Hi Esnecca,

Just catching up on yesterday’s posts. I love your dragon analogy. My dirty little motel secret is sneaking chocolate bars when no one is looking. It could turn in to 5 minutes of binging on a whole bag of mini chocolates (which are in fact 90% cheap sugar) which they sell for £1.

I am NOT that person any more!

Well done, Sandy – great start. You can’t be doing very much wrong with a result like that.

Hi Tillybud, yes I saw that and thought ‘yey! They’re catching up’ …but… it only emphasises very low calorie, not low carb. I worry that people will cut their calories but keep all the rubbish carbs, fail miserably because they’re hungry all the time and then say it doesn’t work.
SSB

Hi Sandy13

That’s a great weight loss for just a few days. I’m also new to BSD, but found it OK so far and the people on the Forum have great tips and advice. I am just eating around 800 calories a day and keeping my carbs under 20g and trying to reach 10,000 steps a day.

Just browsing the BBC’S news website and noticed headlines for the Daily Express today. “Drug free way to fight diabetes” 4 month plan to reverse type 2 diabetes! Well, well well. Maybe the NHS is catching up. Hope so everyone X

Hi everyone, I’ve just registered today and started the 800 BSD on Monday this week. I live in Greece at the moment and I’m waiting for Amazon to deliver some books on calories, carbs and the BSD book, so I have been working on information gathered online and hope I’m doing it right! Weighed myself this morning & have lost 5lbs, so am rather pleased!
I have lots of recipes but have trouble getting some of the ingredients but made the cauliflower topped cottage pie last night & just had broccoli with mine, gave my husband a jacket potato.
Not felt hungry yet & don’t crave any bread or potatoes so it seems to going ok so far.

Hi everyone, I’ve just registered today and started the 800 BSD on Monday this week. I live in Greece at the moment and I’m waiting for Amazon to deliver some books on calories, carbs and the BSD book, so I have been working on information gathered online and hope I’m doing it right! Weighed myself this morning & have lost 5lbs, so am rather pleased!
I have lots of recipes but have trouble getting some of the ingredients but made the cauliflower topped cottage pie last night & just had broccoli with mine, gave my husband a jacket potato.
Not felt hungry yet & don’t crave any bread or potatoes sonic seems to going ok so far.

What I was trying to say – and said very badly – is that if she does have success on this diet which doesn’t really change eating habits, or cull the desire for sugary treats and then heads off on a cruise where bad food is aplenty I don’t fancy her chances.

I say this as someone who got down to their ideal weight for their wedding on WW points and then eat all around me in Paris for a week.

I realise my main contribution to this forum has been moaning about this show. It’s only because I have had ‘success’ with WW which is a very similar mindset only to put it all back on again. I’m not diabetic and I’m lucky to be close to my ideal weight but I’ve been see-sawing for years with the high point gradually getting higher until I was properly overweight.

The BSD has been a revelation as I’ve managed to nearly loose it all and more importantly keep it off. That’s why I’m annoyed with this show. I feel like it’s leading people down the same frustrating road I was on, by someone who should know better!

Hi,

My struggle with US recipes is measuring by volume. I can manage dry goods by volume and have a set of cups but never worked out how to do half a cup of butter. Now I have a converter easily available on my iPad and use my trusty scales instead.

No apologies necessary and in fact many cruisers do force feed themselves!

Hi Squidge

What a great idea! In fact I could use that for a few things – thanks for the suggestion.

Ha ha – faking it, that sounds like a plan. Fakitos are on the menu!

Wow Esnecca that Macademia nut recipe sounds so lovely. I’m storing all these cooking and recipe ideas up for when I move up from 800 calories. No room for much experimenting at the moment. Having said that I bought some almond butter the other day (it was organic from a farmers market and cheaper than I could make. When I talked to the maker about it she said she works with almonds all the time and uses the broken or slightly dented ones for the butter rather than waste them).

I find that the butter is much more satisfying than the equivalent nuts for the calories if I’m desperate for a little hit of a “treat”, so I imagine that your recipe will be even better. But I don’t trust myself yet to have “treats” available ready made, easier to have a total prohibition for now. I made some sugar free almond biscuits when friends came round the other day, and ate more than I needed because they were OK carb wise.

