Hi Kelsbells
Firstly welcome and secondly as a single parent for most of last year i can understand the various angles this diet can cause issues.
Have a look at the web site Diet Doctor, i find it covers most recipes in a low carb version with sides and extras to maybe bulk your daughters diet while you keep your calories low. Look for things that keep in the fridge as next day snacks/treats for both of you?

Fill out your profile and keep posting, plenty of tried and tested users on this forum willing to support you.

I have two girls aged 8 and 11. I also am super aware of never mentioning weight, diet etc and have explained that this is for my blood sugars and why it’s important.
I also feel a bit wrong as I give them white bread sandwiches in their school lunch! But now they re into sourdough, will choose that over the cardboard stuff, so all these little changes help give them the ‘ better’ carbs and as sunshine-girl says, their carb answer calorie intake should not be restricted. I limit my kids junk intake quite seriously so that the occasional lolly or chips is ok but not a daily or weekly choice. They rarely have sugary yoghurt or juice etc. but will happily now eat Greek yogurt and berries but I do bake with them and sneakily halve the sugar in the recipe etc. They are all ‘sometimes’ foods although I don’t stint on describing why sugar is unhealthy. I give them pasta potatoes etc and although they have always been good with eating vegetables they now love many of my bsd meals and things like mushroom roasted in butter and garlic ( check out Luvtocook’s awesome link on the good eats thread for low card sides) and sautéed spinach and will actually now request them as snacks!
I think if you put the focus on healthy choices and just keep giving them the bsd meal you are eating with their serve of carbs as JackieM and Natalie recommend, and let them try some of the delicious side dishes they will do great. I agree that watching us eat positively and enjoy the amazing food can only have a beneficial result.

Allie, thank you my friend, and I think you are so right. It is such fun (re)discovering ourselves 😊 Certainly never thought of myself as a butterfly before 😉

But I’m telling you, my girl, you’d better have invested in that smartphone by the time you get those skull print leggings so that you can share the full-on provocative effect with us, or…………..well I don’t know ‘or what’ but, give me time and I will think up a serious penance for you! 😉😜😚

Hello,
I have a 5 year old daughter, and we have been eating a BSD/M-plan diet since May last year. We all have the same meals and she has some added carbs. For example, we might have ham and scrambled eggs for breakfast, she’ll have toast with hers if she wants it. If we have yogurt and berries, she has granola sprinkled on hers. For dinner she’ll have some pasta or rice or roasted vegetables (lucky girl gets tiny roast potatoes in hers) or tortillas, whatever goes, along with hers. I keep bread and tortillas in the freezer. We have berries and cream or chocolate mousse for pudding. There are some sweets in the house, but they’re hers and O H and myself wouldn’t dream of eating her sweets!
My 5 year old loves hot smoked salmon, fillet steak, sea bass, chicken saltimboca, nearly all vegetables and especially roasted garlic. You may be surprised and these foods will appeal to yours too.I have every confidence that my child is well nourished and thriving. I think we all eat well. Our diet has no negative impact on her, I think is what I’m saying very long-windedly.
Good luck xx

Just checked out the organic section and was blown away to find kelp powder, black and yellow dried soybeans, gelatinized maca powder, moringa, hemp seeds, hemp protein powder and tons more all at the lowest prices I’ve ever seen. Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 😀

Theo, I’m not sure we crazy ladies of the “Phoenixes” thread even know
what is “like us” any more. That’s the fun in finding out!! I’m willing to
provoke a bit with skull print leggings when they’re back in stock. I
TOLD you that dress was a stunner! Float on the air like a beautiful
butterfly when you wear it!

Allie

Aww- thanks guys.

