You are absolutely right that we all differ, neohdiver, and one size most definitely does not fit all.

It seems that our hormone reactions to different nutritional elements within our diets vary, and what suits some people really well will have much less positive effects for others. Whether it will in the end prove possible to research and define ‘most likely to succeed programmes for the majority of the population’ remains to be seen. However, I am convinced that reducing at least one refined carbohydrate, i.e. sugar, is likely to be generally beneficial to most people.

Part of the difficulty is of course carrying out large enough tests over sufficient duration, and then long-term follow-up research. One can only hope that such experiments are in course of action, whilst we continue not to teach doctors or nurses much about nutrition, even that there are alternatives which may be worth trying.

On another thread here I described how on a routine visit to my doctor I described what I had been doing, and told her about the research being carried out by Professor Taylor at Newcastle, which lay behind the BSD. I said that it might be worthwhile her investigating (especially as OH has now been able to come off metformin) and she held her hand up to stop me, saying “I might recommend it, but I simply don’t have time to investigate it”. I greatly regretted not taking her up on that astonishing statement, and asking whether she and the rest of her partners did not have sufficient Type 2 patients to investigate (either personally, or via their nominated Diabetes specialist) what might be a possible treatment for them. One of those wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night moments, kicking yourself for not saying what you should have done.

But very best wishes to you for your ongoing (and well-researched!) journey.

Hi Orchid

I”m doing the Walk the Walk Marathon next May so read your post with interest. I did 16 miles this year and the biggest problem I had was that I got dizzy about 3 miles from the end. I had been low-carbing for a few weeks and my friend who is personal trainer thought I sounded as though I’d just run out of energy. I also found that there was so much standing about, stopping and starting that we got cold as well. I’m starting my training now and was interested to read about Spin and Pilates. I’m not fit enough for Spin right now but I will definitely add it to my list of exercises.

Good luck with the Walk and do say how you got on.

Elaine x

Hi Dotty

Sorry to hear about the horrible behaviour at work. I’ve had a few work issues in the past and what has helped me is to:

1. Speak to someone I really do trust (outside of work) who can give you some perspective. My hubby is great at this.
2. Write down how you are feeling – get it all out. Then either keep it somewhere safe (not at work) or shred it. It’s amazing how it can help.
3. Do something acitive – even a short 20 minute walk can help.
4. And most recently I have started using a mindfulness app which really helps me – ‘Headspace’.

I know it’s easier to make suggestions and I’ve been an emotional eater for many years. When I got low all I wanted to do was eat and sleep, but if you can take some positive steps, not only will it help you manage the emotional eating but also it may give you some strength to deal with the work situation.

Keep strong! Everyone has a horrible time at work at some point.

Elaine x

Thanks Igorasusual!

That’s most of the stuff I found within days of diagnosis – including the limit on the duration of the research, and the cautionm, “More evidence and long–term studies are needed to assess the long-term cardiovascular benefits from the weight loss achieved using these diets.” Still waiting. Still nothing published that I have found that assess cardiovascular – or other – safety years out.

That’s the primary reason I’m chasing remission, rather than control. (Control is what I do by limiting carbs; remission means I can eat a more balanced diet that includes reasonable quantities of complex carbohydrates.)

As for weight loss, I personally lose weight just as easily – and at about the same rate – with either low calorie-low fat or low carb – moderate protein (which inherently includes a fair amount of fat). My longest stretch of maintenance, to date – around 5 years – was on a way of eating that was low fat, moderate complex carbohydrates.

We all differ – and my body is not particularly well-suited for long-term maintenance on a very low carb diet. Not having complex, grain-based, carbs on a regular basis is one of the things that creates cravings for me. So if I have to stay on this diet to control my diabetes, I will constantly be at risk for binging – and with diabetes, binging on carbs is particularly dangerous. Maintenance will be easier for me if I can get diabetes in remission and include occasional moderate amounts of whole grain bread in my diet.

Well done dottyeel! Onwards and upwards! And downwards, of course.

Just a quick non-BSD comment, you are sure that the email can’t be read another way, aren’t you. I have sometimes got incredibly cross and angry at an email, but then after some ranting and stomping about (and air-turning-blue swearing, often in front of other people), re-read it and seen that it can be read a different way. Only a thought.

