Hi Christi1948,
We are soooo jealous of you going to watch Le Tour de France. Do you think you can dress up in an outfit and let us all know what you’ll be wearing so we can keep an eye out on the telly?

Hi Lucia,
Forgive me, I had to look up Karimore sandals on the net (well, you do know where I’m from)…….they make you look taller, yes, definitely taller – the height suits you.
Yes, I know I live in the most beautiful place on Earth and if I’m patient, Summer will be here before I can say ‘Gee, it’s not long until Christmas’. One of the downfalls of living beside a world heritage listed national park is that the possums were here first. Currently we have possum wars across our roof every morning just before sunrise! Oh well, it keeps us punctual.

Hi Hels,
Have a great camping week-end – now that is good for the soul.

Hi Ginger bird
Welcome to the BSD forum – well done on making a start and some progress. Don’t panic about your blood glucose reading going up, this sometimes happens initially, but if you are following the plan, you will see it drop as you continue.
Stick with it and keep us posted. Shout if you need support, someone will respond for sure. Good luck!

wow Emjomo, sounds like you got a hangover from one small sweet thing..hope you feel better soon

my husband and myself have been on the diet for 4 days. It’s been hard but loving the recipes in the book.
However although I lost 5lb in the first 4 days by blood glucose has gone up ! – was 6.4 now 7.1 – feel terrible now.
In contrast my husband lost 7lb and his has gone down from 5.9 to 5.
I am not obese just probably 20 lbs overweight.
Any ideas please? Thank you

Hi Phil & Sheila ,
You wont need butter if you dont eat bread . Try & cut almost all carbs out if you want results. Everytime you eat carbs your body retains fluid & up goes your weight. Instead of pasta we have Zuchini spirals made with a veggetti. It looks like pasta tastes great & low calories.
Read the labels on your yogurt low fat is high in Sugar exactly what you ate trying to avoid. We use greek style natural yogurt not low fat just plain old yogurt your label should tell how many calories per 100 gm serve.
We try and fast 2 days a week where we only have a coffee for breakfast & a cup a soup for dinner. Sounds harsh but it shrinks your stomach so the rest of the week your tiny meals fill you right up. Salsa just cook up some onion ,tomato , capsicum , chille. Garlic maybe some Zuchini cook in a pan and stir add salt , pepper to taste. Experiment you dont need a recipe its what you have & what you like. We are 5 weeks in I have lost 11 kilos & my wife 6 .
We have blown out a couple of times & had some beers & wine etc but if you get back to the diet you can be on track within 2 days.
Dont give up you will love the new you.

It will pass, just don’t do what I did. Had a bad day yesterday and ate a flapjack bar, way too sweet and this morning I’ve woke up with a banging head and so lethargic. It was not worth it!,

I’ve tried them too and thought they were nice, wished I’d remembered them when I did the chicken coconut stir fry

That really is great news Mike. Be proud.

Thanks Bill,
at the moment it doesn’t feel like a passing feeling… fingers crossed for feeling better tomorrow!

I’m sure you will feel better next week pinksunshine.
It sounds like you are having a particularly bad case of carb withdrawal symptoms.
You’re going to wake up one morning feeling full of energy and wondering to yourself “what the hell was that all about”
You’re close to being past the worst – honest 🙂

I’ve made some awesome lentil soup (see recipe section) and I used the recipe I used before for pecan brittle but instead used mixed nuts and some seeds. It’s in the freezer just now 🙂 Higher calorie but I do still allow myself the choice of going over calories on my days off 🙂

I had a strawberry almond milk shake for breakfast and will have the soup for lunch. Going to make toad in the hole for the kids dinner tonight, hunters chicken for us.

Typical Scotland the weather has now changed and it’s gloriously sunny! You just never know what to expect here lol.

