Thank you for the replies and advice
I’m very keen to see what the results are of this diet both short and long term as an very keen to do what I can to halt or reverse this

Well done Verano – you are definitely an inspiration. Daisiesmum – doesn’t it feel good typing the word ‘slender’.

We are all doing so well – and you are right Verano that it is a way of life not a short term fix. So we are bound to have ups and downs along the way.

Went back to work yesterday and everyone was so shocked by the huge weight loss I have had over Christmas. I explained that I was the same weight as before but was wearing smaller clothes. I must admit my size 10 trousers and tops do look very different from what I was wearing before Christmas but I didn’t want to buy any more new clothes until I got to target. I actually must have looked really ridiculous in my old stuff before Christmas.

Great start voyager, soooo encouraging😊. Day 4 for me and as everyone says lots of water, weigh and record and stick to this forum for motivation, we can all do it 2017 is our year💪🏻!

Slept like a log, only up once for the loo!! Have lost 5lbs of the Christmas excess so very pleased. Only 990 miles of the challenge left. AND aches and pains improving already.
Amazing what ailments water retention causes or aggravates. Aching arms, legs, pains in chest – all vastly improved in just 2 days. Have a good low carb day everyone xx

Gained 9 3/4lbs during Christmas madness!! Back on it 2 days, lost 5lbs very happy. 1,000 mile challenge is now 990 mile challenge. Back on it. Have a good low carb day everyone.

Hi there Timeto change, I drink 5/6 mugs of tea per day with a splash of milk and so far it hasn’t impeded my progress, 12.2kgs down since the end of October but I’m not diabetic and milk does contain sugar But as long as you’re losing, I wouldn’t worry.

Hi

My 6 month BSD anniversary today and my goal was to have lost 3.5lbs in the last 10 days but have only managed 1.6lb. Never mind its a loss and so back to the drawing board for me !

My next goal is really small just 1.5lbs to drop into the next stone. A week maybe???

Hope you are all getting closer to your goals.

Verano, WOW, what an inspiration, thanks for that.
Thank you too for your previous psost I measured my waist and it’s the smallest it’s ever been, only once before in my life have I ever been that slender around the middle! Now I’m properly back in the groove my weight is going in the right direction, though still slightly above my Christmas Eve weigh-in – I must have taken celebrating my weight loss to a level never before seen :O

Tigs and Jo, you are doing well. At the risk of sounding trite, you only fail if you give up completely. We are in a learning process and it can take time. I speak as a recovering carbo-holic. On those binge sprees I could eat a small mountain of bread, biscuits, cake, more cake, more bread, chocolate, you get the picture.Once, many years ago, I attended a youth group Pot Luck dinner where almost everyone brought only a fancy dessert and being all young people we ate and ate til we were fit to explode, the next day however we literally had hangovers as if we had been boozing (we hadn’t). That was where I learned my first sugar lesson 🙂 Did it make any difference? Not really, it is only now that I feel so much better without it that I have finally cottoned on!

Have a great day everyone!

DAY 3 …. WEEK 2

Good morning/evening

Today is my 6 month anniversary of BSD. Looking back it’s been far better than I had imagined it would be. Better in that this is a new way of eating for life for me, I have diabetes, and not a ‘diet’, which always seems like a short term ‘fix’ before you go back to ‘normal’ eating. This is my new ‘normality’ and whilst I’ve had low moments and difficult times, that’s real life and I’d have had them anyway but probably used food to get through them.

I have managed to fit BSD into my life rather than the other way around. I have had holidays, weekends away in hotels and meals out, including Indian, Thai and Chinese. I’ve managed, for most of the time, to find ‘friendly’ food. I’ve discovered that nobody is really interested in what I eat so I’m quite happy to have food without simple carbs wherever I am.

To be honest I have really lost the ‘taste’ for bread, rice, potatoes and pasta. I can take or leave cakes and biscuits so tend to leave them now! My only weaknesses are Lindt chocolate and red wine. So in the past 6 months I have lost 2 stone and dropped 5.5 ” from my waist. Not huge numbers I hear you cry but also no deprivation to get to this point and I’ve slotted BSD into my life.

I still have a lot to lose and hope to lose a similar amount in the next six months. The tortoise and the hare spring to mind and so for me it’s slow and steady but still enjoying my life as I go.

Hope you are all have a good day.

Chubbs1975
I started the BSD to stop the retinopathy getting worse. I had read research that it is the after meal spikes that cause the retinopathy so I was quite hopeful that the BSD would help me do this. Of course it did much more because it reversed the retinopathy completely and the diabetes is in remission.

