Ali, yep, you have the low carb flu. The good news is that you should be within a couple of days of getting over that (the really crummy part) and in another week should feel pretty good.

It sounds like this is your first time doing low carb. If so, you have in your grasp what low carbers call THE GOLDEN TICKET. You only get this once as a newbie….but you will lose weight like crazy, and it will never happen again. Once your body figures out what is going on and learns to switch over to burning fat and ketones, it will remember that forever. If you chuck it in now and start eating carbs, if you try giving a low carb diet a shot again it will work….but not as fabulously as your very first time. Of course you will not feel like total crap on future go arounds. But that is the price you pay as a first timer….but the rewards are amazing if you can stick with it a few more days. You are almost there.

You might try upping your salt intake a good bit Often the headachy stuff is from a salt/mineral impalance and drinking some salty broth helps a lot.

You could also try eating a bit more so you are not dealing with both the 800 calories and the low carb at the same time. For the first 10 days you will lose enough with just the low carb alone and then could go back to the reducing your calories. Eat something fatty and filling….up your fat intake. Have more butter on your veg. Try a brown butter sauce (cook 1 Tbs butter in a skillet until it turns a golden brown and then add a squeeze of lemon) over some cooked fish or chicken filet.

Just be a little bit easier on yourself……an extra 400 calories right now to help you through this is better than dumping the diet. So do only what you can handle. Its a marathon not a sprint. It is a whole different ball game once you get over the low carb stuff. Hang in there…good luck!

Four weeks in now. I am on my way home to Australia again, this time from a UK trip. Haven’t weighed myself for a week and a half but had to buy new jeans in the UK!!! (For the right reasons…. :-p )

It will be nice to have some “proper” food again, having lived on protein shakes and bars with the odd salad and eggs thrown in – plus plenty of tuna and salmon.

I have managed to keep up the cycling, on hotel exercise bikes, averaging 80 mins a day over the four weeks. No alcohol for four weeks either and that has been difficult on the long haul flights. I feel pretty energised though.

Blood sugar readings are averaging around the 5.1 mark for fasting over the last three weeks. I know that I shouldn’t read too much into that but it is keeping me going.

I am surprised, but shouldn’t be having read the posts here, that I don’t really feel hungry, and actually have plenty of energy.

Day one here too, 12 hrs after you Melnz. Ended a weekend of walks with cheese and wine with the extended family, but also cooking a pot of butternut squash soup for lunches in the next few days. Short run this morning, then a berry/almond smoothie. Excited about this.

Hello all

I decided to start a thread for those in their first week to discuss problems that we’re having (if any) to get support from each other and from all you who have been through this already. I felt like that there wasn’t too much on here about the negatives of starting out and so thought we might be able to help ourselves through the tough times. The more experienced BSDers on here are really great, and I love reading all the threads with loads of great advice in, but I think sometimes it can be easy to forget what it’s like in the first week when you’re denying your body everything it craves. I seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time on here reading everything that I can, partly to keep me busy because at the moment it seems to be an awfully long time in between meals!

I’m on day 5 now and have had horrible carb flu this weekend – really bad headaches, feeling nauseous all the time, and being really irritable – I gave my son a half hour angry lecture about not doing one piece of homework, and nearly stormed out of the super market because it was full of Christmas cakes and pastries.

And yup, got the keto halitosis as well, although I was strangely elated when my husband told me, very gently, that my breath smelled really weird – I knew that meant I was going into fat burning. I’ve read it doesn’t last very long, but also that it’s due to eating too much protein, which is weird, cos I’m mostly veggie and don’t eat very much protein i thought.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though: this morning I woke up feeling great, not particularly hungry and full of energy. Ate my breakfast of yoghurt with berries and seeds, was raring to go. This only lasted as long as the cycle to work, and I’m now back feeling dizzy and weird, head aches again, but the fact that I experienced that this morning gives me hope. I guess that it’ll take time to get rid of that carb flu feeling altogether, but I’ll get there.

And I’ve already lost 3kg, which is motivation in itself, as is the fact that I didn’t have to strain to get my cycle jacket done up this morning. It will get better! In fact, it is already!

