I have just given in and ordered coconut sugar online. This will largely complete my collection of pointless ingredients I never thought I would buy, and will probably never use up. However it will also allow me to inflict THIS https://elanaspantry.com/cinnamon-coffee-cake/ on the family as an experiment.. muahahaha.

I have a Kindle AND the app so might have a look at those free books on Paleo/low carb. My one concern is that we are now all trying to find nice cake and dessert recipes that probably still have lots of calories.. just not the worst kind! Time will tell, eh?! Btw Lucky, I bought Fearne Cotton’s ‘healthy’ cookbook recently, and whilst most of the time I think she is pretentious AND needs a good dinner to stop her looking so skinny, I think there was a cheesecake recipe in it that you might be able to use or modify. Will have a look later.

5 Stone Lynne – that’s amazing – inspirational as ever.
I know you’ve often said the number of week, but I’d not realised that you’d started in the week of Christmas – Really Hard.
You’ll be in to size 12 tops very soon I’m sure!

Snaffler – agree that flies must be zero carb!

Hi Custard Lover
I only have my cat to contend with – and she helps by wanting to share anything on my plate! – and all my friends are very supportive when I eat out or am staying with them.
There was a series on BBC1 recently – still on IPlayer, called “Lose Weight for Love” – it followed four couples that had each put weight on during the course of their relationships. The program took fairly drastic action of having them live apart for a couple of months to kick start weight loss and break bad habits, and they worked with nutritionists and personal trainers.
They weren’t following BSD, but it was more focused on the psychology of overeating, particularly in relationships – you might find it interesting and pick up some tips from those. I followed it because the first episode aired the day that I started BSD
the website doesn’t say how long they are going to be up on IPlayer for.

Lots of luck with overcoming the saboteur!

That’s so funny, swallowing the fly, and in the voice of Yoda impressed I am that you thought about the carbs, protein in a fly hehe. I’ve got to find somewhere this evening to buy some weighing scales otherwise it will be a public hanging oh no I meant weigh in in Lyoyds pharmacy, I live in a village where everyone is as nosy as anything, and my weight will be all round in a flash, so here’s hoping I can buy one for my bathroom, so I can do it in secret. Then tomorrow make a week plan go shopping, measure myself tummy etc, and think about eating this yummy food. I will be on here all the time I think, so not doing any work lol, but I know I am going to need the support. Have a lovely rest of the day.🐝🐛🐌🐞🐜 new insects to eat. Hehe

Irish? Irish?! Okay, that’s cool:) Love the Irish, my OH’s family (and my surname now for 49 years) is from Irish heritage although in Australia for several generations now. Walked by their ancestral graves at the Rock of Cashel. On another trip took my niece and her Irish husband to see the Rock of Cashel while we were driving around Ireland on THEIR honeymoon – a story for another day.

Good luck with BSD, sydneygirl.

i meant to include janey in my last post you really are both such fun
and thanks to you i have just found the choc bars from lidl and also a 80% grit your teeth choc too !!
have made the wrap batter ready for cauliflower and paneer curry sounds like it shouldnt work but it does!!
whilst doing a bit of shopping in sains checking all the labels i thought people must wonder what i am doing !!! problem is the writing is so small i can barely read the labels !!
i have also bought some agarve nectar apparently sains lady says that and cauliglower are really popular at min so going to try it as a sweetner maybe in my brownies !!
i am sounding very organised but i feel thats the key for me anyway and water am drinking galloons of the stuff

Hi Switzerland Thank you very much for checking I am doing fine lost 12 pounds it is easier than expected but I think any little sugar I have prevent the wight loss straight away, and the lack of sleep making the losing weight slower but I am happy as long as I keep shedding weight 🙂

Thank you very much I lost 12 pounds so far and I am week 4 day 2 today xx

maybe we should set up a clothes exchange thread on this forum!
well not exactly an exchange, because everyone will be wanting to trade down, but I have loads of trousers in 20-22 that anyone that’s London based to collect them is welcome to!
(and around 5′”4′)

Alan nice to know there is something yummy in fast food that doesnt kill the diet, thank you! We also like sweet chilli sauce but have avoided it. My husband uses balsamic vinegar which I find disgusting – cant stand the smell of vinegar! I need to check if teryaki sauce is ok as that is lovely on salmon.

