Verano – Wow had not thought about using lettuce like that. Mmmm ideas for pack lunches are getting better. I will tell my son – butter king is fine just chuck the bread. I can see him doing that. He loves his food especailly meat and fish .
Salmon is our house is called chicken of the seas. He is also started talking about what we will be having for Christmas dinner !

Allie – Big WOW – loved your story, especailly about the hubby, hope he is on the mendWHAT a fantastic result with your weight lost , you must be a completely new person. And new wardrobe! I hope your hubby appreciates you and what you have done for him. He is one hell of a lucky man to have you and your support.

Question ladies ( for everyone) energy levels? Ones that have started..are you feeling very tired and could sleep into next week? ( then wake up thin on the outside and inside … 🤪) and the ones that have done the BSD for more than a couple of weeks – do you real get a burst of energy and start feeling better, good ,great? Have read a few threads and this seems to be a common themed. Is the burst of energy due to getting more active? And is exercise a big part of your life? I am okay with exercise.. will be going back swimming and gym when I am back in the driving seat. ( can’t drive for another few more days, need to wait for 4 weeks after having a stroke ) my son is okay wit him excerise but the hubby…hell no…no way boyo.🤨

Have a good evening catch up again tomorrow
Welsh annie

Capnbob – very interesting and informative post. I have also heard that the molecule size of LDL is important. The large fluffy LDL molecules that result from eating saturated fat are harmless but the small dense molecules that result from eating bad carbs and sugar are the dangerous ones.

Many years ago (in the early 80s) I was told by a Research Scientist (he was a fellow parent at the children’s swimming club) that they had just discovered that the dangerous fats were trans fats but that there was so much money to be made out of them that there was no hope of getting them banned even though they were so harmful. It is such a shame that the manufacturers are so powerful.

He said that the best thing we could do for our families was to make sure we didn’t feed them trans fats. I am a little ashamed to write that I didn’t really believe him. I was a young mum and must have been very stupid because I didn’t think trans fats could be that harmful – I thought that if they were dangerous they wouldn’t be in our food – would they!!!

Thank goodness that lots of manufacturers are removing trans fats from products now. But very sad that people – including me – have been eating it over all these years.

Hi RBeany – I don’t think there would be a problem posting the link for the yogurt culture. I’d certainly be interested in knowing where I could buy the culture. I too make kefir and somehow I always seem to have more product and more grains than I know what to do with! It’s good stuff though and I find the kefir I make often thickens to a yogurt consistency – perhaps because I use a lot of grains.

Thanks for the welcome back, Verano, Theodora and KrysiaD. I’m pretty pleased to get home and find I’d managed to keep things in control while we were away. Now I just need to get back to the BSD proper for awhile, to try to build in that wriggle room again.

Well done to all those who have lost this week and I’ll be visiting the forum regularly again and can hopefully join you all in posting some losses soon.

SunnyB – how brilliant that you stayed under target while still enjoying a wonderful holiday.

Well done everyone – some great losses this week. I am pleased to report a 2lb loss this week. Am sitting relaxing on a sofa at a pub/restaurant across from where I work. They are happy for me to just sit and relax with my coffee and don’t seem to mind how long I take to drink it.

Hi Juliet and a warm welcome to you also! 🙂

Marianne – I only weigh once per week on a Saturday usually, just because I’ve lost quite slowly and if I were to step on the scales every day and not see the digits move, then it would annoy me! I know what I’m like. Buffets are tricky – we had one a couple of weeks ago at work and it was totally refined carb laden. Not even any salad garnish! I knew in advance so had brought in a BSD friendly lunch box which I should have eaten beforehand, but I thought there would be something I could have. There wasn’t so I ended up have 3 mini veggie patties, minus the buns! I’ve learned from that!

Night all….
Kxx

Marianne- –

yup I get that with computers especailly in work.. then I looks like I have done nothing for 30 mins.

Sorry to hear about your son. You have hit the nail spot on. The tension and stress is unbelievable that you don’t realise you have tensed up. At the moment it is calm and relax at 🏠 hubby is drying out. We are on our fourth day. I have been through all the emotions with hubby. I am very lucky to have a great sensible son. He should not have to deal with his dad when drunk but he does. Thank you for your understanding.

I have been guilt buying a couple bars of chocolate 🍫 while paying for petrol ⛽️. Eat them very quickly ( thinking if I eat them fast it would not count ! Draft or what) or do a McDonald’s on the way home from work, just before tea. Then eat tea and then have seconds.

