Oh poor you Miss Ziggy it’s good eating helped you feel better.
I seem to remember that it’s easy to get low on salt because we are reducing our food intake & drinking more non alcoholic fluid than we we have recently. I do tend to have a salt & black pepper grinder beside me when I eat because I steam most vegetables & don’t add salt when I cook.
Margaret xx

Thanks Tigs,

It showed it until today. I guess I will do a reset later on it – cheers for the tip 🙂

Hi pcoventry. Great start!

Someone else asked this about MFP – I did a reset for daily 800 cals and percentages for macros under My Home/Goals/Your Fitness Goals on MFP and had no problem at all with the app since.

OiMadam, you’ve come to the right place! Some folks sailed through Christmas and New Year unscathed, some only slightly dented. Others (like me) have been slower to get back into the groove. For me it was yesterday that my mind caught up with my intentions and I’m already loving being back on track!

Would you like to join The Kalettes ? dooo waaah, I think we could do with another virtual choir 🙂 😀

I guess it serves 2 then. We had 180 today for me, the wife and our son.

Didn’t seem a lot to be honest. It was a small bowl full!

Thanks Marsie and Verano for the encouragement. I had a better day yesterday and scales look promising. Stronger.

OiMadam, you have it! Definitely got the plan to tackle this and to get back to where you were. Step by step, meal by meal, don’t give in to the carb monsters.

60g is a hell of a lot of porridge oats, are you sure the portion is not serves 2? Genuine question. I usually use about 25g or occasionally 20g if I have other carb sources planned. It can be bulked out a bit low carb by nuts and seeds, I often use chia seeds.

Hey Annie,

I follow the recipe, so I guess so?

Hi all, can I clarify something please?

I started Monday 15st 10, I thought today I would just weigh myself and my weight-watchers scales say 15 7 1/2 so I am like yippee 2 1/2 pounds gone. I always weigh in the same place. So I put this into MyFitnessPal and it has pushed my daily calorie goal to 1640!

Is this a malfunction of the app? Or is it because the max setting is 2ib’s a week and because i’ve hit that it wants me to do a maintenance diet for the rest of it?

I am going to ignore it and do 800 a day but I just wondered.

Cheers!

Lighter life has done some processed meals, all calorie counted for you for 500 calories 5:2 so you just pick any three for a fast day. I looked at the ingredients list on several ‘meals’ in Superdrug, but rejected all in favour of my current real food meals. Real food is just so much nicer, which actually makes the BSD 5:2 the best diet in the world. 😀 I guess the Mail got in first with that one though.

Hi Solange
Go for it – loads of helpful folk on here to encourage you. As a marmite lover (me too!) you will find other ways to incorporate it into food – although I am not sure about the marmite salad dressing I read about one forumite having discovered worked for him (think it was with yoghurt?)
Keep going and keep posting!
Julia

I had some kalettes about a week before Christmas, first time I’d ever come across them but I liked them. Not quite as chewy as most kale.

We bought the Daily Express on Monday and they had a pull out supplement for the best diet ever (according to the headline). It turned out to be the 5:2 although they said it was Lighter Life not Michael Mosley. Strange how other people are taking credit for this. I left it with my daughter to give her some ideas.

Hi everyone,

Can I join in with those of you that are struggling 😭😭😭 I feel awful this evening. I think for some reason my blood sugars have gone haywire and I feel faint and my arms are all trembly. It’s my second day back on BSD. I’ve been very busy all day putting the Christmas decorations away and then tidying the study. I must admit to not drinking a lot of water..would that make me feel rotten???. As a quick fix I ate an apple with some cheddar cheese feel so much better now. I just feel so hungry😭😭😭 it seems harder that when I started in October. I think my body is craving the naughties I ate over Christmas 😱 Dinner tonight was supposed to be chicken and Salad but I have added some lentil daal just to give me a fighting chance!
I hope you are all doing better than I am😟
MIss ZIggy

Happy New Year fellow BSD ers.
Today I weigh the same as my birthday last December, which is still one stone off since October. I did lose 5 lbs over Christmas mainly due to a gastric bug but over the past week have put that back on!
The family have hone home to US ( boo hoo) and now it’s time to get going again. We are off to the sun on 16 th so hope to get rid of the extra pounds by then, and when we return I promise myself I will start again in Ernest.
X B

Help! Oh my goodness me – having been fully on-board before Christmas (and lost 8.5lbs in our 4 week challenge) I am completely struggling this side of Christmas. So frustrated with myself as I seem to be in self-destruct mode. I start the day with good intentions and then succumb to carbs and sugar – which I hadn’t eaten for weeks!
I now need to pull myself together – record everything I eat – and drink and move more.
Well done all of you who are back on track and losing – I salute you all.
Hope you don’t mind carrying this lame one at the back for a little while. X

Linda and Daisiesmum, Thank you so much for your encouragement! I’m really looking forward to when this passes! I went to bed early and though I still feel a bit off, I weighed in and have lost over 9 pounds since this time last week. I think I’m just going to treat this like a regular sickness and get extra rest, etc until it passes.

