I second Theodora, with a stock cube dissolved in a mug of hot water as my go to remedy.

Other options are magnesium (and calcium? or zinc?) tablets, electrolyte, or if all else fails, my Mum’s remedy: tonic water.

It looks like we are the only two on here at the moment FFBB. Well done for resisting temptation. I know what you mean, I don’t have loads of energy etc. Perhaps it will come later.

Sending you hugs

Nonna Mary
xxxx

Hi Marsie

I’ve posted on ‘Serious 800’. I’m not doing this challenge because it’s half way through almost and my head’s been all over the place. Also I think I need to just concentrate on a couple of threads otherwise I get lost! I do read other thread and comment occasionally but don’t really participate.

Glad you’re writing a plan too. I have found it has helped me concentrate my mind so thank you!

Day 29 in the BSD house.

I was so tempted to buy alcohol after work…but I didn’t.

I feel better than I did yesterday, the book and shower relaxed me last night.

Gonna follow suit tonight as well because work was really annoying and I am a bit wound up.

Still struggling with my appetite and wish I could experience the energy highs that others on this WOE experience but at least my overall mood is level (no emotional highs or lows……normally).

FFBB X

Well as I said, you can use any mince, as long as you account for the calories, so yes, the lean mince should work fine. If you want to reduce the calories further, you could use extra lean beef mince or even turkey mince.

Think once you get down to goal weight, it’s a case of trial and error, to see how your body hands the increases. I have found in periods of maintenance along the way, that I can keep reasonable control, as long as I stick to the principles of the BSD and largely avoid the bad carbs. I admit though, that small increases in weight occurred and that I haven’t actually don’t a proper period of maintenance at goal weight yet, so can’t say for sure how things would work long term. I am close to goal and so hopefully will be in a position soon, to find out how things work longer term.

There are lots of people on the forum who are in maintenance, so have a check around and see if you can glean a better answer from one of them. Try using the search box in the top right corner of the page, to look for specific topics.

Good luck Claire.

Thanks sunnyB.

Should read…But what mince can i use. I suppose i could use the lean mince then.
Thanks for your advice.
Do you know how many calories you take once down to your goal weight,?

Thanks
Claire

Hey Claire12345 – welcome to the forum and well done on that loss in just four days. Was a little confused by the question, by basically, you can use whatever mince you like, as long as you account for the calories in your daily allowance. The leaner the mince, the lower the calories will be, but remember that fat is no longer the baddy, so there is no need to go to the expense of extra lean mince.

Keep up the good work and keep posting your results and questions.

Hi All,

So far so good, after weighing myself, i have lost 6lbs!
I made Bolognese with Quorn mince, bit what mince do i use? Ordinary, lean or extra lean?

My tummy is shrinking & don’t feel as bloated. I did have a glass of wine & Chocolate on Saturday as a treat day.

How is everyone else getting on?

Claire

Oh my god lunch was fab (big fat show off alert). I did chicken and green beans on a big plate of salad. Chicken was marinated in olive oil, soy sauce, ginger, sesame seeds and honey. Came in at 271 calories. Will definitely be saving that recipe.

Verano, good on you for setting out your plan (this thread? another thread?)… thinking … thinking … why am I wise only for others? So, I’m doing my own plan – writing it out and reading it aloud (that somehow makes it more real for me). Will share when I’ve revised and am happy with it.

Happy Sunday
DTNMore Bril work on the weight loss, and yes I have felt very lethargic the last three days also, okay today, but as I have been munching a few of the monster things, you know shhhh carbs, I am now craving them like crazy, although not really hungry. But been for a nice long 40 min walk around the village, so getting back on it.

Hi verano lovey, you deserve to get to target, just for the fact of your dogged persistence, keep at it everything comes to those that wait.

Hughsey well done coping with the migraine and keeping a loss going for the week. The migraines I used to have also made me eat carbs and sweet things, but keep at it soon we won’t look to carbs for comfort. Well that’s what I’m wishing for 💃💃💃
Just enjoyed some lovely sausages, because its sausage Sunday hehe
Hope we all have an excellent week 🙋🙋🙋jan

We talk a lot about drinking water with this WOE and of course I agree we should keep up a good level, but a few years ago my mother was warned by gp that she was drinking too much of it. Loss of minerals while peeing being the main issue, with lots of side-effects.

