Gliclozide will do that MK. I remember my Mum having had D and V and still taking the Gliclazide. She had a mega hypo, needed a 999 call out and flirted outrageously with the ambulance man until the glucose he gave her kicked in. She was in her 90’s. I still feel the shame ☺️

I had this to start with, Theodora and I am normally a hot person. The sort that old ladies spot in the street and say ‘ooh, aren’t you cold, dressed like that’s?’. But for the first three weeks I was on perma frost mode. But then it got better and now I’m back to normal. I live in the only non central heated house in the world ( according to my daughter) and even I feel the cold first thing. So I do 5 mins of exercises and that’s enough to warm me up for the day.
Nil desperandum. It will pass.

I spent my first week looking at my meals and going that will never fill me up – week 3 and I find 800 easy to stick to and am often full.

In my experience variety really helps – good luck.

Errr, thanks for the encouragement, I think, Esnecca – but are you telling me that this is not going to get any better?

I was assuming it was just a temporary phase of the BSD800, while my body got used to it, and it would go away after a while!! I’m not sure I can live with being this cold forever – I have no health problems, so am dieting purely to lose weight, but can’t see much point in fitting into lovely clothes, if I then have to cover them up with layer upon layer of fleeces 🙁

And long hot summers? What exactly are they?

Sorry to sound so negative, but haven’t lost any weight at all in the past week, nor inches, and being freezing cold all the time (and I mean freezing) is just making me miserable.:-(

Hi Esnecca, and thanks for your comments. We have Sunpat Peanut Butter, no sugar added, we already had the other before realising it had sugar in it. We’re only 1 week in to the diet, so no doubt that we are going to make mistakes, but we’re trying. My husband is T2D and on Metformin, Insulin, Glimepiride and other meds for Hypertension. His bloods seem to be all over the place atm!

I’ve always been naturally warm person. Even when I was slim in my youth any activity or a minute in the sun was enough to make the back of my neck sweat. I started the BSD in the sweltering heat of August and by the beginning of the third week, I was regularly shivering cold. The only time I wasn’t cold was during and immediately after exercise.

I can identify with how traumatic the shock of cold is when you’ve never experienced that sensation short of being outdoors in actual freezing weather. I get my inner heat from my father, while my mother is always cold. I called her and apologized for all those years of thinking she was crazy for wearing sweaters all the time while my dad and I were in tank tops.

In the beginning I quite liked the cold. It was a very hot summer and I loved the novelty of being cool after a lifetime of being the perpetually hot one. That allowed me to get used to the new normal before the frost descended and the deep cold became torture. I’m afraid that ship has sailed for you, but on the up side, this is the worst it’s going to be. Once the warm weather starts, you might enjoy the cool like I did in the beginning.

My methods of coping include the crazy bag lady layers you’re familiar with, regular long soaks in a hot bath (at least once a day when I feel the coldest), coercing the cats into sitting on my feet and coercing my bf into rubbing his freakishly hot hands against my frozen hands and feet. Definitely get a hot water bottle. They still beat the electric blanket by a mile, imo, because the sloshing, burbling water is soothing in ways beyond just the warmth it generates. Also, fleecy gloves, even fingerless ones, help.

I know it can feel surprisingly debilitating to be constantly struggling with the cold, needing layer upon layer to make it remotely bearable. I can tell you, however, that you will get used to it, maybe even grow to appreciate it in certain contexts. Don’t let this break your resolve, Theodora.

Another blinking hypo today. Felt a bit faint and fell over this PM, tested and down to 3.2 – again, no rhyme or reason other than my one glicozide tablet a day – GP says I must take it before lunch. FBS was 5.6, did my brisk walk and took one Metformin, had ham and grilled tomato breakfast, veg soup lunch, 6 almonds and a small chunk of feta, with 1l of water. . 3.2 – where did that come from? Will phone GP triage service tomorrow but in meantime am staying off the glicozide,. Will have identical food let’s see what my post lunch BG is tomorrow. Puzzled. MK x

Theodora
You won’t believe how much you will enjoy being size 10 again. I absolutely love putting on my size 10s. I even have size 9 troggins which fit like a dream.