I found this recipe and thought I should give it ago: http://www.healthy4life.direct/#!Walnut-Crusted-Salmon/in239/576590a10cf26813fb9899e2 – but not with the maple syrup! Not sure what you would replace that with … maybe Alan’s sweet chilli sauce!

Igor loving your post – unbelievable that the single biggest expense the NHS is having and will have have going forward is obesity and type 2 and they don’t keep up with the latest information. Prof Roy is a well recognised, highly thought of professional and yet it seems no one is reading his research! Argh!

Ax

Hello GreenJanet! Nice to hear from you. We appear to have similar goals and I would be more than happy to pal up with you so we can support each other on our BSD travels! The forums are a godsend. So much useful stuff on there, lots of recipes and friendly people all in the same boat. The way I see it, it’s only 8 weeks out of your life and if it enables you to lose the weight and change your lifestyle permanently, what’s not to like?! Good luck with tomorrow. I am on day three. I have been hungry at times but when it comes on I distract myself with something else. That has got me through it. I have also been drinking lots of water and herbal tea and so far have not suffered from any headaches. My peanut sized bladder has meant frequent commutes to the loo though!!! Oh well, it’s all exercise. 😄 Have a great first day, we’re in it together!!! 😄

Captain Lynne I am still gobsmacked by your success! Well done on another loss. It’s certainly a very motivating tool for a week 1 newbie. I am feeling a bit ‘weird’ today. Decided to skip brekkie so I could have a medi platter for lunch and skinny chilli for tea. I’m normally a breakfast eater so maybe that’s why or it could just be my system adjusting I suppose. I am drinking plenty of water and like you I like to drink the sparkly sort too.I imagine that I will experience different ‘states’ as I go along. I’m just going to be patient, follow the plan and plod steadily through the peaks and troughs. I’m a tad worried as I swallowed a fly whilst out walking the dog this morning. I was shuffling along with a slack gob, dreaming of my forthcoming medi platter and in it flew. Still, I guess flies count as protein and not carbs!!! 🤔I too wear a uniform for work and it is stretched to the max (it’s not stretchy material either) so I look forward to pestering the stores department in the future!

thank you Igorasusual
I really appreciate your kindness

have thought about getting them, but to be honest whatever they say wont change what is happening

I am ‘keeping trying’ and intend to continue as long as I am able (which can of course change with the wind!!)

I don’t want to go into ‘stupidly low’ carbs/cals as then I know it will not be sustainable for me

just wish a bit more stomach would move as then I could wear my new trousers that fit everywhere else

(to be honest, I don’t want to know if I am burning fat, because if they show I’m not, then I shall break down and give up, so I have to believe it)

Hello lovely ladies 🙂

Well Janey, that will teach me for being smug and ‘I’ve had no side effects at ALL, yay me’ – won’t it? I was shivering this morning when I woke up, not sure if that’s carb flu or the fact that it is bloody freezing here today. My finger hovered over the central heating button but I thought, no. It’s nearly July. The heating is NOT going on. I’ve been drinking my water today, just made a ham and mushroom omelette for lunch.

Tokyo, thank you for your kind words 🙂 It’s just a case of always looking at the bigger picture, isn’t it? 18lbs lost, all those inches. And you hit the nail on the head, if I hadn’t started this, I’d be sat here, miserable, heading towards 18 stone (again!) which was a dead cert instead of heading towards 15 stone something 🙂 Summer, barbecues, a lot of drinking, eating out, picnics, camping. That’s one thing that hasn’t bothered me yet, the lack of alcohol, but then over the last year or so I’ve become allergic to wine (you may laugh) so every time I have a glass (bottle/box…) I sneeze, I get bunged up, it’s not very nice. At all. I have to pop two Benadryl a good hour before if I want to drink wine. Plus this ‘one glass’ malarky… all I can say to that is – PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT. Once that bottle is open… and if anyone here can drink one glass of wine, I salute you, I really do. Safer for me not to, at the moment, I think!

