Nope! But I do celery sticks with a dab of humous; last night I tried celery dipped in a tad of Bovril (veggie version) and it was surprisingly yummy – really satisfies the need for a strong savoury flavour.

I wish us luck …. and healthy eating Henrik67!!!

I do think i can get off Metformin eventually.

Hi Shalimar , thanks for reply – I haven’t went near the Doc , no real point and I don’t mean that in a cheeky or ungrateful way , I started on the 13th July at 21stone 11pounds sitting now at 17 stone 3 12 weeks later , no question fasting has worked for me yet in general most gp’s are against it , anyway another weigh in tomorrow at weightwatchers so fingers crossed I have been type 2 for 10 years but my doc says I will need meds for life I’m hoping not

Haha. Glad you liked that.

Hi Timmy , thanks for coming back to me so quickly , had a good read at most of the posts will read the rest later

great help many thanks

Metformin …. It takes a few weeks to kick in. I was put on insulin for a few weeks when i was first diagnosed until the Metformin could kick in.
I fasted for about 17 days before i really tried to do this BSD plan …. so i didn’t take any metformin.

I haven’t reached the 800 calories goal to many days …. i took a Metformin now and then (was at 5 pills a day).

That was risky.

When i started eating again, after the fast i took an occasional Metformin. In the last couple of days i’ve gone back up to 1 per meal. One night i just had pumpkin seeds to i didn’t take any. BUT i’ve been sick for days now with sinus problems and a cold.

I went back on it after 3 readings about 10 ….. not that high, but not in the “good” range.

When i see whether if i can consistantly do 800 calories …. or do a 5:2 plan …. i will adjust my metformin depending on my readings.

I really need to test ALL the time …. and if my readings are good …. i will decrease the Metformin again.

I am in contact with a local Diabetes program but not a doctor ……………. but over the years i have lost a good opinion of doctors. I will see the walk in doctor when my cold is better … and try and get her to take some baseline tests …. so i have some stats is things are working according to plan.

Otherwise … i’m going to rely on my body to tell me what to do. It’s going to be gradual … unless my BS tests get too low while taking Metformin.

That’s my story.

P.S. I’ve been a diabetic type 2 for about 25 years …. and frankly i think taking so much Metformin for so long isn’t that great for my body either. If i can stop … say by next summer … i will be happy. And if i am on some form of a BSD program for that long i will have learned to treat my body with love and good nutrition.

Thanks Timmy. I love your example about the mammary glands of an almond – I will steal that one and use it myself!

Hi Sunshine-girl
Yes – I do know you are T2 like me but exactly the same thing can happen to us as happens to a T1 so we do have to be very careful. The other problem is that we are probably injecting more insulin than a type 1 would be so if our own insulin kicks in (and it happened to me rather quickly) we would then be getting a double dose of insulin. Which would be even more problematic as we are also getting more insulin sensitive at the same time.

The unknown is – how fast is your pancreas beginning to work and how quickly are you becoming more insulin sensitive.

Good Morning all!

Uneventful day so far, I have been moving more, mainly because my boss has lots of visitors for me to fetch from reception. LOL.
Well done all! Keep sticking and soldering on! It’s not easy, but it’s worth it!

For those of you having trouble sleeping… I find that if I save a few calories for just before bed it helps keep the BS fairly stable overnight. I usually have some Plain Greek Yogurt with some sunflower seeds thrown in for crunch (I can’t do fruit). It also makes the Dawn Effect* less noticeable.

Carb_Addict – I’m in awe of the people who can weigh in every day. I can’t because it boggs me down in numbers and tracking my food does that enough. I don’t want to give the Chimp more to play with. Goodonya! Don’t feel bad about pre-logging either – I do that for the entire week, and then adjust as necessary.

Swann – I follow a modified version, but still within the 800 cals. I have major food allergies (nuts, most raw fruit/veg) so I have to modify. It’s easy for me to though, as I’ve been modifying my food my whole life, lol.

