Hi Diabetty,

I totally understand your feelings about the diagnosis. I was there 3 years ago. If you are like me you will go through a few cycles of anger, denial, determination etc. I did. I also blamed myself a lot. My lesson to pass on is – your life hasn’t changed forever. You can still do all the enjoyable things you did before, you just can’t eat carbs. There is loads on this site and elsewhere about how to enjoy your food without carbs so it isn’t about just eating boring bland stuff.

This wonderful forum will support you, I’ve been on here since December and they have welcomed me, encouraged where necessary and given excellent advice.

Excellent thread, following the principles, using the basic ingredients but allowing occasional I’m eating out/it’s christmas day type exceptions is working for me. A protein and vegetable based diet without spuds/rice and pasta which were the mainstays of my previous long term habitual diet is easy and I genuinely prefer it now, 4 months in.
A real life-changer for me, at 51 my HbA1c levels categorised me a s a type 2 diabetic, 8 weeks later low normal levels.

Thank you LindaA, for taking the time to type out all of these links.
I’m very much in your debt. I’ve bookmarked them all to be printed
out so that I can study the material in depth and be prepared to discuss
the findings with o/h’s cardiologist at his next appt. I wish there were
preventitive cardiologists in our area, but they all seem to run their
own clinics, mostly in other parts of the country (USA). I’m happy for
your husband that he hasn’t had another cardiac incident.
Happy Birthday 🙂

Much appreciation,

allie

Ok I’ve decided I need more than soup! I need some quick easy dinner recipes that are not going to wear me out trying to make.

Tonight I’m planning on Quorn curry with califlower rice, my daughter will have the carb loaded version. Stir fry has been a good option as well, but craving a bit more variety.

Hubby and I started on 10th, this is our first time doing anything like this. I’ve lost 4lbs in the three days and haven’t felt hungry till this morning.
I’ve had a couple of bad night’s sleep and wondered if this was normal in the early stages, could be my head full of weights & measures and meal planning, hunger or just the need for a wee, but I’m not doing so well this morning as I’m so tired.
Going to get out and have a walk now, hope that gets me going.

Thanks, Angela.

I’m going to try skipping breakfast, or having it later and see how I get on with that. There was no weight loss again today, so I guess I need to cut back somewhere anyway.

Hi Diabetty. Sorry for the diagnosis, but your lower result after cutting carbs has proved this will work for you.

I’ve got up once in the night to wee for years. At the start of the diet that went to twice, but settled down after a week. Last night I didn’t get up at all!

Dehydration can make you feel terrible, so do drink lots of liquid. Do you like Bovril drinks? It might be easier to have your salt in that, or maybe dip celery sticks into it. I agree that just drinking it in water sounds grim.

Hi Theodora, I didn’t see it but had read a transcript and coincidentally had just rediscovered our jar of coconut oil, so I have fried my veg with it a couple of times. I am still getting used to the slight sense of coconut it gives (not strong enough to use the word ‘taste’). After your post I will definitely aim to increase the amount I eat, I had not realised it was that much (tendencies to skim read and just take the big idea, not the detail).

I wondered about that test, as it did seem to show butter made things a bit worse, whilst olive oil was neutral. Which does seem to go counter to some of BSD/Kendrick eat al thinking. Did you read it like that too? Or is that my skim reading again?

Hi Squidge, I gave up breakfast at the end of November after a trip to the UK when I put on 1.5kgs and I haven’t gone back to having it. I lost the additional weight very quickly and continued losing but the most interesting thing was that my waist measurement, which had stalled, went down. Oh to add the important part, I have a few drops of milk in my tea and usually have 3 mugs during the morning…I don’t think it counts as fasting if we have milk but I can always give that up later once I stall again 😉

I don’t know why I was thinking I had to do the entire recipe or nothing – that’s not like me. I’m always leaving out or swapping ingredients to suit our tastes and what we happen to have. I’ll do that with my porridge too.

Is ‘oat fiber’ what I’d call oat bran? I’ve seen that for sale.

I’ve never considered hemp hearts before, but have just looked them up and see they have omega 3 and protein, so I’ll try to get some and try them.