Rant/spiel/monologue over!

Ali xx

well, …..a whisper from the far south!
break needed for multiple reasons….mostly work deadlines and attention to other priorities (mind you, I write this listening to an interview of one of the founders of “black lives matter” after the Australian marriage equality “survey” which thankfully resulted in a resounding yes vote!! and I still struggle with the personal/political!!)

anyhoooo….just read assiduously through probably weeks and weeks of old posts and hoping to be welcomed back to the fold 🙂

me….recovered broken rib…still recovering broken toe (sorry …and seriously sympathetic, Heather re slow healing injuries and work!)….more than enough people staying and while mostly on BSD friendly eating….not counting Kg etc

However, Mary. I really wanted to add a hopefully useful input re your psoriasis

Some years ago, I attended a great seminar by a prof Hollick who presented alongside other things, some very interesting research on vit D…and interestingly, since then (as I think I posted some time ago), there’s also interesting research on Vit D deficiency in both obesity/insulin resistance and depression

see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3130965/

http://drholick.com/

hope some of it may be of use

Me…I’m OK if hankering some “quiet” time after too many visitors and deadlines!!
weight….not down as stopped “diet” but not up (well, 1kg) as still on “principles”….just over 4 weeks to Christmas so still hope for the 70kg weigh in !

Summer here….my busiest time re work but will try to check in, as….well, it’s a good thing and you’re such an amazing team!!

I’m very close to 11,4 so I should be there by Wednesday, but I’ll be away from the internet by then, until at least Thursday, more likely Friday, and away from my scales effectively until Saturday, as my most meaningful weigh ins are always first thing in the morning.

Esnecca, Luvtocook, do you really mean three/four days of no food at all? (Other than water.) :0

Good morning

I had a mixed day yesterday. We were eating out last night and I didn’t drink my full quota as a result. I find that, subconsciously, I drink less when I know I’m going to be away from home. It the past I have been to a restaurant that doesn’t have toilet facilities on the ground floor, and although this is very rare, it can cause huge problems. So, I tend to drink less water on the days I know I may have a problem. There is no excuse today though as I’m home!

Have a good day….. just 2 left now!

Krysia you are absolutely right. I just wish more people would post just to give encouragement to those just starting on their BSD journey. We know it can be done and whilst the medical fraternity are, in the main, still promoting outdated ideas, I guess it’s up to us to help spread the word.

Brava I also use fatsecret as I find it less complicated than MFP. Water is very important but other liquids also contribute to the over all amount you should have each day. I’m not sure what the exact amount of fluid is but strangely enough we are conducting a little ‘experiment’ with water on another thread. Theodora has reached her goal weight and gone under it and is also finding it difficult to gain a little. She drinks lots of water but with a lower consumption she has started to gain weight. On the other hand I, who don’t drink enough, find that when I increase my intake the scales move down. This is in no way scientific but I guess the best way is to try it and see!

When I commenced the BSD on the 1st of September 2017 I was a type 2 taking novamix 30 12 units pre breakfast and 34 units pre dinner. I weighed 104.6 kg which is in the obese category for my 170 cm height and my hbac1 in August was 7.6.
After following the program for the last 12 weeks I am now 91.4 kg’s and last weeks hbac1 was 6.1 and I am no longer injecting insulin morning and night. I am still taking Byetta 10 mg pre breakfast and evening and Diabex 1000 with those meals. My bgl figures have tracked steadily throughout and I can’t believe the difference in my well being following this lifestyle change,
I have dropped two trouser sizes and have had to purchase some new clothes but am very happy to do so.

I am thinking of switching to 5.2 from the first of December but may continue on the BSD path asi continue to my goal of 72 kgs. My doctor was amazed with my results when I saw him this afternoon and I plan to continue to shock him when I go for my next hbac1 in February next year.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to these forums as the support network and willingness to share the ups and downs of the journey is invaluable.

