Madmare, Mary and I are overjoyed to hear from you! 🙂 Please
stop feeling ashamed..It’s not a good emotion. Step forward, so
I can give you a hug, recruit. Every day is a victory, and 5 is even
better! It sounds like your trip to the beach was helpful, and
you have a very wise friend to tell you that you have no control
over anyone but yourself. That’s a lesson I have to keep relearning
over and over, sorry to say. Always a work in progress, right?.
I think I remember what we were discussing about the Alcoholic
Anonymous Program in the States. It’s that true sobriety takes
usually a year to achieve even with abstention from alcohol.
This group believes that if you are an alcoholic, you will always
be one, and cannot ever drink again. I believe there is another
program with the name “Rational Recovery” that allows for
responsible drinking in the future, but I could have the name of
it wrong. AA has helped a lot of suffering people since about
the 1940’s.when it was formed. If I confused you, I’m sorry!
One day can turn into a week, and a week into a month. Just
focus on one day at a time 🙂

Glad to have you home!

Allie

Great news Krysia just more proof that we have to keep on keeping on ……

ClarinetCathy it is good isn’t it. I keep dipping in and out at moments of stress but think I should use it more regularly. Isn’t it wonderful that none of us are going to have to say our resolution for 2018 is …. going on a diet … that phrase is out of our vocabulary!

Theodora hope the bladder held/holds out! Yes it is a case of mind over matter and I will try to go for at least 15 hours overnight. I know that doesn’t sound long but we are out tonight so will be eating later than normal. Now that my BS is normal I guess there is no reason to stop me fasting … watch this space!

Verano – thank you for sharing your lovely little book with us- I’ve just downloaded it for my kindle! I think i will find it very helpful as I really do want to become a lot more positive in my outlook on life. In fact, that is going to be my New Year Resolution because I won’t need to do the usual one “go on a diet”!

Krysia – great news from you Ophthalmologist. Diabetic related eye diseases are not good. What a lot of benefits following BSD has had for many of us.

Esnecca – husband roasted the pork joint. It was seriously tasty because he made cuts in it with a knife and inserted slivers of garlic then sprinkled it with salt.

Your slightly melted 100% cacao chocolate with Malden sea salt sounds lovely. Can’t wait to try the mixture of different textures and tastes. I agree that the white carbs numb your sense of taste. I love this way of eating so much I could never go back to the white stuff.

I am also enjoying the freedom of walking around in cute new outfits. It is also lovely to choose clothes because I like the colour or style. In the past I only chose clothes that hid the rolls of fat around my middle – or clothes I hoped hid the rolls of fat. That was the only criteria for choosing something.

Oh, what fantastic news, Krysia. So happy for you – you must be thrilled.

Verano and Krysia, fasting is truly not that difficult, once you get your head round it. It’s all in the mind and, Verano, you proved today what is powerful tool that is (well done), just need to learn to harness it.

Stuck in HUGE traffic jam, so my poor bladder will have to hang on even longer 😱Dying of thirst too – not used to not being able to drink my water but, though I have plenty with me, daren’t drink it😱

Theadora, Esnecca, Clarinetcathy – I am so impressed with your fasting. I have ever only managed a 16hr fast.

Was at the Eye Clinic this afternoon – everything absolutely ok – no diabetic macular oedema. The Consultant said that as long as my blood sugars stay ok my eyes will stay ok also. I feel very lucky and very happy.

Good luck with your fasting girls. Wish I could join you but I think I may have to try going from dinner day 1 to lunch day 2 first!

I have a lovely little book called Mindset: What Positive Thinking Can Do: 101 Ways ….. by Michael Austin Jacobs. It was recommended by someone on the forums but I can’t remember who. Anyway it came into it’s own today when I got really agitated about somebody else’s really poor behaviour. I solved my anger with two digestives but then I remembered the book on my kindle and that saved me from my self destruct mode. It has some lovely ‘positive’ ideas. Today this saved me ‘Trying to understand other people’s thought process will only leave you frustrated and confused. Focus on yourself and all will fall into place ‘. It stopped they rot and I’m now back on track!

Have a good and safe fast.