Well done, Jules! That’s an impressive weight loss.

If you fancy it, you could use cos lettuce leaves in place of tortillas. Not quite the same, I know, but you do get the putting stuff in and wrapping them up aspect. I have that on the meal plan I’ve devised for us.

Drinking water with slices of lime, mint leaves and ice would at least look like mojitos.

I do apologise Verano. I didn’t mean to disparage all cruise goers and I realise my trough imagery was completely insensitive, especially on a weight loss forum.

Zolou, I just posted elsewhere that a bad day, when it comes to weight used to mean a gain of a pound or two – staying the same is much better than that.

SSB, I believe you’re right that we keep the same number of fat cells, they just get bigger or smaller.

I can understand you wanting to keep one treat. If you’re not having any other sugar, hopefully the coffee will seem really sweet and you’ll be able to gradually reduce the amount of sugar you have in it, yet still feel it’s a treat.

I wouldn’t be able to stick to this diet if tea was banned. I have mine with milk, but no sugar (luckily I don’t like it in tea). I know there’s natural sugar in milk, but there are also nutrients, so I’m not feeling guilty over that.

Good Morning Squidge

Sorry there has been no loss, but as you say no a gain!

I am pleased to say I have lost a 1lb this morning, so making a total of 11lb for my first week. I am delighted with my progress so far and hopefully will keep me motivated! Mr Pacman is weighing in tomorrow, I hope he has had a good loss or my life won’t be worth liiving.

I have friends coming on Saturday and I have decided to cook Mexican. They can have burritos with chicken, peppers, mushrooms etc made with tortillas and I will just have the chicken etc with a small dollop of sour cream and guacamole. Everyone’s driving so no booze, which is no bad thing.

Have a great day

No weight loss today.

On the plus side, a bad day weight wise used to mean I’d gained a pound or two. No change is much better than that!

Good morning. Flick what a great way to make something positive out of a negative!

My positives are getting harder to find just at the moment but here goes anyway….
1. Made a sort of ‘bubble & squeak’ with some left over mashed cauliflower and it was very nice.
2. Watched ‘Girlfriends’ and quite enjoyed that, although I didn’t enjoy Tom Kerridge!
3. Said ‘NO’ to a meal out, when normally I would have agreed, even knowing the food woudn’t be BSD friendly.

Hope you all have a positive day.

Hang in there Zolou, the scales will move with a lovely woosh as described by Saltyseabird. Or if like me, a woosh-ish. Batten down the hatches and stay with the plan.

Martymonster I have cruised and you aren’t ‘force fed’ and there are healthy options so weight gain isn’t inevitable. In fact I’ve even lost weight on a cruise!

The problem I see with the program is that it’s more of the same …. low fat, keep eating what you always eat but less, have treats etc etc. And I suppose for the majority of people who don’t have diabetes this may work. Although, it seems that many people do regain weight in the long term because they go back to ‘normal eating’. As they say ‘ if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got’!

In some ways having diabetes makes it easier to stay in control. The science shows that low carb healthy fat eating can reverse T2 . But if you want to keep your diabetes at bay, and all the nasties that come with it, you have to make a life choice and keep eating this way.

I’m afraid I can no longer watch these programs because they actually annoy me now.

Joy of joys, just got up and forced myself onto the scales – 9st 13.8!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m in heaven, welcome back my friend and I promise never to treat you the way I did before again. Third time lucky. Thanks so much for the advice and encouragement you wonderful people.

Marie 123 life is full of trial and error and I see a good discussion as very positive in giving people food for thought. The two foods you mention are both high carb so a carb calculator might have been a less ‘painful’ way of discovering that they would be likely to cause blood sugar spikes in, probably, the majority of people. I guess at the end of the day it’s ‘horses for courses’.

