Well you are certainly in the right place both mentally and physically. Physically you are here with us and we are here to help you, I sound like an evangelist, sorry. Mentally, you have been through it and you are ready to put things right. You should be able to achieve everything you want on this diet. It is not a miracle worker but pretty near to it. At least medically your life will improve even if we can’t improve your love life, that will come.

Enjoy the journey, it is well worth the effort, the carb blues, the hunger (although not for me) and the flak you will get from your doctor. Put a message out to all of them, you are doing this for you.

Good luck.

Right well end of day 1 week 14
Cals 756 carbs 50 and 5532 steps, good day, kept busy. On plan and loving it. 🙂🙂🙂

Oh I don’t think I posted yesterday. Had a blip. Was treated to dinner last night. Actually felt dreadful afterwards. Didn’t sleep all night. Nothing to eat today until lunchtime. I had homemade pea and broad bean soup with bread and butter. Supper was salad, super grains, hard boiled eggs. Stuffed now but in a good way. Drank plenty of fluids today and even got some exercise in. Went swimming and had a morning walk.

Total cals consumed today 819.
Mangetout are those flat pea pods.

Have a great evening, everyone.

Not one for every day but ended up in Nando’s with my son and his mate. Butterfly chicken and mixed leaf salad was borderline in the spirit of BSD but made a bit of a change. After 22000 steps wandering around a university open day, I reckoned I could cut myself some slack.

Hi HealthyH,

There is an interesting study on the correlation between high carb intake and prevalence of diabetes in Japan. They looked at the amount of white rice eaten and identified a clear correlation in women but in men the correlation was only “suggested”. If you look at the statistics in the paper there is a clear gender difference. So physiology certainly plays some part.

Miranda, sorry you’ve had a bad day. One glass of wine is really 👌 ok but if you had a bottle that would be a whole different story. Just get back to your diet asap. 😉

Ziggy

Thanks!!

Staying focused on the theme of positive thoughts thread:
1.Spring in the mountains is delightful. The waterfalls are all running well due to recent rains.
2. Fine weather made for very pleasant bush walks, aiding mindfulness and all other aspects of BSD.
3. No snake sightings today (I know they’re around but it’s nice not to encounter them).

Fallen off the wagon and had a drink as had the worst day ever

Okay, so you have got rid of the bad carbs, you are going low calorie and you are losing weight . I don’t think you are doing much wrong. We all make mistakes and even after 15 weeks I am still learning. Keep on with the diet, it clearly suits you and look forward to a healthier future. Keep asking questions, there is always someone to help.

My GP is a waste of time. The only approach to dealing with him is to tell him what I’m doing. When I told him I wanted six months to demonstrate that I could regulate my blood sugar by diet/lifestyle, his response was to add a note to my records saying I had “declined” medication. Typical a**e-covering public sector middle manager.

My diabetic nurse on the other hand is an absolute star. She had heard of BSD but didn’t have a patient trying it. She is impressed by the results (down 44lb in 10 weeks, 5 inch off the waist and blood pressure down into normal) but has asked me to do a V-something blood test which will test to make sure that I’m getting all the right nutrients. Sounds sensible to me. We have agreed a target weight and she has recommended doing some weight training as new muscle typically is more sensitive to insulin. She quoted the Johns Hopkins study and it looks good to me. She’s looking forward to the next HbA1C test in December.

Without getting on my hobby horse, most medics are quoting current best practice, it is not “out-dated”. The Newcastle research is not yet complete.

I would suggest simply talking to them about outcomes not diets….

Hi, Billingebabe! Thanks for the nice welcome! Thanks, too, for the great ideas and suggestions! I agree on all of the above! So excited to be here! This is really something special going on!!! Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Hi all nearing the end of day 3 and feeling a bit more confident about recording carbs/calories, the myfatsecret app has really helped, thanks Shalimar😊. Good luck for Friday Natalie, hugs and hope all goes well.

Made chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta for my dinner, recipe from Pinterest and it was yummy, 380 Cal’s and 3g carb, lots of crunchy stir fry veg so it was nice and filling😍.

