I have been weighing my veg, but not sure that’s right. It would be good to know.
Hedds

It’s day four for me and I am not hungry most of the time, the only time I have been was when I used a Covent Garden soup for quickness at lunchtime today and now can’t wait for my chicken curry with cauliflower rice.

Hi – I have just worked out the carbs in this recipe and it totals 17.1 – which is quite high for one meal. So am a bit confused as to why its called no carb bircher – anyone understand this?

CARBS
50mlapple juice 4.5
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds 0.2
½ tsp cinnamon 0.3
1 tbsp raisins 10.5
2 tbsp plain yogurt 0.6
1 tbsp walnuts 1.0
TOTAL 17.1

Glad that you like this approach – I notice you have optimistically called it the 8-Day Diet!
Regarding the question about what flour to use – none of them are low carb and they are all refined, though they may be lower than refined wheat flour. Almond and nut flours tend to do well on the GI as have a relatively high fibre and fat content which reduces the sugar spike. I’m afraid baking is a bit of luxury on the diet..

I’ve just started the 8 week and it’s going well, love the recipes but the veg serving with it isn’t very clear. Is it ok to have unlimited amount of green veg or should it be weighed too?

I just started the BSD and my Dad is also interested in starting it, because he’s pre-diabetic, but I’d like some advice on how to simplify things for him.

Dad’s in his 70s, and a bit nervous about cooking because Mum used to do all the cooking for him. He can cook meat-and-two-veg, a full english breakfast, a simple curry or stew, and he does know how to use the microwave. But he doesn’t know how to measure ingredients, or use things like food processors or complicated kitchen equipment.

Dad’s also a bit put off by ‘fancy’ or ‘faddy’ ingredients. He’s very attached to microwaveable ready meals, bread and potatoes. He does have quite a lot of frozen veg, but he hardly buys any fresh. His ‘spice rack’ is a cruet set: salt, pepper, oil and vinegar, mustard.

We’re going to have to buy quite a lot (and I don’t think almond flour or goji berries will be on his list) and I’m honestly not sure where to start. I really want him to find foods he’ll be comfortable with, and really simple recipes that can serve one without him having to throw away a lot of food. (Dad hates wasting food).

Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Agreed!

Hi, just wondering if you can eat back calories burned through exercise to give you your 800 per day total?
Today for example of have run 5k and swam 1k so have used approx 500kcals. If If I only eat 800cals of food that is the equivalent of 300 kals which I know for a fact I can’t manage on. If anyone knows the answer I’d appreciate it, thanks x

I started with the shakes on 3 January and decided to try the shepherd’s pie with cauliflower mash the other night just for a change. I had a few sprouts with it.

I was absolutely stuffed and could barely move!

Your tum must shrink or adjust to the amount you put in it- so if you don’t eat much, if doesn’t take much to feel full!

I think we have to trust that Prof. Roy Taylor (diabetes expert) would not recommend anything that would actually endanger diabetics.

Hi
I’ve been on the diet for 10 days and have noticed an appreciable decrease in my appetite. For the last 4 days I’ve struggled to hit 800 cals a day as I’m just not hungry and leaving food on my plate. Yesterday I only ate dinner. I’m drinking plenty of fluid. I’m also on the maximum Metformin dose, 2g daily, could this be causing it? Also exercise is difficult as I have polyneuropathy although have increased my daily walking regime. I’m feeling great by the way so not complaining. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.

Dear Michael

You asked for feedback regarding the 8day diet – so here it is .

1 I bought the book on Sunday as I saw it on the supermarket shelves and had heard off
Professor Taylor’s work with diabetics. Couldn’t put it down and started a new way of
eating on Monday. The science quoted makes sense and many of the quotes regarding doctors so true.

2 However there are several points I would like to raise mainly regarding the plan itself.
I feel that there is too much emphasis placed on eggs. There are some people me
Included who cannot eat eggs ( I throw up). How can they be replaced with a protein
that has a similar number of calories? In other words what can I replace them with?

3 As a coeliac I have both almond and coconut flours in my store cupboard and also
quite a few others namely: polenta, chestnut,buckwheat, gram flour, oat flour, millet
Sorghum. I like baking and the concomitant eating maybe that’s why I’m diabetic.
Which of these can I safely use as carb free and which should I jettison?

