Onwards we go in January , hoping everyone is still with us ! If you have had a few ‘incidents’ in the last week, just move on. If things are going well, just carry on !
It’s not always smooth but doing our very best to follow the basic principles will get results .

Please continue to let us know how you are doing , any questions as usual just shout out .We have some very experienced and well read people on our thread and their research is invaluable , especially for the complex questions which always crop up .

At the same time there is no need to complicate things .Just avoid the carbage and processed foods , eat decent levels of protein and healthy fats , try a bit of intermittent fasting if you can ..

Looking forward to catching up with our ever growing list of contributors

Wendy, SunnyB and sunshine girl

Yes Wendy why don’t we just do what we have always done (on BSD), because we know it work! Looking forward to the new thread. Thank you.

Sunny so sorry to have missed your special day but 🎶🎉HAPPY BIRTHDAY🎶🎉🎶 The jacket sounds like a wonderful buy.
Yowzer glad you’re back on track …… sounds like the festivities were great! I remember Woolies pick& mix!! BTW won’t watch the Crown on principal!
But I do have positives….
⛱✈️⛱ We’ve managed to change our spring holiday to autumn. I just don’t fancy having to wear masks indoors and out. Hopefully by September that won’t be an issue 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
🌶🧄🥦 Stir fry with, left over chicken tonight so not too much cooking … great!
That’s it for me today. Hope you’ve all had more positives than me. This is one time when if you have more than others it isn’t bragging!
Have a good evening.
.

I’m hopeless with macro calculation too, V , so I am just carrying on with what is sensible and works for me in my old fashioned journal !

New weekly thread coming up !

ODAAT sounds like a plan and probably one that we all need to follow!
I was reading an article about ‘diets’ in general and it was saying that often we are very successful first time round but when we try a second, third or whatever try it’s not as successful …. boredom rears it’s ugly head. I’ve certainly found that to be true so maybe we just need to jiggle things around a bit ….. different eating/fasting times, new recipes, new foods?
Guess we just have to keep things feeling ‘fresh’ , hence the new MM book but there’s not really anything that ‘fresh’. Best of luck getting back on track.

Hi.
Just popping in to say I’ve had a so-so week. I’ve given up on the macros … why do I have to try everything that sounds like THE magic bullet? Anyway, small loss for me this week and just 2.2lbs from my original 10% loss …. surely I can manage that this week!
Then it will be goal no:2 for 2022 for me … definitely a step in the right direction.
Looking forward to 2022 week 3!
Thank you in advance Wendy.

Hi maultby40, as you can see this post is almost 4 years old and the original poster has disappeared from the site. There are still lots of us ‘oldies’ around and always happy to help. If your situation is almost the same as the OP then maybe the advice given at the time might be useful to you. If not, start a new thread giving a bit more information on your situation so people will know what is better for you – we are not all equal. There is also a weekly thread called week beginning and the date. The current one is 11th Jan and the new one will be 18th starting tomorrow. Might be a good time to jump in and introduce yourself. You dont have to say much, just hi.

Hi justasking, to follow on from florob85, you do know they can be kept for another day. I still have some chocolate from Christmas 2020 – over a year old. It doesnt go off, even if it gets a white bloom on it. In fairness, I dont have a sweet tooth but whenever chocolate is around, if I dont snaffle some secretly away for when I just fancy, then I wouldnt get a look in, they would be gone in minutes with grandkids and hubby.

Unlike florob85 I just love the bitterness of 85% chocolate and have a small (10g) square most evenings after dinner, I can keep it in my 800 cals as it is only 50. If however, you cant open the box without scoffing the lot then stay well clear. If your quality box is milk chocolate or under 70g cocoa then I wouldnt eat them but only because I dont like the claggy feeling in my mouth.

If you are motivated you will stick with the diet and leave the chocolates alone until you have done at least 8 weeks.