They usually are kind in the first week 🙂 don’t be surprised though if it seems slower afterwards for a week or two this is very common but if you stick at it, it does keep moving.

tokyo14 ( i wanted to put something they say on CB radio but couldnt think of anything !!!doh ) blinking technology

Hi, the others have covered your other q’s. So here is a recipe I love for tomato salsa

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1626/grilled-tomato-salsa.aspx?o_is=LV

You do have to be careful with this because tomatoes are quite carby, and salsa is yummy, so what I do is I make it and then tub it up in portion sizes that fit with the carbs I’m willing to spend.
Good luck and welcome 🙂

you are sweet to reply, thank you Izzy.
i truly hope the scales are kind to me tomorrow

So many positives well done Mike 🙂

This makes a passable pizza base… http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/green-pizza-with-a-cauliflower-base/ I top it with some tomato puree, a mix of mozzarella and cheddar and whatever else you like.

If you can manage to get through the day hopefully the scales will reward you tomorrow and it will help you to keep motivated. These feelings really do fade I promise you!

I had a trainee sat beside me this week eating sandwiches, chocolate and crisps and I didn’t feel any lust at all. Really, I just didn’t want his food.

I hope you feel happier soon 🙂

Hmm, technology may still be against you Tokyo.. can’t see you on the Twitter 🙁

What’s your ‘handle’?

Hi there you are off to a flying start and amazing that you could do it on holiday too!

Lots of nice people here to help you along if you need any help along the way 🙂

Welcome to the forum!

Day 7 and I’m grumpy as hell, and missing my Friday night pizza and red wine
Have spent the week thinking (obsessing) about carbs and missing the crunch of bread
First weigh in tomorrow.

I’ve been lurking for a few weeks after reading the book and decided to finally introduce myself! I decided to try the BSD to try and stabilise my binge eating habits which were out of control and try to prevent diabetes which I’m sure I was destined for with my sugar/carb consumption. I started on Wednesday 22.06.16 and on the Friday I went on holiday to Turkey for 10 days. This was planned for me as I knew it take me away from the sweets and chocolate that I would crave in the early days. I am pleased to say it worked as I managed to stick to the plan while away albeit guessing calories and having 1 day 1200 calls with alcohol but no sweets/choc/crisps/icecream passed my lips. I weighed in after my 14 days and am very pleased to have lost 11 3/4lbs and 1.5″ both from my hips and waist. I am so pleased that I have no cravings and feel I can stick with this plan for life! I would guess I have about another 50lbs to lose so I will be on the 800cals for a while anyway and look forward to having some chats on the forum with you all.

i believe if technology has served me will i have followed you too janey !!!! i thought last night when i couldnt get on to reply OMG what will thelma and louise do without brenda !!! so hopefully i have cracked the twitter thing but after yesterdays fiasco with the pics who knows !! let me know if it works !!!
all this IT fiasco has taken my mind of food i can tell you to the point were i thought i best go and have a cuppa !!!

2 – 3 boxes of chocs a day??!! 3 months ago I would’ve forwarded my CV to you!!!!!

Dehydration is a major factor in controlling the hunger pangs (which are usually thirst!). I get through a lot of sparkling water, both in the office and at home. Occasional glass of red in the evening but a lot of the time I don’t even finish it.. OH keeps getting my leftovers!

I am so impressed that you are (to quote a major sportswear brand) ‘Just Doing It’ for the Malawi trip.. so cool! Are you fundraising for charity or is this a personal goal? I had to smile at the dayglo lady cyclist comment.. we do paint ourselves in such terrible lights at times! As per a quote I saw online.. ‘she might be going slowly but she’s going faster than you sitting on the sofa reading this’!!

Hi Seadog,
They are called Bare Naked noodles. They are a root veg called konjac, pronounced konyac. No carbs, virtually no cals but high in protein and fibre. They make a very good replacement for pasta and chinese noodles, there is also a rice version. I buy mine from Morrisons, they are £2 a bag, serves 2. They come in a bag of water which you rinse off. Strangely, the water smells fishy but once you’ve rinsed them that goes away. They only take a few minutes to boil, stir fry or microwave. I believe ishitake noodles are the same thing. Definitely worth experimenting with.