Re the recipe book Janey, I’ve just checked Amazon to see if there’s anything free, and there’s only two under ‘low carb cookbook’, I don’t know if you have a Kindle or Kindle app but if so might be worth a look. There are plenty of books on the Kindle Unlimited and I’ve just spotted a coconut flour one! There’s about four or five free Paleo ones. I have been thinking about cheesecake. My favourite quick and easy chocolate one (no bake) was cream cheese (full fat), double cream and dark chocolate. So the cheesecake mix would be do-able if I used heroin chocolate or similar? And for the base, I see a lot of people are using ground almonds, sweetener and butter. Shove a handful of strawberries or raspberries on top instead of mini Daim bars or Reeses… does that sound like something I could eat at a barbecue or girls night in? A small slice of, granted, calorie counted 😉

Hi all, I’m finally eligible to join the over-16 weeks club. Still eating sensibly – not always sticking to 800 cals but certainly eating no rubbish. I’m now on half dose medication as I’m officially in the pre-diabetic bloods range. Hopefully in a few more months I’ll be classed as normal! Good luck to everyone with the BSD – it really does work.

hi there, sounds organised! Ive found that pushing for brunch daily, so just having 2 meals helps me not being so stressed about exceeding amounts, the forum is really useful for sure, poached eggs really fill you up especially with avocado, its important to exercise. I seem to have had a good first week, lost 4lbs but a long way to go. The hardest thing is the limbo I feel left in by cravings but at the same time those cravings seem to teach me why I was eating bread for example. Losing an easy self reward needs to be tackled, also the sense of indulgence. Saying all that on the whole, Im really pleased to be on this path, if feels right. I feel less up and down, not drinking is tough because I do enjoy the social aspect of it, but I know I can’t for now.

This is the thing, Alan, doctors and other advisors say that we should all be eating a ‘healthy balanced diet’. But most people (including all of us pre doing this) didn’t really know what this actually was.

Isn’t this what we’ve been told:
So long as you have 5 portions of veg/fruit a day you’re ok –
well, watch for the smoothies, full of sugar and no fibre
watch for the fruit, which has lots of sugar in which you don’t realise. Not a problem unless you eat too much.
watch for the ‘good’ bread
watch for ‘potatoes’ – they’re vegetables, aren’t they, eat two portions of chips thats 2 of your 5.
watch for your ‘treat’ dinner of a takeaway with added sugar to the sauce, ketchup, loads of flour in the pizza base, but never mind, there’s tomatoes in the topping, that’s another one of your 5.
have another cappuccino, never mind about the fact you’ve just had 200 calories.
keep snacking through the day, ‘because you’re worth it’
And for goodness sake eat low fat – because fat is bad for you isn’t it. Never mind the added sugar it’s got in it as a result.

Have I left out any of the ‘good advice’ round ‘healthy balanced diets’?

Onwards and upwards with the BSD!

Hi Gayn55 – I was also puzzled before i started using MyFitnessPal, on which you can note everything down and see how many calories/carbs/fat/protein you are eating.

Re your carbs sugar question on packets

If you are in the UK

it is number of carbs in the product
within which is this much sugars
fibre is shown separately

You are counting the number of carbs actually shown as carbs. You should avoid refined sugars (e.g. sugar itself, and ideally too much fructose from fruit), but there is a little sugar in things like tomatoes and milk, which is difficult to avoid

If you are in the US then you have to deduct the fibre from the overall carbs to get the net carbs. In the UK this is done for you.

I started with too many veg like you – overdid it with red cabbage, a bit, one day! – and have then decided only to have a limited number of carbs per day (I’m doing 20g, but people here have success with 50g or less), which has driven my more than 12% loss of starting weight in 7 weeks.

Good luck!