Wow Esnecca, that’s a long one. Have no doubt you’ll manage it though. Mine will only be about 40 hours I suspect, but I’ll see how I feel. Really don’t want to lose any more weight though (5lbs under target atm), only really doing it on this occasion through force of circumstance, but quite enjoy the hollow feeling and the sense of control it gives me. And after 8 days of over-indulgence, it certainly won’t do me any harm.

I’m on the road at the moment – approx another 3 hours to go. Sadly my water consumption is a tad down as don’t want to keep being forced into taking comfort breaks – if there is one thing that annoys o/h (who is driving) it’s that 😱

Good luck to you both, it’s lovely to know we’re all doing it together.

I’ve come to love the tummy rumbles. I don’t get the kind that really hurt, the ones that feel like a cramp, anymore and even the more active gurgles feel more like, I don’t know… Exercise? You’re right that it’s totally a mental thing. A shift in perspective can dramatically alter your physical reality.

I hope you can make it to 48 hours just because it’s such a satisfying number, but in terms of BG and insulin levels the 42-hour mark is a big one so it’s all good either way. Keep pounding that delicious tea! I drink fennel tea all the time when I’m fasting. Water infused with that anise flavor really does give you a sense you’ve eaten something.

Theodora- I will be joining you on the maintainers thread very, very soon. The irony is that I’ve been maintaining most of the summer but just not at goal! I am so looking forward to being at goal and then working on some infamous wrIggle or is it wiggle room. I am going to aim for 3lb under my goal which I reckon is doable and hopefully before Christmas.

Esnecca – you’re doing an extra long fast with me and Theodora – Feels psychologically reassuring to know we are doing this all together. I am fasting until lunchtime tomorrow from teatime last night so I reckon about 42 hours. If I am doing ok at that point I might try going a little longer. I will be at work tomorrow so it could go either way. I do find the longer I go, the easier it is so it might be possible for me to do 48 hours. My tummy is already rumbling so I’ve just had licorice and peppermint tea. Its a mental thing for me and I know I can do it and the benefits are good. It proves to me that we’ve all eaten far too much in the past.

Good luck to all of us who are fasting and all those who are eating- keep clean for Halloween 🎃 everyone!

Krysia, I’m sorry I missed your post. Isn’t it wonderful to enjoy a whole new spectrum of flavors now that your tastebuds are no longer burdened by sweetness? I had no idea the effect would be so radical. Now I realize that sugar/white carbs numb your sense of taste much like smoking does. The only difference is that sugar just does it for flavors that are not on its side of the spectrum while tobacco does it for everything.

A square of 100% cacao unsweetened bakers chocolate slightly melted and topped with flaked sea salt (Maldon, salt of the gods) has become one of my favorite things. That lovely, buttery richness of the pure cacao, the intense chocolate flavor, then closing with the crunch and brininess of the sea salt… Every nibble is a voyage through beautiful textures and tastes.

Your salad sounds delicious. Did you roast the pork yourself? If so, how do you make it?

Welcome Back Madmare, You have been missed!

You and I have a love/hate relationship with wine. I know I can’t do the one glass technique. I have to abstain completely. At the moment I am finding it hard to do that. You are right that it is all in the mind though. I am going to try a new technique tonight and will let you know tomorrow how I got on. Five days is 5 more than I can manage at the moment! To think I was going weeks before (with the support of Liz). My liver really needs a rest! Please don’t be ashamed. You are not alone…you are HUMAN. (you are aren’t you?) I might try your alcohol free lager. Not really a lager drinker, but if it helps! Keep on trucking!

Allie, thank goodness you weren’t injured. Faulty electrics are so scary. Have you any idea what caused it? I love a good coffee and my daughter recently gave me her coffee machine, but, it makes such a huge amount and is so big, I haven’t used it. You are absolutely right a pound is a pound and it is in the right direction! Think how much I could lose if I don’t drink. Although saying that it didn’t make a difference early on in this WOL.

Kazz, you are really getting into this fasting now. I have done it again today. Now as long as I don’t drink tonight I will be fine!

