I came back from Jupiter because it gets too cold over there! But coming back home I bought a plot of land on the Moon:

http://www.lunarland.com

Santa Claus could buy your son a piece of the Moon for Christmas!

Yeh, my imagination makes me buy land out of this world! 😀

Just like the Witch Of The West:

You are MELTING! MELTING!

Keep it up!

Hello Ruth:

Thanks for reading my eating habits journal and some bits if my bitching to myself! 🙂 Willpower and change of habots! That is the secret to success!

Yeh, I really do not need the pinstriped suits since I retired (like everyone else after 10 years) from Wall Street. very cut throat, especially when working in Tokyo, Tel Aviv and Shanghai. You are right maybe not 20 suit! But I need a good ten of them. I have 3-4 for each season of the year. I change colors and styles as the weather changes. the same goes for shoes.

Yeh, me! A guy! As a guy, I have 14 pairs of dress shoes. Amazing for a man to confess this! believe it or not, leather goods custom made are best not in India or China or Hong Kong! The best was Medellin and Bogota in Colombia and Cuenca in Equador. Yeh, I have an apartment in Medellin (The Cocaine Capital Of The World)!!! Well, not anymore! Only in America do people look at me funny when I say that I live in El Poblado. They ask where is that? I say medellin, Colombia! They think I am a crack dealer or something of the sort! LOL Ignorance = Blindness

I wear a suit everyday…. or atleast a Slazanger polo shirt with a Blazing Blazer! Fred Astairre was not very attractive. But, when the cane, tophat and suit came on when dancing with Ginger Rogers or on the top of the ceiling:

HE WAS A DIFFERENT MAN!

Clothes Make The Man!

A Sloppy Joe Recipe:

Get 5 or 6 hamburgers
Let them defrost for a good hour from the freezer
Cut them up until they are minced meat
Get a jar full of tomato sauce
Dump all in a pan and cook for a good 10 minutes!

DONE

Put on hamburger buns and you have a Sloppy Joe!

But, I do not use buns. I make zuccini or summer squash or Speghetti Squash and put Sloppy Joe on it.

I SWEAR that these are the best sneakers you will ever own! Merino wool in my sneakers and suits. So soft and so breathable!

http://www.allbirds.com

Cheerio,

Daniel

Hey there again Igorasusual,

Thanks for the last reply too, you people are full of good ideas…

But what is a courgette??? I have never heard of it… Well I guess I can just look it up on google so don’t tell me but I will try them.

I have got My Fitness Pal and I have changed my calorie goal to 800 on there so I will see how I go..
Yeah Cauliflower is great as mashed potato, we learnt that one doing the Tony Ferguson diet…

Thanks for all the advice

Just reporting mission achieved. At least what I had to do. New uniform is size 14 and only needs skirt hemming. Last one (size 24) needed jacket sleeves shortening & shoulders altering). One blouse (different style/manufacturer) was a size 12!😃

For those interested in such things – I was just fitted for new uniform and slipped in to a size 14. One blouse (different style/manufacturer) was even a 12 😃 Only work needed was skirt hemming. Last time jacket sleeves needed shortening and shoulders altering 😱

I’ve noticed my sinus pain and headaches have pretty much disappeared now too. Had always thought they were dairy related, but having ditched the carbs they seem to have some relationship to the sinus problems, as they are really good now – no more pain.

Hi Langerhans

but the good thing is – you’ve made a start on BSD, so that’s a great first step in changing all those things

As well as long term goals, which may seem out of your reach, like halving your weight, do set yourself some short term targets too, whether that’s weight, fitting into certain clothes, achieving a physical goal.
If you don’t have one already, invest in a pedometer, that’s a good starter to upping your activity levels.

hope that everything goes well for you

well sat having lunch good old cottage cheese salad!!
banging head thats what you get for eating too many goodies on your hols!!!
not craving anything bad really yet just get these next few days over back on track before you know it !!!!
i am attempting some baking next week not sure what day lucky but avoiding a friday maybe a thursday!!! hoping not to have a thoroughly torturous Thursday which accompanies epic fail fridays !!!!