Re diet plan being pushed out within nhs
Saw my doc this week shown him my Bauer app off my BP and BS
he typed all my foods into his pc then said this isn’t a special diet or special food EVERYONE should be eating this way !
He wasn’t being sarcastic at all
Very helpful doctor who said carry on we’ll see you again for blood tests and see about reducing more pills
Thank you Michael M

Something which has helped me greatly
I’ve eaten a subway chicken tikka salad bowl( every single salad in it)almost every day
I continue with grated cheese and sweet chilli sauce
The sauce is a small sin but keeping it up cos I love them and £3-50 with black coffee is great value out n about
Thanks again you guys

Yes, Bubblesdevere, already signed 🙂 🙂 🙂

Alan that is absolutely brilliant!
Igor no surprise there is a petition to get Prof Taylor’s plan to be pushed out through NHS for pre-diabetics and type 2’s :
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/125704

Thank you Frog x

Congratulations Alan – the hard work is bringing in the benefits now! Keep it going and you will be med free soon 🙂

Well done Alan – fabulous news, you must be so thrilled and proud of yourself! 🙂

And well done to OH of Bubblesdevere – keep talking about the BSD, eventually the medical profession will fall in.

Saw doctor first time since this plan
Couple stone off BP down to perfect
He stopped on BP pill one and one BS pill
Very very happy
Thanks folks

I”m using a tablespoon a day (a generous one) – have been using it for a while I am still ‘windy’ , and still find it very sweet but reckon the health benefits will out way short-term digestive issues.

Hi, I am starting today after several failed attempts. I have piled on weight since last autumn and while I feel and look horrid my husband loves what he sees as womanly curves. Failed attempts were always when he brought home goodies as a treat and the addiction to sugar kicked in again. Anyone managed to overcome a saboteur?

Hi Aussies!

Confession Im actually Irish 🙂 I’m living in NSW 3 years now. It’s great to see this thread.

For a long time I’ve wished we could get spaghetti squash here, looks like I need to go to Adelaide!

Will keep an eye out for the noodles in the Aisian shops. I’m in week 1 so will give it a few weeks before adding them in.

C

Hi all
I managed the window for a few extra weeks, I had an expensive pair of black dress jeans I didn’t want to do away with so I tried an old trick mother taught me yonks ago, I boiled them up, we don’t have a copper any more of course so I just kept adding boiling water to a bucket as it cooled. Worked a treat for the following three weeks until I trotted them out on a girls night only to hear a mate say look at your baggy pants! Said in love as a compliment so the window was closed again, doubt the is any shrinkage left. WHAT A GREAT THING TO BE MOANING ABOUT!
N

Well hubby saw the Diabetic GP this morning. In 3 weeks he has dropped 7 kg. Now the doc puts it down to the new pills he gave him. Hubby says but Im on this Michael Mosley diet (Hubby bought me the book and relies on me to make sure he is eating right so pays no attention to names, etc!!) Doc says “never heard of it” Strange cos my GP in the same practice, who is not a Diabetes specialist like the other bloke knew exactly who I was talking about and even agreed to keep me off statins if I was doing the plan!!! No wonder the info they give you from so called diabetes experts is crap!!!

I love my full fat milk from the local farm. I just choose to have it as one of my “meals” some days. I’m new to this so others may have a different view but it’s low in carbs and high in fat so ticks the right boxes so far as I can see. It is high calorie though. A pint is close to 400 cals.

…and lost 1 stone. Sleeping better. Energy levels good with some times when I feel very very tired quite suddenly. That could be to do with the two jobs I work, the three teens and the animals I run round after though! Not diabetic but pre and with a family history of type 2 . I am still about 2 stone overweight. I just started week 4 and am hoping to lose another stone in the rest of the period. Will then see how I feel about carrying on.

I cut all processed carbs and added sugars at the beginning of 2016 but lost no weight as my portions just got bigger. These portions are teeny but I am feeling better all the time. I do have to keep myself well away from the kitchen after supper time though as I am at risk of tidying a few morsels here and there into my mouth!

I like this plan though. And it really works.

Very well done. I am just starting week 4 and adjusting well to this new way of living. Stating to sleep so much better!

Amazing! Well done!

morning all
Lucky , you can do it all those inches gone wow when i struggled last week i thought if i hadnt started this i would be putting weight on and that if nothing else i had stopped that as i had been watching creep up slowly but surely for the last few months blaming this and that never me for eating the
i think your really good doing this with a bad back too and so positive you kept me going last week so ignore the stupid scales and celebrate those inches
i keep thinking i will do it for another week and it gets me to the end of another week !! x

Poor Lucky, yes the carb flu has got you 😔 I also got it week 2/week 3 and was permanently freezing and craving bread. But it will pass in a few days. In the meantime a handful of toasted almonds can take the edge off, and as others have pointed out, hydration is a big help. I drink a lot of sparkling water nowadays.

