Hi DeeToby

You don’t have to restrict your carbs to less than 50g per day.

The BSD makes the whole thing simple by not referring to carb targets, merely advising cutting out refined carbs. This makes it very easy to follow for those who don’t want to get into more than checking calories (or following a programme of recipes).

However the BSD does make the point that full fat, and eating a little more fat than we have all been told is good for us over recent years, is not a problem.

Some people here experiment with lower carbs and this does indeed suit some people.

The Atkins diet is rather more restrictive, and you will also find people discussing what is the best balance of protein. I don’t think that simply reducing the (good) carbs on the BSD, if people like to try this for both health and weight-loss reasons, is a problem.

If you find more carbs suit you, that’s great. It is evident from the literature that some people tolerate carbohydrates better than others and are able to maintain healthy blood sugars on 100-150g per day. Others seem to fare better on lower amounts.

Day 1 and I have gained 2 lbs from my naughty weekend even though I did a Zumba class last night. Anyway, today is a new day and a reboot. The preamble for this thread says to stay under 30 grams, well I think I can do that.

Weight 75.4 kg
Fasting blood glucose 5.3 (96).

Dr Mosley says that exercise will not help you lose weight but it can help keep it off. I normally exercise 35 mins daily without fail but with the colder weather I have not been getting into the pool and have not got my brain into autumn /winter exercise mode so I have done very little exercise for 2 weeks. Because my body is used to exercise it really needs it. My aim is to get out the DVD’s and do HipHopAbs with Shaun T 3 days a week, Zumba on Monday evenings and a little walking in between.

Accountabilty carb score, Breakfast 9 g, lunch 14g, dinner 5g. Total 27 grams. My planned snack has zero carbs plus a 10g piece of 70% dark chocolate at one carb , total 28. I am also at 700 calories.

Hope you all have a good day.

I have set my carbs at around 85-100g which I reach most days and that is from eating carbs derived from lots of vegetables (not potatoes or parsnips) and one tablespoon of steel-cut oats with half a grapefruit, linseeds, nuts, beans and chickpeas/lentils. My concern of eating a significantly lower carb intake is that you effectively end up with the equivalent of the Atkins diet very focused on high-fat primary protein and a scattering of water-based veg and that’s about it. This then lacks sufficient fibre, trace minerals and vitamins.

Where has the research from Newcastle research and Dr Mosley shown this low carb figure? I still manage to eat 800-1000 cals with my slow-burn carb figure of 85-90g.

Hi Gugu, if you’re cutting out bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, wheat and sugar, you will need to eat something to make up the calories. And that’s fat and protein. I agree it goes against conventional wisdom to eat full-fat food like yogurt and cheese, but the tide of opinion about eating a low-fat diet is turning. Personally, I’m sticking with skimmed milk because I like it more than full-fat milk, but I’m very glad to be able to eat butter and real cheddar from time to time.

Plus, the problem with a lot of low-fat products like yogurt and mayonnaise is that they might have reduced fat but they have added sugar. And the purpose of this diet is to temper blood sugar spikes and reduce blood sugar levels in general.

Have a read of some of the threads. You’ll find them inspirational. The only thing I can say is that this diet works for me and it seems to be working for lots of other people. Lots of people try to keep their carbs to around 20 to 30 g (as measured by something like My Fitness Pal or Fat Secret). Me I try to aim for 50 g, as I’m not diabetic or prediabetic but need to eat lots of fibre from veg and the occasional bit of fruit. Some people don’t bother counting carbs at all but just cut out the ‘bad’ carbs and aim for 800 calories a day. All in all, it’s a very flexible diet, which makes it much easier to stick to.

One thing you could consider is doing something that Michael Mosley recommends in the book: follow the diet for two weeks and then review the situation.

Verano, I have only had the weekend off and gained 2 lbs. Sadly I have gone over the dreaded 75 again so my mini goal is to get under and back to 74.5

Another mini goal has been reached, I have managed to get my wedding ring back on and it is lose enough to turn.

You win some you lose some, lets hope the lose is pounds.

