Hi
Thank you for your kind comments.

I wanted to share how desparate i felt. How alone. How useless. How sad.

I could NOT just do the diet, just do the excercise. Goodness ,if i could i would have done it a hundred years ago in my youth.

I wanted to show how i just could not do it.
So i did it inch by inch.
Sorry, thats old fashioned.
I did it centimeter by centimeter.

I hate reading that so and so celebrity lost four ton in a week and now has a toy boy and a veranda!

I wanted to shout. Stop rubbing my nose in it. Havent i suffered enough?

So, i used to sneak on this website and read others blogs.

It took many months to even do my first blog and i wrote it to myself.

I know how difficult it is. If i could just be with you we could work as a team. Keep coming back here for inspiration, help, tenderness.

It was a hell of a path to walk.

Now i can go the gym, decorate my house, blow up the lawn mower, run for the bus, dance in the kitchen whilst washing the dishes, run and bring the washing in when it rains,
I couldnt before.

Worth it?

YES YES. YES
Every tear, every pain, every mood, every failure.

A thousand times YES.

What to join me on this side?
Come on, lets all hold hands and skip to the gate and back. We can hold each other up!
Even you with the high shoes, we wont let you fall.

Come on in, the water is fine!

Love lucia
Xxx

Verano, I only use Brazil nuts. I keep them in the house simply because they’re the lowest in carbs but they’re such a bland nut they really scream out for seasoning. That’s why I started doing all of this in the first place, because I found them so flat in the flavor department. If you wanted to try mixing it up with other nuts should the horrifying Brazil nut shortage strike, go for the ones with least pronounced intrinsic flavors, like macadamias, hazlenuts or almonds.

By the by, your oven is brilliant. I would love it if mine went down so low!

Just to prove that it’s not at all days-long processes of fiddly cooking in the Esnecca household, here’s one of the easiest things I make. Take two whole chicken breasts (I use boneless skinless for ease but you could use bone-in and/or dark meat if you preferred), plop them in a slow cooker/crock pot. Add two cups of chicken broth, 3 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 tblsp of ground cumin, 1 tblsp of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of dried oregano, cayenne to taste, 2 teaspoons of salt and however many grindings of black pepper you wish. Stir to mix up the spices and set the slow cooker on high. Cook for 4 hours or until the chicken falls apart when you poke at it. Use two forks to shred it all up, then let it sit in the spiced broth on the keep warm setting for another hour. The shredded chicken will absorb the spicey liquid and become magically delicious.

Now you have a couple of pounds of shredded taco spiced chicken for use in whatever your heart desires. I make a taco salad with it, minus the shell or chips. I’ve also made quesadillas and actual tacos for the OH. It’s a useful thing for people who have to cook for family members not on the BSD. You make it into a salad for yourself, throw it in some tortillas or hard shells with avocado, cheese and salsa for the rest of the crew.

I use hearts of romaine for my salad because they hold up well when you’re piling on toppings and because it’s easy to chop across the width of them. Dress the lettuce with a dressing made of 2 tblsp tofu mayo, 1 tblsp garlic chili paste or Sambal Oelek, the juice of half a lime, minced fresh garlic, s&p. Then top the dressed lettuce with a quick guacamole made from half an avocado, the juice of the other half of the lime and hot sauce. You could also skip this step and just use the avocado sliced. I heat up the chicken in a pan for a few minutes then add torn up bits of Monterey Jack cheese with peppers (aka pepperjack). Once it’s all melty and gooey, I transfer the chicken onto the salad and sprinkle chopped green onion over everything.

It’s so unbelievably good I swear you don’t miss the tortilla element at all.

Thanks Esnecca. They sound really nice. Do you use a mixture of nuts? Are there some that work better than others? My oven goes down to 40c which is just over 100f but there’s also a dough proving setting but I’m not sure about the temperature of that. I guess it will be a bit of trial and error. Must admit I’ll be using commercial seasonings though!

