My sister’s congratulations on weight loss getting a little strained now that she’s realised I’m taking a smaller size than she is – and she is 3 inched shorter than me.

Gavin – the egg looks lovely, but I will stick with my silicone poaching cups – space in my kitchen is as rare as time for stuffing mushrooms!

The too-big clothes are in my storage unit for now – but I have bought back a few boxes of smaller clothes to try on and sort out.

Hi Verano – Metformin
I took myself off it – I was following BSD assiduously, my results had come down dramatically – and everyone elses here had, so I just decided not to take it.
(someone mentioned side effects on another thread – horrendous diarrhea with the regular tablets, OK with extended release tablets)
Because of the problems I’d experienced with the first tablets, I hadn’t been taking it consistently for very long.
When I mentioned at the diabetic annual review meeting, immediate response of ‘lets get an HBaC1 done straight away and come in and see me to review this in two weeks time’ – I somehow think she was expecting to get more drastically improved results back!

Lucky
when I was in my teens I did a three day egg diet – one of those crash diets

Breakfast – egg and a glass of wine
Lunch – two eggs, two glasses of sine
Supper – three eggs, rest of the bottle of wine, steak tartare

I didn’t eat meat then, so I substituted tune for steak – but I lost weight and I was happy!

Am on holiday – so am not counting calories. This is not the amount of protein I would normally eat. Breakfast – half a sausage, one slice of bacon, scrambled egg, slice black pudding, tomato and mushrooms + coffee. Lunch – two cups coffee. Evening meal – starter one oyster, two prawns, smoked mackeral, smoked salmon and crab. Main lamb and aubergines, desert small bowl strawberries and cream plus more coffee. I also did do 15K steps – admittedly quite slow steps as we walked by the sea chatting to our friends.

Not had any shakes at all – a drink never feels like I’ve eaten a meal
I didn’t follow the recipes – too much faff and different ingredients, just kept to low cal and avoided high carb stuff, and generally tried to switch away from higher carb veg that would normally have been my first choice.
I’ve had the occasional glass of wine – mostly white or champagne, but I don’t think I did in the first four weeks (other than one glass on my birthday!)

They don’t get rid of me that easily Frog 😃

There might be a lot less of me, but I’ll still stand up to’ the medics! Think alarms must ring there when I have an appointment! LOL

Spelt is a sort of wheat flour so ideally not.

You could look at gram flour, almond flour or coconut flour, all of which are within BSD guidelines.

can someone tell me what ‘spelt flour ‘ is… can it be used ?

Hi Tokyo – glad to see you back

beer made from elephants? If it’s legal, I hope that they were free range

errm – the rest has disappeared in your case Lynne!

Hehe yowser aka budgie you do make me laugh night night

Thanks JAN..i’ m going to beetle off and grab my book and do some bedtime reading! Night night..heres a bedtime chuckle for you! X happy Bank Hol!
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn276/yowzer2008/image_zpsqy6duyus.jpeg

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn276/yowzer2008/image_zpsqy6duyus.jpeg

A goodnight joke for you all…sleep tight! X

Christi

Under 30 carb typical day:
Breakfast
3 cups coffee with full fat milk 42 cals 4 carbs
Two fried eggs, 6 baby plum tomatoes, served on 20g baby spinach, with 30 g feta 237 cals 4 carbs
Lunch
2 slices Leerdammer cheese, 20g smoked salmon, rolled round 1 head of chicory halved 174 calories 2 carbs
Dinner
110g fillet of salmon cooked in the oven in foil with a (gently fried) topping of 3 baby tomatoes, 1 spring onion, 10g chilli pepper, 10g red pepper with garlic and ginger paste.
150g courgette cut into chunks and dry fried
Served on 20g baby spinach, 1 baby gem lettuce, 20g feta cheese, 10g mixed nuts
1 tbsp of olive oil allowed 448 cals 8 carbs
Total 858 cals 14g carbs 69g fat 58g protein

That would be quite a low day – generally 20 or so. But it can be done!