There are, of course, lots of articles online and I’ve pulled this one out because it is recent (2017) and concise:

http://www.sheilds.org/health-benefits-and-risks-of-drinking-water/amp/

Cheers all

Well done! That’s such an achievement. I love hearing people’s success stories, it’s so inspiring.

KrysiaD, I agree with you entirely about the sauerkraut, both as part of a meal or a little on a fork for a snack. Plenty of crunch and flavour for “mouth feel”. I put kimchi in the same bracket although it seems a little more, I don’t know, rustic(?) perhaps – the one I have open now has ginger, miso and dried red pepper as seasoning. Add a definite bite😥lol

Thanks JM. Doesn’t really sound ‘crisp’ enough to make a pizza base.

I’m a bit out of touch so not sure if you reached your target weight. If not have you far to go? If you did great and well done. Hope maintenance is going well.

Amazing, you won’t need to “remember” the feeling – if you stick with it, you will feel amazing forever. I am almost 3 months into maintenance and I still look in the mirror every day and do a twirl, I feel so good and cannot believe I have dropped from a size 16 to a size 8(uk) and am so full of energy.

This morning I walked (scrambled) up a long, really steep rocky slope with a friend who is 18 years younger than me, and quite fit (she is a gig rower) and who was the one who had to keep stopping and was breathing like a steam train by the time we got to the top? Let’s just say it wasn’t me……………………😜

Thanks, Sue – sadly I’m in for more than a “few” off plan days, in fact there will be only a few “on-plan” days between now and the end of September. And apart from the wine, I didn’t have any carbs yesterday – other than the normal veg ones. But hopefully, as Mnm suggests, the weight gain won’t continue at this rate, and I will throw in some fast days as and when I can. Nice to know that you dropped your 6lbs gain so quickly, well done.

And as far as wine is concerned, I reintroduced it when I hit maintenance at the beginning of May and have been having a glass or two virtually every day since then, with no impact whatsoever on my weight. Really think this must just be a water gain, as you and Mnm say, and it will hopefully level out – already drunk 3 pints of water today, and it’s only 12.30, so will probably get in at least another 3pts 😝 which will hopefully help to flush the excess away.

Another pound off this morning which makes 1/2 a stone so far in week one. Masses of energy and skin looks amazing! Love this!!!

I am writing this down so I remember the feeling…

Theodora please don’t worry about a few excess pounds. Last week I put on 2.8kg – over 6lb – after a weekend of excess. Someone wrote on here about carbs holding onto water and that weight gain weight was temporary – and sure enough within a few days back on BSD the 6lb had gone again. The carbs I had were in a few slices of pizza and a sliver of pavlova BUT I also drank some
Wine. Anyway the point is I’m sure any gains are temporary and easily reversed – you’ve come so far since we begun in January I’m sure a few “off-plan”
Days won’t hurt long term 🙂

So here we are everyone…. the end of our first round of BSD for those that started on the 29th

Started the diet at 18.7stone and now 15stone 4

Total loss in the 8 weeks – 45lbs (3 stone & 3lbs)
15lbs off in the first week (WOW) and a rough average of 4lbs per week there after.

Really have enjoyed the diet so far and feel a great deal better than I did before. More energy, better quality sleep, more confident etc etc. Iv stuck pretty religiously to the diet ensuring my intake was kept to as close to 800cals as possible with the odd exception of an extra bowl of full fat yogurt and a little fruit if I’m feeling peckish. Iv been 90% there on the water intake which has helped massively!

Plan going forward for the next round of 8 weeks of BSD is to continue as I have done, I want to try and introduce some more physical activity (on top of a fairly physical part time job), I also want to take the advice of some other posters on here that physically count their intake to see if that will help to maximise my weight loss.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the diet too! Everyone post your updates so we can all celebrate our wins and share our experiences over the last 8 weeks.

SJ x

Have read through recent posts and there is – as usual – a lot of sound advice and wisdom here.

Personally had a rather disastrous day yesterday. Attended a wedding and ended up eating cr*p and drinking too much wine for someone not used to drinking anymore. Upshot was, that my body did something quite strange. It protested by having the hangover right there and then – pounding head, bilious stomach and what can only politely be described as enthusiastic bowel evacuation. I felt so wretched, we left the party at 20.00, got home, took painkillers, drank some water and went straight to bed.

So anyway, note to self – NEVER start drinking before you have eaten, even if it is only half a glass of wine and DO NOT compromise your way of eating, no matter how tempting the offering might appear. There really was no good reason to eat the carb based snacks yesterday, as I had eaten enough to feel full during the main meal and had manage to avoid the bad carbs in the process – wine notwithstanding.

