Hi

The carbs are important if you have diabetes or are pre-diabetic. The science of low carbs is explained in the book …. please re-read because I don’t want to get the science wrong. Coupled with low calorie, ie. 800, this leads to fast weight loss which also helps keep motivation high.

So whilst low calorie is ok if you just want to lose weight if you want to improve your blood sugar levels then low carb is really important .

I think that’s right sure someone will post if I’ve got it wrong.

Evening all, yes I’m still around! Had to respond to Avila’s revelation in the Longley Farm cottage cheese. Isn’t it just epic?? I’ve been singing its praises for months and have a spoonful most days with lunch. Haven’t found another brand that even comes close to it for tastiness!

Am enjoying the hot weather here in the Midlands. Seems quite odd to be sitting outside in just a sarong when it’s already getting dark tho! House is like an oven…

So tonight I am trying spelt pasta. It’s a grain that has low impact on GI and full of fibre so is allowed in the ‘maintenance’ stage of BSD. I found it in the newly opened health food shop in town so thought I’d give it a go…

Thanks CaliforniaGirl! I hope I have some form of hope and invigorating enthusiasm in your long term goals. But the best long term goal is:

Cut the goal into 5-10 smaller goals. You make it easier to achieve it.

I hope you finish your goals easily. Remember what the Beach Boys once said:

She’ll have fun, fun, fun til daddy takes the T BIRD AWAY!

Or did I mean California Girls??????? Well, both songs are great classics!

Good Luck!

Who suggested Longley Farm full fat cottage cheese? Wow – a revelation compared to the skinny kinds I have met before. I did at the time double check the brand – having brought Longley Farm yoghurt in the local shop as a local brand, I thought maybe it was a similar name but no, it is just down the road. So I get to feel good about supporting local business as well as yummy cheesyness.

Well done on achieving your target captainlynne – both impressive and inspiring 🙂

Hello my lovelies, thank you so much for your support it really does help.

I’m feeling more like myself again and have mostly been on track with BSD, losing half of my gain so that is a positive step forwards, hopefully soon I will have a new low to report 🙂

I still feel BSD is great because on previous diets going through a blip like this I would have just given up – but I have not!

I’ve been mostly getting some chillaxing done – with the exception of last night when I went for a walk with my friend and her walking group expecting a much shorter walk than we ended up doing (8 miles!) Having said that I did enjoy it and wasn’t home late.

I’ve also painted some more coasters and I will try to update my blog later. I had some I had already painted black and have discovered that I can sit and chill using a silver paint pen drawing mandalas, which is indulging my art, building some stock to sell AND chilling me out. win win win!

I’m off to create a meal with mince… Thank you again, you are all awesome, and welcome to the new posters 🙂

Hi Jackie WIlsonSaid,
I did the 800 over 10 weeks then had a 6 week break to cover holidays, visitors etc. When I restarted it was very easy, I had put a little on (gutfill etc) and that came off in a couple of days and the weight just coming off again. I did another 8 week stint then I was doing a lot of physical exercise so upped the cals and carbs a bit for the next period and had a ‘relaxed’ day per week. The rest of the weight still came off and I am now at target.
So yes, just restart, you know it will work and you know what foods to eat. It is much easier the next start!

JAN making my cuppa now..in nice fresh loose floaty pjs ! I bought myself post week 8 some lovelysmelling bodywash..gonna have a non food treat every few weeks now.
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn276/yowzer2008/image_zpsn6ekli2m.gif
This is the life…hehe!
In answer to yr question before..i think Lucky is busy with preparations for the wedding this weekend..but where oh where are Timmy,Janey and Eps..and Izzy? Or have i just missed them somewhere round the threads! X

Good work Stud! Your shopping plan sounds like fun! Always enjoy your lively posts! Julia

Yay Tired! So good you started NOW!!! There is power in just starting! I love your diary idea –I kept one of the first 8 week course I did (I did 24 weeks) and I look back in it now and it makes me laugh; I have so changed my entire outlook on food. You will enjoy the reflection in a few months time. Julia

