Day 2 for me too and I can honestly say that today was much easier than yesterday. I have been much better on drinking my water today and don’t feel nearly as hungry as I did yesterday. I did weigh myself this morning and was thrilled at a 0.4 kg weight loss already. Thanks for the tip about the tea, I will add that to my shopping list. Hope everyone else is feeling great too.

For me, when I’ve plateaued I have a bowl of porridge, the cab surge seems to reset the weight loss process. Don’t necessarily recommend it to everyone, but it works for me.

Hi Lizcuz

I read the book over the Summer and it is now on its fourth daisy chain lend (sorry about the royalties DrM.) so am not too familiar with the details – but what is level 3?

Hi Seadog

There is no doubt that some of the recipes in the book are more carb heavy than others. BNS is carb heavy, as are apples so having them both in the same day may affect things. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have them but have a look at the back of the book to see what MM has normally teamed together. I am now in the maintenance phase but when I was losing I just chose a breakfast, lunch and dinner from the book and I lost quickly and consistently (with a couple of blips!) for 16 weeks. If you are losing weight following these recipes then just continue to do so but if it’s affecting your BS or weight loss just have a look at less carb heavy dishes for at least one meal of the two and you should be fine.

Our personal favourites are the quick platters for lunch (medi and mexi) and anything with chicken for dinner! (unless you’re veggie in which case…maybe not 🙂 )

I’ve got to admit it’s the percentages of weight loss that people have achieved that astounds me.

MK…it is indeed wonderful that there are those that have lost these impressive and massive amounts of weights….it can be done and it shows the power of mind over matter and the willingness to want to follow a healthy way of life and eating…. FAB to all of you xxxxxx

Hello Seadog. 79g carbs does seem rather a lot. How many grams of butternut have you recorded? I found the best weight loss for me involved having less that 50g carbs.

Happy Tuesday everyone! And well done all of you! I was aiming to start yesterday but Life got in the way!!!!!
Drank too much wine, ate smoked salmon Christmas left overs ( but in 3 low carb wraps ) and generally felt s..t !
Have to see the Doc on Thursday ( received a letter post blood tests) I know my cholesterol and triglycerides and possibly my blood sugar will be raised …….I’m a nurse used to managing my own clinics and advocating good health etc etc…..so I think I have a destructive addictive gene! I’m ordering my shopping on line and am reading the BSD book and recipe books and other great sites that really have great creative recipes on them , Diet Doc, IHIB ( I’m human I breathe is excellent and fun) so there is just NO EXCUSE!!!
My dear hubby has gone back to work overseas and is doing a million times better than I am …….using the recipes that I created for him…..he’s just so focused and he’s saying he’s feeling so much better and alert……..he could also not believe the calories in a baked potato, a lowly tomato, a handful of rice……So he’s cut it all out!
ValerieRobb, you can buy Low Salt and add a tiny bit to your meals….on this way of eating we excrete more salt….so our electrolytes ( chemicals) can go out of sinq…..causing headaches, cramps and dizziness ..it might be also worth upping your magnesium in the form of spinach, pine nuts, almonds and you can buy magnesium oil for the bath which helps and is absorbed!
Tesco’s sell spiralised courgette…it’s great !
The Hba1c blood test is a more accurate way of measuring blood sugars over an 8-12 weeks period ….rather than the one if ‘ snap shot’ of a fasting blood sugar ….blooded sugar do have peaks and troughs throughout the day so this is a better indicator …normal levels should be below 42 mmols………
I’ll keep you posted after my visit on Thursday. Good Luck peeps!

Aren’t people doing brilliantly! Loving these tales of 4, 6 and 7 stones lost, and under 10 stone weights now from 16 before, and great to hear about stable blood sugars too. So motivating for those of us still on a longish path. We WILL get there. We WILL stay there. Because we are standing on the shoulders of those who’ve led the way. MKx

Hello everyone, Count me in. I started BSD in October, after my HBA1C went up again and I was threatened with Gliclazide in addition to my metformin, No way! I thought and told the nurse that. I see the nurse again next Wednesday for the new HBA1C results, so counting down!