Keep ON Keeping ON!

Cheers,
Deb

*Dawn Effect – a holdover from our ancient ancestors. It’s a BS spike at 4/5am that wakes up the body for the day, i.e. gives you energy to get up.

Hi Henrick67, I’m not diabetic so can’t help, but one of the great success stories of the forum is Bill. There a (very big) thread documenting his journey from diabetic to med free. You can find it here https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/this-has-to-work-for-me/

It’s probably worth the time reading through it all, as I suspect it will answer many of the questions that you want an answer to.

Thanks

Hi …. not in the same situation as yourself …. but i will say Hi!
I think your case is not that unusual though … i knew someone who had that surgery and gained the weight back. I was offered it but i know about complications. My coworker just had bariatric surgery and has lost a ton and is fine with it …. but that is only about 6 months in.

Soups are my staple on BSD …. i am not a cook so i use store bought stock …. and add any/all of : vegetables (especially like cauliflower, brocolli, a couple of mushroons, peas, onions, spinach, kale, celery, green onions), meat of some kind (i will just throw in some chicken drumsticks … like boneless skinless breasts but those are costly), lentils, beans. Any combination. If i use chickpeas i tend not to use meat because chickpeas are a complete protein. Love to throw in the spinach at the end just to wilt … but i love spinach!! I tend to throw in whatever i have for soups … i make a big batch and divide it up into plastic containers. Lentils and beans are high in carbs … good carbs but carbs so i usually don’t use both even though they are my favorites. Also these things are very very nutricious. You can also use one of those blender thingies to much up the soup … or a good potato masher!!

And … if you can’t do big chunks of meat …. cut them up into small bits before you put them in the pot … of fish them out of the soup pot and cut it up into whatever size you want.

Krysia, I am T2, I don’t know where this has come from as Verano seemed to think I was T1 as well. Maybe it is because I inject insulin. That being the case do the same comments apply regarding hypos. The one time I had a hypo I tested at 6.7 ate my breakfast, went unconscious and vomitted up my breakfast. No reason and I was running at 6.7, I just felt myself fading and had chance to call my husband but no time to have glucose, mine comes in liquid form as they don’t sell the tablets anymore, too slow acting. The package has a short tube on so it can be put in the side of the mouth and dribbled in, but hubby didnt have a clue. I will keep an eye on myself and keep testing.

I think the thing to remember is that this is a LOW carb diet, not a NO carb diet. General consensus has been to get the carbs to around 50 a day, so the inclusion of an apple (at 18 carbs) in one of three meals sounds about spot on to me.

I guess with these two meals it is highlighting the gulf between the refined carb heavy traditional variations and the very low carb BSD versions. In a similar way that almond milk isn’t the liquid extracted from the mammary glands of an almond, but is used as sort of reference point.

Hi Guys – I’m struggling to find info on here from anyone who has totally stopped type 2 medication at start of the diet , my Doctor is reluctant to even discuss with me I have cut down from 4 met slow release 2000mgs per day and 2 glixozade 80 mgs per day to 1 of each per day – and have tried for the last 3 days with none at all , meter testing has went up slightly fasting from in the 5 s to around 6.3 – 6.8 much the same at night before bed – I’m not sure if it’s the diet or the meds any help / advice is greatly appreciated Thanks

Well ….. i didn’t plan on doing 5:2 …… but that is actually but seems to be the status quo right now. I seem to have a couple of days of 800 calories and low carbs.
I wanted to really get into the free mindfullness online course …… perhaps my sinus/cold was the universe’s way of getting me focused yet not too extreme.
I love retirement but haven’t really worked out what that is going to look like ….. i hate the summer heat so i pretty much vegged out then.
I’ve learned a lot more patience with myself …. hey not completely 🙂 🙂 🙂 …. we shall see what develops.

If my cold/sinus isn’t too bad …. i may take myself out for corn fried catfish and vegetables!!