Hi SUEBLUE our Woolies sold all sorts of stuff..kids clothes,household,stationery,cosmetics..and the much missed ( by me anyway!) PIck and Mix confectionery. Interesting to know your Woolies is like our Tesco! When I was young in the sixties,me and some friends had Saturday jobs in Woolies..one of my friends got sacked for eating the biscuits! They used to sell loose biscuits and big slabs of cake back then.
JENNIE I like yr Xmas memories of Woolies! My favourite W memories are going in as a kid with my mum during school holidays and her giving me two shillings to buy whatever I wanted! Also,buying my first ever make up there!
I’m back to basics too and looking forward to feeling and looking better. I’m a late starter,been running behind the bus all January…and I succumbed over the weekend to family belated Xmas ( due to covid) and had some Christmas cake and a few other bits and pieces..but this week I’m firmly ensconced in my seat,linking arms with my fellow passengers. Good luck everyone on this trip!xxx As Wayne Dyer said…
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”..so keep thoughts and feelings as Positive As Possible!
🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶🌷💕🎶
Ps DAWN hi just seen your post..maintaining is good! Build on that this week..I am with you in spirit and on the bus,as I haven’t done v well thus far this month! XX we can and will do better!🥳🥳

Hi all,just a quick check in,will post more later in the week.Weighed this morning and have maintained(I went off track too much this last week so not surprised no loss) must try harder! Dawn X

Hi everyone ! I hope you had a good weekend . Nothing exciting going on here, no social events so I am in hibernation mode 😉

Clare my veg tends to be the green stuff, so spinach, broccoli, pak choy, courgettes and cabbage right now and I love mediterranean veg , aubergines, peppers and fennel. Fortunately I can resist spuds,carrots etc and leeks is another one to watch . I adore all sorts of lettuce, watercress and rocket.

I have heard of people roasting radishes as a potato alternative but haven’t tried it myself .

Good to hear your efforts are paying off !

I will be back later to set up the new weekly thread xx

This morning’s fast went OK, so 16 hours fast from supper last night. I have had soup for lunch, with some chicken and a piece of cheese, and all are logged in MFP (for the first time in many months).
I am half-way to achieving my >50g protein for today, but looking at previous MFP meals, I should be able to make that up with a decent portion of protein plus green veg to achieve my >50g protein and <50g carbs and still come in under 800cals.
I also boiled 6 eggs this morning to have available in the fridge if the morning fasts start to falter.
Hubby had his blood taken this morning, for the first time since starting this WOE in Oct 2020 (when his HbA1C showed him to be pre-diabetic), so hopefully it is back in the normal range, even with Christmas overindulgences included.
Re. carrots – we don’t eat them as a vegetable side dish on this WOE, but I do tend to include a carrot in a mirepoix (mix of celery, onion and carrot) as a base to most stews and some soups – that one carrot will be divided into at least 2, sometimes 4 or 6 portions so the carb load is minimal.

Hi all, I have a big addiction to sweets, chocolate in particular…

Weigh-in last Friday:
Hubby 15st 9.2lb
Me 12st 1.2lb
It wasn’t a good week for me last week, too many distractions and too many snacks, and I’m feeling a bit meh today.
I have mostly read the new book, no major revelations as I expected, but it was interesting.
Today I have decided to fast this morning, I will have soup at lunchtime and not sure what I feel like for supper – I will have a look at the recipes in the book for some inspiration.
Hubby has his follow-up blood tests today, so hopefully they are in the right ballpark, even with Christmas included.
ODAAT for me this week!

Hi everyone and welcome to another week. If – like me – you’ve not got off to the best of starts the good news is that we still have around 88 days till Easter so there is plenty of time to turn things round 😀

A special welcome to all newcomers and returners who posted for the first time over the last week.

Thank you to everyone who posted about supplements. There are so many! I think I’ll make an alphabetic list of them all, together with any stated benefits and republish on here for reference, when I get round to it. Like Mariet, I currently only take one multivitamin tablet a day – and that’s only when I remember. (Mariet, congratulations on your impending arrival btw, do let us know when pup is here!). But it would be good to have a comparative list of possible supplements for different needs.

Stevoka I also get the dried up stomach! Maybe one or more of the supplements will help with that? Someone mentioned oat fibre. I do try to drink more water but I find if I have too much at once it makes me feel a bit sick. Any other tips welcome . . .

I had cause to go through some old photos over the weekend. Very sadly, my friend’s daughter died before Christmas and I want to put together a collection of photos of her. Many of them are from a holiday we had together almost 20 years ago. There are some lovely ones of her, but it was also a good opportunity for me to see how much better I look when I’m at my target weight. Yes, I also look 20 years younger, so can’t do much about that! But just to see me wearing clothes that fit well and no bulges or muffin tops was a real inspiration. I’d love to get back to that happy place so just need to put the effort into getting rid of these excess pounds and also toning up what’s left. Easy really 🙀 But this week I am determined to stop skulking at the back of the bus and get up front and stick to plan.