Happy and healthy New 2017 to everyone.
Oops. Re-Joining on day one, week two as have spent last week joining Her Maj the Queen with terrible cold and hacking cough which has totally felled me – lemon juice and hot water, paracetamol and soup have been constant companions.
Hence 4lb loss, but feel a bit of a fraud and can’t claim credit.
Still a bit wobbly so exercise regime will need to wait a few days.
Blood sugar has gone a bit bonkers, not sure why – up, down, nothing consistent. Maybe stress of being poorly?

Reading through some inspiring posts here. My favourite quote:

Try and fail, no matter.
Try again, fail better.

MKx

I bought kalettes from Lidl on Saturday morning after reading about them in a magazine on Friday. I’d never heard of them either. They were very nice steamed and a bit of butter added – the kind with salt flakes in, my favourite. You’re right about the sound of name Bissell 😀! I thought the same! Apparently there are a few new hybrid fruits and vegetables on their way. It will be interesting to try them.

pccoventry – you have 60g of dry oats at a time made into porridge? just asking as I occasionally (used to be most days) have 26g made with 200ml soya milk (other milks available 😀) and can keep to a low carb day. I also make “overnight” oats with about 12 – 15g of oats, up to 80g yoghurt, bit of grated aple and berries and some seeds which can be a bit high carb-wise but is very filling. I generally put it together in the morning and have for lunch. Personally, I find frozen berries to be the most convenient and cheapest to add to things like this.

Hi everyone and welcome. For everyone new here may I suggest looking at LindaA’s post on page 3 of this thread (about half way down the page). There’s some really good, sound advice there. And have a good look around the site, there are plenty of inspirational people and posts.
Good Luck to everyone starting, or returning to, this way of life.

Hi On-a-Mission! Good for you to be started and so successfully already! The issue of carbohydrate intake is a personal one and over the next few weeks you will be discovering how much carbohydrate your body can handle and still lose weight. Every person is different. Carbohydrates drive your production of insulin, and, because insulin is the “fat storage” hormone, keeping your carb intake low will keep your insulin production down and will help you mobilize your fat stores.
When you eat too many carbs, especially simple carbs, you literally “lock away” your body’s fuel source (your fat) in your fat cells. Because it is locked up in your cells, it is not available to your body and brain and you will get panicky/super hungry. That is not ideal and usually results in people overeating to compensate.
By lowering your carbs, you will be allowing your fat stores to mobilize. The recommendations from various research (out of the US) can be as low as 20 grams per day. If you are a high-insulin individual, you may need to go that low for a while. After you start to mobilize fat and start to lose weight, you might be able to increase your carb intake — you will have to learn your own “sweet spot”.
I need to keep my carb intake around 30-40 to control weight gain — but I have now maintained for 6 months at my goal weight (I started March 2016) and I eat a lot of food and I am not hungry (you know, except at mealtime, as appropriate). During the weight loss period (I did about four months on the strict BSD) I tried to stay under 30 carbs per day and that really helped me lose weight AND most importantly, stopped my hunger — a big issue for me!
Try going very low (20 grams/day) and then add back in complex carbs in tiny portions and watch your body’s response. It will revolutionize your life — for the first time ever, I can control my weight, eat real food and enjoy my food. Good luck on your journey!

Hi. Hope I’m not too late to join! I’ve been reading the books, working out a shopping list and I’m planning to start tomorrow. I’m 35 and not diabetic but there’s a family history there and I’ve got other health issues that aren’t being helped by my weight. On Sunday morning I was 14st 2lbs so 2017 needs to be the year I lose 5 stone – eeek!!!
There are some amazing success stories on here. Looking forward to seeing how everyone gets on 🙂

You are ALL welcome to join us! 🙂

Tonic, I also just did my own planner from the meals.

Today was 2 eggs. Simple Egg Muffins for dinner (yummy) and tonight Quorn chicken with cauliflower rice – todays total 798 Cals 😀

I am not a nut person and so I don’t have them, and it’s working for me..

