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

Arthurconandoyle, very thoughtful and encouraging post! Wish I had more time to chat on all the ideas you and the others bring up.

Snoop congratulations on the upcoming nuptials…hope you are happy and blessed for a lifetime : )

Angiebabe, your post was really helpful…im giving lots of thought to it. I seem to struggle with casting a long term vision for eating that I like and can live with for health reasons and just liking it in general. I’m happy with this diet, but I struggle with stress eating and then just maintaining a balance in treats. I seem to need to focus very hard on the diet in order to succeed, and if I’m not paying attention, my habits aren’t what they need to be to allow me to autopilot. I’m thinking about habit training a good bit and very interested in coming to a peaceful compromise with myself on food. Sometimes I just wish it were as simple as abstaining (as in alcoholism) but of course we must eat! I have a friend who has never struggled with weight problems, but once she found that she had gestational diabetes, she gave up sugar and breads forever. She’s doing great and has lost her sweet tooth, but I seem to start and stop. Anyhow, I am just going to work on today and right now and pray for wisdom in the weeks to come.

Had a much better day. Posting here really helped me through some temptations today and to work harder at conforming to the plan.

I am just overwhelmed by everyone’s encouragement today. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and truthful but kind words! Really…thank you all so much.

Best to you all.

Hi just thinking of getting started tommrow.can I eat anything on plan at anytime?

I used to get Hypos with metaformin , I was on a low GI diet not this one but I used to have some almonds and cheese it did help 🙂

Hi everyone , I have just been going through the recipes in the book and have noticed that there is quite a high content in salt within the foods chosen . As I have had a kidney transplant 14yrs ago I am always trying to keep my sugar and salt content not to high, I was wondering if there are other foods that I can substitute those foods with ?
example ..bacon, halloumi , feta , etc.
are these foods in the guidelines of our daily salt intake ?
Thank you
Bron

Hi. Started today. Planning not to have anything other than a cup of tea for breakfasts, salad or soup for lunches and a small low carb portion of what I make for my family for dinner. Not intending to weigh myself for a while because that would be super depressing and more importantly, demotivating, and the fit of my clothes will tell me whether the weight is going or not.

Not sure if you have tried Magnesium it helps with sleep / migraines and toilet 🙂 I use it and have no problems for sleep relaxes me 🙂

Hi ‘the angelwithin’,
Welcome to the forums and the BSD way of life. You’ll notice over the next days and weeks that you get used to this way of eating. As you know part of it is cutting down on starchy carbs.
This is just a word of warning….by sneaking in carbs you delay the inevitable carb withdrawal and also delay weight loss. If you can be strict with yourself at first you’ll give your satiety hormones time to regulate, you’ll not get hungry and you’ll be feeling great. You must believe me that you’ll get to a point where you don’t consider starchy carbs anymore.
So…….there’s not a lot you can do about being in your fifties (me too) but you can eliminate the ‘fat, fed up and fatigue’ from the initial description in your thread.
Oh, the other thing that may be helpful – there are people on the forums that don’t own scales and weigh themselves at the local chemist/health centre and also if you can’t weigh yourself if you have a tape measure you can do this whole BSD just measuring your waist – the measuring often shows weight shifting around (and the reduction in visceral fat) rather than a decrease on the scales (especially if you add in exercise).
I hope this has been helpful and I wish you and Poppetini and keavney21 the very best of journeys.

Day 1 is in the books. Poached egg for breakfast, no carb ploughman’s lunch and chicken stir fry with coconut milk and lime for dinner. I only managed a few bites of dinner – really didn’t care for it. Calories for the day came to 770. The struggle was mostly a mental one. The idea of heading to an island without a grocery store sounds like heaven!

Hi Izzy,
It’s good news that your son doesn’t have scarlet fever. However, you still have a sick little boy. Look after him and yourself.
I hope he recovers quickly.

I started today too.

I’m 5’5 and weighed in at exactly 15st this morning :S

I suspect I’m probably prediabetic – but don’t know for sure. However my blood pressure has gone through the roof – and that’s why I’m here!