Good luck everyone X

Happy Monday all 🙂

How is everyone going? It’s the start of week 3 for me and I’m aiming to be more disciplined than I was last week! It wasn’t a total write off or anything but I only stuck to the plan for 4 days instead of 7, so aiming for at least 5 or 6 on plan days this week.

Today I had to take MIL to some medical appointments so was busy all day. I was so tired when I got home so had a shower then a nap! Hadn’t meant to fall asleep, I was listening to my ‘Lose Weight’ meditation track and dozed off. But I must have needed it and felt full of beans afterwards so have spent the last few hours meal prepping and cooking. I made some more black bean chilli, but used kidney beans instead as I had run out of black beans. This recipe from the new book is SO easy! It’s literally opening a couple of cans and chopping and cooking onion, capsicum, mushroom and garlic. And it’s so tasty! My daughter had some for dinner tonight, she made it into sweet potato nachos with guacamole. I also roasted some left over pumpkin and then a couple of trays of roasted Mediterranean veg – eggplant, zuccHindi, capsicum, mushroom, tomato, garlic, tomatoes and herbs. I used some of this for pizza toppings and then the rest will be used in salads and/or bolognaise later this week. So for dinner I had a pizza made with pita bread – I hadn’t had breakfast this morning and for my (late) lunch I made a ham and spinach omelette which I really enjoyed as I was so hungry!
Usually MIL and I will stop at a cafe and have a coffee and a bite to eat, but I’m not comfortable doing that at the moment. Everywhere I go lately I receive a Covid case alert, even after just 1 minute in the post office last week.

I’m going to finish in the kitchen soon, just want to boil some eggs for snacks and make some Bircher for breakfast tomorrow. I had wanted to make some more Keto pancakes (from new book) but will leave that For another day – if anyone’s interested in them they are great – really filling for the 185 or so calories (even though the serving looks small) and they freeze really well, and only take 30 seconds to reheat in the microwave.

Stevoka – well done on your inches loss, the waist and tummy area is where I really need to lose inches. As for the problem you are having, I’ve read that chia seeds can help, and also psyllium. I take a magnesium tablet every night and that makes a difference – I’m taking it for joint and muscle support, but it has the added benefit of assisting with sleep and also regularity – both have improved for me since I started taking them anyway, so maybe worth a try?

I didn’t go for a walk as such today, well I did with MIL as her appointments were within walking distance but we literally walk at snails pace, so it doesn’t feel like exercise (she’s in her 80s and not so steady on her feet, but flatly refuses to use a walking stick or walker). Tomorrow I’m getting up at 6.30am so I can fit in a brisk walk before work – it’s much cooler and not nearly as humid at that time of the morning as it is later in the day.

Hope everyone has a good week!

SUNNY! Just seen yr post..it sounds like you’ve had a fab birthday 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 many happy returns of the day!XX
Oh the coat sounds like a fantastic bargain! Well done!👏👏 nothing better than getting a bargain!
And yep there’s something to be said for getting older..you become eligible for a state pension,after all those years you paid towards it! XX
PS I’m coming round to yours to give you the bumps!

Hi all and THEODORA great to see you. You’ve done so well in losing AND keeping off! I lost loads but put half back on over three years or so,now trying to get it off again. We live and learn and you’re a great role model!
VERANO enjoy Netflix! I’m no Royalist but I v much enjoyed The Crown.
My positives!
*~ I ve been very lucky! Two Christmas weekends and a five day break..all in the space of 3 weeks. So grateful!
* ~ The above enjoyments have no doubt added some pounds,but that’s ok..it’s well and truly over now,normal life is resuming,and no matter what the scales say tomorrow,I’m going to smash it,crash it,take the joint and trash it in 2022! 😃And THIS time I’ll make sure I don’t regain more than 2-3 lb ..that’s a lot easier to re lose than 2-3 stone!
*~ Finishes a really absorbing mystery story today,and also watched last part of Get Back..I’ve put off watching it because I didn’t want it to end. Living the life of Reilly,nice food and drink,a good book and a great film,what a fab day! And still got Call the Midwife to come😁
Have a fabulous week everyone! For those of us awaiting it,the days are deffo getting longer! X
🌷🌷With the power of soul,anything is possible 🌷🌷 ( Jimi Hendrix ) XX

In my absence, it seems we’ve flipped on to a new page … 104, woohoo!!!!
Good to see you again Theodora, glad things are going well.
V, well done on sticking with the tracking… that’s something I need to get serious about from tomorrow, now that my birthday is done for this year.