To keep the after meal spikes to an absolute minimum I keep the net carbs to 30g or under. I am more and more convinced that I have had undiagnosed diabetes for a long time before I was diagnosed in 2012. By then my pancreas was so damaged that I had to go straight onto insulin both at night and after all my meals and snacks as my blood sugars were absolutely sky high. If someone hasn’t had diabetes very long they probably would be fine with higher good carbs.

I go for a walk after every meal as even a 10 minute walk helps the insulin to work better and more quickly after you have eaten. I am more insulin resistant after breakfast and this really well to keep my blood sugars low at that time.

So BSD and exercise are a very powerful combination and as you have already sorted the exercise I think that you will do very well on the BSD.

Hails
I absolutely agree with Cmawp’s post. I love my coffee also but had to change to black coffee – or coffee with a teaspoon of cream (two teaspoons now I am on maintenance). I ditched the milk because it is quite carby. Also skinny milk isn’t truly BSD and they may find that coffee really does taste better without it.

I drink 2 Nespressos a day and 3 instant coffees and this hasn’t stopped me losing nearly 3 stone in weight. In fact it has really helped because I love coffee so much every cup of coffee is a special treat and I am happy to drink coffee when everyone else is tucking into a desert when we go out for a meal.

I do drink plenty of water because of the worry about dehydration but was very interested to read the research that Jenni flagged up. There is quite a lot of research lately showing the health benefits of coffee so it is much less a guilty pleasure.

Voyager: sounds like you’re off to a great start! Congrats on your weight loss.

Btw, there’s an article in the Daily Mail today linking the Med’ diet to a lower incidence of dementia in older age: click on this web link or cut and paste it into your web browser to know more!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4087966/Mediterranean-diets-help-stop-older-brains-shrinking.html

Good morning all.

We all fall down indeed. But this is a marathon not a sprint. Changing lifelong habits is super hard, especially when food has been become a coping tool and not the fuel it’s supposed to be.

That said, I’m a kilo (2.2lbs) down in three days since my re-start, even with the Disaster of Day Two. Feeling physically bit better already despite averaging under three hours of sleep each night this week due to too much being on my mind (which is the next thing to resolve in the coming days). Increasingly tired but am ploughing on.

Have reverted to my original 2016 tactic of drinking Diet Coke as a ‘snack’ to help get me through the sweet cravings of the early days. Yes I know it’s a bunch of caffeinated chemicals but I’ll be weaning myself off it again gradually. I figure it’s a better short term option in this tough period than actual food, BSD-compliant or otherwise, which I have less control over in those weak, tired ‘hangry’ moments!

Have a good day everyone. I’m off to tuck into a measured portion of sugar-free soya yoghurt and blueberries 🙂
Sarah x

Ha ha JulesMaigret — yeah, perhaps that was a bit overstated!!😜 Plenty of “brain-dead” moments in my life or as someone here posted, it must be “stupid o’clock” — so obviously it is REALLY IMPORTANT to eat right LOL. Thanks for reality check!!

You are doing well with your blood sugar sunshine-girl! That’s very impressive how much your blood sugar has come down over the past 7 months. Wow! I’ve noticed that on the days I have even a little bit of chocolate, or something similar, my fasting blood sugar will be higher the next morning. Seeing that keeps reminding me how refined sugars are just like poison to my body! Even knowing this though doesn’t keep me from sometimes giving in and having it. I just want to work hard on learning to eat low carb most of the time so I can occasionally have a treat now and then.

Hope your day went well Angela06!

PEAK: Weighed in and am now down 2.5 lbs. since January 1st. Only half a pound more to lose to get the 3 lb. holiday weight gain off!

PIT: I took most of the inside Christmas decorations down today; everything but the Christmas tree. I think it’s going to take me a few days to get it all put away. I love decorating for Christmas but the putting up and taking down is a big job!

Good for you Timetochange, getting back into the groove. I wouldn’t worry about too much tea (or coffee) as if that is what gets you through, then all good. I personally have loads of both and love it. Just have to count the milk in your daily tally.

The ABC.net.au health and wellbeing fact buster site debunks the idea that tea or coffee will significantly have a diuretic or dehydration effect. It includes Aus and U.K. Research.

Yes we are!

On a positive note, I have bought up books recommended in recent posts – Jason Fung The Complete Guide to Fasting (which I will do to maintain eventually and already do a day now and then on BSD) and Gary Taubes latest – The Case Against Sugar. I already have Fung’s The Obesity Code, Lustig’s Fat Chance and Michael Mosley’s books. All encouraging to read in weak moments and just anyway, as confirms we are in the right space with BSD and IF if doing that too.