Now that an idea with the poached 🍳 I will try that over the weekend. And let you know if it worked for me.

So half way through second day and I am so hungry.
Did the blueberry and green tea shake yesterday – the boys were fine with it – me ugh
No carbs ploughlunch was fine did not miss the bread or crackers
Soy and ginger salmon with veg very tasty but by teatime starving so anything would have been 👌

Today did the mushroom with goat cheese- not a favourite, my son is not keen on 🍄 but he ate it.
Lunch was the peanut butter dip . I hate peanut butter but you know what with soft cheese it was yummy 😋 I knew the boys will like it too as they eat peanut butter straight from the jar.
For tea veg curry looking forward to that.

Take care
Annie x

Wow Sunny, sounds like a fabulous holiday. And well done on not piling on the pounds – you’ve done amazingly well.

As far as wanting to be in the same position as me, I’ve not been on holiday for 5 weeks (we missed you!) but, if I had been that lucky, I would be delighted to still be within touching distance of my goal. Well done.

Hooray, Verano! Thanks so much, now I get it 🙂 🙂 🙂 Whatever
your guilty pleasure, great work in resisting!

Bless him Theodora but he just forgets the way I eat now. Despite the fact that I have been following BSD for 16 months he is still amazed that I don’t eat bread etc. I have now given up because I don’t think he’ll ever work it out!

Hey, Verano – you need to train your husband better!😜

But well done on resisting😘

I’m tearing my hair out trying to download a playlist to my ipod and I’m sure if there was a seven year old here they would do it in a flash. So your question brings me back to sanity…

A British biscuit, sweet and crisp, is an American cookie
A British cookie is usually softer than a biscuit.
I don’t know what an American biscuit is but a scone is like a cross between a cake and a biscuit and can be sweet or savoury.
I don’t know what a Graham cracker is but crackers here tend to be very crisp and dry and you usually put cheese etc. on them.
A digestive is a British sweet biscuit and can be covered in chocolate or even eaten with cheese!!!
A British chip is a French fry and a crisp is a potato chip.

Don’t know if that makes it any clearer or not!!

Verano, I’m hoping that you will be able to clear up this distinction for
a dopey american once and for all….Is an English biscuit equivalent
to an American cookie? Is an American biscuit similar to a British
scone? Is a digestive like a hard crunchy U.S. graham cracker?
Finally, is a chip like an American french fried potato? Is a crisp
like a thin potato chip? My britdictionary grows daily, but I’m
still confused about these items 🙂 Sorry to be such a dolt!

Thank you, thank you, all this waving, jumping and cheering is certainly keeping me away from the biscuit tin. For the last two days my oh has offered me biscuits after lunch and both days I’ve resisted! I know that it’s only a small step but it will lead to a marathon.! Just off to have my three Brazil nut snack!

Welcome back SunnyB sounds like a fabulous trip AND you stayed well on track. These results just keep getting and better …. well done everyone!

Marie we all keep learning! It’s amazing how some innocent looking foods are really high carb. I was amazed at tomatoes and apples.

Veiled1, I know how you feel. I have done well low carbing and cutting out bread and pasta for lunch and dinner but not having toast or something bready for breakfast was always the hardest for me too.

I just posted a Savory Breakfast Bun on the recipe page. You microwave the mixture for 1 minute in a greased mug and then can split it and fill it with sausage, salmon, or it is great just split and toasted with some peanut butter, or jam. Hope it helps.

Good luck!

Actually, Verano, ignore that. Stupid question as it depends on how many calories are in it/how many I’ve got left!?!
I’ve just found it on fatsecret so next time I’ll also weigh it.
Marie x

Oh, thanks for that, Verano. I’ll do that next time. Can I ask do you eat all the chicken tikka or half portion?
Marie

Hello Everyone : )

I started 6 November too – do you have room for one more by any chance? Like Jillf I am a returner, having had success earlier in the year but losing my way after that and not really trying maintenance properly. I now weigh more than I did before I lost : ( Seems I’m either in healthy eating mode or stupid eating mode – and it’s been the latter for the past 4 months. So now – this is it. I need to fix things and get into habits that will become a long term fixture, not a phase.

I’m 51 in 5 weeks and would like to have lost 9 pounds by then. It doesn’t sound much but I know I tend to lose the first few fairly quickly then it really slows up. I do find not weighing myself every day helps and try and weigh in once a week. That way there usually is a drop, even if it’s only a pound or two.

So far so good. Yesterday was fine and I drank a lot of water. Right now I feel a bit funny – spaced out and nervy so I think I need to be drinking more fluids.