It’s occurred to me that these things might work as a muesli, which was my usual summer breakfast. I could mix up all the seeds and nuts I’ve learned to like by then and add fresh berries each morning – I imagine all dreid fruit would be too high sugar to eat regularly. Oddly I love nuts in muesli, but don’t fancy them in porridge!

Jackie, I wonder if you watched Trust Me this week? They did an experiment on which fats improved cholesterol most – olive oil, butter or coconut oil. Over the month of the experiment, olive oil and butter came out very similar, but coconut oil came out way ahead, both in reducing the bad and (LDL) and increasing the good (HDL). So may be worth trying? The subjects took 3tbs a day in any way they wanted, (including cooking with it)

And yes, how’s the weight going now, Allie? I hear you are having positively balmy temps there atm? 😉

I was diagnosed yesterday after the results of a 2nd blood test 2 weeks apart. I’d completely cut out carbs after the phone call to repeat the blood test, fearing this outcome. Dr said the 2nd blood was ‘remarkably’ lower so that was good. I cried throughout the appointment with the realisation that my life had changed forever. To top it all I’m full of cold, bad chest, feeling rotten. I don’t sleep well – anyone else suffer like that? Dr said I might be dehydrated but I wee so much at night?? Bought a nice water filter bottle and hey! Not as much weeing last night. Also low in sodium causing headaches. He recommended a tsp salt in water. Urghh. So, sorry for misery but will bounce back and approach this with vigour!
I’m very confused by all the numbers, abbreviations etc – how can I get to grips with it?

Well done, SSB! Is that your target weight?

We’ve given up alcohol for January and found it easier than we’d expected (we used to drink almost every day). Maybe cutting the carbs has helped?

I could try skipping breakfast on some days and might be able to manage the 17 hours without food, but I’d have to have tea (with milk). Would it still be worth fasting in that case? I realise it will cut my calorie intake, which is good as I am overweight, but would I gain any other benefits?

Is this stuff covered in MM’s 5.2 book?

Hey Alliecat, hows the weight gain going? What a weird thing to write on a weight loss forum!

Linda, thanks for all these, I love the bottom line ‘don’t blame the butter for what the bread did’. Still learning, still reading, still trying to work out what will work for me.

In the UK the Kendrick book is on kindle for 99p. It’s very readable!

It’s so hard to know at the outset what is good science and what is formed by self interest/financial gain. You have to believe that on balance the NHS would want people to be healthy, there’s plenty of stuff to spend money on other than obesity and statins, but I guess their advice has to be sufficiently tested before they will chance it and with a long term view. Which leaves us trying it out for ourselves.

The more I read the more I wonder if I just have high cholesterol – it’s so high, and I don’t drink/smoke/am not overweight (now!) and do exercise regularly and did even when fat. It’s been a couple of months since I was eating a lot of processed meat etc. My only saturated fat vices are cream, cheese, butter and the fats in in unprocessed food like avocado, and (organic/free range) meat or fish. And seeds/nuts.

So, my current plan is to keep the (organic) butter and the (organic) cream, but mindfully, for now bin the cheese (I’d quite like to reduce by a couple more Llbs so this is not a drama) and up the natural nut/seed/veg for fibre and for fat. I just found out I like almond milk (used to hate it) so I may have that instead of cream for a bit.

Also, I’m going to try and extend my fasts a few times a week. Currently I go 15 or so hours, but if I keep busy I reckon I could do 17 in time as standard on non exercise days.

I did the porridge last night, with salt and almond milk. Yum. Then I got cocky and added cacao power but that was yuck, but just as well as it was past dinner time really.

Flax and parmesan sounds lush as a coating.

Good morning – how is everyone doing?
I have weighed myself this morning and I’m back under 9st! 🎉😊
I fasted yesterday until 4.00 then had a (large) handful of nuts and a cup of tea, then for dinner I had griddled swordfish with salad and homemade keto mayonnaise – yummy.
Interestingly, since really cutting the carbs (instead of allowing a few here and there), I have really gone off alcohol – has anyone else found this?
Keep smiling – onwards and downwards
SSB

Hi Nick,

My take on this is, we are doing this unsupervised (unless you’re paying for the programme), and we need to use our judgement and find what feels good for us. We should always be doing that anyway, right? There’s also the two-week review, where there are questions to ask, such as whether your appetite is under better control, with the suggestion that if you answer no to a couple of questions, you might review your approach. Common sense says that there is a difference between men and women and that if you are doing more exercise, you will be able to have more calories without affecting weight loss. The 800 number isn’t magic.