Lots of love to everyone,
Nonna Mary
xxx

I’m fasting for the next few days too. Last meal was yesterday early dinner around 5 or so. I plan to go straight through until early dinner Saturday when I’ll be treating my parents to a steak at a restaurant they only go to once a year on my father’s birthday because he has a coupon, bless him. That means I’ll be breaking the extended fast with filet mignon (my favorite return-to-food meal) cooked on a proper grill (that I don’t have) by someone who is not me. I’m so looking forward to the break from thinking about and making food followed by a sumptuous low carb repast.

We can all three be fast buddies!

Oops, just re-read my post and realized that I said milk is a sugar — it HAS sugar in it (lactose) but it is also fat and protein — sorry about that simplification

Hi Hpethers — welcome to the forums and welcome to the BSD — if you just start and don’t give up, this is going to be amazingly successful for you — it is not “just another diet”, it is a way to finally make friends with your body and to realize your body has been holding on for you for years, waiting for food that supports it — you will find it gets easier and easier as you move forward.
As a mom of 20m twins, I really recommend you taking a longer view of things — instead of 8 weeks, can you look at it as a “by next spring” or “by next summer” plan? It is incredibly stressful to have two little babies and adding a tight 8-week-BSD-schedule to it might be hard on you and your family. Time flies by and you will be losing weight so you will be feeling and looking better but keep a little room in there for tired nights and exhausted days — those are always part of life.
Here’s the great news: even if you do this diet poorly, it is going to work for you. Just start again, and again and again — you will LEARN how to do it and you will get better and better at it.
Milk in your coffee is fine but look up the carbohydrate count and measure it so you can figure that into your carbohydrate totals for the day. Don’t worry — you will develop automatic carbohydrate and calorie estimating skills within weeks!
Milk is a sugar, lactose. One of your goals is to reduce sugars in all forms (that means carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrate). You are seeking to lower your insulin levels (insulin is the “fat-storage” hormone) and the best way to do that, other than fasting, is to lower your carbohydrate intake.
Your little ones will benefit from a low sugar diet too!
Best of luck! You will be our first mom of twins on the forum!

Hello Hpethers and welcome.
Someone else will have to come back to you re the SAH mum with little children as I’m not in that position! But I am sure it could work.
With regards to the coffee (note my name?) – I have one latte style coffee a day. About 140ml of milk and 15ml cream – it does use up a chunk of calories but if you love coffee like you say, it is well worth it. I think it’s about 6 or 7g carb so still doable to keep them low. Absolutely no reason why you should sacrifice it, if it works for you to incorporate it 😉 I personally couldn’t manage very well otherwise.
All the best on your journey!

Oh thanks I’ll try sounds complicated

Hi lovely ladies
I would like to come back – shaken and stirred
I have been AWOL for a while. I have been reading your posts but needed to take some time off.
I went on holiday in September and whilst on the beach listening to the waves (one of my favourite sounds) I realised I needed to get to the bottom of WHY I self-sabotage all the time. I do really well on the weight loss and then at weekends (and not only weekends!) I crack open the wine bottle so all my hard work on the weight loss disappears. I then beat myself up and go back on the merry-go-round.
I have had to face some uncomfortable truths about myself and my relationships with those around me. At my worst point a very good friend who has gone through similar troubles (though her poison of choice was cake rather than alcohol) gave me some excellent advice – You can’t change other people but you can change yourself. You need to put yourself first, you need to treat yourself properly and give yourself a chance and a treat.
I would like to come back I have missed you all but I have been too ashamed of my yo-yo weight loss to even post.
It’s been five days without alcohol. Its pathetic I know, but this is the longest period for about 10 years that I have abstained. I know I have a long, long way to go but this is the first baby step to climb a mountain. I remember what you said Allie about having to be sober for a year before you can say you are no longer an alcoholic but this time it feels different. I will drink, but I am going to be sensible. We are going to visit old friends on Saturday and staying so I am going to be vigilant and keep Al at arms length – 2 glasses of Prosecco and that’s it!
The positives are that I have lost 4lbs this week and am sleeping like a baby!
My helper is alcohol free lager! I have always liked lager but stopped drinking It years ago because of the high sugar and calorie count. My favourite is Heineken zero – it tastes so good, I would not know its alcohol free. The two bottles a night add an additional 140 calories a day but I can live with that. Interestingly the two bottles amount to 660 ml and a bottle of wine (my usual consumption) is 700ml. Is it the volume that I am craving?
Nonna Mary, I have been reading your recent posts and I so empathise with you. Like you I like the taste of wine, like you I don’t get hangovers unless I drink to excess (more than a bottle and a half) and once the third glass goes down I have no chance of stopping. That being said, I have felt better than I have in years.
Finally my head seems to be in the right place.
Enough about me – how is everyone else?
I too miss our beloved Liz, I hope that she and Kev are coping and we will get one of her inimitable posts. If you are reading this Liz take all the time you need – it’s a long and rocky road.
Love to you all
Madmare