Well done to everyone for making it to this point – the next 2 weeks might be challenging but we’ve made the biggest step and we have fantastic sources of help and inspiration here on the forum to see us through tough times.

Onward and downward!

P.S. I chose the username Juliet as she’s what I’d love to be – the epitome of loveliness and adored by her lover!! (well you can always dream!) I won’t tell you my real name!!

Yes, Kazzi! the lifting of mood and endless energy we have when
ketosis is achieved, i.e., the burning of fat instead of glycogen
for our primary source of fuel, is utterly fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

Allie, something I meant to ask you, as you have reached your target weight, where did you go from there? What ‘rules’ did you follow? The book leaves you a bit high and dry.

Thanks,
love Marianne

Hello Folks ….. well, I’m back from my travels and not enjoying the UK weather on little bit! It was a blissful holiday, we enjoyed being in Turkey again and catching up with friends, then just loved being in Singapore again and after that it was on to the Maldives. The island was just a dream and completely wonderful. We will definitely be going back, question is when, ‘cos it can’t happen soon enough for me!

Have been browsing through this challenge thread and see there are lots of ‘old faces’ and quite a few new ones too. Hope you have all been going well and that you are all seeing success. Having been away from the forum so long, I’ve lost touch with how everyone has been getting on. Was lovely to have a complete break from tech though and just chill out, soak up the sun and simply be.

We arrived back in the UK last Wednesday, but my first opportunity to weigh-in was Friday, when I came in at 8st 6.2lb – so just a smidge under my target weight of 8st 7lb. This dropped to 8st 5.8lb yesterday, but I’m back at 8st 6.2lb today – but then we did have a curry last night and I indulged in an small onion bhajee and almost half a paratha too.

Kept things reasonably sensible while we were away, although there have been many cocktails drunk and the occasional little carby treat too – it was a holiday after all!! Sadly, I discovered that thanks to the BSD, Singapore Slings are way too sweet for me now, but Raffles have launched a new Sling, with a Sake base and no fruit juice, so much less sweet – they were very yummy and I have gained a taste for White Lady cocktails as well.

I believe – although I can’t be sure – that I stayed under target weight for the duration of our five weeks away. Had a couple of ‘indicator’ garments and they fitted fine throughout. Did weight myself three weeks in, as there were scales in the bathroom at the particular hotel we were at then and the reading was 8st 3lb, although of course I have no idea of their accuracy. Figure they are likely to have been more that 3 or 4lb +/- though, so at worst I would have been on target weight I reckon.

Anyway, I’m pleased that even though I relaxed the rules a bit, I haven’t whopped on heaps of weight pushing me above target and now I’m planning to get back to the programme. My aim for the rest of this challenge, is to regaining the wriggle room I had before the holiday, as I have no doubt it will be needed over the festive season!

Theodora – great maintenance there – would love to be in that situation and hopefully I can get there with some persistence. Also some great results being posted by others too – losses of 3lb and 7lb are very impressive! For those that haven’t weighed in yet, best of luck. I’ll be looking forward to reading everyone’s results.

Wow! Thank you so much Allie and Kazzeee; what amazing success you’ve had with the diet, it’s so very encouraging to us newies! Particularly in awe of you Allie, what a result! And to have maintained it for that period of time is very heartening for someone like me who has never managed to get beyond the 3 month mark. Tell me, have either of you had any weak moments and eaten stuff (usually the buffet isn’t it?) that doesn’t gel with the BSD principles, and if so how did you get your mind back in the zone?

Thanks for the 3 week plateau tip Kazzeee; I shall be prepared for that and probably avoid the scales for a week or two.

Do you weigh yourselves regularly? I think in the past the scales have been a double edged sword for me, sometimes they don’t seem to reflect the effort that’s gone in but others I get a pleasant surprise.

I felt 10 feet tall and very virtuous shopping in Asda a little while ago, I so enjoyed filling my trolley with ingredients for the recipes I’m going to try, and it didn’t even occur to me to slink a chocolate bar or pastry under the salad leaves!!! Deffo helps going with a list as you get round quicker and if it ain’t on the list, it ain’t going in!

Enjoyed a lovely Waldorfy type salad for lunch (from the book), very tasty! Asda do an 80g pot of cooked roast chicken with just a bit of salt, nothing else added, which I put in with it too. Perfect size for one!

Onwards and upwards!