Personally, on days when I’ve really been struggling I’ve had a few more calories, in a controlled, thoughtful way (max has been 930, though a lot of estimation goes on), and it hasn’t seemed to affect my losses. I’m not talking about struggling with cravings – I breath through those – I’m talking about long-term gnawing hunger that persists a while after eating. I’d rather do that than switch to 5:2 – I found that just lead to me overeating on the other days which is really not good for you (why tempt hiatus hernia which can lead to oesophageal cancer?)

It sounds like you are doing great. Nothing wrong with weighing yourself more often if you’re wondering how it’s going.

My scales, which had been stubborn for a few days, moved by over a lb this morning, so I’m happy.

Natalie, keep drinking the water – you must have got very dehydrated – and be gentle with yourself. Your body obviously needs time to recover and rebalance.

xx

Thanks Esnecca! Are you by any chance an inspirational speaker in your real life? If not you should be but only if it means you don’t leave this forum! You give be such wonderful advice and encouragement, a true BSD guru.

I love that greens and kimchi combo! Crack an egg or two on top and it’ll make a great entree all on its own. Kimchi juice is the nectar of the spicy gods. It has the most magical ability to permeate a dish, far more than a hot sauce or cayenne or the like.

I have made something very similar to the fried caulirice but I hadn’t thought to top it with a nori strip garnish. Most definitely going to steal that idea pronto.

You don’t have to add sweetness or peanuts. These kinds of things are easily adjusted to your tastes. Add fruit or don’t. Add sweeteners or don’t. Add flavorings like vanilla or cinammon or don’t. I make a version of that porridge too and while it has occasionally been peanutty, it’s not sweetened.

The mixture usually does not include flax only because OH can’t digest it well (he had his gallbladder removed years ago and a few high fat foods disagree with him now), but if I’m making it only for myself I do use flax. I keep it whole as there are other elements that provide the soft, wet base. The mix is 2 Tblsp (30 grams) almond meal, 2 Tblsp hemp hearts, 1 Tblsp chia seeds, 1 Tblsp whey protein powder (grass-fed only), 1 Tblsp sunflower seeds, 1 Tblsp shredded unsweetened coconut, 1 Tblsp oat fiber, 1/8 tsp sea salt. When I use flax, I add 1 Tblsp. I add 1/2 cup of unsweetened hemp milk and microwave for 1:50.

This makes a relatively thick fauxtmeal, as I call it. If you want it soupier which is what I think of when you say porridge, add more liquid. It does not taste like coconut, in case you were concerned about that. There isn’t enough of it to have that effect. Its job is purely textural. It’s got a shredded wheat vibe going for it.

I’m not keen on the idea of sweet or peanutty porridge, but the flax seed and cheese coating sounds really good. That’s one I’m definitely going to try.

I buy milled flax seed from Aldi. That keeps fine, but the quanity is quite small.

Hi alliecat
Last one I promise!

Dr Malcom Kendrick in the UK is an expert on cardiac health and cholesterol.

Here’s his latest blog:

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2018/01/12/what-causes-heart-disease-part-44/

As an aside, it was my 58th birthday this week and we celebrated last night with some friends with a BBQ dinner. I only ever serve BSD friendly foods to guests as I don’t want to be the cause of ill health in my friends.

I served up a lovely salad with macadamia nut oil as the dressing (which everyone loved) and BBQ scotch fillet steak and Atlantic salmon and I finished off with this fabulous Keto friendly cheesecake for dessert served in individual drinking glasses.

http://www.gnom-gnom.com/no-bake-keto-cheesecake-the-classic/

Im not a big substitute sugar person but I make exceptions for Christmas and birthdays, but I only ever use Erythritol – here’s a conversation chart I found if anyone needs it – https://www.wholesomeyum.com/natural-low-carb-sweeteners-guide-conversion-chart/

Anyway, plenty of of food for everyone! Funny thing was, when dinner was served one of the guests said “where’s the bread?” My husband just turned around and said “you won’t find bread in this house!”