Thanks 2bigDave. I will have a look at the book you suggest.

Don’t despair at not losing too much weight. I only lost a pound in week 3. Only ounces per day this week (4).
But as you say, downwards is downwards. I’ve noticed that some days the recipes add up to more than 800 cals.

AnneF, did you notice any more changes with your eyesight? Mine now seems to have changed slightly. Odd. No problems though and funnily enough, I feel much more confident again driving. I don’t know why I’d started to be more cautious. I put it down to age (I’m 71!). I was worried at road junctions for a while, but that has gone since dieting. Bizarre!

Thanks 2bigDave. I will have a look at the book you suggest.

Don’t despair at not losing too much weight. I only lost a pound in week 3. Only ounces per day this week (4).
But as you say, downwards is downwards. I’ve noticed that some days the recipes add up to more than 800 cals.

Please let me know – it would make this technique a bit defeating if it does affect the body!
SSB

Good for you, Cathy.

I’ll be your fast buddy if you like? Overindulged a bit last evening (out for a “last night” dinner, had wine AND ICECREAM – 3 SCOOPS😱) so really not hungry this morning and will be travelling most of the day, so won’t get the chance to eat. No food at home, as been away for 8 days, until I go shopping tomorrow, so guess mine will be a similar length to your own. So let’s cheer each other on – getting to be a dab hand with my pompoms (see Verano’s refocusing thread)😜

By the sounds of things, you’ll be joining us on the maintainers’ thread very soon. Looking forward to welcoming you there 😃

Hi
I’ve just got the BSD book & am keen to start but I’ve a few reservations (not least the amount of times I’ve started a diet & “failed”)
But one concern is I haven’t yet come across any info on milk intake. I love coffee & one of my simple pleasures is relaxing with a milky coffee. Is this something I’m going to have to sacrifice on the plan?
Also I’m a busy SAH Mum to 20 m twins. How realistic is it to think I can do this? Has anyone been in this position and succeeded?
How hard is it really? What can I realistically expect? I don’t know how I’ll get through it if I feel even more tired!
Any advice welcome. Thanks.

Morning All – thank you Verano for leading this thread – I really appreciate your gentle reassurance in my head 🙂 I was very good yesterday (apart from a spoonful of jam in my yoghurt) carbs were 15g for the day! I am going to focus on the water too – does anyone know why other fluids don’t appear to work as well as water? I drink gallons of black (decaf) coffee – which I prefer to water so will water still help? ..thinking about making pompoms to keep my hands busy this evening!

I meant to write – the two hour after eating reading.

SaltySeaBird – I wonder if insulin levels rise if you imagine eating the sweet stuff. Because I don’t crave the sweet stuff I won’t be able to do that experiment.

What I do wonder though is – if I visualize eating more BSD food at meal times – would my pancreas produce more insulin. I don’t seem to have much insulin resistance because I was always very sensitive to injected insulin but my pancreas is so worn out I have to keep carbs low so it can cope. It will be interesting to record the one hour after meals blood sugars to see if they become lower.

A lb. is a lb., Mary, and every one counts!

Solange, how are you doing today?

My friends, today began with a big jolt to my nerves. I filled
the coffee maker per usual at 5:30 a.m. and stumbled back to
bed to wait, turned on my laptop to see what I had missed
overnight on this wonderful forum. Very loud groaning, hissing
and belching noises were emanating from the kitchen! I
sprinted out there (yes, I can do that now) only to find a geyser
like stream of water/steam shooting forth from the water reservoir,
pouring down the sides and engulfing the entire counter with
10 cups of water, not to mention that the electrical cord was
now submerged. I put on a potholder (God knows why I
thought that would protect me from electricution) and pulled
the plug. All went silent. Not even a half cup of coffee was
to be had. I really need to learn how to appreciate tea!
I hope everyone else has a day with less fanfare.