Love Marianne

Well done everyone on the fabulous losses. Storming along! 🙂

I prefer to weigh just once a week on a Saturday, apart from first and last day of that particular month, so since 1 Nov, I have lost 1 lb.
I am attempting a 48 hour fast and am 18 hours in…. wish me luck! If I could achieve just half of MnM’s loss in one week, I would be delighted!

Marie if we have Indian food I always have the same as you, chicken tikka and salad but now I make my own mint and yogurt sauce. A few tablespoons of Greek yogurt, a minced clove of garlic, if liked, some grated cucumber, squeezed out, and some mint. I teaspoon, or to taste, of mint sauce or I keep mint in the freezer but I prefer the sauce, just watch the sugar. Saves lots of carbs, isn’t really ‘cooking’ and you know what’s in it!

Thanks for that sunshine- girl! I really don’t know what I did, one moment I was typing and the next everything had disappeared!

Hey, good to hear from you guys. So that’s 3 of the remaining trusty band of January starters checked in – now we need to hear from SueBlue and Seasidenanna (don’t think anyone else is left😭)

CC – everyone’s weight goes up after drinking water (or anything else for that matter). But it soon comes down again. That pesky pound is a stubborn critter, isn’t it? Have you tried upping your cals for a few days? Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but it does sometimes work. But you know what, I think that you are maintaining nicely – what’s a pound between friends?

DCT – I think that is one thing that we are all agreed on. Thank goodness we found this WOE, and have all taken control of our health and well-being. And, whilst I still have the odd indulgence, it really isn’t anything I crave unduly – yesterday evening, I had to FORCE myself to eat a bit of cheese, just to get my cals, protein and fat intake up a bit. Just a few short months ago I would have been having to force myself NOT to have the cheese!

Keep it up girls, and let’s hope the other 2 check in again soon.

Hi Donna,
Just thought I’d check in to say Hi and to see how you are doing.

Well, I managed to stick to plan during my visit home to Liverpool for my niece’s wedding. No potatoes or pudding, 1 glass of wine and soda at the reception – brilliant. Then, got home on Sunday evening, we decided on a takeaway as there was no food in the house (or I couldn’t be bothered cooking) I only had chicken tikka (dry meat dish)with salad, but had 2 pots of the sauce with it – and sent my bgl readings shooting up to 8! So, when I said earlier that I’d only knowingly eaten something wrong once, make that twice. And you know what, it was the same dish!

So, back to the drawing board for me. I’ve been a bit lazy food-wise recently (also, I’m no cook) and pretty much have just been having protein – mostly meat – and salad or green veg for dinner, (that’s why I fell for the sauce with the takeaway). I need to widen out what I’m eating like I did when I first started BSD, so that’s my goal for the rest of November and December.

How are you doing with food? Are you still doing well? I’d love to hear how things are going.
Take Care
Marie x

Moojar, great to hear you sounding so focused and determined.

I agree, forget the shakes and eat real food, much more satisfying IMO. I reached goal early May 17 and have kept it off since (in fact 8lbs under goal atm) and all by eating real food, sometimes fancy recipes, but more often just good, BSD friendly ingredients prepared simply, with the minimum of fuss – and I do make a mean omelet, one of my favourite standbys for any meal of the day.

Keep it up, and good luck.

Hi also to Jill and Marianne – welcome!

Marianne – yes I did see that tip about the poached eggs and tried it out at the weekend. Fantastic! I wish I’d known about that years ago as my pet hate is the stringy froth!

I’ve been doing this since the middle of August. Lost 19 lbs so far and had a 3 week plateau about 3 weeks in. That seems to be quite normal. I stuck with it because even though the scales didn’t move, I could tell in the way my clothes fit that something was happening on the inside! Hard to describe, but I just felt thinner on the inside! Plus after the first few days of feeling hungry and a bit grumpy and tired, I began to feel energised, could walk quicker, my mood lifted! The hardest thing I have found is having to un-learn all the stuff we have had drummed into us over the last 40 years regarding low fat! My MM book is in my bag at all times so I can refer back to it or remind myself of something.

Anyway – good luck to you all and I look forward to cheering you on!

Kazzeee

I’m here, Allie – cheering with the best of them. Hip hip hooray🎆🎇🎊

Well done, Verano – I’ve never doubted that you could, and would, do it!😝

Congratulations, Verano, on avoiding the crisps and biscuits! My
purple pompoms are in the air..Backflip, backflip, backflip. 🙂
I WILL, I WILL, I WILL take a 40 min. walk today, no excuses!

Everyone, we’re 2 weeks in tomorrow. Let’s make today count.
Seal the deal with one very loud cheer! Theodora?

