Craving something sweet. I sure am. Only day one for me …hmm

If you’re craving something sweet , try the Pukka Teas Cinnamon tea. It’s really sweet, lovely flavour and on offer in Tesco!!!

I’m waiting for a delivery of Protein Pow protein powder ( pea and whey protein) She does LOTS of recipes – bread, pancakes, cakes,biscuits, bars etc. I’m hoping there will be a few gems to try. I guess the only thing to keep an eye on is not overdoing the protein and keeping eye on fibre. I don’t have a sweet tooth but the bread recipe looked easy- couple of scoops of the powder, egg white, whole egg. She also used cooked broccoli. Looked yummy.

Ah. thanks. This probably accounts for the 4lb dropped over night too! I love salt…. yay!

I have had a dramatic experience related to increased night time tinnitus and blood sugar. Hopefully the medics have now found the answer. Although I have had mild tinnitus for many years, over the last six months I have had at least five episodes of extremely loud noises and a feeling of very high pressure in my ear. On at least three occasions I have been woken around 3 in the morning by the abnormal tinnitus. Then it happened again one mid afternoon, but was accompanied by paralysis of one side of my face. Everything went back to normal after about 20 minutes. I was eventually diagnosed as having had a mini – stroke (or TIA), although MRI scans, heart tests and various other tests could find no other symptoms. I was also told that the tinnitus was probably a coincidence. Then earlier this week the tremendous tinnitus happened again, accompanied by Facial Paralysis. I was rushed to hospital, but on the way my blood sugar was tested. It was found to be extremely low and the hospital confirmed that the Facial Paralysis had been caused by Hypoglycemia. Evidently this can be a rare but convincing mimic of a TIA. Following further research I’ve found that hypoglycemia should be eliminated as a possible cause of any suspected Stroke, as it is often responsible for misdiagnosis. However the most relevant fact that I have unearthed is that hypoglycemia is especially common in the middle of the night when blood sugar levels fall to their lowest. In some people (and it would seem including me) the body produces too much insulin which exhausts the sugar in food 3 or 4 hours after a meal. Sugar levels drop below normal tolerances before the body can adjust. It seems to be one of those areas not yet fully understood, and in my case missed by three GP’s and several specialists, until I was “lucky” to have been taken ill in an emergency situation, when the hospital solved the mystery of apparently unrelated symptoms. This has all happened in the last week whilst I have been on holiday in Switzerland, I’ve therefore yet to follow up with my own medics back home, but Googling “Hypoglycemia stroke mimic” and “Tinnitus blood sugar” has produced some interesting reading. I’d be intrigued to know others experiences in this area.

Little sachets of miso soup paste are great, only 30 cals.

captainlynne……….you are what I aspire to be. Slim, happy, heathy and active. Thanks for the posts.:-)

Thanks Happygirl.. At the start of this diet I would have been devastated not to have lost any weight. But now………..very happy with how things are going.
We are out tonight so I have made some biscuits to eat with cheese. I have spoken to my sil and told her I am being very careful with what I eat because………….you know the rest:-) She will have lots of nibbles out and will phone for pizza later, all of which I don’t want. She is quite understanding and is happy for me to do my own thing. So sparkling mineral water and diet doctor pie crust made into biscuits for me and hubby tonight. Tomorrow I am going to try and fast until evening meal to make up for the extra we have eaten over the last few days even though it has been BS friendly.

Water retention seems to be caused by carbs, and when you drop the carbs significantly the water is released, as long as you are also drinking enough water to replace it. It is useful when you are burning fat as the by-products are removed by the water as well, this is part of the reason for the well known plateau-whoosh cycle later in the diet, as partially burnt fat cells also fill with water and then release all of a sudden. It can also deplete sodium so make sure you are adding a little salt to things.

Lunch out – small portion chilli, cheese and small salad. Dinner tuna, salad and dressing. Greek yogurt and 8 raspberries, 2 small chunks of pineapple. Milk in coffee.
Walked 9,000 steps. Apart from head cold feeling good. Oh and 6 and 3/4 lbs off of Christmas excess, only 3 more to go!
Have walked 20 miles this week towards my 1,000. I am only recording ‘boots on’ miles.