Essie, your post made me quite tearful – in a good way obviously – I really hadn’t expected you to like it (because it’s so not like either of us!!). I knew you wouldn’t be unkind, but was half expecting you to be rather half-hearted in your praise. But what did I get? A full on essay of superlatives. Thank you so much – all of you. You have given me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and flout this silly, feminine confection with pride. Thank you – can’t wait for an occasion which is up to the job now so that I can show it (and me) off!😉

But NOO, it will never replace my waterproofs and wellies😉

PS I am a HUGE hat fan myself, Essie, and need only the very shallowest of excuses to wear one, so the mere thought of your black velvet cloche is giving me SERIOUS hat envy 😉

Essie, you’re going to get a real kick out of their shipping box! When
I send food gifts to friends for Christmas, they really laugh out loud.
I don’t do green smoothies in the winter, but this site is a great source
for organic cracked cell chlorella powder, too. I used to spend entire
days looking through this site when I first discovered it in 2016.

Allie, omg, I just ordered them yesterday! I checked out nuts.com on your recommendation and went apeshit on the lowest carb nuts I could find — pecans, Brazils, sacha inchi and pili nuts. I also ordered some dried bilberries as they are remarkably low in sugars for a fruit. Looking forward to trying those in trail mix and fauxtmeal.

I’ve just ordered sacha inchi – Inca peanuts to try. Another superfood!
When the fiber is subtracted from the total carbs, net carbs = zero. High in
protein, as well.

https://nuts.com/nuts/peanuts/sacha-inchi.html

I also have a girl (13, who likes baking) and a boy (11) so I’m not sure if JackieM really wrote that last post or I did…

I also usually just modify regular meals to leave out carbs for myself. But I’ve been worried for a while about passing on my body issues to my daughter, as my mother did to me. She is active and slender at the moment. She asked for a Fitbit for Christmas to count steps and so on, but she also tracks food with it which I wasn’t really expecting and it worries me a bit. If she eats over the calorie limit she’ll walk around the lounge room to ‘earn’ more. Not bad in itself, but I don’t feel like she should be thinking about this stuff at all. She’s clearly copying me. I’m careful never to body shame myself in front of her, but she knows I’m trying to lose weight and get healthier. It’s a tricky balance, to be open and honest without putting too much focus on it.

Yes willowy is exactly the word!

Jackie my understanding of the difference in UK chocolate is that they don’t use the original fat (cocoa butter) from the nib, it’s replaced with cheap vegetable oil or something. I saw an article saying that about Cadbury years ago. I was so horrified that I contacted the company, they reassured me that they aren’t allowed to do that in Australia.

In the US, white chocolate must have at least 20% cocoa butter (no cocoa solids) (and can have up to 55% sugar btw) but I don’t know if that applies in the UK, it may have no acquaintance with the cocoa plant at all yet still be called ‘chocolate’!

💪

That chart has been my nut bible since I started the BSD. I still check the nutritional panel at the shops, though, because there are interesting deviations. Tamari almonds, for example, are lower in carbs than regular almonds. Just a gram’s difference, but I’ll take that gram with gratitude. Earller today I discovered that Spanish peanuts (tiny red-skinned versions of the usual peanut) are higher in fiber and therefore have only 1 net gram carbs per oz. Regular peanuts have 3 or 4. Did I clear that bin out like a Hoover? Yes I certainly did. They don’t have as strong a peanutty taste as the standard variety and there’s a bit of a raw taste to them too, so I’m going to do a nifty trick where I soak them in salt water overnight, toss them in assorted spices and dehydrate them to jazz them up a little. They made amazing peanut butter, though, just as they were. I added smoked salt and it drew out all the peanutty goodness inside of them.

The brand and quality makes an even bigger difference in the 100%, Jackie. I’ve tried a number of them, and even the very high end French brand I paid an arm and a leg for was gritty and unpleasant in texture. Ghirardelli is by far the best of the ones I’ve sampled. It is so beautifully creamy and rich. Totally different from the nibs with their high-fiber crunch.