My calories for today came in at 754 – and didn’t find that too much of a struggle. Have made lunch ready to take to work with me tomorrow – just need to plan for dinner tomorrow night!

I’m excited to see how we all get on!

If your snacking thru the day, it sounds as if eating a substantial breakfast – say 200 calories, would set you up for the day better, and probably mean that you’d be less tempted to snack during the day
600 calories left for supper if you’re not having rice potatoes or pasta can actually give you varied options

Remember no bread with the breakfast egg(s)
I tend to have poached egg – but with mushrooms, asparagus or avocado, sometimes tomato – and either a slice of bacon or small portion of smoked salmon.

As Izzy says, we’re all different, but from what you’ve written about snacking mid morning and then through the afternoon, it doesn’t seem to point towards a one meal strategy being ideal for you.
I think quite a lot of people posting here do just have two meals – I’m probably about 50/50 between 3 meals or having just brunch and supper – depends on when I get up, what I’m doing that day…..

Had the quiche in a dish today, it was easy to make, needed a longer cooking time, an extra 5 min or so but tasted just like a normal quiche, so we’ll be having the other half for lunch tmrw.

Going to have the cod with chorizo on roasted veg tomorrow night, so will report back as to its success.

I am enjoying the new recipes very much, looking forward to Tom Kerridge’s diet/cook book out in January, be interesting to see what he did to lose so much weight so quickly as he gave up the booze and the white carbs as far as i can tell from interviews he’s given.

AFTER DAY 12

Weight 72.8 kg
Walking 10,000 steps.

AmyA – Welcome 😊

Tabletalk: you’d be wrong about not being inspiring, actually. Real life is out there for all of us. We will ALL have times when we struggle to stay on the BSD. You give us a great role model of NOT allowing lapses to scupper the whole project. We can all think to ourselves “Well, Tabletalk coped with this kind of situation without giving up , so I can too.”

Angiebabe – well said. I loved your sentiments and the word “catastrophise “!

Snoop – CONGRATULATIONS on your coming wedding. Sorry about your parents. For what it’s worth, I think you did the kind thing. You were kind to let your mum be her nurturing self, and allowing her to do something special for you. And you were kind to yourself by having some cake etc but not going totally overboard. Kindness is often underrated, but really important. I think you did really well with your compromises.

Bloke41 – my godmother is Italian, so I have some idea what awaits you when you go to your family. She never pushes food on me, she doesn’t need to! It’s there, it’s delicious… What can I say?😉 One trick that I use is to keep some food on your plate, so when more is offered you say” It’s delicious but I’m still going with this lot!” Hopefully, then they move on to asking someone else if they want more.

How to deal with success is an interesting question. Thinking about it and my own past experiences, I wonder whether it is a form of self -sabotage or is it simply that when you get close to the goal, the problem doesn’t seem like a big one any more, so you relax the discipline that it took you to get there? Will reflect on this … It’s a really good point to bring up.

Agree with Izzy … you can plan your meals the way you want BUT if you are eating simple high carb foods during the day you have to make a plan for healthy snacking.
Small serving of nuts/seeds. Veggies and low cal/carb dip. Low sugar foods. By all means microwave an egg or 2 in the morning.
Maybe you could make extra at your evening meal …. and have a container of left over healthy food to eat the next day.

Today is better for me too. Had a Denver sandwich, egg ham onion … but only ate 1/4 piece of the bread. Then had 3 small chicken drumsticks. I may have a bit of chicken broth with cauliflower and spinach later. Should be okay on calories and carbs!!

Battersea Park walk … sounds like a lovely day!

I do have the 8 week blood sugar diet book coming on Wednesday (right now i have the library book). I ordered the Fast Life book by Michael Mosley too …. but more for the pictures and exercise advice.

8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Cookbook by Clare Bailey and Sarah Schenker … i will get this when it is cheaper … the Canada one isn’t due out until December.

I did get a whole lot of diabetic cookbooks a while back … i was trying to find ones that were a) simple and b) didn’t use cottage cheese or diet sweeteners in the recipies. Just got Vegetarian low-carb diet by Rose Elliot for the recipes.

