Thank you so much Igorasusual .. I had just noticed that bacon, salami and sausages are OK a couple of times a week. Thank you for the link too, I will check that out too. Salad stuff is just a thing I have not been able to eat rather than an allergy, so I really am looking forward to changing my taste buds and getting to like new foods. I am a real pasta lover so that will be the biggest hurdle for me. I will be swapping it for veg alternatives as suggested. I will have a look through some of the information and questions that have already been asked, I am sure I will pick up loads there. Thank you again for taking the time to reply. All help and guidance is appreciated.🙂

Thanks for the idea’s everybody out there. Will definitely look at carb numbers etc and also the smaller portion idea😁😁😁

Hi Japanike

Processed meats are fine in moderation, and you don’t need to avoid them. Bacon is great with eggs for a protein laden and very satisfying breakfast – or brunch. All are important in a balanced diet.

You say you don’t eat salad foods – is that because of allergies or do you not like them? The reason I ask is that you may well find your tastes change whilst on the BSD and things you didn’t like before you find are really tasty. Many people here have reported trying unusual (to them) things and really liking it! So be a bit adventurous, before you conclude that things are not for you – you may be surprised!

Pasta is one of the refined carbs and should be avoided, gluten free or not. The thing is, if you try and ‘replace’ some of the refined carbs (sugar, bread, flour, potatoes, rice) with something which imitates them, then you are not really training your palate not to want them.

I can reassure you that you may really fancy a slice of bread, or some pasta, but if you resist (day by day if necessary!) you will find that you stop wanting them so much.

Spiralised vegetables are great pasta alternatives – you will find people here really love spiralised courgettes, cooked briefly, but with a sauce a bit like you’d put on pasta. Yummy – honestly!!

In terms of nutritional balance, I used the following website as I had the same question
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com
If you put in your details, and then add your carb grams – people do find here that 50g or under per day helps weight loss, or you could try a little higher if you like and do 75g – then it will help you work out your grams of protein and fat. (Remember to eat full fat, it’s good for you and fills you up – low fat alternatives have sugar in). I used My Fitness Pal to check what calories I was eating and to log in my meals.

Good luck – try searching (top right box) for any questions you have, there’s probably a thread discussing it already…. and keep asking! 🙂

Hi gang,
Halloween is only around the corner.
Been looking for a really scary outfit.

Found the perfect one……
A Lycra leotard and tights to match.

Should scare the whole street? 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀👻👻👻👻👻👻
Love lucia
Xxx

Ach I knew I was going to get caught out! Carb flu here I come!

Frog

Great news on your bloods and I hope you’re back problem is sorted soon.

Only been dipping into the posts the last few weeks but I thought your reboot was going really well????

I’m starting one next Tuesday …. 13 week post holiday reboot … would be great to have company!

Great wisdom there, Verano, while enjoying your holiday. Cheers

Timmy please believe me there is life after 40!!!!!

In fact the new saying is ….. ‘Life begins at 50’ !!

Enjoy but don’t give up just keep jumping back on the wagon!!!!

Having read the book twice, checked out the recipes on this site and I am halfway through reading the fast exercise book I feel ready to begin my journey. I am unsure of a couple of things though, (maybe I have missed this information in the books) for example some of the recipes show heck sausages or bacon and chorizo. I was under the impression you were to avoid processed meats such as these. Also struggling slightly with variation as I don’t eat salad foods. And last query is whether gluten free pasta is able to be used?? And if I am following my own made up recipe, is there a veg to protein ratio I need to follow or just make sure that I only have 800 calories each day. All help and advice is gratefully accepted 😊 Thank you

I have spent the last few days in a hotel with buffet eating and I have some observations that may just help those faced with wedding, christening or other occasions were you are faced with a buffet.

I have been following this plan, albeit be loosely at times, for the last 12 weeks.