Hi Alliecat, I’ve been in two minds whether your message was for me or JulesB who is a newbie but since she isn’t on this thread and your message comes soon after mine and mentions self sabotage I don’t want to ignore it in case it was meant for me, JulesP, sorry if I’ve got it wrong. There are least 4 Jules’ on the forum now so could get even more confusing.
The fear of success rather than failure is a fascinating idea. I’m going to search back and see if I can find the previous posts you refer to, I’d love to read what has been discussed, see if I can get more insight. Apologies again if your reply was meant for the other Jules.

Hi Zolou, I loooooove halloumi – and it’s so versatile. Have you had it as ‘bacon’ with eggs and mushrooms?
Yes, I’m still on track – my only ‘vice’ now is my one daily cup of really good coffee – I am struggling to give up the sugar in it (the only sugar I have). I belong to a Facebook keto group and have had all sorts of advice about giving up the sugar and reducing the dairy but part of me thinks this is one daily treat and I don’t know if I want to give it up – I’m quite sure if I really wanted to, I could train myself to drink it plain and black.
I was reading somewhere that when you first start this low-carb stuff, your emptying fat cell retain water ‘just in case’ they’re needed for fat again (as I understand it, you don’t ever lose fat cells, they just get smaller). Eventually, they release the water and you get the ‘whoosh’ effect. I’m sure this way over simplified but it sounds plausible.
Keep going – you can do this!
SSB

Hi Zolou, I’ve scared myself so much tickling the dragon’s tail (I love that expression Esnecca, have been thinking about it all night and am lying in bed researching it now!) that I probably won’t be risking any more unknown treats until I get to maintenance. Amazing that I’ve longed to be in the 9’s for most of my adult life yet scuppered it within days both times I made it, our minds are strange and fragile things. I know there are some cracker recipes on here which will be very low carb and no doubt delicious and which I should have made instead of getting shop bought, that will teach me to be lazy.

Hi Benns
I was wondering what you decided to do in the end and how you are getting on with it? I would do both swimming and yoga as both offer different benefits. I also find Yoga helps me in ways other than just physical leaving me feeling less stressed, more balanced and less likely to overeat for comfort.

We are all different though

Morning all

Today + 0.7lb, this isn’t too disappointing or even that surprising as yesterday’s low felt like rather an artificial one as I really just hadn’t eaten enough for a couple of days. Still happy with my progress.

Marsie, so sorry yesterday took a turn for the worse in terms of chocolate. I guess this is when keep on keeping on really bites. Thinking good thoughts for you today.

Busy bee, hoping your refocus is going well.

x

Where everyone gone? SSB, how did it go for you after your fasts – did you manage to keep on track? How is everyone feeling?

I’ve had no losses for two days and I’m feeling limp, but at the same time I don’t have any urge to stray from the plan, so I’ll just stick with it. Two week review tomorrow, looking forward to seeing how much I’ve lost round the middle as I haven’t measured since the beginning.

Had the warm halloumi salad yesterday, very tasty.

Hi Natalie, glad you are feeling better, thanks for reporting in to let us know 🙂

Jules, thank you for sharing your cautionary tale! I wonder if you’d have any more luck with the treats in the BSD recipe book.

That sounds like a plan, LTC. Clearly the water content is the big issue. It seems like a pretty loose recipe just at a glance. I wonder if adding a whisper of something like flaxseed meal would help firm it up. Maybe replace the coconut flour with something that doesn’t suck up water like nobody’s business? Then again, konjac is already a gelatinizing miracle so you’d think it would take care of those issues.

I secured more and better macadamias today. Much fresher and crisper. I’m going to make a new batch of the butter and then use it as the filling of itty bitty sandwich cookies. The outer pieces will be the simple cacao butter, soy milk powder and vanilla powder again only spread ultra-thin on a silicone mat and frozen solid. I’ll break off wafer-thin pieces, spread the macadamia raspberry butter on them and top them with another piece of the thin choc.

Let the mad science continue!

Marinara in the sense of tomato sauce is a reference to it having been the preferred sauce of sailors in the Bay of Naples. Immigrants from the area carried the coinage with them to the US and the name stuck even though in Italy as a whole it’s not commonly used to describe tomato sauce (the simple “sugo” or “al pomodoro” are far more widespread). Carbonara has a similar origin as a dish named after the people who popularized it (coal burners, ie, poor people) rather than the ingredients (eggs, pancetta).

