Hello to all the elves’ helpers.

I’ve been offline again since my last post on Saturday morning and just look what I’ve missed! Such a wonderful discussion. Butterlover alerted me to your post, Esnecca, while we were having our weekly cuppa. Such clear sighted thinking, thank you. Thanks also to MnM for her own clear sighted variations on the theme, showing that, while we all have much in common, we also have our valid differences. Thanks, too, to all the other contributors. I’ve only had time to skim through and plan to return and properly read when time permits, hopefully tonight.

Weigh-in day, 62kg.
My new lows didn’t last very long. Took the easy way and shared the pizzas (1xGF, 1x not) that OH and 9yo grandson ordered while we were down at the marina for summer-opening fireworks on Saturday night and on Sunday an iced chocolate drink, again at the marina, in the deadly Spanish chocolatiers for afternoon tea. Didn’t enjoy it, drank half only. Then half a bread roll with x1 bbq sausage when we allowed grandson to be the bbqer-in-chief. Did enjoy that, but felt so bloated, uncomfortable – a portent for the Monday weigh-in which showed a gain of 1 complete kilo in 2 days. Let those carbs in again, didnt I? 300 gm down this morning, which took me to 62kg, exactly the same as last week but a disappointing 700 gm higher than last Saturday. Recycling again, but am determined that I will select judiciously at the x2 Christmas lunches and x1 dinner before next Tuesday and manage the in-between meals with care.

Happy weigh-in all, looking forward to reading the results xx

60.7kg, down 200g. Veg based day yesterday. Mushroom/courgette and spinach and 1 egg omelette fried in butter (lashings of salt and pepper) for lunch and cauliflower with butter and cheese grated on top for tea. With roast beef as a snack, also some salmon pate and abou 3 tablespoons of cream. Plus I finished off my seed/Parmesan crackers. 100g left til I can say I lost 16kg. Yay!

HI All.Im looking at christmas recipes and really missing the usual baking traditions. So Im cooking small cakes and biscuits to give as gifts. Also exploring panne cotta reciped as its mostly milk or cream with gelatine and a bit of fruit or berrys Im hoping to eliminate added sugar.my idea is to develop a desert recipe that is a somewhat healthy treat.Im ok to have less treats but i still want something.also challenged a friend to cook a pavlova without sugar when I go to her place.Im not too motivated at the moment so these activities Should get me in the christmas spirit. KOKO

❤️

*breaks into enthusiastic applause* Yeah! Go suck a lemon, asteroid belt! Soon you’re going to be nothing but a few meterorites getting flushed down the galactic toilet! (This metaphor doesn’t get any less bizarre as it develops. :D)

You are so right. I was being churlish and completely missing an opportunity to feel genuinely pleased. So …

High fives to me – fat deposited around my middle is finally beginning to give up the ghost, starting today with .5cm blasted off. It’s the beginning of the end for that pesky asteroid belt and I raise a triumphant middle finger to it.

Ha ha. So true. The manifold diversities of the human body!

Laughable?! It’s marvelous! Don’t minimize your hard-won accomplishments. Just because it’s not a monumental number doesn’t mean it’s not a clear win to be celebrated. You’ve been concerned that there was no downward movement on your waist since day 1, and now only three weeks later there’s been downward movement so high five yourself, strip to your jockeys, blast “Old Time Rock n’ Roll” and dance in your stocking feet like Tom freaking Cruise.

Everything’s normal in every week, Trish. Some people have had carb flu that lasted for three of the 8 weeks. Some never got it at all. We’re all weirdos in our own way. 😀

That would be such an epic triple date, Theo. I don’t know if El Pulpo can handle all that fabulousness at one time. The ground will shake from our bootstomps!

Thanks much for this helpful and encouraging feedback!! I’ll hang in there. I had expected these symptoms 1st week, just not this late. So good to know it’s normal in 2nd wk too.

