😀😁😃😄😆

You’re on, Verano😘

Hi Allie. The little one is 16 months old. I have indeed exhaled as has Jovis and her parents. She is such a bright, bubbly, sunny child that it was a little distressing to see her subdued and ill.

I am afraid my Black Dog is visiting me. First time for a few months. I was looking in the mirror (something I avoid) when I could see that my psoriasis is now covering a huge part of my face and expanding. Behind my ears are sore and cracked and the rest of my body is scaly and uncomfortable. I admit I have shed a tear tonight. The fact that I haven’t lost the water weight from the weekend hasn’t helped. I have fasted every day and today floated my internal organs by drinking so much water!

I know I am blessed with my life, but I feel a bit run down after this week. My psoriasis is getting worse and I don’t know why. I decided to read about any new treatments there are and it said “Psoriasis comes and goes.” Mine EFFING WELL DOESN’T….in 2000 I only had it in my hair line and my nails. By 2002 it was over my arms and in 2010 it moved onto my face and the rest of my body. I have had UV treatment and it returns immediately after. I also had steroids for a while and again it returned immediately after I stopped taking them.

Nothing anyone can do…I just need to suck it up and get on with life. But, I must admit I have been getting some funny looks lately…well why not? I have a face like a baboons arse! If I don’t slather it in cream I look like a dried out lizard. Rant over. Hope you are all well.

Grumpy Nonna.
xxx

It used to be 500 for women, 600 for men, but only 12 hours fast. Now it has been amended to 800 calories, but the fast has been extended to 14 hours, either before or after the fast day, and only 2 meals on the fast days. The days can be consecutive or separated. You can still do the old way if it suits you better.

Verano, what thrilling news! You’ve accomplished what others dream
of. So happy for you!!! 🙂 Three backflips coming up. Maybe a few
cartwheels for good measure, too. Congratulations for all your
hard work.

Love,

Allie

Theodora ….. IT’S A DEAL!

Thanks! Yes all feeling good here!

Thanks Sunny I’ll try it outside the fridge as I do at home. Actually our place is quite cool inside especially at this time of the year. I guess I’ll know if it’s gone off!

Good news albalibee just enjoy your journey to improved health anyway.

I’ve been mulling over the labels to use. Enemies/friends reminded me that in Buddhism sometimes the distinction is made between skilful and unskilful action. I realised that thinking about food in terms of skilful and unskilful choices works for me. The food in and of itself isn’t intrinscially bad but my decisions about what to eat are what matters. Using the BSD/non-BSD distinction will work with this.

I have heard others say that once you have trained your body into the low-carb/Primal way of eating, any ‘digressions ‘ have a much bigger impact – I certainly won’t be having bread in a hurry again.
SSB

Mary, I think I missed your post about the little one. I’m so happy
that the antibiotics seem to be working! Chasing little Joe around
is definitely a good sign. Can you exhale now? How worrying for
you! It’s hard to know about the scars this early on. Is she 2 or
3?

Evening all!
Well, this is my first day on the diet so am also joining the November challenge (half way through), as one of you (sorry! can’t remember who) suggested. It’s been OK apart from eating a bite of a very small prawn sandwich at lunchtime. In my defence, I was at a conference and there was nothing else to eat, and it was only a finger sandwich, but then I realised that I didn’t have to eat it so waited and got a beetroot and feta pot from M & S instead – 183 calories, I think about 8g of carbs. Mushrooms and eggs for brekkie, veggie stew with cheese for dinner. Think I still have about 50 calories left if I need them. Had a few hungry moments – not exactly pangs, just a hungry thought.
I got my blood test results as well – I’m not diabetic! I had just assumed I was – I have two siblings and both parents with the condition. So I’m treating this as a kick up the bum. I need to lose weight so I’m going to. I’ve been kidding myself on for too long: thinking that sizes in shops were getting smaller (!) , that my clothes had shrunk, that all those photos where I look fat were just taken at a bad angle. Seriously! So i took photo last night,weighed myself and measured my waist – which was a big shock – and I’m raring to go.
I discovered this forum last week and have really enjoyed reading all of your stories, and have found you all totally inspiring, so thank you all for sharing your stories. I hope I can add mine as well.
See you all soon.

