Adeyg I have a vitamix so when I don’t have almond flour I use whole almonds and grind then in the vitamix to make almond meal/flour. I could be wrong but I think ground almonds uses blanched almonds and almond flour is made with almonds with the skins on.

Thanks for the tips, I might make the brownies in a few weeks when I’m more under control. In week 1 I’m still trying to keep the sweet tooth at bay.

I have just started a couple of days ago and I’m finding I’m hungry and weak and shaky after a few hours. I’m not actually diabetic but I am about 20kg overweight and I suspect prediabetic. I’ve heard such good things about this change of lifestyle (which I prefer to call it rather than a “diet”). I makes sense to me and I was largely on a Mediterranean diet anyway; this is just an fine tuning and an extension. However I find having breakfast at 7:30, then lunch (at work at 1:30), then dinner at home (I finish work at 6pm) around 7pm, the time frames are just too long and I have a headache and feel weak and shaky by late morning and late afternoon. What can I do to prevent that without blowing out the calories? Thanks

Hi, I have had the book for a while now and have finally decided that I have to give it a go. I’m 55 years old with two young sons, ages 9 and 11 that I have to get and stay healthy for. So far I have gotten away with a lot of bad habits. I should really be more unhealthy than I am but I think I have good genes as my dad is 92 and still going strong and has never done anything “healthy” in his life…My hubby and I are looking to take the kids to Mexico during the week of August 20th so I am going to start my eight weeks on Monday and keep going until we do to Mexico and then during my stay there at an all inclusive do my best to eat only lean proteins and lots of veg, fingers crossed! I’m going to use combination of shakes and real food and am using My Fitness Pal to keep track of my food intake and nutrients. Good Luck to all staring in July! Let’s see how much we can lose and improve our health over the next 8 weeks.

Just started the 8 week diet, and finding the book could be better structured in terms of food advice. Can anyone point me to a definitive list of foods (high carb) to avoid completely, and those foods that are ok?

Hey Californiagirl! I love Lake Tahoe and my hubby and I used to go quite often when we lived in SF. It’s so beautiful there. First time I went to Truckee I was 10 and I always make sure anyone I know stops there as well. It’s the cutest town!!!
Happy 4th!!

Thanks Lynne, that’s great knowledge to have and I hope cutting down some helps my plateau as well.

HappyLife

No, I don’t eat fruit. Years ago when I was first diagnosed I was at Weightwatchers and eating fruit until the nurse told me to cut down on it.

I did find that all fruit spiked my blood sugars, so it’s better for me to not eat it.

Since starting on the BSD I did try very small portions of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries but didn’t find them worth the carbs. So it was interesting to realise how much my tastes have changed. I never thought I could find strawberries too sweet!

Night Tokyo, tomorrow is a new day and hubby strife will be forgotten.

Willies are nice but I wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to buy them again. A heroin bar of G&B is a 50th of the price and just as good. Goodness knows what the site admin must make of some of these posts??!!

Anyway, night all… Off to London Town in the morning!

Night night Tokyo, I’ll catch you tomorrow night as we have an early start 😊 Sweet dreams x

Hi Knicky13
I’m now in week 11 and have lost 16.9kg (just over 37lbs). I’ve still got about 10kgs to go. Loving this new way of life.

My tips: don’t skimp on the fat, drink lots of no calorie fluids, at least 2-3 litres per day, most of mine comes from herbal teas.
Stay away from sugar, especially the hidden ones in processed foods, read the labels on everything to double check, you’ll be surprised what they add sugar to these days!
Walk every day, I’m up to about 1h, 20mins, but I started off at around 40mins. The dog has never had so much exercise!
Don’t eat/drink anything that says low fat, avoid simple carbs and keep your complex carbs to less than 50g per day.
Get an app where you can add all your food to keep track of your calories (I’m in Australia and use EasyDietDiary, but a lot of the others use MyFitnessPal) and carbs and weigh and measure EVERYTHING!
Good luck, there are lots of people on the forum who are happy to help, just ask. Let us know how you go.
Linda

Christine: yes it’s my first day without meds in 10 years! So exciting!