4 Finally you were talking about personal fat levels. I am 5’1″ and weigh 133.2lbs. My
fancy scales tell me that my fat level is 34.2% which quite frankly horrified me.
However, this would indicate that I need to lose that percentage of weight is around
44lbs, which surely would make me slightly too skinny?

5 Finally, my blood pressure has come down slightly to something over 68 I am on
Ramipril and panicked. Phoned diabetic nurse regarding coming off the medication
And was told not to worry. I will keeps an eye on this but can you give me any
Guidelines regarding readings.

Keep up the good work, we need someone like you to look after the health of the country and challenge the accepted wisdom which can so often be wrong.

Regards
Marie Wilburn

I started yesterday and found it easier than I thought. The test for me will be when I go back to work a week on Monday – but I am determined 😀 Good luck to everyone else starting now 😀

Starting today but not sure how much veg to use in the recipes on pg 237 for chicken, salmon etc anyone any ideas or should I just do calorie counting off the net?

Morning all, it’s the start of day 4 and my fasting BG is now 5.5 having been 7.2 on Monday morning 🤗🤗
I have not felt hungry since Tuesday and I am really enjoying cooking the different recipies. I’m off work at the moment due to having a flare up in my fibromyalgia so I am finding it easier to stick to the diet. Having been organised at the start has been a great help as I know that I can open my fridge and nothing is off limits.
I have also dropped 3lbs in weight which is fab, as I am quite sedintary at the moment.
Thanks Dr Michael Mosely for your book and website.
Good luck everyone
Hedds

10lbs is brilliant. WTG.

I’ve been looking up regarding carbs since posting above and it seems that the percentage of carbs to daily intake (calories) should be between 45% and 65% avarage of 55%. 20% to 35% of Protein – average 15% and the rest fat.

Having said that, all the information on the web at the moment is still giving importance to eating low fat diets. I did though find where it also said that the meditarranean diet promotes 40% fat intake.

So personally I’m not going to bother with all the facts and figures. I’m simply going to stick to plenty of veg, fruit and salad, a decent helping of protein a day (I’m a fish, cheese and egg person), and only eat what are considered good carbs and stick to the 800 cals a day. I bought a tub of Slimfast shake today as well for when I simply don’t feel like fixing lunch. That way, without even thinking about it I should be eating the right percentage of everything.

I’ve decided not going to worry myself about any sugar content that might be in the shake.

All I can tell you is since starting this after Christmas I have lost 10lbs and have not had any hyper symptoms, maybe even gone a little hypo on Sunday afternoon after a walk.

Maybe need to come of Metformin. Must talk to doc.

Best of luck to all

🙂

Yes, I’ve been trying to find out what is the right amount / minimum / safe amount of carbs.

But no one, not even my dietician has been able, or willing to tell me.

I find the withholding of this seemingly vital piece of information very disturbing.

Maybe it isn’t important in relation to the benefits of a rapid drop in BMI that comes with a 800cal a day diet?

@newmill – as you say it’s not a low carb diet which is true, but it is a diet that requires the right kind of carbs to be eaten and not the bad, along with learning not to eat foods containing high sugar content. For instance, bread is one of the bad carbs and should be avoided because it contains high sugar content. It’s also important not to eat excess carbs, even good ones, as all carbs sugar.

You are correct that living on only 800 calories a day is meant just for the 8 weeks or until our desired weight is reached. But thereafter it’s still necessary to stay sugar free and try to only eat good carbs if we are to remain at a healthy weight and in good health even though we are then able to start eating more calories per day.

Learning to live without sugar is not a short term project, it’s a life time way of life. If one goes back to eating bad carbs and high sugar again after they have reached their desired weight then they are going to pile on the pounds again.

People are obviously wanting to know what is the correct amount of the right carbs a human needs for good health along with needing to know how many calories are needed to keep us healthy.

Although I think that it’s more a case of needing to know what percentage of our daily food intake should be carbs for health rather than how many carbs should we be eating.

The question is do the shakes contain empty carbs with high sugar or do they contain the good carbs of which sugars.

With the Recipe Cottage Pie with Cauliflower Mash the ‘Method” ingredients aren’t marrying up with the “Ingredients”.

Several ingredients are mentioned in the method that don’t seem to be in the list of ingredients and vice versa, so it’s a bit hard to know if they have been added to the method by mistake or have been omitted from the list of ingredients.