EG Just watch out for the confit, magret is good. My best thing was to taste real cheese after years of bringing very low fat Cheddar back from England. You don’t need much of the real cheese it is so full of flavour.

Bon appétite

Cheese is definitely a plus point, especially as I live in France!! Duck also.

Hi Gugu and welcome.

If you’ve read the book you will understand that Dr MM says low fat dairy products have more sugar in than full fat – and we are all trying to cut out sugar as one of the most dangerous refined carbs (the others are bread, potatoes, rice, etc)

This is why he says use full fat milk and yoghurt.

We have been told over the years that fat is bad for us but this is not necessarily true. Full fat fills you up and counter-Intuitively cutting the refined carbs and eating more fat stimulates the hormones to change to get energy from burning your fat cells.

You can do whichever diet programme you like, but following the BSD including full fat dairy, has been really successful for lots of people here as you’ve probably seen. (It was for me!)

I would just follow the guidelines as in the book. You will get used to full fat which tastes better and you probably need less of it in coffee.

If you like, you can get an app like MyFitnessPal which shows you how many more calories and carbs there are in low fat products.

And 800 calories per day is much easier on full-fat products as they fill you up as the book says.

Hope that helps 🙂

Hi all,
Verano, holidays are testing, no doubt about it. Maybe not even while away but arriving home and assessing damage. Best thought……don’t dwell on it, don’t spoil the good your holiday has done you in other ways. Just do what you know you can do i.e. return fully to the BSD WOL (Way Of Life. I’ve changd it from Way Of Eating as I didn’t like to see the acronym WOE)😉
Mixnmatch, goodonyou, getting there🤗
KrysiaD, thank you. Good luck to you too with your own goals and the warding off of that old carb monster☺
Have had a reasonable BSD day so far. Sitting in Coffee shop having a green tea, without, unusually for me, a huge wedge of cake. Yay! Had literally one mouthful of fruitcake to please my 94yo mother while visiting her in the nursing home this arvo. Not too much damage I think. Small piece of steak w steamed mixed vegs tonight.
Cheers…

That’s great EG. 🙂

Hopefully you will feel as good as the rest of us on BSD and your medical results will also be good.

It does confirm, however, how we have all been told, over and over, that fat is bad for us and to avoid it like the plague. Only now is it emerging that the sugar lobby actually paid Harvard researchers to report their findings showing more positive results for sugar/other refined carbs and negative results for fat.

The trouble is that in removing the fat from all the products (yoghurt is a particularly good example) the manufacturers added more sugar.

But I do agree it is hard to get rid of the thought engrained in us by years of advice that fat is bad.

Not too much of anything of course, but it is nice to get that olive oil out. And the cheese! 🙂

Hi, I am a newbie to this site. I drink an awful lot of coffee with skimmed milk. I have the book but psychologically am finding it hard to ditch all the low fat cheese, milk etc. I wonder if I would be better off starting with a VCLD diet but which one? There are a lot out there and seem still to be promoting low fat. Help.

Hi there!

Lots of stuff here about best carb quantity – have you tried typing appropriate words into SEARCH box (or perhaps that’s how you found this thread thinking about it)

Lots of people stick to 50g or under, and lots of people just count the calories.

There’s a thread here currently started by Verano which is pushing a 7-day 20g carb reboot to get the weight losses off again.

It really depends on you and what you want. I didn’t have type 2 but wanted to kickstart my target 20 lb weight loss on BSD and did the whole 8 weeks on 20g carbs which was hugely effective for me (26 lb loss) and OH followed the same and has pushed his type 2 into remission and come off Metfornin

It’s quite possible to continue relatively low carb (50g or under) long term, still eating really well and enjoyably, if it suits you.

Good luck! 🙂

Just to ask, kitty – have you tried a “white noise” app on your phone to relax you?

I have had great success with an app which I chose to play me rhe soothing sound of rain on a windowpane (there are lots of choices, even on rhe “free” apps) with the phone on very quietly under my pillow – inaudible to OH – and a timer set to 90 minutes after which it turns off.

