Hi Christine,

Sorry that you are feeling a little under the weather…hope you feel better soon.🌻

Hi Lynne,
Well done, looking forward to reading your maintenance post! I think I will try to lose more than I want to so that I have some wiggle room,
I am hoping to start today on my next bout of 800/50, I’ve only had three cups of tea today, I’m not feeling great, whenever I’m under the weather it always affects my stomach, I have had a headache since Saturday, and I have flue symptoms, so no or less food won’t harm me in the least!
It sound intriguing, a few surprises, I hope you have recovered from your trip, sounds lik it was a bit of nightmare getting back home?
Looking forward to,hearing from you soon.
Christine.

Good luck and good health!!!

You’ve got plenty of company here!

I’m looking forward to fitting into some clothes i bought in hope!! 🙂

Blueberry and almond SOUNDS good ….. guess not … LOL.

Hi yowzer49, I ‘ituned’ the song and the snippet that played had that line about her sturdy legs and I laughed. Funny how things work out. Way cool. Hehe

Ooh Linda
Thankyou that is a very uplifting thought, just time passing thankyou, I’m on it now so all good, it’s such a relief to be back in the zone again
Love Jan 😊😊😊

The headache shouldn’t last too long Sumo. Lots of people complain of this symptom early in the process, but it will pass as your body becomes used to the new regime. Hope you will soon be feeling fitter and that you will be posting more great results soon.

Hi All,

I started my journey on the BSD diet on the 22nd August after advice from my doctor who was concerned about high blood pressure readings (albeit not high enough for medication).

I have to say week 1 was the hardest, I discovered I had a serious sugar addiction. I was having serious sugar withdrawal, it was all I could think about, I almost left the house to buy sweet treats! I was so surprised at how much I was craving sugar and all things carb! A few days later I suffered from some horrible mood swings. I’m normally quite level in my moods and generally upbeat and happy but the sugar cold-turkey turned me into a grumpy monster, looking back I feel very sorry for my boyfriend who continued to be supportive despite being Italian and missing his pizza and pasta. The great british bake off didn’t help, which instead of being an enjoyable treat turned into some form of sugar torture. I survived but only after having one square of dark chocolate (on day 3 of the diet). I got to the end of week 1 and discovered that the sweet cravings became less severe and I had lost 3.5kg, which was all the encouragement I needed to continue!

Week 2 and sugar cravings were under control, great british bake off still felt like torture but I managed to great through it without turning to sugar, which felt like an achievement. This week was tough in the sense I was quite constipated and seemingly lost no extra weight. This was most likely a result of not drinking enough water…

Week 3 and I’ve become a lover of lentils, as a vegetarian I felt this was a good choice as they are high in protein (and the all important fibre) and hey presto, bowel movements back in action and an extra 0.7kg lost! Woohoo! I almost made it through the entirety of great british bake off without even wanted a baked treat! Progress!

I’m now embarking my week 4, I know that I need to increase my protein intake and lower the carbs, so if anyone has some tasty vegetarian recipes (I eat dairy and eggs) then I’d love to hear from you! Also, any struggles and how you’ve got through them will help me feel less like a crazed sugar addict!

Lis

Sorry sumo, no I didn’t mean the plan is caffeine free, what I meant is some people will have possibly reduced their tea and coffee consumption because of the calorie count in the milk, I for ex reduced my cups of tea from 8 down to 3 so as not to waste calories, but a caffeine withdrawal headache is always in the front of your forehead and feels like a tight band, but either way just keep your fluids up add a little extra salt, for a few days, and if this doesn’t doo the trick take a couple of paracetamol if you are permitted to take them.
Sorry to have confused, hope hat clarifies.
Regards jan

lis1234 – as long as you include the calories in the 800, fats are recommended. You will find eating full fat, that you need much less food to feel satisfied and will stay feeling sated for longer. For me, it has benefited the condition of my skin as well, when compared to how it was on low fat intake. Don’t be scared to sacrifice some of your pulses to include some cheese or an egg in some way, I’m sure you will find it helps.

