Morning All,
I’m a bit confused and wondered if anyone could offer any advice please. I’m on my second week of the bsd but I’m not kidding any weight. I am not doing the 800 Cals a day as I’ve tried before and end up overeating. I believe I read in the book that’s it’s ok to up your cals if you want as long as you don’t mind it taking longer. I’m sticking to 1000 a day, counting everything on MFP and double checking with a book calorie counter if it seems wrong. I haven’t lost anything. My blood sugar aren’t dropping either, this morning they were at 6.8, yesterday 6.2. I walk over 5 miles a day with my dogs and do a stomach without for twenty minutes a day. I just don’t get it. I had blood taken yesterday to check my thyroid levels in case they are out but what else could it be. I’m 5′ 7″ so it’s not that I’m eating too many calories. My carbs average at 25g a day. Any ideas anyone? TIA.

Hi Frog
I think that the UK uses net carbs minus the fibre and the US uses total carbs including the fibre. This was always helpful for me, being in the UK, because I didn’t have to deduct the fibre when calculating how much insulin to inject to cover my carbs.

When I set up fat secret I got it to display the fibre as well as carbs cals fat and protein. I was going to add the fibre to to the carb total and then changed my mind. I decided it was better for me to still know what the net carbs were because they are the ones that raise my blood sugars. I was also concerned that if I used total carbs it would cut down my carbs even more and mean that I was eating even less fibre than I am eating now. I am looking at the fibre as a separate and important part of my diet like the fat and protein. So I have probably been cheating because have been posting net carbs. So my 25s should be 30s and my 30s should be 35s approx.

Yesterday 32g carbs and 860 calories. This morning have had a special treat – black pudding with my egg. But later will make up for it by having a healthy salmon salad.

Reached my second mini goal so am now down into the next stone!!

So next mini goal to lose 3.3lbs to get into single figure lbs. I would like to do this by mid October but don’t want to set a time limit as I don’t need the added pressure!

Hope you are reaching your goals.

DAY 4 of 7

Not quite as in control yesterday
Calories 797
Carbs 35.6!!!

Sorry I asked the question about carbs going to carry on as before!! Just seem to be finding it really difficult to stay within 30 carbs. I just needed a square of chocolate last night hence the higher carbs but had to have it!

Going to persevere until the end of the 7 days but will then definitely increase my carbs to 40.

Anyway, the good news …. I have lost 4.2lbs so far this week, that’s the 2.6lb holiday gain plus 1.6lb extra! That also drops me down into the next stone so my next mini goal reached as well!!

Avila ( I think) read on the facebook site that people had a month off the 800 after 8 weeks and followed BSD principles for a month before doing another 8. Effectively I am doing that with being away for most of September. I know its early days yet, just 3 in, but I wonder if there is something in that.

Have a good day.

Hi Jenni from the block
That is exactly what I believe. I am off all insulin and my BGLs are very similar to yours.

I now think of it as my diabetes is ‘in remission’. Eating carbs freely and a sugar addiction caused the weight gain and diabetes in the first place so I know that going back to the old way of eating will bring it back again together with the retinopathy and the threat of a whole host of other issues. If I think diabetes is reversed I know there is a danger that I will think myself cured of diabetes and just go back to the carbs.

Diabetes ‘in remission’ gets me into a totally different mindset. When I get to my ideal weight I will follow the lead of captainlynne and Igorasusul and all the other successful BSD graduates and find out bit by bit what level of carbs and calories my body will tolerate and not gain weight or mess up the blood sugars. I do love this way of eating now and with the support of this forum it really won’t be hard to do.

Captainlynne, maybe the Daily Mail would sponsor a ‘makeover’ for you as a follow-up to the BSD articles. It would be another piece and would appeal to their readership, for sure. They could probably get some fashion, perfume and make-up ads off the back of it. Even fancy glasses frames companies might advertise before you move over to contact lenses.

If you have a contact number for them or can get in touch with someone, it might be worth asking. Nothing ventured, nothing gained…

Hi Tabletalk, I shouldn’t go looking at my figures for inspiration! My carbs are usually quite high and I didn’t do so well on the calories yesterday, in part because I had two nibbles off a new packet of cheddar cheese before grating some for omelettes. One – and half the size – would have been more sensible. Better still, a pinch from my grated portion. Arthurconandoyle, I need to get up to your number of steps. I went out for an hour’s walk with the dogs yesterday. I really enjoyed it, but it was no distance in comparison with your step count.