And subsequently I now listen to podcasts – usually Radio 4 programmes – in exactly the same way. It means if I stay awake I know I have something interesting to listen to. Though in practice the more interesting the subject and the more I want to listen to it, the quicker I fall asleep.

Because I know that this relaxes me and sends me to sleep, I don’t worry any more about insomnia which is of course half the battle.

Hope this might help- worth a try? 🙂

Good luck everyone

I know this is an older thread, but have only just joined and have found it really helpful. I’m aiming for between 30-50 a day (okay I’m only on my 4th day, but still) and after reading this I think I may try to stick closer to the 50-60gm range. I’m not finding it very hard at this point. I’ve been doing 5:2 for a few years, and on my 2 fast days I pretty much ate this BSD way. I’ve had anywhere from 800-1,000 cals in the past 3 days, and am down 4.9 lbs, breaking through a plateau that has been lingering for a couple of months.

I’m thrilled I’ve found these forums. Thanks all for sharing!!

Thanks Krysia

I guess it’s a case of glass half empty! Normally I put on at least 5lbs on holiday so that’s glass half full!

Need to be more positive!

Good luck with your goal.

Hello everyone, although I started a thread yesterday, everyone in here sounds so lovely and so similar in profile tonne (I’m 56, 14 stone and 5’2″) that I thought I’d pop in here each day too. I have the new recipe book and loved Thai Red Curry. All the recipes look really nice, fairly quick and easy. I’m going to use the 8-week meal plan as a basic structure, so that I am introduced to new things. As a Weight Watchers veteran I am used to taking my normal diet. And cutting out all the things I really like. Not a recipe for success. I want to learn a new way of eating.

Also I don’t think that I will stick to all the carb and calorie counting so by following Michael’s recommendations I hope that will all be done for me. I just have to stop adding in any little extras.

Good luck for today everyone. X

Hi Jan sorry to hear about your problems. Life’s a bitch sometimes! Glad you’re back in control of your eating because the last thing you need is to start feeling bad about/in yourself.

Come on over to 7 day reboot and hopefully it will give you something else to focus on!

I started yesterday too. Technically I’m not a new starter because I successfully followed the plan for 8 weeks earlier in the year and lost 4 kilos then. More than happy with that because I’m a short older lady and I lose weight very slowly. But I went travelling for 9 weeks, had the most amazing time, but came back with a few more kilos than I set out with. Seven, to be precise. : ( I had expected it though. I’d made up my mind to just enjoy my holiday and start again when I got home again because I’m not likely to get an opportunity to travel like this again in a hurry. So here I am, on track so far and looking forward to the next 8 weeks, even though I have three family birthdays coming up. In addition I have a teenage house guest who needs regular feeding, so meals aren’t quite as straight forwards as they were when I was on my own. But losing my extra weight, being able to buy nice clothes and hopefully coming off my Metformin altogether would make putting in the extra effort well worth while. Looking forward to checking in regularly and catching up with you all.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to reply, Switzerland.

You have skewered the weaknesses in my thinking! I thought: 800 is really low, a bit more won’t matter. Maybe I can wean myself off carbs and avoid carb flu.

After I read your post, I went down to breakfast where four lovely yellow bananas winked at me.

Readers…I hid them in the cupboard! Went for Greek yoghurt and strawberries instead, with a few nuts.

The rice with curry I can leave alone, I think. Had cauliflower rice last night – as well as the brown real stuff – and it was good.

Milky coffee will be more difficult. I’m used to half and half- coffee and skimmed milk. As a first step I’ll switch to full fat, then I’ll need less of it.

So here goes for day 2 – miso soup with tofu, prawns, courgetti and butternut noodles for lunch.

More Thai curry, from yesterday, for dinner along with MMs chard recipe from new book.

I’m sitting on the train and really thirsty so I know what my next resolution must be…

All best to everyone as we take our early, baby steps on this new path.

