Do I have to stick to the menu plan or can I do my own as long as I am within 800cal?

Hi all
Its been awhile since I posted. Great to find this thread and the familiar names. My aim to be 9stone anything by August is probably just about possible if I get myself together. I’m 10st 7. My lowest was 10 4. I’ve been staying around the 10.7 for awhile now. Wine has crept in and so too bread, rice this weekend and a few chips fell into my mouth. I feel I can still do this but need my mojo back. I’ve never counted on this way of eating so pondering that (again). Wondering if the clever guts would get me motivated again…. thoughts or opinions would be welcomed. Great to read all the inspirational stories again x

Hi Kazza,
What do you eat? Surely most foods are covered in that selection of recipes! If there’s anything you do like, I’ll see if I have some recipes for you.
P

Well done FFBB!
It’s sensible to remove yourself from situations until you feel better able to cope. And you will you know. The longer you do, the easier it gets…
L xx

Thank you FFBB. xxx

Stay strong Mary, you can do this…. I did X and you’re right, a poached egg does seem decadent.

You are still doing well Lee, back on it tomorrow. X

Happy birthday Liz.

Well Done Fattyfbb, recognising our problems and overcoming them is a brilliant thing to do.

Thanks Lee, I am a little calmer now. Have had a long shower, prepared and eaten a salad and a large glass of water. (yeuk).
I would still prefer to be drinking wine, but I know I can’t. I am not really, really strict about 800 a day. If I go over its not by much so I don’t care lol. As long as its around the right number (i.e. below 1000) and I rarely go above 900 I am happy.

Take care.
Mary
xxx

Sunday night blues Mary. You’ve got this.
I’m distracting myself writing a packing list for Galway….

But I will admit I have gone over on my calories for the day. Will end on 991. Eeek!! But I felt like I needed it tbh as haven’t felt great, so refuse to feel bad about myself….

You’re right Mike. It would be hard to fit any volume of Kombucha into the BSD. The need to keep the yeast alive means that you need a fair slab of sugar.

If they find a way of keeping the yeast growing without the sugar, I have a couple of clients who’d love to know what it is before they place next year’s molasses contracts …;)

Oh, and Jenni – I forgot to say – I don’t have Dr, Mosley’s Gut book – just the Blood Sugar Diet book, which has no mention of Kombucha – or if it does I missed it and it doesn’t appear in the index.
Mike

I tried finding adverts for commercial Kombucha – perhaps I didn’t try hard enough, but i could only find two that gave nutritional information – which always makes me suspicious of food items advertised in glowing terms. In a typical 250ml glass of Captain Kombucha there is 14.75g of sugar. A similar helping of Plant Organic Kombucha contains 9.75 g of sugar. Neither seem to sit very sensibly for folk on diets aiming to lower blood sugar levels.
Mike

Hi all,

My voluntary shift went well in the charity shop, nice and busy and 98 % nice folk and a regular customer complimented me on my weight loss! Finally someone outside my family (and boss) has noticed!

I sometimes think people don’t want to mention weight loss when they see it in case they offend (like we don’t know we are fa!t).

Successful day, WOE wise, as I stuck to my calories again but had an extra egg at breakfast so less almonds at lunch.

Resisted an invite to the riverside beer garden….I am not strong enough. I don’t need the temptation and I would not be able to stop at 1. A few weeks ago I ended up in the beer garden and got completely pissed, which triggered a week long bender of vodka, wine, crisps and soured cream and chive dip. This means I cannot go to a leaving do on Thursday as it is in the pub, I have given my apologies, I do have to be up early on Friday so that was my excuse.

I may WANT to drink alcohol and have junk food, but I don’t NEED to drink alcohol or have junk food. What I NEED to do is persevere and commit and get to be the best possible me that I can be.

As always, thank you for the the continuing support.

FFBB X

We really need “like buttons” on this forum. I have to admit it girls….I really want to relax and …drink!
I am angry with myself for feeling like this and poor Joe is catching the sharp edge of my tongue (don’t worry about him, he can take it).
I am going to prepare my salad, and drink some water. Hope that helps me!

Take care everyone.

Love Mary
xxxx

Definitely need a like button for that one, LLCC.

Note to self:
When you are an addict in recovery Don’t read the Waitrose Food made to order brochure if they deliver one along with your food….

Great poem, EC. Happy birthday, Liz.

And thanks to everyone for all the support.