Thanks greenjanet!

I am aware you can overdo vitamin/mineral/herbals! …. I am a somewhat great age, 67 … and love to find out things like Mikhail Baryshnikov is older than moi!! 🙂 and i have been VERY sedentary!

Every so often i take a week or so …. and don’t take any supplements – vitamins, herbals, over the counter meds, even prescription pain meds. Just clean the system out!!

Carelessness has some rewards … cause i almost never remember to take anything daily … i even miss the metformin sometimes!

LindA

Thanks I take enough drugs, so I will take the head ache as part of the process.

As greenjanet said on her post, fat is not the enemy on the BSD Shalimar, so an egg with some butter is a good way of ensuring enough fat included in the diet. As long as the calories are counted, full fat is to be recommended, it helps kick start the fat burning process, makes you feel full quicker and stay feeling that way for longer and – for me at least – has improved the condition of my skin enormously, compared to how it was on a low fat diet. Also, a little salt is no bad thing, remember if you are drinking a lot and flushing it from the system it needs to be replaced.

LindA

Salt and fluids some told me about the other day, I did not realise it was caffeine free as well?

Hi lis1234
Don’t be afraid of fat, it’s more important to keep your carbs down and fat is no longer the enemy!

Sumo
Headaches are normal in the first couple of weeks, just take some Panadol and be kind to yourself. They won’t last long.
Linda

I am clinically obese, with about 60kg to lose (although I’d be ecstatic with 40) – add to that a relatively stressful job, and my blood pressure has been really spiking over recent months. My GP discussed blood pressure meds, but after I did some research he’s agreed to support me with this diet for 8 weeks. I go back in 2 weeks time, so hopefully there will already be some improvement shown if I can keep on track!

So far so good today – following the meal plan in the book, and loved the lunch (capsicum with jewelled feta) and dinner (eggplant with lamb and pomegranate) … hated the blueberry and almond smoothie for breakfast with a passion. It just means I know when that crops up again I either need to replace the green tea with something else and perhaps use a different (say vanilla) yogurt … or just replace the whole meal with something I would prefer to eat!

Looking forward to this new challenge that will hopefully make the mental and physical breakthroughs I’m hoping for 🙂

Hi Sumo
The headaches are due to carb withdrawal, and possible caffeine reduction, to counteract this drink at least 3 litres and try to add in a bit extra salt. As your body will be depleted of salt at the mo. Hope that helps.
Regards jan

Hi Shalimar.

Please be aware that you can overdose on vitamins and supplements, or at the very least, all of it will be just shot out the other end of your body, so unless you are pregnant, or of a great age and not eating healthily, they are totally unecessary, so save your money. This plan if followed correctly has all the nutrients an adult requires.
The information about eggs, and butter by nutritionists is also out of date, eggs all types are healthy and a valuable source of nutrition, and can be eaten freely also butter, I suggest you read dr ms book for the latest research evidence from Newcastle, which supersedes previous mis information. I hope this may help.
Regards jan

Thanks Jan, will do😀
If I can do it, you can too!
The only thing between you and the end result is time and that will progress either way. May as well make it a positive result!⌚️
Cheers
Linda

Thanks Sunny B! Yes, I eat dairy eggs/cheese etc… but I find they’re also quite high in fat so I’ve been trying to eat more pulses but I guess that’s why I’m struggling with the carbohydrates! Congrats on your continued weight loss by the way!

Get that crab and avocado Angiebabe – so sorry you’re not feeling well.

Great loss Hiho!!

I’m loving the chat too!!

Thanks for the best wishes Snoop.