I am now 9 stone 11lbs, so 1 stone 5lbs down and aiming for 9 1/2 stone goal weight (perhaps a couple of lbs under for wiggle room) I don’t know how others feeling but these remaining few pounds, seem to have morphed in my head into some huge target, so am looking forward to sharing with others and keep myself on the right track with a positive frame of mind.

It took me longer to get back in the post xmas swing than I had anticipated but back to normality now.

Morning all,

I’m just checking with the experts out there..but I’ve just logged the food for the Tuesday meal plan in MM’s book. This is –
B’fast – egg and avocado
Lunch – No carb ploughmans
Dinner – Vegetable curry

As you can see below, the apple from the lunch, and the butternut squash make this day fairly carb heavy ?. I’m just checking, but is this OK ?.

Calories
778
Fat
43 g
Fiber
23.4 g
Carbs
79.3 g
Sodium
1117.4 mg
Protein
29.7 g
Water
1850 ml
Daily Calorie Composition: 39% from carbs, 47% from fat and 14% from protein.

Your advice is spot on. Thanks. And I’ve been putting off increasing my water intake from the start. I’ve been focusing on drinking lots of coffee with milk and, sorry, but…Pepsi max! Lots of it! I’m going to take your advice from right now. Herbal teas and water. Thanks again. I needed the kick!

Thank you so much Linda A for all that information, It’s really helpful and answers a lot of questions I had and maybe was saving for a bit later. Day 4 for me today and I notice that the crepey skin on my arms is much improved and a pea-sized hard lump on my arm is disappearing! Exciting to see what happens next!

Thank you sunshine-girl they all sound delicious. I will give them a trial run before the picnic.

Best of luck Davidh – I also found increasing water intake helped – I plateau-ed twice – once in Week three when I gained a pound (IMAGINE!!) and then Weeks 7/8 – I increased my water from 2.5 to 4 litres for a day and dropped 2lbs overnight. It stayed off too and got things started again – I continued the increased water but at about 3 litres – as 4 is just ridiculous on a regular basis lol

So I’ve managed to lost the Christmas weight – officially 5.25lbs off in a week – my second biggest loss so pleased with that. Have 4lbs to get to my ultimate goal which may be slightly low but I will see. Back on BSD proper for 5 days a week and a slight increase in calories for 2 at the weekend….reverse 5:2 I guess!!

Have two meals out and a wedding in the next two weeks so it may be hard going but I have the ultimate goal of my own wedding in June so I have to maintain this loss at least!

Three weeks in and 10lbs lost. Hooray!
Then ‘plateau!’
Several initial lessons learnt, at least which seem to apply to me and possibly explain the stall:
1. Portion sizes – better to weigh any ingredients, foods, rather than my way which is to guess!
2. Red wine: I talked myself into believing that I could drink relatively freely. Say a bottle a week. But those calories really mess things up
3. Cheese. I’ve been eating too much, again believing its OK to eat freely.

If I can nail the above, then I should be on my way again!

I started on 2nd January. By Wednesday I had a headache and felt pretty rough but by Thursday I felt great and so far feeling good. The 1st 48 hours are hard.

Morning all – 5.25lbs off for me this week. It’s just half a pound shy of all the festive weight I piled on but since it is 2lbs under my original target I’m going to claim a victory!