Lynne: who’s that’s so great re no real plateaus. You don’t eat fruit much do you judging by your comment once about strawberries being so sweet? We were having fruit everyday and still under 50 carbs but now we are only have it a couple times a week.

I don’t think her procedure went like that, it rarely does for multi millionaires, but it was all I had to hand… He is a bit scrawny but oh… I could fatten him up with… with… Oh crap, I’m all bloody Paltrowed myself now aren’t I? Kale crisp, Chris? Chickpea wrap? Fage?? I think I can resist, I resisted the fries last week. I’ll have to smuggle my apple in somewhere… 😂 🍔 😞

Do I need Willies in my life or are they meh?

early night for me so both have lovely days tomorrow !!
god knows what i will be dreaming about after reading the last two posts!!!!!

I know what you mean re the mermaid pattern, those are so cute!!!
Good you are doing so well on your free days!!!

Steam cleaned their…?! Like with a Kärcher? I’ve got a floor steamer but I’m
Not sure I’m willing to sacrifice one of those expensive cloths for that?! Isn’t showering enough?! No wonder Chris Martin went back to bacon sarnies when she moved her mung beans out.. You can have him though Lucky, he’s too gaunt for my liking. Tom Hardy though.. I’ve got a hall pass for him 😉

Your ‘pack-up’ sounds lovely. You can resist the BBQ! I’ve had one Willie tonight. Well, it IS Saturday night 😆

You’ll have to bear with me I’m on my iPad and it autocorrects at will. Well done on resisting cake and goodies Tokyo, and on being polite to hubby. Bloody hell, Waterstones, that’s like the Holland and Barrett of bookshops. We went in our first one a few months ago, cracking selection I admit, but hubby’s reaction was similar if not worse than H&B, he was just walking around muttering ‘How much!’ And left without the autobiography he’s been hankering after for months.

You can be Louise, Janey. Pfffffft #teamjen. My carb flu has gone, as has hubby’s, so I’m happy now. It’s gone so quickly for me. Don’t get me started on Paltrow. I did a mock blog post after she suggested women steam cleaned their foo foos. Cue hubby holding all in one steamer and pictures of my toes curling… She makes me cringe. You don’t marry Chris Martin and divorce him. I would leave my husband for him. He knows this.

I’ve just made two lunch boxes of chicken tikka salad, two little pots of yogurt with berries and nuts, we have our muffin, plenty of water and I may put an emergency apple in. There’s a barbecue at the ground 😐 I can resist… I can resist…

Hi I’m half way through week 6, 21lb down, doing this for health reasons, no idea about my blood sugar. So what I’m wondering is, going forward what should I expect my weight loss to be? I’m loosing roughly half a pound a day which I am really happy with, noticing it round my face and shoulders, not so much around my middle. I have another four stone to loose, I’m loving the food, the renewed taste, the energy, the calm and the gentle weight loss I’m just hoping it will keep going. I haven’t had chance to do too much exercise but I’m gradually adding it in. Would love to hear from people further down the road, how is your weight loss going?

You look amazing, can I ask how long that weight loss took and what you follow now?

will take brenda as last one and all that !!!!!
good on you for ignoring the scales i hate mine although they are still in one piece !!!! for now
i always said if i was 5ft 7 instead of 5 ft 2 i would be the perfect weight its my height thats all wrong but maybe cindy crawford took my legs perhaps its a conspiracy these long leggy models like taking little ladies legs ( say that fast !!!)

Lidl’s greek yogurt is awesome

Hi Christine
Just read the article and also shared it on my Facebook page. It’s very similar to what we are all doing.
The more people that we can spread the word to the better😀
Thanks for the tip!
Linda

Thelma, Louise and Brenda!! Can I be Louise because she got her hands on Brad Pitt?! Although obviously had previously almost come a cropper over the bonnet of a car. Can you tell this is one of my all time favourite films?!