I did had some nuts/seeds the last few days ….. and frankly i think they are very nutricious.

Just another thought Sunshine-girl. Because your blood sugars have been so good and running much lower than before you are losing the body’s hypo warning system. This happened to a friend who was type 1 because she was running her b/s in the 5s and she had to run them in the 10s for a bit to reset it. She had a really serious hypo needing medical treatment.

A person without diabetes would normally go down to 3.5 and not experience a hypo. But their insulin production would switch off but for us – once we have injected insulin it just keeps working and we can go much much too low and if we have switched off our hypo warning we have got to be so careful.

Of course it is such good news that everything is going so well and it just means you need to test a lot and have glucose at hand in case you need it.

I hear you about the insulin.

I’m all over the map with Metformin …. i didn’t cut it out completely because i had to take insulin for about 3 weeks when i first got diagnosed with type 2 for the metformin to kick in. I’ve been taking 1 every few days instead of 5 a day …. since i got the cold and Blood Sugar was over 10 for a few days … i’ve been taking 1 with every meal. I’ll continue to test … but i will take 1 to 3 a day depending on my blood sugar for a little while. When i’m easily between 4 and 8 i will drop that down.

Was a little nauseous this a.m. but didn’t want to prep a meal so i used some carbs and had 1/2 cup oatmeal made wit boiling water, a tad honey and a tbsp. of cream ….. at least it settled my stomach for a while.

Good morning all! I’m so pleased that we have had so many people join our little support group! I really enjoy the camaraderie and the accountability is helpful to keep me on track! Welcome!
Yesterday I came in at 815 calories but well under on carbs. APATCH I’ve done extreme low carb dieting before where I stayed under 20 total carbs per day and it’s not TERRIBLY hard if you’re focusing on low carb (basically meat and veg) but it didn’t have a calorie restriction, only the carbs, so it was easier. I, too, find it more difficult on the BSD because you can’t just eat more meat to fill up because of the calorie restriction. I’m limiting fruit to a bare minimum and trying to make vegetables a higher percentage of my diet, but I don’t like a lot of vegetables, so it’s difficult!
I forgot to step on the scale this morning so I’m not sure where my loss is, but will check tomorrow morning! It’s so encouraging to see those losses right away!

Hi Sunshine-girl – your tipple is much more BSD friendly than mine which is Baileys. As it is nearly 8 carbs for a tiny tiny glass I won’t be drinking it again anytime soon.

It looks to me that you are well on the way to becoming non-diabetic which puts you at risk of a hypo as you are injecting insulin. The problem is that there are no guidelines for us diabetics on insulin on how to come off it safely when we are becoming non-diabetic. When I spoke to the specialist diabetic nurse she said that it was extremely rare for a diabetic to come off insulin once they were on it. I got the impression that she had never met one who had. So basically we are winging it as this is so rare and we are ‘trail blazers’.

Once my body started working properly I had to cut down the insulin much faster than I had intended – it was a little scary as it happened so fast.

Thank you all for your replies and encouragement. It puzzles me that some people are so defensive about my comments. I believe in the science of this diet but I feel that the there has been carelessness about the calorie/carb count. And I am not alone – for example see “elgardo” above and many others. I am entitled to my opinion and to express it. Hopefully, this diet will work for me.
So far I am very happy with the choice of foods etc. I’ll keep in touch. Good luck to everybody.

Mytime ….. There is a search box at the top right …. type in Meal Ideas … or Meal plans ….. and check out any posts that look interesting.
If you have an idea for an ingrediant you would like to use …. type it into the Search box …. or the Recipe search box.

Thanks for the welcome Fairyface! Had a good first day, let’s see where it all leads…

So true I also Dr P as well!

phlebas
you just said :
I’m a pound down this morning! 😀
21lbs in 5 weeks.
Hoping for more next week, it is hard to keep motivated on 800 calories a day when you are not losing weight.