Good luck on your own individual journeys

Best wishes

Cameron
Melbourne. Australia
20/11/17

I wondered what that blur of shocking pink was way over yonder. Thank you, Theo. I’m sure you’ll cheerlead this even more wildly: I bought a pair of black suede Calvin Klein ankle boots with a 3-inch stiletto heel to celebrate being under 120 lbs for the first time since puberty. Embossed with a tiny slightly metallic snakeskin pattern, no less. I asked my OH if they were hot and he nodded soundlessly with his mouth hanging open. Now that’s what you call a NFR. 😆

Thank you, SunnyB! I am enjoying it so much that not even my mother’s plaintive plea that I eat her mashed potatoes and pies at Thanksgiving on Thursday could dull my glow.

Good luck Melnz! My first few days have been up and down. First day was easy, very hungry the next day, then the carb flu hit good and proper. I feel as if I’m coming out of it though, touch wood. Have managed to successfully fight the voice in my head telling me that I don’t need to do this and that surely eating a piece of toast wouldn’t be disastrous. I was practically weeping in the supermarket yesterday looking at all of the Christmas goodies! I’m heading into day five tomorrow, and have lost at least 2.5 kg already. Hope you enjoy your salmon!

Thanks SunnyB, I’ll keep you posted 🙂

An update 10 days later. I’m using a tracker called Fat Secret, awful name but very useful programme. It works out fat, protein, carbs and calories and with its help I’ve stayed at around 20g or so carbohydrates and only once gone over the 800 daily calorie allowance. I’ve plateaued again with the net result of a 2lb loss since I started this thread. In a way, I don’t mind. I know I’m eating far more healthily and I expect there is some impact on my pre-diabetes blood sugar. Clothes alone indicate a change in shape even though the recent weight loss is so low. I’d recommend the tracker, much simpler than MFP seemed to be, but still useful. I read lots on these threads about drinking vast quantities of water, I’m not doing this really, I find it hard to see if it would promote weight loss, but what do I know? Advice welcome as always.

Hey Martie – that sounds like foods for a really great start, go easy on the quinoa and you should be fine. Don’t worry about getting the carbs super low right now. Get yourself used to the pattern of things, keep the calories as close to the 800 as you can and once you are in the stride, start looking more closely at the carbs. Most people get on fine at around 30g to 50g, but I personally find I need to push much lower, if I want to see real results but as I said, give yourself a chance to get the basics under control and any carb withdrawal issues have settled first.

Best of luck for a great day one tomorrow and we’ll look forward to reading of your progress.

Woo Hoo!!! Way to go, Esnecca! After all you diligence and hard work, you so deserve this amazing achievement. Enjoy it!!!!

Onetowatch, I’m with you. I’ve been following this cycle for almost this whole challenge. I’m good for 6 days then one blow out at a social event and back to square one.

I went with friends to a Chinese restaurant on Friday night. I always find Chinese tricky and everyone decided on a banquet rather than individual dishes so I limited myself to small amounts of dishes that didn’t have obvious sugar glazes and avoided the rice. No dessert but there was a cocktail and some scotch and soda as well. Then a 48 hour fast over the weekend and today up 1.5kg from Friday. Disappointing! I know it will go again in a few days but I seem to be further than ever from the final goal. I am thinking I might be better off just being happy with the level I am at, the frustration would be a whole lot less.

Here we go! Day one. I am like you Roo76, I need to get my exercise in early before I know what I am actually doing! I went to the gym this morning, had a breakfast frittata ready for afterwards, and have planned salmon salad for lunch and chicken with asparagus and mushrooms for dinner. I had a very indulgent weekend away and while I walked a half marathon, I more than made up for it with food and wine! Like all of you, I have noticed the weight creeping on and my clothes just don’t feel comfortable anymore. I actually feel excited – even though I know this will not be easy.