I’m looking at maintenance now and am looking keenly at Krysia’s post, the last couple of days I added an extra egg, cheese, nuts and seeds but my favourite addition at target had been a homemade cappuccino (extra 50 cals and 5g carbs) from my newest ‘toy’ that my parents bought us for Christmas, a Nespresso machine with a milk aerator – loving it. Not every day but may become a regular weekend thing 🙂

Great to hear of everyone’s victories this week, long may it continue! Have a good day all
TC

I am on the final push too. Weighed in at 11 stone 8 yesterday, want to get to 10 stone 7 by the end of April. I started out at 14 stone 9 during the summer so I know it works and quickly but I still cannot get my head around the fact that I am my new size. The biggest change for me was that I had no interest in anything sweet over the Christmas. There is still a tin of Quality Street on the coffee table, a year ago this would have called my name every time I walked into the room. That said I did overindulge on the cheese and crackers so my big change this week is getting the carbs in order. I have even risked looking at bikinis for my summer holidays, the last time I wore one I was 3, 37 years ago! Best of luck with the final push

Hi everyone, just joined this forum. Me and my diabetic partner (I’m not diabetic) have been doing the level 3 version for a week and have both lost 3 lbs. We also did about 10 days before xmas and lost 6lbs of which 5 lbs went back on! However, overall weight change over xmas was -1lb so my point is don’t wait for a ‘suitable time’ just get on with it and deal with holidays and trips off by doing level 3 for a few days. we’re retired so do a lot of tripping off and holidays. We need to stop thinking about these trips as excuses to eat! My birthday this weekend so we’re off to London and Rochester for the weekend BUT will still be doing level 3. Its very easy to do whilst eating out we’ve discovered. Looking forward to reading how we all get on. Good luck to all!

Morning all, missed weigh-in yesterday due to circumstances out of my control! Checked in this morning with a slightly disappointing 3.6lb loss for the week. But it’s below the pre-christmas weigh in and my blood pressure is also in the normal range. …. and there has been wine. and not much exercise so to be expected! This time next week I should be free and clear of festivities for a few weeks so will be able to turn my attention more fully to the plan. In the meantime mini-goal is to lose another 2lbs. Keep up the good work fellow travellers!

Hello everyone. I’m very new to this so please bear with …

After 9 months of struggling with THE worst yeast infection, I went to the doctors (which I avoid at all costs wherever possible, hence the length it took me to go) and they did a blood test. The day after boxing day, I got a call from the doctor to tell me that I have type 2 diabetes. I seen the diabetic nurse on 4th Jan and my Hb1ac (think that’s what it’s called) was 100. I weighed in at 16st, which came as a shock as I’d weighed myself 2 days before and was 14st – my scales were obviously broken!!!! She put me straight onto metformin and told me that I need to loose weight. I had done a bit of research between hearing from the doctor and seeing the nurse and had already ordered the BSD book. When I told the nurse that I would lose at least 2st before I see her again in 3 months, she looked at me in disbelief as if to say “I’ve heard that one before!” But I am determined!!

I read the BSD book and immediately started to cut out carbs and started planning to start the diet yesterday. I felt disgusted when I looked at the usual crap that I would usually buy in the supermarket – I have never bought so much veg in my life!! The house is still full of Christmas chocolate and I am not tempted in the slightest. My OH and kids are not eating it either as my diagnosis seems to have come as a wake up call for them too. Not quite sure what to do with it!

I weighed in at 15st 7.5lb yesterday morning (on my nice new scales) and started 800 cal BSD yesterday. and found it so easy. No cravings or hunger.

Breaskfast: 2 medium eggs, scrambled and a grilled tomato
Lunch – Cottage cheese with tomato and cucumber (I had to find a supermarket that stocks full fat cottage cheese as my local tesco doesnt!)
Dinner – Chicken breast on white bean mash with french beans
Couple of cups of tea and loads of water.
798 cals (using my fitness pal)

I’ve been walking for the last couple of days too making sure I get my 10,000 steps in and want to start running in a couple of weeks.

Got up this morning after just one day on the diet and I have lost 2lb!!!! A long way to go as I would like to lose about 3.5 – 4st but it’s a fantastic start! I aim to lose at least 2st before I have my bloods done again at the end of March. That diabetic nurse is not going to recognise me!!

Bring it on!!!!!