Recent positives for me …..
🎁 lovely birthday, including plenty of family time, some lovely pressies and a glass or several of champagne 🍾
🫂 good four day visit with my parents and they have agreed to come and visit us in Turkey in May … got the flights booked while we were with them.
🧥 decided to buy a suede jacket which had been reduced to £85, when I took it to the till it scanned at £42!!! Great bargain – especially given it started out at £195!
🚗 Good journey home today, with very little traffic to hinder progress.
📝 got the paperwork to apply for my state pension … that’ll be in the post tomorrow!

That will do for now I think. Hope you weekend has been a good one, bringing lots of positives you way too.

How many/ much non-starchy root veg e.g. carrots, do you guys consume?….in a roast, would a small portion of these be vastly better than a similar amount of potatoes or would you try and stick solely to above ground veg?

Hello.
Hope the weekend had been a good one.
Theo good to ‘see’ you and happy 5th Anniversay and of course Happy New Year! YES it WILL be a good one! We may have had our wings clipped lately but I’m sure this year will see us all travelling again.
Strange to think an evening out with friends is ‘normal’ but hey an LFT is a small price to pay for ‘normal’. Good to hear you’re keeping your weight low. Must admit I’ve never really had a sweet tooth but I thought we’d have a ‘treat’ a few months ago and bought a couple of sweet potatoes. I took one spoonful and had to spit them out …. sweet … it was like eating a spoonful of sugar. I gave the uncooked ones away!.
Well it’s been a quiet weekend for me. We now have Netflix so that’s been occupying me! I do have some positives though….
⚖️🌶🧄 Still weighing and logging so all is good on that front.
📕🖋👓 My DD introduced me to ‘Wordle’. Beginners luck but I got my first one in three lines. So looks like I have another distraction from ironing!
Sunny and Yowzer and everyone hope you’re all well …. it’s very quiet here!

Hi all
Things are going better. I have lost 6 lbs over the last 1.5 weeks by sticking to the right kind of foods and 12 hr TRE even if not always in the region of 800 cals and also avoiding alcohol which I find derails my efforts.
Love to all,
Tulip xx

Hi JGwen. I watched the podcast – interesting though a lot of it went over my head! Coincidentally, I then caught the tail end just now of The Food Programme on BBC R4: Keto: Diet fad or food fix? Which had David Unwin amongst others (plus somebody who was talking about a 12 week diet of (just) porridge and lentil soup to lose weight…. ). I think it must be available on replay if you were interested. I always thought you took on lambs that were bred elsewhere to fatten up; didn’t know you had your own breeding herd. But good that you are on the mend. I was reading Theodora’s old posts from when she first started as saw her new post on another thread. Inspiring but depressing at the same time as that kind of discard in that amount of time just seems impossible to me. Definitely went backwards over 2021, though not back to square one at least. Good to see you posting.

Big hugs sunshine girl x

Hi everyone, sorry I have been absent, had a lot on my mind. Nothing like illness or grief which puts my problems into perspective, just something that has taken up a lot of my admin time.

Just to dip into the general conversation – I dont count macros, I do count calories in everything and I do take supplements. I take a multivit daily and a probiotic for gut health. I used to take others like fish oils (they put my BG up) and garlic but I eat enough anyway.

Weight loss still on track, still dry for January, although on Friday at around 6pm I asked hubby if it was too early for a drink to which he said ‘no, you have had lots of stress and its Friday night’. My reply was ‘I meant is it February yet’. Sorry, I have a weird sense of humour. Blood glucose is showIing big drops so I have, again, reduced insulin doseage.

Nothing much else to say really. Hope you all are having a good and careful weekend.

Hi sixturkeys.

The ewes and rams live together and don’t really need my assistance in creating lambs 🙂 Because they are what is known as a primitive breed, they are the second oldest of the breeds of sheep and what iron age man would have farmed they have very small lambs and can happily give birth without assistance. Hopefully by the time they are ready to lamb I will be back to walking around the fields to check on them.