There you are, luvtcook! It’s very nice to know that you look for me each
day….I look for you, too 🙂 I have very high hopes for you because I recognize
your desire for knowledge as well as success. I wish I had found this forum
before I reached maintenance, so you are well ahead of the game in that
regard. I’ve just printed out your recipe for cauliflower and roasted red
pepper soup. Time to leave my summer eating plan behind and focus on
winter fare. Are you on day 3 of your full out fast? I definitely believe in
trying this once a month, but I’ve got to get my weight stabilized first. It’s
interesting to me that we are of similar age, and also packed on the weight
over a similar time period, 17 years. Who would have ever believed that
could be reversed in a mere 10 months? Jackie has expressed the thought
that there might be a book in all of these success stories. I’ve been trying
to gently push Esnecca in this direction. Her food is inspired, even for
an accomplished cook like me (I’d hope so, after 48 years of entertaining
family, friends and business associates!). It’s great to have another BSD
foodie in our ranks. Do you know what drives me crazy? The USDA is still
recommending a food pyramid that includes 8-10 servings of whole grain
products at the base. My cynical self sees this as the work of the grain
and sugar lobbyists. Today’s grains are 80% genetically modified on top
of that. Our ancestors never ate a contemporary diet, why would we want
to? RUBBISH. Even the American Heart Assoc., although recommending
a mediterranean diet, suggests 6-8 servings of starch ea. day. Have I
missed what your weight loss goals are? Do you have the 100 club in
your sights? You will get here, I believe in you!

Allie

KrysiaD, your are more honest than I am. I am pre diabetic and rather than go into a big explanation….I just tell them I am diabetic.

But your are right. Servers are much more accomodating when they understand you have a reason for your special request rather than just being “high maintenance”.

Maybe some day when the world begins to understand that all the sandwiches and the starchy sides that come with every meal are not really good for us, lighter options will be offered as a matter of course. It is rather discouraging to open a menu that says “no substitutions” and offer fries/chips as the only option. My favorite Thai please is now used to my telling them “no rice” and pulling out my little container of cauli rice to replace it.

Hi Verano
Have been thinking about the BSD as we had a lovely – but bitterly cold walk around the parkland at Oxburgh Hall. It’s not just coming off diabetes drugs – there are many many posters on this forum who have avoided going onto the drugs and insulin in the future because they have followed the BSD and sorted out their blood sugar issues. They will never get diabetes – which is a real success story also.

In the National Trust Cafe they only had filled bagettes or Jacket potatoes. The new thing I have been doing is to say that I am managing diabetes without insulin and please could I have some extra salad leaves with the sandwich filling – but no bread. This always results in a lovely salad.

Esnecca, congratulations. I’m with you – what you ate and drank yesterday sounds pretty much like an average day for me, and it WORKS. Well done you, how exciting, jumping, shouting, cheering, dancing and waving my pompoms for you,

PS I’m all for hallucinatory comas, if they give us results like this😁

Make that 10 pounds lost since the end of September. I was 117.9 this morning. I’ve only seen big daily drops like this during an extended fast. Yesterday I ate an omelette with one duck egg and one hen egg, 2 full oz of cheese (that omelette was literally bursting with melthy goodness), two strips of turkey bacon, 2 tbsp of peanut butter, at least 3 oz of Greek yogurt, roasted turkey breast, a whole head of chickory, 5 oz spinach, butter, olive oil, an array of my trusty fermentation products and a big ol’ 16-gram square of 100% cacao sprinkled with sea salt flakes. It was fat-tastic! I also drank like a camel, 105 fl oz or 3.1 liters.

I’m pretty sure I’m trapped in the Matrix or in a hallucinatory coma, but I can’t say I don’t love it. In two days I’ve reached the unattainable goal AND added wiggle room to boot. I feel a homemade grass-fed sirloin mushroom and Swiss burger coming on.

Hello everyone! Am enjoying catching up with you all – and welcome newbies too! I’ve been struggling I have to say- I have three days at 800
And then 3 at 2000 and then a fast for a day and off I go again. Any ideas how to halt this cycle?