Hi Mike – interesting article. I don’t like Kombucha as I don’t like sweetened teas anyway, so I think I’ll give it a miss.

Jenni – I’m sure like a lot of fermented foods it is a positive thing for the gut biome, but I would say for those trying to manage sugar levels through managing carb intake, Kombucha is probably one to avoid. The problem with trying to ferment non-starchy products is that you have to add sugar in some form, be it honey or molasses or plain white crystalline, to keep the SCOBY alive.

Hello again,
Just calculated my mileage for 16th-30th June inclusive: 64 miles, which pleases me as I’ve managed to increase things slightly this month (so I’m still on target to crack 1000 miles walked this year).
So that puts my grand total for walking to Rivendell at 336miles – a few days out from Weathertop & the attack on Frodo, trudging through a valley…
Happy travels, keep avoiding those Black Riders!

Hi POPPET, That depends on how low and how you are feeling. Word of warning, before this diet I was swimming 3 times daily and late afternoon (around 4pm) i was almost in a state of hypo. I sought advice to stop me from turning to the old advice of quick carbs – think honey on bread – or some other sweet carb laden remedy to bring me back quickly. I was scared of these episodes. I saw a nutritionist and she put me on a high carb 6 times daily i.e. cereal for breakfast, oat cakes mid morning, rice with lunch, plain biscuit in the afternoon and pasta or potatoes with dinner, not forgetting some toast before bed. This, she said, would keep my BG steady thoughout the day. 3 months later my BG was way out of control 190 (10.5) and one day 230 (12.7). For someone who normally ran at 100 to 120 this was more scary than a pre-hypo. Also in 3 months I gained 5kgs. At that time I had a HbA1c test and was 11.2 which was a disaster as my previous one was 5.9. At that point I cut out most of those carbs by myself and got my BG down around 145 with a HbA1c of 8.4. Then I found this diet and I now run under 100 (5.5) usually around 80 to 90. Even when I go really low i.e 60 or 65 I get the symptoms of weakness, shakes, blurred vision, so know straight away that I need food. Simple as that. Instead of bread and honey etc I now have 2 large spoonsful of full fat Greek yoghurt, leave it a while and retest, if it is still low I have a couple of prunes and if it is still low, a slice of ham or chicken. Slowly does it, give the food time to reach your blood, you dont need to bombard it with sugar.

By the way, my doctor was horrified when he saw my high results and when I showed him my diet sheet (from the nutritionist) he was even more horrified and said it was more than he ate in a day. Another point, I have only ever had one true hypo where I have lost consciousness and that was whilst on the high carb diet and I had just eaten a sugar laden cereal breakfast when it happened. My doctor said my body probably reacted to the high sugar and sent it haywire.

Now, my advice to you is to know your own body and reactions and learn how to look after yourself. For goodness sake, if you are truly hungry or going too low, eat something. Just make sure it is BSD friendly. Hope that helps.

P.S. home monitors are very inaccurate (even the medical ones) so you could be higher than you think as they are set to run on the side of caution.

higgy22 doing exercise and burning calories is a good thing but will go almost nowhere to weight loss. You mention your exercise burning 320 calories per hour. That depends on whether you did a full hour and you have to also consider that some of those calories are from your basal metabolic rate i.e. an average height woman of 10 stone burns 1600 calories daily just from breathing and being alive. I know we are not even eating that amount and that is why we lose weight on this plan. But back to the exercise, lets say your 320 calories equates to 250 calories and you actually did one hour solid. In order to burn one pound of fat you have to lose 3000 calories – so you would have to do that hour 12 times. Most people do some exercise, reduce food intake and generally lose around 1 to 2 lbs a week on a ‘normal’ diet. Just read your profile and see you are a man.

Your goal of 3 stone plus in 3 months is do-able, especially as men seem to lose more quickly than women (there are biological reasons around fat ratio etc) but please be aware that your weight loss will slow the closer you get to your goal. Dont let that stop you, the only way to get to goal is to keep on keeping on…

Keep to the 800 calories and continue with the exercise but disregard the calories burnt, they are irrelevant on this plan.

Hi, welcome to higgy22, enjoy Mallorca Julia, it has been horrible here is southern France but set to get back into the 30’s this week so you should get use of the pool. I agree about the splashers, I like to have a good swim. Moulay the plateau will pass and this is not a time to give up. You will wake up one morning and, whoosh, the weight will be heading down again.