HaHa, Krysia – what a shock for them all!

My heated car seat has become my best friend too – never ever even turned it on before starting BSD 2 weeks ago! In fact, until the last 2 weeks, didn’t even use the heating in the car, as I always got too hot. Used to have never ending battles with o/h if he was in the car, as he wanted it on and I wanted it off. These days, it’s the other way around!

And oh to be a size 10 again – if I can get through this cold phase, I’ll get there though 🙂

Sunshine-girl, I really don’t think it is just because the weather has been so cold. I took my granddaughters to Lapland for a week before Christmas and the temp varied between minus 24 and minus 30 !!!!! Didn’t feel cold once though, in fact we had an amazing time.

The highlights of my days atm is having a scalding hot 20 min shower just to warm up 🙂

Great, looks like we’ve got 4 or 5 of us starting tomorrow, with another two on Wednesday.

Somebody suggested “Fat Secret” to log weight and food intake, so I’ll be doing that.

What is the recommended water intake? I was going to aim for 2-3litres. How does that sound? Any other tips??

Initially it can be difficult but once the body has adapted correctly you may notice two things. Hunger is almost a thing of the past, and even when you fast a considerable length of time is infinitely bearable since you have an alternative source of plentiful fuel, for example your body fat. It almost catches you by surprise when your tummy rumbles loudly. The second thing is you begin to tell the difference between hunger and cravings, and once your carbs are low enough cravings subside to the extent that they are (if you are careful) easier to spot as the interlopers they are and they can be eased by diet friendly alternatives. Peanut butter, a little bit on a teaspoon is a good one to get rid of biscuit cravings, and cheese, a small piece, is always good at making the cravings go away. Thirst is also commonly mistaken as hunger, but if you are drinking the recommended 2-3 litres should rarely be a problem.

cheeky so and so.

Theodora, lots of people on this site have diabetes, me included, and we suffer from bad peripheral blood circulation. In other words limited blood flow to fingers and toes, so I am used to being cold all the time. This should not be your problem but losing body fat could cause it, as you say you have only lost 8lbs it seems unlikely to be the cause. It has been extremely cold just lately so it could just be that you are not used to such cold weather.

Theodora – I survived with lots of layers and my heated seat and steering wheel in my car. It wasn’t pleasant though.

When I threw off all the layers (I was still wearing a lot of my bigger clothes with thermals under them) and put on my size 10 tops and trousers after Christmas a lot of friends and clients were visibly shocked by my weight loss which they thought had happened over Christmas. It did cause quite a stir.

Thank you for reporting the post Sunshine-girl.

WillianAnderson, I have reported your post to admin as you are advertising and promoting a commercial product. See rules on posting.

Thanks for your replies.

Denis, do you know, I don’t even possess a hot water bottle, because I am normally a really warm person. I don’t know how much it will help though, because hugging a radiator doesn’t seem to – all it does is warm the bit of me in contact with it. This cold seems to emanate from the inside – O/H assures me that I am not cold to the touch – but I feel cold right down to my core. But anything is worth trying, so thanks for the suggestion – it will go onto this week’s shopping list.

Krysia, thanks for your words or encouragement – but how on EARTH did you survive from May to December if you felt this cold???? OK, I guess the weather wasn’t as cold then as it is now, and I did start BSD in pretty much the coldest period of the winter – today is the first day it has risen above freezing point here for the past 2 weeks – but I cannot even imagine coping with being this cold for months on end!! I cannot believe that it is losing my insulating layer of blubber that is causing it, because I have only lost 8lbs so far. I am usually SUCH a winter person, much prefer it to the summer, just love frost and snow and windy walks, but now I am thinking “roll on summer”.

It looks as though I may have to carry on looking and feeling like an old bag lady for the foreseeable future (and will look even fatter with hot water bottles tucked up my jumpers and down my knickers 😉 ) if I want to lose the excess weight. Unless anyone else has any miraculous suggestions, no matter how daft?