Headache, Day 3. I thought I would miss the carb flu but after about 10 days off I guess I should not be surprised. Pushing through even though could easily launch into slabs of bread and butter right now 🙂 Reading your posts helps and happy I am not the only one. We are doing this!

Hi everyone. It’s great to hear all your news and views. All very encouraging. Welcome Rose88, Voyager, Kandefloss, julygirl and anyone else who has just started. I wish you all the best on your journey’s. pcpoventry so sorry to hear about your problems. I hope you get on top of it and can still work on getting your health and weight in order. Welcome Voyager. All the best for your operation and congratulations on your wonderful loss. I was a very bad girl yesterday and really ‘pigged out’. But today I’m fired up again to be the best I can be. I’m fastine until lunchtime to make up for my fall from grace. Only 45 minutes to go …

Thinking about all of that’!!
Who would play my life in a film?
Mr. Bean

Hello Ladies
Love love love Cadbuy, rowentree, nestle , lindt, whatever
Thank you Miranda
Tonight I went out with my friends, tried to difuse a misunderstanding between family/friends, a decided that I was not necessary to the solution so I
Iet them at it
Meanwhile…….
God, this diet hard
Came home, thought about my friends and devoured the contents of the fridge!
Hope you are all coping better than me!!

Hi Natalie and sunshine girl. I had a bad day yesterday. I started with a snack pack of chips thinking that would be it. But no I went on to gorge myself on a snäck pack of bacon balls …… and barbque rings ….and another chips …. and a bread roll with thick slabs of butter ….. all pushed down with a diet jelly and half a tub of double cream. Needless to say I was so full my stomach hurt. It was like I was crazed and couldn’t stop eating. This morning I was up 300grams/almost a pound. Today I am fasting until lunch time when I’ll have a salad and cheese. Never mind, onwards it is. It happens to us all.

I got back to it after Christmas and this is day three done. I’m getting myself towards 800 calories and certainly a huge amount less than I had over (and leading up to) the festive period. I’ve managed no starchy carbs and no sugar. It was a bit of a relief really after the luxury of the season. However I’m drinking too much tea. I’m finding that I need it to get through with less food etc while I readjust back. I’m drinking lots of water and some herbal tea but lots of tea (which I have to drink with milk I can’t stand black tea and black coffee). I am a tea drinker and do try to do decaf for some of it. I’m such an inpatient person who wants to be there quickly, but I think this week will just be about getting my head back in the space. I made the aubergine lasagne from the recipe book this week and it was lovely, very satisfying. Having eaten a mound of gorgeous bread over the season, I’m not missing it which is good. Lots of soup (made the celeriac and apple recipe whichi love). Keep on going …! Here’s hoping for success.

The idea of coffee is no bad thing in my book, as long as it’s balanced with water intake. Ketosis and restricting water intake just don’t work.

My appreciation for (black) coffee has increased since starting this lifestyle, as has the amount of water I drink. I like my coffee a lot and probably drink 2 or 3 double espresso or strong coffees daily now and it hasn’t stopped me losing 28Kg of the 32Kg I want to lose and I’ve been doing this for 17 weeks now. I’d say I’m comfortably getting through 3-4 litres of water a day.

The skinny milk thing is the only part that doesn’t feel truly BSD to me, it’s a little bit of the old ‘low fat, low calorie’ mentality which BSD is not about. Technically it should be full fat, cream or even coconut oil or butter.

What are the MIL and SILs results like? Are they actually losing weight?

If BSD has taught me anything it’s to be happy in the knowledge that what I’m doing is right for me and I feel better for it. I try to worry less about others, so try not to let this burden you too heavily.

It sounds like your view is the correct one.

Hi, I’m a newbie as well, living in the UK.. I already have type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure and am morbidly obese. I downloaded the book onto my tablet in October to read while I was in hospital, but couldn’t start straight away as I was having a major operation. However, the delay has given my time to prepare; I cleared out my cupboards, freezer and fridge and given my daughter all the foods I shouldn’t eat. I’ve bought an exercise bike, weighed and measured myself and written up 4 week’s menu. I started on Monday (2nd January) – lost 4 lbs in the first 24 hours, and 1.5 lbs in the second 24 hours. I know the loss is mainly water, but it’s very encouraging. it’s now 23.19 so I’ve completed 3 full days (just about to go to bed). So far I haven’t felt hungry, and no headaches. I think this forum is a great idea, we can motivate each other once the novelty wears off, and share hints and tips about what’s working for us.