Oh Bissell, well done on your 10k. I’m moving around a fair bit today, but my rebounder plans were scuppered by a very queasy tummy following brekkie. I do think my bod is still recovering from the onslaught of extra portions to which I subjected it over Christmas and New Year!

I am SO much happier on BSD portions, and I STILL recalculate calories after I’ve eaten because I feel so full I think I must have eaten far too much, but NO, still on track 🙂 Oh how I love this way of life!

Enjoy the Kalettes… doo wop a doo wop 😀

Hi,I May I join. I am 63 (64 v soon) pre diabetic with strong family history. I am starting on 9th Jan after the guests have gone. I’ve been on every diet known since my twenties and overweight for ever. This is definitely the last one. 198lbs and looking to loose 50-60lbs. Will take this week to re-read the book and plan meals and strategies. Apprehensive but lots of people have done it. Lots of inspiration and support on this site. Post next week

I saw the kalettes (sounds like a sixties female Motown group) in Waitrose today, half price. Also kale was half price (how very Waitrose!) so I bought them both. Will try them stir fried tonight with turkey burgers.
I’ve done my 10k steps already, can I go back to bed now?!

Happy New Year to everyone in the BSD family! I hope everyone coped well with the festive season. So glad to be back to normality now though!

I stuck to my plan diligently – three days off at Christmas, was back on track Tuesday to Friday, then enjoyed New Years Eve and New Years Day off.

I did well on Monday 2nd Jan, had just over 1000 cals, but then overnight I was derailed on night duty in that dreaded tea-room…..the usual leftovers, started nibbling nuts, progressed to dried cranberries, then popcorn, then finally a couple of bits of cake….. so cross with myself! Anyway, back for night duty tonight, but the leftovers are gone thank goodness, so back to 800cals from today.

I haven’t weighed myself since Christmas Eve, but hopefully with the pullback between Christmas and New Year and now the rest of this week, the damage will be limited when I weigh myself on Saturday (postponing it till then!).

My next goal is to be at goal weight in two weeks, when we are off to Fraser Island, Queensland, so need to be bikini ready for then hahaha! These mini-goals are going to keep me going and accountable hopefully.

Rachel 🙂

Hi jmarie can I contribute?

My peak was dropping a kilo apparently overnight..I expect the scales to bounce up a bit by tomorrow but still that coloured my day..

The pit is my blistered heel and sore toe after my walk today. I knew there’s a reason why I’m a couch potato;-)

There’s quite a flu epidemic here too 🙁 hope he gets better soon.

Hi on second day starting just a quick question husband is finding there are lots of nuts in the recipes so is not enjoying it much can I change that and leave them off or would that change the diet too much . Also I have just picked out different meals and not gone for the planner at the back of the book.

I shall! I just caught a glimpse of my side-on profile and it’s not looking pretty…..Kalettes sound great! I will look out for them.

Thank you Happygirl!
Lunch today was homemade carrot soup, 46g of Cheddar Cheese, one apple & one pear plus coffee.
Beef stir fry & cauliflower mash for supper.

Ooo Flash21, you go DAZZLE em! Some devotees of the low fat myth seem to have become fat-o-phobes. My sis is a long-term low-fat dieter and has several health issues which might be helped by LCHF, but she remains convinced that eating fat is unhealthy. Over Christmas I caught her smirking as I put double cream in my coffee!

I think the low carb high fat revolution will slowly march its way into people’s psyches though.

Grocery shopping in Aldi today I came across a veg called “kalettes” or baby kale. They look a bit like fluffy sprouts and are absolutely delicious (I had mine as part of a turkey stir fry). Has anyone else tried them? They were new to me… or have I been living under a rock 😀

Hi everyone,
I am starting today. I am 47, 5′ and 85kg so not drinking for the 8 weeks to give myself a decent shot at this. I started exercising more and tried to become familiar with the BSD in December, have had a fab Christmas and New Year and stayed the same weightwise so I’m pretty happy with that. I think it will be challenging for me not to have any alcohol as that is my passion (or should I say downfall?)
Looking forward to supporting each other during the coming weeks.
Let’s rock and roll…

Hi,
the best thing is to look at the carbs nearly all products nowadays have that per 100ml on the packaging and you can count that up per day.

Hello, just a quick check in- on the plus side another 1.2 pounds off today so now 11 stone 2.2 lb and looking forward to starting with a ’10’. On the deficit side I’ve caught my daughters bug and am one big ache from head to foot and weak and coughing. Due to fly to Norway on thursday so hoping for a quick improvement! Keep on keeping on everyone!

Cauliflower Rice = yummy.