For pictures and what seem like great recipes i like The Ultimate diabetes cookbook by Diabetic Living (400 recipies). For less recipes but whole food ones … The New Diabetes Cookbook, 100 mouthwatering seasonal whole-food recipes by Kate Gardner. I find browsing through cookbooks relaxing.

I look at amazon.ca …. but if they’re expensive i buy them off the used book lists at amazon … i also check the public library.

You can also “search” the recipes here … put in chicken, eggs, whatever and see what’s available that looks good.

I’m limited right now by 3 things … i never really learned how to cook, no stove and only a teeny fridge. Lots of money being spent on necessary home repairs … so major appliances are broken and have been for a while. I may go for it this fall … really miss having a freezer. And everyone tells me that roasting vegetables is VERY tasty and easy to do!!

I to look through the cookbooks for recipes with easy preparation with ingredients that are easy to get.Sometimes you can get the special ingredient but how many times are you going to use it.

I still haven’t gotten on board with mindfullness and meditation ….. maybe that will help with sleep.

We are a diverse bunch! You can use any of the approaches you’ve mentioned there. I prefer 3 meals myself or I feel deprived, Going on what you’ve said I think 2 might suit you. If you tend to want to eat mid morning it might be best to plan for that and an evening meal. Food for mid morning doesn’t have to be breakfast type food either you can have lunch type food, or whatever you like that fits in with BSD guidance.

Thankfully he does not have scarlet fever, but I really could have done without the panic lol. Ah well grateful all is well.

Time to sleep, night BSD-ers.

Hi, I am new to this and researching as much as possible before starting. My main meal is in the evening and I tend to eat rubbish mid morning after missing breakfast. I then snack on fast carbs throughout the day.
I wonder if anyone here just eats once a day? or does breakfast (9am) and then leaves eating until the evening (6pm).
6 hour gap in the day and then 15 hour gap over night, or by eating only once there is a 24 hour gap.
Or is this too hard to do?
TBH I am lazy and am not keen on cooking, although i’m a wizz at scrambled egg in the microwave and I love cooking with my children for our evening meal. If I can put most of the calories into the evening meal and enjoy a wholesome meal with the kids this would be good for me emotionally.
Can anyone advise please. Thank you.

Today is better for me too. Had a Denver sandwich, egg ham onion … but only ate 1/4 piece of the bread. Then had 3 small chicken drumsticks. I may have a bit of chicken broth with cauliflower and spinach later. Should be okay on calories and carbs!!

Good luck with your travel plans!
p.s. Nothing wrong with eating the contents of a hamburger, chicken burger, etc …. and discarding the bun. I either get a plate and cutlery or just use the bun as a holder. As for wraps …. same thing. Maybe bring some plastic cutlery and paper plates. Some vegetable juices with low calories and carbs come in cans or plastic containers.

Great, let’s support each other. End of day one. To my surprise, I’m not hungry. Had three meals from MM’s recipes – Thai Red Curry is lovely by the way – with a couple of cheats. I added in a banana, a milky coffee and a teeny portion of whole grain rice. Now I write that down, it doesn’t look so good.

Also weighed myself – I don’t have scales at home. 5’2″ and 14 stone on the nose. The only way is down! Good luck all.

Xx

Has anyone cooked anything with Teff Flour? – it has less carbs that wheat flour, and is high fibre.

sorry sunshine girl – I keep forgetting that you’re not in the UK

Frog, I cant get the bars you mention, I live if France. I will have a light dinner or should it be called tea and I will take some nuts with me. I did enjoy it though and it was a hefty hour long work out with a 10 minute mindfulness exercise at the end, burnt about 450 calories so I can forgive myself.

Yes, definitely on for this reboot – I’ve been quite good today
the Overnight marathon volunteering resulted in a few too many carbs and getting a bit dehydrated over the weekend.