This morning there was no weight loss or gain, so I suppose that’s a positive.
Breakfast. Passion fruit, yogurt and tea.
Midday meal, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Water to drink.
Evening meal, Mediterranean chicken casserole from the book, Mediterranean cooking for diabetics by robin Ellis, ( the first poldark)
Supper, coffee and nuts,
Extras 1 cappuccino.
we went out to a garden centre, we have to get a news herb trough our last one by our back door has rotted away! I don’t know how the soil is staying put, I suppose all the roots are doing that.
3lb 4 oz loss at the moment.
Christine.

Hi Yowser

Dr m talks about protein malnutrition in pages 93- 96 re heart health and other major organs, and in other places in the book he says if we don’t exercise the major muscles, then they gradually, degenerate, and play a part in increasing the insulin resistance. he suggests simple strength exercises, that most people will be able to do some if not all of, in their own way. He’s giving us a guide of what we are aiming for, and not to scare us, but to get the maximum out of what is and amazing plan. Sure you’ve read it, but we all focus on different things don’t we.
Hope that helps. Goodnight hope you have a good BH😎😎😎

Hi Lynne,
You will do the next three pounds in no time! Looking forward to your next weigh in. Good luck and enjoy York and all the lovely shops that they have there, I hope you find something that you like.
Christine

Hi Yowser49,
You are obviously doing something right and it does help when there is support, or in your case no one to tempt you with forbidden fruits, my problem is the temptation is there 24/7!
Keep up the good work, any idea what your final weight might be? or are you like me, I give myself a goal, then decide to lose a bit more, until I feel happy with my weight that is what i am doing.
Christine.

Thanks Frog and Littledipper!
This is not my final goal. I do them in much smaller chunks so they are achievable. I have re set my fitbit to the next one of 10, 7lb.
The top end of my healthy BMI is 10,6 so the final one pound will be a real achievement. I may not stop there as I still feel wobbly in a few places so will wait to see how I feel then.
Glad you are motivated and I have been a little help to you…..I have Captain Lynne and Hashimoto to thank for motivation and also being introduced to spiralizing . I also had Janeycoughdrop as a buddy who started just before me so we had a sort of parallel journey. There are many inspiring people…..Lucia makes me laugh ! Plus lots too numerous to mention. The great thing is whatever you need help with on here someone usually has an answer.
The best thing is…. this way of getting healthy and losing weight really works. There is no way I would go back to eating sugar and refined foods etc as I feel so much better and lighter and more alive than I have for a long while. It is not always easy and there have been the odd times that I have craved something but know now how to deal with it (todays sudden urge was for a golden syrup butty on bakers fluffy white bread and best butter!… it really wouldn’t be worth the awful gut consequences).
Good journey to both of you.

Hi igorasusual,
Thanks for the pep talk, I do drink loads of water, I have tea for breakfast then water through the day then last thing I have a coffee. I find that the more water I drink the sweeter it tastes so I enjoy drinking it, I sometimes have two glasses of it on the go so that wherever I am there is a glass of water there plus I have a bottle of water by my bed!
How on earth do you keep under 30 carbs a day, I only just manage 50 ! Please do tell.
Christine

Thanks for the welcome, that bread looks good, will look for it thanks Gavin

enjoy the food and the beer janey!! x

Haha you’ve got a few more weeks left of Mercury Retrograde Tokyo, buckle up cupcake! Good to see you back though 😊

Janey? Elephants? Wth???

Glad you’ve triumphed over the wrath of mercury. I blame Lucky TBH. She mentioned it.

We are currently in Norwich enjoying Thai food on a boat and beer made from real elephants. Not BSD friendly and I’m sure I’ll pay the price in the morning!!!!

Well i have had a few rubbish days. ” technology” wise !! first my battery charger died for my phone then they thought it was the the phone then they said no its your charger so ordered a new one !!! then i couldnt get on here as it was believed i was spam!!!! so blocked out then charger i ordered went missing so i upgraded my phone today and the computer in the shop kept dying and then it has taken me all day to sort it out get all my passwords etc sorted so yes lucky i believe in mercury whatsit!!! now tell it too leave me alone !!!!!
on a good note had a lovely tea lamb rogan josh with some bharjis and other bits no rice but didnt miss it was delish oh and a piece of nigellas olive oil cake !!! so that made up for mercury!!!!!