Even there, though, brand and sourcing makes a huge difference. Of the three brands of nibs (I forgot I had three, not two, because the two most recent buys far eclipsed the original raw organic from my local coop) currently lurking in my cabinet, the one that is highest in fiber (zero net carbs because of it) is the most delicious. Not coincidentally, they’re the most expensive. I get them from a single-source small-batch maker in Missouri with exceptional fair trade practices. The nibs have the crunch and verve you’d expect, but they also have this remarkable note of butteriness that made me do a double-take when I first sampled it. I thought for sure they’d added something — milk or sugar — to get that miraculous combination, but nope. Pure unadulterated 100% cacao nibs. The difference is they searched high and low for the best ones and found them at a family farm in Tanzania. The big makers don’t give a damn about seeking out these treasures.

Squidge, do a small sample pudding, 15 grams of ground chia whisked into 2 oz liquid (unsweetnened vanilla almond milk or coconut milk or cream are my favorites). Let it sit for 5 minutes to gel up and give it a try. If it doesn’t work for you, you won’t have wasted the ingredients.

Flick, you grind your nibs in a mortar and pestle?! That is so boss.

Wow Theo! You look wonderful! It’s a very pretty dress and makes you look willowy and free! I think you could wear it day or night during our rare summer! Dress it up or down depending on the occasion. Team it with a floppy sun hat perhaps or a fascinator for a wedding even. A pretty light stole across your back and. hooked loosely over the crook of your arms. It’s just lovely!

On this chocolate theme, my husband asked me to stop buying 70% as he was eating ‘too much of it’ and he ‘can’t eat much of the 90%’.

Where has all my 90% chocolate gone this week then? WHERE? And who said he could have ANY of it anyway?

Outraged! He smirked like a naughty schoolboy when I confronted him. Looks like I will have to raise my % just to protect my chocolate stash!

For me 100% takes like plasticine. Can’t manage it yet. Keep trying every month or so though.

Flick – that’s the bit I couldn’t make sense of. I read the transcript and MM said something like ‘as you would expect, the butter caused it to rise’, which isn’t what I expected at all given BSD.

Malcom Kendrick says he doesn’t believe cholesterol causes heart disease, or that Saturated fat does either.

The more I think about it, the more I think maybe the only useful thing I can do, in the absence of any other risk indicators for clotted arteries or heart disease is keep on keeping on and lower my fat % a bit more using BSD, with a view to giving my liver a chance to do what it does at optimum capacity.

Oh wow, that’s awesome. My cholesterol was extremely high and the Dr wanted to medicate me right away. Are you doing the 8wBSD or 5:2?

Mary, a happy early birthday to you! Yes, it will just be water retention as I’m sur you know. I’ve just posted on the challenge thread that I only weigh once a week because the daily fluctuations annoy me so much! I would go as far as to say that they cause me angst! So no more daily weigh ins for me.

Tilly, I could have sulked for a week when my new scales showed my true weight! 😊 and they were only 2 lbs out, unlike yours. I had to give myself a good talking to! It will fade once you’re in the 9s on your new set. Bless your mum. 95 is a good age! I suggested my mum coming to live with me, but she was horrified at the idea! Ok then! 😁. She’s worked hard doing physio. Very determined. Which is a good thing.

Kxx

After nearly nine weeks and no processed chocolate, not even 85% and 90% Lindt I have in the pantry, I’m really enjoying cocoa nibs, pounded in a mortar and pestle and sprinkled on said yoghurt with blueberries. Absolutely luscious. Tablea sounds wonderful. I’ll search for a source that will ship to me here in Canberra. I’ll give grinding up the chia seeds a shot.

Thanks for the link Alliecat it worked for me as well.

👍well said Mary and thank you x

Thank you Tilly…we really need to push for a “like” button!

Stay well.