Good emergency bars that I’ve found recently:
Primal Pantry Brazil Nut& Cherry Raw Bar – Tesco sell pack of 4 30g bars (individual bars are 45g)
34 calories, 11.7g of carbs – 50% dates, 40% Brazils and 10% Cherries

Kind Bars – there’s a brilliant one with Sea Salt – and Dark Chocolate!!! the rest is nuts – 16g of carbs, and around 200 calories – that one is a real treat because the dark chocolate is amazing.

Week 2 day 1 here I am!

83kg this morning! I have no doubt that a lot of that 5kg loss is water weight but none the less its a huge motivator to keep going! I’ve set a mini goal of getting under 80kg and this looks to be in sight!

I experimented with “Zero” noodles last night, a brand of konjac food that has 5 calories per serving. Doesn’t taste of anything, but I had it with my hoki and spinach, and it bulked up the meal, tricking me into thinking I was eating a huge bowl of pasta. Have a look here: http://zeroslimandhealthynoodles.com/

I’m heading away for 3 days on Thursday, and this is making me nervous. It’ll be a long car ride there and back to the city, and my colleagues are big on fast food, so I’m trying to plan for travelling food. Again, as long as I am aware of portion sizes and not eating processed carbs, it should be relatively ok. Here’s hoping.

How’s everyone going?

🙂

Coady,

It would be great to partner up for morale support.

Good luck and let’s do this !

Definitely needing a reboot. Tonight I had my first taste of bad carb in 11 weeks but it was an absolute necessity. I went to a zumba class which started at 7.15 pm, too early for dinner but had a snack of some chicken just before I went. Half an hour into the class I felt a bit lightheaded and got a bit worried. I had my old emergency kit with me so ate a Special K Breakfast Bar. It did the trick but I don’t want to have to do that every week. Next time I will have an early dinner of something like an omelette to make sure my bg is at a safe level. Well I certainly burnt it off.

Looking forward tomorrow. At least this will bump to the top.

Hi Keavney21 ,

more than happy to start this journey with you. Like you, I enjoy a glass or two of wine or a G&T in the evening, and although it’s just one or two, I’m going to miss it.

Turns out I have also missed ‘nibbling’ throughout the day … I hadn’t realised I punctuated most things in the day with a little bite of something … I think, perhaps, eating has become a little bit of a hobby. I really missed it today.

However, as I sit here with a cup of tea, I am feeling very, very happy that Day 2 has gone well. Very surprised indeed. Have been peckish but not absolutely, grumpily starving.

How has your day been?

Thanks Snoop & Antigone. Congrats on your pending wedding Snoop. We got hitched last year, lost over 25kg for it, then bloody went on a year long honeymoon, food wise, and back to square one again. You have done well at your folks, not to go overboard. I have the same test near end of next month when I fly down to see my folks and family, going to be very testing comming from a eurpeon back ground, and a eat eat mentality laced in with heavy carbs and rich protien. oh the pain to refuse the croation cakes, will take alot of willpower to say no. Great effort to all!

Hi jenko1973
My first day today too if you want quick easy recipes try out the cauliflower rice made mine today with peppers onions and grated broccoli and a dash of soya sauce fast and filling, someone said they added 2 eggs and peas made a great egg fried rice going to try that one Saturday night with chicken good luck with tomorrow

Well done. It will be worth it. I felt quite odd the first week but a now in week 4 and don’t even feel hungry. Make sure you save enough calories to have some fat here and there. It really helps with the hunger.

Wow, that is amazing Stewart! Congratulations for all your hard work. You are an inspiration 🙂

Day one done off to bed after 2 boiled eggs for breakfast, homemade broccoli soup and a chicken breast salad washed down with 5. Glasses of water and a licourice herbal tea. All great apart from stomach pain and a couple of visits to the toilet. Ding ding bring on round (day) 2.

Thanks for the help and support

Hi –

Reporting on type 2 reversal is tricky as of course the term “reversal” depends on long-term monitoring to assess movement of blood sugar measurements and I don’t think there has been time yet. Professor Taylor is following up all the people in his trial.