Good morning, everyone! I’ve been a little slow out of the gate today. Seems
that I needed a full mug of coffee to get my brain in gear before sharing the
contents of such this morning 🙂 Thank you all for thinking of me. I’m just
fine, however.
I like the water nymph idea too, Theodora! Maybe we can get a routine
going with synchronized swimming? I recommend dusk as a good time
of day……I don’t want to scare small children with my pleated skin! I
understand EXACTLY how you might be feeling seeing the scale move
up .5 lb. a day. I’m deliberately holding off a weigh in til Weds. It will
be the last day of the challenge and time to see what effect the new water
management plan has made. We are really walking a tightrope of our own
devising though, aren’t we? Thanks to my low tech rubber band reminder,
I made it to the full 12/8-10 glasses of water yesterday. No time like the
present to get started again today, however!

See you all later, my friends

Allie

Hi Martie! I just wanted to pop in for a moment to tell you that quinoa freezes
very well. No need to feel compelled to finish it up if you’ve made too much.
I’m one of the one’s Verano mentions in terms of <20 gms of carbs a day,
but I’m very insulin resistant (also very impatient to succeed) so this was
highly successful for me. 10 stone in 10 months……
Very best of luck to you on your journey!

Allie

Ladies, I don’t have a shadow of a doubt that you both will!

This is encouraging news, Verano! I’m going to convert you to a water nymph
yet! 🙂 Listen to that butterfly on your shoulder………….she’s a pest, but she
means well. 🙂 🙂 🙂
I really enjoy reading the quotes from your daily inspirations book. They
are a great way to get focused for the day, aren’t they? Along with chatting
on the forum, of course!
Talk to you later,

Allie

Luvtcook, when I break fast (regularly do 48 hour ones, with nothing but water) I have whatever I fancy (BSD friendly obviously) and never bother with “phasing in” either. I do know a couple (not BSD, not overweight) who fast for 7 days twice a year just because he believes it to be beneficial, so she goes along for the ride, and they don’t bother phasing either.

Pleased you managed more water yesterday, V. But, like Allie, I’m struggling with remembering to drink it at odd times between meals and, therefore, am falling short – seems to me (though of course we are all different) that drinking before eating anything (not just meals, but snacks too) is a much easier habit to form, as preparing the food acts as the “reminder trigger” for me. But another pound on today, so at this rate I will zoom above my target weight!! If there is another increase tomorrow, I may go back to my usual “pint before eating” habit, which I found really easy and effective.

Allie, loving being thought of as a “water nymph”😀 Unusual not to have had a post from you this morning – how are you doing? Hope everything is ok?

Hi Martie some people do cut their carbs to fewer than 20g a day but that’s the exception rather than the rule. This is a ‘low’ rather than ‘no’ carb way of eating and it really depends on what your goals are and how quickly you want to reach them. Also, it’s quite a personal thing because some people can manage quite well with few carbs, but for others it’s much harder. I think the important thing here, especially if you have diabetes, is to eat the ‘right’ sort of carbs. So it’s a case of trial and error to see what suits you best. I think lots of people use 50g as the maximum number of carbs a day, but 30g is a popular amount. Have a look at Diet Doctor for some ‘graphics’ of low/medium/high carb foods. Also get yourself an app or computer program such as myfitnesspal or fatsecret which list the carb/calorie content of many, many foods.

Thanks Verano. I guess I’ll just go easy on the quinoa (I have made rather a lot though! :D) One thing that’s puzzling me is that people seem to be cutting out carbs altogether, have I got that right? If so, is that really necessary, or even a good idea?

I wear trousers with elasticated waists so I can hang onto them for longer! I suppose the battle has really just begun … we may have both achieved a new ‘status’ but it’s keeping it that will be the real test!

Hi quinoa and rice have similar carbohydrate values but the quinoa has more fibre. So yes better in some ways!

Well done on the rest of your shop sounds great.

Good morning plenty of water yesterday has seen the scales move down again today! Fortunately Luvtcook I haven’t lost the plot yet! Might not be too far away though.

S-g I just wanted to share this with you, and anybody else who may gain from it,

”You are creating everything that is your reality. Before you can create change you must take responsibility for your your actions and thoughts. When you take this responsibility you are taking the first steps towards changing your current situation.”

So I guess we both know what we are doing wrong, just have to put it right!