In the US, cilantro is the leaf and coriander the seed of the same plant. I’m very glad it’s a distinction we make lexically because I quite like coriander and I abhor cilantro.

Jello is a brand name that has entered the lexicon as a general word for day-glo colored, fake flavored, aggressively over-sweetened gelatin molds typically served in hospitals, to our eternal national shame. Jelly is fruit that has been cooked down, strained and gelatinized with natural pectin to create a smooth spread for toast. Jam is different because it isn’t strained. There are still fruit chunks in there.

Well my pet peeve (not used on this forum that I’ve seen) is when people from the US call a sauce ‘marinara’ when they mean tomato and there is no seafood present. Marine means the sea!

But a quick scan of the cooking thread got me beets (beetroot), cilantro (coriander), skillet (frying pan?) and ground beef (beef mince). They are all pretty obvious though, I couldn’t find one I didn’t know.

There’s also jello (jelly) and jelly (our jam) which I’m unlikely to see here.

The whole onion family is a weird one, shallots mean the non-bulb green onions in my particular state NSW but not elsewhere in Australia I believe. Eschallots are the little brown skin ones. Green onions are young bulbs with the stem still attached. Step over the border and it’s all different.

Oh we call shallots eschallot – these are the often double bulbs with brown coloured skin and thai shallots are similar but red skinned. I was very sad to discover their carb rating as I often substitute them for red onion. A more complex, softer flavour. Although I did use sparingly on those wonderfully dressed oysters. Oh that reminds me ….

That’s funny because I had to look up “turn the grill on” just today in a recipe….for us grill is either the BBQ outside or a grill pan with ridges that is a stovetop thing that mimics it leaving “grill marks”. What the recipe was telling me it to put it under an overhead flame…..broil to us in the US.

Kosher salt is a medium grain “pure salt” that has no additives (no iodine added to prevent goiters in the thyroid) and is coarser than normal table salt….not so coarse that it needs to be put in a salt mill….but coarse enough that you can keep an open tin or ceramic jar of it next to the stove and gab a pinch of it to season things and see how much actually landed on the food. It was originally used by Kosher (Jewish) butchers to treat/ salt down raw chickens to draw out the blood per Kosher law. Also used to make Kosher pickles, and the perfect thing to top freshly baked soft pretzels.

You have every right to be confused by green onions. Too many similar members of the same family of onion. Green onions are also called scallions. Lowest in carbs of the onion family. Spring onions are similar but not exactly the same because they do have a small bulb at its end, and the spring onions will grow full bulbs at the end if allowed (turn into real onions) and the scallions / green onions do not. But when they are young, they are used somewhat interchangeably.

Shallots are a whole different thing and worth getting to know because they are WONDERFUL. They look like a small spring bulb covered in brown “paper” from the nursery that you are meant to plant (like a tulip bulp or narcissus). Often come as a compound bulb that you can pull apart and use in halves. They are sweeter than an onion but allas, also are higher carb than regular onions, and a good bit higher than the scallions, which are the lowest (and least sweet) of the lot. The shallots are usually used in fairly small quantities finely minced to flavor a sauce, and almost never used as an identifiable vegetable in a recipe. But they have the most lovely taste and make a great vinaigrette when minced and added to oil and vinegar. The French love them.

Arugula…same thing as rocket for you, roquette for the French. I think arugula is the Italian term, and the US has inherited the term from them.

Oh kosher salt – not idea what that is and green onion. Are these shallots or spring onions? Actually I think shallot and spring onion are often mixed up here.

LtC, broil and arugula are pretty common ones. I always have to look up broil.

Natalie, just curious….what foods are we in the US calling by different names (other your biscuits are cookies to us, and our chips are what Brits call crisps….on the other hand, your chips are our French Fries. And there is the whole courgette / marrow/ zucchini thing. Cornflour vs cornstarch. Icing sugar vs powdered sugar. And pudding as a whole course vs our “custard” dessert. At this point I have used up all my food translations (we will leave the boots vs the trunks, lifts vs elevators, holiays vs vacations for another day).