Turn your back on those cheesy chips! 😉

So if ever I needed confirmation that I reach for food when I am upset it’s just now.
I’m at work and it’s been a good and productive day so far. And then in comes the email and I realise that a colleague who I have always considered to be fair and reasonable and a friend is just playing the game and has just betrayed my trust. Totally a ‘WTF?’ moment.

So I am now feeling hurt, confused and angry and all I want to do is EAT EAT EAT, preferably carbs, lots and lots of carbs. My first thought after reading the email was ‘I want crisps’ followed by ‘I want pint and cheesy chips’. (That’s ‘I want some potato chips followed by a pint of ale and some fries with cheese melted on top’ for you guys in the USA!)

*sigh*

I won’t eat the wrong foods though. I’ll sit and finish this post and then do a mini-meditation, draft a email reply saying what I really feel/think and then delete it and then send the politically safe reply while avoiding the office biscuit tin (cookie jar).

I have always known I eat for emotional reasons but on a kind of intellectual level. Sometimes all it takes is a single incident to crystallise your understanding of an issue. In my case negative emotions have led to bad choices and I need to be very aware of my mood when dealing with my diet.

Okay, moan over. Back to work and writing a polite email and moving on.

well done, sunshine-girl! Planning is everything, isn’t it.

I bought some butternut squash today under the mistaken impression it was relatively low-carb. Wrong.

So have already warned OH that he will be having a tiny taster of it, otherwise my life will be hell as he puts his carb count into MFP this evening……

😉

Hi Caro, good thinking.

Just to check you are also measuring and looking at your shape with target clothes, aren’t you? Because weight often stays still whilst measurements change, and that can keep you going when everything seems to be at a standstill.

I don’t know why this is – because visceral fat round the waist must actually weigh something, surely – but I had several periods where my jeans were perceptibly getting looser whilst my weight stubbornly stayed the same.

re the Sugar Monster – I had never managed to get off the sugar before, but then I looked at how many calories my 2 teaspoons in, say, 6 cups of tea or coffee per day were. (I like 3 cups of coffee in the morning, say a cup of tea at lunchtime or tea time, cup of tea after supper and perhaps another before bed)

30 calories and 8 carbs each time I had a cup (let alone the milk, leave that out for the moment) so 6 cups per day was 180 calories and 48 carbs!!!! Aaaaaaaaaargh. So for a week of 7 days of this was 42 cups @ 30 calories and 8 carbs each = 1260 calories and 336 carbs in total. A whole day’s worth of calories and the carbs????? aaaaaaaaargh.

So each time I had a drink I remembered these sums. It did make it easier, although I kept ‘noticing’ I wasn’t having sugar for 6-8 weeks. However, I really enjoy coffee now, can actually taste it!

You could do it, too, if you think of these numbers……. 😉

Welcome Liz,
Week 1 was good. Dropped 2.4kg. Week 2 only 400g lost. Had my period with awful fluid retention. Day 4 of week 3 and I haven’t been very successful I fear. Haven’t got on the scales this week. Need to learn to deal with stress without reaching for food. The other thing I struggle with is not finishing the kids meals. And constantly clock watching to see when I can eat again. I sound desperate I know. If you can exercise, just walking even, I think that is great for distraction not just for exercise itself.
Some tips from others that have worked for me,..
1) know what you are eating each day
2) drink lots of water
3) distraction distraction
4) if you have a bad day food wise don’t catastrophise. You can start again tomorrow.
5) the cliche “one day at a time” is so relevant in the first few weeks. Don’t look at the 8 weeks but rather shorter term goals.
I post on “I need to be accountable” also.
Igo – kicking the sugar monster is a big challenge for me. It is a work in progress. I wish I had your willpower.
Caro

Hi healthy, SunnyB and everyone else, well done to you all. I know I post my weight and my losses but, as I keep saying, it is the massive difference to my blood sugars that count most for me. I am so proud to have lost 9 lbs. Little story. Every time my daughter ends a visit (I live abroad, she is in UK) we always work out how long to meeting again and how much we want to lose. Up to now neither of us has ever reached our little goal and I am going back 6 years. Usually we lose a pound or two. Suddenly I have found BSD and lost 9 lbs and she has found paleo and lost 33 lbs. She found paleo about 5 months ago so has a head start on me. It is so nice to talk on Skype and exchange our successes.