Congratulations, Verano, that’s brilliant news. I’m so pleased for you.
Marie

I think I’m starting on Monday 20th. I’m going to a wedding do on Sunday, but hope to fast from Sunday late afternoon till breakfast Monday and then start properly. I’ve been following a low carb diet since the beginning of September I think – didn’t write it down. Eating is fine, though the suggested veg and fruit are very restricted for me – I think this will be more natural. I wasn’t comfortable with the amount of fat either – again I think this will suit me better. I fasted last night from 4pm till 7.30 this morning and have eaten my two meals, low carb but more Mediterranean than before, and come in without really trying at 783 calories, just under 24 gms carbs, water only for the rest of the day, but that suits me, so I’m not unduly worried about the reduced calories except that I don’t seem to eat much more than that normally, so only the fast will be different. I think my main sticking points will be the compulsion to stick to the pattern – it might be my normal eating pattern but no one has said I have to follow it, so I just might get the urge to break free just because. I only lost 9 1/2 lbs since I started, so I’ll be amazed and delighted if I get a rapid weight loss. I’m really only looking to lose belly fat and get my BMI to mid normal range – less than a stone should do it. I’m female, 77 years old, pretty active for my age, normally walk 2-3 hours a day with my dogs and play trombone in a brass band, which is pretty physical, and UK based. High BP, controlled by medication, but not diabetic or prediabetic. Happy to share progress etc with those of you starting out at the same time

I got vanilla protein powder from Amazon, but I think you can probably find it in health food stores too. Comes in quite large quantities though, but you can add a scoop to yogurt, kefir, smoothies etc to help use it up.

We all have to find ways of making the BSD work for us and that includes finding terminology acceptable to our mind set, but you’re right Esnecca, those ‘comfort’ foods are our worst enemies, cunningly disguised as best friends and supporters. For me, transgression works, as in my mind it suggests a one off aberration and not a new pattern of behaviour, so it helps me to knuckle down and get back to the BSD. Of course alternative terminology will work better for other people, so you need to find out what will work for you.

It’s so easy to slip into that ‘a-little-won’t-matter’ mind set – have done it myself on a couple of occasions and suffered awfully, on one occasion being awake all night with bloating and terrible stomach pains. Just wanted to curl up and die! And you’re right about how quickly the hunger pangs return too. Really is worth sticking with the BSD principles and eating mindfully, but we’re all human and there will be blips and slips along the way, even though deep down we know how awful we’ll feel afterwards.

thank you Sunny! This is so helpful. I’m going to get the grains and
give it a try 🙂

Good result Tasberry. As you say, once you cut out the alcohol, you should be pretty much on track for hitting the 800 cals. You should find that once you have removed the high carbs and your body has adjusted, that sticking to the BSD 800 is quite easy. Hope next week goes well.

Most often I make it outside the fridge, even when I’ve made it whilst in Turkey, when I use local homemade yogurt rather than kefir. Actually, my kitchen at home tends to be quite warm too, as we have an Aga. It goes straight in the fridge once it’s finished draining and I can take it out of the cloth. Forgot to say I always add a couple of twists of salt when I make labneh. By the way, the commercial kefir I have tried was nowhere near as nice as the stuff I make at home – much too bland and very watery – not sure you could actually make a cheese from it. My homemade stuff is more like a yogurt consistency.

Quite possibly, V. And of course filling me up was the original intention, but now maybe I should break the habit – and it IS an ingrained habit now. But I like drinking water – always have, so haven’t increased my consumption during BSD, just the timing.

Tell you what, let’s make a deal. ……I’ll stop drinking water before meals if you start? Deal? Then we can compare notes😉

And HUGE congratulations on kicking T2 into remission completely drug free. What an achievement. Now if THAT isn’t worth a jump, wave and shake, I don’t know what is!!!😀😁😁 So very proud of you 😃

Haha, Allie – yes Hotel Theodora was a bit of a marathon 😨 Particularly whilst practising BSD. It’s an annual summer hazard for us, however, living by the water on, IMO, one of the most beautiful estuaries in the world (taking your advice and not saying which one😉). At least this time I was a guest, not a host 😜 And very rarely does a day go by when I don’t appreciate how lucky I am.😀

At 2lbs a month, you’ll be disappearing before our very eyes😱 Maybe, like me, you need to turn to drink😉

Sunny, thank you. I’ll be happy if I can consolidate my small gain, even if I don’t gain any more. I’m quite happy at this weight and feel so well, but REALLY don’t want to drop any lower. I’d like my new “norm” to be around 8st (112lbs ), which is still 7lbs below target.

I’m sure you’ll regain your wriggle room again soon and well done on not exceeding your goal weight. Whoever said maintenance was easy?!!

Heather, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Most of all for the lost opportunities
to reconcile with your mother. I have a close friend from Switzerland
who was estranged for 50 years, and I can imagine the complicated
emotions you are feeling today. The loss of one’s Mother is never
anything we can ever be completely ready for. I’m glad that you have
a sister to be with, as well of course, your wife. Take good care of
yourself now. There will be plenty of time to process all this in
the days to come. We are here for you, and you have plenty of
surrogates here to help.