X

Hi deb2105, double SNAP i also live in Aussie, NSW. How exciting for you to be looking forward to your wedding in Feb. You really must stick with this deb you want to look back on those wedding photos with delight. I have just come back from a couple of weeks in WA and it was the fat photos that have pushed me to get motivated. Photos dont lie, unless they are airbrushed and believe me my ones were not🤐. 5 months is a doable time line if you stay with the eating program. Nice for me too to have others in the same measurement range. Today is my 2nd day and it is harder today as i am feeling hungry i think it is emotional eating that is trying to get me today, it is my weekend and on my own . I feel it is time to load the dvd with some feel good movies.

Found the calculator brilliant, something to work to, thank you

Nettle – just seen photos of HRH The Duchess of Cambridge in today’s newspaper, and she is wearing. ……….. a RED dress! Just like you said 😃

KRYSIA youre seriously going into TWT…Tiny Waist Territory! X👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
VERANO Good luck with the reboot! Congrats on getting tot he halfway point of 24 weeks! Im just a week behind you finishing wk 11 today x
Good luck TIZZIE with weigh in tomozz..mine is due too but i only get weighed when i’ m at DDs first thing before i eat or drink..doubt that will happen tomozzz as she has guests staying !

Jan so sorry about your double whammy of bad news xx v pleased for you that you havent regained much
We ‘re all here on the back of the bus with hugs for you xx

This is all very reassuring, I knew we were to eat full fat dairy products etc but it was just a bit of a shock….

Has anyone else found that many of the recipes in the BSD book (not the cookbook – not got that yet) are totally inaccurate in terms of calorie count? It’s happened a few times where I’ve put the exact ingredients into MyFitnessPal trying to ensure they are validated ingredients or scanning the barcode and got to a totally different calorie number to the book. One example just today was for the Beetroot Falafel…. without the yoghurt and rocket…. it came to 90 cals more than stated in the book! I find this worrying as it makes it harder to plan. Anyone else had this experience?

Verano, you have done amazingly well as you have been away for that time. Before BSD I was on holiday and there was a wonderful local bakery nearby. I managed to put on a stunningly huge 10lb in that week.

Well done Mixnmatch – isn’t it a wonderful feeling to be well on the way to size 12 jeans – they will be looser in no time.

Marie – congratulations for getting back ‘on the wagon’. I have been a slow loser also – mostly because I wasn’t weighing food and was underestimating hugely what I was eating. At the moment I have defeated the ‘carb monster’ but I know it is still lurking out there. So good luck with your goals and your fight with the ‘carb monster’.

My mini goal is to lose 2 1/2lbs which will take me to 10 stone 3 1/2lbs which will be a two stone loss since 1st May. I am determined to get rid of all my visceral fat – every last ounce.

So, end of week four for me this morning. Of the 1.2 kg I put on at my parents’, I’ve lost 900 g. I’m very pleased with that but more so with the idea that I can step off the wagon and get back on without struggling too much (though I did wake up feeling hungry at 4.00 am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep).

This morning’s figures:
84.5 kg
-0.4 kg
Overall change -4.0 kg

So an average of a kilo a week. It was getting on for 1.5 kg till I went away, when I gained rather than losing. With any luck, I’ll speed up again a bit. I had set myself a mini goal of 83.5 kg by the end of the month. Looking a bit unlikely now, but never mind.

Yesterday’s food and exercise
776 cals
46 net carbs
Short walk with the dogs and an hour and 15 minutes gardening.

Thanks for the congratulations, guys. We’ve been living together for 35 years, so not much will change except legally. Even so, I’m looking forward to it. It’s a very informal do. Somewhat speculatively, I tried on a skirt yesterday that I thought might go with a blouse and cardigan my mum gave me. Amazingly, the skirt fitted me: the last time I put it on was maybe twelve years ago, and it didn’t fit me properly then. So that was good news all round.