Reading your profile you don’t have diabetes (yet, and I only say that because of family history) so this is a weight loss plan for you. The theory behind the 800 calories is that it shocks the body into losing visceral fat (internal fat around the organs), particularly around the pancreas and liver. This is important to diabetics as it helps the healing process and improves blood glucose with a view to reduce or reverse diabetes. In your case such a harsh diet is not necessary and you could lose weight on more calories, say 1000 although I would say one of the things that makes this diet work is the elimination of starchy carbs like bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and cereal and of course, sugar. Try it and see and if you find the calories difficult to maintain add in some good calories as snacks like cold meat, tuna, cheese, a boiled egg. Something that will give you a boost without spoiling the plan.

Good luck

Hi Gillykins, I’m starting on 30th Jan too and happy to buddy up with you and anyone else!
Alexandra

I’m starting the diet tomorrow (30th Jan) and wondered if sticking to 800c is very difficult or does the diet curb hunger? I have 2 children, busy life and feel tired a lot of the time so wondering if a modified version better? Maybe I’ll start with 800c and see how it goes but don’t want to crash into a basket of bread…

so good to hear from you Verano, take it easy and be good to yourself.

Hot water bottles stuffed down your jumper. ? Really helps I found.

Theodora
Exactly the same thing happened to me. I have always been a very very cold person. Even in the summer I wore a l lightweight fleece over my top while I was working because I was so so cold. Husband used to say ‘how can anyone be so cold and still be alive’.

I started the BSD in May and as the weight dropped off I just got colder and colder because I was losing the layers of fat. I lost nearly 3 stone and got to my target weight on 10th December. I had been increasing my steps since June when I got a fitbit and over the Christmas vacation I decided I must increase my walking speed and do more of my steps at a faster speed.

Over the Christmas vacation I really found that I was beginning to put more muscle on. I could feel muscles getting stronger. Then I began to feel warmer. Started back teaching classes in January and was so warm I had to throw off the fleeces. The halls I teach in felt too warm. People who had been coming to my classes for 16 years were in shock because they had never seen me without a fleece on.

I am not only not wearing a fleece – the tops I am wearing are really lightweight tops you would wear in the summer.

So why did my metabolism change. Was it because of the BSD and everything is working better now. Was it the BSD combined with the extra exercise. I really don’t know. I have no fat to keep me warm now (my BMI is 21) but I seem to be generating heat from somewhere. My carbs are low like yours. I haven’t had a bad carb or sugar since May – so perhaps my body really likes burning fat as fuel and it just took a long time to make the changes. Or perhaps my circulation had been so damaged by all the sugary starchy carbs and it has taken several months for my circulation to become normal again. It is a real puzzle but I have been a cold person since my early 20s and I am 68 now, so it is really a major, but lovely, change for me.

So there is hope that the same thing will happen to you. Believe me I do sympathise because it is horrible.

So good to hear you are better Verano! Cellulitis is a nasty customer and it is good you caught it early. I contracted cellulitis from a tick bite about three years ago and ended up on IV antibiotics — it was pretty scary actually, hugely swollen arm and high fever — the doctor thought that perhaps the tick was carrying an unusual bacteria that lives in wild animal populations and was transmitted to me — it has made me even more aware of ticks when I am out gardening. I am glad you are back home — I hope your recuperation is easy. Take care.
Julia

Hi all – a little advice please.

I am just finishing my 2nd week and managing to stick to BSD800 quite easily as the food is so delicious and, in fact, my carb per day average is only about 27. Disappointed that I haven’t lost weight (or inches) this week, after a really encouraging start but I know that, if I stick with it, this will come – how can it not, on less than 800 calories a day?