Hi Nedds mum,
When I started I had read the book the week before I officially started and started logging what I was eating that week. That gave me a week to adjust to the feeling of ‘oh no, I can’t have that’ and ‘how do I ‘manage’ etc. I also started in shakes (not to be recommended) as a way of getting going, getting used to eating less and ease of managing portions and cals. I had 3 shakes per day plus a home made soup or veg. I did lose weight in the first couple of weeks – almost inevitable that you do on 800 cals, but I noticed all the weight was coming off of my hips and not my waist as per the expectation of getting rid of visceral fat. The issue turned out to be the shakes, I had purchased a standard brand (not the one the Newcastle project used as you can’t get it over the counter in the UK) and when I looked at the nutritional values, – yes, it was full of sugar – low fat – ie use skimmed milk, and 200 cals, but my carb intake was 120g per day. I then went onto making my own food and the inches came off my waist plus BS went down!
So – yes – take time to adjust especially as a vegan. Don’t worry about the carbs unless you spot you are eating lots of sugars, or refined carbs. I made a small change a week initially and over the first 10 weeks lost my 33.2 lbs and dropped 2 dress sizes.
As Jane says lentils and pulses are good, but in moderation. Adding in soya – tofu is the best way to keep the protein up without the carbs. I also stuck to a limited set of foods and did not start experimenting until later. My breakfast was full fat yoghurt (60g), blueberries (30g), plus 3 g each of pumpkin seeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, This is a muesli without the oats. In your case, I just looked up the nutritional composition of Alpro Almond Yoghurt and it would replace the dairy yoghurt I used and be lower in cals! you can use hazelnuts for the nuts instead of almonds since you would use the almond yoghurt. I found it to be very filling.
Good luck.

Carl – I came back from 4 nights in Prague 3 pounds heavier, but they disappeared with 2 of their friends the following week. That taught me to be more careful with portion sizes. After a 3 night residential conference in Yorkshire I stayed the same. After 10 days in Italy (plus an overnight at a Heathrow hotel) I came home 2 pounds lighter than the day I left home.

When nothing else was available on a small railway station (I’d just left an airport without getting something to eat) I bought a sandwich, ate the filling and threw the bread away. Another time I was being driven to a conference when the driver stopped at a burger van (dinner that night was going to be late). What did I do? Bought a bacon roll, ate the bacon and threw the bead away. Sorry if it sounds weird, but I just didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise my weight loss, or to help the medics who aren’t onboard with the BSD. It’s me being awkward LOL.

YES FROG..thank you..i thought i was going barmy! X
Good point re number of posts on this thread..LUCKY didnt realise what she started!
Is it still tropically hot in London? We have it today after yesterdays rain…bit too hot for me..
Will be glad next summer but this summer my fat is the equivalent of being wrapped in quite a high tog duvet!😎

Thanks Lynne, great tips, did you stay the same weight on hols or continued to lose? Hopefully my resolve will be strong after 4weeks 🙂

Carl – no, I didn’t count calories when away from home, wherever I was. I still ate low-carb and watched portion sizes. I haven’t touched alcohol for many years, so that wasn’t an issue for me. In Italy I stayed with friends so shopped for foods I could eat when they ate pasta, bread etc. We ate out several times, sometimes with others, and I always found something BSD friendly I could eat, especially the antipasto. When we were taken to a special ce-cream cafe, the only thing without sugar was black coffe, so that’s what I had! Self-catering in this country – just eat BSD friendly foods, low carb, and watch portion sizes. And drink lots of water! Hope you enjoy your holidays. I look forward to seeing your results.

Hi Yowzer *waves*

Thanks 😃 . I’ve been there so often before – I’ll join the slimming club at the beginning of the year. Oh, it’ll be too full, everyone does that, I’ll wait. Oh, I can’t afford it this week, I’ll wait until payday. Etc, etc. So I realised that if I joined the slimming club just before Christmas it would be quieter and I could settle in to the programme ready for the new year. Last Christmas my neighbour plated up a dinner for me – turkey with all the trimmings, and Christmas pudding with cream. She’ll never know how much went in the bin 😱. I portioned the turkey and froze most of it for later meals. Potatoes, parsnips, stuffing etc straight into the bin and I cooked some extra green veg. Given the choice of cream, brandy butter or custard with the pudding, I asked for cream. When it arrived the pudding went into the bin, to be replaced in the dream by fresh blueberries. Did I feel deprived? No. In a way, it was a challenge. What could I do to stay with the plan? After all, Christmas comes every year so I needed to find a coping strategy sooner rather than later. And that helped when I’ve been away from home, whether for holidays of work.

has anyone else notice that this topic never goes to the final page when you post now, just the penultimate one?
Happens when you hit ‘reply’ from the recent posts page,
or is it just me

I’ve emailed tech support to see if its an issue with the number of posts on this thread

Hi lucky

Missing your many posts are you okay

Hi Yowser
Yes I remember them I’m 58 mind you don’t feel that age anymore before bsd I felt 88 it’s such a miracle this plan

back to the hair debate of yesterday, there are threads on here

HAIR PROBLEMS – last post 3/9/16
HAIR LOSS ETC- last post June 16

I read recently that castor oil is good for hair loss (presumably similar to coconut oil) My hair has got thicker recently, but I read about it being good to encourage thicker eyebrows.
I tracked some down in Morrison’s hard to find – apparently is can be used to induce labour as well, so lots of chemists don’t stock it.
Can’t really comment on it’s effectiveness – it would probably help if I;d used it for more than the first two or three days.
Made a nice cuticle oil as well.

