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?

Hi joules

No defo not use shakes remember reading a report to say they are composed of the biggest load of low value nutrition as to be detrimental to health, protein powder is ground up sinews etc I prefer to eat proper food in its natural state I know what I’m eating. I track everything 800 Cals and 50 or below carbs on myfitnesspal app. It will demand you to eat more than 800 but just ignore it. It’s based on out of date nutritional guidance but for counting invaluable it also scans bar codes.
No don’t drink it’s sugar and will activate your appetite every time you indulge. This plan done properly switches of he uncontrollable appetite that most of us here had pre bsd.
I walk and do the listed strength exercises to prevent for ex heart muscle being used to convert to energy.
Read the book if you haven’t already done so and invest 8 weeks in what will be life changing for you.
Hope that helps jan

Great news that everything isn’t as bad as they thought. Look forward to hearing how you get on.

Hi Arty1 – really good news about you blood results – you have got into normal range very quickly. Good that Lucky is home and breathing better. We have a 10 year-old chocolate Labrador and a 6 year-old black. Both very different characters.

Hi Jooles

No shakes for me

I tend to adapt my own recipes … I like cooking!

I have discovered cauliflower ( look at the 101 ways with cauliflower thread), courgetti spaghetti and am eating asparagus till it’s coming out of my ears!! Not a great vegetable lover but do like that. Great steamed with a couple of fried or poached eggs on top.

I do weigh and track my cabs and calories religiously using Fatsecret app. That’s not to say I stick to the 800 cals or less than 50 carbs each day but at least I know how far over I have gone on the odd day! Helps to get back on track the next day!

Anyway, do what’s most comfortable for you and your life and welcome aboard!

Lol, well I will be having the same for breakfast. The Hi-Lo bread is 5.0g of carbs per slice too. So low.

Who’d have thought it! That’s impressed me! Poached eggs for breakfast, lunch AND tea tomorrow then, maybe 🙂

Really looking forward to Tuesday …. welcome to all the newcomers. I think we may be as many as a dozen now. Great number and by Tuesday I’m sure a few more people will be onboard!

Yep, the beauty of Amazon Prime, even on rural Dartmoor, DPD is seen 🙂

Played with my own menu – I set a 4 week plan, and after a week I was varying that. Used the example menu as a guideline for principles and ideas.

I don’t use any shakes – real food, and the eating sensation is part of the psychology factor for me, trying to learn new ways of cooking and eating for the longer term.

I don’t track calories precisely – life is too short in my book, lots of others track very carefully though, maybe I am just the lazy one!

I don’t recall a guideline to drink red wine, just that it is part of the Med culture – I have had some but not seen it as a positive, just as a ‘not so bad’.

The Dog talks me for walks so 5000 steps covered there – and usually manage to get to 10000 – if necessary walking on the spot on my rebounder in front of TV if had a more sedate day. No gym sessions or anything like that.

Hi 54

A few people say the recipe values are way out. I use the Fatsecret app and I can put my own recipes in which seem to be fine …. providing the database is correct!!!!

Don’t drive yourself nuts! Pick one app or calorie counting website and stick with it. The most important thing really is to ditch bread, pasta, rice, biscuits and cakes etc. Trying to fit them into the 800 low carb diet isn’t really an option.

That’s why I love this eating plan. When I did WW I use to try and fit my junk into the point allocation … no good …. doesn’t teach you anything about eating and certainly doesn’t retrain your taste buds!

I bet if we thought about it we probably all know people (including ourselves)who have ‘returned’ to WW or SW of any of the others. They don’t really want you to lose weight and get healthy otherwise they’d be out of business

Brilliant – noted, thanks Gavin. According to Amazon it will be here tomorrow… really? On a Sunday? I do have Prime but didn’t realise I could order something Saturday evening and have it delivered on a Sunday?

Ok… for all of you who are going for the second time round, … I have a few questions if that’s ok

1. Do you do shakes at all or try to do your 800 cals with food only? If you do do shakes – do you use a protein powder and what is your favourite recipe

2. Does anyone follow the guideline to drink 150ml of red wine (I love red wine, so this would be a real treat, but obviously reduces the amount of food that can be eaten)

3. What exercise do you you do? And do you do it daily

4. How do you track you calories and do you weigh and measure everything

Thanks 🙂

I really didn’t know there were many side effects of metformin. I did/do suffer from a little nausea occasionally but nothing other than that.