Congratulations Jim…and you must be loving the improvement in the sleep apnea. Those c-paps look like a pain. You must be thrilled to be rid of it.

Do not see Allie anywhere this morning which is rare. Allie, hope all is well.

Verano, my sympathies for your funk. We have all been there. If my head is not in the game, I don’t even want to bother weighing….and that is when I spiral out of control and only come to my senses 20lbs later when nothing fits. Hope you don’t go my route.

Hope you can find something that works for you….hang in there.

On breaking a fast: Esnecca, you are my kind of diner…..sounds scrumptious. All the mamby pamby phase in stuff sounds reasonable for a 30 day fast but after just 4 days it all sounded a bit nuts to me. Still, I think I will tuck into my usual kefir for starters and go from there. Minestrone for lunch and Thanksgiving feast for dinner (sensible feasting….hoping lack of hunger carries over a bit and insulates me from going too wild).

On the fast: after 36 hours I have had zero hunger, zero problems. No headache, no dizziness, no noth’n. Not doing much other than watching fasting videos and chatting with all of you, so there’s that. Some fasting bloggers did recommend that you make sure you are getting enough salt so that everything you drink doesn’t just over flush you and leave you dehydrated with no electolytes. So I have been sucking on some crystals of himalayan pink salt for both the salt and minerals, drinking lots of water between lots of cups of tea. I am much more a salt addict than a sugar person so that is fine with me. So far so good. Fasting seems to suit me.

…back again to report progress for end of week 3, which is another decent loss of 1.3kg (2.9lbs)

Total loss in 3 weeks = 6.9kg (15.2 lbs). Well ahead of target! 🙂

Well, I changed my shopping list and came back with tonnes of veg (no lentils, bulgur, rice!). I got aubergines, onions, peppers, button mushrooms, courgettes etc…cooked them in light olive oil with some spices and himalayan salt, let it cool down then put it in containers in the fridge.

I made batch of quinoa (is that better than wheat, lentils, bulgur, rice etc.?), and put that in the fridge.

I made a big batch of cauliflower, broccoli and carrots, which I steamed, then put in the fridge.

I also chucked a bag of spinach, a whole parsley plant and a cucumber in a smoothie maker with coconut milk, poured it into glasses, and shoved that in the fridge.

The only problem I have now is that I need a bigger fridge because I’ve gone completely over top and the kids are utterly appalled (as kids tend to be!) by the sight of so much veg!

Just need to quit sugar now…

Good morning …. just 3 days of this 4 week challenge left! I’m not sure how many of us are still trying but lets make the last 3 days count!

I make Esnecca’s shakshuka which is almost a cross between both recipes. I use spinach as a base with mushrooms and whatever I have but I add my homemade tomato sauce, only maybe 2 ice cube size pieces, but it”s enough to give it a slightly tomatoey taste.

Well I did much better with water challenge yesterday but I am finding it difficult to get a ‘pint’ before meals, I just forget until it’s too late. How did you all get on yesterday?

I went back to three meals yesterday and I think that may be the best way for me. I have decided that 20g in two meals, although doable, doesn’t really suit me so I’m going back to my tried and trusted 30g in the hope that I can get back on track. On the plus side I’ve still managed to avoid the digestives but have succumbed to crisps once this week. I was saving my OH from himself!!!!

Anyway, hope you all have a good day today.

Wow Esnecca! I love this happened whilst you were eating more than enough!

You ultra BSD guys should write a book! So much knowledge and inspiration combined. Though I’m not sure people will ever believe it’s achievable unless they try it themselves.

Xxx

Oh, I go all out. None of that nibble on yogurt and sip on soup for me. I hit the luxury proteins like they owe me money. My favorite break fast is 4 or 5 oz (grass fed, pasture raised, locally sourced) filet mignon, butter basted with a clove a garlic and cooked until just medium rare. While the filet is resting, I chop the clove of garlic, all golden and buttery, and add it to a huge mound of spinach (5 oz raw) that I quickly steamed in a tsp of water in a large sautee pan. Once it’s wilted I dump out the water, add a 1/4 tsp of olive oil and sautee for a minute. I make a side salad of romaine, a green onion, a persian cucumber, sprouts, sunflower/pea/radish shoots with a gorgonzola dressing (6 ml olive oil, 3 ml red wine vinegar, 8 grams sharp gorgonzola, a tblsp of the above mentioned fake mayo, s&p to taste, all mashed together with a fork and thinned out with chicken stock until it’s tossable).