Many of the cells in your body are able to take in fat from the blood stream and use it for fuel, they do not need the liver to turn it into ketones for them. – One example of an exception is the brain, those cells do need ketones for fuel. The main reason we measure ketones is that its really difficult to do a home test for insulin levels, the presence of ketones indicates low insulin levels and is easy to test.

I think this interview by Dr Bikman may help you with some of questions about burning fat, insulin and ketones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPL2RYilUms

As it mentions in the video, Dr Bikman does share different research papers not only his own research, in an online session about a year ago he was asked about gut bacteria and insulin resistance. He said that its a field of research which is more recently being studied and at present there are two many variables. I did read elsewhere that most of the research was about the mixture of bacteria in feces which is obviously not necessarily reflective in the range of bacteria in the small and large intestine. I do have a story to add to the mix about gut bacteria and I will tell you that tomorrow.

Hello everyone. Even though we’re in a metric country, we (my wife and I) seem to have an American version of the book with imperial instead of metric measures, so be aware of what edition of the book you’ve got. It’s incredibly frustrating as we have to translate everything into metric.
We also find that some items are in different measures in different recipes, e.g. mushrooms appear both as ‘2 mushrooms’ and as ‘4 ounces mushrooms’, which makes figuring out how much to get quite difficult. Some of the fresh ingredients are often out of season, so you have to work around that too.
We do like most of the recipes but when we made the brownies, they were AWFUL! Took us forever to source ‘cacao nibs’ too. Anyone else got a better experience with this recipe? Or a better version? Ours ended up with our chickens.

Hi Worried,

My situation mirrors your original post and I wondered how you are getting on now.

If you can take the time to update us I’d be really grateful.

Hi guys, long time no see! Sorry, life just seems to run away with me. But lovely to see some of my “old pals” still posting positives 👍 Well done all of you, and well done for still sticking with the programme 👍

I have one HUGE positive today, which I felt shouldn’t pass without some recognition……..

Five years ago today I started my journey on the blood sugar diet. I lost 50lbs in four months (with the help and encouragement of you all) and am very pleased to report that, 5 years on, I’m still 50lbs lighter, and a UK size 8, down from a 16👍So, having struggled with my weight for more years than I care to remember, I just wanted to encourage everyone that your weight loss IS sustainable. I’m not even strict anymore – though I have definitely lost my sweet tooth, and no longer miss the white stuff!!

Another positive, though not of quite the same magnitude, is that we had a lovely supper out with friends last evening at our yacht club, it was busy and things felt “normal”,(everyone had been asked to do LFTs beforehand)

And what’s not positive about the gorgeous weather we’ve been enjoying over the past few days, after weeks and weeks of rain and high winds (here at least)!! We’ve been enjoying long coastal walks, and even had lunch at a beach bar, sitting outside on the terrace, on Wednesday (moules frites – told you I’m not strict 😉)

Keep up the good work everyone, and I’ll try to pop I again soon.

PS Seems a tad late, but happy new year to you all. Let’s hope it’s a good one 🤞

I still don’t have any scales but hoping to pick some up this weekend but measurements showed 1.5 inch loss off my waist this week so I’m happy with that start.

Now each time I’ve started on low carb/keto my stomach takes a few days to adjust and I get constipated despite drinking lots of water etc. I’m finding it’s lasting longer this time. Not that I haven’t been at all but it’s not like usual and I can tell it’s not as much as I need to. Sorry for the details 😆 Anyone else having the same issue? Any suggestions? Or shall I just keep plugging away?

That’s amazing Jgwen. The weight must be falling off you. I think I have a way to go for that discipline. Am definitely prioritising the length of the fast more than I usually would after reading into some of the things you’ve shared.

And you’re totally right that the more you fast and stick to low carb, the less you get hungry/get cravings.

That’s amazing Jgwen. The weight must be falling off you. I think I have a way to go for that discipline. Am definitely prioritising the length of the fast more than I usually would after reading into some of the things you’ve shared.

And you’re totally right that the more you fast and stick to low carb, the less you get hungry/get cravings.

does anyone know how many of the biscuits constitutes a serving? i guess we have to split the dips for different days but i’m not sure how many of the biscuits go with each serving!