Good to have you aboard cmawp and Mixnmatch, will be good to have company on this last bit before going into maintenance proper. Found the first day back on the 800 a little taxing, although it was the cals I struggled with not the carbs. Had a few hunger pangs, but nothing major and generally I’m feeling good and I think today should be easier – I hope. Had dropped 0.8lb when I weighed myself this morning, but of course, until the week is done and any loss has been consolidated, I can’t rely on that – going in the right direction though – hopefully!

Good luck everyone and I look forward to reading all lots of positive results soon.

Try having a small handful of salted peanuts, or adding it to dinners as much as possible? Do you use salted butter etc as opposed to unsalted.
If I have the “not enough salt” symptoms, usually when drinking lots of water, I just have a handful of peanuts and it usually does the trick.

Morning/afternoon everyone
End of week 1 and I’ve lost 7 pounds 😀 I use My Fitness Pal and it shows I’m not getting enough salt. Anyone have suggestions please? Thank you
Val

Hi all,
never heard of Soya making women gain weight, Japanese women eat plenty of it and don’t seem to have an issue. It can be what people add into Soya to make it more palatable – lots of sugars??? Tofu is a great protein source with almost no carbs so ideal for this diet.
All peas – spilt peas (green and yellow) and many veg e.g. broccoli have some protein in them which add to the daily amount; likewise lentils. However, they also have carbs and that is a balance.
So long as you read the labels and check that what you are eating is high fat, normal protein and low carbs, you will be fine. The issue with soya is probably that some products or made up foods are high fat AND high carbs as well as the protein and that will add the pounds quickly.
I bought some hemp powder last week and have not yet used it, but it is another protein source and can be added to soups. Apparently it is a little earthy in taste. I had intended to add it to breakfast but on reading that decided to wait till I make some new soup and see how it went in that. If can go into anything and is 40% protein – so 15g a day (their recommendation) gives 6g protein. Has anyone else tried it?

Morning, day 7 today I think. Wow my head has been all over the place but much clearer this a.m. at last. Thank heavens I can read on here that all is normal.
Finally got a g rip on carb counting. Nearly passed out when I looked up a baked potato! I never had one I may add so yesterday was very good at 27 grams of carbs.
Granny and Marion, I got myself a starter magazine with crochet hooks and wool but I have not yet managed to even cast on!! I shall have another go. I really want to do a traditional granny blanket made up of squares for my first project. Well I am a granny so I thought that was apt.
Weigh in tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Off to shops today for more supplies. Onward and downward.
Grateful thanks to all for much needed tips. x

Hello everyone, well done all for the ongoing progress, whether in weight loss or effort.

This morning’s weight = 61.7kg (last week = 63.5kg) so 1.8kg down in the face of chest infection, cough, cold, antibiotics. I’m quite impressed because preBSD I would have eaten to the point of bingeing when feeling unwell – the old ‘if I eat I’ll feel better’ syndrome. This week, I’ve managed to control the impulse. 😇

Good luck with week 3 of this challenge xx

Good morning ,
Granny I’ve been crocheting and knitting on and off since 10yrs old and more so in the last 2years. Find it very relaxing. The project I’ve started is ‘Rose of Avalon’ blanket from Deramores. A bit more challenging than usual.

I like reading the forum in the morning too. Gives me motivation for the day. I think LindaA post is so informative and positive. I shall read it every time I need a nudge to keep going.

Have a good day everyone.

M

I too am a crocheter marion53 so would love to hear about your crochet project. I find that my crochet and knitting keeps my mind occupied so less tempted re snacks👍! Good luck on your BSD journey and this blog is great for hints and tips, just ask….. someone always knows the answer. LOVE catching up with this blog of a morning, finding out where everyones up to, good choices today everyone.

Well wow, am a reading correctly 7 I/2 stones off? Great on you and an inspiration for me. I have 3 stones to get off. Thank you for sharing

My weigh in this morning shows I have also reached my pre-festivities weight at 11 stone 3, back to 7 1/2 stone off from my starting point, but not quite back to my lowest BSD weight yet, 4 pounds of rebound still to go, then onwards and downwards again for a little while. Congratulations Daisiesmum, 1.6 pounds is nothing, I am sure you will be there before your appointment, but even if you aren’t you have much to be proud of.