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain everything to me.

Hi Janey
Love the fact you told your boss off , made me chuckle. We are givien 2-3 boxes of chocs a day!!! I know them all could recite the menu’s inside!! Please don’t read this and think I am pure I have serious hunger pangs at times , usually dehydrated related, but every so often am really hungry then I just have a bigger portion. In the past would have stopped at every little helps supermarket (other supermarkets are available) and bought Norty snacks mainly crisps and chocolate , on top of what had been scoffed at work.
Yay get back on that bike I am no racing snake just a large lady in dayglo riding around Surrey!! I just pedal try not to set targets as they stress me , when I see a hill low er the gears and just think keep pedals going. I am going alone to Malawi and do not know anyone on the group so quite anxious they will all be skinny young things ‘saying lets sprint up this hill ha’ yes I always catastophize things. But I am going to do it , will try to get as ready as I can, definitely out of my comfort zone.
Have a great day 🐾🐾🙋🏻

Hello all, I am so happy to have found you all. I started on Monday so I am now on day 5. It was so reassuring to read that others have had jittery feeling too as I was a bit worried About it.i am 5’1 and on Monday I weighed 13 stone 5. I now weigh 12 stone 13! So it’s working so far! I had diabetes in pregnancy and my mum has just had a stroke so I have scared myself into this diet. I have tried and failed so many times to loose weight but hopefully the fear factor will keep my going! Also my step daughter gets married at the beginning of September and I would like to feel better in my clothes than I usually do. I am not setting a goal but hopefully would like to loose 3 stone. Thanks for having me xx

Add me, add me! I want a Twitter friend in case we get excommunicated from BSD for being subversive or mentioning meat knots!!

Collie – way to go girl! I’m like you, mainly following med diet now rather than counting, but with a restrictive day here and there. The weight is still coming off slowly but surely! Good luck with that bike ride in Malawi. I have a bike that I bought secondhand, with the intention of exercising more. Rode it once, now its got a flat tyre.. so obviously it’s now relegated to the shed 🙁 Maybe I should try and sort that for the summer?

Life without cravings and control by biscuits and cakes is so nice, I agree! We used to cane the biscuit barrel in the office but I have not had a single one since I started this journey 9 weeks ago. The guys I work with are inadvertently being healthier because they don’t eat so many biccies and cakes now I’m not ‘enabling’ them! My boss tried to persuade me that a Rich Tea wouldn’t really harm the other day, but I did inform him (in quite uncertain terms) that it was a BISCUIT not a VEGETABLE!!

Lucky – I think the coconut sugar can overpower recipes, especially as almond/coconut flour is already slightly sweet. For my next batch of cookies I’m going to halve the quantity and see what happens. And I don’t add salt to sweet stuff.. what nonsense!

Pub with the guys at lunchtime today. Used to be a regular thing but again I’ve shied away from it for the last 9 weeks. I shall head for the salads and soda water probably though!

Hello Skinny people,
I had to fly down to Adelaide & drive a car back for a family member this week. I wasn’t well prepared for staying on the diet while traveling. Consequently i blew out , ate carbs , had a few beers , a couple of glasses of red wine, ate a mixed grill , a bacon & egg roll or 2 & played the pokies & lost $50. So when I got home on Wed night i decided not to weigh myself as this would probably lead to guilt that might make me give up. So i stuck to the diet Thursday only had a coffee ,1 cup a soup & a small piece of quiche . I noticed i started to pee quite a lot even waking through the night which is unusual. I stuck with it strictly again today only 1 coffee & opti slim shake for dinner. My curiosity got the better of me so I jumped on the scales ………….well iIl be darned I’m actually a kilo lighter than before I left. So all the weight i could feel that i gained was fluid and returning to the the BSD drained the fluid away. I don’t intend to blow out again but if I or you do its not the end , its easy to get back on track . Im trying extra hard this weekend & next week with walking thrown in hope to drop another 5 to 10 kilos.
By the way my crook knees have gone away & I’m no longer short of breath in aircraft & the tray table fits without leaning my seat back. lol
Mike