I’ve decided to regard today as the last day of the month for dieting, not the last day of the month for my weigh-in. Talk about cheating! At least it’ll give me a spur to see if I can still make 83.5 tomorrow morning. Still very unlikely but you never know. Crossed fingers I don’t go up. If I manage to get through my work before it gets too late, the dogs could be in for a longer walk this evening.

Figures for today:
83.8kg
-0.1 kg
Overall change -4.7 kg
899 cals
37 net carbs

How are you doing, strawbs?

Cdh 1966, I know your mystified feeling on BGLs going up. Today towards the end of week 5, after 4.4 BGL first up, 1/2 an optifast, an hours gym then a latte (small) I took my bloods and for the first time since starting I had an 8 reading. Since day 2 I’ve had 4 and 5s in the morning and 5-high 6s 2 hours after evening meal. I have stuck strictly to the diet and have lost 8.5kgs. It’s mid afternoon here in Australia and the reading is back in the 5s now but like you I can think of no reason for this morning’s reading. One thing I now know I have not reversed T2.

Hello all

Day 6 started with migraine but pill and off to work even though the duvet called.

Head cleared and solid day of work done and dusted.

It’s Friday here made it to dinner time having had 2 soft boiled eggs at lunch (a fast day from the old 5:2 regime for me really). Have mapped a full week beautifully within 800 and tonight is 2 reds and homemade sourdough pizza, all within limits. Yes I know the carbs are up there but have decided Friday is treat night, wine and all as friends come round and they don’t know I have surreptitiously weighed and calculated everything within a inch of its life haha! Wine too. Drinking hot water until they arrive and then presto, red wine glass full (had had 100 ml and now 150 to go). Need to drink v v slowly!!

Weight is coming off rapidly week one and loving not feeling hungry. Have 20kg to shift. Wonder how long it will take.

Love this thread! Have been reading for days and really want to join you all.

We have a TV ad running – Bring on the Weekend, sing song voice. My space right now.

Hope your day is awesome

tigsxx

Hi MuscleMomma, like you I love building muscle and working out. I lost 10 pounds before summer with nutritionist help and exercise and now they are coming back. I’m also excited about starting this program but probably when working out eat up to 1000 cal and other days 800. Wish you all the best 🙂

Hi Lynne

It may be interesting if you have changed from winter to something else, skin and hair tone change with ‘maturity.’ It may well be worth the full works to make you look as good as you feel.

Get the tinted lenses so to see the world through rose-coloured…..

N.

Happy Birthday!!!

I read Hairless Chicken in that last line~?~… 🙂 and thought what new recipe is that! LOL!

We seem to be in sync …. in that we both has some slip ups.

Finally weighed in … 236 pounds …. so i gained some. Blood sugar over 10 but that’s back down to 8 also.

Food Thursday : Cheese Omelette with side of bacon, coffees with cream, diet Dr. Pepper.

Was looking for some low carb goat cheese … and i found some … now i don’t remember what recipe that was for.

Got lots of good groceries … big bags of kale and spinach, sweet kale, solid white tuna packed in water, English cucumber, Grape tomatoes, Ready to eat breast chicken, cauliflower, avocadoes …. sure i can feast on some of that.

p.s. i started that free online course in mindfulness noted in that section here …. that’s going to be sooooo interesting and something i’ve started on before. That’s because i realized that when i reach for alcohol and sugar that something is wrong that has nothing to do with food (other than one’s birthday and Thanksgiving and Christmas 🙂 ). Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up in 2 weeks … and i will probably have something extra … but i will not feel guilty about it.

Lets keep on keeping on!

Good luck with those last few pounds.

I finally got to weigh in … and i’m at 236 pounds. This is a gain after last week which was disastrous. Even my blood sugar was up a tad over 10 a few hours back … but it’s back to about 8.4 just now.

Even though i had a cheese omelette with bacon (no bread or potatoes … just that) and some coffees with cream … i didn’t eat anything else yesterday so for the first time i’m within the calories/carbs amount. I’m hungry now but i’m just going to have a coffee and perhaps a diet Dr. Pepper. I feel more in balance and on the right track.

I am a 30 year old mom, wife and IT worker who loves to build muscle and workout! I have currently lost over 60 pounds with a low sugar/low carb diet (at 1200 cals). I have been off track and have been gaining/losing the same 5-10 pounds for the last 2-3 months, my exercise habit is what has kept any real weight off.