So I will see her in 6 weeks when we will both be slimmer and healthier. Guaranteed.

Keep on keeping on.

Hi Neohdiver

See below for your interest. This is an extract from a post here from sunshine-girl on ‘And So the Conflict Begins’ which you may not have seen regarding various reviews of low fat/high protein diets, although fasting isn’t mentioned. Many thanks to sunshine-girl for pointing it out to me and the forum.

“Next time you see your diabetic educator (now there’s a misnomer) show her a page printed from the Public Health Collaboration on Healthy Eating Guidelines and Weight Loss for the United Kingdom. The site is phcuk.org, an official government site for public health.
Conclusion on page 24 said in 2008 “Evidence from this systematic review demonstrates that low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets are more effective at 6 months and are as effective, if not more, as low-fat diets in reducing weight and cardiovascular
disease risk up to 1 year. More evidence and longer-term studies are needed to assessthe long-term cardiovascular benefits from the weight loss achieved using these diets.” That was in 2008
Finally, in February 2016 the fourth specific analysis was published in the British Journal of Nutrition finding that “Compared with subjects on low-fat diets, subjects on low-carbohydrate diets experienced significantly greater weight loss, greater triglycerides
reduction and greater increase in HDL-cholesterol after 6 months to 2 years of intervention.”
So between 2008 and 2016 the medical advice on nutrition has changed from thinking low carb might be a good idea to 2016 concluding it is a great idea. They go on to say that they are concerned that NICE are not taking up this advice and, in particular, still advocating high carb, low fat diets when it has been shown that low fat leads to fatter people. Apparently NICE are waiting for trial to end so phuk have carried out their own trials and their final final conclusion is:
In light of this scientific evidence the Public Health Collaboration recommends thatthe guidelines for weight loss in the UK should include an ad libitum low-carbohydrate-high-fat diet of real foods as an acceptable, effective and safe approach,
Sorry if that goes on a bit but it is quoted verbatim and I did not want to chop it about or be misleading. Print off the last few pages, give them to your educator and show her where to stick her advice. (Sorry, getting cross now, need a lie down)”

Getting better at carb counting, only had 9 today so well within 50. Dinner gives me 30 but that is because it has butternut squash, still under the 50. Only 350 calories, so again looking for something to eat later. I have some ham left from lunch and will make a dip of tuna and cream cheese plus my usual 10g of v dark chocolate. Total 45 carbs.

Hope this works – it’s copied from MFP, and I hope the stats are also correct as sometimes they’re a little odd.
If it distorts, the figures are just calories/carbs/fat/protein/sodium/sugar as always shown on MFP

This day I had my usual three cups of white coffee, and treated myself at breakfast to half an avocado, which was just under 50g when I took out the stone.
I made a 2 egg mushroom omelette to have with the avocado.

For lunch I had two Leerdammer cheese slices, each wrapped round half a baby gem lettuce half.

For dinner – which was quite large – I had a cod fillet fried in olive oil, dusted with just a little almond flour. I served this on a salad of baby spinach with some baby plum tomatoes and some feta cheese cut into little cubes, and also treated myself to some courgette cut into chunks and dry fried until yummy (!) and some steamed broccoli to which I added some butter.

Doesn’t include my ginger tea (no milk, no sugar) or fizzy water which I drink throughout the day.

All these can be increased easily for more than one person and also if you’re eating alongside a non BSDer, you can add toast or potatoes. But I think anyone would be happy with the dinner as it stood. Plenty.

Food calories carbs fat protein sodium sugar
White Filter Coffee, 3 Cup 42 4 2 3 0 4
Portobello Mushroom, 69 g 15 2 0 2 3 1
Avocado Pear 47 grams 75 4 7 1 3 0
Omelette – 2 Eggs, 2 eggs 140 1 10 13 188 1
Olive oil 1/2 tbsp 10 0 7 0 0 0
total breakfast 282 11 26 19 194 6