Crikey, been some good results this week – well done everyone.

MnM – 7.5lbs is PHENOMENAL!!!!

Mokovex, and s-g over 3 lbs is pretty fantastic too.

2lbs losses are impressive as well – well done Mariet and Busybee.

And to everyone else, all losses are losses, and to be grabbed eagerly with both hands, and held onto for grim death!!

After all your astounding results, mine result pretty boring again (albeit very satisfying to me) – still maintaining and hovering around the 8st mark (+/- a pound), which seems to have become my new “normal” – target was 8st 7lbs but haven’t been approaching anywhere near that for over a month. Today I weighed in at 7st 13lbs. Going away for a few days to stay with some old friends next week, bit of a reunion as there will be 4 couples, all the guys went to Uni together. The hostess was a professional chef so will be having some delicious food, and considering I am 8lbs below target atm, I probably won’t restrict myself unduly, but will eat to satiety and, hopefully, no more. (Do you think it would look rude to take my own yoghurt and berries to avoid her delicious freshly baked pastries she always provides at breakfast?)

Keep up the good work everyone – you’re all going great guns.

Welcome, lovely ladies, to this forum! You will look back on Nov. 6th
as the day that changed your life. I’m now a maintainer of 6 1/2
months who managed to lose an extreme amount of weight (140lbs)
in 10 months time. I’ve lost an additional 6lbs while in maintenance
and am currently 12lbs under target with a BMI of 21.69. All things
are possible with this way of life and the generous support from
the formums There is nothing we BSDers enjoy more than sharing
tips with newbies, so please feel free to present us with any
questions you may have going forward! It’s a learning curve, so
just take it one day (or one meal) at a time. I’m so happy to see
you here. Just jump into any thread if you think I can be of any
help 🙂

Annie and Marianne, I can so relate to the uncertainty you live
with each day. My husband was diagnosed with stage 3 heart
failure in 2016 and underwent 2 complicated stenting procedures
in june 2016. From time of diagnosis I was on a mission to
change our diet to prevent his condition from worsening. I
studied heart healthy diets and the particular nutrients that
supported it. I knew of course that heart failure wasn’t reversable
but I was hellbent on preventing any more plaque to build up
in his arteries! The other promise I made to myself was not to
ask him to make any changes that I wasn’t willing to make myself.
Thus began our journey. Alcoholism wasn’t part of the equation
for us, Annie, but I feel for both you and your husband. Having a
TIA on top of it must be terrifying.

Best of luck to you all on day 2!

Love,

Allie

Haha, Mary – one of my favourites… “well there are no wrinkles on a balloon”! But I do have what my grandma used to call a wattle from my reducing double chins – slack skin and going all crepey! I can see my mother’s neck appearing! If only I could tighten my neck skin at the back! But hey, I’m a non celebrity 55…..! Thankfully no one sees my body that looks like a roadmap of stretchmarks! What with that and psoriasis, I stopped caring about that sort of thing years ago!

Aubergine lasagne – the Hairy Bikers, when they were doing their hairy dieters programme, did a lasagne but they unpeeled some large leeks and used those uncooked strips instead of pasta sheets. I never got around to trying that but I always thought it was a good idea. Thinner “sheets” with a bit more give, rather than aubergine that goes a bit sloppy. We should try that and compare notes!

Mary, I drive to Whitlocks End and get the train from there, into Bham. In the school hols I can do the trip door to door in an hour but in term time, I can add at least another 20 mins to the journey each way. Last night I left the office at 5.20 and got home at 6:50! And this time of year, you get late running trains due to “slippery rails” and “leaves on the line”!! There was an announcement once from the conductor – “please take care when alighting from this service. We apologise for the gap between the train and the timetable!” I’m used to it, even though I moan! 🙂

I shall indeed let you know what I learn regarding autophagy however, I can’t remember who, but there are one or two people quite knowledgeable about it on this forum.

Kxxx

Thanks for that, in my book the page is 118 so I found it by looking for Getting To Know……. Yes it definitely says ‘or log into the bloodsugardiet where you can store your data safely and anonymously. The site will also provide useful updates on the latest science and a wealth of other information’. There is no such data saving on this site and over the past 17 months I have never seen an update on scientific studies, as for the wealth of information, there is all the pre-amble about the different versions of the diet and the FAQ pages but there is a lot more in the book.