I have nothing to report as I have kept away from the scales although I know I have lost half a pound – fingers crossed as that is an amount that could be a wee or a poo and could be back on in an instant. Weigh in for the end of week 4 is Tuesday so lets all make a big effort and keep on keeping on…

Hi fba12 no I’m not diabetic I just wanted a diet that works for me as I needed to lose 1.5 stones. Have you tried weight lifting at the gym?

I agree with Lee, EC lovely poem.

Hey Lee, like they say, whatever gets you through the day. Because it is Sunday and I have been so good (my halo will slip in a bit) I have had a poached egg on smoked salmon and water cress. Yummy and a little decadent.

Love Mary xxxx

What a lovely poem EC. Inspiration for us all but a lovely gift 🎁 to share for Liz on this day.

Got lovely blue skies here in London today. Got a online shopping delivery coming (not up to facing the big supermarket aisle yet!) this way I only get good foods!

Currently sat having a vanilla infused coffee with full cream milk. I guess with the vanilla it’s not strictly bsd but it works for me and feels so decadent that I’m keeping it as my weekend treat!! I’m also enjoying my Sunday tv treat. (An hour of the extreme weight loss show followed by the biggest loser USA) I may not be following their methods but find they inspire me for the week ahead. Whatever works right?

L xx

Have you read the article that I quoted?
Mike

Michael Mosely has a mention of Kombucha in his Gut book and many reputable practitioners in Australia suggest having some to get gut biome back on track..

still online, but about to have that bath!!! (and head southern Aus time bedwards)

welcome Boo and SO well done Lee. Lee… I also feel sad that Ian has left (though the time differnce meant that the offending posts were removed before I read them…..however we ALL need this type of support !!!

Am also away from Tuesday…while not in Ireland with all its beauty and temptations, will be staying with a friend whom I love dearly but is my true music and wine-buddy…so will be as good as possible in the circumstances, but also happy for maintenance (neither that belly, nor the chipmunk cheeks are welcome back!!)… I will do this for as long as it takes…8 weeks x 8 x 8 or whatever!!

…..Liz…you will be just waking to a new birthday and new year of YOU…may it be the best!!
here’s a birthday poem that I came across and may be a verse for all of us…a reminder that the creative in us needs nurturing

Peregrina

O mother of the sea
lend me a wave that is strong and true
to carry me from this Age which unbinds me

I do not need a ship, mother,
but make it a buoyant swell
to bear me up and float me on the sea’s dreaming
then beach me on some lighter shore

when I land there, give me warp an weft again,
and an urchin quill to remind me
how the prettiest barb can lodge under your skin
and leave you undone

Only lend me a loom and I will
take up the threads of this unravelled life.
I will weave a braid from three strands of seaweed
I will wind it three times around my finger
I will dig my salt-encrusted hands into the soil
and wed myself to the thirsty
brown roots of a new beginning

Sharon Blackie

That’s really disappointing IzzyEzzy but don’t give up – I have found that the weight-loss just isn’t consistent – I’ve just had two weeks with no loss then 2lbs down this morning (I don’t have a lot to lose, jus those stubborn last pounds!). If you are doing everything you can, the weight will come off – sometimes, the body has to ‘re-calibrate’ to its new weight.
Keep smiling.
SSB

Welcome Boo. We all have demons and this forum, led by the Divine Miss Canada Liz, is our weapon against them.

Lee you are a star. I haven’t given myself a target, because there is so much to lose, so I am just enjoying every bit that goes.
Don’t feel bad about Iain, I think he was either a troll or still drinking. He may still be there but not posting. I am like you in that I wish him every success.

I really, really, wish there was a ‘like; button on these posts though.

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Love Mary
xxxx

Welcome Boo!
This is absolutely the best group to be a part of. We are real. We admit to our struggles and share in all its unvarnished glory!!!

Personally, I feel I have made friends for life.

I hope you find the support on here helpful. We are all on this journey and carry each other when times get tough.

L 😘

Happy Birthday oracle Liz! 🎁🎉🇨🇦🍒

So, today was officially my weigh day and unbelievably it’s a total 9lbs off in the last week. Realistically I know it will slow down now, but in reality I only have 3 weeks left of my 8. I shall extend for a week to take Galway into account. Have worked out that my tdee to maintain is 1550 calories, so if I shall try to stick to that while away and will be honest with you all while away as will still have wifi!