Yes i’m still subscribed JAN…i just seem to get totally logged out if i look away for a moment! They dont like me
😩😩😩 actually the techies here are so nice

Co op..i love it…there’s always such a gorgeous display in the bakery …mmmm..but not for me any more..i eatit with my eyes and nose!
I do still get pangs but other healthy stuff is gorgeous so its not too bad..i love lettuce sandwiches – some tasty ham or halloumi inside two crisp romaine lettuce leaves!
JAN do you remember the old fashioned co op from the fifties ( i doubt youre old enough) They used to put your money in a little tin and it used to go along a pulley thing then come whizzing back with the change! No self service then
Enjoy yr book..im just going to have a shower then me too.. A few last chapters of a book to read! I left it at a suspenseful moment!
Then – lunch! No I Havent even had lunch yet hehe! Go me! I had some yog for elevenses and not been hungry since.
Glad you got sorted online..hope it works out ok! Nothing worse than having to ring places and be kept waiting listening to rubbish music! X

Hi Jan
just checked – Lucky’s last post here was earlyish yesterday morning, so she’s not been AWOL too long!

My supermarket downfall is Morrison’s sausage rolls, love them!
Last time I was there I treated myself to a single one (I used to buy and eat a packet of 4, because it was cheaper!) – and it was a meal, rather than a snack!

Like CARL i never fail to be astonished that you started just before Christmas!
The fact you did so and low carb’d all over that festive season indicated how dedicated and focused you wd continue to be over the next nine months!
You really deserve the great results youve got Lynne coz you really gave it your all!
Enjoy reaping all the wonderful rewards now! X

Yowser
Have you checked right at the beginning of the thread you are following that you are subscribed to follow it, as it sometimes unsubscribed you, how irritating and time consuming, well I have just been up our local biggest in the country coop did a mini shop and was only tempted to treat myself to some very nice cooked pork loin to wrap around some lovely pickled gherkins. In the past I would always buy one of their pasties as they make the most divine pastry, but no it didn’t even occur to me. Ooh am I cured hehehe don’t think so but getting there, it’s like belonging to AA this lark isn’t it, or how I imagine it to be.
Going to have a nice cuppa and a treat of a little relax with a good book for half an hour, a very rare event for me, think I deserve some time out as for the last 6 weeks I’ve been trying to contact an office in Ireland to complete my PCI compliance for my shop and couldn’t get my password recognised, but I have got through and done it. Woo hoo, not sure what I agreed to online, but I really don’t care any more. Cuppa calls me.
☕️☕️☕️☕️
BTW where the hecky peck is lucky these days, have I missed her or something.

Sumo, there’s a brilliant mini goal thread. It’s always good to feel like you’ve achieved success. My first one is to reach the weight that I was at the start of the year. In my mind, I set myself the target of reaching it by the end of the month, but in fact I might achieve it with a few days to spare. Anything that’s meaningful to you will do, just don’t make it too big.

https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/whats-your-next-mini-goal/

And congratulations, greenjanet. You must feel really pleased.

Hi Jill
Congratulations – great results!

the normal range for the HbA1C test is 20 to 42, so you are in the normal range, not particularly near the border, so no need to worry about it. (well other than sticking to eating sensibly to keep it in that range 🙂 )
You can request access to your patient records online, which is brilliant – you get the full history of test results (I think mine goes back 8 or 10 years) together with the “normal range” alongside your own result.
The other benefit is that when you have a blood test, you get to see the results before you discuss them with a nurse or doctor, so you have time to think about any questions before you meet.
I got very concerned that they’d measured albumin and creatinine, but not given normal ranges or the ratio (and in different units of measurement, so not easy to calculate. Turned out my results were “too normal to calculate a ratio”

A discussion on “Inside Health” on R4 just now was debating the benefits of aiming for an upper blood pressure of 120 rather than 140 – I checked mine from my records and noticed that in September last year it was 127/80, and now its down to 112/79.

First week hotel in Italy and second week self catering in uk. Did you calorie count whilst away? Those 800 don’t go far, as I like a glass of wine or 3 !