Yes, gluten can make such a difference for us. I wish it wasn’t so- I love bread! I read somewhere that it can take up to 6 months for gluten to get completely out of your system. If you’re on Facebook, much more can be learned in the group “Hashimoto’s 411.”

Thank you everyone 🙂

Day 3 and headache is appearing. It went after some paracetamol yesterday thankfully. So im hopeful it will shift again today 🙂

Now to gorge some chicken and greens for lunch 🙂

Anyone any tips for yummu lunches? Easy to prep working in an office?

Hi Christine
Although there’s some things that are frustrating about being on the diet when just cooking for me, I realise that I’m hugely fortunate in not having to be around people filling the house with sugary stuff – temptation is easier to resist in the supermarket!

Hi Sue

Great that you read Bill’s thread, his is such a great story 🙂

But I don’t quite understand why – if the liver always clears out BS overnight, therefore causing higher results in the morning whatever you’ve been eating – you feel you want to aim for a declining trend in a fasting blood test. Surely that will be beyond your control?

Anyway, I do think you are doing really well, and 57 is very close to normal for your HbA1c, great stuff. OH has moved from 90’s and 70’s down to 54 and 55 and is off his metformin.

With regard to ‘bad stuff’, of course again that’s your choice. Hope eating it up won’t affect your results. We feed all our ‘bad stuff’ to guests! 🙂

So, on Day 3, which is good. Usual VLCD symptoms but it will pass.

Anyway, does anybody else recognise this feeling? Years of self delusion that I’m cuddly, curvy, well-rounded, comfortable in my own skin, BBW, etc…

And then the realisation that I am mornidly obese, over twice the weight I should be. The reason I get out of breath isn’t just mild asthma, the effort to get up stairs isn’t just that they’re steep, the choice to wear loose tops and skirts or yoga pants or voluminous dresses isn’t boho chic. I am fat. Dangerously fat.

Three months today since I started BSD (well three months yesterday, but this mornings weigh in was the results of three months, if you see what I mean!)
None lost this morning – ill advised early morning snack of nuts and dried cranberries, but none gained.
Overall, 13.5 kilos – so 4.5 kilos a month average, I’m really pleased with that.

I am NOT going down Quinnt’s route this morning of how much I would have lost if I’d not eaten X
(and in my case, that would probably run to a full alphabet, not stop at B for barbecue!)

I’m seeing the diabetic nurse tomorrow – not entirely sure what for, because I’ve not had any blood test recently, but the surgery called and said the appointment was overdue.

Hi Christine,

Yep I ate “bad” things a ew times and really suffered… Son In Law went on a Sour dough making course… warm fresh bread… with butter and honey… OMG nearly tried to kill me!!!!… could really feel it moving along in my gut.. and the headaches that I always thought were sinus related… Boy am I glad not to have the daily headaches anymore…. I think it is more expensive to live like this – food wise at least… but it just takes a bit of rethinking… like when I am really hungry at lunch time and would have eaten take aways – which are nearly always full of cheap carbs… I now buy a barbecued chicken and eat my fill… just very satisfying … always have a box of nuts about the place and in the car… and water water water… and coffee…. Keep on with it .. it is after all nat a race… just a lifestyle that is doable… ENJOY
Oh and I have discovered that the 90percent lindt is only 12.5 percent carbs… you can only eat a couple of squares and I find it smoother than the 80-85. Quite enjoyable and keeps the magnesium levels up to aid sleep…. so it is medicinal yeah!!!

Fatty

Hi Lucky
thanks for the confirmation – want to know I’m trying the “right” stuff.
Although I had a bit of a binge last night – I ate all of the jelly, then found a jar of nuts and dried cranberries.
I didn’t put weight on, but didn’t lose any either.
Maybe I won’t make the diversion to the shop that stocks it today! (not sure I can resist it being in the cupboard!)