Now I feel like digging out my angel’s wings, flying across the pond and joining you for a triple date at El Pulpo 😄 Navigation may be a stumbling block though, as not sure of even which state, let alone town, I’d be heading to😂

Oh hats off to you Alibalibee – that is absolutely stunning! 🌟🌟🌟89 kg here you come! Isn’t that feeling of calm control a wonderful thing.

Three weeks in and I’m still revelling in this consistent energy I have throughout the day. I really hadn’t paid attention to just how tired I was, how erratic my energy levels were. My sleep is significantly improved. A good 8 hours peaceful sleep is becoming the norm. These non scale benefits alone are enough to keep me focused.

You are very kind but I thought the half centimetre loss on my waist was laughable! I’m sure will start reducing eventually. Interestingly my clothes do seem to be looser and more comfortable. Perhaps the fat is softer.

On a brighter note my weight budged today after another three day stall, down .400g so I’m pretty chuffed. That brings me to a total 5.5kg loss.

Enjoy the day

Great to hear everyone’s updates.

Really pleased to hear that the wedding went well Abbado. Sounds as though you looked pretty amazing – hope you didn’t eclipse the bride?!😉

Cathy, you are so right, in that we now have the tools and know how to use them to immediately reverse any damage caused by the festive season.

Seasidenana, sorry to hear you’ve been poorly, and hope you’re on the mend now. You’ll certainly need all your energy for the big move on Thursday. What an exciting year you’ve had, as you say, who’d have believed what a difference a year can make? Hope it all goes well this week and that you and Seasidegrandpa will have a lifetime of happiness together in your new home.

DCT, what a portentous name you chose 😃 As you say, dreams really do come true with this WOE – just look at seasidenana 😉 Pleased to hear the scales are on a downward trajectory again. Keep going and I’m sure you’ll achieve your anniversary target.

Sue, you’re an old hand at this now, so I know that your new year resolution for 2018 is one you’ll surely keep.

Our anniversaries seem to be scattered throughout January – mine’s the 16th – but you know what, we are all victors for still being here, still reporting in, and still keeping on keeping on. Congratulations to us all xx

Hi Kentoldlady, good to hear from you again, and with such a wonderful success story. Well done.

You could join us over in our mainainers’ thread, you’d be very welcome – “After reaching target, what next?” – where we share hints and tips, and our maintenance progress of course, along with a bit of good-humoured banter.

Hi TrishMarie

Yes, what you are experiencing is totally normal and goes by the name of carb flu. Don’t be surprised if you get headaches too. Look upon it as a good thing, it means your body is running out of carb energy and entering ketosis, learning to burn your stored fat. Happy times.

Keep going, it will soon pass and you will be amazed at how much better and more energetic you begin to feel.

Well done on your loss to date.

Thanks for the encouragement and advice, folks. I have actually had excellent fats in my diet for decades now. EVOO has been the only oil in my house, real butter, avocado….but at 120 calories to 1 tablespoon of olive oil, that’s 15% of the daily allowance just on its own….but I know it’s essential to make all this work, so I’m just going to have to find a way. I drank a lot of water the last two days, BP is back to my more typical level of 105/65 but I have gained weight while adhering very strictly to calories and nutrient balances. We’ll wait and see how the rest of the week washes out.

Hi, I’m just starting my 2nd week on BSD and have strictly kept to 800 calories a day — a HUGE change for me and I’m proud of myself for finally taking charge of my weight and health! I didn’t feel super tired the first several days, but today and yesterday, I feel exhausted. Anyone else? Is this normal? Why now? What to do about it (besides nap all day….) …I should add that I lost 5.5 pounds last week (Week 1 on the plan). I realize half of that may be water weight. Perhaps strong weight loss is making me tired? Appreciate any feedback you can share.

Brussels sprouts, fried with pancetta and chestnuts – though I only have one or two of the chestnuts. We do it without the pancetta on a school night. I love Brussel Sprouts, even boiled. Even over boiled. I think they are much maligned. Yum. Going to definitely have some tomorrow.