Right, I’m going to stop counting carbs too. It’s doing my head in because things like yogurts and the like that I can get here don’t match up with Fat Secret. So I can find something that’s more or less the same in calories, but it comes up with twice the carbs. So I’m going to stop bothering, just not eat masses of fruit.

That said, had a great pud today of blackberries and yogurt. Anyone else’s taste buds seem more sensitive? I have the best sense of smell I’ve had in years.

Oh thank you so much Frog. Your advice is most welcome and I will have a go at what you say. What would I do with out the helpful people on this forum?

try this keto calculator – Igor’s favourite!
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
you put in your data, planned food intake (eg 800 calories, however many grams of carb, etc) and it works out targets for fat and protein.
For example mine was 800 calories (of course) 50g carb – I then opted for 50g of protein, and it calculated that my fat intake target should be 45g. When I recently reduced carb target to 30g, I didn’t adjust protein, so it now indicates I need 54g of fat.
TBH, I eat to be within or around the calorie and carb target. I’m not veggie, so don’t have to worry about protein too much, so I let the fat and protein totals fall out by themselves.

Most of the standard calorie count things are set up to run with – well bog-standard stats – so they’d typically work on 2000 a day intake for maintenance, and if you eat 100 calories a day less……. in ten years time you might have lost a stone!
I think the sites have presets and error warnings to avoid being held responsible for people doing dangerously silly diets/encouraging anorexia, etc.
To avoid error messages, just don’t bother with ‘completing your day’
You are in control of what you want to eat, and what your targets are, not the app that you’re using!

I did successfully set up an 800 calorie a day target on MFP, I can’t remember how, and have done on FatSecret as well.

Thanks. My first trip

Hi Carl.

Holiday – where are you going? Hotel or self-catering? This year I’ve been to Prague and Italy as well as a few places in England.

Christmas – yes, it was a challenge but I knew if I waited to start until 1st January I would find excuse to put it off until the 2nd, then the 3rd etc. Armed with my trusty BSD book I only ate low-carb foods throughout the holidays.

Hi and welcome FLASH ! X
Weve all done it…lost and regained..many times in my case..
The important thing is to get up and try again..forget yesterday,today is day one of the rest of yr life,corny tho it sounds
I was dismayed at the thought of giving up bread,toast,spuds,chips etc, but my friend had lost well over two stone in 8 wks on bsd so i gave it ago
its not as hard as you may think..the less carbs you eat,the less you want them coz you’re not as hungry.
Yes Its true those ‘ filling’ carbs were making you hungrier.! Who knew!
I have now followed my pals example and lost two stone eight pounds in 9 weeks. ( i am repeating the 8 wk cycle now,day one week ten today, coz it is so do able)
My saving grace is Fage fullfat greek yoghurt..i have it every day,its creamy and delicious. Plus its lovely to put some butter on yr greens! Thats one great thing..its a fullfat diet! No low fat trans fat spreads or low fat desserts loaded with sugar for us!
Drink plenty of water,keep an eye on yr cals and carbs,move more,and you may be delighted with the results very soon! Read asmuch as you can on here…tons of help and advice.
Kick The Carbs To the Kerb! 😄😄😄😄 xx

Hi JAN i must say I dont like this waspy top now it fits!
It maybe relegated to the charity shop bag!
Well,in the SEVEN mins since I posted the message you replied to Jan..ive been logged out and it took three tries to logback in …Grrrr?..too hot to be faffing round..and why tho i endlessly tick Remember Me,it never does?🤔🤔

Hi Frog
Thanks for info. I tried My Fitness Pal but couldn’t get on with it so will have a go at Fat Secret. Hopefully it will help as you say with eating out as that’s what I will be doing in holiday.
Have just done MFS and it insists that my RDI is 1400 calories per day.
Do I just ignore that figure and just record what I eat and do my own thing?
Also butter, I only want say a teaspoon but it won’t go that small. Any advice?
As you can tell I am not that techy.

really inspiring thank you Captainlynne!

I have 2weeks holiday at week 4, any good advice tips, noticed you started BSD just before christmas which must of been a challenge too?

Yeahhhhh Yowser are you doing the super special smaller top dance. I’ve found some of the things I’ve been desperate to get into for years, now I can I don’t like them, and that one week you just get into something, then the next week it’s too big, especially with trousers, amazingly wonderful 💃💃💃💃💃

Hello Puneet!

Thank you for replying 🙂 10kgs lighter is amazing – go you! It’s great hearing people’s success stories, so I’m hoping they’ll spur me on too. I reckon food addiction does play a part – perhaps more so than we realise – especially when we’re stressed. I think I will also re-read the book while I’m in these early days, just to make sure I don’t miss anything important.