Then I eat like I haven’t eaten for days. Which I haven’t! I do take it very slowly making sure I’m consciously chewing a lot. That’s one of the reasons I like a tall cut of steak cooked medium rare because you have to really chew on it, you can’t just inhale it.

Maybe it’ll feel different for you when you cross the 4-day line. My maximum fast length has been 72 hours so I can’t speak to that personally. Your tummy might be too empty for such a rich meal. If so, I’d still focus on getting the best, most delicious ingredients and keep it simple. Maybe sushi grade yellowfin, sliced as thin as you can across the grain and served with avocado slices, clover sprouts, the green tops of scallions and a dressing of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, garlic and the minced white part of the scallion. Or you could just play it by ear and see what looks good at the market. Pick whatever is the freshest and appeals to you the most and go to town.

Ensecca, that is why I love that salad….I can handle 1/4 of an apple and get my “fix” with only 8.5 net carbs.

I do have a question for you….when you have done your fasts, what strategy did you use to break the fast? Anything special? I am hoping a day of some vegetable soup and kefir would be fine (after only fasting 4 days). Two days post is Thanksgiving so that one is a bit more challenging. Hoping a bit of turkey and lot of veg….skip the low carb deserts …would work ok. If it is trickier than that, will need to scale back to a 3 day fast so I have more transition time.

The “break the fast” stuff seems a bit overblown to me as every time I have had the flu and quit eating for a day or two (or broth only for a day or two) starting to eat again just did not seem to be a big deal. Usually hit the yogurt hard then as well.

Would appreciate your advise.

Note to Allie: no worry about staying in touch. I need all the help I can get. And I truely look forward to hearing from all of you and reading your posts.

LuvTC

WooooHoooo Esnecca – and woweee! Couldn’t be happier for you – doing the happy dance in fact.😃😄😀

It IS a miracle – and long may it last. We’ve earned it, after all😄😃😀 And I just love the picture of you running around the house shouting Gooooooooaaaaaal 😄

Well done Jimnz – quite an achievement.

Hi arcticfox,
I ‘finished’ bsd last year and have kept most of the weight off, but with family issues giving a lot of stress, I’ve put on a bit. I’m not going back on BSD, but am now back on a Mediterranean diet and about to do a short period of 5:2 and then onto 6:1, with as many days in the week as possible eating between 8 and 9am and then before 5.30pm, leaving as long as possible for fasting.
I’ve been following the new MM book on your gut and the gut’s biom with interested especially since mine got blasted with 10 days, followed 2 weeks later by another 7 days general antibiotics in June. I am now working hard to get it back to a good balance and fasting is certainly a pat of that as well as a very wide range of fruit and veg.
The subject of the amount of protein and eating whole eggs both came up in the recipe book Dr Clare Bailey has just published – it is the best of the recipe books I have seen and had a lot of good veggie recipes in it, or easily adaptable ones.

‘Protein As protein cannot be stored, the average adult needs to eat around 45-60g of it a day. However, unless you are doing a very physical job or extreme amounts of exercise, more is not necessarily better. This is a moderate-protein diet, not a high-protein diet.

Bailey, Claire. The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book: 150 delicious recipes to mend your gut and boost your health and wellbeing (Kindle Locations 113-116). Short Books. Kindle Edition.

BSD is also a moderate protein diet.
On eggs;
6. Eggs. Not so long ago we were warned not to eat more than a couple of eggs a week, yet it turns out that the fear of cholesterol in eggs was totally misplaced. Eggs are a superb source of protein, rich in vitamins and minerals.

Bailey, Claire. The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book: 150 delicious recipes to mend your gut and boost your health and wellbeing (Kindle Locations 182-184). Short Books. Kindle Edition.

