Can I also advise that it’s really helpful getting an app such as MyFitnessPal (free) because not only can you keep a record of what you’re eating but you can also see the breakdown of the food into (good) carbs, fat and protein.

You can then make sure you’re getting enough fat (which fills you up) and if you also restrict your carbs – many people here stick on 50g per day or less – you will see both weight loss, reduction in measurements, and also (hopefully) reduction in blood sugar measurements.

I bought some Ketostix (available on line) which with a simple test show whether you are burning fat.

As Californiagirl says, lots of help here, ask questions if you need to.

Good luck!

Hi Sooz
Mediterranean grill could be OK – it might be simple grilled fish with a salad option – or grilled halloumi
no starter or desert – or if you do have a starter, opt for something like smoked salmon. You could call ahead as Izzy has suggested – or see if its on tripadvisor – or google other reviews that will indicate what the menu is like – or does the person that made the booking know?.

4pm is early to be eating – I often eat lunch pretty close to that! If you don’t want to skip lunch, have something light – boiled egg? I just had olives and 10g of cashews for my lunch. The other option could be to have a late breakfast, and skip lunch – call it brunch, then it’s by design rather than skipping a meal.

They are pretty much the same from a carb point of view, so I would think you will be fine to substitute one for the other. I really enjoy the no carb ploughman’s.

I started by following the recipes and meal plans in the book pretty much to the letter. This was easy enough for me because I have only myself to cook for and I like to have the responsibility taken out of my hands! If it said 2 tablespoons of something I used two tablespoons. After a fortnight I began adapting recipes and counting calories and I found that worked too. If I had started off by making my own meal plans I might not have been so structures; I know my guestimations are often wildly out! But it’s whatever works for you. I’m on week 7 now and have averaged 3lbs a week after the initial 7lbs in the first week, so it’s definitely working for me! I feel great and in control and, more importantly, as if this is a new lifestyle for me.
So don’t despair, it IS possible and doable and enjoyable. Best of luck!

Welcome LizJaeger — well, you’ve landed in the right place. I’m sorry for the possible diagnosis but from all the experiences here, you have a very good shot at reversing this, especially because it is a new diagnosis. I did not use any recipe from the book — I just made simple meals of salad, veg, meats like fish, chicken and beef, eggs, cheese — all full-fat and I didn’t even try to do the pancakes or breads — I just gave them up. It was easier that way and simpler for my busy schedule. You will find your own perfect system as you move on — keep us posted! Lots of support here.

Hi Nella — welcome to the BSD! I’m sorry you feel nauseous — I think maybe drink a lot of water (bubbly would be good) and when you can eat a bit, try some solid protein like chicken. It will give your stomach something to work on. You’ll be sailing along very soon!

Welcome Jayne999! Wonderful to see your post as a newbie! Easy grab-and-go foods that I regularly depended on are cheese slices (pre-sliced so easy to measure), almonds and walnuts and pecans in small packets that I made up so I got the mix I wanted, salads of all sorts without the dressing (I used a lot of lemon juice which you can buy in a tiny squeeze bottle), hard boiled eggs (do a bunch ahead), cut up vegies like peppers and anise and salami slices (we can get uncured so you avoid the nitrates). When you make dinner, do a couple of portions and freeze extra do you have ready-to-go meals for last minute. Let us know how it goes!

Fantastic good news Izzy!! Huge congratulations from California! Isn’t it the weirdest good feeling to arrive at 8 weeks and look back at how much your mindset and your physical self have changed? I will meet you in the 16 week club in short order ( I still have a few weeks to get there myself). 🎉🎉🎉

Lucia,
I was reading another couple of posts talking about how good quorn is so decided to google it to find out if we had it in Australia. The good news was “yes”. However, the bad, bad news was another BIG write up which warned people about all the dangers { and there were lots and lots } that the main ingredient, have forgotten the name, which the quorn is derived from, is quite dangerous and listed many things it does to your body, including slowing metabolism…..which we all need like a hole in the head !! I read a bit more because I was thinking perhaps I might risk it, but the more I read, the worse it got. Guess nothing is worth that risk. I don’t want to frighten anyone off, but I would feel very guilty if I didn’t mention my findings.
Goodnight to all, I’m off to the land of Nod,
jillyB

Enjoy yourself,
Wiggle often,
Sing even if you don’t know the words.
Go for a walk.

