Hi *waves*

Finally decided on a name for my new thread.

It’s still on this forum and is called ‘Keeping calm and carrying on – my low-carb maintenance journey’

Looking forward to meeting up with you on there 😃

Hi Verano
Yep my weigh day tomorrow as well and I’ve realised at the end of the 11th week I love weigh days, I get quite excited about it, hope it’s a good result for us both. 😎😎😎

For anyone who is interested my new thread (on this forum) is ‘Keeping calm and carrying on – my low-carb maintenance journey’

At long last, here it is – the start of my maintenance journey (low-carb, of course😃)

My weight loss journey is documented on other threads, but on10th September I weighed 9st 6lbs (I’m 5′ 1″), am now in my healthy BMI, and can fit into size 12 clothes.

So now a new thread begins, to record this new stage in my journey.

I’m still recording what I eat, but am trying to wean myself off counting calories all the time. At this early stage of maintenance I want to just take things steadily. I don’t mind losing another couple of pounds, just to give me some wriggle room under that 9.7 – but I don’t want to go above that, or to lose too much more weight.

I’ll still be eating Mediterranean-style, low-carb. I can’t imagine ever eating any other way in the future, this way of eating has made such a difference in my life.

I’ve already had a few adventures since I hit my target and will tell you about them when I have more time – sorry, but really busy this week!

Hope nobody objects to this thread being on this forum.

See you all soon 😃

Great mine should be on its way as I preordered it. Will wave to the post woman tomorrow.

Ha Snoop! Poop is always funny, never gross (unless you can’t actually do one!).

But hang on a flipping minute. Doesn’t the book recommend to use rapeseed or olive oil and that they are our friends? HOW MANY CALORIES? Flipping heck….that’s a whole meal?? How do we do this? 1tbsp of olive oil = 119 calories. 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil = 120 calories….

WHAT TO DO? I just prepared a load of veggies to roast – tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and courgettes…..you can have LOADS. Went to add a splash of oil and nearly fell through the floor! Any suggestions y’all out there?

Hello all, just reviving this thread as I wanted to find out how some of the August starters (and continuers!) are doing now?
sydneygirl, don’t think we’ve heard from you for ages, how are you doing?
Flo55 and Texas50 are you still out there and BSDing?

I am still absolutely fine on maintenance and pop in from time to time to tell people to measure when they’re plateauing, and to eat more salt if they’re feeling light-headed and to rave about some cooking or other I’ve been doing.

And, perhaps most importantly, to read the fantastic stories here of people’s struggles yet successes whether it’s Gavin on his blog inspiring people, or Lucia wearing out her bike tyres and spending 30 minutes on the machines at the gym when all she could do when she started was walk upstairs once and sit down at the top and then walk down again and sit down at the bottom. And there are many more, including of course Captainlynne, and all the old stagers, Frog and Switzerland and SunnyB and Orchid and sunshine-girl and I know I’ve left some of you out please don’t be offended but I’m doing this just remembering all the threads. Thank you all for your continuing inspiration.

And just one more thing.

OH has now had another HbA1c test (so he started BSD end May and then had June, July, August, and now September tests). Lower BS figures each time, came off metformin after the August one. Doctor this morning had forgotten he’d stopped the metformin and congratulated him on September’s figures on ‘only one metformin’ and was duly staggered to find it was on none! She has now marked his card as Type 2 IN REMISSION, and says no-one else in the practice has been able to do it. (You would think she’d then ask him if he’d work with the nominated diabetes doctor and nurse to explain how he’s done it, but not so far.)

Hi verano. It was cauliflower rice not mash that I tried to use the stick blender for but it got too fine for that rice-like consistency.
Frog, you put us all to shame with all that walking . 18000 steps is very impressive. And now Kayaking as well.😮. I have to finish up mowing the lawn. Then some courgetti with my new spiraliser. might catch up on Poldark as I fell asleep during the first one (inexcusable I know), so I need to rewatch that one and then watch the second episode. I think I’ll pass on the autopsy.
Frog, I hope you enjoyed your choir. Mine starts tomorrow after the summer break.
Weigh in tomorrow.

it was very hot and sunny here – apparently its 29 degrees now, so not sure how hot it was at midday
I was supposed to be working tomorrow, but have said I’ll go in on Friday instead, it’s forecast to be cooler then.