1 Little Gem Lettuce Heart 15 2 0 1 0 0
2 Leerdammer Cheese Slices, 140 0 11 11 240 0
total lunch 155 2 11 12 240 0

Fresh – Fresh Courgette, 100 g 21 2 0 2 0 0
Baby Plum Tomato, 6 tomato 16 3 0 1 0 3
Baby Spinach, 20 g 5 1 0 1 16 0
Cod Fillet 180 g 133 0 0 33 216 0
Almond flour – 1/2 tbsp 20 1 2 1 0 0
Olive oil 1/2 tbsp 10 0 7 0 0 0
Greek Feta cheese 30 g 124 0 12 3 300 0
Tenderstem Broccoli, 80 g 30 1 1 4 0 1
Salted Butter, 2.5 g 11 0 3 0 23 0
total dinner 370 8 25 45 555 4
grand total 807 21 62 76 989 10

I hope this helps and shows it can be done. I confirm I am following the BSD principles (now on maintenance having lost nearly 2 stone on my 8 weeks, down to 8 stone 10 lbs, as confirmed this morning) and not eating refined carbs. I am now allowing 35 carbs per day, which I find ok to do.

Good luck with your further weight-loss, and blood sugar kick! 🙂

Thank you! That has helped to make it a bit clearer for me and I appreciate all the tips. I definitely agree with planning out meals-so much easier to avoid temptation if you know what you are having everyday. At home I’ll be fine but really got to get organised for my working days so I am not tempted by sandwiches on the run! And trying to avoid sugar will be tough but necessary. It’s funny as I’ll try to minimise how much sugar my son has but I struggle when it comes to me. I’m determined to do this though 😀

Hi sunshine-girl
9lb is amazing, well done! Its hard not to be disheartened by a gain, but you’ve got to remember to persevere, we’ll all get there!
I’ve lost another 1.5lb’s in 2 days, soon happy, only 3lbs until I’ve lost a stone!
-healthychange

Thanks!

If you haven’t followed the link back to my original thread, in on of my last posts there (last week, or the week before), I gave an update on the cancer journey – and a link to the drawing I did (day-by-day) to walk my way through radiation. http://www.butterskotch.com/images/The_Last_Day.jpg (There’s an explanation in the first thread.)

@sunshine-girl – my blood sugar is already good (and has been since 3 days after diagnosis), just by strictly limiting the carbs I consume. What I’m going for is remission – a step beyond control tat would give me the freedom (within reason) to be able to eat without counting every carb I consume in order to keep my BG in the normal range. The Newcastle studies (on which the 800 calorie version of the BSD is based), strongly suggests that early intervention with an 800 calorie diet can renormalize the glucose metabolism system .

@switzerland – I’m primarily science-driven, and I haven’t found peer-reviewed research that definitively supports fasting for diabetic remission. (Jason Fung theorizes it will, and has claimed success for his patients, but hasn’t published any peer reviewed research.) So I’m sticking wtih the 800 calorie diet, on which there have been 2 peer-reviewed studies done (inlcuding a follow-up) that demonstrate the return of the first phase insulin response by 8 weeks. (The first phase insulin response is the first, or at least early, thing to go in the path to diabetes, and is generally thought to be irreversible – the Newcastle studies demonstrated it is not always irreversible).

I do daily intermittent fasting, because there is some peer-reviewed research that fasting for around 14 hours for women (if I remember correctly) also aids in the restoration of normal insulin response. 5:2 doesn’t fit in my life, and I haven’t found any peer-reviewed research that suggests a diabetic benefit beyond around 14 hours. Since I’ve already hit my weight goal, and am only starting the BSD again with the goal of diabetic remission, I’m sticking to the version for which there is the best evidence. For good, or bad, since it is specifically the 800 calories for which there is support – it means I’ve now passed my weight goal, and will likely drop ~ 10 lbs below it.

My next mini goal is to lose 3.4 kg to get me down to the weight I was when the year started. With any luck, I might do it this month. That would feel good.

Then I’ve got three months to start to make progress on where I was back then. I had such big ideas… a kilo a month would have seen me down to 71.5 by the end of the year. Didn’t happen for assorted reasons but ultimately my own strength of will. I suppose it’s still possible, but I’m focused on that 3.4 kg for now.

Good luck sunshine-girl. Soon be time to get a new lot of frillies!

And good luck Mixnmatch and everyone else.

Hi, Autumn,

Really great results, well done!

Did you follow the menu plans in the book or did you count carbs?