Well done Verano on your weight loss – 2lbs is a good loss for the week.

Maintenance is going really well and am still exactly 9 stone 6.5lbs. Am keeping carbs as low as when I was losing weight but increasing the calories with extra nuts and seeds, smoked mackerel (which is surprisingly high in calories), yoghurt, cheese and cream.

I still weigh and log my food each day on fat secret. I will never eat the bad carbs again but I am just as bad at judging portion sizes as I ever was. Luckily I actually rather enjoy doing the weighing and logging – it’s sad isn’t it.

Blood sugars are 4.8 this morning so all is going well.

Brilliant posts, Lucia.

Also have 3 stone to lose this year. What’s that now, 355 one days at a time? Should be doable.

On the breakfast thing, cereal doesn’t cut it for me. I’ve taken to skipping breakfast but having a cup of miso broth about 11.30 when I start to feel peckish. Because it’s so savoury, somehow I feel like I’ve had a decent meal.

As for the mince pies, I still have puff pastry and some mincemeat in the fridge. The mincemeat should reach the end of its “eat x days after opening” period soon. Then I’ll chuck it out. Should do it now, but there’s so little in the fridge these days that if I remove anything else, there will be a huge black hole that will force me to go shopping so it can suck something else in.

P.S. well done Daisiesmum …… so. so very near! You WILL get there by your appointment!

WEEK 3
DAY 15 of 28

Good morning/evening

Well, half way through this ‘fix’ and I think quite a few people are back to their pre-festivities weight which is all good.

After my ‘manic Monday’ the scales stayed the same this morning. So my loss this week is 2.2lb making a total of 4lbs overall. Can’t even remember what my goal was but I’m quite happy with my progress.

Will have a look at Duolingo it sounds interesting. I manage quite well to order in a restaurant and can buy most food. I understand a good amount of the written word. My problem really is understanding Spanish speakers because they tend to speak so fast! Also in The Canary Islands they speak South American Spanish which has slightly different pronunciation and the odd words are different but in the main they are the very similar. Just need to practice more!

Hope you are all ready to tackle week 3, hope it’s a good one. Have a good day!

S anyone else having trouble logging into the 12 week program site. It keeps bombing out or just not loading website

Thanks Linda will have to buy an electric spiraliser or ask my local green grocers if he can get some bags of spiralised zucchini in, dont see why not .

MK, Ooo I have never considered myself ‘dainty’ 🙂 as a child I grew big for my age and I think I was about mid twenties before I realised I was no longer ‘tall’! I am sure being tall has many advantages. Although when it comes to clothes shopping anyone other than average Josephine must find it difficult.

Cleverblond, I’m sure we must all have our insecurities when we approach our goal weight. Keep the faith, fight the fight…etc you CAN do this. The end is very nigh for me and I am feeling both nervous and excited about switching to a lifestyle version of BSD, I am currently considering my maintenance plan.

On that note, this being weigh in day: I have lost 2.4lbs this week putting me 1.6lbs from goal! I am going to do my darndest to get to goal before next week’s medical check.

Finally, all this hablo-ing en Espanol has got me wanting to brush up my otra lengua… now, where’s that Duolingo ap I downloaded about two years ago…

I did the mince pie thing yesterday, Lucia.

Please send the t shirt!

Good luck. Angela

PS it’s bad luck here to wish someone happy new year after January!

Hi Ebs
I rarely made any recipes with legumes and when I did, I wouldn’t have much more than 1 tablespoon.
To my knowledge Courgette is zucchini and I’ve never seen it sold already spirallised. I just do it myself with a spiralliser

Hi Lynne

If I could I really really would….bottle up some sunshine and send it over. I am relaxing, roasting….not one for the warnings….and generally feeling a bit pleased with myself. Walking has improved out of sight, not to Cairo or Contsantinople yet but in to town a few days this week and all the way back, if I don’t take my phone I can’t call “UBBER Husband” for a lift. That wriggle room theory is paying off, since I reached where I wanted to be in October it’s within 1kg every week, never over….who knew as they say. We cracked it.