My husband started taking it a couple of months ago after being pre diabetic for quite a number of years . I’m not sure that he should be taking it at all. He takes so much other stuff. I think he needs a medicine review! He’s lost his appetite since starting on metformin, and he’s not overweight. It should have been me!!!

We have a very good practice. Mainly female GPs who do seem quite receptive to new ideas. When I told my GP that I was taking turmeric tablets and they seemed to be helping she promptly told be about her Thai cookery course!

I certainly do wonder about the effectiveness of Metformin and I will ask how much higher they think my Hba1c would be without it!!

Thanks for the good luck wishes for the 6th @frog … and well done on your results – that’s a fantastic! My last cholesterol check was 7.6 … so I’m in major need of getting those results down! Hopefully I’ve given it enough time before the test.

Hi Lucky. Cool stuff. What I do is peel the shell off after steaming them. Trick is to pierce bottom end of eggs, not top. and put them in with pierced end on the top.

The bread is Hi-lo loaf from Sainsburys.

Here is link for it – http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/hi-lo-loaf?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=UzyqxGADjU2ESZLZXH4zM1xsbZ9AkR0A9FlKvN%2BT69zPOsAbmVZYZB5Xcz5kIcug18gi9M9NMpif4Jcv9IBym8Sli%2FzZ68qb7tanwrs9PDfqkn8iMKmBg85lTTmkhuqFdiAq4TD52AqiAS8nzUGMss8iVCMVzfdI9UqYVBmTQjc%3D&ddkey=http%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fhi-lo-loaf

Hi Suoon, welcome 🙂

I don’t have a clue what it is, I’m sure Gavin will fill you in on the details shortly! He’s probably off cooking up something delicious 🙂

54 I would say faff until you know what works for you. Even i week 9 I find I am making mistakes if I don’t follow a good recipe as I just keep adding stuff. Now I am waiting for the official recipe book to arrive in September

Thanks Avila, come to think of it I registered with them after seeing it on this site but couldnt get on with it as all the products are English. The next time I logged on it came up in French and I abandoned it. Maybe I should look again and see if it have confit de canard and fois gras and other French foods. LOL

whats best then .

Follow the menu ‘like mad’ for the full 8 weeks

or

stick with ‘self mads’ 800 cals

Comments please cos its a dilemma for me !!!

(Faf or freedom !!)

Ready to start Monday

Have booked the gym with my son

Found a mindfulness cd

and have all the menu ingredients on hand

Roll on Monday

I have counted the calories in the menus and find they are more than stated, has anyone else found this ?

Just 1 day left Middleage1?

You have done so well, you must be proud of your new body!

I N S P I R A T I O N A L

Great you are having a go Karen

I’m ready and have a final shop to do. Have sorted trips to gym and have found mindfulness tape. no excuses now,

Hi Catsbd – good luck with your BSD regime. Am type 1 also and have found this way of eating almost effortless. Have found I need to do quite a lot of blood sugar testing though as I am now much more sensitive to insulin.

I just made some bread supposedly low carb from the diet dr website, turned out ok but at 84 cals and 14g carbs each mini roll, only for very occasional use! I subbed in gram flour for the almond flour, maybe that would have been lower carb

Not sure if this will come up in the right place… But I do want to know what low carb bread that Gavin shows on page 74 of the hello thread, looks delish.

I have to say Gavin, that looks absolutely spot on. I just looked at it on Amazon, and hubby looked at your picture and he said ‘Order it!’ I think I told you before, I have an Andrew James meat slicer, and what a fantastic kitchen appliance that was for a budget price. Sometimes I can be making Sunday dinner for ten, and I’m terrible with knives, and blood, specifically my own, so subsequently the two don’t mix very well…

Great stuff, thanks for the head up on that!

Yeah Lynn! So exciting and you have come so far! I’ve lost 82 total and 52 on BSD these last 17 weeks and you are an inspiration my entire journey. I still have a ways to go.
💜

Frog, Lucky – this is what my egg machine produces – my breakfast this morning on low carb toast.

Now Lucky if there is a gadget that I have used more than anything else, it is the egg boiler. My walk was tiring on the feet, but I shaved 35 minutes off the time compared to when I walked just before I started the BSD.!

I had just typed a really long post, submitted it, and it never appeared. Grrrrrrr.

Antigone. Thats great news.