Happy New Year everyone. It’s lovely to see so many of us travelling on the Easter bus (horse and all!).
Well, I’m late as ever, but now our son’s gone back to London, the Christmas table is cleared and I’m ready for action.
My Hba1c results (I have Type II diabetes) are still good and my weight is close to goal again (I’m 9st 7lbs – few lbs on over Christmas). So, on paper all that looks great – and it is, hurrah!
But, as an old yo-yo dieter, I do find it challenging to maintain my weight within a good range over time. As soon as I stop weighing my food my portions slowly get bigger and bigger. Also, while I still eat low-carb, I tend to eat the same thing over and over… and then I get bored with my food! (Who’d have guessed!?!). Finally, over the last 12-18 months my activity and exercise routines have been stuttering on and off.

I’m determined, in 2022, to properly get back to the place where I was at my best on this way of life; good health indicators, shiny hair, slim ankles and compliments on my skin (never happened before even in my youngest days).What’s not to love.
So, my plan for our Easter trip is to go back to basics. I do like a target for motivation so I’m going to think about those today. I’ll be on tomorrow to post them, and properly catch up with everyone’s posts.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Jennie xx
NB Yowzer, SueBlue – I remember on Christmas Eve afternoons as a 9/10/11 year old sneaking off to Woollies to buy my Mum and Dad’s Christmas presents (ties, socks, bath cubes, hankies, mix-up bags of sweets). It was always exciting, often filled with men and alcohol fumes. A lovely abiding image of childhood Christmas for me.

Yowzer our Woolies here (Woolworths) is a grocery chain, I guess like your Tesco etc in UK. From memory (and I’m talking 21 years since I last visited the UK), Woolworths in the UK was a variety store, I remember buying clothes and toys in there anyway 🙂
I didn’t realise they weren’t around anymore over there.

Happy weekend folks! I want to say Merry Christmas as so many people I know are having a belated by Covid Christmas..it’s actually Xmas Eve number 2 right now 😁
*~ In honour of the belated Christmases,I’m drinking the Baileys I didn’t get round to opening at the first Christmas.
*~ Got two nice pairs of slippers in Accessorize sale ..love Monsoon and Accessorize ( other stores available!)
*~ Another sunny bright crisp day..they’re making January so much nicer!
💝 Life is short …smile while you still have teeth! 💝

SUEBLUE I envy you having Woollies! They closed down in Uk several years ago and I still miss them! X
STEVOKA i love the doorman visualisation too! X

Morning all, weigh in update from me, I’m down 700g this week, or 1.5lb. I’m pretty happy with that considering the week I’ve had. Turned out to be more of a Stage 2 week (5:2) rather than a strict Stage 1, but at least the scales are moving in the right direction. I was a whole 1/2kg less earlier in the week, going down to 88.6kg which is the lowest weight I’ve been for 15 years at least I’d say, but I regained some of the loss in the latter part of the week. I’m thinking of just weighing weekly to avoid seeing the fluctuations!

I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s posts this week. JGwen thanks for your helpful insights and glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.
Cathy – well done on your loss, it may not have been as much as you wanted but a loss is a loss 🙂
Stevoka – I loved the doorman visualisation you describe! Definitely going to try this.
Mariet – one way increase my protein is having Greek yoghurt. There’s a lovely one I buy from Woolies – it’s called Evia Greek yoghurt and a 100g serve has 6g of protein from memory. It’s so thick and creamy, I have it with berries for breakfast And dollop it on curry and chilli too, or have a spoonful when I’m feeling hungry after a meal still.
Linda & Hubby it’s good to have you back on board and hearing that you are back into BSD again.
Dawn, DCT and everyone else I haven’t mentioned here, thanks for your posts, it’s good to have so many fellow travellers on this journey and to read about your experiences – it makes me realise it doesn’t matter where we are in the world we all share similar experiences and ups and downs.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!
I’m going to be busy (at home) as have some admin tasks to do, as well as the usual housework and helping MIL, but I’m going to set aside time to meal plan and do some prepping for next week I’ll be making a mix of my favourite BSD meals and some from the new book, I’ll have to base meals on the foods I was able to get in my online order, and my pantry store, as I’m staying away from the shops while our Covid case numbers are so high.