To be nice about the nurse…perhaps you look so different she was confused? Just a thought, but seriously, no excuses, I rant about our health system each and every day and feel glad to have retired.

If you want me and your fan-gang to come sort the person who was not nice just say the word girl.

Here’s to a better week next week for you, the departed is fortunate to have you send them off Friday, good choice.

Nettle

Day 2 – feeling good and staying on track. I am going to weigh myself each day and was happy to see a 0.8 kg loss (I realise that a lot is water, but it is still encouraging). I am using the Easy Diet Diary app to track food calories and carbs as well as weight. I am drinking more than 2 litres of water as a result of reading the posts in forums and not wanting to suffer from headaches. I have discovered that the Twinings Strawberry, Raspberry & Loganberry herbal tea is refreshing hot or cold. I hope all other newbies are doing well.

Well done LindaA and thanks for the repost of advice. I have stalled since Xmas and feel deflated but will reread your notes.

Thanks Linda very informative, am in my third week, lost half a kilo last week after 3 kilos the week before, so a little disappointing, however 3 cm disappeared from my waist so thats good news. There are a lot of legumes in the recipes, so not sure how you manage without them. Does anyone know where you can buy courgetti in Australia, we dont have a Tesco. I tried to make it with a hand held spiraliser, total disaster, came out all slushy. Perhaps the courgette was too big?

Hi New Kathy! I am also a teacher and in a way (only a slight way) cannot wait to go back to school where the day is so busy that not eating is part of the norm. I had 40-50 kilos to lose but fortunately have lost 15 kilos since the beginning of October 2016. I had to do something as at that time I was in a bad place health wise. Luckily, not yet diabetic but coming close to it. I cut out all grains and sugar and felt better within a week.I want to lose another 30 kilos and as I find myself eating too much, albeit nothing with sugar or grain, I still eat too often and too much. I started the BSD diet today and hopefully be more disciplined with my meals. Bought the book, what I read makes sense and now I need to go for it.
JulesMaigret, you have inspired me. 33kilos in 5 months….what a champion! I need to keep my carbs under 50 g per day and remember to drink plenty of water.

Hi Nettie, the recipe book has the nutritional info for each meal plus a diet plan so you could calculate the requirements thereby adding them up for the day. Then on calorie king you put in what you eat, which info you want and it calculates the carbs etc you consume for each meal if you are doing your own. My husband and I are both doing this, he’s already lost 2kg in 3 days !!

Hi everyone,
I’ve posted the below before, but thought I’d post it again for the benefit of the newbies or for those that have fallen off the wagon over Christmas.

I’m an ‘old timer’, been on the BSD since April 2016 and now on maintenance after losing 33kg and have successfully kept it off, even over Christmas.

Being overweight is not a matter of having no willpower, your hunger is driven by your hormones, particularly insulin and in order to lose weight, you’ve got to get that under control. Even now, doctors are still giving us the old incorrect advise of eat less and move more and when we fail, they blame us…”you eat too much and you don’t do enough exercise”. It’s crap! It’s not your fault.
Some tips:

– Read the book from cover to cover. Then read it again.

– Drinks AT LEAST 2-3 litres of water a day. I drink more.

– Eat full fat everything, no low fat or lite foods. You need fat in your diet to keep you satiated. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll lose faster if you go low fat. You won’t.

– Read the labels on everything you buy, sugar/starches are unnecessarily added to a lot of processed foods which is why most of us eat and cook predominately real food.

– Most processed foods have either added sugar or polyunsaturated oils added. Don’t buy them. I now make my own mayonnaise and basil pesto and hummus.