In other news, my new low carb cookbook was deeply disappointing and will be going back to Amazon. I may console myself by attempting another recipe from Elana’s Pantry to inflict upon the poor kids..😈

Hi there

Thanks for the tips. I have just started this week so the tips have come at the right time!

I’ve looked at the treat section in the book and I thought hmmm! But best to do it when I have a couple of wins under my belt.

I agree on keeping meals simple. Ive been eating the same thing every day this week for breakfast and lunch so it takes the thinking out of it at least until I get comfortable. That would be my tip.

Doing fun/nice things is a great idea. A cheap treat I would recommend is taking a 20-30 minute detox bath with Epsom salts. Helped me through my recent detox.

Morning every one

Isn’t it interesting how we each find our way to be motivated and keep going? I think I’m a little odd by not weighing but it works so far. Funnily in the past when I have lost weight I got a bit freaked by compliments I shall have to find a shrink to explain that one!!

Did anyone else hear MM on radio 2 yesterday so many people phoning in to thank him for changing their lives and improving their health

Tomorrow is my birthday so today my lovely m in l has treated me to a pedicure bliss. Then on to a joint birthday lunch with a friend who is also celebrating this week. We are going to a pub that has a tasty low carb option on the menu so cross your figures I avoid the dessert list. 3 of the ladies going are seriously large and call themselves the 3 fat ladies but they are getting bigger and bigger and slower and slower it makes me realise I don’t want to go there. I’m not sure you can persuade anyone to diet before they are ready but I drop hints about how great I feel on this diet and not hungry. What do you do?

Agree with all posters above, with a slight variation. Every calorie counts so add them all. Milk in coffee/tea. Vegetables, salad, everything.

I run a really simple spreadsheet that tracks:
Morning weight (I do this every morning before breakfast)
Breakfast – Calorie amount
Lunch – Calorie amount
Dinner – Calorie amount
Other – Calorie amount
Total Calorie amount
Exercise – eg. 30 mins walking / 1 x 10 exercise set (10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 10 crunches, 10 bicep curls, etc).

I do list what I have for my meals, eg. Bircher/Pho/Steak&Veg/Salmon&Veg/10 almonds.

It’s simple but keeps everything in tracked. You can also plot your actual weight on a graph and compare against your daily target for motivation.

If you come to Brisbane there is a restaurant owned by chef Pete Evans and it is no carb restaurant which I am going to go to when I hit one of my milestones.

Hi snaffler.
I am starting tomorrow, and also a historic dieter, failed up till now, it’s very inspiring all these wonderful bsd peeps, we are very fortunate. Can’t wait to get started tomorrow. We can loose our lard in synchrony. I have 76 pounds to loose. Thank goodness I am here now. Such amazing blessings, I am amazed I am enthusiastic to start a very low cal diet, bonkers, but wonderfully so.

Good morning all, I’ve been reading this blog and laughing my head off and also taking notes as how to approach my BSD800. I’m on my day 2 only and have lost over 1lb. I am one of those who needs to see the progress otherwise I struggle therefore I have to weigh and measure myself. I’ve been walking fast pace yesterday and may have gone over 800cals but am still getting my head around things. I need to lose weight coz I can supply a “spare tyre”. That’s how much I’ve grown round my middle. At 5ft 6inch I was approaching 200lb. And fast. I’ve got a skirt I bought about 10 years back promising myself to lose weight. And guess what. I’ve never worn it coz looked like a sausage in it or couldn’t get it halfway up. I want to look like a sausage again in that skirt coz no longer after that I could/would get into it. My aim is to look good at my daughter’s 3rd birthday party in September so she and I won’t be looking at the photographs in years to come there was a balloon of a mother rather than someone who took care of herself and wanted to be healthy for her. I had a gestational diabetes in the 3rd trimester and going up on the scales rather than down is not what I was advised when she was born. That’s why I’m here and your help and support.
Thank you,
Skinny to be
Xxx

Morning Lynne

I didn’t quite emulate your holiday success when I was away last week – but I only put a pound on, and now more than a kilo below when I went away – 8 kilos altogether in five weeks.
Your comments about the stotties and carbs reminded me that I did see a shop advertising fried pizza (with chips) when I was away – not remotely tempted – I don’t think I would have been pre BSD.
Now the shop that had won prizes for “Scotland’s best cake” on the other hand was a challenge that I didn’t resist!
The award was thoroughly deserved (not that I tried loads of others elsewhere to test that!)

have a good day

Type 2 and been morbidly obese for most of that time. I’m allergic to dairy and nuts and some seeds, Quorn and mushrooms, any ideas on what I can swap them for?