Hampstead Heath is great – so much of it to discover. I’ve bought a walking book that has about 10 walks on the heath, but the guy that runs the nordic walking says he never really needs to repeat the same walk.

FROG i didnt suggest you watched it on iplayer or anywhere else! I only said enjoy yr walk!😋
How lovelybeing on H Heath..i miss north London! 18k steps is amazing! We didnt get that hot day as promised..its been grey dark and rainy here. X

Re. the poop – you wouldn’t be the only one. Even a small one would do! (Apologies if that’s gross.)

eugh – no, I don’t fancy catching up on an autopsy on iplayer yowzer – but, erm, thanks for that!

Walk was great – lessons finished – very hot indeed, but not as horribly muggy as last week. I stayed on the Heath til about 4pm, and have just got in – not walking on the time, long lounge on the grass & stopped for tea, but I’ve done about 18k steps today, around 6k of them super seedy Nordic ones.
Hopefully it will offset yesterdays dodgy diabetic cookery course meal.

Kayaking has started again, so I’ll be doing that next Tuesday – I’d forgotten, but got home to a mystery packet that turned out to be some slip on neoprene slipper things that I bought for kayaking. V cheap, not sure how long they’ll last, but worth trying.
Making my feet extremely hot right now!

I don’t know that for myself Verano, when I am diabetes free, obviously when I no long take insulin and still how readings below 5. If I don’t take my insulin one night I will see what happens but not ready for that yet. Maybe in the future my doctor will talk me through it. It is so sexy when he speaks (French) I don’t care what he is saying. LOL

Congratulations on your loss and downward blood sugar results

Are the results from home testing different to results of the HbA1c test Sunshine Girl?
I’m getting more confused – my recent HbA1c result was 38, and stated normal was 20-48

GG we haven’t got the promised lovely weather here in north west England….we have had a grey day with heavy rain this avvo! X 🙁🙁🙁

I actually gained weight yesterday although no idea how. I am still hugely hungry going to bed so when I wake up I am ready for the scales. A bit peed off therefore this morning when I had gone up several points of a kg….

However, am trogging on and will keep everything crossed…..maybe I just need a large poop!

MM looked at hypnosis in last weeks “trust me I’m a doctor program” – I can’t remember the outcome, must have been doing something else at the time!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0476tfd

Thanks everyone, even after 3 months of loosely following the BSD I still get the odd cravings but strangely enough I didn’t really enjoy the chocolates and almost ate my them because they were there not because I wanted them. I keep telling myself that I’ve done ok without being really strict so I suppose the odd slip up won’t ruin everything (5.5kg lost only 3 more to go ) I think I’ve done the 5:2 more than the full BSD as I have no health issues despite being classed as obese at 5’3 and 13 stone (mainly due to a muscle mass of over 50% ) , but generally have found giving up potatoes,rice,pasta and bread no problem it’s just chocolate that gets me occasionally. Hope everyone has enjoyed the lovely weather today 😎😎

CALIFORNIAGIRL you are SO right in what you say ..we’ re not totally to blame for our blips..we have to take into account the strong physiological urges we have and the lifetime habits that form over the years( most of us were given sweet food as a treat if we had been ‘ good’ or ‘ brave’ as kids i.e., sugar became synonymous with ‘ reward’ from an early age’)

Combine all this with another deadly factor…the advertising industry who for many many years have been ‘feeding’ us insidious messages that persuade us to eat the things on offer from the food industry,in particular the fast cheap food industry, and from the billion dollar diet food companies. These products are designed to make us fat and addicted and make their profits even fatter than we are!