Need to avoid Porridge, Just fond out 60G of oats takes me over my daily carb limit 😕

Hi Julia
Thanks for that tip. What a great idea! Just making a shopping list for tomorrow. I have some large jam jars I was about to recycle so I am ready to roll.

January 2, 2017

PEAK: Made my exercise goal! 432 move calories, 35 minutes of elliptical, weight training, stand 15 times after sitting, steps 12,607, distance 5.11mi (statistics taken from my iwatch activity app).
My twin sister started the BSD! Yay!

PIT: The day went by way too fast and I didn’t have time to do half the things I wanted to.
My husband is still home sick with a cold virus. :–(

Hi Way of life,
Thanks for the background. If you cook for yourself you will find it easier as you will not be dependent on processed foods which inevitably have added sugars to help with taste. You will also be used to adjusting recipes to meet vegan requirements and know the adjustments you need to make.
Some tips I found useful;
Use the week before you start as an adjusting week, so try some things out that you might want to use eg the breakfast to be sure you enjoy it and see how well it fills you up. Cut down a little each day so it is not such a change on your start day.
Start using smaller plates – get something in between a side plate and a dinner plate – around 7 inches diameter – as your new dinner plate. That helps with portion sizes, and psychologically you see a full plate and your head is happy – I have not gone back to the large dinner plate!
Measure everything – yourself included. On Saturday – write down your blood sugar reading and blood pressure (if you have monitors), pulse, and take measurements bust, waist, tummy (over belly button), hips, thighs and finally weight. If you have a set of scales that have internal fat then note that as well. You can calculate BMI. You will find that some weeks you lose more weight than others, but the most important reading is the waist and tummy measurements – if they keep going down, you are hitting the stored fat and sorting out your pre-diabetes and liver. It is not uncommon to have no weight loss that week, but see inches come off. You can measure weight daily, or weekly; but the blood sugars are probably worth doing daily for a while still they stabilise.
Decide what your target is – a dress size is as valid as a weight, or an amount off of your waist, or changes to your biochemistry – improved liver functioning, blood sugar readings going down. I started this after I had watched MM on TV last January and bought a BS reader and was shocked to see I was very close to being pre-diabetic. My readings were down and stable mid-normal in 4 weeks. It is worth investing in one if you do not already have one, as for you that will be a key indicator.
Draw graphs – I used a spreadsheet and put the data into it on a weekly basis then got it to graph for me – it is very motivating to see the line going down and see the progress over time! Other apps on phones will do the same thing as will any data you put into the fitness gadgets.
I did use a fitness monitor like fitbit (I used Garmin) to see how little activity I was taking – and initially it was bad, it helped me to get an idea of what I needed to do. Since you already do a lot of walking, I doubt you need that.
Other things to measure – everything you eat. Portion control is very important, and making sure you keep to a low intake of carbs per day, target 60g, but don’t be too worried if you are over that one day as looked at over a week – it won’t matter. There are a number of apps that will help you get the food breakdown per item, store recipes and give you calories and carb amounts per serving. There are discussion threads on the forum on the benefits etc. That for me is the hardest part as it takes time every meal to measure things properly – however I bulk make soup, one portion for today and 4 to freeze and I note on a label the calories per portion and the carbs. I do know I have to do as if I freehand 1 tbs of oil, it is a lot more on the pan than if I measure it!
Your question about chocolate – no issue – but add it into your daily allowance. I had been having a cup of cocoa night and morning (no sugar, no milk, only 5g cocoa powder with boiling water) and I continued, taking the calories off of my 800 per day, and the carbs off of the 60g per day. I have a bar of 80% chocolate in the top of the fridge for days that I need a boost – but one square only.
Find some snacks that are lower calories and not sugary – for me it was small tomatoes. If I needed a snack – especially a sweet one, I would have one of two – they were like eating sweets. Another things was carrots – an inch of one at a time, however I did stop that as they are higher carbs. Nuts are great snacks, but don’t give the same sweet satisfaction that tomatoes or carrots. A new thing for me has been ITSU wasabi seaweed snacks (Sainsbury’s, Waitrose keep them) – like crisps, but lower calories. They are great for adding to a packed lunch.
Seitan, tofu, soya products, tempeh if you can find it are all good protein products although tempeh is higher in carbs. Miso soup is another good standby to have in.
Sorry it is so long…… hopefully some things will help. Shout if you need more help!