JulesMaigret, I totally 100% agree with you. My life, my health I am the one responsible for what I eat and drink. Not the gp, prime minister or anyone else. My choice what goes in. I am totally behind the BSD in every way. Those that know can advise but its upto me and only me what I eat and drink.

Thank you Carb_Addict and congratulations on your loss.
Small steps lead to major achievements, so they say!
And Fairyface, hang in there, you haven’t put on weight, so that’s good too!

Or am I being over optimistic in general?
We’ll all get there in the end, I hope 😋
I’ve read what others have done and am always impressed!
Cheers

Daisysmum – Thank you so much for the great advice. X

Thank you wayoflife.
Any encouragement is gratefully received. So far so good, Had the Cauliflower and red pepper soup for lunch – delicious! Not doing quite so well on vast quantities of water, but still passing loads of it strangely. Shall carry on regardless.

Well done for the steps and gym, jmarie. As a matter of interest how long does it take you to get to 10,000 steps? And do you know why 10,000 is the magic number?
Good luck with the rain..the problem is that when it rains heavily after a drought, the rain just slides off the land. We have to have big tanks buried in the garden for new builds so rain that falls on your garden stays on your garden.

My peak for yesterday is a loss of 1.2kgs since Monday…am delighted. The exercise really helped me to lose the Christmas weight and then some.

Pit The morning was ok but felt very washed out after lunch, lacking in energy and with a mild head cold. Not very bad just enough to take the shine off the day.

I too am back to work on Monday. I teach a few hours a week but it would be nice to stay at home and focus on reinventing myself 😉

Have a good day!

Even more things I know nothing about ;).

I had my first fitting for my new suit this morning and the chap said that, as I was aiming to lose another couple of stone he would put “floating” ( he may have said “flying”) darts into the suit. I just nodded appreciatively.

Hi Iwanttobeslim,

But what would you do? Ban them? We already have a food regulatory process which bans or limits products, for example the reduction in trans fats in the US, again evidence based.

Like most things (alcohol, red meat, saturated fat, licorice allsorts, whatever etc.) they should be consumed in moderation and, as such, it becomes a matter of personal choice and responsibility. The alternative is a nanny state. telling you what you can and can’t eat and good luck enforcing that. I’m old enough to remember when red wine was bad for you, then good for you, then OK in moderation.

People simply have to be responsible for what they consume. What BSD does require is the self-discipline to stick to a structured and somewhat restrictive diet. I’m guessing for all of us who are and/or have been overweight, no-one forced us to eat or drink what we did. I take full responsibility for my weight and for the impact on my health. The fact that cakes, pies or whatever are available is neither here nor there, as it was me who consumed more calories than I burned.

Getting the wake up call in July last year gave me the spur to change my ways of eating and lose more than five stone. The products are still there so I would suggest that they are a mere sideshow.

What are your experiences on BSD?

So I’m approaching the end of Day 2 and I can’t stop weeing. Literally, as frequently as hourly and always a good volume. I’m not aware of drinking more (although I suppose its possible), I’m definitely not pregnant, and a seimens dipstick is not suggestive of infection. No (sorry but gross) odor, burning and nice and pale, with good quantities produced each time…. is this a carb thing?

Oimadam, leather is easier to work with than you might imagine. If you are taking it in down the seam with the zip just proceed as you would with fabric (using stronger thread and longer stitches). You have two options for sewing 1) Sew on the machine as you would with fabric or, 2) make guide holes by sewing on a machine with no thread and then handsew using the holes created by the machine. If the seam won’t lie flat afterwards it’s advisable to use a thin layer of glue to stick it in place. If I was doing it I would probably go for method 1 for the seam and method 2 to replace the zip. Hope that helps.

Hi everyone. Just about to finish my first week. Started well then my son came home with his girlfriend so that meant meal preparation and cooking was a challenge. They’re going home tomorrow so hope to get stuck into the programme.
I read some posts about ginger. I’ve found frozen cubes of ginger in Tesco ( along side Asian food) . Really good for adding to cooking. I use fresh for my morning half apple and half pear juice which I have every day. I always add an inch of fresh ginger, tsp of ground flaxseeds and tsp lecithin. Sometimes use other fruit or berries. But stay from exotic sweet fruit. I find this juice every morning helps to keep colds away.
I notice on BSD website there is a a 12 week plan starting on Monday. Has anyone followed this? Is it a good idea to join?? Thanks for your inspirational posts. X

Are there any plans in the near future to translate the The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet and the The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Recipe book iinto German?