Wishing you a great one…

Allie

That’s fabulous MichaelT! In fact, bloody awesome! Keep going… 😉

Have decided to have an impromptu fast today. Will aim for 42 hours which I’ve done a couple of times and found beneficial. Will just drink black coffee, water and fruit tea until lunchtime tomorrow. I’ve done a couple of longer fasts and found them to be useful when the scales are stubborn and I know the health benefits are good so whilst I am feeling positive think I will go with it and give my body a boost! I’ve felt that the Halloween challenge has been a positive one for me and it has made me refocus and go back to basics with the plan. Hoping to lose another pound or so to get me within a hairs breadth of my goal of a healthy BMI.

Have a good day everyone.

Hi Sue. Congratulations on your achievement. Re maintenance, I’m now on the 16-8 and I recommend it highly. For my sweet tooth I tell myself I can have whatever I want one day a week. Giving yourself permission to have something is important (for me), otherwise I go into deprivation mode!

Agree with previous comment. Oats are best, even a small portion. Add a teaspoon of chia for protein.

KrysiaD – that’s amazing! Another tool in the war chest!
SSB

Hi KrysiaD, yes, please let me know – I have found it works with sweet stuff so I would hope it would work with anything. I would be really fascinated to know, though, if blood sugar is affected by visualising eating sweet stuff? I’m not diabetic but it would be interesting to see if blood glucose levels rise if the body believes it has had sweet stuff.
SSB

Hi SaltySeaBird
Yes it does work. I needed to eat more mindfully anyway because with everything going on here since August I had slipped into the mindless and rushed eating of food before I rushed off to do other stuff.

Today I savoured my breakfast then when I finished I imagined I was still eating my breakfast and enjoying every imagined mouthful. I had 5 Tesco finest roasted nuts and continued to imagine that I was eating them. It really did work and I felt really full.

Hi all
End of week 3 for me today. Down 2.4 pounds this week. Lower than hoped for but downwards is downwards. Time to spot the dreaded calorie creep and up the exercise next week. Also managed to resist the chips the grandchildren left when over for Christmas pudding stir up yesterday. Clothes seem a little looser but still a long way to go. AngS I have Mediterranean cookbooks but they are not diet book in terms of any restrictions. Have you looked at the bsd cookbook written by Michael Mosley’s wife? Mostly easy recipes and each includes calories and carbs. I think they reflect Mediterranean principles with plenty of variety.

Barby I guess it must be extra difficult as a veggie, some of my family are and I often find it testing to cook for them.

I have one standby recipe you might like. I make a batch of tomato sauce, fry 2 large onions sliced, a green pepper or 2 sliced, a grated carrot, a few sticks of sliced celery, and 3 or 4 cans of tomatoes. I used canned cherry tomatoes but use fresh in season if you want to. Add salt, pepper, a little sugar or sugar substitute and chilli, if liked, simmer for a good hour or so until thick and gloopy. Blend or blitz with a hand blender. This makes loads. I freeze mine in fairy cake tin size portions and you get a huge amount of servings. Calculate the carbs and calories on an app like fatsecret.co.uk or myfitnesspal etc . I know tomatoes are really carby but the portion you use is quite small.

Then I use the sauce sometimes with spinach to make Esnecca’s shakshuka? anyway, her eggy dish. I put the spinach into a small frying pan and heat it through with the tomato sauce, make two ‘wells’ in the mixture and break an egg into each continue to cook until the eggs are to your liking. You may need to pop it under the grill for a few moments.

I also make courgetti puttanesca. Fry some courgetti in a little oil add the tomato sauce, olives, capers (anchovies for non veggies) heat through and add lots of parmesan. I use the sauce with all sorts of vegetables too. You could make a vegetable bake in the oven with it. It really is very versatile.

I know it may sound like a lot of work but for that effort you have a really versatile base for many dishes.