Thanks, Verano and Frog!

Scales were forgivingly stable this morning so I may be spared (let’s face it, I ate far less than I did pre-BSD), and I’ve been completely back on track today despite temptations at work.

Looking forward to next Saturday with contingency plans at the ready.

Be interested to hear what your doctor says. 😃

Because I’ve moved around the country (London, Devon, Cornwall, North Tyneside and now County Durham) I’ve had lots of different doctors, with differing attitudes to diabetes management.

I was in London when originally diagnosed and they provided all the testing equipment. After a year they told me I wasn’t diabetic after all. The oral GTT had been done incorrectly! A year later I’d moved to Devon, had new patient tests and guess what? Type 2 diabetic. They wouldn’t prescribe any testing equipment and wanted me on Metformin, statins and bp meds. I only had the bp meds

Then a move to Cornwall – more of the same. No testing equipment prescribed. I tried statins, stopped them and will not have them again.

North Tyneside originally prescribed test strips, then stopped. Now Durham – again no test strips prescribed. Kept mentioning Metformin and statins.

When they wouldn’t prescribe test strips, I was fortunate enough to be able to afford them – before the days of cheap test strips.

Over the years I’ve learned that, despite what ‘they ‘ said about being proactive in my care, I had to find my own way through. Despite them, not because of them.

So in December when Metformin was again mentioned, Imsaid I was trying the BSD.

The rest, as they say, is history 😃

Day 9 BS 6.2 mmol/L. Did not take my 1000 mm Metformin tablet last night. Shall monitor my BS closely today and tomorrow. I am seeing my GP on Monday to discuss things and check my BP. Hopefully, it will be good news all round. I have lost some weight and my waist circumference is smaller. Have not measured both yet but will when I see my GP. Lucky is still doing well he is hard to get off the bed in the morning it is still cool here around 10 degrees which is very pleasant really, then rising to 22 degrees. Kurrawongs are singing this morning, they have a beautiful call when there is several together. Off for my dog walk.

Hope everyone is well and happy.

JAN. You wrote “I … do the listed strength exercises to prevent for ex heart muscle being used to convert to energy”
Are they listed in MMs book? I cant find heart exercises there but really want to find them as i know its imperative to protect our hearts when we’re on such restricted calories x

Jooles –
My answers:
1. Never did shakes – didn’t sound appealing and had previously tried meal replacement shakes w/o much benefit. Agree with others who say you want those cals for food.

2. No booze at all – moderation on such things is not my strength so I went cold turkey. Not easy but VERY glad I did it. The issue is not just what you drink but whether it increases your appetite after. Seriously this was tough for me as most social settings in my life involve alcohol but SO worth it! Convinced this made a huge difference in my results.

3. Walking. Everyday, everywhere I can. Take the stairs whenever possible. Just do it and keep doing it, whether outside (my pref) or on a treadmill. At least 5 miles a day, everyday. I just had to prioritize it and some days I did go out (I borrowed a friend’s dog, no joke) at 10 at night if I hadn’t made it by then. Plus, my walking time is my mindfulness time!

4. Fitbit – best investment I ever made. Tracks exercise and I use the app for water and calories and weight tracking. Love it!

GreenJanet: pretty sure we started at the same time and pretty sure we have almost identical weight loss goals. I’m in for at least 50lbs more so looking forward to doing it together and celebrating when we hit the goal!

Thank you Yowzer. And it’s all true!

That’s the great thing about this forum, we’ve all been through it and I still recall all the helpful comments when I fell off the wagon, which made me get right back on again…..

I do wish all the starters and ongoing BSDers all the very best. There is certainly inspiration to be found here – not always easily discoverable on the news or in daily life, it’s so lovely to see it amongst us 🙂 🙂

Wow, things have changed then Yowzer! But then apart from one off items I don’t tend to order a lot online unless it’s Christmas.