I’m quite amazed how quickly the 8 weeks have gone, although the first couple of weeks dragged. And of course more recently I’ve had this hilarious ‘support’ thread to keep me going. Weight wise, no idea what I’ve lost as I am firmly anti scales (look what Lucky did to hers!). But at the start my size 16 clothes were extremely tight and now I am comfortably in size 14, which are feeling looser as the days go on. Realistically I don’t think I’ll ever be a size 12, but never say never! For me, kicking the carb addiction and feeling better physically is as important as getting into those jeans. All I need are my legs back from Claudia Schiffer and I’ll be happy. 29 years she’s had ’em, the cow 😡

Ugh, Paltrow cookbooks. That’ll be all sprouting rubbish and dust. Or kale smoothies (yack).

good evening ladies !!
my hubsband and i are still at the not quite speaking stage although we were very polite through tea and the weather was never mentioned!!!!!!!
well i figured if i was going to crack today would have been the day i mean sat in costa coffee on my own i could have ate numerous cakes !!!! but i didnt i thought keep going although i did look at all the healthy cookbooks in waterstones even fearne cottons theres hundreds !!!! gwyneth paltrow nigella the helmsley sisters all looking smug at me so that may also have helped in avoiding CAKE !!!!
how much have you lost in your 8 weeks janey ? how well have you done to get to the 8 week line when i started it felt like forever!!!
i was in holland and barrett not somewhere i go in very often but how expensive !!!!! the staff are way too helpful !!!!
a road trip imagine us three size ….. in our best thelma and louise and ( we need a third name !!!!) outfits ready to hit the town and cause quite abit of chaos !!!!

It’s ok, I have Autoglass included with my car insurance, and roadside repair if I’m a passenger in your car 🙂 Wasn’t planning on killing anyone but if they eat cake or pizza in front of me, who knows what could happen?

Speaking of not killing anyone, are you in Police custody yet, Tokyo?

I don’t think the cookbook will ever be finished. It’s going to be one of these that we release a new volume every fortnight. Although I have my successful blueberry muffins now too 😀 Very cakey indeed only a smidge of butter in, and honey was the sweetener. I was going to share them out with the children too but seeing as the flour cost my husband £15 today, I think I’d better save them for us. I thought he was going to have a coronary. I was telling him to breathe. The shop assistant was smirking. I bet she sees that so many times a day…

Hahaha, pop flowing through nostrils is never pleasant! This isn’t a road trip in the Thelma and Louise sense where we shoot someone and then drive off a cliff is it? Because I’ve just had new tyres and windscreen on my car….

Of course I’m not going anywhere! We have work to do to enlighten people on the BSD and also to complete our ‘BSD Failures’ cookbook! Plus, I still have weight to lose and smaller clothes in my wardrobe to get into….

Janey? Are you thinking what I’m thinking? You, me, Tokyo – ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAD TRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

I actually snorted Diet Coke out of my nostrils when I read the words ‘Greek vomit’. Thanks. Thanks for that. It stings.

Have a lovely time in London, and enjoy your Chinese, you deserve it for completing the 8 weeks! Here’s to the next. You’re not buggering off and leaving me here, are you, now that you’ve nearly graduated BSD Academy????

I now appear to be subscribed to paleogrub and have earned a free pot of coconut oil, although I may have to go to the US to get it!! I seem to be using my almond flour but not the coconut so need to find some recipes for that instead. I have found that almond flour has a canny knack of sticking to everything in the dishwasher too 🙄

Wasn’t fussed about missing out on donuts although a cider on a sunny afternoon would’ve gone down well. Tomorrow we are in London with the associated dinner in Chinatown and I’m not going to beat myself up if I stray a little as it is actually my last day of the 8 week slim down! Obviously I have no plans to go back to the bad old ways but one meal won’t set me back. Although let’s see if it plays havoc with my digestive system…. The cats are currently enjoying the discarded Fage so I may have piles of Greek vomit greeting me in the morning…

Have you made up with the hubby yet Tokyo?