Sorry to hear about your foot. At the exercise group I go to we do one where you extend the leg, then circle the foot – you can do it with a resistance band for added impact. Might help
You can do it standing, to improve balance and coordination as well, or sitting down.
My chiropractor recommended the same exercise when I had a problem with foot pain a few months ago – although that was more with the arch of my foot than under the heel.

I had a similar problem about fifteen years ago when I was walking a lot – mostly occurred on long walks, but could persist once it had kicked in . My GP referred me to podiatrist, I turned up and was talking about problems with walking – realised I needed to clarify and added that it kicked in after ten miles or do, and got the response of “why do you want to walk that far?” they sorted out shaped insoles for me for my walking boots, which I still have.
Amazingly, it was the chiropractor, where I was visiting for another problem, that solved it. After he’d done my back we were chatting about walking at the end of the appointment & I mentioned the problem – he said he’d see what he could do. Magic hands! A bit of manipulation of my foot, something clicked a bit, and totally sorted.
When I had a similar problem earlier this year, I got a few odd looks when I said “my foot hurts, I need to see my chiropractor” but they do take care of all things skeletal, not just the spine!

Hi Igorasusual and Frog,
Igorasusual – I tried doing my bloods at other times of the day and got higher scarier results (one was over 17!). I know about the dawn effect and have had conversations with Bill1954 in the past. I figure if I do my blood results in the morning – whatever the actual figure- if it goes down that is good and if it goes up it is not so good. I put my results in a graph to see the overall trend. The first three months showed an average of around 10 which came out on the actual 3 monthly HBa1c results as 57. Over the last three months the average is around 9 so I am hoping for better results. I was due to get bloods done today, but my antibiotics would affect the results so I am booked in to get them done next Wednesday.

Frog – I weighed myself in my pj’s and knickers from the start, so the weight I put down is the weight I am in my pj’s and knickers! I found a change of mattress and bedding helped with my nocturnal toilet trips several years ago. When you lose weight you snore less and you get a better sleep.
I just had a bog standard cheap 12″ pizza and some tortilla chips – usually I would eat half the tub, but I ate less than a quarter. It was nice having pizza for a change – we used to eat it once a week. I made some mini pizza’s with gram flour a while ago.

When I started the diet I didn’t throw out all the “bad” stuff – I left it in the freezer and waited until I was normal BMI. Now I am going to have one or two a week until it is used up and wont buy any more. I can’t stand to waste food. No doughnuts in the freezer unfortunately mainly pies, pizzas and quiches.

Hi Fatty,
Good to hear you are maintaining your diet even with everything that is going on, well done, I’m afraid I haven’t been as successful as you!
I have had five weeks of being here there and everywhere, childmind, dog minding and a visit to my brother in France, I was so thirsty one journey that I bought a bottle of Diet Coke, I drank it and within the hour I had a raging headache, and felt awful, so you live and learn whatNOT to eat, I’m still a sucker for chocolate and desserts of life kinds! So I have to be really strict with myself.
You are in the same realm as captainlynne, who has also lost such a lot, congratulations to you on moving from size 22/24 to 12/14, that is some going!
Christine

Hi frog,
I stayed up late to watch the cycling, it’s been a nerve racking time, even our daughter came down to see what we were shrieking at! It is odd both the keirin and the omniumm! It took me ages to get to grips with it, the team persuit is the only one that’s easy to understand, not easy to watch though especially when it comes down to the wire, so proud of our cyclists they are all brilliant!
I am a bit cross today, my husband and daughter went to the local tesco express yesterday afternoon, just before our evening meal, they brought back two apple turnovers, one hot chocolate fudge cake, a (big) bar of cadburys whole nut and a bag of maltesers! They ate the apple turnovers in the garden with a glass of cloudy lemonade! however I think they were really cruel to do that on the day after I told them I wanted to get back to my strict diet for the rest of the month! Husband suitable chastened when I told him, daughter just said I’m not on a diet, (although SHE definitely needs to be) I’m determined not to succumb to the delights that they have brought into the house!
Thanks again for the maltesers break down.
Christine

Well, this could be really great in exploring foods – very well done for being willing to try!

