Roxanna, if you look on ‘over 32 weeks’ you will see a post from Imogen who has lost 45 pounds over 18 weeks, a great loss, but she mentions several long plateaus, as do others.

Roxanna, you are having a ‘famine reaction’. 18 kg is a huge amount and your system and body are just digesting it. Do not panic, read other posts from longer termers. Some have many plateaus and then it starts again. I would say be kind and do not stress, maybe eat a few different good foods and remember how far you have come. Just be patient and kind to yourself. Look on the hello thread for some of Lucky’s posts, and others.

Vary your good foods a bit. Jog your system a bit, not in cals but in flavours and textures. And remember that is a very substantial weight loss. If you were at WW they would be cheering you.

If you google ‘famine reaction’ you will find some very interesting reading which will help explain your plateau. It is an evolutionary defence mechanism to stop you starving to death – I know you are not and it is very frustrating but if you read some of Dr Amanda’s research you will understand what to do to get over it.

Best of luck, keep us posted
Ruth

Hi all! I am weighing in for week 2 of the BSD tomorrow (Sunday’s are my weigh in day!) over here in sunny Seattle, WA. This is the first time I have EVER stuck to a health plan or diet and am feeling so proud and inspired by the people on this site. I wanted to start a thread where newbies can share tips and tricks and to keep each other accountable! I am a busy mom of two who works full time in the city. I feel like its been a part time job, meal planing, weighing food and tracking but after my first weigh in (I lost 5.5 inches and 6.5 pounds last week!) I was driven to keep it going. This week Im planing on doing a major meal prep day tomorrow to make the week easier. DO you all have any favorite meals to share, tips for meal prep or really anything in between? Lets do this together!

I am heading into week 10 having found the first 8 weeks really easy and very satisfying to see the weight drop (4kg) with just 1kg to go but am finding it hard to get motivated into doing any exercise other than the usual around the house and garden type. Suppose I really should do some weights as the “nanna arms” are beginning to wave!
Off to see the GP next week (six weeks of no Metformin, no cholesterol or blood pressure med) then HbA1C in six weeks with hopefully full bloods to show reduction in triglycerides to help my poor fatty liver!
I am now 56kg which is very, very low for me (last experienced before children 38 years ago!) biggest incentive for doing this way of eating was to stop the insidious creep of Type 2 Diabetes – I was on the maximum dose of Metformin and heading for an additional medication to be added to my cocktail – that is certainly not going to happen!!!
Good luck to everyone continuing their journey

54 no cake yet! Not really spelt flour as Igor says – it is an ancient grain, but still a grain.

Most of us do not do shakes. We need to practise real food and it tastes better. I still have some in pantry from an earlier attempt – long use by date)

I agree with Indy about no booze – my bounces have been due to falling off the wagon. Indy I must get off my sciatic butt and get that fitbit!

Igor’s sense and success has convinced me that I have been eating too much fruit – not other bad carbs, but still too many carbs. This 8 weeks I will be STRICT

54 if you look at those who have good success you will get a feel for what works. I am still learning

Good luck to all

Oh Lucia I am so sorry that your OH is not supportive. You have to be doubly strong. Mine is enthusiastic, not to the point of joining in, but at least encouraging.

Just remember you have lots of buddies, even if we cannot walk with you. Just keep going up and down those stairs.

On your question I have been marking time this week ( supposedly week 9) and looking at Igorasusal’s post I realise I am eating way too much fruit. This week way too much of everything, so I think I will start again on Monday.
Love to you

Ruth

Hi everyone
I’m a 41yr old mother of 4 young kids (9,6,2,2) with 15 kg to lose. I work full time and struggle to fit it all in. I had gestational diabetes during my twin pregnancy. I ended up on insulin despite following all diet program I was given. I was relieved when my test results were good following the pregnancy but the whole experience scared me. Since then I was diagnosed hypothyroid and have struggled to lose weight despite going to the gym fairly regularly. My diet has been 80% great and 20% terrible as at times I’ve made poor choices as a result of being both buys and tired.
I started the BSD 3 days ago and lost 1kg so far. Thats very motivational. Ive tried a lot of crazy diets and never had that result. Im also doing a HIT program which is 20 mins per day for 5-6 days per week.
I have booked a beach holiday at the half-way mark to keep me motivated. I need to lose 8kg by then to fit in my swimsuit!
Looking forward to swapping success stories with you all.
Cheers

Thanks Avila 🙂 You know what, no I haven’t! Hmm that’s a great suggestion. I don’t have any small goals or milestones…
I’ll highlight some mini-goals to aim for – on my weight loss chart (yes I’m nerdy, I’ve made an Excel chart!!)

that is amazing captainlynne! you’re so inspiring for me who has a similar amount to lose!
My own first week is over now, seven days down, survived 🙂 What a big change in lifestyle it has been. And pretty thrilled to have lost 5.2kg which is 11.4lb. To say I am Thrilled is understatement of the century!!!