Have to admit, I am a British TV junkie well beyond the standard The Great British Baking Show and Downton Abbey. The US is currently gripped with both The Crown (Amazon’s homage to QE II) as well as Victoria for the moment. Just finish bing watching Doctor in the House. Loved it. Also get some wonderful Aussie crime series. I do think TV is helping us shrink the world a little bit and allows us to get to know each other a little better. These types of global forums certainly help. Luv em.

Essie, Jaques Torres had better look out for you.

Re the noodles and the baking powder: can only think she want to lean toward noodle dumplings (hense the photo) and not noddles for soup. I am going to give it a shot tomorrow without the baking powder and only add as much water as I absolutely need to in order to make it pliable. Stuff the first batch into my rices and squirted out 2 inch noodles for chix broth. Way to puffy and fragile.

Sound like we are both mad scientists with alchemy projects over the next few days.

Allie: berry picking sounds like heaven right now. Although we have warmer weather for a day or two, right back to true winter over the weekend. Nutty winter this year. Ah well.

I’m afraid to say my positive for today is a little narcissistic, please forgive.

After the somewhat confronting news that my ageing spine is causing me to shrink, I discover that this actually improves my leg to torso ratio. Combined with weight loss and not bad posture, my legs look longer! Quite a good thing for a shortie!

Glad to hear you are on the mend Natalie.

As far as having some around the house, it’s definitely a spoonfulls of creamy deliciousness situation. For guests, because I like to pretend I’m way fancier than I really am, I plan to serve it as a kind of dip with fresh and dried fruits and dehydrated flaxseed cinammon crackers. I am also going to make it the surprise in the center of white chocolate coconut truffles which I’ve never made before but will experiment with this weekend. I will also add it to my fella’s nuts and seeds faux oatmeal.

If you build it, they will come!

That sounds truly delicious, Essie.

I’ve never even tasted a nut butter, let alone one as unctous as yours, and am tempted to make some. But…..errr…..sorry, other than eating it by the spoonful, what would (or could, because if it’s as good as it sounds, I’m quite happy to do that) I do with it?

PS Better still, please can I be added to your Christmas present list? 😜

Report: macadamia nut, cacao butter, dried raspberry and vanilla butter is one the greatest culinary accomplishments of my life. Not an overstatement. Macadamias are by far the easiest nut I’ve ever buttered because its fat is expressed so quickly. It liquifies almost immediately. I added a pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes and vanilla powder and let the food processor run until it was creamy and even and practically pourable. I melted 1 oz cacao butter in the microwave and added 1 tbslp of soy milk powder and another .5 tsp vanilla powder. Stirred it all up and poured it down the hopper of the food processor while it was still running. When everything was combined and nicely emulsified, I ground up 9 raspberries to a fine powder, a sort of smashed the tenth one so it was a little bigger and crumb-like. Tossed those in the processor and pulsed a few times to distribute, then put everything in wee containers in the fridge to set for 24 hours.

I knew yesterday from my testing of the various stages that it was a knock-out, but y’all, even more magic happened overnight. I’ve never eaten anything like it. I didn’t add a single drop of sugar or sweetener. The raspberries add a single gram of sugar to the total batch. Same with the macadamias. That means functionally there is no sugar per tablespoon serving, but you’d never in a million years call it bitter or even NOTICE that it’s sugar-free. The cacao fat is soft and unctuous and warm and beautiful. The vanilla scents everything. The raspberry jumps up and slaps your face with its sudden rush of sweet-tart vigour.

This was a small test batch. I’m going to source better macadamias (these had a bit of a cardboardy undercurrent that made me question how fresh they were) and then I’m going to crank out Essie’s Macadamia Cacao Raspberry Butter by the metric ton. I hope my friends and family are prepared for next Christmas because I know what I’m giving them.

I have one big positive this morning: I feel well again after a tummy bug. So lovely to not feel sick!

Mary, you continue to inspire us all!

I’m slowly getting back into the rhythm of things this week. Made a delicious veggie curry for lunch with cauliflower rice and a tablespoon of chia seeds. Kept me going all day. Well that and copious buckets of tea!