This site pretty much runs itself or should I say, we run it for ourselves and maybe that is where the wealth of information comes from. It is a shame that there is no-one monitoring (yes you can contact admin) the things we are saying and the advice we are giving, we are all only speaking for our own experience. I can see on the side of the page there is a Tweet link to Michael Mosley but, I am like you, what the heck is a tweet, my mobile phone is 12 years old.

Marianne you must have pressed the return arrow (top left) which takes you back to where you were before you posted. You should always use the Forums key and go back to the main menu.

Morning everyone, ok, when she was good she was very very good (rhyme from my childhood) – weight loss is taaadaaaaa 3.25lbs. I have just dipped under 12 stone at 11.13 3/4 and a kilo weight of 76.2, so not far from getting rid of the 76 mark. Which is great when 6 days ago I was over 77 kg.

Just done a new 30 min aerobic DVD with Davina McCall and found it quite fast. Also arranged to go for a long walk with my friend tomorrow morning. Oh it will be so cold, we had frost here this morning and 0 degrees. I guess Autumn / Winter has arrived.

Well done to all those with losses, even the little ones, and have a good day.

Half a pound down for me, to 9st 1 and a half lbs – I’ll take that quite happily!

Go Go Mokovex, you let the nice bacteria win yesterday! 😉

Well done to everybody!

MixNMatch – I’m thinking they’ll probably do a second big section in this Saturday’s paper so you may appear there – will look out for it online!

Cathy do you know what? It’s 1 lb – it’s neither here nor there! If I was you I would already happily be telling all the people you want to tell that you’ve lost three stone!

Not wanting to break this great run of losses I too can report a smidgeon down 0.2lb. Ok so nothing to shout about but it’s better than a gain I guess.

Well done everyone and sorry I’ve not posted much. Hope week 2 is good for everyone.

Thankyou all for your replies,I suppose I just never really thought of things like fish for breakfast, and its true its my carb addiction talking to me. lol. I am going to avoid bread as I know unless its a gorgeous piece of thick white crusty bread it just wont cut the mustard. ! I will go for the greek yogurt etc. I am more motivated today as I am pleased to announce I have done my first week and I have lost 8lb and 3 inches from my tummy! Hooray. Onwards and upwards. Thanks everyone

Hello everyone. Sorry I didn’t post yesterday, but I had a day, where I did lots and achieved nothing! You know? When you seem busy but nothing gets done? I did pick up my new specs though. The lady who served me was very large. At least as big as me although about 40 years younger. I confided in her that I had lost weight and she took the bait and asked how. Then I told her. I am evangelical about this way of eating! She said she would try as she is getting married in the next 2 years and wants to feel better about herself. I hope I helped.

Kazz, I am sure you will have a wonderful Christmas, just you and mum enjoying what you want to do. I love that your sister in law made sure you all had a regimented amount of sprouts. Perhaps it was to avoid windy botty burps later lol. Where the eff do you work? An 11 hour day including commute. You are marvellous! The most I have ever travelled was 45 minutes, I have put in 12 hour days though. Do you drive or go by train?

Allie. The Aubergine Lasagne was ok, but a bit of a faff to make. Jovis was keener than me. The aubergine (eggplant) replaces the pasta. I have made it with mushrooms as a replacement and I prefer that recipe. The kimchi, is not like the ones bought in the shop. It is spicy but I suspect not fermenting as there is no gas! I used the recipe in the book, but will use one from the internet next time.

Californiagirl. So pleased your niece is ok after what is an ordeal. My lovely youngest had a horrific 3 days before the birth and then a very traumatic week afterwards where she kept bleeding. Thank goodness all are safe. I have a horror story to do with turkey. Last year, I cooked the turkey the way I have always done (over 39 years). I carved the breast meat which was obviously cooked…then red juices poured from other parts of the bird. We were all astonished! We put the bird back in the oven and ate what we had, but 2 hours later the juices were still red. We gave up and ate the other stuff we had. I checked that my oven thermometer was working properly, so it wasn’t that. I had used a meat thermometer to check it was cooked…it is a mystery. This year I intend to cook only a crown!

It must have been a shock to your family to find out about your dad. He must have loved your mother to stay with her for so long. It would have been very easy for him to leave. Did she ever know he was gay? I have a personal reason for asking, I am not just being nosy.

My daughter has asked me today how to treat Noodle who is a little chesty and coughing. She is getting much better at asking for advice and seems to be taking it too! She is also leaving her with me on Wednesday for a few hours. Love my grandies so much!

I weighed myself and there is no change this week. I am not surprised at this. My stomach is all over the place, but mostly backed up. Immodium takes ages to pass through my system. Which is why I try to avoid it.