Angiebabe – it sounds like you know where the problems lay and it is often the carb thing that makes us plateau. Yes do be kind to yourself and take sometime to refocus. Isn’t it great that we start to think of food treats in terms of yummy low carb options? Crab and avocado sounds delicious. Was at a tea party for my grand daughter’s sixth birthday yesterday and although there was a chocolate fountain, I went for cocktail sausages and cheese dip! Seems to me you are dealing with the bad days very well indeed. Keep us posted on your progress and I hope you will soon be feeling fitter and in control again.

Thanks Shalimar, will put those suggestions on a list. Good to explore new writers. I’m not going to get much housework done if I read all those , and am supposed to be researching a move to be nearer the coast on the West but keep getting distracted. Better get my Monday ‘work’ done ( I usually open a week’s mail and take action – or not. Then a bit of household accounts. Delete old emails, you know the sort of thing. Haven’t even started and it is almost noon. Bye for now.

Also love the VERA tv series and have read a couple of the Anne Cleeves books they are based on … so far. Interesting. Also love the TV and books of Henning Mankel.

Also love
Yrsa Sigurdardottir especially My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland (Thora Gudmundsdottir series).

and for a French Canadian flavor …. love pretty much all of Louise Penny books … murder mysteries … but GREAT wonderful characters. A Beautiful Mystery is one of my favorites. Best read in series order because the character development is so interesting.

Just completed week one 10.5 lbs lighter cannot quite believe it I am seriously overweight so hence the big number but still I’m super happy to start week 2. Loving this chat page

Week 15 but no loss this week for the first time. Obviously disappointed but I think I can pinpoint the reasons – firstly my carbs have been drifting up to 60s rather than under 50, secondly dinner at friends threw me as they are veggie and it was carb heavy- remember pastry! -thirdly my knees are playing up very painful osteoarthritis so less walking saving energy for essentials like running the house and fourthly feeling generally off colour.

So taking a few days to be kind to me and try and regroup. It’s a shame as I’ve been feeling so well up to now and have at the back of my mind is the autoimmune stuff rearing its head again- you know that feeling waiting for the other shoe to drop? Will go shopping and buy a few food treats low carb of course I’m thinking crab with avocado so I don’t drift back to sugar etc.

It’s about learning to deal with the bad days as well as the good I guess

Great thread!
Thanks for the ideas. Put the books in my Amazon.ca wishlist and think i will get Peace and Parsnips to start.
I try and put lentils in everything i can. Does it matter if you use the really tiny ones or the ‘French puy lentils??
p.s. I love the Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla!!! The refridgerated one is even a tad better. ‘Tried other almond milks but hated them. 40 calories, 2 g. carb. for 240 ml. on my label. The sweetened ones taste awful to me. Can even make them coffee flavored with just a quarter teaspoon of instant coffee. Maybe can only get in Canada.

Good luck, SunnyB, and have a really good time.

Love your diary a real inspiration that’s me completed my first week and an unbelievable 10 .5lbs lighter. I am seriously overweight so that will explain the huge amount off in one week. Hopefully a few weeks of high results and your lovely posts will keep me motivated. Super well done great commitment and inspiration.

Thought I would post my weekly result. Again only half a pound lost this week, but again, a lot going on over the w/e, which whilst it hasn’t completely derailed me, has not helped with keeping to the BSD as tightly as I would like. That said, I’m happy to have made a loss again and am now concentrating on spending the next three days sticking strictly to BSD.
Thursday we fly up to Edinburgh for a four day visit and a friend’s wedding. Then we have two days at home, before flying to Turkey, so after this Wednesday, it will be a case of best endeavour for six weeks! I am determined to come home on 2nd Nov pretty much as I left, but am not going to stress about putting on a pound or two, as I know on my return I can get back on track and lose that and more. Wish me luck though!!!

hi Chookymama

well done you on being strict (Me too) Turned down an ice cream and some ‘kit Kat chocolate bar stuff yesterday

I thought salad was boring

BUT, discovered ceasar salad for when i am out (minus the bad croutons) and have found many salad recipes on line which are great

I think of the salad part as a side and add at various times, chicken, smoked salmon, prawns, salmon, grated cheese, roasted veg, grated veg things, steak etc etc And there are so many different types of salad. Also google, low calorie salad dressings and make or buy the ones you like (I have a salad cos i like the dressings !!)