My problem is that I am SOOOO cold all the time – normally I don’t feel the cold. I know the weather has been very cold recently, but my heating is going full blast, no one else in the house seems to feel cold and in fact my O/H keeps wanting to turn it down – he is walking around in Tshirts. I, on the other hand, am wearing full skiing thermals, 2 jumpers, a fleece jacket, 3 pairs of socks and, when I sit down, a big fluffy fleece rug tucked around my legs and I am STILL FREEZING!!! This seems to have become my “uniform” since starting BSD800 and, not only do I look like an old bag lady, feeling so cold all the time is making me miserable. Plus, even, if I lose loads of weight, I’ll still look fat with so very many layers on! I am drinking loads of water, and have increased it considerably this week, plus I have a constant cup of tea to hand (don’t take milk, and like it very weak, so almost as good as water) and I use it not only to keep up my fluids, but to warm my frozen hands on.

I think, if I can’t get over this, it is the one and only reason that may force me to give up, so any suggestions would be very gratefully received – I am averaging about 35 – 40g of fat a day, and occasionally much more – yesterday was 56g but didn’t make me feel any warmer! 🙁

Training for my 26 mile walk in the Autumn started this weekend. This thread is apt as it is in the Peak district

PEAK – Did 11 rainy miles (25,500 steps and 68 flights of Fitbit stairs) yesterday in just over five hours and the legs don’t hurt too bad this morning. Drank about 5 litres of water/green tea and ate pure BSD although about 1000 calories.

PIT – Stitching in the trusty Quests is failing so need some new boots…..

PEAK – Did my tax return today

PIT – Owe the taxman £5k – need to find some discounted boots 😉

Keep smiling

Hello all

I’m starting too on 30 January. (Actually, I’ve been trying to start all year.) I have managed a few days at a time and have then sort of fallen by the wayside. I did a good eight week stint before Christmas and managed to lose 10kg. I’ve still got a way to go, so need some help getting some momentum going. Let’s see how we do.

There’s nothing wrong with bumping an old thread, Shyshihtzu. Leeanne may be subscribed in which case she’ll get an email notification of your answer, and even if she doesn’t, someone else can still profit from your contribution. Me, for instance! 😀

May I ask what kind of peanut butter your husband eats? Does it have added sugar or is it only the natural sugars found in peanuts causing his BG to rise?

The book doesn’t advocate any pasta, as far as I can recall. Pasta is in the easily digestible carb category with bread, potatoes, cereal and rice, and thus should ideally be avoided all together. Besides, it’s so high in carbs that one 2 oz serving could easily max out your allotted daily carb grams, and that’s one of those serving sizes that is very often overshot because 2 oz is a tiny amount.

I would say that most people on this diet don’t eat any pasta as it encourages us to continue with a carb craving. Getting rid of all starchy carbs completely gives your body a chance to get over any cravings. No pasta, no rice, no potatoes, no bread, and so on, not of any type or colour. The operative word in your post I WHEAT, which turns to sugar in the blood stream. If you are being strict and doing the BDS800 then there is no wriggle room for the number of calories in pasta eighter. it might be fine for you if you are not intending to be as strict as 800 cals or even low carbs, but it will slow down your weight loss and not help your blood glucose (I note you are not diabetic). Hope that helps.

Not a stupid question. Per person – so dont eat a whole meal for 2 thinking you are only having xxxx calories, someone else did that, easily done. Most of the recipes are for 2 so easy to divide up the meal but, for example, the skinny chilli is for 8 so you could have been in trouble there.

Thanks LindaA, that is thoughtful of you, but I don’t have iTunes and will not pay for something I dont need. I will search for it in UTube talks when I get a min.

All is well right now, after reducing insulin to 22 units and glicazides I am running at 4.6 in the morning and 4.1 at 7pm. Still need to keep a careful eye on it. I do want to be 5.5 at my next HbA1c (they are always higher than the daily home test) and be 6 lbs lighter. That will be around 8th March just before I go back to see doctor. My weight goal for this 4 weeks is 3.5 lbs and struggling a bit, only lost quarter of a pound since last Tuesday, still, the week is not over yet.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.

Hi Gillykins

I’ve started the BSD once before, last summer, and lost around 10lb before gradually drifting back to my old eating habits. I’m keen to restart (and this time, stick to it!) so I’d like to join you on 30th January – hopefully having a buddy or two will keep me accountable this time. I was just thinking I wasn’t quite ready to start yet, need to shop, etc, but realise that I have enough stuff in to get me started and so NO MORE EXCUSES!!!