Hope you’re feeling better Bluemoon, keep strong fellow 10/10’s, we can do it💪

Sorry both of you. Wrong way round . fruit is a problems I know that. I used to eat a lot plus 1 or 2 bananas a day .I am eating a lot of good non starchy vegetables. Its working for me, but I am one of those people who has to understand the ins and outs and totally understand in my head how these things work !!

Hi there…! Like many people here, i plateaued round end week 2 / week 3.. Its disheartening,we all can understand how you feel! But keep going! If you join myfitness pal or mynetdiary,they will calculate yr cals and carbs for you,so you know what youre having every day and can alter things round if need be so you only eat the amounts youve decided to eat.
i go for 800 cals and 50 g carb a day…had to learn that the apples and pears i love were no longer foods i can eat freely..the carb content is pretty high! I only have a handful of berries a day now and keep an eye on veg too..a small apple is a weekly or fortnightly treat now!x

SPUDDY lots of advice here to help you decide,so all i want to add is that before I began,it seemed a terribly harsh regime to me. I wd never have started except my friend had done it and had wonderful results.
I was very apprehensive and felt quite down about beginning it,but begin it i did, and was amazed and pleased to find that after a day or two,i didnt miss bread or any other simple carbs at all…and i was really enjoying eating more nutritious foods,specially the full fat foods. I am now on week 14 so have gone far beyond the 8 weeks that once seemed un doable and impossible. Last weigh in I had lost 40 lb and i expect to hit at least 42 lb next weigh in which is due now..so that will be 3 stone off and several inches from waist,some off hips and a much much flatter tum! Give it a go,ease in gently if you want to..people do it all different ways..different strokes for different folks! X good luck whatever you decide!

I’m not diabetic or prediabetic, but I’ve got a spare tyre (truck size!) that I’d like to get rid of because I have a hiatus hernia and the extra fat round my middle does me no good whatsoever.

You should be cutting out simple carbs and eating complex carbs, what are you eating. Maybe you have just got the terminology the wrong way round, simple carbs are potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, sugar and cereals. Complex carbs are found in vegetables, pulses like beans, soya protein like chickpeas, and nuts. Fruit is too carb dense and contains too much sugar so should be avoided if you are on the 800 cal 8 week diet. Although you are allowed berries, even tomatoes are high in sugar and carbs. Complicated, yes, but you soon get used to it. I don’t miss simple carbs at all, except when I walk past the fresh bread counter in our supermarket.

Complex carbs …. you don’t eat any beans, lentils, non starchy veggies, nuts, seeds?

Ah thanks everyone. I don’t think I’ll weigh and measure myself until after the weekend.. I just wondered if results are better if you are pre-diabetic/diabetic or it doesn’t make a difference. All I know is if I cut down on carbs, I feel so much better. My downfall has always been bread…especially tiger bread.. oh and cider so a definite no no..

The diet doesn’t actually specify a carb allowance, as I understand it, but lots of people here try to restrict the net carbs they eat because it encourages greater weight loss. Some people go for under 50 g, others 30 g. But it isn’t part of Dr. MM’s plan, as I understand it.

I plateaued, like you, but someone suggested I start measuring things other than weight. And it was true: even though the scales showed no change, my waist did shrink a couple of centimetres.

Thanks for reply Shalimar, I totally agree with you. The book doesn’t make quite a few things clear. I feel it assumes a lot. But hey ho.

MM says in the book that they welcome comments- but where? I would like to think he, or somebody else involved would read these forums every so often.

At my recent health check, I had a job getting g them to have thyroid tested within the bloods they had taken. I have NO chance of getting g the tests that MM sugessts. We are not qualified doctors married to a GP!
I have not eaten any complex carbs at all, but am having 2\3 pieces fruit daily and 1/2 pt ski med milk a day. I k now what to do if I need to reduce my simple carbs.

Hi,

I have been using the USN Diet Fuel Ultralean cafe latte flavour. I chose to go down the shake route as I found that getting the calories correct and balancing getting the correct minerals etc. was very hard and lets face it one of the reasons I got large was because of my lack of portion control ability.