Mary xxxx

Sorry about my previous post being in stereo! Don’t know how that happened. Didn’t press it twice x

Oh Mary. You have to celebrate your birthday. If that’s s 2 lb gain, then so be it. You’ll lose that in the blink of an eye! You are so determined and motivated you’ll soon be whooshing the extra lbs away! Good luck for weigh in this week. Tilly

Oh well done Kazzee! You’ll be in the 15s this week. I’m trying for the 9s so much I put a pound on overnight! Hope I’m almost there by Tuesday but it may be next week ☹️I could kick those old scales! I was so pleased with myself and these new ones have knocked the stuffing out of me a bit. Daft I know. I’ll keep on keeping on. Glad you enjoyed your panto.

Were going to France in our motorhome in February for five days. Daughter and hubby coming to stay here to look after my mum. She’s 95 and getting more dependent on others shall we say. Otherwise we wouldn’t get a break. I definitely want to be 9st and something by then! Hey ho. Onwards and downwards x Tilly

Oh well done Kazzee! You’ll be in the 15s this week. I’m trying for the 9s so much I put a pound on overnight! Hope I’m almost there by Tuesday but it may be next week ☹️I could kick those old scales! I was so pleased with myself and these new ones have knocked the stuffing out of me a bit. Daft I know. I’ll keep on keeping on. Glad you enjoyed your panto.

Were going to France in our motorhome in February for five days. Daughter and hubby coming to stay here to look after my mum. She’s 95 and getting more dependent on others shall we say. Otherwise we wouldn’t get a break. I definitely want to be 9st and something by then! Hey ho. Onwards and downwards x Tilly

That’s a very useful link Theodora. Thank you.

Yay Kazzee….so pleased to hear from you. Still going in the right direction. You are so great.

I am looking forward to taking my grandson to the panto next year. Birmingham always does brilliant ones. Well done to your mum for walking all that way too!

It is my birthday on Tuesday and we had a special meal yesterday….still in keeping, but a few more calories and carbs than normal. I am paying the price today of a 2 pound gain. Hoping it is all water and will be gone tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Take care and much love.

Mary xxx

Well done everyone on their losses this week. I’m 2 lbs down so really pleased about that as I’ve not weighed a thing all last week. Just grabbed bsd friendly stuff from the freezer and just had simple lunches of spinach leaves and either boiled egg, chicken or salmon. Was frantic at work and had about 15 mins for lunch each day. I felt out of control. Hadn’t weighed all week either as I find it annoys me seeing daily fluctuations. So once a week weigh in works for me. Takes the pressure off! This week will be back to being organised!

kOKO!
Kazzeee xx

I really like chocolate, but have gone off the really sweet stuff eg Cadbury’s and prefer the higher cocoa sort. That’s nothing to do with the diet, as I’ve managed to resist so far. I can imagine getting used to and enjoying the cacoa nibs.

I’ll try grinding some chai and see if I prefer it that way.

Hello my friends

I’ve not been around much the last week. I think I only managed a couple of posts last week. Hope everyone is well?

Nonna Mary, what a wonderful surprise your docs scales showing lower than yours! Well done on your continued loss. You’re on a roll. I too have noticed that it makes a difference giving up the booze completely as I have for January.

2 lbs off for me this week, and am 16 stone on new scales. 15.12 on old scales but I need to forget the old scales now. Next week I WILL be in the 15s!

Went to the Birmingham panto yesterday. It was awesome! Got off and walked the half mile from the station to the theatre and the walk was a breeze with no back or hip ache! My mum walked no problem too. It’s nearly 2 years since her stroke and she’s still improving.

Keep going Tilly, you’re nearly in the 9s! I know just how you feel with your scales being so out.

Lee, I’ve been to Dublin and Athlone. My bestie is of Irish stock and we were only saying the other week that we’re well overdue a visit. Reading your post is giving me the urge to get something booked. Yes, everyone goes out of their way to welcome a visitor. It’s just lovely.

Kazzeee xx

PPS: sunshine girl – burger and fishfingers combined – surf’n’turf? 😂😂

Ps: I think he needs about 1800 calories a day – so definitely no portion control of healthy food for him x

Hi I have two kids ,13 (girl), 11 (boy). I told them I needed to change the way I ate because I had to fix my pancreas (true). In particular I asked that my daughter not bake as much as she would like to for a few weeks whilst I got used to the new way of eating. Now I can easily not eat the cakes and biscuits she makes and leaves lying around in tins and Tupperware.