Hi.
Another weekend almost upon us but that means we’re a bit closer to spring!
I’ve had a quiet time today but was determined to post some positives ….
🪴🎋🎍My amaryllis has been wonderful. Two flower stems each with three flowers but now down to four flowers that look like I feel …. a bit ‘droopy’. Nothing positive there but I’m going to attempt to keep the bulb until next year and get a second round next winter.
⚖️🥦📕 I’m planning! Today was a bit of a ‘random’ day but I realise that I do so much better when I plan, rather than eat and then log, so this week will be my ‘plan before you eat’ week. At least I have learnt something this week!
🌶🥦🍅 I was reading about a different 5:2 today where the ‘2’ are meat free days. We do eat fish at least once a week but think we might try 6:1 to start with one meat/fish free day. Although, I have to admit I’m not sure about the wisdom of meat/fish free if it’s replaced with some vegetarian ‘ready made’ food. Need to give this more thought.
Not sure I’ve posted anything positive … but I did post …. that’s positive!
Have a lovely weekend.

Hi All, Well….on track with no naughty carbs at all since…..? Can’t remember which day..I think it was Wednesday….lowish cals but not 800. It’s progress, and I am weighing less again….however, much of that is water weight I expect, and I actually need to stick with it long enought to shift some fat…..what is it about day 3 that makes me crave carbs?
Tulip xxx

Encouraged by my “personal mentor” (knows who she is…) just dipping back in. JGwen, I am sorry that you have been so poorly, but glad you seem to be improving, bit by bit. Are you getting more lambs in (I recall you have hardy breeds which lamb earlier) or will that be too much for this spring? You may have come across this, which though I don’t understand the complicated chemistry side, I understood enough to find interesting: https://www.gutxy.com/blog/understanding-the-role-of-gut-microbes-on-eating-behaviour/. Who would have imagined some microscopic gut bacteria would be so clever and have such a hold on its host. Also, on the ketones discussion, as I understand it, ketones are a form of acid produced by the liver when it has no glucose to process, so uses fatty acids to convert into ketones which are then sent round in the bloodstream to muscles etc for energy. My (basic) question is: how does fat from fat cells in eg my legs, get to my liver? Do fat cells get some message that they should release fat, which is then picked up in blood, circulated back to liver then converted into ketones? And if so what sends the message? Initial ketones or something else? Hopefully between you and Lauren a simple answer as would be interested!

My experience is that green leafy veggies can be eaten in MASSIVE quantities with no damage.
It is my favorite way to fill my stomach and feel satisfied. I never count calories or carbs with greens, only the fats I use to cook them.
You can also steam them and avoid all fats but a bit of butter goes a long way!
I like SPINACH sautéed with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped garlic (finish with fresh lemon), KALE chopped and sautéed in butter, CHARD slow cooked with onion and butter, COLLARDS slow cooked in chicken broth and topped with a bit of bacon, WATERCRESS sautéed with butter — any green leaf thing is wonderful — absolutely packed with nutrition and you can eat a lot of it with your protein for a satisfying meal!

Thanks Lauren that helps with my confusion.
I’m not planning to follow the keto version so won’t be testing my ketones and was using the non-starchy vegetables options to increase fibre in our meals.
I’ll keep an eye on my net carbs in the green veggies and not bother counting their calories for the time being while I enjoy trying all these gorgeous recipes 😀
Thanks again Lauren

Hi Stevoka
I have something like a spanish omelette or veg cooked in the microwave with a layer of cheese, or stuffed mushrooms using cream cheese. The longer you have between insulin responses the better.

The bacteria which feed off sugar are able to signal to your brain that they want feeding. They are able to multiply rapidly in response to a meal. The best way to reduce the urge to eat is to reduce their numbers by not feeding them.

Hi Cate, I think in the original BSD book MM suggests counting ALL calories, but when he moved onto Fast800 which is very similar, he suggested don’t bother counting calories for green non-starchy veg – remember though with both BSD and Fast800 the key is keeping your carbs low, and the calories will sort themselves out. Realistically for what you’re saying, you’re probably looking at less than 100 cals, probably less than 50, so I would say don’t worry. I do track my vegetables but this is mainly as I try to stay below 30g carbs and it all adds up, calories wise it’s negligible – for example I’m having spinach with tea – 50g but only 8 cal, and only 0.5g carbs. You’ll find what works for you, some of us are more strict than others but mostly try to get the principles right for now and then the rest will come as you learn 🙂

Lauren xx

Hi everyone, I started on BSD on Wednesday and I was wondering if any of you could clarify something for me please?
With regards to the recommendation to eat half a plate of green non-starchy vegetables with most meals – do we count the calories for the vegetables?
For example: last night we had the fish bake from the BSD recipe book (gorgeous by the way!) and I served it with steamed broccoli & savoy cabbage. I only counted the calories in the fish bake, but now I’m wondering if I should have counted the broccoli & cabbage too.
Thanks

Hi All,
Forgot to wish everyone a Happy New Year when I sneaked on before really boarding the bus, shame on me! Well a Happy New Year to everyone & great news today that the Omicron wave seems to be rapidly diminishing. What a glorious day to joining the bus trip too with wall to wall blue skies & sunshine here despite being a little nippy.