The UK government limit for total sugars is 90g, the American limit is for added sugars and about 25g or 6 teaspoons. The NHS guidelines for added sugar are max 30g or 5% of total calories. I can’t find a WHO figure from that quick look. Suffice it to say, no-one following BSD principles, even the way of lifers who no longer count calories or carbs will be running into any problems with those limits.

I assume that limit is free or added sugars otherwise as you say it must be impossible. I get more than that from milk. I will have to do some looking but thought the limit was quite a lot higher than that.

Congratulations Carb -Addict on your 500g weight loss.

Weighed in today and I am the same as last week.

100.2

Out tonight for a party. Tomorrow is another day.

Happygirl, enjoy your family visit. Yes, we all need a certain amount of flexibility or this is not sustainable long-term.

I exercised the flexibility option tonight btw. Having had an apparent mild 24 hour stomach bug pass through since last night I was left hungry but also mentally ‘off food’ today. Has it stopped me eating? Umm, no. Dry toast would be the normal option but there’s no bread in the house and I know exactly what carb-carnage would have happened if I had popped out for a loaf. So I had my usual BSD soya yoghurt brekkie and made the lentil daal from the book for lunch.The thought of my regular fish and veggies dinner made me want to throw up however, so I scoured the cupboard, which is intentionally quite bare. Tonight has been a compromise as I felt I needed some bland carbs to settle my tummy, so I opened a packet of ready-made so-called ‘healthy’ apple and cinnamon pancake mix that I bought for the first time pre BSD then shoved to the back of the cupboard. As a result I’ll be going to bed 1000 kcals down (not awful) and a whopping 101g carbs consumed (eeeeeeeeek).

Is anyone else monitoring their sugars? The WHO guidelines recommend no more than 5g a day for an adult. Even with sugar-free yoghurt, a small number of hazelnuts and the home-made daal for lunch I had hit that level. (Again, let’s not mention the pancakes.) 5g is a day is near impossible!!!

I thought I’d add my day 1 starting weight…. a bit of motivation to keep me focused.
Currently 150lb- 30lb ish from my 1st target weight (I’m only 5ft)

Ooooh – and Verano. Forgot to say – definitely donate all the bigger clothes to charity and treat yourself.
You deserve it! X

I always get really excited hearing stories about dropping clothes sizes. It is such a positive experience and I love it more than just losing weight. Even comfortably wearing something that used to be too snug is a bonus and such a pick-me-up on a grey day.

Daisiesmum, as a trained dress-maker, I wonder if you could give me some advice. I have. A gorgeous leather pencil skirt that I wore over 30years ago. It is now a little too big, and it has a slight tear below the back fastening zip, so I was wondering is it salvageable? How easy is it to repair/alter a leather skirt? Will it be possible to just take it in along the back seam (in order to remove the tear)? Not sure if you are able to advise. Thank you.

Tea-related – anyone tried liquorice and fennel by Tea Pigs. Stupidly expensive I know, but well worth it for a tasty treat. And if you are a tea-bag-slag like me, you can always re-use the tea bag again. I know! How common!!!! X

Vegetarians often struggle to stay under 50g, it may not be a problem if you are slightly higher than this, if you are still losing weight. If the weightloss stops then you may have to continue the struggle, but try 60g net carbs as i believe some other vegetarians have and see how it goes. Just keep the quality of carb sources high and you could still be okay.

MrsTLC – how about tofu scramble for breakfast? Ideal with your garlic mushrooms too! I’m going to make lentil dahl for dinner.

Welcome back both of you 😀 I think i started at about the same time as you Janeycoughdrop, in May ish, don’t remember an exact day as it was a gradual process. I am still a little heavier than I want to end up, but very fit now. A recent scan told me I have the metabolism of someone 15 years younger which can’t be a bad thing. When I have reached my goal weight I will still be looking out for hints and tips on maintaining so keep posting if you can.