As I say, I’m happy to help. Now that I know what works for me I’m able to put it into practice. So far anyway! Even if I’m tempted, I just have to remember how rubbish I feel when my BS dips too low and I can resist. I’m sure the odd temptation will come along, but I don’t want to lose this improved feeling.
As to what to do until that low BS feeling subsides, here is what I understand happens with reactive hypoglycaemia. If I eat high carbs, my BS goes up like everyone else’s. But I either over produce insulin or am extra sensitive to it (so the opposite to a diabetic) and my BS dips too low. And then I get the symptoms. Palpitations, confusion etc etc, you know the score! There is no medication that would help, the body will gradually raise the BS by itself in about 45 mins, but in the meantime you feel rubbish. So my options were to eat something very sweet, lie down and wait for it to pass. But then, of course, my BS went up, then dipped again too low. So a vicious circle. So my thinking is, if it doesn’t go up, it can’t crash down. So I would definitely avoid the carbs as much as possible and see how it goes.

Hi Lucia,
It’s a good job I’m feeling better! I have three grandchildren (from teatime last night)! until Saturday afternoon when dad comes to pick them up, mum is on a hen weekend to Barcelona, so we are proxy, yes I said proxy! parents for now, it’s 8.50 and I’m already feeling like I’m on a merry go round, here’s to 1.30 on Saturday!
Otherwise nothing planned, apart from getting ready to visit brother in bezier France, so we can watch a couple of days of the tour-de-France live! Ah bliss.
Christine

Hi Lucia,
You inspire me! I know the benefits of comfy shoes! I spend the winter in my Celtics (UK Uggs!) and the summer in my new Sketcher memory foam trainers! Bliss! It always takes me a few minutes each morning to sort my soles out to stop aching! But…hopefully with some more weight loss that will improve.
This weekend I’ll be camping! Every year my entire family (husband, 2 daughters, 3 siblings plus their 3 spouses, 7 nephews, 1 niece and my 83 year old Mum) spend 2 nights under the stars in a very special place in the middle of nowhere. Not another sole, not a sound other than wildlife, no traffic, just peace and quiet. We cook on an open fire with wood collected by the children, wash in a bucket and pee behind a tree! Now, before you think that we are all savages, my Mum lives across the valley so we do go in occasionally for hot showers, fresh clothes and supplies! We’ve been doing in for 15 years now so a firm family tradition. I just hope that he weather holds up.
As for the diet, well that should be ok as it’s mainly steak, chicken, and salad. (no bread for me) and eggs, bacon and beans!
I’ll post on Sunday to let you know if I survived!
Love Hels xxx

Hi george103,
Keep to 50 g carbs, (fat secret app will tell you the carb content of all foods) 800 calories, although if you keep to 50carbs or under you will still lose weight.
Do not use Any low fat products, you need fat to lose weight, yes it’s counter intuitive! trust me though, I had the same problem when I started, lots of people on this forum to give you help and advice, don’t hesitate to ask the question, someone will respond, they are great people.
I’m not sure about the flora, I wouldn’t touch it! that’s just a matter of taste though, again someone will give you a better answer to that one?
Recipes for salsa, look in the recipes, at the top of the page, there might be one for salsa.
Try and get fage total yogurt, not the 0% one though, it’s lower in carbs, it’s in a big squat tub, not a tall one, and it is lovely and creamy!
I hope I’ve covered everything? Good luck and keep posting!
Christine

yep your on my list !!