Hi Mixnmatch, thanks for the support. Yes the gallbladder issues calmed down massively after a few days of some real discomfort. A scan has revealed no obvious stones, not what I expected but good to know. It could be that I passed them or it was more a case of gallbladder being inflamed?

Weigh them. There are 7 grams of carbs, 5 from sugar, in 100 grams. Carrots are heavy so 100 grams is a tiny amount. I’ve eaten exactly three times in my 14 months on the BSD, 50-gram servings of raw organic carrots cut into sticks. I gained two pounds overnight all three times. Could have been a coincidence, but I see no reason to take the chance. Get your Vitamin A elsewhere (spinach, kale, broccoli).

Hi Benns, most people on BSD either limit or avoid carrots as you say, because they are underground veges. Sadly, they contain a lot of sugar! The figure I found was 9.6g gross carbs, 6.8g net per 100g of carrot. If you are not counting carbs it won’t worry you but many people here try to keep carbs under 50g a day or even less.

If you’re looking for a chip alternative I’ve seen posts raving about celeriac chips? I’ve never had celeriac at all but it might be worth a try. Or if you type ‘chips substitute’ in the search box, top right, I’m sure there are lots of suggestions.

Good luck 🙂

My parents have a convection oven and it definitely heats more evenly and quickly than my gas oven, but so did the plain electric they had before. I suspect other than the timing, the difference is not having to stir or flip the veggies as much before there are no hot or cold spots to compensate for. That is true of the old-school electric oven as well.

I rarely roast brussels sprouts in the oven because the outer leaves always come off the stem a little and brown far faster than the core. I prefer to brown them in a sautee pan on the stove because I can keep an eye, more importantly a nose, on them to prevent them crossing the line into charred territory.

Well, they are better than potatoes! And it depends what else you’ve eaten, but broadly speaking all underground veg are best avoided during your 800 phase of the BSD. It won’t do any harm and they have vitamins in so I wouldn’t stress unduly but maybe not be planning on having any more as standard, unless that’s where you want to spend your carbs, of course.

During my intense middle phase of BSD I did not eat any root veg, which is as advised in the book. Now I have the odd bit of carrot if it’s in something, like I have the odd bit of onion and other higher carb veg and I am still losing weight. But I go out of my way to focus on eating the green stuff like spinach, watercress, green beans and red peppers etc which are lower carb. And I really don’t eat many carbs apart from veg and the bits in dairy. Oh, and dark chocolate 😬

I was looking for something to have instead of chips and decided to cut a couple of carrots into chips, tossed them in a little extra virgin oil and roast in the oven, they were really tasty but then I started reading a bit more about carrots and basically any vegetable grown under the ground and I am undecided if this was a good move on the BSD ? any comments, thoughts, ideas ?

Hi everyone, I hope this isn’t an imbecilic question. It’s my understanding that a “fan”
oven is a convection oven? That appliance is not offered in most apartment homes
here, just a standard range. I roast root vegetables and squash regularly with excellent
results, but is the convection feature necessary to achieve optimal results with broccoli
or b. sprouts? I do cauliflower weekly with olive oil and red pepper flakes, and I’m very
happy with the way it turns out. What do you think? Americans?
Thanks!

Allie

Thanks KazzUK, I don’t feel very proud today. I had a quick business lunch at TGI Fridays and make the rookie mistake of not checking nutrients. I opted for the hot boneless wings and was shocked to find out that they had 38g of Carbs. Completely messed up my meal plan today and put me well over the 1200 calorie mark once the dip was taken into account.

The only good news is that I have dropped another KG since Wednesday last week bringing total weight loss to 11 Kg in six weeks.

Extra rowing and cycling session for me tonight bringing today’s exercise time to 2 hours and 13 mins. Still got to get another 1000 steps in to hit the 10,000.

As I get near the end of the 8 weeks I am a little apprehensive about what to expect. Is my pancreas working normally or will my blood sugar level hit the roof at the slightest scent of carbohydrates? I guess it will be time for some experimentation.

Meant to say my plan also includes 800cal, max 20g carbs and as much water as I can remember to drink.