1) In the ingredients is listed fromage frais but not in the method.

2) In the method is mentioned crème fraische which is not listed in the ingredients.

3) In the method is 1 beef stock cube and parmesan, neither of which are in the list of Ingredients.

4) 2 tsp of Worcester Sauce in the ingredients but not in the method – are both beef stock cube and Worcester Sauce required?

5) Spring onions in the ingredients and not in the method – so are both onions and spring onions required?

Cottage Pie with Cauliflower Mash

Thanks – I’m looking forward to trying this out once the recipe is a bit clearer.

It seems the carb content of shakes is a cause of concern to a lot of people. I wish Michael would comment on this

As far as I understand it, Prof Roy Taylor’s 800 cal diet is NOT intended to be a low carb, low sugar diet for long term, sustained use.

Its intended to be short, 8 week low calorie crash to mimic the shock to the system caused by bariatric surgery.

Low carb it isn’t, low calorie IT IS. You don’t have to use shakes, its just more convenient.

I’ve cut back to using half a shake sachet and 125ml of skimmed milk, (approx. 100 cals) making up the other 100 cals with one slice of whole meal bread to soak up the carbs and slow down digestion.

Other meals are 1 tin of sardines (200 cals, no carbs) for an oily fishy mid-day treat, then a bowl of sprouts and black pepper during Emmerdale. 200 cals, no carbs.

Felt like carp for first week. Now on third week. I’m determined to do the 8 weeks. Its not meant to be nice.

Mr Kipling’s Battenburg cake would be nice, but I’m motivated by the thought of maybe avoiding spending years in a hospital bed with an amputation stump, blind and on dialysis.

Sorry to be blunt, but its only 8 weeks/56 days of really quite mild discomfort and it could quite possibly change your life.

Hi, I have just read the book today on my kindle (going to try & find the actual book tomorrow as hard to follow it properly on the kindle) shopping list written tonight ready to do the food shop tomorrow. I don’t have diabetes but I tend to carry weight around my waist, which since hitting my 40s, seems harder to shift! I lost 4.5 stone a few years ago following the Dukan Diet (have only put on a stone since then so not too bad!) That was extremely strict & got boring after a while. I’ve dipped in & out of it since but I need a change. I’m hoping that because the Dukan was so strict, I should find this one more enjoyable. I don’t eat many carbs now, only oatmeal at breakfast. I’m looking forward to following all your progress & supporting each other along the way 🙂

I am having a shake in the morning and will try salad (lunch) and Lite and Easy at night.
SHAKE
200ml of whole milk
3 desertspoons raw oats
1 scoop of Isowhey protein powder
Strawberries
Rasberries
Blueberries

Mix in Ninja or Vitamix.
L&E about 400 to 500 calories.

Cheers
MullawayMan

At the end of each day on myfitnesspal if I have eaten less than 1000 calories I add the extra as “quick add cals” – so that it registers as me completing for the day. Then once it has registered I just delete the fake extra cals.

Hi I’ve just joined, read the article in the daily mail bought the book and started yesterday. I want to reduce my waist measurement as much as I can and lose a stone plus. I’m storing most of my fat around my middle which I know puts me at risk of certain diseases. I rarely eat bread and try not to eat carbs in the evening. Usually the only carbs I eat are my porridge oats for breakfast.
Good luck everyone I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress!

Hi all, just got book on kindle today. Hoping to start at the weekend as my son is away for a week which will allow me a kick start without having to cook for him. I haven’t finished the book yet, but I don’t eat any fish or seafood, and I would rather not eat breakfast. Is this going to work for me? I do normally cook from fresh.

I was thinking of adding a few calories as a snack to keep my fitness pal happy lol. I would know they were false but I would actually prefer not to have to do that. So far (3 days in) I feel my head is in exactly the right place to keep this up, I haven’t even had any battles with myself fighting off a treat!

Who is ‘Desmond’ ? Desmond course ?

Where else can I look for recipes ? Do I search for ‘low carb’ recipes or ‘Med Diet’ recipes ?

Hi everyone. I’ve always been under the asumption that if one only ate between 1000 and 1200 cals a day one would lose weight. I simply couldn’t understand why try even with not cheating and doing exercises, including cycling, that I simply couldn’t lose weight.