So, my goal is set at 135 lbs or 9 stone 9lbs. I’m not going to fix on that for sure but I can’t imagine weighing less and looking well…
Will have to rely on you ladies to support and guide me.

Been thinking a bit about Iain Holland and the opportunity he threw away to be part of this. It was me who reported him to the moderator but I can’t help thinking about him and hoping he is ok. Guess I’m just a softie at heart…

Have a good Sunday everyone

L xxx

Hi
I’d love to join this thread. I find it really inspiring. I’m fighting many of the same battles and love the fighting spirit and humour shown on here.
I’m 5’ 1” and 162.8llbs (So basically a cube with feet ) Have a couple of health issues. Would like to get the weight down for health reasons. Have lost 20lbs over the last year by on and off BSD. Would like to lose a lot more.
Thanks
All the best to everyone.

Well, here we are at the end of Week 4, so time for an update. Actually I’ve got nothing to report; no weight loss, no reduction in waist size. I lost 8 lbs in week 1, 2 lbs in week 3 and nothing since. Sticking to the recipes, watching portion sizes, no cheating on snacks. So disappointing. This is not the “rapid weight loss” I was expecting! However, we are enjoying the food, and discovering new flavours from the recipes. Generally feeling more energised, so we’ll stick at it.

Thanks for your comment guys…the girly night wine intake was difficult to measure as bottles were being emptied into glasses by others ! I think I need to “park” last week and stick with the plan. Your support here is much appreciated 💋

Hey CanadaLiz,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

Love
Mary xxx

Mouley, don’t despair, it’s so common to have ( multiple!) plateaus. Weight loss, as I have agonisingly slowly discovered, is not linear and if you type ‘plateau’ into the right hand top search box you’ll get a post from just about everyone who’s been on the bsd! Nothing at all to worry about, it’s actually normal. ( see ‘whoosh fairy’ for comforting news)

UURGH ! I’m at a plateau and not sure what else I can do. I’ve stayed the same for the last 2 weeks. I wouldn’t mind but in the last 2 weeks I’ve stuck to low carbs and under 800 cals, given up booze and been going to the gym 4 times a week. Rubbish!! Has any one else ever had plateaus? x

Hi Angie TW many thanks for your reply. I read the book before starting and have used some of the recipes which are very tasty. I had been low carbing for a year and lost 2 stone. My weight plateaued so I decided to try the BSD. I am a bit apprehensive about using pulses and beans incase they make my sugars high? I am fasting between about 6pm until around mid day and just having 2 meals. I exercise regularly too but have been doing that for years anyway and it has never helped with weight loss. I think I may need to go back on the medication if I can’t get the sugars down again. Are most of you diabetic too? Has anyone subscribed to the online diet on here? Thanks again for your support.

Hi Snoop. I also totally understand. I am a very infrequent fb user except for work as I have “pages” that I need to promote in my work and its also a way to keep up with my ever-growing and allover the place (geographically) family and friends. I even tried to make a separate profile for the forum group but the technology eluded me, so I’ve bitten the bullet and joined!! This forum is the first time I’ve ever “come out” on anything like this and its been a good thing, though even now, I have to breathe deep before revealing anything personal…you’re all an inspiration!
anyhow, for those of you interested, there are pics of me on my profile (not the old shed roof…there’s a story in that for another time)…..the third photo in (I’m the one in glasses…and one of my gorgeous sons is in the pic) is about how I look of late (and you’ll see why I’m here!!)…though the face is a little less round already!!

Anyhoo dear ones, hope you’ve had (or most of you still having…(mine is coming to a close…)) a great weekend.
I’m off to the kitchen to decide what next wonderful BSD friendly meal it’s going to be tonight (and the promise of a hot bath to distract me from wishing-for-wine)

Yes, I agree – calories burned are a very difficult thing to be sure about other than on some sort of specific machine with a measuring facility. One of the things that is still prevalent (and which I believed until reading the books by Mosley and Taubes) was that weight reduction and – hopefully – blood sugar reduction was simply a case of eating less and moving more so that more calories were burnt than were consumed. It’s not that simple – Taubes, in particular demonstrates study after study that has identified instances of whole communities on the verge of malnutrition yet with obese individuals. To say that it’s not how much you eat but what you eat is a partial truth, but the ‘eat less, move more’ mantra, if taken at face value, ignores the very important question of just what one does eat.
Mike

Like anything regarding the burning of calories, accuracy must be problematic. Must say I was surprised. Just checked another site that proposes 272 calories per hour generally. My figures came from a site that asked for height, age and weight so gave me some confidence. Seems the general consensus is that we need to disregard calories burned whilst working and therefore it becomes immaterial anyway.