Yes, V. A fan oven.

And I adore roasted asparagus 😃

Thank you girls can’t wait to try roasted sprouts but will have to wait until I get home. Just one question Theo is 200C fan oven or not?

Californiagirl have you tried any other BSD friendly vegetables apart from sprouts and cauliflower?

Hi all, I’d love to join you, even though I’m a week late. I followed 5:2 then BSD for around 6 months last year and was delighted to lose 2 stone. Unfortunately, sugar and carbs crept back in and a stone crept back on. I restarted properly (after many attempted restarts) in Sept this year and was doing really well until I allowed a little sugar back in which led to a 2 week binge, why oh why do I do it to myself? Have pulled myself together again today and am determined to get back to my pre blowout state. I Iose very slowly and tend to get obsessed and weigh myself every day so was only using clothes to measure and had just managed to fasten up a lovely pair of trousers which I’d never previously been able to get over my hips. They’re now a long way from fastening, amazing how fast hard lost weight goes back on again. So, my goal is to fasten them again by Christmas day. I’d also like to lose 6lbs to take me into the next stone range. I wouldn’t normally consider this in just 3 weeks but I’m hoping a lot of water weight attached to all the carbs I’ve recently consumed might fall off once I’m back on track. I’d like to get back into eating just one meal a day most days, I felt fabulous on that – managed so far today so fingers crossed. Sorry for epic essay folks. Good luck to you all. Jules x

Yesterday I had not one, not two but THREE tablespoons of peanut butter after dinner (a pile of rapini so high I had to use to a serving platter as a plate just so I could have enough space to fit the pile next to the chicken sausage and krauts). I also had an ounce of Pili nuts. Then I tried a new yogurt — Bulgarian traditional made from whole milk and live cultures. It has half the sugar of Fage and even more delicious fat. It’s very liquid, almost drinkable, and tangy delicious. I swear those probiotic bacteria are the glitter of the food world. They brighten everything they touch.

This morning the scale rewarded my indulgence in healthy fats (500 calories in nut products alone, y’all) and probiotics with a new record low: 117.0lb. I’ve been hovering between my previous low (117.6) and 120 since I first dropped into the teens. The highest I’ve gotten was the day after Thanksgiving when I weighed in at 119.6. This is exactly how I want it to be forever. Just a hair under 120 for wiggle room while enjoying the rich pleasure of eating two or three big spoonfuls of peanut butter and a bowl of lush Bulgarian yogurt whenever the mood strikes.

Well done Allie. Hope o/h is feeling happier?

And yes, yet another stupidly busy weekend socially, and weight still holding steady despite 2 dinners and one lunch out in three days, with wine every day. Just half a pound up since Thursday, which is a whole lot better atm than any more loss. So all good here – how nice to be missed though xx

Allie, I also use a shallow roasting pan and cook at about 200`C, also turning them a couple of times.

Will keep an eye on this – thanks Mixnmatch.
Maggie

Thank you. I loved reading that other people had done it. I must admit, having failed to lose weight so many times before, I did not start with much hope.

This is not a diet, but a complete life change. It is that which is difficult to understand. But it does get easier.

Have the gallstones stayed calm? It sounds like if they have it was just part of that initial adaptation process we all have to go through to some extent. Well done on your weight loss and getting to your initial target so early. I am sure the HBA1C will have improved markedly after five weeks.

The light-headedness when standing up is most likely reduced blood pressure, I used to get that occasionally, after the initial ‘sodium depletion’ stage when all the excess salt that had been keeping our blood pressure artificially high was flushed out with low carb eating and all the lovely water. It settled down fairly rapidly for me, but if it keeps occurring it may be worth checking with your doctor.

thanks, Julia, I can see that I was leaving them in about 10 minutes too long. Hooray.
I have the answer! Much appreciated 🙂

Hey, Theo, your social calendar must have been busy AGAIN this weekend, because I’ve
missed you out and about! On the other hand, it’s given me an opportunity to get something
accomplished, not trading quips with you all day 🙂 🙂 :).
I’m really happy to hear that you’re stabilizing a bit! I picked up a lb. this week, after
staying the same for about 10 days I think. I’m not going to let it turn into a runaway
train, but keeping it all in perspective for the moment. No compunction to get rid of
it immediately, so that represents progress for me. Hope to see you later today!