Hi lemonade,
I suspect you haven’t had any replies because no one has any Mexican menus? Ther is one recipe in the bsd diet called Mexican hash, serves two and is a brunch,

1 red chilli cut in half, cut one half into strips, keep the other half on one side,
1 tbs rapeseed oil,
200 grams mushrooms halved, cook them in the oil, for 5 mins on a medium heat, add the finely chopped chilli, add 1 chopped garlic, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, and 200 grams black beans, rinsed, and heat for 5 mins, season to taste and keep warm.
In the same pan, fry 2 eggs, divide mushroom mix between two bowls, top with a fried egg and half of one avocado, and the other chilli sliced. Serve with lime wedges.
I hope this is,helpful, it’s 340 calories per portion,
If you are on Pinterest there might be some good low carb mini an recipes on there or you could look on the bsd recipes and see if,there are any you could adapt?
There is a skinny chilli meal that has lots of beans in, that should be on the recipes?
Let me know if you can’t find it and l will let you have that one too.
Christine

Had courgette chips tonight

1 courgette cut into several pieces dipped in egg rolled into polenta baked in oven it was ok probably wouldn’t use polenta again

Boo hiss about the donuts. I just spotted these in an email I just received, thought they looked quite tasty

http://paleogrubs.com/paleo-zucchini-fritters

And they use almond flour too, if you now have a surplus!

Only in the 70’s

Almond flour and ground almonds are not the same thing and although some recipes might work with either they won’t all work. Almond flour isn’t available in everyday shops I buy it online and it is quite expensive, it might be available in local health food type places.

I’ve not tried the courgette muffins the recipe didn’t appeal to me, but I am one of those people who enjoys the challenge of seeking out healthier alternatives to the old things I liked. I know for some it can set off cravings but for me I feel in control and at ease with controlling my portions and only eating what I’ve planned.

this is the cheapest place I’ve found to buy almond flour (I’m in UK)
http://www.realfoodstore.co.uk/gluten-free-flours/

this website has some amazing recipes
https://elanaspantry.com/

I recommend the silver dollar pancakes in particular (they freeze well) and the cracker recipes. I make a batch of crackers most weeks and use them for my lunch at work with cheese and salad. At the end of the week I mash the crackers up and use them to coat fish or chicken as a breadcrumb substitute, it works very well and even my kids eat them.

I’ve tried a few more of her recipes and most have turned out well but you do have to watch for calories and portion sizes. It isn’t cheap to follow some of these recipes that is definitely true, however I justify it easily in the knowledge that I no longer buy any sandwiches/crisps/chocolate/general rubbish either at work or otherwise. I’m not out of pocket buying the expensive ingredients when I compare what I used to spend. This is an investment not only in my own health but in the health of my family.

Finding healthier pancakes etc that my kids also enjoy is better for them too.

I thought coconut oil was the stuff you put on your bare skin in the sun for deeper tans?
Love Lucia
Xxxxx

And
You get used to grabbing a bag of dried pasta, throwing it into boiling water.
Frying mince meat.
Grabbing a jar of Bol sauce, then putting it all together.

In the daily mail today a chappie called doctor aseem malhotra has written about when he was on the ward with people who had heart attacks, and the hospital was serving up sugary cereals, white toast, jam and marmalade. The stuff that put the patient there in the hospital in the first place.

I thought this article compliments what our Dr Michael Mosley is all about.
It seems to be the same message, but it is great that it is getting good publicity this coming week.
The more publicity th diet or cure gets the better it is for the world.
He has a book and a website too.