Krysia think I may try that kimchi. Do they only have one type? I love fiery.

Hey FFBB, glad you enjoyed your Wispa. At least it’s not as damaging as a bottle (or two) of wine would be. I am sure you will be surprised tomorrow.

Love Nonna Mary
xxx

Verano, my nut seasoning process takes two days. First I dry roast them in a pan, then I soak them in a salt brine overnight. After they’ve drained for a while so there’s no more dripping water, I mix them with seasonings. My standard combination is garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder and smoked paprika, the first three of which I actually make myself in the dehydrator from the fresh veg. The last step is dehydrating the seasoned nuts at 145F for 24 hours. Sucking all the water out of them makes them very crunchy and allows them to keep indefinitely. Not that they last long. My OH eats them like candy.

Before I came up with this system, I put them in the oven at 200F for an hour and a half after seasoning. They were scrumptious made that way too, but I was concerned that the spices might burn a little being so exposed on the surface of the nut, so I switched to the dehydrator. Also it’s summer in the deep South. One doesn’t keep one’s oven on for hours in this heat. It’s an insult to the air conditioning you depend on to live. 😉

Onetowatch – plateaux are normal and the weight does shift again – some report that adding fat does seem to get things moving when you have stalled. Keep at it, and it HAS to shift!
Sunshine-girl I like salads of roasted veg. Roasted red peppers, roasted tomatoes (I like Nigella’s method for sunblush tomatoes – whack the oven up to max, insert tray of halved cherry or other small tomatoes with oregano/whatever seasoning, close oven door then turn off oven and leave tray in overnight) roasted onions (a few anyway – I know they are relatively high carb) roasted aubergine slices, roasted carrots/courgettes. Roasting them totally changes the flavours and dressing with balsamic or lemon and a touch of oil or else yoghurt dressings works nicely. Varying combinations of the above with some protein work for me to ring the changes – apologies if someone already mentioned it though. I have been struggling to keep up with the forum recently, and confess to not doing well this last couple of days. My head is currently a bit how Verano’s was in previous weeks!

Hey Daisy – welcome to the BSD forum. I’m a little puzzled by the pain and discomfort, the only thing that occurs to me, is maybe you have upped your fibre intake and your body is adjusting to that, but normally, people haven’t been reporting pain. Are you making sure to keep well hydrated? This is important as it helps to keep everything well lubricated and able to work smoothly. It seems the problem is settling down now, but if it persists, it may be advisable to get it checked out with your doctor, just in case.

Hope you continue to see really good results. Expect the rapid loss to slow and even plateau at some point, but stick with the programme and it will all come right.

Good luck …

Lucia, your post was brilliant; inspiring and thought-provoking. A step at a time, a day at a time, slowly, slowly. So true and appropriate for the way so many of us live our lives. We will get there, somehow, might need to be flexible, might not stick to all the rules but with a realistic approach we will get results. Well done you!

How is everyone doing on that last push to target weight? I admit I am still struggling to get back to my pre-holiday weight – which was actually my ultimate goal weight – and am currently 0.6lb off that as of today. Pathetically it has taken me five weeks since the holiday to get to this point.

I am hoping to get back to 8st 7lb by early next week and will then work towards shifting a couple more pounds, so that I’ll have some wriggle room for our next holiday coming up in September/October.

Thank you Yowzer – we are all a great gang of people helping each other to succeed. I am so pleased I found this forum.

Day 33 in the BSD house.

Ate a Wispa bar, enjoyed it and don’t regret it.

Still on track for a daily average of less than 1000 calories…so 👍

Weigh day for me tomorrow, hopefully I will have shifted a couple lbs.