OH has reduced his blood sugar to normal levels and his GP has recorded him as Type 2 “in remission” which is helpful as he can still have regular HbA1c tests, optician and podiatrist follow-ups etc. He is very carefully checking via the HbA1c tests that his blood sugar still looks normal!

Great thanks. I’ll see what I can do. It’s no biggie, just a minor niggle!

Hi, I started today by fasting for 12 hours. I had to do this to allow my stomach to shrink after over indulging all weekend!
I will follow 800 cal using the recipe book from tomorrow.
Luckily I’m on holiday from Saturday on a remote Scottish island which will help me as there are no shops. I will be food prepping prior to departure. Wish me luck please – no wifi on the island so won’t be able to keep in touch.

yes, didn’t she look great, red definitely suits her.
Thought we would see others from the forums in the article, probably came a bit too early for many of us who haven’t reached our goals yet! Maybe next time….
Verano, -looking forward to weigh in/reboot tomorrow. We all know its easy to loose momentum when weight loss slows or life just gets in the way but hopefully many of the others will return at some point.

Hello everyone! I’m glad I’m not the only one hungry. I’m rationing my apple from lunch like I may never have access to food again!

Hi Verano
the cauliflower rice is dead simple – I just blitz in a food processor & microwave for a minute – if its with something liquid like a curry or casserole, I use it uncooked – the ‘sauce’ of whatever its with heats it through

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/whats-best-way-cook-cauliflower-rice offers different options – I might try the roasted version with spices one day, but as you say, it’s more about having something bland on the plate to balance out the rich or spicy food.

Sometimes I use courgetti with something that I’d generally have with rice & wouldn’t dream of having with pasta

I made a nice beef casserole with peppers yesterday, but feel a bit too full after the big lunch.
Danger time though – if I don’t eat, I’ll get the munches come time around midnight!

Korean beef sounds nice – there’s a Korean kimchee restaurant and takeaway near an office where I used to be based – all very healthily cooked, and always so beautifully presented.

Sometimes I think you can only suggest ideas, give them the science then they have to make their own choices.

I just think we are so fortunate to have found this way of eating. We know this is the way to go and as they say ….. you can lead a horse to water……!!!!!

I had a Koean beef meal tonight without rice! I added more peppers and mushrooms but it really did need something ‘bland’ like rice! I didn’t give in but next time I make it I will definitely have it with cauliflower rice!

Hi AMB63

A bit of a conundrum – and medical opinion seems a bit divided

My most recent HbA1c result was 38 mmol/mol, the normal non-diabetic range is 20 – 42 mmol/mol
42-47 mmol/mol is pre-diabetic, and above 48 is diabetic (all references to T2 diabetes)

When I spoke with my GP about something else last week, I mentioned my blood results and she had no hesitation in saying that it was great that I had reversed my diabetes, and we had a conversation about whether I wanted to stay on the diabetic register as “prediabetic”, even though my blood sugars are below the prediabetic range. I elected to do this, so that I can continue having regular HbA1C tests for a bit, so that I can be reassured that my results stay below the diabetic or prediabetic range.

Other people on this forum have reported issues with their GPs and Health Professionals refusing to recognise that diabetes has been reversed, even when blood results have improved and they had been asking specifically about being removed from the diabetic register.
If you use the search box (top right of the page)and search for diabetes reversal – or possibly even just reversal, you will be able to read earlier discussions on this topic.

I’d initially discussed my results with the diabetic nurse, who seemed to have more of a problem that I’d stopped taking metformin (3 months before the test was done) rather than pleased that I’m no longer in the diabetic range 🙂

Very bizarre week!

I’m not being as rigid with the calories as I did the first time around – which seems to be reflected in the higher AM fasting numbers – but not the later in the day numbers. Sunday is high after around 1600 calories on Saturday, the bulk of which were consumed too close to bedtime to drop to a decent fasting BG. But the later readings in the day Sunday were nearly all lower than normal – including the low for the week.