Frog. I would get rid of the clothes. I have done the same. I don’t want to get that large again. I added a link at end of Week 5 post for info on the egg boiler.

https://gavinsgadgets.com/2016/08/22/the-8-week-blood-sugar-diet-just-800-calories-a-day-week-5-disaster-strikes/

I’ve had many ‘interesting’ discussions with doctors and nurses in different areas about Metformin! 😳 I’d heard too much about side-effects to just give in. And I’d read that the effect it had is minimal. Just didn’t seem worth the hassle. Also, lots of tablets I’ve been prescribed for different things cause other problems, especially the newer ones. 😱 I can’t take statins. Tried. Twice. Not again. That’s another interesting conversation 😃

I’m fortunate in that I used to work with doctors some years ago, so I’m not intimated by them.

The gp here (who I’ve never seen) put on my computer records that I was being ‘over treated’ earlier this year. When I calmed down I insisted that a note be added that I was on no treatment, but the results were through my hard work. It certainly doesn’t inspire confidence when something like that happens!

Hi Frog

I understand how frustrating it must be if there is no consistency. Fatsecret uk does seem only to show uk brands so I’m just going to have to trust it!

Can I ask you a question please? I notice on another thread you stopped taking metformin when your Hba1c was 61. I realise it’s much lower now, but did you take yourself of metformin or was it the doctors suggestion?

My Hba1c was only just over 7, in old money, and I never thought to question going onto metformin.

Thanks Frog, Izzy, Yowzer, Gavin, Antigone, Janey for all your lovely comments both here and on the post 🙂

Yes! My first mini goal to be scrubbed off for a fair few weeks! Next one is the obvious 3 stone. I can’t wait!

Epic walk Gav! Sheesh! I bet your feet are burning. I have a good gadget for poaching eggs too, it’s called me 😉 Ooooh you’ve got me fancying poached egg now… might have a cheeky little cooked breakfast tomorrow morning instead of having a boring lunch, a little bacon, a heck and a poached egg with some chargrilled tomatoes from the garden. Yes. That sounds like a plan.

Well done Antigone, that’s amazing 🙂 Don’t worry about last week, most of us have had a week like that, mine was week 5, and I hadn’t cheated or fallen off, it just happens. Usually the week after it plays catch up. At the end of the day, our bodies will show the weight loss when they want to, usually just not on the day we want them to 🙂 This used to happen to me all the time in WW. Nothing on weigh day, 3 pounds down the next day as standard. That’s why I think daily weighing is helpful.

Noooooooooooooooooooo Frog, git ’em gone, the big ‘uns. There will be no ‘just in case’ – we won’t let you 😛
If you really love it, have someone alter it for you, you deserve it after the effort you’ve put into this.
Oh, and Frog? The calves? *insert mad face here* That is all. How can I lose three stone nearly, and a measly half an inch from ONE calf? One is still the same and the other has gone up a half an inch!

I’m amazed at you blood levels . I presume when you were at 9.6 the doctors were desperate to get you on metformin . Just goes to show how you can get your Hba1c down with this eating plan.

My cholesterol has always, for as long as I can remember, been 5.2. My doctor plagued me for years to take statins but I kept refusing. 9months ago it dropped to 4.5 and the in April it was4.8. The only change I think I made was to start having Greek yogurt (low fat) every morning!!

Sorry wandering. My point is really that I just accepted metformin without any fight and my Hba1c was only just over 7. With metformin it’s usually around 6.8!

When I go back in October, if my Hba1c has dropped I’ll certainly be having a long chat with the doctor!

Well done Antigone – that;s great.
Hello Gavin – sounds like a great walk. What does the egg gadget do?

Have just packed up a huge box of too large trousers, and identified quite a lot that fit now. Not sure whether to put them in the storage unit ‘just in case’, or straight to the charity shop. I need to find the wundaweb and have a shortening session!
And last night I tried on one of my favourite jackets – a short boxy loose fitting blazer, now ridiculously too big – each side of the front happily wraps over and crosses the side seam.

that;s brilliant Jan -well done
I’m seeing the community nurse AGAIN next week – I think she wanted to review the blood test results, expecting them to have rocketed because I stopped taking metformin – but they’ve dropped by 40% ans back in normal range.

Congrats all round 🙂 You have all done so well and I thank you because your posts have helped me keep going. Week 3 was a disaster – very little weight loss BUT week 4 has been really good (ends tomorrow night ) and if nothing goes wrong between now and Monday morning weigh-in I will have lost a stone in 4 weeks.Yay! If I can lose another stone in the next 4 weeks I will be a VERY happy bunny and I know – thanks to you all – that it is possible. Thank you. Great to see those photos Lucky – really inspiring for all of us. I didn’t take a ‘before’ photo but I am sure there are some lurking!