21 lbs in 5 weeks …………… How on earth can you NOT be motivated with those results …. that’s practically a miracle already. Pat yourself on the back …. give yourself a pampering ….. I know it’s all relative BUT i would be thrilled!

I think we often lack a little patience …. that’s a lot of weight loss in a short period of time for a body to get used to.

Thanks for kind welcome shalimar & Randam.

Randam – I love, love, LOVE halloumi. Perhaps a little too much, hence my stubborn 14lbs that won’t go !! I agree re: the recipe book, everything tried so far has been delicious. My husband drew the line at smoked fish pate however !!

Hi Verano, Thanks for your reply. I bought a carb counter book at the shops today so hoping it will help. Can anyone give me some meal ideas please? 😊

wow, 20 lbs in 4 weeks. Well done!

I was a pound down as well this morning so 6.2 lbs in week 1, I am pretty pleased with that :o)

thanks for the tip Wendy appreciate it, will give it a go, just need to leave the calories off my other meals then 🙂

Verano, I am T2 not 1. Yes, I want what this diet promises, remission or reversal but, just like Krysia, it has happened all of a sudden and it is frightening. I don’t know if I am going hypo or if I am becoming non-diabetic. How do we know the difference. I do know that when I have been 3.5 in the past I have been sweating, shakey, blurred vision, numb fingers etc etc, classic hypo symptoms. Now I still feel great although I would not risk exercising at that level. I had to change my meal time to suit my zumba class as the first time I went my bloods were 3.9 and I had to have an emergency cereal bar, so this week I had an omelette beforehand, it worked.

It is all very well doing cals before eating but I have just saved about 8 carbs, the apple was bad inside so I swapped it for some red pepper strips. So I am down to about 35 today. What do you mean glad I am human, of course I am but I am becoming orthorexic (fear of eating certain foods) and quite obsessed by this diet, not a bad thing to be.

HealthyH I know it sounds odd but a teaspoonful of coconut oil or a small glass of milk stops a hungry feeling going to bed. When I first started 5:2 fast days that were below 800 calories I found that worked helping me get to sleep.

Hi bigoldmoosehead!

I’m doing the meal plans in the new book too! Trying out lots of new tastes and ingredients.. So far there hasn’t been one I don’t like…

Having halloumi kebabs for lunch… I’m a halloumi first timer…. And I’m loving it

Hi minx and keid too.. Nice to meet you

Some great tips and posts here, It helps to know we are facing this challenge together.

I am on day 3 and for the most part it is going well for the most part, although I am finding I go to bed hungry, but feel fine in the mornings when I wake up, apart from this morning when I felt ravenous. I think it is down to doing some intense exercise last night called freeletics, which I am using to help stimulate my metabolism too.

Meal wise, I have been pretty disciplined thus far, but it is only day 3 right. However, the guys in the office have not been helping as today is the third consecutive day we have had cake brought in by someone and if there is one thing I love it is cake LOL But thankfully my resolve has held.

It is early days at present but I think this is very manageable as a diet, as long as I can keep my eye on the end goal and not have any super stressful situations present themselves in the next 8 weeks ( I am an emotional eater) Just need to maybe look at stratergies for managing my evening hunger, that doesnt involve me eating my dinner really late, or a big intake of water meaning night toilet visits increase, welcome any advice.

Stay strong all and remember it is only 8 weeks 🙂

Cheers
H

Thank you for the feedback GreenTea and Wendy1947. The inclusion of enough fat is a key success factor for sure. Today I cut down from 1.5 tbsp of oil to 1tbsp in my dressing with no hardship: the learning journey continues. I refuse to buy the processed ones with ‘zero calories’ just to save in this area: suspect they are ‘banned’ on the BSD anyway. My challenge as I progress will be to not get obsessed by the numbers. The world is not going to end, nor am I going to fail in my goals, over the calories in a measly 1tbsp of oil a day, especially when it has so many health benefits. Off for my mid-afternoon green tea ‘snack’ now. It’s a beautiful day here in Dubai. Hope the same with you!