Hi MrsTLC13,
Great to have you on the forum! Lack of carbs when you are not a meat eater is scary as the tendency has always been to fill up with pasta and rice, and all the lovely high carb vegs! However…. the big change this in this approach is that it is not low fat. Avoiding everything that says low fat as it has usually been replaced by sugar – so low fat, high carb. I am veggie not vegan, so I suddenly could eat cheese and full fat yoghurt and olive oil dressings – and that is filling and tasty.
For a vegan approach then nut yoghurts or soya yoghurt would work well, I got some Almond milk yesterday and found one with almost no carbs, but good fat and protein.
For breakfast I have 60g yoghurt with 30g blueberries plus 3g sunflower seeds, 3g pumpkin seeds and 3g linseeds, 3 almonds and a splash of cinnamon all mixed together and I find that filling. I have recently added in 3g chia seeds as well. Soups are a great way of managing lunch.
Take care with oats as they are borderline ok. Pinhead oatmeal (the type you need to soak) is fine as that releases the carbs slowly into the blood stream, but the ready porridge oats is very high carb and gives sugar spikes.
If you are monitoring you carbs in grams daily then aim for about 60g per day, below that and you will struggle with protein and keeping full. I had been aiming at 45g a day protein based on an article I read, however I read something yesterday that gave a different approach – the UK recommended daily amount is .75 x your body weight in Kg’s. The 45g a day is fine if you are 60kg which I am not….. I need to find another protein source now to add into my daily intake :-(.
The search engine in the top right corner is a good way of finding out recipes that others have added if you type in butterbeans there is a recipe given by newstart in the thread https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/vegetarian-800-and-52-recipes-good-website-and-tips/#post-24853 (22/6/16) that is tasty and easy to make as well as filling.
Hope things go well….

Happy to report that weight is stable at 8st 7lb, give or take a pound either way. *happy dance*

I’ve also been walking more. So far this year I’ve walked 15.8 miles towards the 1,000 mile challenge.

TLC – forgot to say, 7 st loss last year is superb!

Hi Mrs TLC and vegan Sarah and thanks orchid.

TLC /Sarah – Great to have fellow veggie/vegans starting at same time.

Had same brekkie as you vegan Sarah. Quite enjoyed it 🙂

Weight stable at 8st 7lb, give or take a pound. *happy dance*

Been trying to walk more than usual and have clocked up 15.8 miles towards the 1,000 mile challenge.

For me, I go down a dress size for each stone lost. When my uniform skirt started to slip down yo my hips I did take it in (said skirts are expensive!) until I just couldn’t wear it anymore. The matching jacket had the buttons moved across until they couldn’t be moved anymore. The new uniform I bought in August is now on the bug side, but will have to do for now.

Trousers have been my major problem. Too big, straight to the charity shop. Skirts can be more easily altered (I have a few waiting to be taken in (and possibly shortened). Tops mainly go straight to the charity shops – too much hassle to alter, and they don’t look right afterwards.

Only being 5′ 1″ I easily look ‘swamped’ in baggy clothes so have to be careful.

Most of my coats are big but, still this time of year, that leaves lots of room for layers.

Size 18 was June this year, I think I had lost about 4 1/2 stone at that point, will tell you exactly when I get back to my spreadsheet 😊 size 14 was September if I remember correctly and at six stone off. It was all rather sudden compared to my earlier diet experiences.

Hi happyitsworking

Your question is a bit like ‘how long is a piece of string’? I have lost 30lbs and have about 10 lose to get back to my ‘old’ normal weight. Then I have to start on the many more pounds if you see what I mean!!! Some of my clothes that looked ok but a bit skimpy now look really nice, others are still a bit skimpy and some that I bought when my weight was at it’s height are just too big. I think its a case of every now and again just go through your wardrobe and try stuff on.

I find that a lot of my tops are actually fitting instead of gaping at the bust button or squeezing my boobs so I have a double boob, also helps that my bras fit better too.

I made the drop from size 22 going on 24 to about size 18 without any problems other than a sudden awareness that I had to start wearing belts or my trousers would fall down. At that point I had started buying a few new items, although usually in sales, or from charity shops, and putting any that didn’t fit yet into my box of the future. I think it was size 14 jeans day, one of my biggest mini-goals when I started, when I first did a big clear out, trying everything on and just keeping those that didn’t look ridiculous. I still needed work clothes. I still have the odd polo neck that is size 22, but that was very stretchy, now it just drapes a bit. Likewise I still have a couple of XL tee shirts, but can get away with those being baggy.