On the hemp products, I am not sure which country you live in. If it is the UK, the Sainsbury’s online has hemp powder, hemp oil, hemp seed and hemp ‘milk’. My local Sainsbury’s certainly had hemp powder available.
Hope the info is useful.
good luck

Luvtcook, Esnecca is right, as usual. Keep your focus, and you will soon leave
the odious “fat suit” behind with both of us Americans. Not to forget
californiagirl, either! We’ve got a pretty good track record so far 🙂 Anything
is possible with extra low carbing. Keep in touch!

I started this new way of life on 15 March 2016 – 87 weeks and 6 days ago.
Weight loss has been steady and has settled around 20 kg down.
HBA1C levels have dropped – at last reading- off the bottom of the Pre Diabetic scale. I had never got to the stage of being prescribed metformin or injected with insulin
Loss of neck circumference has totally stopped Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in its tracks. I no longer snore and the CPAP machine has been handed back to the local hospital that issued it in 2005.

I feel just great and intend staying with the current eating regime permanently – age is 77.

Jim

Apples are off the list for me, I’m afraid. Way too high in sugar for my <20 grams of carbs a day limit. I have eaten exactly one apple in the 13 months and that’s because it was a heritage breed developed by an aristocratic lady with a penchand for orchard work in the 17th century. Also because it weighed 50 grams so I figured I’d survive. I did survive and it was the best apple I’ve ever eaten. Great on its own as a rare treat. Never good enough to put in an otherwise sugar-free salad. 😉

Tomatoes I do eat on occasion, but I never cooked. I save up those sugars for a special occasion. They’re dedicated to making a Caprese with real mozzarella (buffalo milk or nothing), homegrown basil and a couple of ounces of freshly picked homegrown heirloom tomatoes dressed in the lightest drizzle (1/4 tsp) of kalamata olive oil and a sprinkle of alder smoked salt. When the tomatoes are in season, I’ll have that Caprese a couple of times a week. It’s paradise.

Having said that, I love shakshuka! I make it often, just not with tomatoes. I use greens, all kinds of different ones depending on what’s in the fridge. Last week I made it on a bed of chickory and spinach sauteed with a garlic clove and two pepperoncini. My OH devoured it so quickly his fork formed an elliptical blur from plate to mouth like a Looney Tunes character. 😀

Sunshine girl I understand your frustration! Like Cathy, I am a slow loser. I was looking at the weight loss graph/record app I use yesterday, in the month view and in the last 3 months I’ve lost a total of 1lb (looking at the montly average weight). This is because I lose then gain, lose then gain etc. I agree it IS hard to keep on keeping on when you don’t see the results you expect.
I find that I’ll have a big loss one week (a whoosh), and I record what is a “new low” for me. Then my weigh starts creeping back up again and it will take at least a month for me to see the “new low”‘on the scales again. It’s like it takes that long for my body to accept that is my weight now! Then the whole cycle repeats itself. For some reason, this latest cycle has taken almost 2 months, as last week I was finally back down to the low weight I achieved for my birthday back in September.
I have cut down on drinking wine over the last few weeks but I can’t see it has made much of a difference yet to be honest.
As Cathy said, she is proof that this WOE does work in the end, so we both have to keep plodding along! It certainly is a test of our resilience 🙂

Esnecca, yes the hemp hearts are the same thing as hemp seeds (the kernel if you will, but all the stuff sold has the casing removed).

So glad you are enjoying the recipes. They are ones that I enjoy that others have developed and posted somewhere. I need to put a spinach and apple salad that is an Ellie Krieger one that I made for the first time this week and LOVED. Another simple combination of a few ingredients that really bring the best out in each other. Another is Shakshuka….a tomato and red pepper stew of sorts with some spice that you poach a couple of eggs on top of. Soooooo good and BSD friendly. My son accuses me of being the Library of Congress of recipes….my computer’s reason for being is to save recipes. Love sharing them, but have no photos to add since none aremy saved ones jpeg format etc. Oh well. Leaves more to the imagination I guess.