Thanks again, Sarah.

Thank you Canidoit 🙂 I’m at the moment sitting with a hot water bottle on my tum & have taken one Ibuprofen. Hoping it’s a slight blip & tomorrow with be better but sticking with👍👍

Oh poor you Wendy1947 . I hope you are feeling better now. I haven’t felt anything different since starting diet apart from peeing gallons. I have probably got it to come. Keep your pecker up both of you. 😁

Hi sunshine-girl pleased to hear you’re human!!! We all have treats now and again but the important thing is to enjoy!!! Don’t feel guilty just get back on track which you are so no problem.

Amazing how you b/g is falling! Isn’t that part of your plan!!! I dont know much about T1 so maybe I have it wrong.

The beauty of doing a log before we eat!!!!! I had to do a bit of fiddling this morning too. Found a Thai salmon curry in the freezer but have just had to guess at its contents … the coconut milk is really high in calories but I can only guess at how much is in the one portion! Plumped for 150ml but who knows!!!

I think quite a few of the recipes work out differently when we work them out but at least you know beforehand!!!

Timmy my tipple is red wine, lots of it! But since I came back from holiday last week I’ve not touched a drop!!! Not easy especially as there’s a bottle of Yellowfoot Shiraz staring at me from the kitchen worktop !!! Each night I’ve thought I’ll just have one glass tonight, but then thought I’ve got to report in tomorrow … and as Shakesspeare wrote ‘to thine own self be true ….’ !!!! Oh dear think I’m losing the plot!!!

Anyway, I don’t see any harm in having the odd indulgence. The important thing is that when we indulge we should at least enjoy it and then move on!

Michael Mosley recommends having good fats in the diet such as olive oil, coconut oil, butter & whole milk Greek style yoghurt to cut out the rubbishy low fat processed stuff that has added sugar & starch. So CarbAddict the odd teaspoon of olive or other oils is recommended to increase satiety & apparently keep our brains & heart healthy. But I know it is higher calorie it’s really about trying to fit some into our diet.

Carb_Addict – Pre BSD I used to have extra-virgin olive oil on my salads too as its a good fat but like you I didn’t want to blow my calorie allowance on it. Last night I had a large salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado with a small piece of ham and flavoured everything salt / pepper / coriander and apple cider vinegar – it was fabulous! I think its because the tomatoes were sweet, salt brings out the flavour in cucumber and the avocado are fat anyway.

I’m finding that if I season my food well and use herbs like coriander (cilantro), spring onions, garlic etc I get a big hit of flavour from my meal and forget that its a much smaller portion than I would’ve eaten in the past. Also like using vinegar and lemon juice as additional flavours too.

I’m 70/30 making my own meals / recipe book and trying to be diligent on weighing my ingredients for accurate calorie / carbs count using MyFitnessPal too.

Hi Timmy, I drink vodka because it has less carbs than wine, also I might have one or two whereas the wine just slips down. Now, talking of price. I live in France and I can buy a 5 litre box of white, red or rose for €11.90 around £9 and it is the same quality wine as they also do in the bottles, buy it straight from the vineyard. This week there is an offer on vodka for €13 for 2 one litre bottles of Smirnoff. How can I refuse. It will last me age. We are travelling next week and will be on the ferry and the vodka is £25 for 2 bottles, makes me laugh when I see people coming here and buying on the ferry.

You sometimes really can’t beat a diet Coke with lemon! And I think I might actually like Dr Pepper even more….

Hi Butterfly moves. Pull up a chair:-)

bigoldmoosehead and hubby ….. welcome …. and good luck!!

Sorry MixnMatch, just realised my post went into yr diary ! Have shifted it over to new starters forum ! Bit of a novice poster I’m afraid !