There are many things which I’ve come to really appreciate:

-chillis in various forms – I adore a chilli pepper added to a veg stir fry, simply yummy!
-courgettes – people rave about spiralised (use as pasta substitute) but I simply sear mine in chunks in a nearly dry pan until they are browned, and they taste delicious – hardly any carbs either so what’s not to like!
-other vegetables with lots of butter on – full fat is good for you on BSD and helps fill you up
-cauliflower (there is a separate thread about all the various ways to cook that – use the search box top right to find it)

But do be careful about things with lots of sugar in – if you get MyFitnessPal or an equivalent app, you can check the nutrition of your meals.

Tinned corn, and beetroot, as well as carrots, have a lot of sugar in (you may be mildly addicted to that), and are therefore quite carb-heavy, and if you can aim to keep good carbs under 50g per day within your 800 calories, this will help with weight loss. The eggs, meat, cheese, nuts part of your salad are great – although nuts have lots of calories, so watch out with portion size.

Good luck, and enjoy! 🙂

Hello Everyone… you all seems like old friends….

I don’t know what week I am up to… but must be about 20-24 somewhere…. I have been off the air while we have moved home to OZ from Germany… and managed to stay on task so far as the diet goes…. OH has now lost more than 10kg because he just saw how much better my energy levels were and he ate what I served up at night – then changed his breakfast and lunch to avoid feeling the HUGE SLUP in energy that always plagued him after lunches….

SO where am I … no idea what I weigh – as no scales about – and I did not measure… but any rate… I have had to chuck the clothes I did bring home.. and now wear a size 12-14 . and my old stuff was 22-24… so have lost a fair bit. no calorie counting any more.. just very low carb and don’t even want to treat myself to them as they make me feel so so so bad!!!… and I naturally fast about 16 hours every day – I have always dislike breakfasts and so now that I eat by what my body wants – I just don’t eat till I am hungry – about 11-30 to 1-30 ish… so … all good….

Having fun catching up with everyones news… WELL DONE TEAM!!!!!

Cheers
“Not so very much fat anywhere anymore” FATTY

Hi Ziggy

you are evidently well on course to being a mystery to medical science.

OH came off all his metformin after his doctor’s visit yesterday, and after having generally low blood count (including platelets as I mentioned previously), with prescribed iron tablets, the doctor told him the results were generally marginal and not a reason for worry. So he is continuing with just 1 iron tablet daily.

With regard to the B12/folate levels, he doesn’t seem to have experienced those, so no detailed help, sorry. As quinnt says, Mr Google doesn’t have much helpful to say, does he.

Can’t believe that the BSD food would affect this adversely, though? You are emulating Popeye with regard to the spinach, you said.

I expect you will have to explore it all thoroughly with the medics at your appointment, and doubtless they will be equally puzzled. I’m tempted to think these are just freak results and go to show how variable the range of acceptable levels actually are.

Good luck, and it will certainly help to take Folic Acid tablets if you are intending to get pregnant. (joke).

🙂

Thanks for the positive words Avila. I shall dip into this thread every now and then to see how you are all doing.
I feel better energy wise already, just eating a few more cals and carbs, but being sensible (mostly!).
xx

Hi Sue

I thought I was the only one that weighed my nightwear!
I checked it was all similar, then if I weigh when I’ve got it on, subtract 300g

My sleep is hugely disrupted at the moments by being drawn in to watching the Olympics until silly o’clock, but that aside, has improved dramatically since I started BSD (no more frequent trips to the loo thru the night for one thing!) I think that I am on a far more even keel because I’m sleeping better.

oooooh – pizza – my mouth is watering at the thought!
I did buy some mozzarella at the weekend – planning to make my own with a gram flour flatbread base.

The other thing, keeptrying, which might make a difference, is slow release magnesium. These definitely help with cramps, or at least did with mine

Just wanted to say well done! Your amazing results are very motivating.