I realise now it was the fact that I was eating all the wrong things in my 1000 cals. Bread, cereals, low fat foods and so on. I am so hoping that this sugar diet works.

Hi Freda, don’t forget that some sugar is natural sugar that simply can’t be avoided. Going by myfitnesspal an allocated daily allowance of sugar is 45g and carbs 150g. Although I don’t know if that is ok with this 800 Blood Sugar diet.

Sugar withdrawal as with any withdrawal will cause a headache in most people. When I stopped drinking caffine I ended up with a 3 day migraine.

I’m still reading through the book, hoping to start the diet Monday. I haven’t read about shakes yet but I have some in the cupboard so I will check them and maybe use them for one or two meals. 4g of sugar equals one teaspoon I think! I’m suprised we can have shakes with sugar in when, it seems, the whole diet is about avoiding carbs/sugar! It might help me though as I once tried a three day sugar detox and ended up with severe migraine. I really don’t want that to happen again but I have noticed that some people complain of headaches! For now I will carry on reading then get my food organised for Monday!

Hi Hedds! Thats quite a drop in 2 days…well done! I am hoping to do this with my family as well..they are terribly fussy though 😕. Good luck….do keep us posted on how ur doing 😊

Hi Sheilaslims….i too am hoping to come off BP meds and statins….i am sure that we can do it! Good luck! 😊

I’m today just about to start the 800 blood diet but I have been a member of myfitnesspal for a long time.

I’m pretty good at filling in my daily food diary which I keep open for all to read and I do use the personal blog that is supplied with our accounts.

If anyone else is on myfitnesspal and wants a new friend over there please do click to friend me. I would be great to be able to support each other.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/zandranna

Hi Sara in NZ and all other forum members. I’m in south west WA and started BSD two weeks ago, just before bushfires hit. I struggled to begin with with the fires threatening us and being recommend to evacuate, though we stayed put. Luckily, winds dropped and we were all safe in our small township on the coast. Anyway, I stuck with the food plan at 800 calories, but downed two bottles of wine over three nights in middle of fire alert. Got on scales this morning and have lost 2.65 kgs. Thank you Michael for your book. Feeling very motivated. We will be first time grandparents in middle of year, so great motivation to be fit, healthy, well and live to ripe old age to see grandchildren (more than one we hope😬) grow up. Have enjoyed reading all the forum posts and plan to stay tuned in. Good luck to all,

Hallo everyone, good luck with the diet! I got the book, Kindle version, on Sunday and have followed it since. I don’t know what my blood sugar is but I know it was high last year although not diabetic. Moorfields asked me if I was diabetic when they took blood! Big amount to lose, 46lbs. I’ve told no-one except my husband as I don’t want to hear them all telling me its not enough calories etc etc. I’m too scared to try any of the dessert recipes yet as my sweet tooth might go overboard! My aim is to lose weight, come off the 3 BP meds, Omeprazole, Statins and the inhalers…
I’ll post every Sunday so I can keep track and more importantly stay on track.
I had a strange night on Monday, I could feel my heart racing and slept very badly and felt very disturbed…been OK since. Just wondered if this is a typical reaction – thought maybe big blood sugar drop?

Morning NurseDee,
Welcome, Hope your book arrives soon. I have the kindle version on my iPad but have also ordered the book as it will be easier to access the recipes. I have 5 stone to lose and borderline between pre and type 2. My fasting BG was 8 on Monday when I measured it, now it is 6.2 after only 2 days on the BSD. The recipies are very good, I have tried four up to now and even the family including a very grumpy teenager loved the chicken with lentils.
Good luck 😀👍

Thanks for your reply. After writing my post here I went through the book again and did notice that recipe on second reading.

That’s great info thanks very much – now that I’ve bought slim fast I’ll go with it (don’t want to waste money) and If I haven’t lost anything I will start again but with food.

Thanks again really appreciate the feedback x

There is a recipe for Cheesy Beans in the book so I think you’re ok to eat them (the ingredients list 1/2 tin of baked beans) 🙂 This has made my life a bit easier when I’m in a hurry.

I may be wrong, but I think the original study was undertaken using Optifast shakes and non-starchy vegetables for dinner. They’re 22.5g of carbs per serve!