Much love,

Allie

WoooHooo V., that’s fantastic news. Well done you, you must be walking on air😄

So very thrilled for you😙

Thank you for your kind thoughts re my lovely grandie. The antibiotics seem to be working as the spots are reducing in size and redness. We think they may scar though. I have just heard that she is chasing her brother around the living room and giggling, after just having eaten for the first time in 2 days. This is a child who loves her food, so we knew she was unwell.

Allie, Poor Jim, thinking he was wanted and finding out he was just a vessel carrying the ciggies! You need to make sure he doesn’t do that again.

Heather. I had a complicated relationship with my mother. So I understand how you feel. Try to remember the good times (there must be some if you try). Allow yourself to grieve, if only for a relationship that will no longer be there. It is possible to love someone and not get on with them as well. I am thinking of you…be kind to yourself.

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxxx

Thanks Sunny. Do you make your cheese in or out of the fridge? Don’t know if you make it when you are away for a while but if you do, do you make that in the fridge because of the heat? I haven’t made it for ages but have packed my cheesecloth to take away with me!

Hi Verano – last lot I made with some rose petals, a little rose water and a sprinkle of nigella seed, but in the past I have added, mint, saffron, black pepper, chilli – not all at the same time. Really, you could add almost any herb, spice or even some finely chopped onion, garlic, or fruit.

I think the labneh made with kefir is probably a little more sour but not hugely, but what I have found, is that it needs to be eaten more quickly, as it continues to ferment, even in the fridge.

Mary I hope your grand daughter is much better by now! What a terrible fright- children never do things by halves do they?? I’m glad you like the picure I painted- its all true but is often punctuated by the squabbles of my dear other half and I! Turns out being two women does not reduce the arguing!

In other news my dear people- my mother died this afternoon. I am still reeling in shock although she has been terminally ill for some time. As you all know we have been estranged for a number of years and I don’t regret not being in contact with her but i do have complicated feelings (who doesn’t!)- anger that she has never apologised or made it better, sadness that I will never have the mother that I need and relief that she is out of pain. She was a very abusive and unhappy woman who made everyone else unhappy as a way to feel better about herself so in many ways she was in pain which she is now out of. Sigh.

Glad that you had a great time ways and are happier about where your weight is, Theodora. Hope you manage to consolidate the gain and get to a level you are happy with.

I’m still looking to earn back my wriggle room, somehow it’s proving tougher than I’d hoped, but on the upside I haven’t gone above my target weight at all, which is a bonus. I’m back on a strict 800/20 ratio from today and hope that it will give me back those few pounds wriggle room fairly quickly.

Hi SunnyB is the labneh made from kefir a lot more sour than that made from Greek yogurt? Can I ask you what flavours you put in the cheese. I know we have have this conversation before but I can’t remember which thread!

Thanks SunnyB. Yes knowing it works makes it far more do-able. Long may it last. This WOE has just become part of my life now, so hopefully I really do have my diabetes under control.

theodora, your time away with friends in front of a burning fire, glass
in hand, sounds heavenly. What could possibly be more enjoyable
than that? I remember reading over the summer about “Hotel
Theodora” and thinking to myself what a marvelous life you must
lead. Best to not ever divulge your location however. You might
be overwhelmed by BSDers who find it as tempting as I do:)
Holding on to1.75lb is progress! I haven’t stabilized yet. Down
another lb. this week. I took a look at my weight diary over the
past 6 1/2 months and I seem to be consistently dropping 2 lbs.
a month. If I’ve done the calculations correctly, I need to add 250
calories a day to stop this foolishness. More fat, here I come!
Good to have you back,

Allie

Hi my Blood results are great after three months of being drug free so I am both relieved and happy. Because I’ve not lost anymore weight I thought my HbA1c may have risen but quite the opposite so it must be the low carbing and the water! I’m definitely doing better on that front than I was three weeks ago, so success and I will keep going.

Theodora do you think all that ‘fluid’ up stopping you putting on weight? You can’t have my ch of an appetite if you drink before meals. Maybe that’s what I need to do!

Congrats Verano!! You must be feeling very proud right now and you definitely deserve it. Nice to have that affirmation that what you have been doing has had such a profound impact on your health. Just proves if you hang in there, you can achieve great things – and you have!