Hi Sue

If you are measuring fasting bloods then you may get high results. Can I suggest you put Bill1954 into the search box and read his fascinating thread ‘This has to work for me’ which discusses fasting blood results. He moved to testing before and after meals as a more reliable result.

My OH has also been told by his medics that fasting bloods can be very misleading, because the liver clears out all the sugar overnight, producing a high level. He has just come off all his Metformin after the latest HbA1c results (which as I am sure you will already know, take an average over three months) which were normal. His doctor specifically mentioned that these were the indications she would be relying on, not fasting blood tests.

I hope this helps as I think you will be doing much better than you think!

🙂

Hi Keeptrying
I just made a typo & nearly started keep prying!

It sounds like things are very frustrating for you at the moment – are you still losing weight, or on a bit of a plateau?
Also, how many carbs are you aiming for daily? there’s quite a big range among posters – if you’re currently doing very low carb, would it work to increase it a bit, but still cutting out the big carby food groups?

I did have a few days of my legs being really painful a few weeks ago, and took ibuprofen for a couple of days – I usually avoid painkillers and meds when I can, but found it really helped (along with hot baths), and have been fine since then – apart from a bit hobbly yesterday evening after mammoth walk on Monday.

Hope that things start getting better for you soon

Yes Igorasusual. My morning routine is get up, go to the loo, get weighed and do my bloods. I have three sets of PJ’s that are similar in weight so the results can be comparable.

I ate a full pizza and some tortilla chips last night hence today’s disappointing results.

Day 179 today weight 9st 7lbs
Blood Sugar 10.3

Thanks, Frog. Will take a listen.

Hi – I know that vegans need to take B12 supplement but not sure on the others.

Morning Izzy
well done with the bacon roll!

Hi Quinnt
good luck with the meds – I went through about two years of a cycle of being prescribed one med that caused another problem, then the med for the second problem kicked up something else…. thankfully it all got resolved without the serious surgery that was being advised at one stage.
Lots of meat and salad with no carbs doesn’t sound too serious – if you avoided the temptations of all the dips, sauces and rolls sounds like a quite a good result, even if the portions took you over the 800.
Good news that the circulation problems seem to be improving – being nearly 10kg lighter must be helping with that.

Hi Lucky, maybe I will. I need to finish my editing first lol.

Break time at our team meeting- successful avoidance of bacon roll 😊

Aaaaand a lady who works here and only sees me once a month just did that wonderful thing that we all love… Asked me if i had lost weight 😀 always a nice boost to have it noticed.

Ah well back to the meeting!

have a good trip Melgirl
If your staying in western hotels, maybe try to make sure that you eat a filling breakfast, where you know that eggs, meat and cheese are unlikely to have hidden sauces or coatings.
It depends where you’re eating out as well – if in western hotels as well, you may find that you don’t get anywhere near authentic local cuisine!

Hi Steve – well done and very inspirational.
It good to see others at around my starting weight and what can be achieved – I think the exercise has made a lot of difference to you and I am gradually increasing the amount I am doing.
Thanks for sharing

I think 4 lbs off in the first week is wondrous- well done! Each person loses weight at different rates but it doesn’t matter as long as you keep on it and the trend is down. Good luck with week two!

Interesting reading about ‘Policemans Foot’ – I’d never heard of it until, coincidentally, yesterday! Just came up in conversation. Feeling much better today thanks Lucky – not sure how ‘bad’ wine is 🙁 This morning I was tempted to eat something bad for no reason other than wallowing in self pity LOL! Not really – I’m good and determined to keep going with this. It really is amazing how you lose the desire to eat carbs. I won’t be riding today but I can walk so no excuses for me! It’s too hot to go outside in the afternoons here (France) currently so it’s early and late for walking etc..