Over the course of the past few months I have learned a lot. I learned I need a strict plan and can’t “give myself a break”, since “breaks” don’t seem to end. When I lost weight originally I rarely gave into temptation, but as the weight came off I got lazy when I reached my current size.

That is why I am excited about doing the 8 week low sugar diet plan. I still need to lose 80-90 more pounds to reach my goal but I think this will really help me focus. Originally my doctor had me on a VERY similar plan, I was to eat 800-1200 cals a day, but struggled to stay at 1200 even. This time around I think I have the tools now to stay at 800. The biggest is seeing others on the same kind of plan. I was basically all alone before. 🙂

Snoop and Igorasusual I’m inspired by your carb counts! I need to put some more effort into it, although today’s was lower than yesterday’s. Eager to be back down to where I was last week. Stress has been rough this week, so trying to manage the kids better and work on stress responses… fighting a knee jerk sugar craving all week long. It’s better during the day, but is hardest at night. I never used to snack after dinner, but in the last 2 years it’s become a temptation I fight a lot.

Anyway…
Today:
Calories: 868
Carbs: 25

Hi skinnyjeans, I think preparation is probably the key to staying on track, like you I am in my first week and things are going really well as far as sticking to the eating plan. I have a little notebook that I am writing my per day meal plans into it has room for exersise notes and how much water I am drinking etc on each page but small enough to fit into my handbag and it goes with me so I have it for reference. I wrote the food plans out as I did my weekly shopping list- which is a new habit I am forming i would usually just pick up each day or two as I am in town- each page has my work roster timing so I can make notes like today I start at 17:00-20:00 so had noted need to get up at normal people time so can eat meals at regular times and have light dinner before I start work so I am not eating my dinner at 21:00 tonight. As mentioned before I almost always work thru a lunch or dinner time so I am trying to modify my day so my evening meal is no later than around 19:30hours. On my day off I did some extra cooking of meals that can go into the freezer so I can quickly microwave a meal and add salad or vege. I also have emergency food available like hard boiled eggs in the fridge, and some unsalted mixed nuts. If I am really hungry I will reach for one of those options and add the calories into the daily amount. I hope there is something there you may find useful and keep posting skinnyjeans, and everyone else too even when I am not posting I am reading as they hit my email you are all great encouragement and helping me to keep on track.

Hi Doordie, just registered on the site a few mins ago and saw your post and a few replies. I can really empathise with your fibroid issues. I had a friend in the same situation and I had fibroids that made me look 8 months pregnant! To cut a long story short my friend was offered a ufe uterine fibroid embolisation . It transformed her life for the better. If I hadn’t known this I would be recovering from a hysterectomy right now as my consultant didn’t even mention it. I had to raise it. Not sure why this is as the operation involves just a one night hospital stay and a 2-4 week recovery time.
It is sounds scary but I was awake during the, op, chatting to staff and didn’t feel a thing.
My friend is 50 and me 48 and we both under the same hospital
I hope that helps and good luck with everything
X

👋🏼 New here & new to the BSD! Started on Monday 26th September with not stacks to lose, and technically still – just – in the “healthy” BMI range. Doing the BSD vego with a little bit of fish, so a slight additional challenge.

I’ve struggled to lose the last 5-10kg since my early 20s. Even without tests, I know I’m carb addicted and at risk of metabolic syndrome (if not there already): I get incredibly sleepy and nauseous after almost every meal, very light-headed and cranky when hungry, and despite having a smallish frame I carry a significantly disproportionate amount of visceral fat around my middle (and basically none on my hips, butt or thighs) and have done my entire life. My cortisol levels have been through the roof since I was a teenager, and healthy weight loss has been next to impossible except for 12 months in my early 20s when I ate basically nothing but celery and tuna (that was gross and awful, don’t do it).

My goal is to look healthily (but not obsessively) athletic, to not bulge around the middle anymore — that is to not feel self-conscious about my stomach and back when wearing even vaguely form-fitting clothing. Bonuses are: it’d be great to feel confident enough to take off my cardigan in the summer time and bare my arms, or to wear a swimsuit in public. Right now, both of those are out of the question.

I started at 63.3kg, waist 79cm, body fat 26.6
day 5 today I’m at 61.8kg, waist 75cm, body fat 25.5

My goal by 8 weeks is to get down to roughly 54kg (I’m 164cm tall so that’s still very much in the healthy BMI range), with a waist of 70cm & body fat of about 20-22%.