The first thing I noticed were the different ages …. young, middle, older and oldest … of all shapes and sizes. I certainly didn’t feel that my weight was huge in comparison to some, even though I have a lot to lose. I was also aware that people ate vastly different types of food and amounts

Very first meal and we were sat by the dessert table and I have to say it held no interest for me! I think you really do lose your sugar craving after a certain length of time on this plan. On two evenings I had one scoop of mint/dark chocolate icecream and I adored it but one scoop was enough! I felt no guilt or thoughts that ‘I’d blown it so just stuff yourself’! At lunch time I had about 20g of blue cheese and a couple of crackers as my dessert and if was really lovely!

I ignored potatoes, rice, pasta, pizza and bread with no problem. I ate plenty of fish, vegetables and salad with eggs in the morning, hard boiled with lettuce rather than runny yolks that need mopping up with something !

I saw a really large lady having melon, banana and a fruit yogurt for breakfast whilst her partner had bacon and eggs and was satisfied . She, meanwhile ,went on to have a doughnut and two other pastries!!!! I’m convinced that the less carbs you eat the more likely you are to kick the ‘sugar’ habit.

I think there are ways to enjoy a buffet without ‘blowing it’ ….. ignore the really heavy carbs and enjoy the good stuff with a little treat if you need one but above all ENJOY!

Neddsmum, let that weight loss keep you motivated. Yeah, well done

I’ve seen a couple of mentions of wagons, falling etc. My last contribution to any forums was early August when I discussed my 3.9kg loss at 8wks(64.1kg), with slowness attributed to my stunning ability to self sabotage. In past ‘diet lives’ I would have been enormously pleased w .5kg/wk. 5 weeks later, having not only felt dissatisfied, I’ve fallen hard off my little red wagon and taken all the wheels with me, then painstakingly put back a couple of the wheels, I find myself at 64.9kg.
So, mini goals for me in my restart :=
a) STOP with the sweet things for goodness sake!! Going to suffer the “carb flu” all over again…..
b) 5 x 1kg, no set time limit

Best wishes to all on the thread

I’m going to be really bad this weekend unfortunately. Today marks the beginning of the end for a large group of friends. Several of us turn 40 between tonight and the beginning of December (my birthday). That said, I’m going to the gym before the pub to try and counteract the badness with some pre-emptive goodness.

good for you DaisyMay, it is one of the things that keep us motivated, the weight loss.

Day 12 and I’ve lost 10Kg (22lb). Almost halfway to my 8 week target and one third of the way to my goal weight.

I’m realistic that the rate of loss will reduce soon but have been amazed by the rapidity of weight loss so far. I’ve been very disciplined so far with 3 slices of pizza being my only splurge.

I had a carb ‘hit’ for dinner last night with bean burgers from the BSD book. One portion is huge, I can only just finish them!

Hi orchid,
I’m going to try just using oats for one breakfast then oat bran for another and see which I like best, and of course which is better in the carb/calorie count too!
I will let you know what I think.
Christine.

Hi sunshine-girl,
Thanks, I did wonder if it was just bran added, I have been told not to have too much bran as I suffer with diverticulitis and it can aggravate it, also Been told to have more bran! To make my gut work properly?
Might just leave the bran out altogether and see what it tastes like, I might try just oats first then oat bran and see which I like best.
Thank you though, it can be a mine field making sense of all these new recipes!
Christine.

Hi Christine. I saw that as well and was puzzled….. I assume rolled oats had its own bran as it was not so processed :-(. Like you – I have oat bran as well in the cupboard – so do I add it in? I guess I need to do the sums to see which matches closest to their calorie count – let me know how you solve it!

Sunshine-girl – that’s great news that you got the feeling back in both toes. I am sure the occasional tingling will go away as your body continues to heal.

It is a bit scary that the doctors tell us that the side effects of diabetes cannot be reversed and will just get worse. It makes you think that we really are at the forefront of a massive change in how diabetes is managed. No that is wrong – we are not managing our diabetes we are reversing/defeating it and getting back our health.