That’s it – venting over – current status, is I feel a little delicate this morning, not quite 100%, but have been able to eat and drink BSD normally this morning and the scales came in at just half a pound off my target weight, so no damage from yesterday. I’m hoping to hit target in the next few days and with luck will be able to drop a little more too.

Right now, I need to do a little straightening up, as we have guests arriving later and our youngest grand daughter will be staying with us for the coming week.

Have a good Sunday everyone. Hope everyone will be able to post something positive on Tuesday.

Hi Verano

I make it very occasionally as an alternative to bread/pasta with Italian recipes. To be honest it’s a bit more like a pancake than a traditional flatbread and benefits from some herbs or spices to give it a bit of oomph.

It’s also good with a bit of ratatouille to use up any left-over veg, salad stuff.

Hi Pompom – being woken at night by leg cramps is horrid – been there, done that – my suggestion, and what helped me, would be to increase your salt intake. If you are drinking extra water (which you should be) and losing water, which is highly likely in the early stages, you are probably washing away salt. Try adding a bit more to your diet and see if it helps.

No doubt others may come up with additional ideas.

Thanks for those very encouraging words Mnm. I hope you are right.

My plan is to stay off refined carbs (probably forever as I don’t find I miss them much anymore) and to throw in a fast day every time one lot of guests depart and before the next arrive 😊 Hoping that will mitigate the damage somewhat – as you say, there is no way the 2.5lbs I have gained since yesterday can possibly be fat.

Already been for a 5 mile coastal path walk before brunch (full English for everyone else, yoghurt and blueberries for me – much nicer IMO). Then we will be heading down to the waterside pub for a quick pint before an afternoon of sailing, so plenty of exercise to use up some of the excess calories 😜 Dinner at home this evening so I am in charge – sea bream is on the menu, so very bsd friendly 😊

Thanks again Mnm – your support and experience really helps.

Enjoy rest of weekend everyone – after the torrential rain of the past couple of days, the sun is shining here so I hope it is for everyone else.🌞

Hi all. I’ve recently restarted the BS diet and I’ve been getting terrible leg cramps at night. Has anybody else had this and anyone got any suggestions for maybe a supplement to take? Thank you

I think you will find Theodora, that much like I have found, there is a limit to how much you will put back on. I estimate that the ‘true weight’ I put on over my birthday blowout was about 2 pounds, and at 3,500 extra calories per pound on that is about right for two weeks overeating at 500 extra calories or so a day, with the wrong stuff as well. If you stick to your guns in avoiding processed carbs you will probably do far better than me.

Thanks all. Maybe I’ll just have one carb rich meal and go straight to bed..☹😄

Has anybody tried/made ‘socca’ a chickpea flatbread?

I just came a cross a recipe for socca pizza which looks interesting and far less trouble to make than a cauliflower base for ‘pizza’ even though it will be a bit more carby I think.

Krysia it really is just a case of asking sometimes. We were at a fixed menu carvery lunch on Friday and the main meal was really limited. It would have been roast beef and cabbage for me! So I asked for a salad and they found one for me from another kitchen, which I had with the beef, so problem solved!

Verano – I have got much better at asking lately. Faced with a choice of jacket potatoes, sausage rolls or sandwiches at a National Trust cafe last Sunday I was resigned to having just my emergency chocolate for lunch. When I mentioned I don’t eat wheat or potatoes I was offered the ham sandwich without the bread.

What I was served with was the most delicious plate of salad with ham – much nicer than any sandwich or my emergency chocolate – although I did have a square with my coffee afterwards.

Thanks for your words of wisdom Mnm. Very much appreciated. The trouble is that for the next 9 weeks we have house guests virtually non stop, with just the occasional day between (enough to change the sheets, but not much more ) and if I don’t keep a cap on it, I could put an awful lot of pounds back on in that time – I can’t, in all reality, do BSD800 while catering for the house full of guests which we always seem to have in the summer – hazard of living by the sea😜

Looks like I may be heading for another full round of BSD800 come October 😢

Hi Mnm I think it’s a case of ‘great minds think alike’! Our posts crossed in the ‘ether’!

Thoedora I think we place far too much emphasis on the ‘number’ on the scales. I think given that you are now in maintenance, you should just take as a guide to how hydrated you are. Mnm is right we just have to make it our job to keep drinking that water. I know that if I get lazy about water when I start drinking it again I am in the bathroom every five minutes and then the ‘number’ goes down.