Day 48
Monday 5 September

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Breakfast: 3 egg broccoli Cheddar omlette

Lunch: 1 Cup Greek Yogurt with Blueberries

Snacks:
3 celery sticks with Cream Cheese
2 handful Sunflower seeds
1 Peach
1 Apple

Dinner: 2 Bowls of Chicken Soup with string beans with tomatoes

World No. 1 Serena is headed to the quarter-finals, but yesterday, Karolina Pliskova said ‘czech mate’ to her sister Venus. I really thought Venus would make a huge comeback in third set. Fooled Me! and upset me I guess no Sister versus Sister in the US OPEN.

Speaking of upsets, world no. 4 Rafael Nadal lost in a ‘this close’ marathon match to France’s Lucas Pouille. Tres triste. Tennis fan favoritess like Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki are still in it to win it. Balls will be flying until the tournament wraps this weekend. Djokavich killed Englanbd’s Edmund. he could have won blindfolded!!! LOL

In other sports people are talking about, Colin Kaepernick is still controversial. He’s the San Francisco 49ers QB who’s been sitting during the national anthem. Kaepernick says he’s “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Some are outraged, saying Kaepernick is disrespecting his own country. Others say he’s just exercising his rights. Now, that includes President Obama, who said over the weekend that Kaepernick’s protest is “the way democracy works,” as well as some fellow footballers and other athletes.

Crazy news this weekend. Wild fun at US OPEN on this 3 day weekend. I had no time to do any window shopping at all. I find more time later this week with less games in US OPEN now until finals this weekend.

MIXNMATCH thats amazing! Well done x how long did it take?
FROG! Hope you enjoyed yr lesson!
Getting weighed this avvo at DDs to see the 8 week verdict..
i will continue ..tho i have been so good,not deviating once, and may allow a little more leniency now and again..want to lose two more stones ..i know now that low carb is the answer ! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Good thinking!

Ok day 2 done. Think I was around 900 cal very low carb and walked 16000 steps. Want to grind my teeth. I think if I can get through the first couple of weeks I’ll be ok…Sunnyb yes I think day by day. What stage are you at now? Gluck Amandah let me know how you go- maybe let’s check in with each other at the end of each day.

Thanks Sunny! I actually have a sister with the same name (and the middle name starts with a “B” too!) Best of luck to you on your journey as well 🙂

HI I’m on day 2 of the 800 cal, so far so good 🙂 I weighed in yesterday morning at a massive 98 kg which for little 5ft2 body is way too much. I’ve tried all sorts and nothing worked for me, I am premenopausal (I am 45) and have an under active thyroid – oh the joys! Love my food! my dad is a type 2 diabetic and after hearing Dr Moseley on the radio went to his website and did the tests and it said I was destined to become type 2 – I really don’t want that so I am acting now! Good luck everybody, I will be taking each day as it comes 🙂

Mixnmatch – how fab are you? Really pleased for you 🙂
Well done Yowzer – are you continuing?
I am being especially good this week (so far any way) to try and reach next target. It is soo good to read about other peoples successes (especially when I have slipped up) – encouraging and motivating. I’m feeling peckish so I will have to drink a few more gallons of water!

only 4.5 lbs to go to throwing those knickers out.

I have just had my lunch of:

Spiralized courgette, cherry tomatoes (my garden is full of them), cucumber, spring onion, red pepper with grilled hallumi and 1.5 slices of ham (saving half a slice for snack later) served with olive oil, lemon juice, mint and yoghurt dressing.

All through it I kept saying hmmmm hmmmm this is delicious, hmmmmm hmmmmm I just love my food. My husband was sat there with his ham sandwich with 3 gherkins and said ‘shut up’.

I like a little platter…
Pastrami (or your fave cold meat)
Olives
Feta
tblsp Hummous
carrot sticks
any salad items you like…. always get jealous stares from colleagues as I dip and munch my way through it :0) – highly tasty and satisfying. It also works if Im caught short at work as I can buy packs of all the above at whatever supermarket Im near, have a picnic and take the rest home for another platter day!
LOVE the quiche idea, Im going to have a go at that. thanks x

I have been trying to do the diet myself i did ok losing a stone the first 2 weeks but then reverted to type. Went on hols and couldnt get motivated again. Thought having more support may help. Just been to have bloods done so can see starting point. Has any had the Dextra scan?

Hi Mixnmatch,
It’s really good that you can ‘tweak’ the BSD to suit your needs. The forums are so supportive and there’s always someone to help out.
Best wishes.