Then it very much depends on what you already cook. We were mostly meat and veg etc not stuff mushed together or processed food so easy enough to put a jacket potato on the side, or me have just the protein and veg portion (counted). The only bought meal I cook is lasagne, so they have that if I’m too busy to cook (read can’t be arsed) and if there’s nothing else around I would scrape the meat bit off and eat it. On fahita night I have the meat and veg, they have the meat and a wrap with raw veg on side.

5 or so months in, the kids see me eating spinach, avocado, courgette, butter, cheese, broccoli, fish, meat. They see me not eat bread, cake, pastry, and frankly I’m not that fussed if they decide not to eat that either, though both do. We get through maybe 3/4 of a loaf a week.

Since they were small I’ve known they shouldn’t have sugary yoghurt, sugary breakfast cereal, fruit juice etc and it’s always been a fight as they have felt deprived. Interestingly now I am walking the walk they are way more understanding that all that stuff isn’t around and I don’t feel inclined to buy it for them. There’s plenty of Greek yoghurt, cream, peanut butter (whole earth has no sugar) and 90% chocolate, plus daughters baking. Also they get loads of sugar and carbs at school.

I think people are over sensitive about kids getting eating disorders if we question what they eat. The national debate about obesity means they are aware it has health implications. Mine are older, I know, but we’ve been having talks about moderation, being healthy, when enough is enough and me saying ‘no’ to the third helping of cake for a long time (clearly I was only saying no to them, not to me!)

Are there any specific foods you are worried about not giving him? What kind of food do you cook for both of you that you think you can’t eat?

Hi mjames, and welcome.

Nuts are a wonderful source of fats and protein, but some have more carbs in them than others. As BSD is all about low carbs, obviously some nuts are better than others – though all need to be eaten in moderation.

Here is a link to the carb values of various nuts which you may find useful………………

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/nuts

I love nuts and was happy to see that nuts are ok on the BSD. Does this include all nuts? or are some better than others for diabetics? Thanks

Hi Kelsbells, A child should definitely not be on a calorie restricted diet nor should he have carbs restricted or reduced except for bad things like processed foods. Depending on what your 6 year old eats it is common here to give the kids their normal meals and have the same without the carbs and / or add extra veg for you. However, a six year old might still be on the burgers and fish fingers (not together I hope) so it might be really difficult for you. I hope someone comes on to answer what they do based on their own real experience. Good luck.

I finished the book today and am starting tomorrow. I’m a single parent and my main reservation is how I’m going to manage cooking something that will give my 6 year-old’s growing body everything it needs without me having to cook 2 separate meals. I don’t want him to think I have a “strange” dinner and cook “normal” dinner for him as I’ve heard this attitude can give kids an unhealthy relationship with food later on. But I’m not sure he should be eating the restricted calories of the BSD. Any advice is welcome. Thanks

Regarding chia pudding, the seeds kept whole produce a pudding with a tapioca-like texture that many people dislike. I don’t mind it, but OH wasn’t a big fan so now I grind chia seeds in my spice grinder before adding them to the liquid. They still produce their gel, still thicken the liquid to pudding consistency and still give generously of their fiber, but they don’t form those balls. The end result is a much smoother, even texture akin to regular puddings.

Cacao nibs have become one of my favorite things now. They are so crunchy and chocolatey. I could (and do!) eat them by the handful. I used to find them inedible because they’re the unsweetened tip of the bean and I couldn’t cope with what chocolate actually tastes like. Now I’m a 100% unsweetened gal all the way. I currently have 5 different types of unsweetened cacao in my cupboard — Ghirardelli bakers chocolate bars, two brands of cacao nibs, cacao powder, cacao butter and Tableya, a traditional Filippino preparation of pure cacao ground into a creamy paste and formed into tablets that you whisk into boiling water to make the most amazingly frothy hot chocolate.