A great book on this subject is Slim for Life by Jason Vale ..a good read that explains all this in detail ,well worth reading..first time i read it, some years ago,i lost three stone effortlessly, just by stopping eating junky sugaryfatty food, in a matter of months. Went back on again when i let myself forget his messages. X

the other thing with oats is to soak them overnight – I don’t understand the technical process, but it improves the GI – also it makes them milky and sweet (think oat milk) – so you don’t need additional carbs for any milk with them, or to add sweetener. Most packs recommend 30g as a portion size, which seemed small to me at first, but I soon reduced it to 25g and found them filling. Be careful of adding too much fruit as well.

As orchid said, there are quite a lot of threads on porridge already – if you want to check on something like that, using the search box in the top right hand corner will usually find you a wealth of previous answers to similar questions.

Chanting is hypnotic and a great way to meditate, as it focuses the mind and stops the usual trail of thoughts from parading through your mind. Use a positive mantra as a chant will make this is a good way of exercising mindfulness. Not so sure about the lemon thing though!

Glad you are feeling less headachy, drinking more has obviously helped.

Dark Choc is allowed, but I would have thought 4 chunks is perhaps a bit much. Could you cope on just two? And be sure to count the calories and if you are doing it, carbs as well. I look to keep carb at 50g or under per day, but I don’t track protein intake. There are apps some people use, which gives guidance on all aspects of daily intake, but I have found tracking calories and carbs enough to keep my on track and losing, so don’t feel the need to make things more complicated.

Some people on the forum are using porridge oats. I personally think they are too carb heavy, but use them if you need to, keeping portions fairly small and counting cals of course (and carbs if you are doing this). It must be difficult on the BSD being vegan, as it knocks out the usual protein sources. Tesco stock a range of vegetable protein powders – have used the Hemp one. That could be a way to boost your protein intake without adding too many carbs. It can be added to shakes, mixed in with soy yogurt etc.

Hope at least some of this is helpful – good luck!

Thanks for the inspiration, Cassandra.

I’ve never tried hypnotism. Someone I know once told me that only intelligent people can be hypnotised. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I don’t fancy finding out that it won’t work on me!

Great sunshine-girl! Sometimes we just have to relax a little and the body takes care of itself!

Thanks for the explanation of the numbers I sort of knew the ranges I just don’t know if they’re the same when taking metformin?? You have done really well and it’s wonderful that you’re able to reduce your insulin. I’d just love to know how low my ‘normal’ range on metformin needs to be before I can stop taking it!

Hi Neddsmum,
ask away – there are lots of people who will be happy to help!
Protein – 40-45g per day is the recommended amount of protein for a woman. You should also be targeting 5 potions of fruit and veg a day at 80g per portion. Like you, I filled up with carbs and a quick meal was a large bowl of pasta with oil and herbs or worse still, tomato sauces out of a jar. You will likely need 60g carbs so you can get the protein from nuts, seeds and veg – but if you are good at cooking soya products like tofu – they are a quick protein hit with minimal carbs and a good amount of fat that helps keep you feeling full.
It is easier if you use some kind of app to monitor your foods, but a spreadsheet or paper will do.
Weighing everything is the most important first step followed by recording it. It is tedious, but it does slow you down getting at food it you are weakening :-).
For the chocolate – so long as it is part of your 800 cals per day, then fine, but I would suggest you cut it down to one square. I had been having a cup of cocoa (85%) for breakfast and supper for about a year and did not want to stop that, it was 5g cocoa powder and boiling water so that was 17cals, 1g protein, 1g fat and .5 carb morning and night from my daily allowance. At the end of the day you need to be retraining yourself for the future, and if a square of chocolate stops you going for other things then fine – it is part of a Mediterranean diet anyway!
Oats – hmmmm, well that is more contentious. I’ve written a few times on that one (https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/breakfast-guidance-please/#post-21083). Most importantly – if you want to eat oats, use rolled or steelcut oats not processed. Also – use in moderation it is good carbs, but not that slow to release carbs. If you are diabetic, then you need to test if they make your blood sugars spike. Some people can tolerate them, others cannot.
Personally, I avoided them but am now reintroducing them with oat cakes.
For snacks – have you seen ITSU seaweed ‘crisps’? Slices of seaweed and salt. My favourite is wasabi flavours. It does not say suitable for vegans on the label so you would need to check the contents yourself. 22 cals per packet and 2g protein. You can get them at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
hope that helps

I can skip breakfast too … usually did when i was working … usually get hungry by morning coffee break. Usually had a small snack … maybe a banana and then a good lunch. Gotta be careful with the bananas.
I sometimes had an apple … pealed, cored, and cut up … seemed like a real treat. Loved that better than trying to eat it whole …. but then again i have dentures 🙂 🙂
More liquids definitely!
Have fun today!!