Battle of Northern (Marmite) vs Southern (Vegemite) Hemisphere begins😄.

I’m going to experiment with a buckwheat and spelt pizza crust. I had some spelt bread recently that was a great texture so I think it might be doable. I am still staying away from wheat as much as I can as I have discovered it is the main cause of my cravings. I can happily live without rice and potatoes except in tiny quantities, and when I have those tiny quantities they don’t make me want more. Bread and pasta is far less dangerous if I steer clear of the wheat varieties.

Hello Veggie Vegans! I’m vegan and started this yesterday! I originally started a clean diet last January and lost 7st in weight…. put two stone over the last 3rd of the year and so the customary January diet begins again. Only have 2st to lose until a normal bmi, but I am a typical apple shape and all of my weight is stored around my belly. … last year was a high carb year as it was my first vegan year (nobody ever asks a vegan where they get their carbs from… only protein… it’s funny that 😂😉) so I think I became thin on the outside fat on the in…. this year I was to be healthy. My fbs have always been borderline so I’m now doing my best to get them down…

I down loaded the recipe book on my kindle and pleased to see a lot of vegan dinners are present…. breakfasts seems to be a bit of a challenge though…. I think it’s mainly going to end up being porridge or avocado. I’m sort of OK ish with eating the odd egg as I can get these from a friend who keeps chickens (and quite frankly they have a life of Riley)… but generally will try to avoid.
So far, the last three meals I’ve eaten have all been garlic mushroom based… the house stinks 😂
Slightly jittery from the lack of carbs I think. Low calorie diets I don’t find too difficult, but the sudden loss of carbs is going to take some getting used to!

Mixnmatch or anyone else who have lost enough weight. How much weight did you have to lose before you noticed that you really had to donate them? Even when I have lost around 22 pounds in the past I still could wear the same size clothes. I’m short 5′ 1.5″ so I don’t know if that made a difference. Plus my weight is all over, not in one stop only. I need to lose around 80 pounds.
Thanks…..

Welcome on board VeganSarah!

I have a big pile left of clothes that I tried on and were too big for me, but I kept because I wanted to see if they would ‘do’. I think i am going to have to try them all on again with a more critical eye and send the vast majority of them with the next few bags going to the charity shops. I think only some of the raincoats may get a reprieve, on the grounds that it is just more room for jumpers, and if it is raining that hard no-one will notice.

I started today too 😀 Hello! Have read the whole thread and found it really helpful, thanks everyone for sharing your advice. I had Coco yogurt, blueberries and nuts for breakfast, and made an amazing Tom Yum soup for lunch, feeling full and happy!

On the topic of being restrictive on vegetables, I don’t feel like that at all. Yes quantities have to be managed better, but if you don’t have the vegetables you love you don’t learn what a suitable portion of them is for the rest of your post fasting life. I am regarding this whole period as a means of educating myself about portion control, and it is working to the extent that I can cut a piece of cheese and guess how much it weighs within 5 grams. I have eaten sweetcorn, sweet potato (a great source of potassium) and even non-wheat grain bread and crackers, usually rye or spelt, and have just counted the calories and carbs and carried on. These things don’t cause me to experience any cravings, whereas I still get that from the ‘white stuff’. It is a bit different on the 800 calories a day, but I would have thought still worth the occasional treat.

Hi all the newbies and all the ‘oldies’ – I’ve not posted for ages, but I’ve always been here, keeping up with all your ups and downs, it mostly keeps me on track! I have been on maintenance for about the past 3 weeks – even though I’ve still got about 100 lbs to go !!! My eating and drinking has been a little out of control, a good day followed by a day of uncontrolled gluttony, but my head has got back to where I want to be, so I hope now to be back on track and start losing again.
I’m posting to make myself accountable. Almost at 2 stone lost since the beginning of starting in October, I know how well this works when you stick with it. SO, no more messing about, no more ‘days off’ !! For my healths sake, just get on with it, eat well, drink water, walk!!!! ( Sorry, this is a shout at myself!)
Thanks everyone for all the tips, recipes etc and especially for the person who recommended the rose hip oil, I can’t remember who it was now, but I got some and it’s fab! Also the white onion and mustard soup recipe, finally got round to making it, very tasty!
Best wishes to all, and a very Happy, healthy new year – Andi xx