– Count, measure, weigh and record everything you eat. Some do this manually but most use an app. I used EasyDietDiary but a lot of others use My Fitness Pal, once you get into the habit, it’s quick and easy to do.

– Carbs hide in virtually everything and it’s important to keep under 50g of complex carbs per day, lower if you have T2D or insulin resistance and/or you’re not losing. Some people have to go as low as 20g carbs per day to lose. It just depends on your genetics and how much ‘carbage’ you’ve put into your body up until now.

– Stay clear of bread, rice, pasta, sugar (including honey, molasses etc), potato etc

– I went cold turkey on all sugar (including most fruit) and all refined carbs. The only fruit I eat are strawberries and blueberries.

– Be warned, you may experience symptoms of what we call the ‘carb flu’ for the first few days. Headaches, foggy brain, aching limbs etc. just take a Panadol, drink more water and be kind to yourself. This will pass.

– If you cheat, it’s entirely possible that you will go through the carb flu again and it will definitely set off cravings for more.
The fear of this meant that I didn’t cheat!

– Plateaus are normal from week to week. Don’t panic, just keep on the plan and you will keep losing.

– Measure yourself when you start or now if you haven’t already done so. Some weeks you’ll lose weight but not inches and other weeks vica versa.

– Try to do at least 10,000 steps every day. Schedule it into your day so you don’t find a way of saying you’re too busy. I get up earlier now before work so I can fit it in. Take the stairs instead of the escalator, walk the dog after dark, park further away from where you need to go or get off the bus a couple of stops earlier to/from work. I tend to park the furthest away from the entrance to the shops in the carpark.

– There are some that haven’t been able to do the steps at first and they still lost weight and others, like Lucia, started very very slowly and worked her way up. Search for her name in the search box at the top and you can read her story.

– Read the forum every day, you’ll pick up lots of tips and there’s always someone around the world to answer any questions you may have. It will also keep you motivated.

– Don’t cheat. Every time you cheat with some simple carbs or sugar it sets off your hormones to expect more sugar/carbs and it will set off cravings. All carbs convert to glucose. Approximately 56% of protein that the body doesn’t need converts to glucose so don’t go overboard on the protein (I eat around 60-90g per day max). Only 10% of fat converts to glucose. My research indicates that you need approximately 1 – 1.5g of protein to 1kg of your IDEAL body weight (not your current weight) per day.

– Table sugar is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. Fructose is evil! It does really bad things to your body and is one of the reasons you keep putting weight back on as it can’t be metabolised by the body like glucose can and will go straight to your liver and convert to fat. This can cause non alcoholic fatty liver disease and creates your visceral fat. This is exactly the same fructose that you find in fruit, so that’s why I stopped eating most fruit as your body metabolises it the same way as table sugar.

– Your body can get all the nutrients it needs from vegetables, protein and fat (be careful of consuming vegetables that grow under the ground as they have way more carbs, as do peas which is technically a legume). Strawberries are fairly low in fructose, hence carbs. Apples, bananas and pears and sweet tropical fruits are very high.

– Eat saturated and monosaturated oils, like butter, lard, tallow, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocado and macadamia nut oil. Stay well clear of all highly refined seed oils like canola, sunflower, safflower, peanut, soybean oils (also known as polyunsaturated oils). They have very high inflammatory properties and can do bad things to your brain and heart. Along with sugars, they are also thought to contribute to the growth of cancers.

– Put salt on your foods. When you cut out processed foods, you don’t get the added salt that they provide and you need salt for the electrolytes.

– Eat nuts or a cube of cheese if you hungry, but remember to measure and weigh as they are high in fat and calories will add up quickly. Macadamias are the best as they are very low in carbs and high in fat (4.5g/100g carbs), cashews are the worst – they are technically a seed (28g/100g of carbs).

– Stay clear of all artificial sweeteners, but particularly aspartame. It can cause a huge amount of side effects. In Australia it’s 950/951/955 and possibly other numbers. Not sure what they are in the U.K. and the U.S.