There’s also a very easy recipe for pea soup here. Just search in the box at the top for pea soup. I add spinach for extra ‘green’ and you could definitely add cheese to it before serving.

Hope this has given you a few ideas.

Good morning !

Inka, good to see you! I think we will always have little slip ups here and there, life will get in the way sometimes, but I hope that with this WOE becoming ingrained in us, that we can climb back on that wagon quickly and tread water for awhile, when necessary, whilst we gather ourselves for another push. I’m convinced that these forums are invaluable for help and support and far better than going to get weighed at a slimming club each week. I’ve just written that so when I have a wobble, I can look back at my own post for that prod! Plus I know I know I’ll also get a kind prod from my friends on here which will always be very welcome! 🙂

Fasted all day yesterday, but by the time I got home, I had to have some dinner. I was really hungry yesterday, perhaps because I was pretty much awake from 3.30am! So feeling tired all day. So, I will have another go today of an all day fast. I slept well last night and only woke twice and turned over and back to sleep.

Catch you all later
Kazzzz xxx

Good morning everyone …… whenever I ‘tune in’ to this thread I smile!

Welcome Shazzam you have certainly come to the right place for help and guidance. We have three of the most successful, and knowledgeable BSD’ers amongst us. Admittedly they are all waving pom-poms but please don’t let put you off and yes if you want to join in the ‘waving’ in your satin ra ra feel free!

So to Day 2 … and no I’m not going to countdown everyday.

Yesterday was good for me with just a little not so good. I managed an extra litre of water last night making around 3 in all so really pleased with that. This morning the scales are showing that the water is working it’s magic and I’ve been rewarded with a modest loss. So today will be more of the same, water, water and more water.

The not so good involved socialising. Friends popped in and then another joined us for dinner so the inevitable red came out. Nonetheless, as Esnecca has pointed out, there were no biscuits but there was walking and water, though not together! Tonight is another challenge as we are out again. I may or may not have some wine but I will definitely be drinking water. I can’t drop all my bad habits in one day so I plan on just focusing on one step at a time.

My task for week one is to refocus on drinking water everyday and not just the first few days of a new challenge, which is my usual way.

Hope everyone else is also refocusing on one element of their regime but if it is on more than one then that’s a bonus.

Lovely to hear from you Inka13. I too have had many, many wine slip ups, although, I am still losing, but only a pound at a time. Sometimes it is easier than others not to drink. Liz gave me the encouragement to stop and I miss it. I suppose the only thing we can do is keep trying. Thanks for popping in.

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxx

Thank you for your response Mike, you have done really well, congratulations.
I can happily report the loss has started again! Have lost a further 2kg so hopefully this will continue.
Thanks again for the encouragement.
Sandra

Welcome Shazzam – and we would be happy to have you waving your pompoms, satin rara skirt and all😃 The more the merrier in my view…….

Give me a B, give me an S, give me a D….😄😃😁

Nonna Mary,
I’m still here! I read the forums every day and so many days it has been the thing to get me bsding for the day when I’m wavering! I’ve had a few too many carb and wine slip ups to have anything positive to post but now, having put on about 6 pounds again I’m trying hard to get back on track, though it’s like a week on, a week off and it’s driving me crazy!! Still trying though… xxxx

AnneF 👏👏👏👏👏👏 To turn down chips, well done! I might have weakened, I must admit. I love chips! Glad to report that I didn’t eat when we got home. Just had a black coffee. Zero calories.

The Sainsbury’s chicken & bean salad sounds good. Useful to know. And agree with you about the Mediterranean diet. Definitely doable. That or the 5:2 seem the most popular. Can you or anyone recommend a good, easy recipe book for the Mediterranean diet, please?

Sounds like you pleased with the suit resolution Macloud. Hope you were distracted by the energy in the meeting enough to make you forgot your hunger AngS!

I faced a couple of challenges today – the National Trust Tea Room on Sunday has nothing on today…all of my trainees popped out for chips at lunch time and brought them back to the training room – huge portions which none of them were able to finish…each and everyone ended up throwing some away, but I did I waiver – not a bit!