So my long long lesson, that I am still learning about is, if it is in a jar or packet, it will have tons of sugar and those sneaky little buggers (carbs) in it.
I try to eat fresh food, I am SO lucky I have a veg shop with local grown produce in it. I have a fish shop a few mins walk from my home, it’s next door to a great family butchers. So for the bulk of my eating i do not have to go into a supermarket.

I will read, with interest dr Malhotra’s articles this coming week in the daily mail.
If you are abroad, you can go into the website and read the articles there.

Hope this comment helps.

Love luica
Xxxxx

I just made these… http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2013/07/strawberry-mug-cake-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html

I made the small ones in silicon cupcake moulds in the microwave but I think they would be nicer in the oven. Couldn’t spend the calories on making the bigger ‘mug’ version. However the microwaved cupcake version was a hit here, we’ve all eaten one even my daughter! A healthier dessert I can now offer her 🙂

I’ll be ending my day on 1100 calories today but carbs only at 38.3 which is reasonable for a free day I think 🙂

It is almost bedtime for my son, then I’ll be having my chilli for dinner and then I might do a bit of painting.

They now have the coconut oil in Aldi in England now

So I was asked, how did I manage to eat without carb overdose.

It wasn’t easy.
You are programmed from young age of want to eat.
You have set ‘traditional ‘ dishes.

You just get used to a cooked breakfast with bread and butter or toast.
You have to learn to eat it without the bread.

You get used to a dinner with four spuds.
You have to learn to put an extra dollop of veggies on the plate with carbs

You get used to a big portion of boiled rice, when you enjoy Chinese food.
You have to learn to eat it without or substitute with cauliflower rice.

You get used to a big pan of boiled pasta with mince and Bol sauce.
You have to learn to spiralise a courgette or something, boil it and use that instead of pasta.

It takes time to change over from the dark side, but if you all use the force, we can do it.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

I have found all of these sorts of things are like going back to my old ways.

New Doug, enjoys apples, a handful of nuts, tomatoes, he does not eat cakes.

So I have not tried any of these recipes.

I have not found the diet at all expensive as I have had simple things that are low calorie and low carb.

D

Reporting back. The muffins are not good. Very crumbly yet still a bit ‘wet’. The coconut flour makes them taste a bit claggy and I like coconut. They’re sort of bland too. I really don’t think these recipes were tested or, if they were, someone has edited them down and left out some vital information. We’ll eat them because I won’t waste good ingredients but they might have to be turned into something else. I don’t think you can really trust diet versions of high carb food. Better to find pleasure in healthier things I think.

And one further thing to encourage you – I was LOOKING much slimmer way before the weight came off too much.

So you may see some results quicker than you think. Fingers crossed 🙂

Hi HappyLife

Just checked back through my notebooks for you.

No, I haven’t had a plateau week so far. I weigh daily and sometimes the weight stuck for several days but Inalways managed to lose at least a pound on my official weighing day Saturday)

But back in March I went to Prague for 4 nights and came home 3 pounds heavier. The next week, however, I lost 5 pounds.

Hello again;
So pleased to tell you I have lost 10.6 pounds in one week! I am so happy about that! I have 65 more pounds to go- however I am so encouraged that I do believe this can be done.

I felt great this week overall. Initially I think my carbs were a little high- leaving me feel not as good- keeping a close eye on my carb counts- limiting fruit and ensuring a good volume of vegetables, protein, and a good mix of healthy fats really left me feeling great. I did not feel deprived.

I have the extra challenge of travelling and working out of town. I planned my meals ahead- brought food with me and it really helped. Another challenge I am happy about is that my husband and I like to eat out. I checked the menu out ahead, calculated it on my fitness pal, and enjoyed it! I was even able to fit in a glass of wine.

Thanks for your encouragement- We can do this and feel great and not feel deprived 🙂

So wonderful to hear how this has worked for you!