Off to look for a suitable app to help, thanks Theodora for recommendations…

Hi, this is my first time on the BSD and I started on the 01st Jan along with my usual dry January. I have had great weight loss in the first three weeks totalling 25lb however this week I have hit a brick wall and lost 0lbs. I am going to the gym three times a week but doing the same thing so I think I need to mix it up a bit. Perhaps my body is getting used to it, no cravings thank goodness and not missing the carbs. If anyone else hit a brick wall let me know what you did to get moving again.
Regards
Sue

Lots of yummy things are low carb, though. Berries lower carb than most fruit, in moderation, so a little bowl of lovely ripe raspberries stirred into full fat thick Greek yoghurt, a couple of squares of 90% dark choc (if you can stop at 2 – don’t try till you can) and you can eat cheese, calories permitting – as your appetite decreases (and it will!) there’s nothing nicer than a little chunk of really flavoursome cheese and some fresh crunchy celery. I find the key to keeping carbs low is to get most of my calories from green soups, green veg and fat – I eat very little meat, but love fish and find it easy-ish to do 30g carbs with the help of a low carb cookbook and a carb counter. With enough fats, you don’t feel hungry. Think the key is not to think about what you can’t eat – when I first started eating low carb 6 years ago I railed against having so little fruit and craved it all the time until I bedded in and started to enjoy all the things you can have on a low carb diet that you can’t have at all on other plans.

Good luck everyone – the start of another week and another chance to make good choices. MKx

I have been doing the BSD for a week now, lost 4lbs in my first week…quite pleased with that and considering I am a long term “chocaholic”, “you name it and I’ll eat it aholic”!!!! I haven’t felt too hungry… have gone over the 800 calories a little some days but weight still seems to come off and I am loving trying new recipes and eating foods I have never eaten before….feel better in myself too. Good luck with your journey and look forward to hearing how you are doing….

Hi Gillykins
I am also starting tomorrow 30.1.17. I have dabbled with the BSD in the past but am determined to complete the 8 weeks! I would welcome someone to buddy up with although I know the forum members here are all good with advice and recipes etc.

probably asking a very stupid question here!!!! have been doing this for week and a half – first week lost 4lbs! and forging ahead to week 2 – very happy and not feeling too sugar deprived…….. the calories in the recipes – are they per recipes or per person?

My friend and I are starting 1st Feb, committing for the month of Feb to each other and see how we do. I am hoping that we will be spurred on a month at a time.

In November I had some tests as my blood sugar is high and they have established that I am not diabetic however it is the weight that I am carrying that is causing the high blood sugar. In between tests I went sugar free found it remarkably easy and did reduce the sugar count and lost a few pounds. Then went on holiday to Florida with my husband and when I returned had quite a few hideous (work wise) weeks in the run up to Xmas. Have not managed to get back on the wagon.

However, one of my work colleagues, who was recently diagnosed Type 2 told me that after dry Jan people were switching to Fab Feb for sugar free. Thought I would give it a go.

I am fairly sure in the book that Egg Pasta was advocated over Whole Wheat Pasta. Having looked at the nutritional content it seems that Whole Wheat comes out top although for taste for me it would be egg pasta. I have found some recipes for Whole Wheat Egg Pasta and in fact Waitrose do a fresh version that just consists of Whole Wheat Flour, Semolina, Eggs and Water.

Your thoughts please.

Thanks Mixnmatch, good advice on the salt. A new wardrobe could get expensive, but I am resisting any purchase until I reach my goal, although suits/trousers may start looking a bit baggy before then!