Tonic, I think your calorie checker is wrong. It should only be about 100 calories for 14 oz of cannellini beans. I don’t know if nutracheck is like other programs, but sometimes people put incorrect data into the program I use. (My fitness pal). Anyways, good luck! Hope you had another good day today.

Happy new year everyone. I am about to repeat the diet, but have gone shopping and everything has been stripped bare. So have pushed my start date to Sat..Since Oct I have noticed , I eat less but I can’t say no, ate some Cadbury buttons- very sweet but perserved.why do I do this?. Looking forward to the time , I can walk away from the goodies, sweet, so not interested!

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone is the authority on coffee intake during this diet, I’ve been a part of this lifestyle change since August 2016 and in 3 months lost 12 kgs ( very little exercise…i know, not ideal!) I’ve always enjoyed a cup of coffee in the morning, i have rarely had another during my day noting it is full of calories. Also in reading the literature ( although I cant remember where exactly in the Mosley book) I remember reading that Coffee should be avoided if possible as it is a diuretic and also considered a meal source due to the milk.
Now my issue is not for myself, I’m a health professional so i know the calorie content for a standard cappuccino, my real q. is that my extended female family have taken this journey as well. They drink copious amounts of instant coffee with skinny milk, no sugar. My SIL is telling my MIL that its OK to drink as much as she likes because coffee is an appetite suppressor ( which it is!) however it is still a diuretic ( which is my agument) and my MIL would rather drink 6 cups of instant before a bottle of water- not because she enjoys it but because its habit and she’d rather have something hot in her hands ( even though we are in Melbourne, and its summer and 31C atm.)

So….. given that its instant coffee with skinny milk and no added sugar– how much can they actually consume before it starts to impede the diet.

Love to hear some feedback on this!

Cheers,
Hayley

Almond milk or rice milk maybe.?

Not January, but I started on 28 December. Shopped for lots of ingredients i don’t normally use, including basics like cabbage and pickled beetroot (love pickles). I bought the Blood Sugar Diet and Recipe books and find them really helpful. I’ve had a look at the recipes on line as well and plan to make a couple in the next week or so.
Had trouble the first couple of days with hunger pangs. Got fed up of drinking water to try and stop the rumblings! Persevered tho and my scales this morning say I’ve lost 2 kilo – absolutely thrilled. Only 13 more to go 🙂
Big help that my husband has decided to cut out alcohol so I don’t get tempted to join him.
Good luck everyone

Back on it my lovelies, having gained 9 3/4lbs over Christmas. But have learned so much from falling by the wayside! Next year I will be ready. I thought I had it sussed this year but how wrong I was! I think I became complacent, had it sorted, which I have in my everyday scheduled life, you know, get up, go to work, usual evenings, bed!! But when I am at home and my life is my own, the Christmas goodies just beckoned and I ran to them!! So I now know that
a) I don’t let carbs and goodies in the house (will be searching the net for BSD scrummy treats in readiness).
b) Plan meals meticulously. (During working weeks I plan, holidays I let go and then I falter.) c) Eat at home more frequently (lunch out has become too much of a regular thing!!)
d) Exercise frequently. (Have had a cold, the weather, any excuse not to go out.)
e) In other words gain structure so that I do not fall into the ‘one treat won’t hurt’ trap, ‘cos we all know it does.
So lunch yesterday 1/3 pack lemon and coriander houmous, crudites, 1oz cheddar – dinner bacon and cauli bake BSD, greek yogurt, banana and cinnamon, milk in coffees.
Loss of 2 3/4 lbs.
Today same lunch – dinner bolognese with courgetti, greek yogurt and 8 blueberries, milk in coffee.
Have also signed up for 1,000 mile challenge. On track so far, have pushed myself to get outdoors (even with my cold and freezing temperatures!!). AND feeling better mentally and physically already. Bring it on!! xx

Hi sunshine-girl, that sounds very much like me this Sunday and Monday, anything goes, alcohol and chocolate, even bread. Started with a liquid fast on Tuesday for my first day back at work and dropped 3.4 pounds to my weigh in this morning, clearly mostly of it water. Back planning everything now, although this evening didn’t go quite to plan and I went over by about 100 calories.