Interstingly I have been away for a few days but had the opposite problem with carbs. All the meals were heavy on the carbs so I asked for just a fillet steak, a green pepper sauce and vegetables. It came, as I’d asked for, and was really delicious. Maybe we should ‘ask’ more often when faced the wrong choices rather try and ‘make do’. Anyway, enjoy having your friends stay and don’t stress too much about one number on the scales.

Water and other stuff hanging around after meal isn’t unusual, I’ve found. Try to stop looking at it as gaining weight, even if you have to step back from weighing for a while, or only look at a full week trend, I find that very useful as it smoothes out all of the fluctuations and I rarely have a trend weight movement of more than a pound and a half from week to week (cough, birthday! 😀). You won’t be able to carry on at this intense pitch very easily with feelings of disappointment at a quite normal daily fluctuation spoiling your enjoyment of life. Also going back over your target isn’t a problem, now you are maintaining, you just focus back on it for a week or so and get back under. Enjoy your upcoming social life, and if you need to afterwards then address any real gain, but if you aren’t poking the carb monster then it almost certainly won’t be fat.

Verano – yes I have missed crunch also. I have fond memories of Tesco finest biscuits. Have been using crunchy peanut butter as a substitute but the sauerkraut – which is very crunchy – works just as well, and adds hardly any carbs or calorie.

Krysia the idea of sauerkraut as a crunchy snack really appeals to me as ‘crunch’ is the one thing that I find I’m really missing, hence the digestive biscuits!

Have just looked at the salmon recipe again and I think they have mixed up the preparation time and cooking time.

I really must try the sauerkraut again Krysia. Which one did you buy? SunnyB is your’s the same make?

I found the book in a charity shop and read it a short while ago, with my new found interest in the subject. The science in it is very similar to BSD and all based on not triggering high insulin, which causes the cravings. Essentially you eat BSD style (although being a 15 year old book they are disturbingly low fat about it as well, I just ignored that bit), for almost the entire day, but at one meal you can add extra processed carbs if you want to, as long as you only eat them within an hour. The science suggests that the insulin rise around 90 minutes or so after eating them is responsible for starting the later uncontrolled eating cycle, if given in to. Obviously this is more suited to maintenance / slow weight loss, but keeping control of my obviously inherent basal hyperinsulinemia (body chucking out more insulin than it should, leading to obesity, insulin resistance and eventually T2D) that causes the carb addiction is very important to this next phase for me.

Salmon recipe

http://bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2292/hot-salmon-parcel

I don’t use the prawns but I add a finely sliced red and green pepper and some sliced button mushrooms to the other stuffing ingredients. I skin the salmon. It’s equally good without the extra dressing.
The cooking times are wrong. I loosely cover the salmon with foil and cook for 50 to 60 mins on fan 180. I think the cooking time in the recipe is per pound or kilo?? You just have to keep an eye on it.

Haha – thanks Mm. After the shock, my instinctive reaction was to immediately go to the kitchen and drink a pint of water😜 So yes, it appears I do know the drill. 😊 Still pretty depressing though😧

Am looking forward to trying out the interesting recipes and hints on this thread.

The sauerkraut has been a real winner. It seems it goes with almost everything. This morning had an egg, mushrooms and a tomato fried in butter then added sauerkraut and olives (not fried of course). You wouldn’t think that this combination would work but it really did for me.

A teaspoon really works as a crunchy snack and a good alternative to the teaspoon of peanut butter.

You know the drill, just keep drinking the water like it’s your job! The weight will go again soon.

Hi Jan I mix just a small amount of sesame with the soy and then pour it over the fish then spread the ginger, coriander etc. over the top. I find it just gives a nice ‘Asian’ flavour to the salmon but doesn’t overpower it. I also have a really good recipe for Thai salmon but it’s something to make for a number of people as it involves two large fillets, almost sides, which are stuffed with a prawn or mushroom mixture. I’ll find it and post it. I have never worked out the carbs or calories but it’s an ‘occasional’ meal rather than something quick to make.

Last night I made a simple yogurt dressing to go with chicken tikka:
For one portion
Around 60g fage or other Greek yogurt
Small amount of salt
Lemon juice to taste
Chopped coriander or any herb to taste.

Sorry I didn’t weigh anything so the amounts are rough and I have no calorie or carb count but it can’t be really high in either.