I HATE tomatoes so have to ask for non of those , other than that, all good !!

Keep it up !!!

I enjoy Ann Cleeves’ stories of ‘Vera’ and ‘Shetland’ on telly so am heading off to my local library ( tomorrow, it is closed all Monday – what’s that about? ) to buy a ticket for her visit to Perth in October.http://www.pkc.gov.uk/article/14610/Blood-on-the-Bannocks
she may be speaking near you if you fancy an entertaining couple of hours with her. https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/crime-thriller/ann-cleeves-cold-earth-tour-2016 Having been retired for four years now am only just catching up with hobbies I had to let go in my final 3-4 years of work ( too tired to do much more than eat sleep work shop ) . As a child I would have to be levered away from a book so it is good to return to a well loved pass-time as an adult. Not always fiction. Am enjoying from the ‘cultureshock!’ series published by Marshall Cavendish. Am reading up on life in Sweden. Written by a Brit, Charlotte Rosen Svensson, who moved there as a child and again as an adult married to a Swede. I remember being attracted to Scandinavian countries since taking O level Geography studies in 1960s. An interest re-awakened by all the Scandi Noir tv progs and reading Henning Mankel ebooks ( free from you local library .) Charlotte writes engagingly and so far has educated me about ‘ordinary ‘ life ( as opposed to constant murders ) Plenty of humour making me giggle out loud – her observations of e.g. buying a newspaper in UK and Sweden = Sweden it takes perhaps six words, Britain it means at least another nine words which according to her would drive a Swede to absolute distraction 🙂 I didn’t know we were so chatty.

Hi Lis1234
Firstly, great news that it was your doctor who directed you towards the BSD. Secondly, please don’t measure yourself against anyone else, we all lose at different rates. Thirdly you are looking at over 4kg in two weeks and I would say this is worth celebrating. You can expect to lose quite a bit more in the first week than in subsequent weeks and you can expect the rate of loss to change week on week – sometimes more and sometimes less.
You don’t say if you eat dairy and eggs, if so these are a great sauce of protein with both cheese and eggs being a good sauce of protein and offering lots of options for adding protein to meals. As for the carb issue, only use small amounts of pulses and root veg as these are carb heavy. However you can use plenty of leaf veggies and those that grow above ground, as their carb content is lower.
Hopefully others will come forward with suggestions too, to give you more options, but keep doing what you have been, as you are seeing results and this will continue as long as you keep an eye on calories and carbs. Good Luck!

Starting weight 88kg
Now 80.1kg – can’t wait to break the 80 mark!
4″ off waist

Am now into this and am very strict about everything. Difficult this weekend as we went out for supper at friends and I refused pudding (never before been known) and only had salad. You can have heaps of lettuce but it is BORING!

I did blip over weekend but pulled myself back in yesterday. I think it is as much mind and discipline as anything?

Well done all.

Read all the Harry Potter books … loved them.
I’m currently loving Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight mysteries, C. S. Harris and her historical mysteries, ca. 1811 England. Just started reading Tana French, murder mysteries set in Dublin, Ireland.

I love Charlaine Harris … pretty much all especially A Secret Rage, and the Midnight Texas series.

Love, love, love Kerry Greenwood – Corinna Chapman books ****** and Miss Fisher Murder mysteries!!

One of my all time favorites is “Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin.

P.S. also loved The Alienist and Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr.

Love recomendations from other people!

I’m also looking for some good veggie meals for BSD. I found lentil dishes amazing, high in protein and low calorie but also tasty and filling. There are some great recipes in the Fast Diet Recipe book.