Off to the doctor tomorrow to see if he can offer any help with my fatigue and back pain. Got to the stage that I can’t wait for the endocrinologist appointment at the end of Jan. Bonus is that I will be home from work earlier than normal and will cook up a batch of food to keep me going over the weekend…

Booked a trip to Galway next month to see my aunt as she turns 90. She lost her twin in September, so hoping my ugly mug will make it a less lonely day for her. So expensive to go though as it’s half term. I really need to start saving money, not spending it! Still, at least the full Irish breakfast is BSD friendly.

Hope everyone is doing well

L xx

Allie I have difficulty with the American language too! Especially food ingredients when you guys post recipes. Often things we don’t have here in Australia or else call by a different name.

In all seriousness though, in this episode he revealed one of his dieters has type 2 diabetes. That was just before the low fat puff pastry, apple and maple syrup puds!

The episode opened with his low fat pasta dish because “The pasta isn’t the problem it’s the sauce ” Argh!

I could go on but I won’t. I did feel sorry for the nurse who plans to loose a load of weight before her wedding and a honeymoon cruise. I’ve never been on a cruise but all I ever hear is it’s like being at a feeding trough all day.

JGwen – Thanks for posting the links. I’ll definitely have a read of the information.

Luvtcook – I’m also interested in what you’re doing so it’ll be great to hear about what you discover.

Verano – I’d like to offer an alternative view to yours on the value of BSM for T2 diabetics.

As I posted earlier I’ve used a blood glucose monitoring kit since August when I was first diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (5 months). Using the BG monitor has been valuable in a number of ways; seeing my daily blood sugar levels made the diabetes diagnosis very real and got me immediately focused, and kept me focused, on getting my levels down. By testing before and after meals, it’s helped me understand how different & specific foods affect my blood sugar levels. Maybe I’d have got this as general info eventually if I read enough, but testing has been a quick short-cut and has personalised it to me.

An example of this is when I was making the meals from the BSD book. I found a single portion of the beetroot falafel, while delicious, spiked my blood sugar. I tried half portion but it also led to a spike in my blood sugar. Something – maybe the beetroot or the chickpeas? caused that reaction. I’ve yet to go back and test those foods, but I will. It did make me change to eating very simple meals where I could test individual items more easily. I now have a long list of foods/meals and portion sizes that I’m fine with. I don’t test around these meals anymore.

There are limitations to blood glucose monitors as has been said, but my personal view is that using one has still helped me get my blood sugar levels back from very high into a normal range.
I’m not advocating that anyone else should use one but do want to offer a different perspective.

Good morning everyone, I’m back to full health today. I had one day of feeling really sick then one day of mostly physically better but bored, grumpy and miserable. And I ate some bad things in that state. Most notably when I was angry at my husband for making too much noise when I was trying to have a nap. I actually thought something like ‘this will show him’ as I wolfed down more cheese and crackers. I was punishing him by eating? Sure, that makes a lot of sense…

The mini Magnum ice cream I had later made me feel ill.

Weighing in on the BSM chat, sunshine-girl you’ve said a couple of times that it hurts but I don’t find that at all. Tiny prick with a fine sharp point gives a huge drop of blood for me. Thin skin I guess. I barely feel it. But the couple of times I tried to test my husband it took several tries to get any blood, had to up the needle length, and it hurt him. That was with a brand new sharp needle. So depends on the person I guess.

I have a test kit from when I had gestational diabetes, I now have pre-diabetes/glucose intolerance. Fasting levels fine, blood sugar levels vary depending on what I eat. So I’ve actually found the kit very useful to narrow down what affects me. For instance anything made of rice (eg ‘healthy’ rice crackers) send my bs levels very high. It may not be professionally accurate but it gives me an indication.
I don’t use it often, just occasionally. Even without it I can feel if my bs is high, in my eyeballs. Or if it’s too low I get weak and shaky and churlish. That happened a lot more often when I ate badly, sometimes a reactive hypo (where you feel a big drop from a high, even if it doesn’t go below 4). My body tells me when something is wrong.

…bleh! 🤮

Lock the door Esnecca, the only food on the bus is tacos, rice and low fat cheese sauce!