I’d never heard of kombucha before reading this thread so looked it up. Doesn’t seem to have a very good press! If you doubt me, look at:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha

It’s a well researched article.
Mike

That sounds like very energetic painting! I use a treadmill – manual, the equivalent of walking briskly up a 1 in 10 gradient – for 20 minutes five days a week and that only burns around 300 calories an hour. Are you sure of that figure?
Mike

I think the easy answer is to ask yourself what you do like to eat, cut out what is high in carbs and see what is left. I have had success (rather to my surprise) with the diet without bothering with any of the recipes in the book, but I do eat salads. Most days my food intake is 100g of full fat yoghurt with 10g of walnuts and 10g of chia seeds for breakfast. Lunch a chicken or ham salad – but that is outwith your likes, so we’ll forget it – then in the evening a variety of meals, but all simple stuff – poached egg and ham, steak and mushrooms, salmon, either smoked or fresh with mushrooms, or leaves, omelette with ham or cheese or mushrooms or smoked salmon, chicken fried in olive oil, again with leaves – but in all of these sort of choices you don’t have to have leaves if you don’t like them – the important thing is to check the nutritional content of what you are eating and minimise carbs, making up with fats and proteins. Oh, for a snack – wafer thin ham or chicken, Camembert (best ‘numbers’ that I can see amongst the many cheeses that I like),are my ‘go-to’ snacks.
Hope that helps
Mike

Thank you for your insight. I am doing this for both reasons and I have decided not to consumer any kombucha until my sugar and weight is in control. Thank you.

Really keen to get started but having read the book I don’t like any of the recipes, literally not one, I’m really struggling to find anything I can eat as I know I will fail if I try to make myself eat things I don’t like, any tips for someone who doesn’t eat veg or salad please? Thank you 😁

Hi fba welcome to the group. Firstly I would recommend buying the recipe book as that really helps and also read the diet book from cover to covet. You have to be dedicated ss its only for 8 weeks. Dont have any bread, pasts, cakes or sugar not even at weekends.
Experiment with food and add pulses or beans which give you protein and are also filling. I was at a friends house and they invited me to stay for a takeaway. They were having Chinese and we all looked through the menu and were unsure on which to choose for me as I wanted low carbs and sugar amd no MSG as I am allergic to it. Do you know what we did in the end? We went to Sainsburys and I ended up doing a fab salad for them with smoked salmon and prawns and finished off with strawberr6and full fat Greek yoghourt. Really filling and healthy.
Look at eating fish and chicken.
Good luck, keep on posting and exercising.

I would definitely agree that if anything you should increase the percentage of protein. I went for 37g fat, 40g carbs and 77g Protein as my exercise levels were quite high for the 800 calories fasts.

Hi this is my first time posting on here. Only recently joined the forum. Like you I have started the 8 week BSD. Have been on it for 4weeks. Good weight loss the first week but very little since. Blood sugar has been excellent and my nurse advised me to try stopping the Dapagliflozin. I stopped taking it Monday – first two days I had superb readings but since then they are higher than they should be! Feeling hungry a lot and getting a bit disheartened. Any advice would be much appreciated. You all seem to be doing so well.

Hi Folks

Way back when i started this stream (almost a year !!) and had no idea what was ahead

I have reached my goal and am now in the VERY TRICKY world of maintenance !!

However, I notice people talking about fasting and thought i should comment

I have stuck rigidly to the 8-week blood sugar diet recipe book

i have eaten every day. I have not fasted. ( yes i like wine, cider , beer, and er yes even cake.)

and have fitted these in around the allocated calories…

(I have also had 7 day holidays where i didnt give a HOOT what i ate !!)

remember its a daily AVERAGE of 800 not precise.

so yes i have cut to 600 and been up to 1000 (So maybe this is fasting!!) but have never worried as looking back through my diary of what i eat and my weight 7 days later (IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE)

so looking back so far, best advice I can give is STICK TO THE DIET

the best advice given to me when i started was by my Dr who simply said

‘Remember. its only you who puts the food in your mouth!’

Hope this helps
now 55andfatnomore