FFBB X

..anyone else trying this? From a book by Doc Mark Hyman
Im on day 6 tho am only following the food advice..not taking all the supplements he recommends taking ( i wd need to be a lot better off financially,specially as if you buy them off him,they cost a fortune!) nor am i journalling ( i really dont enjoy that)
Its non dairy so its a break for me fr greek yog,to which i felt i was getting addicted,🐷🐷🐷🐷but am managing fine without, and am trying a few foods that i usually tend not to buy
By Day 4 had lost 3 lbs,tho am doing it more for a break from dairy than for weight loss..however v happy to see those three lbs vanish and take me closer to my next goal…another half stone til i get there! Xx😎😎😎😎

LUCIA,IGOR,KRYSIA,i have found all three of you inspirational in many ways
Other folks here too, a great gang of people ! You inspire and cheer and encourage me !XXX
Take a bow BSDers!
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

2kg is a great loss. In fact any loss is good. Repeat after me. Every day and in everyway i’m getting thinner and thinner. Incidentaly, my husband has fixed a full length mirror to our wardrobe door. Not a pretty sight when I walk past it in my birthday suit but one hell of a motivator!!!

Oh, thank you KrysiaD.

That made me well up. Appreciated 🙂

Igor
x

SunnyB – what a good idea. I have just got my order of Sauerkraut and kimchi from the sauerkraut company. The kimchi is a bit fiery for me but is perfect when added to the very bland sauerkraut from the other company. It really gives the sauerkraut some zing and I think I will continue mixing the two together.

Igor – it’s really lovely to hear from you. I agree that Lucia is so inspirational but would just like to say that you are inspirational also.

Hi Aimi
Well done on the 2kg. I am aiming for 20lbs so hope we can keep each other company. -ditto on the hunger!

Just wanted to acknowledge you, Lucia, as one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met (even though it’s just on a message board)

Not joking.

You make everything seem possible……

Thank you. Be acknowledged

Igor x

Day 2 I could have fallen asleep on a chicken’s lip.
Day 3 I was in so much pain I thought some magician was sawing me in half. Is that normal?
Day 4 I have lost 4lbs and 1 inch off waist so some progress to keep me motivated. Not so much pain today just discomfort

Daisy

Hi all, I’m in too! I’m 31 with 2 young children and never managed to shift the baby weight. I would like to loose about 2 stone in the next few months.

I started this 800cal a day plan on Tuesday. This is my first time trying the BSD but I’ve done Michael’s fast diet before. I’m hungry quite a lot at the moment but lost 1kg in first 2 days which is motivating.

Thank you, Dumpty.

Another pound off today. Haven’t eaten anything so far and feeling fine – had a nice lie in which seems to be what I needed. Mental clarity and lots of energy today!

If I lose another 3lb then I will be at a round (geddit?!) 200lb.

2kg is good! I am 5 days in and lost about 1.3kg . I was very hungry last night and ate -oops another 200 cals-and probs made myself more hungry this morning so hung off till 11.30 to have my omlette.
I weigh myself every morning and night-defo does not help ! but there is research that says either every day or regular weighers keep better control of their weight.

If I am still hungry today-what is a good thing to have?-ie not the marshmallows i had last night!

Yeah, I used to weigh myself all of the time, then I started putting on weight so hid my scales in the garage 😆 Denial didn’t work. I weigh every second morning now. Trying to not be as obsessed as last time.
I agree budgiegirlbob that the wine hits you harder with no carbs.
I have lost 2kg in the first 5 days this time, yay so far but still at that hungry stage.
How is everyone else getting on?

Before binning that bland sauerkraut KrysiaD, why not try it with some caraway seeds, or some chopped herbs and a little lemon juice? I have to say The Sauerkraut Co. one has plenty of zing to it on it’s own, whilst still lending itself to additions, which is why I’ll be purchasing more. Sauerkraut in not something I have tried to make myself, so I might give it a go and see how I get on.

Well done ElizabethFlorence, 3lbs is s great weight loss.
Had a lovely evening last night, I was very good with the food, and avoided all the bad carbs. I wasn’t so good with the wine though, which seems to go straight to my head when there’s no carbs to soak it up.
Never mind, I only put on 0.5lb this morning, so not too much damage done.
Does anyone else weigh everyday like I do? I’m thinking I ought to try to weigh myself less, maybe every three or four days, but I just can’t seem to walk past the scales in the morning without getting on them!