Everyone just laughed and kept eating, no one cared!

I will say that I had 2 glasses of Moët & Chandon (first alcohol I’d consumed since July). I honestly could have taken it or left it, I just don’t seem to have to craving for alcohol anymore. It’s nice to know that I don’t feel the desire anymore.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! It’s going to be another hot one here today, time to get in the pool for a swim!
Cheers
Linda

I “Esneccasized” dinner last night. Had some lovely chard that I rough chopped and sauteed very briefly. Topped with 1/4 cup of diced kimchi and put the lid on the pan to allow the chard to warm the kimchi but not heat enough to kill the probiotics. Was really good. Was surpised how spicy even that little bit of kimchi ended up making such a big pile of chard. Nice change from the usually squirt of lemon or dash of balsamic. Was great with a pork chop.

This popped up on my phone feed today….had to share with you: Kimchi Fried Cauli Rice link below

I am sure you have already made something nearly identical 100 times, but the pics were so pretty that I had to share. I will be having this in the coming week for sure.

http://nomnompaleo.com/2017/09/12/2017091220170912kimchi-fried-cauliflower-rice

Marie123 my Sixers still haven’t won a game!

My weight is back up to where it was on Monday which is frustrating, but it is clear why. (Sorry for TMI, fair warning.) On Tuesday I had a 24 hour gastric upset which cleared out everything in my body, obviously I lost weight but I knew it was temporary. But since then I have barely used the bathroom at all even to urinate, and nothing else. So I’m carrying three days of food and water. Like a camel. It’s really weird, I guess my body is restocking, but especially not urinating much is odd because I’m used to peeing every half hour even when it’s really inconvenient. I feel quite well but the couple of times I’ve tried to exercise I get dizzy and weak and really hot and sweaty very quickly. Oh well, I know I will recover and my body will release all this sometime.

Yes to grinding the flax seeds. The ground meal goes rancid pretty quickly so I buy them whole and grind about 1 cup at a time and freeze that to use as needed. I use ground golden flax seed a lot. Mixed 50/50 with cheap from the carton parm cheese it makes a great breading for pork chops, chicken filet, zucchini slices etc. Season the mix however you want then dip food (also seasoned first) in beaten egg thinned with a bit of water ….then dip in parm/flax mix and then fry (or bake if you wish). Works great….crispy food….yay!

Hi alliecat
I also have another resource which is the science page on the 2ketodudes forum which presents a lot of really good information. (It’s also a really friendly bunch of people like the BSD forum!)

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/study-shows-replacing-saturated-fat-with-unsaturated-extends-life/7181

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2530902

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/486365?resultClick=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbpX41oCi1M

https://profgrant.com/2017/03/10/what-really-happens-to-saturated-fat-on-a-low-carb-diet/

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/offbeat/controversial-claims-that-saturated-fats-do-not-cause-heart-disease-condemned-by-specialists-1-8514558

I could go on forever (but I won’t!)

Cheers
Linda

Luvtcook, do you grind the flaxseeds?

Thought I’d put in a quick post. So mid-way Wk2 and HIIT on Wednesday night was a struggle. From the off in the warm up I knew this next hour was going to be an up hill battle. Yes I got through it but felt a touch empty or performing @ 70%.
Still pouring of sweat at the end and knew I’d done a workout.
If we believe that a session of high intensity burns 500/600 calories there’s not much left in the tank if keeping to 800 daily. Later I was craving, thankful for the nut bowl still lingering from Xmas. Good few Walnuts later I was ok.

Thursday a different matter. Really hungry and probably ended up in the 1200/1300 calorie level.

Today (Friday) food wise really good, two roasted chicken breast for brunch and dinner just now was Keto style marinated chicken with buttered leafy green veg.
Now having a few glasses of red wine.

Obviously a few days between now Tuesday weigh in but the results on the scales will be intresting.