Both kefir and kombucha are really easy to make yourself. I make my own kefir and it’s no trouble at all. I bought fresh grains online and initially they were enough to produce approx. 200 to 300ml of kefir, but now I have masses of them, so I have some dried and frozen as back up, in case anything goes wrong. Then I have two active batches, which I rotate – one lot working and one lot in the fridge. Providing you give them enough to ‘eat’, grains will happily suspend in the fridge for weeks at a stretch – last time I was away, they were in there for five weeks and were fine.

When I have too much kefir I make labneh cheese. Currently I have much too much product altogether, so I have suspended production. If anyone in the UK would like some grains, I’m happy to share some, just text me a postal address to 07768 206353and I’d be pleased to send you some.

Personally found kombucha too sweet, as it is made with sweetened tea and there is always some residual sugar not processed, but it’s a personal thing so by all means give it a try. I used to make my own and again, I found the culture (scoby) thrived and I ended up with more of both product and culture than I knew what to do with.

Thank you, Theodora, I needed that! 🙂

Yes …. still in remission after 3 months drug free!

I have just seen my Diabetes nurse and the results are back and the news is all good. My HbA1c has fallen again and is now 29 (4.8) without any drugs at all. In fact she was slightly concerned and wondered if I was having any hypo symptoms. I don’t even know what they are! My weight is up marginally but nothing is to speak of so I guess it’s the low carbing that’s keeping my blood sugar in the ‘normal’ range. She asked about a normal day’s eating and she mentioned fasting, which I think can bring down your BG. It’s made me think that maybe doing 16:8 is possibly not the best way if you have diabetes.

My cholesterol is up slightly from 4.5 to 5.2, my old ‘normal’ level, BUT, my good cholesterol has gone higher and my bad lower, so again good news. My average is 2 which apparently is good.

Anyway, as so many people have said , and do say, this WORKS!

Would be interested to know if there are other people who have managed to stay in remission, drug free, for any length of time.

As you may remember, I actually managed to gain a pound or two (was getting far too low) and I’m pleased to say I have more or less managed to hang on to that small gain, we got home at lunchtime from 4 days staying with our friends and I am pleased to say that I have returned only 0.25lbs lighter than I went. So I am still 1.75lbs up on my lowest weight. Hip hip hooray!!

The fact that I didn’t gain anything, however, reinforces the theory of my increased metabolism, as I ate and drank a fair bit, and had my first piece of cake this YEAR!!! Coffee and walnut (made by one of the other guests) and it was delicious, but I wouldn’t want to eat it very often. Other than that, I more or less followed BSD principles, just rather a lot of it! And, as we’d left the dogs with a sitter, I was not walking my usual 8 – 10 miles a day – in fact spent an inordinate amount of time sitting on my backside in front of a roaring fire, glass in hand, catching up with old friends.

Waiting to see what the scales say in the morning after a day of eating and drinking more judiciously again. Hopefully, they won’t be down, but wouldn’t surprise me if they are😭

Have you stabilised yet, Allie?

V, that’s the way I always drink my water. I have a pint when I wake up, then a pint before my first meal of the day (about 11am), a pint at about 1pm, one mid-afternoon, another before my supper, and yet another before bed (and no, it doesn’t mean I am getting up and down all night – once your body gets used to it, it’s fine). This way, it just becomes routine plus it fills you up too, particularly drinking it just before meals. Plus countless cups of black tea and coffee.

Allie, my friend, not exercising because of potential extra weight loss?? Now we all know that exercise builds muscle, builds a bit of EXTRA weight, so don’t think we are going to let you get away with that as an excuse!😜😘

Still jumping, cheering and waving my pompoms for everyone🙋🏼

Well, I’ve weighed myself this morning and another 1lb down – I’m now 10st 9lb.

I’ve been looking back through my diary this morning and after the initial weight loss, the pattern has been around 3 weeks on a plateau (so I was stalled at 11 stone for a couple of days short of 3 weeks) and then I lose 1lb a day for 4 or 5 days. I always stay on plan but I’m not sure what I do differently to trigger the weight loss. Still, understanding the pattern hopefully means I’ll be more able to stick things out better.

So, my new target for this challenge is to lose 2lb. It’ll either happen tomorrow and Saturday – or it ain’t going to happen!

I’m off to search out recipes to meet my other aim for this month which is to try to eat a greater variety of low carb food. Not going quite as well as the weight loss. I’ve eaten Pea Soup for lunch for the last 5 days – delicious, but I need to move on!

well done – keep up the good work!
Mike

Great idea, thanks Allie.