FFBB…you sound gor-jus!

Kitty, well done on your plans. It will work.

Love
Nonna Mary
xxx

Sorry for the Wispa dreams LeeLee. Hope your cold buggers off. The hair does look good, I have a textured crop so it is short yet feminine.

I think I need to try the same sauerkraut or kimchi, SunnyB & Krysia, before I make up my mind about it finally. I will look online.

My cheesecloth arrived yesterday so that’s my job for this morning sorted. I’m really looking forward to trying the cheese especially with the olive mixture. I’ll let you know how I get on.

So far this week I’m on plan without too much difficulty and today I might have a kipper for lunch. I love kippers but used to have them with brown bread, usually proper Hovis, and butter but not something I eat now. I may treat myself and go to M&S and get some as that’s the only shop that I know of that sells the original bread. Will see maybe not!

Have a good day.

Hi all,

I was chatting to a woman on the bus, i introduced her to the website, so a big hello to her.

Yes, i agree it isnt easy.
The first day or two my enthusiasm took over and i sailed through.
Then , when that run out, it was soooo easy for me to give up. So i broke everything down into smaller steps.
800 cals. No way!, so i tried 2000. Then 1500. Then. 1200. Then 1000. Sat there for a little while then down to 800.
If i went over 800 i didnt beat myself up. I just said my size 10 dress will not be bought on a tuesday it will be a wednesday, i have postphoned it by 24 hours.

Carbs 50 grams. No way!
So i did little steps. I did without carbs for one meal a day, then two, then all day.

Exercise , no way!
So i walked around the living room during the tv commercial breaks, then a little further etc.

I dont have the will power alone, nor the stamina. I cant do this for me, but if it is for anyone else, i am here 110%!
Crazy, i know.

Also, i didnt say 8 weeks.
I said this morning, or this afternoon, i will ease up on the eating and move a bit.

I did hit walls, all the time, everybody seems to want to feed me up even though i was the size of a house!
They were killing me with love.
So i got sneeky, sweets and chocolate i would put in my pocket, then dump them on some kid or someones desk and run!

When i said no for the umpteenth time to a sandwich / piece of cake etc.
I said, oh look! What is that out of your window.
The food peddlers were so nosey they would run to the window !
I would then leave the room and go for a tinkle.
This gave me time to regroup and come back with a different subject for conversation, new mats in loo, nice curtains in hall. Anything, ANYTHING to get off the food force situation.

I stopped going to burger king, mcdonalds, kfc, etc.
I find a tiny cafe run by oensioners who made delicious home made soup. So for a treat i would go there.

Yes, i did eat chips, but they felt stodgy further into the diet.
Crisps just tasted of a ton of salt.
Fish and chips, i could see the oil swiming in the bottom of the paper wrapper so that put me off before i started.

I got wrestless hands.
Didnt know what to do with myslef if i didnt have food in my hands.
So i took up crafts and puddle bashing!

I kept all exercise light hearted.
Bat and ball
Skittles
Hoola hoop
You know, the stuff kids 50 years a go would play with.

I even enjoyed jumping into tiny puddles in the street like a kid.

I went to the gym. That was scary. It took a lot of guts.
I kept my eyes shut a lot.
Then one day a skinny person spoke to me. They explained how to get more out of an exercise. The correct form.
They didnt judge me.
They treated me like, well a gym buddy.
That gave me confidence. And i never looked back.

So, here are my true feelings, my failings. My.. i couldnt cope with the steps in the diet so i broke it down.

Hope this helps.