Jande9: if you want “hit the luxury button” try some asparagus or broccoli with Hollandaise sauce. Or top a good steak with some compound butter (with blue cheese in it is very good). Make a sugar free cheescake. This is not stuff you want to be eating daily, but once a month it is kind of nice to have something that is luxury.

Initially I felt as you do that I was going to have to live the life of an ascetic and have nothing yummy ever again. But other than having cauliflower rice instead of jasmine rice, and satisfying my Italian food urges with eggplant parmesan or eggplant rolatini instead of a plate of spaghetti, I am finding I am missing nothing.

If you invest a bit of time on line you can generally find a recipe for something that comes pretty close to what you are hungering for. Plus a plate with a grilled chop and two veges seems pretty normal to me now.

I sounds like I eat heavy creamy fattening things all the time the way I go on, and in fact, just the opposite is the case.

But when I want something rich, I build it into my calorie allowance and the carbs are usually low anyway if it is based on cream or cheese. One of those every two weeks generally does it (with a bit of uncured bacon for breakfast now and then). I am now happy to give up carbs for the luxury of fats which had been skimping on for decades pre BSD.

I find low carb to be more work because you have to make whatever you want….just can’t buy much of it off the shelves . Some things like low carb breads / bagels/ pita / tortillas are available on line. It just take a bit more planning. All doable.

Luvtcook – THIS sounds like heaven. I’m new to both seeds and addicted to both. That’s breakfast sorted then!

Hello fellow Challenger’s
I promised I would reveal today the damage done whilst in US for nearly three weeks – ( not that I’m blaming anyone but myself!) I weighed one stone more last Tuesday than my recent lowest weight in early December! I am dissappointed that I gained so much as I did try, though obviously not hard enough, to keep off the white stuff. However the wagon toppled over with the amount of cocktails, wine and the dreaded white creamy stuff in a brown bottle which was consumed.
Today I had lost six pounds of the excess and I will move on and keep on as our mantra goes (Marsie Im still here with you)
Thank you for your encouragement Mokovex, and yes, I am feeling strong and refocused.
Marie123, yes we did stay with our family in a small town in New Jersey though our son works in NYC. We love both the excitement of the Big Apple though also enjoy the quieter side of life over the water.
X B

Squidge, for even lower carbs and really pretty terrific porridge, try :

Take a small bowl (heat proof) and add
2 TBS each of ground golden flax and chia seeds (mix well)
Add a pinch of salt and 1 Tbs of peanut.
Pour over a half a cup (8 Tbs) boiling water. Mix and let sit 3 minutes (cover it to keep it warm).

Yummy with 2 Tbs heavy cream and a drizzle of sugar free maple syrup (or any sugar sub you like). I top it off with some chopped walnuts (high in Omega 3s). It’ll be 400 – 425 calories but will keep you full until supper.

Squidge, the longest I have fasted for to date (nothing but water) is 56 hours. Trust me, it gets easier 😉 and yes, of course that includes sleep time. These days I positively enjoy fasting but don’t do it very often because I am already half a stone below target (8st ) and it involves too much weight loss, for me anyway.

PS the first 24 hours is the hardest, after that the hunger tends to dissipate and I feel as though I could continue indefinitely – though not everyone takes to it. If you want to give it a go, start eating 16:8 which is what I do most days. When you think you can spend 8 hours of that in bed, it’s really not that hard.

Yikes! Can I count time asleep in that?

Even so, dinner at 7 means I can’t eat until after midday the following day. I won’t be doing that very often!

In his original 5:2 days MM said auto phage kicked in after 17 hrs. I think Jason Fung advocates longer before it kicks in.

I might have to be brave and try some fasting! Any idea how long at a time we have to go without food for it to do any good?

Thanks both of you. I’ll keep using both then.

I’ve been putting chai in with my porridge and leaving it to soak for a while before cooking and found that just 20g of oats and a spoonful of chai makes quite a big, filling bowl of porridge. I sprinkle ground flax seeds on yoghurt when I have that instead.