Luvtcook – It has to be great living in such a cosmopolitan area when
you are an accomplished cook! I haven’t tried making my own kefir yet,
but I do recall reading a lot of discussion on the forum about it. There
are a few other Americans with us, and they may be able to offer a
source for those of us stateside. You might also try typing “kefir”
into the search box at the top of the page. At least it might have
info on what’s involved in making your own. I’ll be interested to
know what you find out!

Wishing you a wonderful day,

Allie

Allie, I have tried cocoa nibs and have some right now that I need to find a landing spot for. Thanks for reminding me to use them.

You said you are enjoying fermented foods. I do make my own sauerkraut. I did it for the probiotics but have also found I enjoy the flavor much more. You just have to be sure to only barely warm it to eat it, as you kill the good bacteria if it gets truely hot. And I can buy kimchi from any of the bazzillion Korean/ Asian markets in the DC area (have a robust population of Korean, Vietnamese, a growing population of Ethiopian, and those from El Salvador….lots of good ethnic eats here).

I also have a glass of kefir nearly every morning, but I am still buying it and not making it. Have been researching how much /or how little trouble it would be to make my own kefir, and maybe kombucha as well. Do you have any experience with any of this? Would love to get starter kefir grains and/or kombucha SCOBY if any of the BSD posters in the US have any to spare.

Luvtcook – your research on diet drinks coincide with what I have
also read. I threw out the remainder of my sugar free diet coke in
june 2016. I had a sip of someone’s glass this past summer, and
it tasted so sweet it almost made me sick! Our tastebuds do alter
drastically on this WOE, and sugar has no allure for me anymore.
Now I’m much more attracted to bitter and fermented foods.
Unsweetened raw cacao nibs really does it for me. Great on
yogurt or a small piece of fruit, and they never stimulate my
appetite. They are also a great source of antioxidants, fiber,
iron and magnesium. Give them a try if you haven’t already!

Allie

And good luck to you Verano….fingers crossed on our metformin free blood work.

AngS…per note to 2BD…back to the forum after small family crisis. I too always worry when posting goes dark from regulars…you tend to worry that something has gone wrong. Hope it is only that others are just seeing to other matter for a bit as well.

Sunshine-girl, so glad you posted the note about sugar free soft drinks. I keep reading these vague notes about weight gain in those that used a lot of sugar replacements. They were suggesting that the body reacts in many ways to the sugar free stuff as though it actually was sugar (mostly stimulates hunger). But I had never heard anybody that was actually testing their sugar report a spike….good to know! I have cut way back on my sugar replacement use, but like you also have some reserve bottles of Diet Coke in the pantry. Sounds like it would be good idea to just chuck them.

Thanks LuvTC

2BD: Great post. Yes, I agree with you….soooo very hard to figure out all the little factors that affect weight day to day because “what you did yesterday” is clearly NOT the only factor. I also have seen carry over in the past where I have splurged a bit and not seen any real damage the following day or so, only to see the results hit the fan so to speak 2 weeks down the road when I was being 100% compliant. And the reverse…..pounds drop off out of nowhere that should have shown on the scales the prior week. It all comes out in the wash sooner or later.

Also re. lessons learned…..we have all been there. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. But the good news is that this is a pretty easy plan to get back on (as I am finding today per 2 days of upside down eating per a family medical emergency that turned out ok in the end). Back on the striaght and narrow.

May try a water only fast for 3 days over the upcoming weekend to undo some of the damage and get ahead of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in US….family coming into town and staying with me through the weekend so it will be challenging to not fall into 3 bigger meals a day even if I do stay clean re. low carb. MM seems to recommend it for health housecleaning purposes as well. Will see how that goes and if it is something I might repeat monthly

Hi All. Mokovex and CC thanks so much for your support.Feeling better today, slacked off a bit at work and walked more.Ate a better diet more BSD friendly only one slip up icecream but I’m using the hot weather 35 degrees as an excuse.
Ive just made my salad avacado and chicken lunch box for tomorrow.prepared a water bottle.so hopefully the drama is over. I will need to focus on the weekend as we have a dinner on Sat for my daughters birthday.Next week I will get back to weighing and measuring all my food, at the moment its just estimating.I have a small lunch box with small sections so I know roughly what fits in each section. Evening meals I’m using a small plate to help control portions.Also setting a goal to get more sleep as I know I eat junk when Im overtired.thanks for all your support ,one day at a time.cheers lynne

I just checked the website mentioned, it’s 1md.org.

Not quite today, still at the same as yesterday but still going.

Still the same weight this morning. One thing I did notice, after drinking diet cola my BG shot up to its highest in ages, around 6.9 rather than my usual 5.2 or less. No more diet coke or any other diet drinks. I dont usually have them but they were left over from visitors. Keeping on…