First Fast day out of the way, and my weigh in this morning shows a drop of 3.4 pounds (obviously water). So now less than a stone to go to get to my target. Since I am not sticking to 800 calories, but going for an average of 1200 it could well take the whole 8 weeks or even longer to get there. I will do another Boditrax scan in mid March and see how that looks body fat wise, and decide then whether to continue trying if I haven’t got there at that point. I don’t want to start pushing my body fat super low and my last scan showed 22%

That’s fantastic Lindarina. Great start!

pcoventry – keep going!

Well done everyone.

Mixnmatch – thanks. I will still do the eating bit but I plan to add a few hundred calories to my day. So have even 1000-1200 would still lose me some weight I think.

And now I am used to not have many, no carbs! My levels were 7.2 again 2 hours after eating, so it seems to just be like that. But I plan to eat some cheese and milk before bed, to see if I can get rid of the dawn effect

Hi everyone it’s so good being part of this group. So understanding 😄👍 And encouraging. We all fall down and help each other to get up. I’ve been so good today until tonight! Then the liquorice allsorts called me! After only a couple i feel bloated and yuk! So I obviously i had to eat them all so that they’re wasn’t anymore temptation! 😣😆😆😣 x I could blame it on 😷🤧🤧😷 and still feeling crap! But should i? Trying to struggle through at work but is that just making excuses? Tomorrow I’ve taken a day off!!! To help my daughter and her family move! She’s expecting me to wallpaper the lounge change 4 light fittings. Plumb in the washing machine and connect the cooker while shipping her stuff back and forth! Then I’ll be home to cook hubbies tea so hopefully I won’t be able to stray cause I won’t have time to eat!!
Good luck everyone. 👍🍾🎉🍾😘😘🍀🍀 keep it up xx

Third day’s almost over and i’m starting to adjust to the low calories. I’ve done 5:2 in the past, so the feeling of hunger has been quite survivable. I did have to up my carbs a bit as I don’t do well on very low carb diets (previous experiences), but I’m not diabetic or have a family history of diabetes. My main goal for now is to lose weight.

Stepped on the scale today and discovered I’ve lost over 2 kg. I know it’s water weight, but it’s still motivating.
Hoping everyone else is having a great experience so far.

Hi, yes I have managed to avoid the beer but allowed myself a small red wine last night. I find that if I avoid everything ‘nice’ for too long I tend to get grumpy and negative. If I think of it as cheating I beat myself up! (Tells you a lot about my personality!)
Having reread the book I am tending to stick at 800 calories must days but I don’t worry if I go up to 1000 or 900 a couple of days. When I do it’s normally with good fats anyway. I’m still losing, it may slow down a little but it’s a lifestyle change that is very manageable.
I’m glad to hear that you are losing too! At the moment I’m happy with 4kg in the first two weeks.
Keep at it!

Brilliant. Thank you both. Particularly like the duck one. Thank you xx

I have been using my fitness Pal :), I just added few extra Cal’s to be on the safe side.

Moggot – well done for starting. There is no need to guess. Download the MyFittness Pal app and you can enter everything you eat. Each bacon medallion is 46 calories = 138 total and eggs are approx 70 each (140 for two) Lettuce would probably have been under 10 calories. I would say your total was about 288 so you weren’t far off. Good luck

My blood sugars have gone from T2 diabetic to normal levels and I am now maintaining at my target weight.

You may wish to look at a thread called ‘this has to work for me’. Bill, who started that thread, talks about his medication and retinopathy.

Hi and welcome. There are several people on here that have reversed T2. Also check out KrysiaD who has improved her retinopathy too. Have a good look around the forums there’s so much useful information on here and there’s always someone to answer questions. Good Luck with your journey.

Hi and welcome. As SunnyB says getting the book and cook book is a good idea. But in the meantime Google The Daily Mail as they have featured the BSD a couple of times. You may even find the article that features captain Lynne. Good Luck with your journey. I hope your partners comes on board.

Managed to weight myself for the first time tonight. I’m 18st 3/4 (blimey). Want to try get to 15st this year so least I have base line to work against.
Had nice tea, 3 bacon medallions (Aldi) with scrambled eggs (2) plus lettuce, best guess overall Cal’s 310( unsure on eggs overall Cal’s after scrambling) which puts me tad over 800 Cal’s.

You can do it
It’s no longer depressing because you have found a way to change it
If you lose a kilo a week which is certainly doable you will get there!
Just keep sticking to 800 calories
How has your weight loss been so far?
Are you managing to avoid the beer?
I am away this weekend with friends so determined not to ruin my good work
Weight loss a bit slow for me
2kg since Xmas but a few small cheats