Verano, I think you’re right. The people who seem to mistrust it the most are usually fans of the famous diet clubs and think I’d be better off going to their meetings. It is well-intentioned, I’m sure, but they don’t seem receptive to much outside that way of dieting. I think I need to dazzle them by dumping a lot of weight and keeping it off! Really excited to start feeling energetic again 🙂

Hi all,

I’m following the 7 day menu plan that is in the ‘Blood sugar diet’ book, this is so I don’t have to think too much about what to eat, at least for the first 4 weeks of my 12 week plan, so that i establish good eating habits. Can I just check that the ratio is correct for what we all want to achieve ?. I know it’s been put together by a dietitian, but I just wanted to check that I’m following the golden principles for weight loss !

Glad you found it Julia. 😀 The calendar with mine was for birdwatchers.

Next edition due in shops on Thursday 😀

Took my life in my hands earlier to go out. Very slippy underfoot near home, but clear in Durham. When I got home it had all melted. 😀

I do live in a house, so try to do the stairs more – use upstairs toilet instead of the downstairs one!

Hello! I also have the urge to raid the fridge practically as soon as I walk in the door! I do relatively well at work as I usually bring in my breakfast and lunch. Luckily the canteen is far enough away to make it an effort to go down there looking for snacks 🙂 Things that work for me in the witching hour(s) between arriving home and having dinner are:
spoonful of peanut butter
peppermint tea
fizzy water
boiled egg
couple of slices of cold meats

Non-food related things to distract myself from eating include general housework, going for a quick walk or doing exercises indoors, having a bath, phoning friends/family, meal planning/prep for the next few days. I reckon I am about 90% successful. The remaining 10% is when the insatiable hunger monster strikes and I have to go with it!

Hey Thisisit!

I’m back on it with a vengenance now too, having gained horribly over Christmas. The trouble is I am now back in the habit of a little something sweet here and there, or a delicious sandwich, or dessert after dinner – habits that are sooooo hard to break but terribly easy to resume! I am definitely not someone who has any resolve when faced with these things. So, I have been good and prepared my breakfast and lunch for work today and have an eye on what I’ll prepare for dinner – all very BSD friendly! I’m going to take one day at a time and log meals in my newly-purchased diet and exercise diary (for some reason I prefer to write rather than use an app). Got lots of of lovely yoga/pilates stuff for Christmas too, so will be rolling out that mat and getting on with some exercises!

Brilliant, Lucia. Will be glad to join you on a walk. Quite sunny here today (after weeks – yes, really – of freezing fog), so a lovely day for it. Just don’t walk under the trees. All the ice that formed on them is thawing and it’s like a heavy rainstorm under some of the tall pines.

Healthier me – you can actually prep lunches for the whole week with a few mason jars or large jam jars in about 10 minutes flat. I do several greek salads at a time, layering the cucumber, black olives and feta cheese etc. Saves weighing and logging the calories each time, and there are loads of lunch ideas like that which keep well in the fridge (check out mason jar lunches on google) for several days. Does mean you have crunch factor in your diet which I find helps me – couldn’t manage liquid only!
Julia

The Best Diet in the World.the word oil shouldn’t be there, I don’t know how it got there.
Sorry
But it’s that kind of a day!

Hello everyone
It seems as though we are all struggling. At the moment!
Well done Wendy for not giving up and giving in when confronted with a genuine reason.
Why is it so hard?
Why aren’t we wired differently?
We see chocolate or maybe cake or crisps and we feel the need to provide it with a resting place!!!
Today is a hard day for me, I don’t know why, I just had lunch, homemade a beefburger and salad with green beans but would happily devour my own hand right now!!
Anyway, I’ll just have to soldier on. It’s times like this that I remind myself that I am doing this to be healthy and to live longer.
Did anyone see the programme on channel 4 or More 4 last night called The Best Diet in the oil World?
It was very interesting.
Good luck everyone today as you go about your business
Cheers

Lucia – already doing the stairs trick when the weather is too horrible for walking/running outside, but hadn’t thought of the Monty Python lunges – good plan. I always know where to come for inspiration!

Thanks Lynne re the country walking magazine – found a copy the other side of town! There was a beautiful free calendar of Mallorcan countryside in the pack too – so a bonus all round (it’s my husband’s native land and we are going there in the summer – will mow be looking for interesting walks there as well as going for the 1000 mile challenge. All this thanks to reading about you signing up to the challenge! My issue is getting out when the weather is awful. Reading about you not having space for a treadmill, it occurred to me that doing the walking Lucia-style, up and down the stairs loads of times, would also count! I have so many folk on here to thank for changing my mentality – that’s my ‘battle plan’ for fitting in the walking when the weather is too horrible for my liking! Of course if you have a bungalow that’s no use!
Julia