Hi all
I’m still here, it’s just on Friday, we had two lots of totally separate bad news, one serious potential recurring illness, with one person and serious domestic abuse, to another ,within our extended family, unfortunately the abuser is a tactical arms officer for the met !!! So obviously no talk of coercive control laws a bit of a waste of time there ! and we love the person who’s being abused very much, so it’s very distressing.To have two separate bits of bad news in one day sent me into overdrive a bit. But eating the way I was eating hasn’t improved anything, obviously, so I’ve weighed in and back into control mode, as it’s the only thing I can control at the moment. Surprisingly have put on very little.
We have a lot to do as a family as we now need to rejig the bedroom formation, so lots and lots to do, but so glad you guys are here, as I definitely must not go back to the level of illness I had before this BSD plan. I am going to need my wellbeing even more now.
Yes Verano I will join you on the reboot bus. You know now it’s colder, thinking about eating my strawbs and fage in a mo now it’s colder is not so appetising, think I will let them warm up a bit first.
How are all you guys doing, I haven’t had the time to go through all the emails. Are we all plodding on sitting in the back seat of the bus.🚌🚌🚌

Hi Debs

A new book has just been published here in the UK – The 8-week Blood Sugar Diet Recipe Book by Dr Clare Bailey with Dr Sarah Schenker.

Sorry, but I don’t know if it’s available yet outside the UK.

Hi

So Day 1 of 7

Well I’ve put on 2.6lbs while I’ve been away. Interestingly while I was in a hotel I lost weight probably because I was walking more …. know the answer then!!!!

My fasting blood sugar this morning was 7.5 !!! That’s the highest it’s been since I started random fasting tests a month ago. I had 4 squares of dark chocolate last night …. to finish it off !!!! That may have something to do with the result !

I’ve worked out my carbs for the day and they come in at 25g so no leeway really. Our flight looks to be on time so hopefully no hiccups there.

Good luck to you all will check in tomorrow.

Weigh in today 3/4lb down from last Tuesday – now 10 stone 6lb. Really happy with that because when I measured my waist it is now 29 1/2 inches and last Tuesday it was 31 inches (this is with the measure pulled tight). So a lot of good things going on with my visceral fat.

Hi Frog

Yes I often make cauliflower rice but the cauliflowers here are iffy! Really looking forward to getting back to decent vegetables especially to cougetti puttanesca !

Korean beef is adapted from a Waitrose recipe for Korean Pork. It’s quite high calorie but carbs are only 19g which could be reduced by putting less brown sugar in. It’s also quite spicy but you can put less chilli bean sauce in to make it milder. I’ve tried it with chicken but it didn’t take on the flavours the same as beef. It’s nice for a ‘treat’ meal occasionally.

I made the chicken biryani with thighs instead of breasts and had with broccoli and raita, really enjoyed it and the leftovers the next day were even better! Also enjoyed the bacon, broccoli and cheese fry up.
The celeriac and apple soup …. meh …… a little bland. But I’ve got TONS of it now, so I’ll pep it up with some chilli and blue cheese.
Overall though, enjoying the recipes.

Hi Igorasusul
I think your husbands doctor is spot on. For me – diabetes in remission is actually what it is. I know if I think my diabetes is reversed I could be tempted in the future to go back to my bad old ways and think that I can eat all the sugary starchy carbs that caused my diabetes in the first place.

But ‘in remission’ will get me into the mind set that as long as I keep to the healthy BSD guidelines I will be diabetes free. So from now on my diabetes hasn’t gone away it is ‘in remission’.

Good for you Izzy, hope the lad feels better today.
Keep on keeping on.

Hi Switzerland, thankyou, I’m about to wake him up so I will see how he is but yesterday aside from the rash he was normal so thankfully nothing too much, fingers crossed he wakes up happy.

I have a meeting to attend this morning so I’m hoping I can go but of course if he is unwell then he comes first.

Assuming I can go to work I will be on ‘bacon roll avoidance’ duty, I’ve had a strawberry shake so my tummy is full. I have soup for lunch and I’m doing pork steaks for dinner later. My weight this morning hovered just above 11st, so I’m hopeful to be back in the 10’s soon.

I know that it seems weird but I still feel empowered by BSD. I’ve had this period of nonsense where I’ve eaten stuff I shouldn’t and been off track – but the most my weight has varied is by 4 lb’s up. Any other diet I would have been on my way back up to gaining much more by now.