Hi Nedds mum,
Bad days happen for all of us at one time or another – you are not alone! I stress eat, especially emotional stress, and if that happens I used to head to the nearest large carbs I could find. I’m a lot better at managing that now, although some of the worse of last years stresses (family) are over/in abeyance for now so it is easier.
You need a few strategies to help you through and one will be food related others are avoidance strategie – getting you to do other things. Simple things like a short walk outside, a walk to a coffee shop – but only have a cup of tea or coffee and no cakes. It gets you our, you get something to snack on with flavour. If I could not get out, my favourite food solution was carrots or baby tomatoes. Both are sweet, and a bit carby, but still full of goodness. Carrots grated are very sweet and a half carrot grated, sit down and eat it slowly is lovely!
Another thing to think about is Mindfulness. There is a forum that talks about approaches to using Mindfulness https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/de-stress/ that might help you.
The main thing to remember, if you do end up eating a lot of carbs today – tomorrow does not need to be the same. Forget what happened today and move on. It is one day in 8 weeks – so what if it was not the best one. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Try to see if there is a pattern that has caused it – there may be in which case you can try to avoid it for the future, but there may now be – some days just stink.
Keep going one step at a time, and let us know how it is going.

No, not stupid, you can buy oats with bran, at least from Sainsburys. It comes in big bags of unbranded and, like the unbranded oats, is very cheap (about £1.50 for a kilo). Alternatively you could buy a small bag of bran from any supermarket or health food store and mix it yourself, about 25% bran to 75% oats. Be aware though that there are quite a lot of carbs in it so it is not an every day breakfast – between 15 grams for porridge and even more is you add things to it, like apple or seeds.

Just to add, I have looked at the recipe I think you are referring to, Chai seed bircher asks for rolled oats and bran it is 20 grams of carb, nearly half your daily allowance if you are sticking to the BSD 800.

I can’t believe it, I read the book last weekend, started on Monday and have already lost 4 Pounds, despite having to have 1 night away on business. Even better – I feel great! Being a serial dieter, I know the weekend is always a difficult time with more temptations around but I’m heading into it enthused and positive!

Thank you to both of you.

Even posting on here has helped. It prevented me from reaching for the biscuits.

2 weeks a go I was eating 2 packets a day (yes, I am ashamed) but not a single biscuit has passed my lips in 11 days.

Now that I have finished my salad I feel a bit better too. Just the supermarket to conquer later.

I really appreciate the support on here, it is helping, particularly today whilst I’m have a stressy, miserable ‘fat’ day.

Tomorrow is another day and the positivity will return.

Well done to all of you guys.

KrysiaD, when I told my doctor I had no feeling in my big toes, they just feel numb, he said that is it, once the feeling has gone it cannot come back. Well ha bloody ha to you doctor, I have got the feeling back in both toes although I do get a bit of a tingle sometimes.

We could call it BSDbay!

Errr … I don’t think so! It would have to cover my arms and legs! And I don’t do heights. You should have seen my trying to walk in 4″ stilettos a few weeks ago!😱 x

Hi all,
I am looking at the new cook book and it has a breakfast meal which says, 30g rolled oats, with bran? Now I have rolled oats and I have oat bran? What is rolled oats, with bran?
Am I being stupid, or is it just oat bran?!!!!!!
christine.

A salad is good.

My danger with stress food eating is the MasterMind effect ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’ – even before the diet there was no such thing as a biscuit tin in my house (just me and the dog) as there is no such thing as the ‘rest of the packet’ once started I can chain eat until it is gone, even when I am no longer either craving or enjoying them.

Are there other ways for coping with stress? a long soak in the bath, pampering in non food ways??

I speak as someone who falls off the BSD wagon. I spent 3 weeks neither quite on it nor quite off it – my weight loss stopped but the gain was slight and only small compared to what I had lost, now trying to be fully on the wagon again. So if you can avoid the food stress response then wonderful, but if you do wobble all is not lost , even long term wobbles.

Long term finding other ways to react to stress is good, but don’t let paranoia about failing the BSD be an extra stress – it happens but is not the end of the story. If you avoid the stress/eating link then celebrate not a wobble but an achievement! If you don’t, welcome to the majority and enjoy being normal, but not limited by it….