Hi Karen, I’m one week ahead of you (started last Sunday 21st Aug). I’ve officially lost 5.4kg (11.4 lb) in seven days! The first week’s loss is quite incredible. Everyone says it slows after the first week but what a lovely kick off!!

Here’s my two cents for you: Two things I learned the hard way I didn’t do in Week One but if I could go back in time I would, are:

1. Plan ahead what you will make
2. Have some meals Already prepared so you don’t have to cook when you’re ravenously hungry! This is particularly for Day 2 and 3 when I was soooo hungry.

The hunger subsides after Day 3 – by Day 4 I was fine! But there’s nothing worse than being super ravenously hungry, wanting to eat a horse Now, but having to slowly measure out and count up calories and figure out what you can have right now 🙂 🙂

The other thing I did do which worked really well for me is keep a very very detailed food diary for each meal, including measurements an calorie count for each ingredient. MyFitnessPal website and App has a Food Search function which is invaluable for telling you how many calories in everything. I didn’t record mine in the App thought, I’ve gone for the writing-it-down option.

Good luck starting off and read this forum it is absolutley fantastic there are some inspirational people on here who’ve done so so well and offer their advice and support! 🙂

Thanks Igor

I want to stick to the menu plans like mad but was interested in cake !!!

Hi there fellow dieters I have successfully lost 18 kg on the fast blood sugar diet in the first 8 weeks but since then I have lost nothing. I am really frustrated as I don’t understand how it’s possible to maintain your weight at such low calories. I keep my carbs under 50g. Most of the time I manage to keep them under 40. I have eaten the same meals every single day since I started. It just doesn’t make sense. I have started some exercise ie skipping light jogging and walks. My starting weight was 106 kg and I am 5f 4in so I was severely obese. I now weigh 88.2 kg. and I’ve been this weight for the last month. It just won’t budge. Has anybody else experienced this? Please all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Saturday 27 August 2016

There is nothing like wearing a white tux and doing Die Ententanz! The what????? Well, it is an Oktoberfest dance to the accordian….. but it is more Swiss then Bavarian. Translated it is the Duck Dance!

It is totally silly and funny to do. Flap your wings, quack like a duck, and bend them knees. Nothing like seeing the Lonegrin opera and afterwards making about 25 % of the people doing this silliness. Most had no clue what the hell we few were doing nor the music. I guess Germany is a foreign country for the many!

I just love causing commotions and chaos where ever I go. After 3 minutes, everyone was doing the silly Southern german dance. It definitely belongs on AMERICA”S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS. But, it was not at home!

Just a good way to say goodbye to the Theater in the Adirondacks! They probably going back to San Francisco Opera House and say them New Yorkers are all loonies and crazies!

We were like the old Crazy Eddie commercials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCGsqBn9pog

WE’RE INSANE!

Hello, I’ve decided to start this diet next Tuesday ( after the Bank Holiday weekend!) and just popped into the forums. Great that a group is starting on Tuesday – it will be my first attempt.

Day 39
Saturday 27 August 2016

Breakfast: None

Lunch: 12:30
1 Cup Greek Yogurt with blueberries

Snacks:
3 Velveeta slices
4 Celery Stalks with Hummus
2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
2 apples
1 peach

Dinner: 630
2 pieces of meatloaf
Baked Yam

I didn’t intend to eat lunch – but at about 3pm I was in a supermarket where the delicatessen has brilliant sausage rolls.
I know, not very BSD.
But I bought one, instead of a packet of four.
One was 75p – a packet of 4 was £1.50
But I bought one, instead of a packet of four.
buying a pack would have saved £1.50
But I bought one, instead of a packet of four.

– And it was very nice, and I am still well under 800 calories, and 46g of carbs for the day

Yes, pre BSD I would have eaten all four – not necessarily all at once, I’d have left a polite interval – but not too long in case it went a bit stale.

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