I’m happy to stop earlier if I’m happy with the way my clothes fit me. But 54kg is a rough guess based on the lightest weight I’ve ever been — I still wasn’t “skinny” looking so to speak, and had a pretty thick waist even then.

The last two days have been slow / standstill and I imagine it’ll be slow af for me throughout the 8 weeks, as I don’t have huge amounts to lose. I think I’ll be happy with an average loss of about 1kg per week (which is roughly 2.2 pounds). But even if I keep losing *something* each week, I’ll be happy.

Good to join the party. 🙂

Hi Nettle

Yes, contacts do weigh less😀

I prefer the photo that was published. I liked the skirt, but not the blouse – think it was the colour! It was a really pale pink – seen it a lot in the shops since!

Still trying to decide where to put the photos!😱

I had my colours analysed years ago (I’m a winter) and might decide to treat myself to the full package – colour analysis, style analysis and make-up lesson. Feels like I need some good advice to kick-start my new wardrobe. It’s really difficult knowing what suits me after all these years 😱I just feel so out of touch with clothes!

I’ll try to post the photos on here tomorrow. I did post the before photos a few weeks ago.

Hi Christi

I’m still using the chia mix but dialled back the psyllium, I find I am experimenting with all sorts at the mo, a veritable laboratory rat.
In the past I tried Tumeric as Blue mentioned….however for me it was dynamite. Once tried never forgotten.
N.

Hi Blue

I see from your results you are doing a great job. Doesn’t it feel satisfying, unlike any weight loss I have worked at in the past. I’ve just completed 29 weeks, lost 18kg and in normal range BMI so I, like Lynne, am experimenting with the wriggle room thing. A few more kg down if and when, or not. Pressure is off and a feeling of staying this way permanently is with me every day. That normal in your head you mentioned. If I suck the abdominals in now, there is bone, right there near the surface.

N.

Hi Captainlynne
I saw the red dress on HRH and the red shoes. Apparently she has been working on her figure, SHE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE!

Do you realise that contacts will thin you down? They weight a bit less than specs. 🤗

Thumbing through the latest popular mag today, saw a great section on fashion for the larger girls, too late, flick over to next page! I am off on a holiday next week to shop and yes, I realised that the choice will be much greater in the average sized range. Lots of trying on to fathom a suitable new look. Recommenced one of my classes yesterday, we’ve not met up since April, questions were asked, weight loss noted, information exchanged.

Which shot do you like the best, skirt and blouse or published one? Leave them both handy so you can look, enjoy and consolidate your success.

N.
PS On the subject of the Duchess of Cambridge, does anyone else get annoyed at the press still calling her Kate Middleton? I have yelled at them about it several times over the years…and it is years, but it persists. WHY?

I’m not overkeen on fennel (I used Fennel toothpaste for years, so fennel in/with food or drink always tastes like … well, cleaning my teeth)
– but cod with chorizo sounds delicious – & I have a chorizo sitting in the fridge when I get home
Maybe on a bed of leeks, instead of the fennel.

HI Doordie – hope that the appointment went well – and the Doctor wasn’t too weird.
Did you take your husband along so that the Doctor had someone to explain his diagnosis to?
(that’s me being just as bad, and assuming that the Doctor is male!)

No Caldini – the lesson to learn is that champagne is tons less carby than lager 🙂
belated happy Birthday
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/alcohol

I agree with flash that eating real food is a better way of eating in terms of re-educating yourself with good nutritional info.
I also never quite feel that a drink (or shape) is a proper meal – I’m a bit the same with soup.

I’m still clearing stuff out of the cupboards (throwing, not eating – well mostly!) – but my final day pre BSD did include champagne & afternoon tea at a very nice hotel 🙂

Quick catchup as we’ve been really busy. On Monday we had:
Avocado with tuna and spring onion
Chickpea and pecan nut salad
Courgetti prawns

On Tuesday:
Pears, cottage cheese and walnuts
Spanish chickpea and spinach soup
Stir fry chicken

On Wednesday:
Hard boiled egg and half an avocado
Chilli and green veg
Feta cheese, courgette and raspberry salad

Wednesday was also my birthday. I bought some tubs of chocolate sweets (small brownies etc) from M&S to share round at work. I ate two of them, which is fairly restrained for me! But I shouldn’t have done it. In the evening it was Toastmasters and I was Timekeeper so it seemed appropriate to mention that it was my birthday. Needless to say I ended up having a pint of lager or two (four actually) bought for me. Well you know what lager does to your hunger levels. On the way home I had 7 of the 8 cookies in a packet of Fox’s Crunch. Erk! Well, it was my birthday. Back to normal On Thursday.