Hi, can I join in ? My husband and I both started on 800 cal BSD on Monday. I have approx 1 st to lose (doesn’t sound too much but it’s just not shifting !), while my husband has at least 2 st to lose. All going well so far. We are religiously sticking to the meal plans in the new BSD recipe book which I think is helping us focus. No time spent with head in the fridge, pondering what to cook for dinner…..Loving everyone’s enthusiasm and support for each other.

I haven’t bought the book, mainly because I’m 95% vegan (with some fish) and so I have assumed that most of the recipes just won’t fit my needs. So I’m sticking to basic foods and then planning my own meals – but I like to cook so it’s not that hard for me (so far anyway!). What has been the eye-opener so far is the calories in some foods which I never thought about before – namely olive oil. I made a salad dressing for my lunch salad a few days ago and blew a quarter of my daily’s calorie allowance on the olive oil that went into it! Not sustainable…So I now work out my daily meals using MyFitnessPal in advance first thing in the morning to ensure no nasty surprises. Essentially I log my food for the day before I eat it. Yes, a bit of effort and time has to go into it, but for me I think it is the only way I will succeed.

O sunshine isn’t that so kind!!

Am really into this lemon lime and fresh mint infusion, preferring it over hit drinks too

To be honest I have been rebooting each morning and finding by tea time just losing it to the temptations of picking at foods taking me over my daily allowance which I know am doing and isn’t good ….so by then I think start tomorrow so may have something later like a bag of crisps (chips) or worse we had a pie from chippy last night!!!

I am finding it hard to stay on the roll but can’t say why other than easier to give in

Being Coeliac and requiring gluten free food as well isn’t that hard to adhere to on this way of eating so I need a real life check at potential damage am doing to myself…plus, the medications am on sending me west and so feel proper sorry for myself at mo😭

Well, today is anew day and new start
Here I go again!

If you think that’s bad, you should see what I drank last night!

Talking of vodka, and not that I want to encourage vodka drinking, but…. if you are going to have one, I have read in another book about clean eating that grey goose has the fewest impurities than any other vodka. So whilst it’s not good for you, it’s less bad!

It’s also expensive too, which might help to limit consumption!!

Hi MINX and Keid…welcome to the group!

Just wondering – is anyone else finding it difficult to keep to 20-50g of carb? I think I can manage to keep to the 800 Cal, but I’m finding that even when I think i’m eating really low carbs, they tot up really quickly. Can’t imagine what you’d eat in a day to keep it as low as 20g…

Victorir – sorry to hear about your headache 🙁 hopefully it’ll lift soon..

Hi, can I join in ? My husband and I both started on 800 cal BSD on Monday. I have approx 1 st to lose (doesn’t sound too much but it’s just not shifting !), while my husband has at least 2 st to lose. All going well so far. We are religiously sticking to the meal plans in the new BSD recipe book which I think is helping us focus. No time spent with head in the fridge, pondering what to cook for dinner…..Loving everyone’s enthusiasm and support for each other.

Hi there, I announced my carbs and calories yesterday and came in at 730 cal 26 carbs – then I decided I really deserved a vodka and tonic which turned into a couple. Lay in bed this morning thinking, silly moo you deserve to have put on weight then I got up and got weighed and did my bg.

Lost 0.1 kg b/g 3.6 or 66. I had reduced my insulin for the last 2 nights but might have to drop it again tonight. Just by one unit at a time, nothing too drastic.

Logged all my food for today and coming in at 720 cals and spot on 40 carbs. It would have been higher on the carbs but when I saw where they were hiding I cut them out or brought them down, i.e. 1 apple with my ploughman is now half an apple and the chutney has gone from 20 grams to 5. Scary how they can creep in. Tonight I am having the Chicken and Mushroom ‘pie’ but my calculations are different from the recipe book. She says 250 cal 9 carbs, mine say 350 cals and 10 carbs. I do have a bit more chicken than it says so that could account for the extra calories.