I’m aiming to post here often so hopefully I’ll soon be writing about some successes 🙂

Thank you very much for the encouraging post Switzerland. Have a great day!

Hi bsd chums x
jILF well done on bloodtest results and weight loss! X
Phew a hot day today! Keep cool everyone
Ive managed to get into another top thats languished in the wardrobe unworn for many a long day!
dont you just Love non scale victories!
Ps altho coz its striped,i look rather like an angry wasp! 😄😄😄😄😄 x

How is everyone doing….day 3!

I’m finding it ok, the food is really tasty but prep is a bit of a hassle/time consuming (following the book), and have split my lunch into two as need a late pm snack to get me home from work On the plus side, I’ve lost 4lbs after weighing in today and found this very motivating. Also energy levels in the afternoon have been noticeably better, so the carbs must of been causing tiredness. I’ve not been craving the evening glass of Vin as much as expected either.

Ideally need to lose 2 stone, which feels a long way away at the moment…bit worried about the weekend!

This sounds great! I like your idea of sticking to the same set of meals and then experimenting when you have more time. I’ve just started a thread too, in an attempt to maintain accountability and motivation 🙂 Good luck! You’ll be at your goal in no time!

Good on you for trying again.

i did the same thing. Four years ago when i got diagnosed with diabetes 2, I lost 13 kgs through a similar diet(I was not aware of BSD at that time). My sugar levels were great and felt so much better. However, changed jobs, highly stressful and with in 6 months all weight was back on and sugar levels were again scary.

About 6 months ago I started exploring the idea that i had food addiction. If there was food in front of me i had to eat it. Next three months were a real struggle- I was trying to curb my eating without much success which led to anger towards myself.

I cant say what changed two months ago. I went and bought book , read it and then read it again ,suddenly, a switch turned on and here i am 10 kgs lighter- sugar levels are erratic but they will settle down.

I can still succumb to curries ,especially when my son gets takeaway but have had a naan or roti in two months.

i am extremely satisfied as of now.

I just want to wish you all the best for your venture with BSD.

Sumo – you may want to try even smaller goals – half stone, down into next stone number, clothes size etc. Each success helps along the way 😃

Sounds amazing Susieb – I haven’t dared weigh myself yet! Day three for me and doing ok at the moment. Not felt hungry but have been drinking buckets of water and also peeing like a racehorse – may weigh myself on Friday….

Wow Jan that’s brilliant – congratulations
sorry, I missed your post this morning, I must have been looking at another thread

Lots of us here to help if you need it. Just ask.

Hi,
I’m a vegetarian and did the full on BSD800 earlier this year after a diabetic diagnosis. It’s so easy to eat loads of carbs when you don’t eat meat.
I gave up sugar first which was the hardest bit.
Then I did 3 weeks counting carbs and calories and it was hard but I lost 1.5 stone. I only stopped because I was starting to sag everywhere so decided to take things more slowly.
Since then I just keep to low carbs with occasional treats and haven’t put anything back on. My blood sugar’s in the safe range for diabetics and I’ve never had to resort to meds:) Hurrah to Mr Mosley and this forum. I also sleep much better, don’t get indigestion and don’t snore!
My tips are: eat lots of lentils and pulses; have occasional treats- xylitol is great for sweetening low carb cakes- tastes better than stevia and is good for your teeth; never eat white flour or rice. If you overdo it one day, it really doesn’t matter. I have switched from wine to gin with light FeverTree tonic as I don’t want to start on nasty chemicals in ‘diet’ goods. And eat lots of avocado and nuts! Fat is your friend. Oh yes, walk everywhere and do yoga or pilates. You don’t need to push yourself physically unless you really want to.
Enjoy.

I think as my first target is 5stone I should break this down in to stone goals that way the next target is never too far away, and give me more chances of the yes feeling?

i am travelling to England and hopefully Scotland.

Hi Minnie

Have you tried using an online calorie counter?
There are lots of free ones out there FatSecret (my favourite, they have a UK specific site and not many ads) My Fitness Pal, caloriecount…

It’s mot much of a faff to do, it helps you keep track of calories, protein, fat, carbs…
As well as a more accurate record, even if you only use it for a week or two, it will help you understand the carb counts of foods that you regularly eat (or maybe make you want to review whether you should be eating them as regularly 🙂 ) – and helps you assess restaurant menus more easily too.

I find calorie counting alone is relatively easy, but the more nutrition facts that you want to log, the more complicated it gets!