Ah, captainlynne,
This way of life is hard to keep quiet about – because it actually works – it’s difficult when you see people struggling following other diets, isn’t it?
It’s great when others join the BSD global family. (We are all adorable!)

Hi neohdiver,
It was so good to read your post. Only yesterday I was thinking of you, wondering how everything was going…..and today you’ve posted.
May I extend my warmest wishes in welcoming you back to the BSD forum. It’s a joy to hear from you.
I’m sure ‘BSD take 2″ will be a success for you. Continue to take care and look after all aspects of ‘you’.

I’m currently doing BSD5:2 and find this way really easy to adapt to my life. The weight is coming off and I’ve made daily exercise and mindfulness part of most days.

Looking forward to reading of your progress.

So glad you have got through it, with your strength of will you will soon be reaching good blood sugar control. The doctors are correct that you might have needed to ‘keep up to strength’ by eating more, your body needs good nutrients to heal. Thing is, this diet has better nutritional value than most ordinary diets and we all know that. Keep on keeping on.

I’m still on 800 calories as I still have a long way to go, Janey. I’m not hungry or feeling deprived so I will carry on until I am happy with my weight. Having said that I am a chocoholic and haven’t eaten any for 17 weeks but I can’t see that I will give it up forever. When I go to see my doctor he will want to weigh me. He may wonder what has happened to his scales and if they still work – they are the sort that you stand on and slide the weights.

Hi I’m just starting out too, and trying to avoid the booze as it is a big problem for my willpower. I am not prediabetic but just tired and think I am perimenopausal :/. I have committed to the 8 weeks at 800 to try to jump start myself.

Hi Igorasusual,
I have downloaded the keto calculator & My Fitness Pal.
I like the shakes but I know real food is best.
Do you have a sample one day 800 cal diet with these low carbs?
Or what diet do you use?
Thanks again for your help.
Hazel

Good luck Galleyslave

OH has to take a lot of pills for various ailments. I bought the BSD book because I hoped he might do it with me to get off the Metformin for his Type 2 at least. I thought I’d do it, because although not Type 2, I was mildly carb addicted, and wanted to lose a stone.

So I started, and got a handle of what to do, and lo and behold, OH decided he’d do it with me. I had suggested that less carbs might help his blood sugar readings (he’d had very high bs recorded just ahead of a planned op, which had put the op at risk – and I think that was something he really wanted to avoid).

I started early May and fumbled my way through until I got hold of the fact that reducing the good carbs would help me within the 800 calories. He started at the end of May, and agreed to keep the overall carbs low, although he didn’t match the calories as he didn’t need or want to lose too much weight.

And I lost not a stone, but 2 stone! and he shed lots of fat round his middle and came down 2 clothes sizes. He’s now off Metformin, so that’s 4 pills less to take on a daily basis.

Could your OH read some of the threads here? Try Bill 1954’s thread ‘This Has to Work for Me’ which is totally inspiring (SEARCH box top right will find it for you). He’s posted a link to two pictures also, before and after, which is also totally inspiring. He looks at least 10 years younger. These experiences are good as they are from real people, doing the real thing, and proving that although it might be tricky from time to time, IT CAN BE DONE.

And I would suggest you decide to start the thing on your own, if you have a bit of weight you’d like to lose. Your husband may see you looking better and brighter (I can’t overemphasise the other health benefits in terms of ‘aliveness’ that we’ve experienced) and decide that he can join in…..

Very best wishes to you both 🙂

That’s a great target to aim for, Mix, and you are most definitely in the correct mindset to reach it 🙂

I know what you mean about the ‘obese’ label. I never really thought of myself in that way until I began to read the medical establishment’s levels of acceptance weight/size recommendations and it was a real wake up call. I’m smaller now than any time in the last 20 years but I still remember the day when someone offered me their seat on the bus because they thought I was pregnant – the humiliation made worse by the fact that I couldn’t admit that it was just the fact I was a fatty!

Dear all

Have reported this blatant advert from kamilia2017usa to the moderating team.

kamilia – if you’re reading this – this is a forum for followers of the Blood Sugar Diet, and your post is really not helpful or appropriate in this setting. Please advertise elsewhere.