My tracker (Calorie King) wouldn’t accept 800 as a target! I’ve put in a 1000-1200 range and then it’s ok if you go a bit under.

Hi Everyone…. Type 2 Diabetic with raised BGL and 3 stones in weight to lose. I just bought the book online…eagerly awaiting on its arrival! 😊

Hi. I am planning on starting the 5:2 next week and am feeling pretty nervous but rather hopeful too. Reading the book was quite an eye opener and hauled my head out of the sand I have been burying it in for years. Father had type 2, I had gestational diabetes, my waist is 33cm over where it should be (based on being half my height), regularly experience sugar crashes and I think I am prediabetic although German doctors seem to shy away from actually saying that!

Does anyone have any tips on how to best do this as a vegetarian with multiple food allergies (all the classic cross allergies and a few extra for good measure)?

I have decided to go for the 5:2 option as we eat together as a family (kids are 7 and 10) twice a day and I am not sure that the girls will understand what I am doing. I feel I can easily (?!!?!) cut back on 2 work\school days without them noticing but more than that and there will be a lot of questions. 1st Born does many hours of sport a week and is mainly skin, bone and muscle. We have had a number of conversations about how she needs to eat the right food – and enough of it – to fuel her body and have the reserves to build the muscles she needs for her sport. I think she may view me doing the 800 calorie every day option as a direct contradiction to all we have been teaching her so far.

Anyhoooo…. Hello! I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you. Here’s to stopping the rot.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Guess we all know when we are stretching the guidelines on recommended foods to suit. So bottom line here is to use common sense and as Michaelmas daisy recognised there are times when a few carbs just hold mind and body together.
Night all, only 54 days to go!
Ax

I started yesterday Greek yogurt and passion fruit for breakfast, peanut butter and cream cheese dip for lunch then chicken, bean mash and kale for the evening. I find my fitness pal doesn’t like you eating that low amount of calories though.

You’re welcome. We’re all in this together.

I stuck with it over Christmas and new year, I wanted to get a good start and needed to break bad habits.

I’ve lost 16 pounds and 7 inches off my waist. Means I’ve dropped a dress size 😃. And my skirt no longer does its best to cut me in half!

My fasting blood sugar was 10.9 when I started. Now it’s always in the 5s. At bedtime it’s either in the 4s or 5s.

I feel so much better. More energy, joints ache less, and a ‘carbohydrate fog’ has lifted meaning my concentration is better, I can think more clearly, and am less irritable.

All that is what’s kept me on track.

Thanks Captain! 👮 I think you are right – I won’t worry too much about eating more calories than usual but avoid sugary, starchy foods.

You mustn’t have too many more weeks to go, best of luck staying with it. Do you feel a difference? Had to move up a belt hole or two yet?

Hi Fit_My_Jeans_Again. I had a business lunch last week. I had to choose menu in advance and chose beef rather than chicken, forgetting the huge Yorkshire puddings they serve. I declined to order a dessert – easier to do at that stage! When the meal was served, I pushed the mashed potato and Yorkshire pudding to one side. The selection of veg served to the table was not great – boiled potatoes, carrots, parsnips and a few shreds of leek, all in one dish! So I just went for the carrots and as much leek as I could find, thinking that the best option. If you know beforehand where you are eating, check out the menu and decide what you will eat. I’ve been doing this since 19th December, so half way through the 8 weeks and didn’t want to undo any of the progress I’d made. I was worried folk would comment about what I was not eating, but they were all too busy with their own plates to notice. Oh, and the desserts didn’t look that good anyway – certainly not worth a surge in blood sugar! Hope this helps.

Thanks for that info. I think it does help me.

To be honest there isn’t an official ‘carb allowance’ or clear research as to what this might be – I’m not sure it is a particularly helpful concept as it utterly depends on what sort of carbs you are eating . The Med style diet differentiates between the high sugar & starchy carbohydrates which put up blood sugars and need to be significantly restricted and the complex carbs found in green veg, pulses, seeds etc that can be eaten more freely. Your absorption of carbs is also affected by what you are eating the carbs with – so it is slowed down by eating it with healthy fats.
The Med style diet is not the same as a very low carbohydrate diet; the principles are described in this web site and there is more detail in the book. I hope this helps. It should make it easier as you are aiming to eat healthy food groups and so hopefully there is less counting needed.