Another reason was that on week three my weight loss stalled and continued for two weeks. I found that I was consuming less than 800 calories per day and this was having a negative impact. I started at 19st 11 and I am currently on week 6 and weight in at 17st 7.

The annoying thing with the meal replacements shakes is that in the majority they contain some form of sweetener. USN has fructose in small quantities and I can taste it. The alternative I am using is Sanatagen protein powder from Boots but it tastes of nothing so you need to add flavour and that is hard to do when not at home or fresh.

I am now extending my 8 week plan to 12 weeks and use steely mindset to get through it. I have found that you definitely need to exercise more and more and if you set goals and targets it makes it easier to monitor the increases.

“Persevere and you will succeed” and “8 weeks is worth it for a lifetime of benefits” are statements I repeat daily as most of the negatives or reasons to give in come from the mind.

I hope this helps

Spuddy61, it isn’t at all harsh. After about day three, it starts to seem sensible. Certainly that’s what I found at least, as I have more energy and generally feel jollier.

If I remember rightly, in the book Dr. MM suggests trying the BSD 800 cal diet for two weeks and then reviewing your results and how you feel. Then he suggests another review a couple of weeks later. Maybe, you could just set yourself a two-week target and see how you go. There’s one thread on here that covers seven-day reboots, so only a week.

If you’re looking for rapid results, the eight-week 800 calories seems to work for most people. I am losing more slowly than others, but even I’m managing over a kilo a week, and that’s more than I’ve achieved on other diets. Plus, I feel great.

The other thing some people do is a kind of lead-in to the 800 cal diet by starting off with a few weeks of 5:2. If you try that, you might find that 5:2 is enough to achieve your goals.

Whatever you choose, there’s plenty of friendly support on this forum.

Hi. I’m only on week three but I have been following the 8 week plan. Generally speaking as long as you are organised then I haven’t found it a problem. I have been hungry at times, but I just drank more water. So far, I have lost 8llbs, but I would like to loose another 14. I find it easier to be strict with myself, because when I do stray, I don’t do things by halves. If I have not reach my goal within the 8 weeks, then I am going to do it all over again. I feel loads better in myself, so it has more benefits then just loosing weight. Good luck 😉

Hi everyone. I was down another pound this morning (after 3 days of staying the same!) so was very relieved at that. It means I have lost 9lbs in 9 days, so I’m thrilled. I am sticking to the diet totally – counting the calories and the carbs. I am never hungry but I do get
sugar cravings! Has anyone got a tip about something tiny to eat with a cup of coffee??!!

Thanks folks! At the end of the cookery book there is 8 weeks of planned menu’s that I am sticking too. Generally speaking I have greek yoghurt most days with a small amount of berries. Porridge is only about once a week. I haven’t got a lot to loose, but perhaps I need to read up a bit more about it and check my carbs. To be honest, I am not really sure what my carb allowance is.

Bril captain Lynne, such an amazing example of the wonder of this plan 👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🔟🔟🔟🔟🔟🔟🔟. Yeaaaaa delighted for you x

Owwww Yowser

You are such a darling, I love this plan too and especially all our BSD buddies. 🌷💃🌷💃🌷💃🌷💃🌷 just need to bat the c. Monster and the inner chimp hehehe away heheheh

Jacanne, sorry to be ganging up on you, we are not really, just trying to help. I just saw the words cinnamon APPLES, yikes, now they are high in carbs, one medium apple is around 28 grams of carbs. If the cinnamon is a sugared version then you are way out. So your apple and porridge is nearly my total carbs for the day. I allow 50 grams. Try having grilled mushrooms with a poach egg, 1 large mushroom is about 3 carbs and an egg is zero, it will keep you full all morning.

I have just checked the recipe book, yes it is in, and no sugar on the apples, but it is 260 calories and 38 grams of carbs. That only leaves 12 grams of carbs (for me) and 540 calories for 2 more meals.