I read all the posts from the other threads. So many interesting people give such good advice. Kazz good luck with your 48 hour fast. I may try a 36 hour first. Let me know what you know about autophagy. I am fully prepared to have excess skin. Even young “big losers” have some slack skin. Look at a balloon after it has been blown up! I already have more lines on my face where the weight loss has been.

Hello66, LeeLee, Heather44, Solange, Searchingrockpools, crabbycams, fattyfattyboombomms…where are you?

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

From the research I’ve been doing into ultra-low carb/ketogenic diet experience and experiments around the world the good fat/bad fat thing appears increasingly to be BS or at least reversed from prior thinking. From what I’ve read:
1. Trans fats are unequivocally bad (we all know that)
2. Polyunsaturated fats are looking increasingly bad – highly processed vegetable fats etc.
3. Saturated fat is looking increasingly like the gold standard in fat (butter, OO, meat, cheese, cream, eggs etc.)

As far as I can see the tested logic is that
A) cholesterol is far from the villain it was made out to be (by statin pushing pharma and their doctor lackeys) – e.g. molecule size is critical in determining the danger of LDL cholesterol as a marker of coronary danger and if you have low TGs, it typically means even your LDL is not ‘dangerous’ at any level.
B) saturated fat DOES NOT contribute to arterial plaques, furring arteries etc. The original research behind the old sham of fat in becomes fat inside has been refuted… we now know that carbs turn to fat and drives high triglycerides etc.

The n=1 evidence is common across the web. The US ketogenic movement is militantly pro saturated fats to the point that they swap methods for accessing beef tallow and other large quantities of animal fats (begging butchers for fat trimming etc.) so that they can fry and cook in them.
People are doing 30 days of eating basically just bacon (US streaky/belly kind, not the UK back bacon) and coming out with better blood stats than when they went in in BG, insulin, TG, cholesterol etc. Crazy I know but thousands are doing it with positive results (apparently because US bacon has a good ketogenic macro balance between fat/protein (as do eggs) and high sodium levels are needed for ketosis). Speaking of eggs… a 5 day ‘egg fast’ is increasingly common where people eat about a dozen eggs a day for 5 days (done many different ways usually) and lose weight, maintain ketosis and improve metabolic markers.
All the keto diet advice I’ve seen is largely focused on saturated fat for calories to satiation and the forums are full of people who have reversed their T2D under medical supervision, though often not with the support of their doctors who still believe in the SAD until they see the evidence.

It is a lot and often seems counterintuitive but the grand conclusion I am drawing is that saturated fat is not to be feared and that the fear-mongering is about as solid as that which gave categorical advice to eat ‘healthy’ grains and low fat diets.

TL/DR – look up recipes for keto ‘fat bombs’ if you struggle to add enough fat to your low carb diet, drink Bulletproof coffee if you want and don’t fear saturated fat.

Arghh… me and computers!!! I’d just more or less completed an entry only for it to disappear on me!

Anyway, rant over. For now.

Anne, you have a lot to deal with at the moment. I do hope and pray for you that your husband finds a way through, it must be such a worry for your family to see him like it. My son is probably what can be labelled as a functioning alcoholic, along with liking certain illegal substances, and it’s like sitting on a ticking time bomb. You never know what state they’ll come through the door every night and what mood they’ll be in.

I think you’re right about men and food; I’ve often said that if someone else was making all the decisions, cooking my meals and presenting them to me three times a day it would take all the decision making process away from me and I wouldn’t have a weight problem! No more buying multi packs of crisps and chocolate bars and stuffing them all on the way home from shopping so that hubbie doesn’t see!!! I think in my warped mind, if he hasn’t see me eat it then it hasn’t really happened! Can anyone else relate to that?

Anyway, onto this morning’s breakfast. I enjoyed two Portobello mushrooms with a poached egg. The directions were to ‘drizzle’ a little oil onto each mushroom. So while ‘drizzling’ the oil onto each mushroom (more like pouring if I’m honest), I read the calorie content of said oil only to discover that it contains over 800 cals per 100g!!!! So note to self; use a pastry brush in future if I’m going to drizzle. Did anyone see Nigella’s tip on poached eggs the other night? To prevent all the stringy bits in the water she popped an egg (from the fridge) into a sieve to let the more liquid elements drop through (not much came out) before popping it into a pan of very still water. Worked a treat! My egg had that professional look and no stringy bits! Feeling as if I haven’t eaten anything though so I’ve made myself another cup of tea.
I guess it will take a few days for my stomach to get used to smaller portions again.