Our Christmas binges went on from November until a couple of days back & boy did we binge! Shame on us! The Christmas bus was a fail for us, despite initial good behaviour we managed to both put weight on. OK just 7-8lb each BUT it could have been a LOT worse. Now we’re ready to take back control, stick religiously to the diet & hopefully to lose all we’ve accumulated and much more – fingers crossed. Please fell free to whack both of us with wet lettuce leaves Yowser whenever you feel like it.

Supplies of the good stuff are in, more coming today – let’s hope our delivery has all the goods this time. I think we’re going to keep primarily with the BSD although we’re going to up the 20 carbs we tried to religiously keep to initially, probably to under 50 & to eat a little more protein. I’m not going to count calories or to weigh the food we eat religiously. Yeah, we both know we’re probably piling our plates too high with veggies BUT not going to worry about that unless we don’t start losing. Macros – can’t be arsed dealing with those at the moment, sorry! Read Dr Mosley’s book but gained little from it, except maybe to realise we need to start & stay on this WOE – We thoroughly enjoy this way of eating so why come off it? The carb monster has finally been kicked out the door.

Gotta go get ready for the delivery & to prepare our 1st meal of chicken tikka curry over lovely cauliflower & broccolli. Tonight we are having the 2nd part of our lovely veggie soup. YAY! It’s SO good to be back on the bus.

Take care all, keep on keeping off. Linda & Hubby XXXX

Sorry to hear you’re still struggling jgwen. I hope that all this healthy eating aids your recovery.

I’m interested by the OMAD. Do you eat pretty much what you want then? I don’t mean the really naughty stuff but like carbs, fat etc. What does your OMAD look like?

I’m noticing now that I’ve dramatically reduced the carbs I’m not hungry anywhere near as early in the day so thinking of trying to start eating later. I got to an 18 hour fast the other day with little bother.

We’re teaching online at the moment which means less movement and more being in my kitchen which isn’t handy but so far so good. My brother when he lost a ton of weight did it by imagining a little door man in his mouth and then he had a list of foods that were allowed in and a list of foods that weren’t. Apparently the visualisation worked really well and I’m keeping that image in mind especially when I’m surrounded by yummy things 😀

Hi guys,

I am having a good week so far, am back on the waggon with “dirty” fasts of the occasional coffee with double cream as well as drinking soda water and OMAD which is keto. I have the metallic taste in my mouth of being in ketosis but am still struggling with lung capacity so haven’t managed to go back to using a breathalyser to monitor level of ketosis. My body is getting rid of water retained which is making my clothes fit better.

I wanted to chime in with my supplements.

I take a calcium, magnesium, zinc supplement, to help prevent cramps.

I take Mycopryl 680 from BioCare periodically. There is a lot of research that a caprylic acid is very beneficial in controlling the amount of bad bacteria in our gut and creating an environment which supports the good bacteria. When I am feeling under the weather or have a digestive upset I will take it for a period. Anything from delhi belly, getting back on track after eating carb. At other times I simply mix coconut in with greek yogurt if the carb hungy gut bacteria are trying to promot me to feed them.

Hi guys,

I am having a good week, I have got back into the rhythm,. I have fallen back into a pattern of “dirty” fasting, the occasional coffee with cream as well as soda water. Some of the water retention has eased. my clothes including my socks and shoes are more comfortable and I am feeling more mentally alive. I am back to eating OMAD and thats keto. I have the metallic taste in my mouth but don’t have the lung capacity back yet to use the breathalyser to check on levels. Or rather trying sets me off coughing and I have had enough coughing for a while.

I am still needing to rest after relatively small amounts of work. but I would guess I am back to about working at half the normal pace. I am not falling asleep on the settee during the day, and am mentally more alive, but still run out of steam with physical jobs. Just carrying a bale of hay out to the horses exhausts my energy reserves and I need to rest for a few minutes. But at least with the mild winter its only one bale needed by the herd each day. Normally at this time of year it would be 3 bales a day.