Thanks for taking the time to reply I’ve followed the 5.2 in the past but fell off the waggon. I’m halfway through the book and just waiting for the recipe book. I know it’s only 8 weeks but it seems so harsh. 😄 Guess the payoff is the rapid weight loss.

Just because it’s in the recipe book doesn’t mean an individual will choose to include that particular item in their 800 calories and 50 or less grams of carbs.

25 grams of carbs on 1 item is really a lot! I wouldn’t want to do that every day.

I do eat porridge/or oats sometimes … but now i just add cinnamon.

It’s up to you. Have you read the book …. and/or the information on this site???. There are questions and quizzes to take to help you make a reasoned decision.

Suggestion …. After you examine the site/book.

If you are unsure … START with the 5:2 …. that way you get to take the 800 calories a day for a spin and see how you tolerate it.

*Picks jaw up off the ground*😱😃

Today I finally managed to get some clothes – in a couple of charity shops. I’m finally getting the confidence to go straight to the size 12s. So, what did I buy?

Two skirts, two tops and a cardigan. And – wait for it – *drumroll* – a pair of jeggings! Me, who was never planning to buy jeans but now has two pairs (now too big!, now has a pair of denim jeggings!😱

And even more than that! When I picked up one of the skirts, I thought it was a 12. When I got it home and just tried it on (it fits) its a size 10! Me, in a size 10 pencil skirt!😃 I knew the cardigan was a 10 (yes, it fits) but I bought it because it goes really well with the pencil skirt! So I took the chance😃

Why the mad shopping excursion? I’m away tomorrow until late Saturday. A conference with early starts and late finishes. Travelling across tomorrow, meeting a friend (who hasn’t seen me since before I started the BSD) and might do some more shopping.

KRYSIA Such a pretty name! You ‘ ll find yr inner Krysia again,just keep on keeping on xx onwards and downwards
VERANO another pretty name and i’ve learnt something new too!
FLASH are you very fast – and a gas like Jumping Jack Flash!
Thanks Folks,love reading yr explanations! xx

Who knows? The book doesn’t really address the carbs count … it just mostly talks about good health, complex carbs over the simple carbs/starches/sugars that quickly enter the bloodstream.

The 50 g. of carbs (or less) is what many people here (on this site forums) have found works for their weightloss.

But we are not doctors … to find out if this is working for removing fat around the liver and pancreas … you will likely want to get a doctor to run the tests in the book …. before and after … or if you can only have before or after … i would say get that tested after you reach your other goals.

p.s. …. if that many carbs works for you … great … most of us try for less.

Hi all. New starter today fresh from holiday and a beautiful bouncy, overfed, carb loaded belly 😄.
I’m starting on Monday after I’ve prepared and bought the food I need. My question is, do I really need to start with the 800 calorie BS diet? or do I combine 5.2 with BS diet?
I’m not a diabetic but need to lose over a stone plus I have a large waist and high cholesterol and totally addicted to carbs
I would be greatful of any advice ..

Ohhh JAN thats such excellent news! 🎈🎈🌸🎈🌸🎈🌸🎈
If i could do a cartwheel i would! So sorry youve had a bad time of it tho 😐

Well the ol’ Carb Monster is always looking for a chance to get back in,and adverse times are her favourite time coz she knows we’ll be tempted then! Dont let her catch you – we’re safe long as we stay on the back of the bus.Watch out for yr Inner Chimp too coz he is always gettin into mischief and is in cahoots with CM!

Havent been weighed for over a week..hoping to do so over next few days and perhaps have crashed the 3 stone barrier! X wooooooohoooooooo i LOVE this way of eating and all the fab folk on here! X

Thanks for your support, Cecily. But…I’m feeling a little sheepish now. After my big whinge last night I weighed this morning and found I’d lost .4kg, now 63.3kg.
How does this happen? By rights I should have either stayed the same or more properly (??grammar) put a little on. I’m not so much complaining as puzzled. And really, it doesn’t help my poor scrambled brain to be given positive reinforcement for poor eating choices.
Much more focused today. Cals under 800, carbs mid 50s. Be interesting to weigh in the morning and see if yesterday belatedly catches up with me.
😉😏

25 grams of plan porridge with cinnamon apples, its in the recipe book. Why do you say its way out of your calories and carb allowance? I have to say, there’s not much in the bowl, but I do always weigh it.