Love lucia
Xxxx

Saw the doctor yesterday and he wants me to go for blood tests on Friday! I suffer from anxiety which is triggered over things like that, so I will be breathing my way through it! Anxiety is pants as I’m a perfectly logical person- but it is not. I have the dentist today which is just as bad, so I will use that as a little practice!
The ups and downs of a healthy diet eh? We are all trying our best, paddling along… good days and not so good days. I’ve not been to OA for a couple of weeks as I am focussing on working on my anxiety before I fly to LA by myself in 20 days. I’ve been going to the gym and trying to stick to the BSD for my weight and I know my triggers now, I figure there are only so many things I can work on at once! I wonder what the bloods will say… keep going everyone- 1 day at a time 😊

Hi All,

Pleased to say i have 7lbs off on my first week! I honestly haven’t felt that hungry or bloated!
I have had a treat of wine & Chocolate on Saturday.
How is everyone else getting on?

Claire. 😀

Morning Amazing – hope you have a good day – I’m off to work so I will touch base tonight.

Have a good day everyone – I’m off to work 🙁

Good morning😎😎😎
So ….didn’t check in yesterday but had good day😊
Yes Nonna Mary you’re spot on with the advice about needing to enjoy the exercise you choose. My favourites are walking,cycling and swimming. If its dry early evening I may go for a bike ride.
So the weekend approaches…I’ve stuck to my plan all week and have no intention of sabotaging myself.
I usually join hubby at the pub on a Friday but this week I’m not going. Instead I’ll be at home preparing a lovely dinner. I’ve invited a friend round to eat and a few cheeky beers…so for once in my life I’ll be on the water😂😂
Wish me luck!!! I’m planning to do a big meal prep on saturday, and on Sunday ,weather permitting, a walk with hubby or a bike ride with my neighbour.
How’s everyone else going to spend their weekends?
Love Kitty 🐱

I too started at 16 st +. The first 1.5 st took nearly a year on low fat to get to 15 st. 6 months on the BSD and I’m down to 11st 7lb. It really works. Stick with it. Avoid sugar,carbs and processed food.
I feel so much better and so will you.
Losing the pounds will give you much more energy and you will be less hungry than you fear.
There is lots of support and fellow feeling on the forums. Lots of recipes and you will develop your own ways of managing cravings. And plenty of people will share helpful tips.
Good luck – you can do it

FFBB…well done for looking at the good things in life. We are so busy we forget the little things.

LeeLee…so sorry you are not well. I hope you recover soon.

Love to all,
Nonna Mary
xxx

Bloke with starting weight of 260Ibs (118Kg), 5ft 11in
After 10 weeks have lost 30Ibs (13.6Kg) but had a weekend off after 8 weeks and put 4 Ibs back on.
Took me around 1 week to get back on track.
Just added fast exercise to my daily routine (exercise bike 2 mins warm up slow, 20 seconds flat out, 2 mins slow, 20 seconds flat out, 2 mins slow cool down – total 6 mins 40 seconds).
BMI has dropped from 36.2 to 32, target is 27.

Will post again in a few more weeks.

SunnyB – I tried another brand of Sauerkraut but it wasn’t anything like as nice as The Sauerkraut Company’s sauerkraut is. It was so bland and tasteless I think I will have to bin it – which is such a waste. I have ordered more from The Sauerkraut Company and some kimchi which I have never tried before.

I make my own Kefir also. With all this stuff our guts will be so healthy.

See FFBB, there are victories everywhere. Hope hair looks gorgeous!

I’ve struggled a bit today. Everyone at work said I looked really tired and unwell, so I expect my electrolyte levels have dropped again. I also fear I have a cold brewing and boy do I want to feed that cold! Just had some dried apricots as an emergency measure but I want to eat! I’m also on call for the next three nights and can feel it in my waters that the phone will go! Still, that’s what coffee is for I guess 🤣

At 850 for the day but way over carb levels. Eeek!

Off to bed now before the inevitable pre dawn call in. Thanks to FFBB, I suspect I shall dream of wispa bars….

L 😘

Happy Anniversary Budgiegirlbob! Enjoy the Champagne! Yes up at least 3x last night! But loss of water means I squirmed into a dress I have not worn for 8 years!! Despite getting up so many times I woke up feeling full of energy!