Allie

I’ve been using the cookbook “The Roasted Vegetable” by Andrea Chesman for years. Lots of great recipes in it — her “basic” advice is oven at 425 and use a shallow roasting pan or half sheet pan — don’t crowd vegies — use olive oil or melted butter and for Brussels sprouts it’s about 15-20 minutes.
I turn the veg once or twice with a spatula to evenly cook —
You can add any herbs/spices/soy/sherry/garlic/sesame seed/ginger/balsamic vinegar/as you wish or feel inspired!

Thank you LTC. Excellent suggestion, particularly as I’ll not be having roast potatoes…. I’ll get a bit of texture/crunch with the greens instead. 🙂

Hi Kentoldlady — such a wonderful update! I remember your name from when you just started posting and I love seeing it again with such a success story! It will motivate so many people to hear of how well you have done and are doing — huge congratulations for all your hard work! BSD transforms our lives.
And I agree with your comments on the recipes — just simple meals work just as well and can be easier to manage if the recipes seem too complicated.
You are going in to 2018 on a high!

Flick – it’s inspiring to see your results, well done and thanks for sharing. Particularly great result on the BMI, wow! Isn’t it cool seeing it go down like that? What you explained about stalling was of particular interest…isn’t it funny how our bodies have their own little patterns like that? Good on you for scheduling a self-care pedicure, a lovely treat to yourself, hope you enjoyed.

Verano – I imagine your guests were secretly impressed by your choice of olives rather than crisps in the social situation. Maybe you inspired them to look at their own habits differently too, who knows? In situations like that it can really be something as simple as people needing to see someone else taking the lead first and making healthier choices as it can provide ‘role models’ or give the permission that others have been waiting for to follow suit. I like your commitment skills there, because social situations can be so tricky. And as for the luminous yellow fat thing, if you’ve got a strong stomach then perhaps you may be interested to watch some YouTube vids on surgery or even an autopsy?…of course I absolutely appreciate this isn’t to everyone’s taste and may be seen as a bit grim…but it really can be a lightning bolt of realisation on what fat really does to our insides (it was for me, anyway!). If you’re a visual person like I am then this can be super effective!

KrysiaD – your rewards sound truly lovely. Like you say, living without worry is a reward all of its own so hooray for your progress. Dodging injections of lucentis, woop woop! I’ve been experimenting with some neuro-linguistic programming techniques recently, to get my brain ‘anchors’ set up so that (let’s say) I do really well at something, my reward is to try a new fruit or veg I’ve never had before, or I allow myself to go to a freestyle dance class and have a wiggle and boing about. Usually these classes cost £8 so are a bit pricey, but if I’ve worked hard then I’m allowed to go and bust some shapes in celebration. Making health, movement and fun the rewards has really worked for me. I like your thing about having a browse around the shops without the Husband…you can really focus on getting stuck in that way and have time for you :)

Esnecca – I really enjoyed the wisdom in your post, and you are so right when you point out that ‘you need a little joy in your life” is a unskillful and ill-considered thing to say to someone over their food choices. Surely FAR more joy comes from having a light, energy-packed, health-radiating body and mind, which performs beautifully and efficiently. I really hope the people who say that to you eventually have the realisations to overcome this old way of thinking and begin to gain the health benefits for themselves, too, as well as being able to encourage others more positively. You’re so right about the danger of clichés.