Thanks Igor, I feel better than I have done for years 😀

What a great post IGOR 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Things you ve said here, they were what i was looking for in the ” chat” after the weigh in at Slimming World..but it was uninspiring..just the ” leader going round and asking everybody what they had lost that week..xx

Thanks Jooles! I haven’t been too disheartened if I didn’t lose in a week as there was always a reason like getting OFF my blood pressure meds and such which was great!
Just keep going!

Just seen your blog photos Lucky – WOW! Fantastic, so well done! You look fabulous 🙂

How are other August starters doing at the half way mark?

To Daisy re gaining weight.

Do you know what your resting metabolic rate is? Suggest you look at this website
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com

You can then set your calories for a gain in weight, and follow the BSD principles as suggested by Izzy to gain weight.
You could, for example, have a BSD evening meal and a side salad with cheese to add calories and fat.
You could switch to full-fat everything if you’re not already doing this, and add butter to steamed vegetables.

But you need to know a) how many calories you’re eating now and b) how many more you need over your target period to put on weight.

Hope that helps

No no no dear FROG theres no going back..you must get rid! We beg of you! x

LUCKY i ordered something from Argos at 3 pm and it arrived at 7 pm same day! Granted he went to the wrong house,but the nice person at that address redelivered it to me😃 ( two very similar addresses)
I was amazed it happened so quickly but delighted coz it was a fan – when the weather was roasting and i was just a pool of heat on the floor! 😃 X

Hi SUOON welcome,youre never in the wrong place on this forum,everyone is here to help each other x

ANTIGONE Got everything crossed for you!well done on getting thru a difficult week..it has happened to so many people here but it passes..all the best for yr weigh in! X

GAVIN 20 thou steps? Respec’ Blud! X

Hello to all the new and imminent starters

As a ‘graduate’ 😉 who lost more than 15% of starting body weight, I didn’t follow the menus at all, although I read the recipes to get ideas and many people follow them religiously and have great success.

I gave up refined carbs entirely, including sugar (and it took me 6-8 weeks to stop ‘noticing’ that I wasn’t having it in tea/coffee), and simply added various things to my diet, having checked on MyFitnessPal their nutritional content. I used MFP constantly to check where I was in terms of meal planning.

So go-to items were:
20g of baby spinach as a base for breakfast eggs, evening meals
6 baby plum tomatoes as my tomato fix in cooking, but also as a treat/emergency sugar rush when eaten s l o w l y
spring onions as less calorific than other onions
courgettes – dry fried 150g in chunks is amazingly low in calories and carbs and absolutely delish
cheese!!!! Feta, halloumi, all sorts – weighed carefully as they’re highly calorific, but also really filling. I ate blue cheese with a spoon as a sort of cheese-cake alternative
Full fat everything including milk
breakfast frittata, 2 eggs plus veg plus cumin as spice.
Chillis! Adding spice to dishes was really fab – have now mastered curry recipes, and more taste in food than ever before
Add SALT – when you’re drinking lots you get rid of it and you need more or you can feel a bit light-headed.

I didn’t drink alcohol whilst at home, and tried to plan carefully if I was out – drinking lots of water in between few glasses of vino.

I used the following website to get my target percentages of carbs/protein/fat –
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com
and you can then type these in to something like MyFitnessPal.

Because I wasn’t type 2 and didn’t have too much to lose – 10 stone 8 lbs starting, and target 9 stone (ended up 8 stone 10 lbs) – I set my carb target low at 20g per day and tried to hit in any case less than 30g. That’s not easy, but it’s doable, and I am still – on maintenance – sticking to that because, quite frankly, I feel absolutely fantastic doing it.

It’s only 8 weeks, if it’s difficult, just do a day at a time. If you fall off the wagon, forgive yourself and get straight back on. It feels endless when you’re doing it but it IS only 8 weeks and the transformation (looking back) is phenomenal over a really short time

Did I mention MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE as your shape will change even when the weight stays obstinately level?

You will feel great, it works, it works, it works, and hopefully your lifestyle will feel great too.