Big hugs on a stressful day (if virtual hugs ok with you)

Another with no gall bladder and have felt fabulous over the 27 days since I commenced. I am unsure why you think there is increased fat in this eating plan. While the BSD recommends eating full fat dairy products rather than low fat and says to add a little fat to your diet, the calorie count means it is unlikely, in a diverse diet, that there would be sufficient calories in a day to allow a lot of fat.

Sunshine girl it’s helpful to hear that those ten pounds came off with your faithfulness! I am sometimes discouraged that a week of effort yields little fruit, but I get nowhere at all if I’m not diligent enough! Great job sticking it when it’s slow. Well done.

Hi EG, I also have no gall bladder and often suffered with indigestion, pains in my side and feeling very bloated before the BSD. I have been on the BSD for 24 days and haven’t felt this good in a long time. I have had no indigestion, no feeling bloated and the fat is melting from my middle as well as the weight falling quickly. I would recommend you jump on the wagon and join us all on our journey. I am sure you will only benefit. xx

HI back -sorry to burst your bubble but refined sugars are also carbs…….
Enjoy lunch – sounds yummy!

There are good low carb cake recipes online if you need a treat – coconut flour, berries,egg n xylitol if you need it. Tasty too 🙂

Hi yowzer
Yes it is amazing. When I read the book I thought it might help me control the mealtime spikes and lower my hb1ac. Jenny Ruhl – in her book Blood Sugar 101 quotes from various studies (and she backs this up with links to the studies) that Macular oedema and retinopathy is likely at average fasting of 7.2 and hb1ac of 46 (approx). No retinopathy at fasting 6.0 and hb1ac approx 38.
Although nowhere in the BSD does it say you can reverse retinopathy I was very hopeful that you could.
Before I started the BSD I told a Dr at the eye clinic what I was going to do and he said that nothing I could do would make any difference and that it would just continue to get worse. Clearly not true because when I had my next appointment all the oedema had gone. At the appointment last week I saw the consultant and he said no retinopathy in my eye at all.
I have been off insulin for just over 2 weeks now so things are just getting better and better.
Sunshine – well done on losing the 2 kg – it is so good to see the weight going down.

Been busy playing…just checking in.

Weight has gone down and up all week…163 yesterday, 164 today.

Have had lots of exercise: house is three stories and I must run back and forth for everything. Body boarding in the waves, 45 minute walks every day, a run yesterday on top of that and some HIIT this week too.

Doing ok with calories and carbs, but in the mid800s/900. Wildly fell off the wagon this morning though!!!! Made frozen waffles (how does this suddenly tempt me?!?!) for kid breakfast and had three in an instant! Ack!!!!

Going to try skipping lunch or just doing a taste of greek yogurt and get in some more activity.

Good to read everyone’s updates and thoughts! Igorasusual, that’s fascinating about the fluids: helpful to remember!
Mental4ever, so happy for you!! Hope all goes as planned for you this weekend. Excellent news : )

Encouraged again as I read back through the threads this morning. Antigone, love the reference to Narnia…
😊

Hi Avila
Sorry for delay. Am here. Have made myself a salad.

Work majorly stressing me. Have always reached for carb reach foods when this happens.
Am obsessing about such foods today as a result…

FROG! That is the simple pimple solution. OH gets a plate of food and leaves a quarter,makes such sense! What dyou think Penny? X

Yes we could have our own version of Ebay! X
Hmmmm tightrope walker..i think that wd have to be you Lynne.? After all, youre light and nimble enough now?and will look good in a sparkly leotard!
Howz yr head for heights! X

Hi FROG sorry that yr prob still not resolved but good that nothing dangerous – and verrry good about your blood test results / no longer diabetic…how great is that!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈
Hope your reboot kicks in soon x
Frog, you know the medical records access you wrote about? I got a form from my surgery and went online but all i can seem to see is my prescription details! I cant see anything else to click on,so am not sure if that means my surgery only allow that much access,which is ridiculousashave my prescrip detailson a piece of paper anyway!
Any ideas? X

Yowzer

YIPPPEEE😃 That would save me a trek to some far-flung place to find a cinema showing it. And I could watch it lots of times😃😃😃😃😃

No animals – but we need to find a trapeze artist? Or a tightrope walker? And a ringmaster. 😃

A cleaning company? Surely there must be another use! All those projects on Great British Sewing Bee, re-working clothes! Or cut them into strips to knit or crochet.