Will catch up later, do please share what you all eat as it’s great to get inspiration from everyone!

Have a good day,
Love Marianne

For breast feeding, don’t overdo the dairy products, i.e. cows’ milk products.
It’s something to do with the type of protein in cows’ milk being less digestible (something to do with casein) than sheep and goats’ and some of the protein you eat gets into your milk unaltered.
I have personal experience of this so know it to be true. Basically, if your babe’s poo goes back to (or stays as) that watery with bits consistancy of the first few days, cut down on the cows’ milk and products.

Anne you sound as though you have a lot on your plate …. so to speak! You know there is no harm in a burger but without the bun. It’s amazing what you can do with a lettuce leaf! I know it’s not quite the same but a burger wrapped in an iceberg leaf with some tomato and mustard/mayo is pretty good. I make deconstructed egg mayo ‘sandwiches’ on lettuce leaves but cos or romaine are better as they are ‘boat’ shaped and sliced tomato. You could do tuna mayo or any manner of filling that you used to have between two slices of bread. There does come a point where bread and potatoes etc. no longer have any attraction and substitutes, like cauliflower, are really acceptable. Have a look at the thread ‘101 ways with cauliflower’ just search in the box at the top right hand side of the page. It does become easier after a while.

Enjoy your journey!

Hello Verano

Will check the website out. Thank you so much for your input, hope to get to know your story, success and tips. I love the non foodie treat ideas. I will book a facial if I stick to the BSD for 10 Days. A small goal with a treat to aim for.

Anne x

Hey Jill / Marianne

Warmest welcome to you both.

Marianne – I totally understand about failed diets and that your mindset has already set you up to fail yet againso why bother?

The reason I need to do this is to live a heathy life for me and also for my family. And maybe that is also the same reason for you too. Just take it one day at the time or in my case one meal at the time!

Jill – well hello – so please you have jumped on as well – especailly you had success within 4 weeks of doing the BSD back in May 2016 – what a fabulous result. 20 lbs. WOW in just 4 weeks. There is hope for me and my family. You must have been so perfect. Thar will be my downfall – when I am good – I am very good.. when I am bad… oh boy am I bad. Then beat myself up … I am sure you know how the rest goes….

My hubby had suffered from heart failure which was cause mainly from drinking – he is an alocholic. You would have thought that his health issues would finally make him sit up and do something about it… but he struggles with the drink. He just been on a two week binge. Stop drinking Friday as he was starting to have problems breathing again. He has been dry for 3 full days. How long will it last? No idea. Maybe losing weight and getting energy back will help him. He is such a good person and lovable when sober, generous, funny, smart, loyal, and hard working. He just struggles with drink in the same way I struggle with food. As to your comment about men having no problem sticking to the diet… my hubby is the same with food.. WHY? Because maybe we have done the hard work. The shopping and planing ! All they have to do is eat it.

My son, 23, just started he first job – and is over weight by 3 stones so it will help him too. He is keen to support me but he also loves his food. ( he only been on the BSD for one day and is thinking about BurgerKing! ) I know my son will start looking up food and recipes to have for more control on what to eat as so far the food I prepare is been ok ish

For me , I had a fright, a warning, a very minor stroke, so I need to bring my Blood sugar levels down as well as my blood pressure. I need to turn this round. I want to turn it round.

So my goal is to get to Christmas 21 lbs lighter

That is enough for now
Have a fabulous day
Anne x

Good morning and last day of week 2!

Esnecca I’m pleased that any ‘crinkles’ you may have can be hidden by ordinary clothes and they don’t cause you too much pain. I guess I just can’t get rid of the image of the only person I know to have lost a serious amount of weight, albeit by surgery. I know in my heart of hearts that I would never look like that but nonetheless, the picture is in my mind and I’m sure it’s stopping me progressing, but only in a very minor way. Anyway, I think my plan now to lose 2 stone then a further stone at a time may be the best way for me to go, and then I can keep re-assessing on the way. I am starting to sound really vain but I’m not really!

So yesterday was a far better day for me with butternut squash soup for lunch and venison burgers and salad for dinner with a few glasses of red, which I know have to go, and just 3 brazil nuts and 10 almonds as snacks. I managed reasonably well with water and didn’t have a crisp or a biscuit, so getting there. I didn’t log into fatsecret yesterday as I had no count for the soup but I know that I have to get back into the habit of noting everything down. Nonetheless, I do feel that after nearly 2 weeks I am starting to refocus!

Hope everyone else is managing to do well with their own personal refocus too.