Jackie M – such great news on your new personal low of 60.9kg, you must be thrilled 🙂

Mariet – you have hit the nail on the head as far as I’m concerned regarding body shape changing despite the scales not showing much loss. Does it feel nice having lost your midriff and padding? Do you keep patting it and smiling? Hope so. I’m in a similar situation to you. Every day this week I have alternated between 57.4kg and 56.6kg, back and forth, back and forth despite being super focused and staying on the regime. Despite that, my physique is changing without a doubt…my Latimuss Dorsi are getting smaller when I pinch them, as is my bum. Plus my beloved pair or perfectly fitting black jeans are now slightly too baggy, which is a shame in one way but a grin-inducer in another. We both appear to be on the right path so let’s keep going eh?

Same here, not tempted at all by unhealthy foods at the moment, which I find remarkable. The cupboards are still filled with crisps, salty nuts, cheeses,….. my daughter happily munches them and I don’t care. The mind can be powerful once you’re determined.

How is everyone else doing?

Hello all. Just thought I would.popback in and tell a bit of my story. I joined this site a few months ago and found it really helpful.

I was dx as type 2 diabetic on 29th june this year. One of the first things I did was buy the 8 week book. Then I decided to throw away all the diet advice I had been given by the nhs. Much of which is backed by tesco.

Then I started the 8 week diet. I soon ditched the recipes because they were fiddly, expensive and took far more time to cook than eat. I found that they made me focus too much on what I had to eat ( or not) and so decided to go for foods that were quick, but I still enjoyed.

I did about 14 weeks on the 800 a day. I then went to a sort of med diet, but still below 1500 kcals.

I weighed 101kgs the day I was dx’d. Today I weigh 67 kgs.

My hbalc was 53 on dx, on my last visit ir.was.39. This would put me at non diabetic. But I know that if I increased my carbs I would still be diabetic!!

I have never met dr mosley, but would.like to thank him for changing my life. There is a lot of info out there about the value of these type.of diets, but his was the first book I read about it, and it made complete sense to me. If you are where I was 6 months ago I urge you to keep.going. I have lost over 30 kgs, which I think is about5 stone. In less than 6 months. I am healthier than I have been for years, feel better and enjoy life again. Not everything is perfect and I could murder a mince pie!! But life is full of compromise and I have decided that I www ould much rather still be able to see in a few years than eat a mince pie now.

I wish you all luck, good health and a long life.x

S-G, Allie – I have the Taubes book also but haven’t read it and probably won’t. Just because I read The Obesity Code (Fung) first (who also gives loads of examples and studies). When I picked up Taubes’ book to read – it seemed to me to be saying pretty much the same things. So I moved onto Grain Brain – Perlmutter. That’s basically about the effects of gluten on the brain in particular but also covers the effects on the body also. That was a really interesting read and I recommend that definitely. Sugar and gluten – to me, they are the baddies and to be avoided if you are hoping for your senior years to be healthy. That’s just my opinion.

Kazzee xx

Tasberry, above are all good suggestions. Homemade salad dressing (small blob of Dijon mustard, 1 Tbs vinegar, 2 Tbs olive oil, salt & pepper shaken up in an empty jar…toss in a half a garlic clove smashed or herbs for extra flavor if in the mood) on a large tossed salad gets you a long way. Generous butter on veg, tuna salad made with ample mayonnaise will do it. It ends up looking like not a lot of food on your plate for the number of calories….but that is deciveving because it is so filling due to the extra oil. It is HARD to get used to after decades of listening to the old low-fat preaching….but give higher fat a whirl. Its also great for your skin.

I will try to get through it as I never give up on anything except for a book called The Corrections which I have never managed to finish. Weird book. Having been on my own the last 5 days I have found that food has no interest for me, it is just a means of fuelling my body. I have sat down at the table for every meal but the eating was just boring I think eating is a social event in my house as we always sit together and talk.

Kazz, recommend you Google recipes for roasted broccoli / cauliflower / green beans. All more or less call for preheating a baking pan in a very hot oven…then once hot, tossing the veg with oil, salt & pepper and then throwing onto the hot baking pan. Objective is to get one side nice and browned (no need to turn over) and finish with fancy extras (like the wonderful pancetta suggestion). I agree with you….roasted veges are a revelation.