Of course we could always start a ‘swap shop’, or a clothes party. There should be something, regardless of what size we are!😃

sorry if it sounded a bit harsh Penny – it would be worse if he was eating piles of chips and pasta!
However a simple way (other than him taking over cooking responsibilities) surely is just to serve him smaller portions (or even easier, serve him the same, and if he only wants to eat 600 calories, he can leave a quarter of the meal)

sunshine-girl

The original articles about the BSD were available in the online version, so these could be 😃

My “reboot” still not going brilliantly – but my GP just called (the lump I had removed from my back last month wasn’t what they thought it was, nothing dangerous, but they need to do it again) – and she was really impressed with blood results from a few weeks ago.

She considers that i’m no longer diabetic, but would prefer to leave me on the register (I had the option on that) so that I will continue to have annual blood checks, which sounds sensible to me as I don’t check my blood at home for glucose levels.

I’ve no gallbladder either and I’ve had no issues on BSD. Everyone is different my advice would be to try it and see if it suits you.

Hi EG, I had not thought about that but it does not have any effect. I don’t have a gallbladder. Remember this is not the Atkins, the fat is good fat and easily digested such as olive oil, avocado, full fat milk which is how milk should be before messing it about, full fat cheese and yoghurt same comment as for the milk, and butter. I does not say you have to eat loads, for example, if you don’t eat bread or mashed potatoes when are you going to use butter. I find I have some for cooking scrambled eggs. It is not true that natural fat is harmful. The plan does not advocate fatty meat or frying all your food. Everything in moderation.

Hi

Well done sunshine-girl definitely going in the right direction! Hope you get to swim today. 24 sounds quite warm to me but them I’m nit in the water!

Hope all are doing well

I too think 600 is too low PENNY..as SUNSHINE said,it wd be better for OH to drop the carbs rather than the cals.
On the original 5:2, way of eating,yr hubby wd have had 600 cals BUT only for two days a week,the rest of the week just eating carefully but not cal counting
However if he wants to continue,he is an adult and responsible for himself,and while it may be worrying for you, i wd cook as it suits you and not try to cater for what he wants,which after all is not what BSD suggests and as you mentioned,makes it very tricky for you
Like FROG said,if thats what he wants,let him sort himself out. BSD can be stressful and exhausting at times trying to juggle meals to get the cal/ carb you want without having to take hubbys extra demands into account. X

Hi can anyone tell me what happens if you go on low carb and have no gallbladder I am concerned regarding the extra fat.

Hi Nedds mum,

you still loitering? Not words of wisdom but some company – what has stressed you out today?

CAPTAINLYNNE i think its coming out on dvd quite soon x
Yes wow our very own circus!..but no animals i hope? ..i detest seeing performing animals 🙁🙁
I’ m thinking of opening a cleaning company too.. I have several enormous garments that can be cut up for floorcloths,dusters etc..
we’re going to be loaded with all our new businesses etc! An unexpected side effect of BSD! !
I’ m trying to think of some really clever ” what to do with no longer needed mahoosive clothing” idea to take on Dragons Den! 😄Xx

Hi JOHNNYBOY and welcome! Hope the trips to the opticians go well
VERANO Enjoy the rest of yr holibobs…see you next week with yr new thread!
KRYSIA how amazing that BSD cured yr retinopathy! I have a diabetic friend who is having quite painful laser treatment for retinopathy..she said she’s enduring it coz was told she wd lose her sight otherwise..i havent mentioned BSD to her coz i know her well enough to know she wd say she cant do it..she cdnt give up bread etc..i dont think she wd actually believe dropping carbs could help her diabetes..but i think i’ ll mention it now,seeing as it has helped you so much!
SUNSHINE well done on the further weight loss! That must have been such a nice surprise!
Onwards and downwards everyone! XX