Yay for BSD and the new habits I have, because even going off track doesn’t take me so far off track as before 🙂

I’m a new starter too. Made the mistake of taking 25g of nuts as a snack to work. Then found out how many calories that is (169!!) but couldn’t stop eating them. Backed off for dinner, so went over 800 by 50 cals. Won’t make that mistake again 🙂

Day 2 is going well though.

Another starter here. I was going to commence the 5:2 but after buying the kindle 800 book, looking at recipes and deciding I need a good kick start I’ve opted for the 800 diet.
I’ve ordered some ketostix online also- hoping that gives me a measurement ( and motivation ) as well as using the myfitness pal app.
I’m on operation Christmas dress as my first goal- new dress a bit tight and I reuse to go up a size.

End of week 12 …. half way through this 8 week challenge and I’m 2.6lbs up over all !!

Holiday over today so now for a 7 day reboot . Will definitely be reporting better results next Tuesday.

Hope you’ve all done better than me over the last 4 weeks …. can only get better!

Hi just checking in on my last mini goal ….. to lose one pound a week for the last 4 weeks.

Didn’t make it put on 2.6lbs.

Ok have been away for the best part of the time so being realistic I’ve probably done quite well not to put on more!

So next set of mini goals are ….
1. To lose the 2.6lbs
2. Lose 3.5lbs to drop into next stone.

Bit of deja vu going on here !!!!!!

Hope you are all reaching your goals

Hi lifeafter50,
SNAP – we have practically the same profile, only I am 7 kg heavier 🙁
I work from home, so often Im lurking in the kitchen, but not today!
I started today – 27.9.16 and have been very good thus far.
Somehow i feel this is going to work for me, and I hope it does for you also.

cheers, debs

Hi Deb & BSD friends
I don’t bother with the recipes. I just sort out the ones I cook regularly & adjust the calorie count by measuring out the oil, if needed, and weighing the ingredients. And Mr BB gets brown rice, potatoes, or chips very occasionally if he makes them. Last night we had sausages, steamed pointed cabbage & gravy made with a shallot sweated in teaspoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of floor & oxo cube stock. I had 60 g of peas and he made himself some chips. Mine came out at 398 calories – his ??
Tonight spiced prawns a la Delia with spinach for me.
Doesn’t always work though – my usual Spanish omelet calorie counted at 1000 for us both!
Hit a wall last night & went to bed at 9pm. Spent yesterday with my garden designer friend buying bulbs & plants at a wholesale nursery. Actually quite hard work sorting -and lifting £500 of plants and getting them into the car. Planting out today – might need a bigger breakfast than usual to see me through. Have a good day those in the northern hemisphere and sleep well those in the southern.

I have the recipe book and will be swapping a few meals for alternatives as there are some things I don’t like…such as eggs!!
As long as you eat foods that are allowed and keep to around 800 calories you should be ok

Hello, middle of the day here in Perth W’n Australia, springtime, but cold (by our standards) and raining.
This morning on the scales = 64.3kg. 64kg = my next mini goal.
A good eating day yesterday, and a good start today.
Hope everyone is going ok today with this WOE (Way Of Eating).

kitty you will be fine, just keep calm and keep the banana a little smaller and in your calories as everyone has said . I would also suggest no coffee after mid-day if you can do it. If you look at the research the caffeine hit lasts a long time. I could not give up my coffee but never after noon.

I also put the other half of the nana in the fridge for later. It does not look good, but will last a few days.

Good luck

Hi Billingebabe & everyone
I live in Australia and we are going to be married in scotland when we visit the UK next feb! i havent told my partner what i am doing as i want it to be a surprise – see how long it takes him to notice 😉

7lbs is quite an achievement in 1 week – congratulations – i am truly inspired by that!

thank you for responding to my post. i have bought the 8 week blood sugar diet book and am wondering if there are other books available as well?

cheers, debs

Hi Melinky,
I’m not a coffee drinker but am a tea with milk drinker, a lot of teas with a lot of milk! I’ve found that cutting down gradually works best for me rather than cold turkey. I was drinking it more out of habit than anything and now find I appreciate the 2 cups a day more than before. Good luck.

I forgot….

Today:

782 calories
26 carbs