Something is going on – my daytime readings for most of the week have been largely 6.11 or below (including the post-meal spikes), and often in the 4.06-4.7 range. In contrast, my morning readings are not as low as is typical on 800 calories a day (aside from Saturday’s blip). My average BG, even with last Monday’s and Sunday’s high fasting numbers is still a smidge below the previous two weeks’.

This week is the last week on the blood sugar diet, for now. I’m off to Cozumel for a well-deserved break the following week. I haven’t decided what I will do about carbs yet – but I will not be sticking to 800 calories a day 🙂 So I’m stopping a week from today to give myself a bit of a gradual re-entry to eating a maintenance range of calories.

Today is my 60th birthday – I’m very glad to leave the curse that 59 has been (diabetes, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and breast cancer) in the dust.

The full stats, so far:

Week 1
Fasting blood glucose: M: Unknown, T: 5.56 mmol/l W: 5.5 Th: 5 mmol/l F: 3.89 mmol/l S: 4.33 mmol/l Sun: 4.39 mmol/l
Starting weight (this week): 135.5 lbs – Ending weight: 129.2 lbs. Loss 6.3 lbs
BG High for the week: 7.39 mmol/l, Low for the Week: 3.89 mmol/l, Average for the week: 5.49 mmol/l Average fasting BG for the week: 4.73

Week 2
Fasting blood glucose: M: 4.94 mmol/l, T: 5.00 mmol/l W: 5.28 Th: 5.06 mmol/l F: 5.22 mmol/l S: 4.33 mmol/l Sun: 5.33 mmol/l
Starting weight (this week): 129.2 lbs – Ending weight: 127.2 lbs. Loss 2 lbs
BG High for the week: 6.94 mmol/l, Low for the Week: 4.33 mmol/l, Average for the week: 5.54 mmol/l Average fasting BG for the week: 5.02

Week 3
Fasting blood glucose: M: 5.33 mmol/l, T: 5.11 mmol/l W: 4.78 Th: 4.44 mmol/l F: 4.5 mmol/l S: 4.56 mmol/l Sun: 5.00 mmol/l
Starting weight (this week): 127.2 lbs – Ending weight: 124.8 lbs (my lowest post-college weight). Loss 2.4 lbs
BG High for the week: 8.5 mmol/l (Yikes!! – that’s 22 net carbs of melon – normally I can eat 23-25 and stay below 7.8, but it dropped to 5.3 by an hour later), Low for the Week: 4.11 mmol/l, Average for the week: 5.51 mmol/l Average fasting BG for the week: 4.82

Week 4
Fasting blood glucose: M: 5.72 mmol/l, T: 4.83 mmol/l W: 5.11 Th: 4.33 mmol/l F: 4.89 mmol/l S: 5.52 mmol/l Sun: 6.61 mmol/l (Yowsa!!! That’s the highest in close to forever for an AM fasting)
Starting weight (this week): 124.8 lbs – Ending weight: 124.4 lbs (my new lowest post-college weight). Loss .2 lbs
BG High for the week: 6.89, Low for the Week: 4.06 mmol/l, Average for the week: 5.50 mmol/l Average fasting BG for the week: 5.24

Total weight loss for 4 weeks: 10.9 lbs.

Positive day and thoughts. Thanks for all your updates!

Hi everyone
I started today. Had an ok day but I’m still hungry. Going to have an early night so it will keep me out of the kitchen😊😊. Good luck everyone x

Thanks Igorasusual

Good point about the salt. I never add salt to my food but hadn’t thought how much I must have been getting from all the rubbish I ate. Trying to drink a lot but seem to spend half my life on the loo!

Hi Christine *waves*

Well done on the 3 pound loss 😃💐

I wasn’t too well last week – someone kindly gave me a virus! – so not tried any of the recipes in the new book yet! There are lots I want to try though 😃

October is going to be a funny kind of month for me. I’m away for 3 days in a few weeks, staying in a b&b. Only in Newcastle, so not a long way from home, but the conference starts at 9am and it would be very difficult to get to the venue for that time😱

Then, at the end of October, I’m going back to Italy (via Heathrow) to my friends for 10 days.

Have a good day tomorrow, and another good BSD week 😃