Sit back and take a breath. I find it helpful to sit quietly and repeat “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.” 25 times which is about 5-6 minutes. I relax and can face all the things to do. On a practical note, I keep a crock pot of vegetable lentil soup that can be warmed up any time and is always a filling dinner with few calories and lentils seem to lower blood sugar. Throw a little virgin olive oil in too. I even keep some frozen in the freezer for emergency dinners when really tired after the day. Hang in there you are succeeding.

Hi Sunshine-girl, Verano, and everyone.

Guilt sucks … ‘just indulge the food not the guilt and climb back onto the wagon!

Wishing you all a wonderful day. Hope Wayne Dyer is right … Believing is Seeing!! 🙂

I have a head of steam up right now so i’m going to ride it as long as possible … even though i’ve had minor speedbumps, headaches, sore legs and back … but on the whole it’s been worth sticking to it. I know there are more speedbumps ahead but i do love these forums for inspiration and encouragement.

Keep on keeping on!!

Hi all,

i went of the fast800 BSD diet after advice from my doctor because of high blood pressure (but not high enough for medication). I’m just heading in to my third week and wanted some feedback on the weight loss i’ve had so far, is this normal or should I expect more?

Week 1 – 3.6kg weight loss
Week 2 – 0.7kg weight loss

I’m a vegetarian and struggling to keep protein content up and carbs lower – does anyone have any tips?

Lis

Good idea …. i have Chia seeds. I also have flax seeds – which i put in my coffee grinder and just give the grinder a few pulses … just enough to chip open the flax seeds so the insides will open up the fibre in the seeds. You can buy the flax powder but this way there is no problem with the flax being rancid.

I am hoping that the headaches are sugar withdrawal and will stop soon? I am drinking plenty.

Hi sunshine-girl

Hope you had a good weekend and are feeling brighter this week.

New week new start !

I’ve been reading a lot of inspirational posts … especially love the interesting side health benefits for a whole range of assorted problems.

And even if we don’t see results on the scale … we may see results in clothes fitting, and reduced fat around the liver and pancreas!

We may even loose our taste for refined sugar — i wish us luck with that 🙂 🙂 …. maybe just as a special treat!! 🙂

P.S. If you are worried about vitamins etc. Try finding a liquid multivitamin-mineral supplement …. or anything but those hard capsules, which i think don’t really absorb all that well. I think some of the negative research on talking vitamin supplements was done before liquid and powder was available. Don’t think it can hurt!

I myself wonder about eggs (Dr. Joel Fuhrman who has also penned and End Diabetes book is against eggs, for health reasons). But i kind of think the research he quotes doesn’t include free run, or free range eggs.

I don’t think the way we ate eggs in my family was too healthy though …. adding butter and salt to a soft boiled egg … butter melting in the yolk!! Well maybe 1 egg this way is okay ????? 🙂

Hi Linda
Brilliant maintenance 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 delighted for you, keep us posted re your maintenance plan. 😎😎😎

Hi Everyone
Well I am now on my 7th week and have lost 25.5lbs. I am religiously counting calories and carbs…on an exercise day I eat about 1000cals and non-exercise between 800-900cals. I always try and keep carbs under 40g.

The last week I have not lost any weight at all; I have tried intermittent fasting i.e. 16:8 on days where I can but this doesn’t seem to be budging it either. I have lost another cm off my tummy though, so I wondered if my body composition was changing as I am doing HIIT with resistance workout from Cycle 2 of the Bodycoach.

Although the scales aren’t moving my cardiovascular fitness has greatly improved; I have to push myself much harder to get into the 75% heartrate zone.

Any suggestions would be greatly received….

Thanks
Claire

Your scales WILL shift eventually weescotty, but great news re the belt!!

With regard to people taking advice, I think it’s a personal decision to take action and if you’re ready, you’re ready, and if you’re not, you’re not. I read a review on Amazon of the Blood Sugar Diet book the other day, and I quote: “boring and not helpful”. There’s no reply to that, is there.