I think there’s a lesson to be learnt here though. Be prepared for failure. If I think I’m going to waiver, accept the fact but make sure I have a better alternative e.g. Red wine instead of beer. Some healthy food in my bag instead of biscuits from the late night shop.

Thursday’s food:
Cottage cheese, raspberries and spinach (I’d have happily left out the spinach)
Crayfish lettuce cups
Another small M&S brownie (last one, promise)
Harissa chicken

Hi everyone
I emailed fatsecret yesterday – I’d tried to enter a food to the database, but got an error message saying that total carbs had to be higher than the grams of fibre. I emailed pointing out that it claims to be a UK website, the UK/US differences on carb figures, and asking for an explanation. It’s odd, I don’t check everything now, but did cross check most entries that I used for the first week or so, and the nutrition seemed pretty accurate.
I can see me going back to my trusty spreadsheet at this rate!

The journey down to Dorset was good. I heated my lunch before I left (in a Tupperware type container) & wrapped it inside a jacket in my luggage, and it was still perfectly hot when I ate it on the train about an hour later. I may have made the carriage stink of broccoli, but never mind!
Ann had made a delicious aubergine curry for supper, which was great, with lemon dhal, probably a bit carby, but I just had a small portion, spinach & pine nuts. Think I’ll ask Ann for the aubergine recipe.

Bit of guess work on quantities, but have just logged it and I think around 800 got the day and 50g of carbs.

AFTER DAY 15

Weight: 72.6 kg
Walking : 9250 steps.

I bought a spiraliser a few months ago but was a bit disappointed. Maybe I should watch the YouTube videos – it was probably me not using it properly. Will do that right now!😊

Had the cod with chorizo and fennel baked in the oven, flavours were good but the fish wasnt quite done after the time and temp in the book, so will try it at a higher temp next time as i don’t think 190 is high enough.

The salmon crusted with lemon zest and dill and ground almonds with roasted veg was tasty enough, times and temp were right, as fish was cooked through, but might need a bit more lemon zest or a drizzle of lemon, for my taste as i like strong flavours.

Next might try the skinny cottage pie, so fingers crossed its good, with be nice comfort food on winter nights.

Kristin I too have 100 (plus a few more) to lose and am on my third eight week cycle. I have recorded my weekly losses on my profile, and the plateau so although we are all different it will give you one persons progress so far.
I didn’t weigh myself until the end of the first eight weeks as the scales made me nervous early on. I don’t have diabetes but my chloresterol is great now.

The first weeks seemed to go slowly but now I’m in a bit of a groove so proof it does get easier and those pounds have started to add up when I get to 56 I will be half way so down hill from there I hope. My goal is next May.

Lots of nurses here !! I am one too !!
I started last sunday, too scared to get on the scales !! Uniform is feeling looser though.
Going ok, lots of planning & I have just got the recipe book which looks great.

I am drinking lots of water & using the stairs instead of the lift.
I havent felt hungry yet but its early days.
I really want this to work as I am fed up of being fat !!!

How you doing Tired?

Yes lots of luck Old Tigress. Me too 62 and Nurse, started on Monday and actually managed to stick with it! Good luck I am sure you can do it! Barbara

Starting today. Nice to other”mature” women having success. I ‘m 62 and don’t want another heart attack or slowly die of diabetes. I’m a nurse and have seen what can happen. Wish me luck!

Thank you Snoop. I really feel that I have achieved part of what I set out to do which is to prove I am not diabetic. I’ve still got a way to go in my weight loss journey but I am confident that I can do it and also get my sugar numbers down to normal.

Janey. Have a great holiday in Spain. I too seem to have kicked the sugar habit although I am planning to make a tiramisu this weekend for guests and planning to have some – the key word here being “planning” not just randomly indulging. I’m trying to learn a bit of Spanish for a holiday we are taking in December. Hasta luego!

I’ve been eating low carb @1200 calories using MFP for most of a year. The difference between MFP and the BSD, for me, is that I drop 400 calories of fat. I still eat quite a bit of fiber (30-40 grams most days).

Formally, the BSD doesn’t restrict carbs – they are to be considered side dishes, rather than the main event, and should be made up of high quality carbs (with lots of above ground veggies & fiber and few or no simple starches). Some of the recipes in the book are a bit too high carb for me – so I still count carbs and calories to make sure the higher carbs don’t mess with my blood glucose levels.