Count the calories
Don’t stress out.

Then count the carbs, these are sneaky little buggers.

Have fun

Ask questions

Eat cooked breakfasts
Eat the ploughmans meal on this website
Have yoghurt and berries fro breakfast
Salads for lunch
Chicken or fish and veggies for tea.

Plan your new wardrobe, it will soon be here.

Notice all of us new friends standing shoulder to shoulder with you here, ready to help.

Have a great time.

Love Lucia
Xxx

Out of interest how much suger are you allowed per day I thought it was 6 1/2 teaspoons a day, is that wrong?

It’s day 2 of the diet for me and I feel so nauseous. I can’t bring myself to eat anything. Is this normal? How long will I feel queasy? Is there anything I can do to stop this feeling? All I want to do is crawl back into my bed and sleep it away, not practical when you’re at work! Any advice is welcome!

Hello there

i’m a newbie just starting out – i’ ve just moved house so not the ideal time but it’s now or never for me i guess. I wondered if anyone had any easy to grab plans for food as i travel a lot with my work so i’m not always able to prep the night before and prep does seem essential to this plan. any easy to grab recipes appreciated.

Thankyou 🙂 I’m halfway there lol, hope the second 8 weeks pass as quickly as the first 8 did!

Oooooo!
Quorn.
Something else beginning with Q to try.
First it was quinoa now it’s me heading for quorn.will try that soon.

Any more foods starting with Q that I can have a go of?

Love luicaXxxx

Thankyou all 🙂

I’ve just been eating my almond flour crackers with cheese, cucumber and tomatoes and thought to myself… this is NO hardship at all!

It’s chucking it down with rain here and I’ve forgotten my jacket so no lunch time walk for me lol. It’s hardly stopped raining all day.

Hi gang,
Thanks for the suggestions on how to start.

I know what I did was read the blogs for many weeks, got the book, read it cover to cover. Fine so far
But….
To actually start to do it is a HUGE step.

It’s like going into the sea for the first time, you stay on the shore for oh so long.
You may paddle.and call it quits.
But
When you get into the water, it’s fun, and there are loads of people there swimming with you, or just hanging around catching the Rays. Loads of activities to do, loads to see.
If you to take that huge step and just go for it, the water is fine, com on in.
Now look back at the shore, do you see someone else in the waters edge just wetting their toes. Give the, a shout, give them encouragement it’s great.

Now where are my water wings……..

Love luica
Xxx

CONGRATULATIONS 😃💐

Another graduation ceremony!

Great results Izzy 😃 Look forward to seeing you graduate into the 16-week club!

Hi there I’m another pcos sufferer. It’s true I’ve lost weight a little slower than some but I’m very happy with how it’s going. (18.5lbs in 8 weeks ) my blood sugars weren’t high but after suffering gestational diabetes and my father and sister already type 2 I know I’m a ticking time bomb.

This is working for me I hope you find the same.

You could call the restaurant and ask. Fish is often breaded or battered so I know it could be tricky. I’d phone rather than guess or assume.

Adding my congratulations to BSD. Your journey and results are inspirational. Congratulations also to Igorasusual and your OH.

I believe you are right Igor in that looking happy and healthy outdoes any perceived thinness in the face. My observations suggest that body shape during weight loss seems to follow the line of gravity i.e. first lose around the face, chin, shoulders, and so on downwards….I’ve had some experience with that WW company and I observed often that once weight loss settled at a reasonable goal weight, after a period of time the body seemed to “regularise/stabilise” (for want of a better word) and facial thinness was not so noticable.

I hasten to add these are my own very amateur reflections, and I don’t think my short stays at goal level ever allowed my poor body to stabilise. Maybe this time I will be able to join so many of you at your 5 weeks, 8 weeks and so on….

Thanks for all the kind words and bubbly water lol.

My plans are to continue 800 but allow a few more calories once or twice a week.

My new blender is yet to arrive! (Excited lol)

As for inspiring by posting I’m glad. I keep my diary and post a lot as a way to keep myself accountable and in check, but if I can help a few other people believe that they can do this too, then that’s great. It’s a passing along thing as I’ve taken a lot of support and inspiration from other posters too.

