but its called Laminitis. They are also suffering from insulin resistance.

In Laminitis the connection between the wall of the hoof and the internal bone structure is fails, either the bones rotate within the hoof or drop to a low position. Either is Very painful and causes long term lameness The details of how the tissue connecting the hoof wall to bones fails is repeatedly described in research as being the same as the damage caused by diabetes. A common cause of the problem is sugar intake. Native grasses in the UK have a range of 8 to 14% sugar, over the last 200 years grass species which have higher sugar content have been imported and developed so that the modern grasses used for grazing are around 47% sugar. great for fattening up beef and sheep quickly but not so good for animals with a longer life span.

The leading centre into this Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, Queensland, Australia they have been doing all sorts of research including monitoring the changes to gut bacteria as a result of inducing an attack, and studying glucose uptake of tissues a summary of Recent Research into Laminitis may be interesting to those who are interested in the science behind the BSD.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/818f/714e5edcfb9c2851ff6de04b50d8089445a9.pdf

To cut a long story short, at the same time that I was helping horse owners who were having to carefully monitor their horses diet to minimise carb intake (for example frost increases the sugar levels of grass, and old pasture with native grasses is not easy to find and finding hay made from old pasture isn’t easy) because their horses were prone to laminitis, I also was working with horses at a yard where they were on a feed made from coconut, where I was seeing dramatic improvements in hoof quality and connection between the wall and bone structure just from the feed. When I researched coconut there are lots of articles about how beneficial coconut is with regard to controlling diabetes. I developed a program with horse owners that where struggling to manage carb intake with horses which were suffering low grade laminitis where by feeding coconut and hay from old meadows we were able to heal the laminitis and reduce carb sensitivity.

My main focus at present is getting my weight down, but once I am closer to my target weight I am going to spend some time playing around testing my blood sugars from different foods and then have a period of eating lots of coconut and re run the tests.

Hi Mariet,

Navicular is different to Laminitis, I started studying all the research into hoof structure because my horse developed Navicular and the vet gave me two options, put the horse on pain killers for 6 months and then shoot him, or shoot him now. I didn’t like those options and ended up getting quite intensely into equine hoof care. Navicular is caused by the heels of the hoof being either too narrow or too high, causing pain at the back of the foot. It can be reversed by pulling the shoes and trimming the hoof to return it too a healthy state but its a long term project, a couple of years at least.

Sorry to any folks that find this message too geeky, I don’t know if there is a way of sending messages just to individuals on the forum.