Can you tell I’m a convert? 🙂

As for the slimming clubs – yep you lose pounds, the £ kind. Once a week weigh in and chatter is nothing to the free support we give each other here (and always someone around). The clubs do promote a dependency culture – they need to for the business model.

The only ‘fee’ I have paid on BSD is buying the book, and then I invested in wrist tracker (at a deal price). The only other costs will be new clothes! Though I have a good selection waiting for me to downsize into.

Hi JOOLES i dont do shakes tho theres one or two i fancy the sound of..i just haven’t used my cals that way so far. I certainly wdnt do protein powders unless was sure the ingredients were good..i have heard the contents can be a bit iffy to say the least! So far i have preferred solid food as being more satisfying! ( i’ m nearly thru week 7)

No Much as I love red wine,again i prefer my cals N carbs to be in solid food!

I dont do much exercise due to health probs but i want to get into more exercise..building up very slowly. However it hasnt stopped me losing weight..have lost two stone in six weeks. Due an early mornweigh in so maybe more.
I DO try to keep moving tho as much as poss.
Many people here are excellent exercisers!!..they walk miles and/ or hit the gym. And lots have got apps to monitor how much they move.

I use mynetdiary to log my cals n carbs. And yes I weigh andmeasure everything. Ive tried to stick to the eight week regime like a stamp to a letter! 😃

Good luck! X

Hi 54

The one thing I found really difficult to get my head around at first was eating full fat! Totally opposite to what I’ve done for more years than I care to remember.

Full fat is fine and if the truth be known you really don’t eat excessive amounts of fat …. this isn’t Atkins!!!!!

Wow @happylife that is incredible and really inspirational. To be losing 8lbs at week 17 is just amazing and really shows the power of sticking with the plan even when you don’t lose. It must have been so disheartening when you didn’t lose anything on those weeks but sticking with it has really paid off. I’m convinced 🙂 thank you for sharing your stats.

Thanks Aila

Not got a dog so will have to find a friends !!

hate shakes

My son goes to the gym so I am being brave and going with him 3 days !!

Not too sure on the press ups !

Thanks for the tips

hi Verano

yes ww seemed to encourage you to eat bad stuff… as long as you go to the meeting to buy their low fat things…. you’re in

Was a ww person and put on 1stone in 2 years !!! (oh dear)

Better luck here I hope !

yeah sunshine-girl

sounds like me all over

I am prepared to FAFF as going ‘off Piste; in any way never quite works for me

Thanks for the advice

Frog High blood sugar blhhhhhh you smashed it well done🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😀

Well Jooles here are my answers
I never do shakes except for the 3 that are in the book, melon, blueberries, spinach and almond milk being my favourite. If you mean protein shakes out of a can (powder or liquid) then deffo not, you need to look at the ingredients, if you can’t pronounce it don’t eat it.
Never drink the red wine on first 8 weeks as it does not fit into the calories, you are going to be saving all your calories for food. Leave the wine for later. Maybe if you go on the Mediterranean diet later.
Exercise was a problem for me in the first 2 weeks. I normally swim twice a day for 40 or 50 mins each time (I have my own pool) but found my afternoon b/g levels were getting very low (62 or 3.5) so either had to skip exercise or eat a small amount of yoghurt and a couple of prunes. Worked out that I had to retime when I did it. No good exercising 1 hour before dinner as I was getting hungry and low on sugar. Now I exercise after breakfast, after lunch or after dinner, leaving a bit of time for food to settle.
I used the recipes out of the book and wrote a weekly menu plan following MMs just changing things I didnt like and tried to make sue I got between 760 and 840 per day. Didnt track the carbs because I was only eating good carbs in the menu plans so trusted it was fairly within the 50 grams.
That is what works for me but everyone is different and you will find your own way of doing it. Good luck. It does work.

That is low! But I’m going to have bacon and egg and sausage so I’d best not push it. Plus, I still haven’t had my spelt pizza yet. Pizza was vetoed in place of steak. I know it’s a first world problem to complain about having steak for tea but… meh… pizza, you know?