I hope the weight loss continues and I fit more old dresses and I can reduce my bulging wardrobe to just one or (maybe 2 ) sizes rather than 6!

I make my lasagne using slices of roasted aubergine (recipe said raw but I prefer to cook first). My grandson said, that’s not lasagne its moussaka – maybe he is right but I made separate for him using pasta.

Happy Anniversary to Budgiegirlbob. Lost 3lbs this week. Not brilliant but not bad. My husband however lost 5lbs despite having Marmalade on toast for supper!! anyone else finding that drinking all that water makes them get up more than a few times at night?

Oh2bethin you put me to shame. Here it is Thursday and I’ve done my routine once, on Tuesday. Today.

When I started back after the cruise I also found the hunger much worse than I remembered . Maybe I wasn’t as prepared or maybe I had just forgotten! I also got blinding headaches which I didn’t have first time round. It took a couple of days so hang on there.

I’ll look up the you tube thing, sounds good.

I haven’t posted much because I’ve stalled, weight-wise, but when I realised I am literally in better shape, I figured that’s real progress too, and worthy of a bit of celebration. 🙂

I’m coming up to 56, and until a few months ago, I was not merely inactive, I was death warmed up! I had no energy for anything at all more than once a week or so. It was only thanks to my son that I did any cooking even, and thanks to my Mum that I got any shopping done. Even shopping took a whole day to recover from, and anything more ‘exciting’ would take from a few days to a week or more.

I was ok walking, as long as the weather was cool, but when it got warm, I got sore, and now it’s cool again, it’s wet over the fields, and I’ve never liked nasty by the road type walks, so I actually haven’t done much, even since I started to feel better.
Just recently I’ve started doing indoor exercises, like modified press-ups, very gentle versions! Swimming is the best thing though, all over exercise without having to think about what exercise to do next, and no wear and tear either. I don’t think I could have done even the modified press-ups before I’d started swimming again. I thoroughly recommend swimming as a start to getting more exercise.

I’ve only lost 8-9lbs, but I feel trimmer, look thinner (or rather, less fat), and this morning I had to tighten my watch strap a notch, so I figure it has to be ‘fat turning to muscle’.

My favourite dish is ratatouille, only without the peppers. It goes well with just about anything, and it’s about the cheffiest my cooking gets!

Well, my kefir grains arrived yesterday and I set them up immediately. Took my first ‘harvest’ this morning and have to say it was very palatable, even straight up. Found it a little gloopy, so watered it down just a little and added a twist of salt really enjoyed it. Think I have decided of the sauerkraut and kimchi from The Sauerkraut Co., I prefer the former – I think because it is ‘straight’ so almost a blank canvas, to which you can add your own additional flavourings. Have decided my next order will just be the sauerkraut anyway.

Still sticking with it, no matter the temptation. No loss, but despite numerous temptations, sticking with it. We all know this works, it’s just getting our bodies to believe it😜

Any time, you wonderful thing!

Welcome Amazing – pull up a chair! No – scratch that – let’s go for a brisk walk! My start weight was 15stones 4.6 pounds – it took me 3 weeks to lose 6 pounds – so your way ahead of me. That was a fabulous start for you. Just looking at ’14 stones 8 pounds’ looks brilliant. Don’t worry if you don’t lose 3 pounds – I lost nothing, not an ounce, in my second week when I did this March 2016. Important thing is to keep going. I have a diary that I use to keep me on track. The first page is a sea scene at sunset and I have personalised it with ‘enjoy the journey’ – Every day when I open my diary I see that and it gives me hope and I feel happy.

Hey Jan – went for that walk – there are birds nesting in my hair now! 😀 Going to walk several times round the garden to make up to 10000 steps – 9127 at the mo) – hope you’ve had a good day. If not – here’s to a clean slate tomorrow!

Verano – hope your day’s been a good one.

Everybody else – good luck for tomorrow – one day at a time !