Hi everyone, I am pleased to say I am less stressed today!!
Lunch cheese and butterbean salad with dressing. Snack – apple and 5 peanuts. Dinner – courgette and bean bake, (we all loved this meal). Greek yogurt and blueberries. Quick walk this evening.
Felt a tad hungry this morning and felt a bit light headed, but drank some water and had a coffee and the feeling passed. Of course it could have been the stress!!! I had a mid afternoon snack which is unusual, but have been following a vegetarian diet so it could be having no meat, as it is the first time I’ve felt like this while being on the plan.
Hope all is well with you all xx

Yes, as long as it is not the pre-packaged processed meat with can contain pumped in sugars or cereals. If you roast it yourself or buy it from a supermarket rotisser section, or if you have bought chicken breast or thighs etc and cooked them yourself. I do sometimes buy cooked chicken breast from the cold meats section, as long as it looks like real chicken it should be okay. If I am wrong someone will come on and answer because I don’t live in England and in my supermarket you can see them being cooked.

That’s okay at least I know I am doing it right

I forgot to add, I’m going to stick to this ratio for the next few days and see if my energy levels remain high whilst exercising:

800 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
25 g Carbs (13%, 100 kcal)
90 g Protein (45%, 360 kcal)
38 g Fat (42%, 340 kcal)

Hi Igorasusual,

I changed the values as suggested, and the fat % is still coming out to be very low. Details below (based on carbs 50g, and using the recommended value for Protein):

800 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
50 g Carbs (25%, 200 kcal)
108 g Protein (54%, 432 kcal)
19 g Fat (21%, 168 kcal)

I’ll scan your posts to get a better insight in fat and carb ratios.

Thanks

Protein not FAR behind. ***** predictive text 🙁

Hi there!

Most people here try to keep carbs at 50g per day or under.

Try putting that in the site. It will recommend the protein necessary to maintain muscles (I always use the recommended middle figure as not very active or very inactive) then add calories (it may say too low, if so ignore) and it will calculate the fat.

I think the fat will come out c 60% roughly with protein not daw behind

If you search for my posts you will find some recent replies on something called – I think – fat content or similar.

Hope that helps 🙂

Yes, sadly it IS the largest figure 🙁

In that case, I count the biggest number on packaged food. But when I use a calculator my daily carbs are just one figure unless I go into every item one by one, guessing I am still using the higher figure. Just checked, for example oranges, 15.5 carbs of which 12.1 are sugars, 3.4 are dietary fibre – so yes, I use the top figure. of 15.5 – is that wrong, am cheating myself out of some grub

>I planned for about 10 days before starting

Thanks, I should do this but I am going to do day by day for now otherwise I will talk about it and not do it.

I am like the smoker standing outside the hypnotherapy clinic smoking 20 cigarettes in 10 minutes before he goes in for the treatment.

Tomorrow I have planned

Breakfast
Protein Shake

Lunch
Chicken Breast and Frozen Veg

Dinner
eggs and ham

Water and black coffee

I am taking it day by day tomorrow I will flick through the recipe book and choose Saturdays plan but will try to add more veg.

Hello!

I am new here and am planning and preparing for starting this diet in a couple of weeks. I looked over the existing topics and couldn’t find this answer anywhere. In some of the recipes he says to add 3 oz of chopped cooked chicken to other ingredients. Does this mean I can use any kind of chicken, such as rotisserie or roasted or grilled? I know it’s a silly question I just want to make sure I’m understanding how to prepare meals the right way.

Thanks for your help!

I planned for about 10 days before starting – grazing down the stuff not on the plan and shopping for the good stuff, with meal plans in place, not the same as the book but adapted to my own tastes and as a ‘home aloner’ allowing for the other portions later in the week etc.

In the end I didn’t stay with the fixed menu for more than 2 weeks but it gave structure at first, especially to my shopping trip (quick as just skip whole aisles).

I didn’t have donut type things in the house when planning – they entered but never survived 24 hours in my house! And cheesecake was my nemesis at times over past 8 wks. But still 2 st down. 2 more to go….

Agree with others that all the sugar in the one day before could be an intense detox effect, plan and start a week later with a gradual come down…. seems a good suggestion. And I say that as an impatient person….. planning can be your friend

Snoop I lost count! 🙂

I did think it would be better to do real food so I could get into good habits with food.

The meal replacement just makes things easier to start with, but I guess its harder later coming off the meal replacement shakes and going back onto food.