Hello George
If you are dairy intolerent I don’t see a problem as long as you read the label on the Flora and understand the sugar and carb content, this should be counted in your daily allowance.
Yoghurt should be full fat, Greek is best, as low fat yogs do tend to have added sugars.
Salsa I’m not sure about but someone will be along who does know, it’s how the forum works, we all do our best to support each other and there is now a wealth of knowledge to be found here.
Alternative meals are no problem at all, most folk have learned to adapt their usual recipes to low carb and sugar versions.
Two very important points, you MUST increase your fat intake and you MUST drink a minimum of 2 – 3 litres of non sugary liquids per day, if you don’t the weight loss can stall.
Start off by reducing the carbs, most folk try to stick to 50g or less per day, then, when you get over the withdrawal symptoms ( yes they are real) after about a week, start looking at the calories.
Best of luck to the two of you on this exciting journey, and, if you have any questions or problems, just shout out. The BSD global family are always here to help.

yes think so !! will check how dumb am i honestly i am blaming the loss of weight i am losing strength to perform tasks !!!!

Have you followed me? Not had notification

sorted lucky and think i found you too janey !! pics of cookies are there 😀

My wife and I will starting the 8 week fast 800 calories diet, we just need to know if we can use Flora proactive (olive oil) butter instead of butter as I am lactose intolerant, when yogurt is mentioned is this low fat? The salsa recipe is there one? And can we use alternative meal plans in the 4 week plan as long as they 800 calories or do we need to strictly follow It? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Philip & Sheila.

Oh dear oh lore, wild and wacky you say?
I have grandkids birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday to negotiate. Wild and wacky enough?
Talk about weekends being rest days…..NOT

Hi Tofa
as Igorasusual says I have given up on the fasting readings as they are so erratic because of the dawn effect.
I did manage to get them down in the 7’s by having a small fatty snack before bed, this helps reduce the amount of stored sugar released by the liver overnight but a couple of days ago I did a quick morning reading and it showed 7.2
I don’t eat breakfast so my fasting goes on until lunch and I now know that my sugar is much lower post lunch than pre.
I concentrate now on taking my readings pre and post dinner where my readings are typically mid 4’s pre and mid 5’s one hour after.
The great thing is, I had a HbA1c test taken just 4 weeks in to the diet and despite the high fasting readings my results came back as pre diabetic and on the borderline to being normal so the doc told me I could stop my meds (I had already stopped one of them)
I’m confident that I will be pronounced clear on my next blood test in September.
Keep doing what you’re doing and stop worrying about those horrible fasting readings would be my advice.

Thank you so much Bissell for the food tips as well. I have been going for three weeks now on the BSD, but I have not gone 5 whole days straight without any carbs. So, maybe that’s the key.

I will definitely try what you suggested. And thank you, thank you once again. You don’t know how much this means to me.

x

many thanks Imogen

yes I am taking control – sometimes!!!!

managed not to binge last night, drank lots (water) and early bed

fingers crossed I can keep going

I have no end date for this ‘diet’ since even when I began it I never intended it to be just an 8 week interlude
so I will keep on with it as long as I possibly can

was dreaming about cake earlier – ha ha – but still frightened of it

Sorry I’m not a cook so I can’t imagine how hard it would be to be surrounded by food all the time. I do struggle when I am preparing dinner everyday though. I find that if I grab some celery sticks, capsicum, carrot, beans first whatever fresh crunchy vegetables I have and keep them handy. So I can crunch and munch on something healthy when I feel the urge to put something in my mouth while getting dinner ready and the rest of the family are NOT low carb, so there’s plenty of temptation around.

Gooood Morning BSD 🙂

It is Friday, I’m not working, my son and I are chilling, I’ve lost 0.7lbs since Tuesday, all is well in my world.

I’m 11st 2.8… This is the lightest I have been in years. The smallest my husband has known me to be and we’ve been together 7 years. I think at least 9 years ago since I was this weight. My next target is 11st so hopefully I should hit it within a few weeks. At that point I will no longer be obese and simply overweight so a monumental milestone!