Thanks for getting back to me. Great, I’ve been doing the 8WBSD for a few weeks now but I’ve found it hard to stay focussed to a goad, so this is a great forum that I can use to check in and hopefully find a focus. So today I’m starting my activity challenge. Two years ago I did the London marathon and since stopping the training I have pulled the weight on. I know too many carbs aren’t great for my weight. I don’t eat meat, but do eat fish, but I find that a mainly veggie diet isn’t great for reducing the carbs. So from today I’m going to aim to start on 30 mins a day on the treadmill or walking outside. Hopefully build up by the end of the 4 weeks to achieving a 1 hour run on treadmill/outdoors. I’m not sticking ridgidly to the 800 calls per day but I am trying to stick to the 20 g per day in carbs. Wish me luck!

So 4 weeks in half way – probs around 1000 calories a day plus wine at weekend but very strict about low carb

103kg 16 stone 3 pounds down to 93.5kg 14 stone 12 pounds

Fasting blood sugar down from pre-diabetic to middle of normal range

3 inches off waist (weight seems to have mostly come off chest and upper abdomen so far)

Blood pressure down from 140/90 to 120/70

Only real problem I have is slight insomnia due to hunger that seems to only come on at night

Absolutely delighted – to anyone starting out – it is definitely worth sticking with

Hi Pipsterpippinashe, all you have to do is define what your personal challenge is for the next four weeks. Starting yesterday for example I intend to up my exercise, and have committed to this as part of my challenge. Goals could be a certain weight loss target (but be realistic) or going down a clothes size, or fitting in a certain item of clothing that you currently can’t get into. If you have measured yourself you could choose inches/cm off instead. The sky is the limit.

Linda,
Thank you for that link about salt. Fascinating stuff. We are so brainwashed into being careful about our salt intake that we forget how important it is to get enough. Now that I’m eating mainly fresh and no processed (and therefore salt laden) food I can see how I’m not getting my recommended amount.
I’ll consciously start adding it from now on.
This diet is a real learning curve!

If you are craving salty things like peanut butter or marmite but don’t want to use up calories you may just be short of salt. On one of the other threads people have suggested just having a few crunchy salt crystals instead and the cravings go away. 4 lbs a week is a fantastic rate of weight loss, well done. I relate to the trying on coats feeling. Spotted a lovely turquoise and gold anorak/blouson style jacket in a local charity shop, almost put it back on the rail when I saw it was XS size, but tried it on and it fitted perfectly! I am skinnier I think than I have ever been, as I have never before been lower than a size 12/medium. This way of eating really is life transforming and you will meet your goals. I also relate to the desk bound sedentary job, and have started running up stairs whenever possible, and going the long way round, including running up an extra floor worth of stairs, after going to the loo. All I need to do now is get myself motivated to go for a walk every lunchtime, and I might edge closer to making 10000 steps each day.

I’ve just noticed the date when you 1st raised this subject. Sorry, I’m new on here. Hopefully, I won’t do it again 😕

Hi there, I know that peanut butter affects my husband’s bs. He had a hypo earlier on in the week and a friend told us to try a teaspoon or 2 before bed, as this may help prevent another hypo. We have noticed that if he has it too often, (or too much!) his bs are raised quite dramatically. I think we may have to stop buying the wicked stuff 😠 Hey ho, it’s a learning curve ☺

Hi All,
Four week weigh-in yesterday. I have lost a further 4 lbs, making a total of 15.5 lbs since 1st January. I’m really pleased with this, averaging just under 4 lbs a week. I don’t think my weight loss is quite as dramatic as some on the forum in the first four weeks, but I haven’t been counting calories/carbs religiously, and some meals that I have been having with the family are as I used to have before the diet, just without the potatoes/rice/pasta etc. Also I am still far too sedentary in my largely desk-bound job, and know that I must start to get more active.
I should say I am not type 2 diabetic, but the diet seemed do-able for me, more than any other diet I have tried in the past.
My goal for next week is to lose the 3 lbs that would take me to 12.5 stone, which I have not been for 10 – 12 years. My ultimate goal would be to get to 11 stone (and then maintain it!!).
Yesterday I tried on some medium sized coats in Debenhams and was able to fit into them ( have been buying large for too long), so that was a real buzz!
Keep going everyone!

Eureka! So that’s that then…..I am now tech savvy 👍Well, not really, but thanks to your combined efforts, I may be able to join in a bit more. 😊