– It has been reported that having drinks and food with artificial sugar can also spike a release of insulin once your tongue ‘tastes’ the sweetness as your body thinks it needs to metabolise the sugar it thinks you are consuming. Perhaps use them to help you wean yourself off sugar, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t be something you consume long term. The jury is still out on stevia, but I don’t take the chance as it hasn’t been around for long enough for long term studies.

My goal was 60kg, and once I reached it, I decided to keep going with more fat in my diet to see where it took me (I did not increase my carbs) I now seem to have settled around 56-58kg. I still do not eat refined carbs or sugar because as soon as I do, my weight will go up and believe it or not, the cravings are gone. I haven’t had chocolate or ice cream since before April! A miracle for me!

The fat I consume triggers the hormones in my body to send me the ‘I’m full’ signal and I no longer count what I eat, but I know others continue to do so once they get to maintenance, it really is an individual thing. Don’t feel like you have to eat if you’re not hungry, a lot of us will easily skip one meal, sometimes two and it’s perfectly OK.

I had some bloods taken at the doctors last week and just got the results. Since I’ve started eating more saturated fat, my HDL cholesterol has gone up (the good one) and my triglycerides have gone down (the bad one) and the doctor says I’m in perfect health other than low iron which I’ve had for 30 years.

Don’t worry about what other people say or think. We had friends over for a BBQ last week and one brought a box of chocolates as a gift. I politely asked him to take it home with him as I no longer eat sugar and he was happy to do so! I’m sure he thought I was bonkers, but I just don’t care anymore what anyone thinks anymore because my health is more important to me!

The restriction of 800 cals per day is just to get the weight off quickly and keep you motivated, it is easy to do and don’t let anyone tell you that it is too low or that your body won’t cope or you will get sick. It’s bunkum. Also don’t let anyone tell you that your body needs sugar. Your brain does need glucose for energy but it can make it from complex carbs (I eat predominantly vegetables, not grains or legumes) and protein and fat. There are such thing as essential proteins and fats as your body can’t make them, but there are no such things as essential carbohydrates!

Give up alcohol for the 8 weeks. Hard, I know, but it’s better to eat your calories than drink them and it tends to make you want to cheat. Most are also high in carbs. Once you’ve lost the weight, you might want to reconsider, but I’ve found that other than the odd 1/2 glass of red wine, I don’t bother and don’t miss it. Beer is full of carbs!

I also listen to a lot of health podcasts, either whilst I’m walking or cooking and that is a huge motivator. I just didn’t realise that I didn’t know what I didn’t know!
Here’s an example:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ask-the-low-carb-experts/id495159994?mt=2&i=114095842
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ask-the-low-carb-experts/id495159994?mt=2&i=165093383
There’s are heaps, just search for low carb or Keto.

If you haven’t started yet, start by clearing out all the crappy foods out of your cupboard, work out what you’re going to eat for the first week and go shopping. You don’t need the temptation whilst you are craving carbs in the first few days.

The recipes in the book are pretty good, I’ve made a lot of them but be careful with the cals/carbs etc as they are not always accurate.
You’ll also find a lot of low carb and Keto recipes online.

I took about 25 weeks to lose my weight and did not break at all. CaptainLynne checked with the ‘team’ and they said it was ok to keep going after the 8 weeks. Lynne has lost over 100lbs in just under 12 months.

Ask me anything you want, I’m happy to answer any questions.
Good luck. This is the best thing that I’ve ever done for myself and I no longer let other people tell me what’s good for me, including my doctors as most of them are not up to date but the science backs this up.
Good luck everyone.
Cheers
Linda

Libby – I am rubbish at maths also and couldn’t do the BSD without an app – I use fat secret and enter my food every morning. I don’t follow the meal plans but have adapted our normal meals plus pick and choose recipes from the books and the website.

I agree with Mixnmatch that you can be very creative with Greek style yoghurt.

I am afraid that SunnyB was right about the omelette — actually it probably would have been a perfect low carb meal.