Hi everyone,
I’m quite late to the table with this challenge. I have been having some issues with my horse again (even my vet has started feeling sorry for me and she very kindly didn’t charge me for her last visit!), and that has made me quite tired and not really able to focus on much calorie counting. I have been pleasantly surprised though that in spite of all of that, I’ve been maintaining at 81.3kg since just after Christmas. I was thinking that I would just focus on maintaining for this challenge and then get back on track for losing next challenge. However, after a few good days this week but without really trying too hard, I suddenly have lost 0.4kg overnight and am now sitting at 80.9kg. This is the lowest I have been without having a fast day the day before (I was once 80.6kg after a fast day, but then popped back up immediately over 81kg the next day). So now I am thinking that if I work hard enough, I might get below that elusive 80kg mark by the end of this challenge. I might be able to start riding my horse again this weekend, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate me being under 80kg as well (although I still need to get under 75kg to get to less than 15% of his body weight, but that is a work in progress). Motivation has returned!

Hello Squidge! I agree with the above, but one other consideration is
that chia seeds combined with a liquid and allowed to sit briefly, produces
a pudding like consistency that makes a nice substitute for morning
porridge, and keeps one full for hours! Additionally, chia seeds do not
need to be ground to release all of their nutrients, while flax seeds do!
Best,
Allie

Jackie, your body is forced into autophagy during fasting, one of it’s biggest benefits as far as I’m concerned. Autophagy, I believe, literally means to eat oneself!

My skin has certainly tightened. I have only a single chin these days, with no saggy skin left, I no longer have batwing arms and, come the summer, will certainly be going sleeveless (assuming we HAVE a summer warm enough of course😝). I certainly don’t have “saggy skin” on my tum, it’s just a bit wrinkly (above belly button, not below) but nowhere near as much as it was when I entered maintenance, so I have high hopes that this will all tighten too. I’m 20 years older than you, but I agree, what’s a bit of saggy skin / few wrinkles compared to all that excess blubber we used to carry around. Like you, I feel fantastic.

I do have some epically wobbly areas (upper arms, belly, thighs) which was very much to be expected given that I had 200 lbs to lose. They have changed over time. My ab regimen seems to have had a positive effect on my waist and belly in that the toned muscle sort of sucks the looser bits in. My proverbial bingo wings are now completely empty, so much so that you can clearly see my triceps because the extra skin is so flat it’s practically two-dimensional.

I’m still pretty self-conscious. It looks weird, I cannot tell a lie. The good news is you can’t see any of this when I’m dressed and the only person who has to see me nekkid is endlessly enthusiastic about it, bless his heart.

Jackie, autophagy is one of the advantages of fasting. It’s when the body consumes its own moribund and decrepit cells because you’re not feeding it anything else for a while. This speeds up the process of cell replacement and can have a positive effect on skin quality, firmness, etc.

Haha, V – maybe I should start a Futurelearn course on Futurelearning!🤗

Thanks for the suggestion of downloading the liver one now, I may have a look, but not sure I want to be doing 3 at once. But if not this time…………………..

Chia is slightly lower in fat and therefore calories, but it’s a negligible difference. Carb-wise flax is a little lower than chia, but again it’s a small matter of a gram per ounce. Chia has more fiber than flax.

The Liver one is just 3 weeks and so may be worth downloading. It’s available until mid February.

Hi Theo you really do learn something new everyday! I had no idea all the weeks were downloaded together. I’ve been waiting for ‘mondays’ to start the next week! Dim or what!!

Ps: I do kind of, now I’m not overweight or obese anymore, and due to a twice a week weight training workout (of a few years standing), look a bit like Wonderwoman. Well, without the boobs, hair or face. But lean. And nothing wobbles (not even boobs 😫) . Now I just need a magic lasso

I do also have a squidgy tum and saggy under chin bit where fat used to be. But I’m 48, and feeling good so a bit of skins OK. Also, a while ago some of the maintainers (Esnecca was one I think) were talking about how skin tightens up a over time. I think Alliecat called it autophagy?

Esnecca, I chucked ‘em. I figured if they were going to be a treat they should be perfect. I am going to KOKO with them. Though that doesn’t mean I won’t get them wrong again. As anyone whose tried my Yorkshire Pudding will attest 😂