Well I am half way through week 2. I lost 5.5 llbs week 1 and so far this week, another 3, so I am more than happy.
I am 66, not pre or diabetic and have a fasting BG of 5, but want to remain healthy and loose 1 stone to get to 25 BMI.
. I have read the book twice and can’t fi nd an answer to my query so I wonder if somebody can help p!ease.

I am eating an average of 900 c a day over the 10 days ranging from 745 to 1176c with carbs averaging 80+ over the 10 days.
What I can’t find an answer to is if I am eating perhaps 100 c more a day than 800 recommended and 30 to 40 g of carbs more than the 50g that seems to be the optimum, I am loosing the weight but am I getting the health benefit of the diet, in reducing the correct sort of fat from the stomach liver and pancreas, that may make you I’ll. Or does the health benefit’s, excluding the weight loss, only happen with the 800c/50g combo.I hope you will understand what I am saying . thanks

Thanks for your support, Cecily. But…I’m feeling a little sheepish now. After my big whinge last night I weighed this morning and found I’d lost .4kg, now 63.3kg.
How does this happen? By rights I should have either stayed the same or more properly (??grammar) put a little on. I’m not so much complaining as puzzled. And really, it doesn’t help my poor scrambled brain to be given positive reinforcement for poor eating choices.
Much more focused today. Cals under 800, carbs mid 50s. Be interesting to weigh in the morning and see if yesterday belatedly catches up with me.
😉😏

I am guessing it is porridge you have for breakfast, are you keeping to 25 grams, I love porridge in winter but it is way out of my calories and carbs allowance, 25 grams is about 30 grams of carbs, calories not too bad. Are you having real oats or ready mixed, there is a big difference.

Hi Greenjanet – yes this is where we post now for 7 days starting Tuesday. My challenge this week is to add fish to my diet which has been sadly lacking as I am supposed to be following a healthy med diet. I am also sticking to 30g carbs and under. Adding the fish is going to be much harder than keeping to the carb level.

Antigone
With such good stats the weight loss will follow. Just think about what is going on unseen inside your body. A war is going on against your visceral fat and your body is winning the war.

Hi is this where we all post now, I’m getting confused so many different threads. 🙋

So day 10 and for the most part I feel good, but today feeling tired and bit grumpy, maybe it is an accumulative effect of low carbs/cals. Anyone else suffering from this?

I have been going over my 800 cals the last few days but offsetting it with exercise so hopefully it will balance out. I think I am in a bit of unique situation as I see it is mostly ladies here in this group so maybe given my different physiology I will be able to get away with a few more calories, That is what I am telling myself anyway. 🙂

Just a clarification on the ketosis side of things, by going into the state your body is actually using fat to make Ketones and it is this that you smell on the breath. The body becomes ketone adaptive as a fuel source for the brain, which normally prefers glucose(carbtastic) and uses fat to make these.

If you really want to obsess over being in this state, you can buy ketone testing strips which you pee on to test for their presence in your system, The only real advantage of knowing you are in ketosis is that you know your body is using fat, but honestly the scales should reflect this right?

Anyway, well done everyone on their progress thus far, lets keep it up collectively and roll on the weekend weigh in were we all be posting positive results again fingers crossed.:-)

Haha you and me were given “the” taste buds to have. I love peanut butter! Now that I don’t count calories I sometimes dop a little bit onto a small square of butter and in it goes….. soooo tasty. If you get the Meridian crunchy sort, it gives the crunch that you might miss with a carby biscuit. Something to look forward to 🙂

Having tinned salmon and cream cheese on a bed of baby salad leaves shortly – So have had one serving of fish (my add a little extra) today. We are now going shopping tomorrow and more fish is on the shopping list.

OMG eggs with butter and cheese – pretty much all my favourites in one go (minus peanut butter, but I think adding that would not be a good idea….)! Will definitely be trying that 🙂