First half stone off! 👍

Thank you so much for your reply.

Less headachy this afternoon as been consciously drinking more water.

Hope you don’t mind but I have a few more questions…

Can I eat dark 85% choc. (4 chunks a day!) ?

Are porridge oats acceptable?

How much protein should I be consuming? Finding it hard as a vegan. I was obviously ‘filling up’ on carbs before starting this.

More positive today…I’m 1.75 days through! And haven’t reached for a biscuit or crisp. Happy days.

Brilliant results, quinnt. Congratulations! You must be really pleased to see the effects. Hope the blood test results are positive too.

Hi Gymgirl51, I don’t think of it as self-sabotage — you are not your own worst enemy — it is a powerful biological system that drives us, combined with a lifetime of habits and food choices. Your body is frustrated that it doesn’t have the old flow of sugars and easily-digested carbs — even if all that was killing you. And your brain is frustrated that it’s old comfort system (eating sugar) isn’t available any more. Your choice to start this diet and struggle through the days is already changing your body and mind but it takes a bit of time for it all to catch up. Don’t despair and don’t think that you self-sabotaged — just start again and again and again — you are going to surprise yourself one day soon when those treats just look kind of boring and you prefer to wait for a healthy meal coming up.

Snoop, maybe I got it the wrong way round, make you salivate, but it was all in French so I might have lost track (of the most important part) or maybe I just stopped listening. The guy said he was an hypnotist.

Heya Stabber — bread is for dessert — ha ha no seriously, I now eat a bit (1/4 slice) of bread with butter as a treat! It’s better than cake when you have not eaten bread for six months! Reached goals and am on maintenance). You will find it faster and easier to go cold turkey on the bread front. And, as a bonus, when you do eat a bit, it will be an amazing experience. Make sure you eat fantastic quality artisanal bread — don’t waste calories on that pre-sliced rot.

We all have slips and blips. The secret is to not waste time and energy making ourselves feel bad about it, which is likely to make us really miserable and turn to comfort foods. Just refocus, move on, get back on track and push ahead with what you were doing before. The BSD is a fantastically forgiving way to lose and control weight and my bet is, you will see remarkably little damage from this one slip up.
So, forgive yourself for being human and get back to the BSD and exercise and let us know how you get on.

Yup GG! I do!
The age old question..why DO we self sabotage? I think its coz we just sometimes think,
“oh sod it..its there,i want it,i can eat it! I can do what i like! And no one can stop me!”
Just a bit of rebellion. We always regret it later tho dont we!
But i have to say…mmmmmm…Thorntons choccos..pretty damn irresistible! Who can blame you.
Just move on from it…my friends mum has an oddly comforting saying,” while you were eating that,you were eating nothing else! “😄😄😄😄😄 kinda makes no sense and complete sense! X

End of week 6 – 1.2 kg off – Total 12.4 – weight now 111.6
End of week 7 – 1.4 kg off – Total 13.8 – weight now 110.2
End of week 8 – 1.7 kg off – Total 15.5 – weight now 109.5

FBS are now under 6. Most weeks walking over 8 miles. Claudication pain is still there but comes later and doesn’t last as long.

Now into size 38 trousers. Blood test yesterday so will be interested in the results.

Been good all morning then the ‘ Thorntons continentals ‘called me I now have to work twice as hard at the gym and my holiday is 5 days away!!!! Does anyone else have self sabotage days ?