I think a lot of people have to get the point in their low carb experience where they no longer have the taste for sweetness before they can truly enjoy the nibs. Most people on this forum, from what I’ve seen, enjoy very dark chocolate for its health benefits, but still have to have some sugared element. A single square of 70%-90% cacao dark chocolate as a treat is something several members enjoy. That last leap up to the 100% is a big one. Heck, I was shocked when I discovered that the complex, intense chocolatiness of bakers chocolate was a taste sensation. It didn’t even read as bitter on my tongue; just strong. I bought it as a “wonder how this would taste to me now” fluke, never expecting that I would absolutely adore it. I was a white and milk chocolate girl all the way when I ate carbs. Even 60% dark chocolate was way too scary for me. Sugar is worse than smoking when it comes to ruining a palate, I swear.

Hello to you positive thinker’s.
I don’t usually post here though do read your comments – I love hearing that us oldies are going strong and still are “in love” with our long term husbands. I met my later to be husband at a girl guide/Boy Scout Party when I was twelve! We are now 71 and will have been married for 46 years on 22 January.
X B

I like the way you think, Jackie! I so enjoy reading this thread and
celebrating all of these discoveries with you all. The story of butt
padding becoming an issue is a real one, however 🙂 I now have to
do a quick google search of any restaurant that is unknown to me
before making reservations, to make sure that the chairs include
some sort of padding, since I no longer have any of my own! I
can’t foresee the day ever coming when I’d be willing to carry a
“hemmarhoidal cushion” into a public eatery 🙂 🙂 🙂

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Allie

Flick, I couldn’t eat Chai pudding. The texture of that seems very unpleasant, but a few seeds mixed in with other things are fine.

Jackie, I’ve not tried many shops yet. I expect I’ll be able to find everything if I look round.

The link works thanks, Alliecat. Definitely sounds worth trying the raw ones if I can get those.

This isn’t my usual forum, but can’t resist saying CONGRATULATIONS to Flick on a lovely milestone. I so hope to reach my BMI in the next few weeks, and you are a great example to follow.

Busybee and Flick, what great results, clapping, clapping (can’t get to my applause emoji on my computer)

Natalie, your Sixers won at last, I see. And Marie123, after today’s match I guess your OH is talking cricket again.

Hope everyone gets through the weekend ok, nearly another week up.

MFODAAT

It depends on your exercise levels (and often, overestimates of exertion mean too much is eaten, or treats taken). I run and strength train, mainly using my own body weight, and often run up to HM distances first thing fasted, except for a mug or two of tea first, then have a breakfast of porridge (20g) with chia, and either a spoon of peanut butter or small banana and cocoa powder with full fat milk, or maybe eggs and spinach or just chocolate milk on my return. I’m not diabetic and am at my goal weight but I do this whether reducing or maintaining. Exercising while keeping lower carb does force your body to use fat for fuel which is a bonus as unless anyone is underweight, there is plenty to keep you going.

‘afternoon, everyone! I’m posting a link for my source for raw cacao
nibs, it won’t be of much help to anyone outside of the U.S., but it
is a very thorough explanation of this wonderful product and it’s health
benefits. It definitely qualifies as a “superfood”. 🙂 If any of you have
problems with the link, just let me know and I’ll do my best to summarize
it for you.

https://nuts.com/nuts/cacao/organic-nibs.html

Hey Squidge, 8lbs in 2 weeks sounds pretty good to me, by anyone’s standards. If you could keep that up, it’s a stone a month, so well done.

But do be prepared for it to slow down a bit now that you’ll be burning fat as opposed to shedding water, and may even have the occasional stall. I did when I started this time last year (longest plateau in first month was 10 days I think) but I still lost a stone in the first 4 weeks, so if it does happen to you, please don’t get disheartened, just keep plodding on and it will all come right. Forewarned is forearmed as they say.