Hello keeptrying,
Isn’t it trying that we’re all so different no one thing is right for everyone. So we have to find the answers.
Do you like black coffee? I find it helps hunger cravings. Even if I sip it a bit and throw the rest away. But I have to be careful – I have such a peculiar stomach and some coffee beans don’t agree with me, leave me feeling ill for days!
How much weight have you lost since you started?

Hi
Two days late this week due to job interview. Thanks for that Frog – the raised BP is something to do with kidney damage, the problem is they want me to take a pill that can cause even more kidney damage.
Week 4 – 1.8 kg total loss 9.8 kg – test BS 2 hours after eating and raises to 8-9 down to 5.3 so pleased with that. Resting BP 135/88. Resting Pulse is now 56.
Went off the rails on Sunday with family BBQ, I ate loads of meat and salad but no carbs. So would have lost about 2.3 kg without that but felt in control.
Did over 7 miles of walking, the claudication pain is coming later in the walk and does not last as long.
The really pleasing thing is that I am the lightest I have been in 24 years since leaving the Army. Went shopping yesterday and bought some shorts and trousers for next Summer which are 6-8 inches less that what I had for this year.
Picking up a rowing machine from a friend this Friday so will incorporate that into a daily exercise routine.

janey your too good for words!!!!!

Thank you SunnyB, my thoughts are Soups without the noodles (is coconut milk ok?), Stir fries without the rice/noodles and Fruit. My portion sizes has reduced so fingers crossed I’ll arrive back home lighter!

well the leg pain isn’t going, its not actual cramp, it is stiffness and aching in the tops of both legs, hips and low back

I now drink broth twice a day, and there is no difference

I am at a loss
and of course the more stressed I get about it the worse it all feels

my whole body is begging for carbs I think and soon I will be caving
the low carb/ketosis, does not burn up tonnes of fat for me
I do not have loads of energy

maybe, just maybe, some people are not made to function like this

trouble is it does help with some of the bingeing, and returning to carbs certainly WONT

at a loss

Thanks for info Frog. You seem to be very clued up on this site.
May I ask you a couple of questions?
Are the emails I receive only from sites I have visited?
How do I make a general post for all to see.
Do I have to keep going into different threads.
How do I post on my own thread.

In other words how does this system work?
Sorry a lot of questions. I hope you don’t mind me asking.

Minnie

Ate some bread on Monday……not much (actually less than a slice) but it was the first I’d eaten in 6 months.
Been following BSD 800 during that time so avoiding processed carbs especially.
Read the info about gluten free yesterday and then ……how I felt yesterday made complete sense.
Hope I’m not being a hypochondriac or that it was a psychosomatic symptom. Actually I was feeling like this before my google search.
Couldn’t understand why I felt a bit awful yesterday. Bloated, tired with tingling hands and feet. All my old stuff……pre diet.
Apparently only a small amount of gluten can make a difference……oops!!!!
Close to reaching my target weight so if I had reintroduced gluten type carbs it would have been a big mistake that I wasn’t properly aware of. Ignorant newbie mistake. This health stuff is a minefield. Don’t want to be caught up with faddy stuff but this makes sense.

Big thanks.

Wow thanks Kitty! It never occured to me it could be so serious, I thought i’d just overdone the walking. Not excessively but maybe more than I’m used to? I don’t stretch either… I’m pretty rubbish 😕

Thank you Minnie 😊 i will definitely give that a try when it kicks in again. Pain relief and mooching around the kitchen has helped ease it. But when you first stand up… ouch!

Plantar Fasciitis has to be taken seriously – I ended up with it in both feet and gained 3 stone because I couldn’t walk for two years! Go see a physio urgently and get good, supportive insoles, massage your feet with either a frozen water bottle or a tennis ball every day and lots of calf and hamstring stretches. Look on ‘nutritious movement’ https://nutritiousmovement.com/plantar-fasciitis-tight-hams/

Hi Lucky. Re your foot pain. It might be what used to be called policemans foot and is plantar fasciitis .
To ease it try standing on tip toe on the edge of a stair and slowly raise and lower your heels. It stretches the planter muscle. Hope this helps.
Minnie