Thank you for sharing and we must continue to tell ourselves that by sticking with this it will work! So wonderful to have something that will actually work for weight loss. Your weight loss is such an inspiration! Wow! And your tapering plan sounds very good also. This can actually be done!!! Thank you! I am sometime sceptical – but really want to believe this can be done. I have 60 pounds to lose.

I have just completed week 1 and have lost 10 pounds. I am over the moon happy about that! I feel great because I am following the principles you have recommended. I am really be careful about “quality” with my calories. Quality with my veggies and proteins- limiting fruit and no white stuff. Also making sure I have some quality fats, avocado, olive oil, full fat diary. I allowed an indulgence of a glass of wine- counted it and felt good about it, and still did well this week. I may also allow a slice of pizza at some point- as long as I count it and include it in my 800 calorie calculation- and include those quality foods through the day

For myself I would also add how important planning is…need to have those 2 or 3 go to plan based meals ready, planned prepped and available that keep us on track for every meal. Both my husband and I work full time- so planning is essential.

Did you follow the exercise recommendations also? I am doing that and feel so great.

Celebrating your success with you! And encouraged.
Thanks again!

Happy 4th of July HappyLife and everyone else! We have similar issues with traffic and just folk walking around and partying here at Lake Tahoe — they started arriving Thursday and every house around us is packed with people barbecuing and beer drinking and general merry making — can’t even ride a bike down the Truckee River trail, it is so packed with strollers, dogs, children and bikes 😜 it is a good time to head out on one of the longer trails because no one else is willing to waste that much energy. We are hot here — yesterday close to 90 degrees, which makes the lake more attractive anyway. This will keep up until the 5th of July, when most folk will head back down to San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento — where all the real jobs are!!😜 I hope the fireworks are good this year!! Have fun!

Hi Lynne,

It’s the one event at church that I go to and not to help but to enjoy, I had something to eat before I went so I was ok, they always do strawberries and cream at the garden party, it’s not a fund raiser, it’s a community get together, of course someone has to plan it and get it ready, however not me for once!
Cherrianne has got in touch and I think I know now what went wrong! So I can now do something about it, thanks for the good wishes.
Christine

Hi ay caramba,
Thank you, last night I had a bit of an upset tum plus heartburn! I haven’t had that since I started the diet! we went to a garden party at the church, nothing for me to eat except strawberries and cream!
When I got back I looked at the forum, cherrianne asked if I had taken any anti inflammatory tablets? Well I had and completely forgot, I don’t normally take them as they upset my stomach!! However I had got to the stage where I had to take something I was in so much pain! Now I know what is wrong I can do something about it, so thank you for thinking about me, it is appreciated.
I feel such a numpty! But because I haven’t had to take ibuprofen for so long I forgot it didn’t suit me!
Christine

I was going to try the brownies but can’t find almond flour. Wondered if it meant ground almonds and if so, why not say that? Also what to do with the dates? It makes sense to chop them but come on, explain! I use cacao nibs in breakfast shakes anyway and like them so these make sense. I’d love to try them but don’t trust the recipe to be anything like a brownie… diet brownie or otherwise! Did anyone else notice the mixed spice disappearing in the method to the muffin recipe too. Much more attention to detail needed in a lot of these recipes.

I really think for the next addition of the book the recipes should be tested and explained in more detail. The muffin mixture was nothing like the texture and consistency of muffin batter. I had to add a full cup of liquid to get it to muffin mixture consistency. I wondered if it meant to be like a scone or english muffin but this didn’t tally with the muffin cases. They’re in the oven now and burning slightly before being cooked through. That temperature seems far too high… I’ll report back in a while…

Oh and hair.. Just a tidy up and thin out as gets very think. Obviously a total waste of money as its now getting blown and rained on 😡

Hi Loopylou
Just read a bit more of this thread and now I’ve seen your excellent advice on resetting the goals on MyFitnessPal.
Doh wish I had spotted this easy fix!!!
Hope your back soon feels better and it is a short term problem. A bit of R and R needed today. 🙂