If people ask me, I share, but I usually start by saying “if you want to do this, then do it, but I’m not telling you to do it, and if you’d rather I stopped talking about it, then I will”. At least then, if I get a “no POTATOES!! no PASTA!!! no BREAD!!!!!” response, I can change the subject and not get irritated myself. Just so surprising that people ask “but what CAN you eat????” and there’s not time enough to tell them the whole list……

🙂 🙂 🙂

Liro, so sorry about your friend with the stroke but great news about your brother!
Used to disguise my chickpeas … but love them now … add them to everything i can … complete protein.

I will have to check out the carbs etc. on my Clean.the.fridge Chilli. Bit of lean meat, chickpeas and/or other beans, can tomatoes, and any vegetables in the fridge (non starchy of course) and any color peppers! I just have to remember portion control! 🙂

Up at 3:00 a.m. here and know that in Canada i’m way behind the UK and Australia BSDers … so got some great tips and inspiration from all the forms … checking out “Recent posts” etc.

It’s so great to know that even if we’re not loosing pounds we may be loosing inches … AND reducing the fat around the liver and pancreas.

And thanks for the reminder about gut health and especially the supplements for sore knees Liro ………. quote :
I am working on my gut bacteria at same time after reading a few books on the relationship between depression, obesity and gut bacteria imbalance….hence pro biotics, pre biotics like inulin and green banana flour, and tumeric and magnesium supplements (for sore knees)…..started them about two weeks before this diet and I think they largely responsible in my change in mood to enable me to stick to diet (I am definitely an emotional/stress eater) as I hadn’t changed anything else up to that point. ,,,,,,,, end quote.

Well done Linda re the size 10 jeans!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I recognise the ‘just can’t quite believe it’ syndrome and the shock when you catch sight of yourself in a mirror.

I can proudly state that I bought a pair of size 8 Zara jeans over the weekend, but found that when I got them home that they weren’t as snug as I’d thought, and I still need to wear a belt as they kept slipping down. :0

Keep on keeping on, everybody! Look forward to seeing the skinny guy getting out from in there, Sumo!

I think my scales have a technical hitch! they have remained stubbornly the same figure for WEEKS. This morning after reading a few posts on different threads I decided to wear a skirt ( usually slop around on trousers/jeans now I’m retired ) and see… I wasn’t sure if it fitted better than last time I wore it but when I went to fasten the belt realised I was trying to use a hole that hadn’t been opened before. Hah! take that scales, things are happening even when they don’t seem to be happening. Great to have somewhere to report this and also encourage others. I mentioned to an older neighbour with Type 2 that there is a way of reducing/coming off meds. But she just kept shaking her head as I gave her a potted explanation so ( a trifle exasperated! ) I left her to her closed mind and more determined than ever not to slip into that rigid mentality as I grow older.

START DATE 29th AUGUST

END OF WEEK 2

WEIGHT NOW: 20 Stone 5 pounds (129)
START WEIGHT: 21 stone 12 pounds (138.8)

LOSS AFTER WEEK 2 : 1 stone 7 1lbs (9.52 KG)

THOUGHTS ON 2 WEEKS

I hav been to pubs, I have had meals out. I go to coffee shops

Yep my lifestyle NOT changed at all

I do not drink, (At the moment !!), do not east bread, have no sugar, no white grain

I don’t count carbs, I am STRICT 800 calories a day

I have drifted away from the set menus but do have ‘quick and easy’ a lot.

I am NOT hungry

My trousers are 1 size smaller, !!!!

The loss (Small or large) every day keeps me going

with Weight watchers I looked at 5 pounds to lose and thought 5-10 weeks, now I think (By this time next week, if i am good, that will be gone !!)

Dont get disillusioned, please dont cheat (It isnt worth it) , but do keep going, it is worth it !!

2 people yesterday said I looked ‘slimmer’ !!! (BONUS)

Good lick everyone