So I’ve lost 24lbs so far on BSD but I always bear in mind my heaviest weight too from a few years ago, I’m 43lbs lighter than then, quite proud of all that I have achieved as well as not letting myself get back to my heaviest weight before doing something better.

It is a yucky rainy day… A day for staying at home, although we may pop to the shop. I’ll be sending my husband a big shopping list but he won’t be home until later in the afternoon and I will make some soup today as my frozen supply is running lower. I might not need to go to the shop myself I’ll have to check the fridge first.

Hey Collie, nice to see you again! Hey, if you want to gloat as well as being genuinely happy, that’s fine, you’ve earned it! We have a Mistress of Smug already, so we’re used to it, if you want to join her band of minions. Tokyo… haha.

Oh my days your bike ride, that’s absolutely amazing, that’s one heck of a distance and I bet it’ll be hot(ter than here) too. Well done, and we’ll be here to support you when you can get online 😀 There’s more ways to reward yourself than with food too, you can still treat yourself in another less-carby way 🙂

Right, I got to go for a shower, just realised what time it is, kids aren’t up, and I’ve got to take hubby for x ray at 9! Yikes!

Laters!

Well done Josie, I hope you reach your stone tomorrow 🙂 but if not, it’s coming. I’m a red wine drinker, but I’ve gone allergic to wine for about a year, I have to take Benadryl before drinking it, and even then it doesn’t stop the symptoms completely. And my other issue is – I could never have ‘a’ glass of wine either. I might miss the wine, but I tell you – I don’t miss the hangovers! I’m finding I have to shop every few days now. Things don’t seem to keep any more like they used to, even in the fridge.

Hi Lucky Janey Bill Tokyo Lucia et al
Great post great read, I see threads but can not always reply (time no wi Fi) ,I must admit to total surprise at my ability to hang on to this way of eating , usually I would have fallen off the wagon. I am no longer craving foods that are processed or full of complex carbs. I do have occasional cravings (hunger) but seem able to stop and decide and have better choices. I am almost shocked as this almost ODD behaviour. I was a bit of a binge eater. At work I am surrounded by boxes of chocs , biscuits and cakes and I have not had one since I started. I don’t feel righteous just relieved I am no longer controlled by them, my job is quite stressful and busy. I am not gloating just genuinely surprised.and happy. Iam off the 800 and just on med diet still losing but slow now , every so often I throw in a low day. This is sustainable .Thanks for making me laugh, ( meat knots , singing, Enid blyton etc) I am now training for a bike ride in Malawi in Sept for a brill charity , (350kms 4 days!!!!)will need support during the training as this will be a test of my eating as I always used to feel I needed to reward myself if I did anything hard . So we will see. Bye for now have a great day all xxxx🌞🐾🐾🐾🙋🏻💜🍎🍋🍆🍗

Also, any tips on how to get through those really bad hours when symptoms are severe?

I am on no medications, and want to heal this naturally. I used to be an avid TM meditator, for over 20 years, but for the last 5 or 6 years I just cant get deep enough, so unfortunately have given it up, other than the occasional feeble attempt.

A couple of things that seem to help me, although it is still a drop in the ocean, are: a cup of White Tea (I guess its the natural theanine) and/or a glass of celery juice with a little apple to help sweeten it. Apparently, celery juice is a wonderful muscle relaxant and lowers blood pressure.

Anything else that I can try for those horrible, horrible hours when the body is trying desperately to raise insulin levels?

I used to have low BP as well, but in the past 5 or 6 years, it has gone sky high. Last reading 162/77. Pulse was ok – 79.

Oh and I began to feel better after about 5 days. Keep your fluids up too, as I found my blood pressure had dropped a bit, which can make you feel dizzy. And I’ve upped my salt intake, which works for me, although not a good idea if you have high BP. My BP was around 100/60 when I went for a check up recently, which is quite low.