Keep us posted on your progress Lucyjane. I have found posting here helps to make me accountable and is also a great source of support and encouragement when the going gets tough. Try swapping out the wine for fizzy water with a twist of fresh lime and try not to think long term, just manage one day at a time and soon the BSD will become a way of life.

Thank you, I have been with him to the doctors in the past! Doesn’t make a difference. He knows I will support him. I have just about finished reading the blood sugar diet book and hope to be able to persuade him to read it! I will even do it with him! Thanks for listening.

We have watched the film fixing dad and he said it was an eye opener and that no one had ever told him he could reverse his diabetes. He has been to slimming world and weight watchers and said he can’t stand them, all the happy clappy stuff! I went to slimming world, albeit not with him and although I understand what he means, it did enable me to lose 3stone! He just can’t seem to see past that. One day he is really good and then it is I feel like cheese and biscuits, a whisky or rum (a couple of large ones), or what can I have to nibble on!

There is not much to add to comments already made, but I suspect that your husband might well be worried about his situation and is perhaps feeling a bit helpless and scared, in the face of what he probably feels is inevitable. Wonder if it would be possible for you to attend a visit to his doctor’s with him, so that the three of you can discuss the long term prognosis and what can be done to minimise impact? If between you, you and his doctor can make him feel he has some control, maybe he will get in the driver’s seat and make the changes which you know are necessary to improve his situation.

If he is a reader, perhaps you can encourage him to take a look at the BSD Fast 800 book, it might spark some light of hope for him.

Good luck and feel free to use us as a sounding board.

Should have said, well done at the pub. Sounds like the starter was delicious.

Plus, congrats on the trousers!

I have always allowed myself the odd alcoholic drink on my non-fast days and don’t generally get afflicted by ‘munchies’ but have already had plenty of experience of abstinence on previous though less successful diets. I will be continuing this until 1st October when I will try a Fast 800 diet to see how much more I can lose before Christmas. Final deadline for my target is April next year as I want to be able to fit back in my wedding dress for my 25th wedding anniversary. About another three stone should do it. Still buzzing, I almost didn’t realise how much that obese label hurt until it was gone.

Congrats sunshine-girl! 9lb is 9lb and not to be sniffed at. Many of us lose slowly – I’m one of them – but progress in the right direction, no matter how small, is to be celebrated. Didn’t bother posting my loss for last week as it was only half a pound, but better that than nothing and I’m pleased the reading was lower than the week before, even if it wasn’t huge.

Keep going and keep posting please, as it’s helpful to all of us to see how others are doing.

Mixnmatch – WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. That’s a phenomenal result! I bet you look and feel amazing. The old you is long gone! I’m always interested in everyones’ longterm ‘maintenance’ options and how it works out for them. I’m generally on Med Style eating with the occasional treat (usually alcoholic!) and also an intermittent fast day depending on how I feel. The waistbands are still getting looser too 🙂

Yowzer -congrats on the 8 week milestone!

Thanks, 54. I’m self-employed and the main, not to say only breadwinner in the household. Sorry about breadwinner – just goes to show how ingrained it is in our food culture. And the Spanish economy has been and still is so bad that I’ve been saying yes to almost everything. Only seven more months till the mortgage is paid off, then I’ll feel a lot more relaxed about things.

Anyway, great motivation and inspiration. So thanks.

Well this morning down to 12st 12lbs. One week under my belt. 7 1/2lbs lost (3.5kg), very pleased. Today I have Mediterranean plate for lunch and a pork parcel with cauliflower, then GY&B!!! On my walk yesterday got blisters on the balls of my feet, ouch! so rather tender at the moment. Will try some HIIT exercise tonight, possibly. I have just received Davina McCalls 7 mins exercise dvd, I will have a look at that as well to see what it entails.
wendyq – Will try an oxo cube. My Dad used to love them (with bread soaked in it, ugh!!) and I always fancied it because it smelt so good but never liked the taste. Now I am older (and we oldies can’t taste salt the same as when we were younger apparently!) I will give it another go. Will let you know how it goes.
Have a good day everyone.

Haha, I’d love to see your doctor’s face Babs! Well done on all your hard work… the success speaks for itself! I am still happily following the Med Style diet with the occasional (alcoholic) treat thrown in. I don’t even LIKE eating bread, pasta, sweets etc anymore.. the body tends to protest! Are you still on 800 cals or more relaxed now?