I also had an early evening meeting to go to, but did not have enough time to get home, eat and get into town, so I parked on the outskirts of town as I passed though and then walked in and had to pick up bought dinner (Sainsbury’s chicken and mixed bean salad came in at under 400 calories – no carbs) then there were snacks at the meeting …so I allowed myself a couple of lentil crisps, a couple of vegetable crisps and some almonds – I think all of them would pass the criteria! Then a social event when I stuck once again to plain water and black coffee.

Feeling that it really would be possible to do the Mediterranean maintenance long term!

Thank you, Barby, for taking the time to clarify what I found confusing
in your posts. We only want to help and support you in reaching
your goals. Every culture on earth combines socializing with
food, or so it would seem! Though hardly unique, what helped
me the most in the early days was to always travel with a hard
boiled egg or two and 8-10 almonds. My handbag is never
without these trusty staples and they have gotten me past many
afternoons out that have taken an unexpected turn. Some of
us have found that eating our BSD evening meal prior to going
out for dinner and just ordering a salad while friends enjoy
their entree takes the guesswork out of the equation, and no
sense of going hungry or recriminations at the end of the night!
As you become more confident I’m sure you will arrive at what
works the best for you. We do have to enjoy life, after all,
and part of a healthy lifestyle is getting together with family
and friends as often as possible. We can’t live like hermits,
now can we?? 🙂 Keep on posting! It’s the “secret weapon” we
all share. But then I’m sure you already know this. Welcome
back. Everything will come back to you in short order.

Love,

Allie

Hi SaltySeaBird
Have just read your post. For 18 years I have been teaching that the subconscious doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what is imagined in my Pilates classes – and it has been really useful.

I have never once thought of using this with regard to food. Will definitely try it and report back. It could be really useful for the BSD friendly foods that I am tempted to overeat – such as the Tesco finest hickory smoked nuts that have been calling to me from the cupboard ever since I bought them for my visitors.

allicat, my anniversary is in November (24 years of unwedded bliss) but my birthday was just a couple of weeks ago. The spooky communalities continue to crop up, don’t they? Well, ’tis the season and all that. Speaking of which, I’m making jack-o-lantern deviled eggs on Friday, which is really just deviled eggs with a few flecks of parsley, chives, capers, nori and turkey bacon arranged on top of the piped yolk filling in configurations slightly resembling jack-o-lantern faces.

Congratulations on your wins today, Verano! You kept up with the drinking, walked 100 yards and dodged the biscuit bullet all in one day. Looks like those future successes have leapt into the present already. Well done you. 😀

Hi barby, I am one of the maintainers on here having reached my target in February and am still in the same weight ballpark despite enjoying the occasional cake, bread roll, jacket potato, chips, rice, well you get the idea. I use a couple of strategies that make it easier for me, I try to avoid the ‘craving multiplier effect’ by trying to keep white stuff or refined carbs to once a day only, and based on the advice that you need to eat healthy for 80% of the time I have a fast day every week, and four low carb, though not low calorie days every week. Many of the things I used to love I am now relatively indifferent to, however I still like cheesecake and the occasional ice cream. I wasn’t diabetic so provided I can avoid waking the carb monster I don’t have to worry too much. The problem I have with carbs that caused my obesity hasn’t gone away, but now I am aware of it it is very manageable.

I’m brand new to the forum but would really like to join you all, if that’s ok. Just had my first day on the bsd and would welcome a bit of support really and know that I’m not alone as I don’t expect it to be easy.

I’d offer to help with the cheerleading but , trust me, you wouldn’t want to see me in a satin ra-ra ….

I read the BSD a few months back and was super-inspired by it’s message but then did nothing about it. So today has been the first day of righting that wrong.

I feel very committed to starting this and hope I can make friends while losing inches ……

Thank you, Verano! I forgot to add earlier that I’m very happy
to know that your hip surgery has relieved you of some of the
pain you have been suffering. Walking 100 yds without stopping
must be so encouraging. You will be adding to it before you
know it!
Ancient Weaver and all others that I haven’t met yet, welcome
aboard. This will be a great challenge, and a perfect way to
get ready for the upcoming holiday season. Glad to have you
all on the road with us! (Hi, Kazz. It’s wonderful to see you
here, too 🙂 )

Allie