Hi SaraMck, thanks for asking! I’m sorry I missed your message. Well, it’s a month on, I’ve not strayed too far from plan, but, life happens and some (more) prosecco has also crept in. Unfortunately the work drama has not abated, so I’m looking for something new. It’s taken its toll on me though, and I feel myself getting more and more down every day. Tomorrow my partner is back from his latest 2 week stint away, and hopefully with his support things will look up.

The good news is that by blood sugar is much much better than it was, generally sitting in the 4’s & 5’s. I’ve lost 6.5kg which is approximately 5.7% of my bodyweight. I’m almost halfway through week 4 and I’m positive that not only can I make it through to the end of 8 weeks, but I can keep on with this way of eating.

Hope you’re doing well and have recovered from your op.

Thank you SunnyB 🙋

Welcome tattiescone, it’s tough at times for sure. A lot of what you’ve said sounds like me, ‘cept I dont like running, hurts too much. I’m in my second week and lost 2.5kgs, I did eat over my calorie limit, (way less than I used to eat tho) I’m blaming stress at work for over eating, but I did also get loads of exercise at work, up and down stairs by the gazillion. The main thing is you’re starting the BSD. This week I will try harder and stick to the 800 cals. It works. All the best. X

Hi topcac

Migraine is miserable, but was most likely triggered of by not eating regularly, as you may already know, if you have a lot of migraines, but on this plan you do need to drink at least 3 litres and add some salt to your food, your body will be excreting a lot of both, and as you are eating clean not salty food,, you most likely are deficient. So just sprinkle a little on your food. Water and salt is all you need to counteract the carb withdrawal. Occasionally for some this can go on for a week or so, so just plan your meals so you are not hungry, drink, add salt, and wait for the delightful results. Keep us posted, in a month you will be amazed with yourself.
Regards Jan 😊

Just see that there is going to be a new two-parter on BBC1, called The Doctor Who Gave Up Drug. Think this one could be worth checking out Trelawny.

Great to see that you are feeling more positive now sunshine-girl and that you have formulated a way that you can live with the BSD. It is definitely a lifestyle, not a diet and so we each have to formulate how we can make it work for us.
So glad you are feeling you can now put this tread to bed and move on now sunshine-girl – as someone else says, ‘onwards and downwards’.

Well done Sandie! Keep going and keep us posted.

Yes Nedds mum, the headaches is most probably carb withdrawal and is very common early on. Don’t be afraid to take some painkillers if you need to and be assured that this phase will pass and you will start to feel fit and vital, instead of grumpy and headachy.
Sure you will manage to stay the course, use the forum for advise and support and it will help to buoy you up when the going gets tough.
Good luck!

So agree with you on pharmaceutical companies Trelawny, corporate business has nothing to do with healthy living. Curing people s ills is not in the interest of their bank balance, so treating symptoms is most often pretty much the best they do. And sadly all too often, doctors go for diagnosis by prescription, rather then truly investigating a problem and finding the best solution. So we do need to take control and do the best for ourselves that we can.

Funny thing. Got overly concerned about the plateau. Weight dropped below plateau but sugar went up. last two days fasting is really high. the battle is still on.

Hi Amandah70 – I tend to eat when hungry too and find that not my appetite is almost non-existent, howeverI do try to have something at least morning and evening, whether I feel a need or not. Dropping cals too low for too long can be counter productive, as it puts the body into starvation mode, so do try to hit the 800 as often as you can .

hI topcac

Hope you feel better today. I managed to stick to the plan yesterday, it was a bit rough but I did it!
I have had a pounding headache all day yesterday and today tho. I am drinking loads and just hope it will pass as my body gets used to the new diet. 🙁

Hi topcac – feeling rough and headaches are common early on, it’s your body’s way of protesting the withdrawal of carbs. It will pass and meanwhile, don’t be afraid to take painkillers if you need to. You will soon be feeling fitter, more vital physically and mentally and more energised than you have for some considerable time, so do your best not to give in to the demand for carbs.
Be gentle with yourself while you are feeling grim, if you need to rest, rest and don’t worry right now about the exercise thing, it will come.