Bummer – just confidently got on the scales to find I have put on 2.4lbs since yesterday 😱 How can that be when I resisted all those baked goodies and chose so judiciously at our meal out? 😲 Alright, I know I had a bottle of wine, but even including that I have entered everything on fatsecret and my daily intake amounted to 1859 cals / 57g carbs. It is registering my TDEE as over 2000. Feeling fed up now – I KNOW it can’t be fat, but it’s pretty depressing because that’s almost all my wriggle room gone with another 2 days of entertaining our friends still to come 😣

Good morning everyone I’m back with my ‘serious’ head on!

Welcome back Cleverblonde and hello and welcome to Elly, just keep posting it helps, Narnea and Onetowatch, what a goal to work towards, you’ll do it! Hi to anyone I’ve missed.

Well done NancyB with 2.5lbs own and your 10lbs Onetowatch. S-g you seem to be back on track again with both your weight and BS so it won’t be too long now before you drop your insulin again. Great news on the clothes front too. The scales may fall but there’s nothing like a new smaller size dress to make you feel good.

Marsie recommended that I write down a plan of action. I was away for a few days and got back yesterday afternoon. While I was away I indulged in sugary carbs for the first time in over a year. A chocolate chip cookie, lots of good dark chocolate and walnuts, but 30g of carbs! A small scone with lots of clotted cream but also a teaspoon of jam! A few bites of lemon tart and half a ‘designer’ dessert, so a very small portion of open apple tart and a couple of spoons of blackberry ice cream. I even had a cubic inch of bread with balsamic and oil. So not exactly a ‘blow out carb fest’ but nonetheless something my body is no longer used to. So my weight is up but less than 1/2lb but my BS after dinner last night was only 5.8. So certainly not too disheartened.

So taking Marsie’s advice I have now made my plan. I have several ‘events’ between now and my birthday a week before Christmas, sorry to mention that word so early! I’m no longer going to look backwards to my successes so far but now is the time to start looking forward again to new tomorrows. We still have one more week of this challenge left and, by then, I hope to be back to where I was when we started! No, I WILL be back! I have written my plan down in my daily journal and ruled off the past as from Tuesday. Starting afresh with a new starting weight and new measurements.

I have now got ‘chunks’ of time to work through. The first is just over 3 weeks from next Tuesday so will tackle that first and think no further. I’m not setting weight loss goals as I find that counter productive. My first aim is to lose as much as I can in that period. I am starting with 1000/50 as my daily goal because I know in my heart that trying 800/30 straight off will lead to disappointment. I will drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day. Just 500ml in the morning, afternoon and evening even I can do that. No wine, digestive biscuits or crisps but I do have room for a few oat crackers with cheese.

Enjoy your lunch out today S-g! We have to just keep on keeping on but hopefully with renewed zeal. Sorry for rambling. Have a good day!

Thanks Krysia. Jen is, indeed, a true friend and has been for over 45 years.

And now I have a new “bestie” – young Alex the Chef.😜 We have some vegan friends coming to stay in a few weeks and I cannot wait to try out Alex’s Imam Biyaldi recipe on them 😀 Albeit in a slightly reduced quantity 😜

How’s everyone else doing? And how’s your weekend going Topcac?

Wow Sue, you have been busy. All sounds excellent stuff and great to hear you’re feeling so motivated and reinvigorated about your next round of BSD800.

Tomorrow will be the start of week 28 for me too, just shows how doable this WOE is that we have managed to stick with it – more or less – for more than 6 months.

You go for it girl, and you’ll achieve your birthday goal weight no problem. What a lovely birthday gift to yourself that will be! Keep us posted – rooting for you. 😄

The trouble with carbs is once you start you want more so if at all possible, try and delay eating carbs as long as possible. If you can find some non-carb snacks that would help. Try snacking on cabbage or broccoli, or slices of cold meat.
I found that eating carbs as part of a meal doesn’t trigger the cravings, but eating them on their own causes serious craving.

Hi Verano,
Your salmon recipe sounds good. How does the sesame oil flavour work with the fish?
Try leaving the salmon uncovered when you bake it, so it doesn’t steam.
Jan

Theadora – your friend Jen is a true friend. How lovely that she said she wouldn’t take offense if you didn’t eat the home baked goodies she bought and that she was genuinely pleased with your weight loss.

Your meal at the yacht club sounds really delicious. It is great that there seems to be more low carb stuff out there now.