Keeptrying, I have the greatest admiration for you.

Have you thought of getting Ketostix which you use to simply test if you are burning fat?

I had lots of plateaux but knowing from these I was burning fat was so encouraging.

Just a thought. You WILL be doing your body good, it’s just not showing you yet.

Good wishes to you – and a virtual hug [ ]
🙂

Hi Nettle and captainLynne
Sorry I’d forgotten that ballet flats can be a bit of a no no. Silly really as I’ve had a serious knee injury (the kind that would have wrecked my sporting career… if that had been possible???!!!) and struggled with heels and flats after that!

As for the adult ballet. There is nothing else that makes me feel such a heffalump. It reminds me of the hippos in Fantasia. We all look terrible.
The best bit of this experience was when a friend thought it was a joke that two of us were doing a ballet class and guffawed …loudly… but was rather embarrassed when this turned out to be true.The following week we were laughing about this ridiculous activity and the fact that we were actually going to ballet when my other friend rather wickedly said, ‘The worst thing about it, is those tutu’s we have to wear’.
‘Yes and in pink’, I said.
The previously sceptical friend believed us and which made us all chuckle more.

So don’t be afraid everyone.
Go for the pink tutus!!!!

still keeping going
still hardly losing anything
(away so cant weigh accurately)
eating low carb – between 30 – 50g/day mostly on lower side
eating healthy fats but not stacks
eating only berries and no other fruits
eating good protein every meal but not too much
eating lots of veg
eating NO grains, NO sugars, NO chocolate or cake or biscuits or crisps ……..
eating way below my TDEE

but have been reading a lot about menopause weight problems and feel a bit vindicated
as I am in the middle of menopause and trying to reverse what is extremely common weight gain at this time
also the weight now tends to gather around middle – which is also what I am finding hard to budge
and all this is being controlled by chemicals in my body – which is not my fault or failing
so
hopefully I can keep plodding on

I have no doubt there will be people on here who are at same stage of life who are shifting tonnes
but whilst I am really pleased for you, honestly I am!! – I know = assume = hope that there are others like me
– plodding, struggling, fighting against what my body doesn’t want to let me achieve

Morning all 😃

Nettle, sounds like we have a BSD ballet company on here! I tried chopsticks years ago and they certainly help me eat more slowly. Might try them again! I live in the north east of England, in a former mining village. The food of choice is carbs. I’m weird because I don’t eat them anymore. Corned beef pie, is always on the menu at any social event. And (sorry Bill) stotties (like barm cakes or bread buns but much bigger) to make sandwiches. One stottie is usually cut into 4 wedges for sandwiches, much thicker than sliced bread. A few years ago I bought Subway sandwiches for my granddaughters end noticed they were hyper soon after but thought it coincidence. But when it happened again I realised what had happened. No more Subway for them. And their sweets are strictly rationed.

greenjanet, thank – total lost now 5 stone 😃. I’ve stayed with the 800 calories a day except when away from home and the kitchen scales. Even when on holiday or at residential conferences I’ve stayed low carb and watched portion sizes.

Any other questions, just ask. 😃

Yes the jeans thing is truly tricky. Bought some new jeans about 8 weeks ago because nothing else fitted and they are now really baggy and need a tight belt to stay up. 21 weeks in and close to my target weight so I hope the crop jeggins I’ve just bought last longer. It’s not just jeans though underwear is a nightmare….. and because I’ve been overweight for so long I’ve got no smaller size clothes. Seem to have missed that small window where you can find those items of clothing that you couldn’t wear because they were too tight……now they are too baggy……grrr!🙄🙄🙄😪😎