Hi chaps

So I had a call from my GP a few hours ago telling me my blood sugar was ridiclously high and that I should make work of getting things moving along. I’m having another blood test done in 2 weeks time so he can establish if the Type 2 diabetes is an actual diagnosis he can label me with.

When I saw him last week he recced Dr. Mosley’s book to me and it only arrived in paperback yesterday. I had however bought it via kindle too and so I spent time reading it over the past few days. The paperback means I can stick notes in everywhere, especially the recipes at the back.

I’m really quite shaken by the whole thing, I won’t lie. I didn’t think I’d get the tap on the shoulder. I did think that the fact that I have been on a low carb diet these past two months would have made a difference but apparently I am doing something wrong somewhere along the line. Maybe I am not being as strict as I should be? Bearing that in mind, I am sitting here making a shopping list and being realistic about what foods I like and enjoy and will actually eat. Has anyone done anything similar? Drawn up a shopping list using the menus in the books?

Thank you for that! I’m now using that search bar for all of my questions!

I’ve been on the diet about 7 weeks now and weeks 4 and 5 I didn’t lose a pound in fact I gained weight. Yes, I was following the plan exactly and still nothing. I became so stressed about it that I took a week hiatus to reboot and question if this plan was even worth the disappointment. I JUST POSTED HOW I GOT OVER MY PLATEAU IN ANOTHER THREAD BUT I THOUGHT THIS MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO OTHERS. HERE IT IS:

I recently got over a similar 2+ week plateau/ weight gain through intermittent fasting then eating the 800 calories. Here’s an example: I try to have dinner between 4 and 6 pm. I then fast only drinking water until 11 or 12 pm the next day. I’ll then pick up eating with a 400 cal lunch and a 400 cal dinner and rarely snack. That has completely jump-started my weight loss again. I truly hope this helps you. My plateau caused me so much stress I took a week hiatus from the plan to just reboot. I’ve been dropping about 3 lbs per week ever since.

Intermittent fasting has been a life saver. It’s also something I never considered doing until I hit that plateau.

P.S. I’m only 4 lbs away from losing 50 lbs since I started my weight loss journey in January!!!!!! My starting weight was 257 and now I’m 211. I know what it’s like to fail at losing weight, to gain weight, and to quit. Don’t give up! Reevaluate the plan and consider changing it up a bit. No matter what don’t give up! I promise you it’s worth it.

Hi,
Does anyone know what the advice is after the 8 week plan has finished if you still have a large amount of weight to lose? My starting weight was 4 1/2 stone overweight. I haven’t weighed myself yet as I haven’t finished the 8 weeks and can feel I am losing weight, but don’t want to get into the habit of weighing myself all the time as I find it puts me off if I have a week where I go up a bit.
I still know I have a lot to lose btw even without the scales! (When I was a healthy weight [BMI 25] I was a size 10, I’m a 16 at the moment, but have come down from a size 20 🙂 TIA X

Hi all,

Just completed my first month on Sunday, my starting weight was 14 stone 11, as of this morning my weight is 13 stone 7 pounds! My target weight is 12 stone 7 pounds, so I’m halfway there.

My BS is now in the range of 5.5 – 6.8 day and night, my blood pressure has gone down from mid 170’s to 120s, so I’ve stopped all the BP meds.

I’ve cut down the insulin by 2 thirds, my specialist said that I might not be able to completely cut it out as I’ve had T2 for too long, and my pancreas might have stopped working, but I feel that it must be working now, otherwise I would not have been able to cut down on the insulin by so much

The only other meds I was told to continue regardless are metformin and sitagliptin.

My only problem is exercise, apart from not having any energy, is that I’m unable to use the cross trainer I bought several months ago for very long as I have a problem with the pain from lactic acid in my thighs.

I recently got over a similar 2+ week plateau/ weight gain through intermittent fasting then eating the 800 calories. Here’s an example: I try to have dinner between 4 and 6 pm. I then fast only drinking water until 11 or 12 pm the next day. I’ll then pick up eating with a 400 call lunch and a 400 cal dinner and rarely snack. That has completely jump-started my weight loss again. I truly hopes this helps you. My plateau caused me so much stress I took a week hiatus from the plan to just reboot. I’ve been dropping about 3 lbs per week ever since.

Hi,
I’ve just realised that I am going to be at the end of week 5 of this diet when I will have to go out for my Grandad’s 90th birthday. Obviously this is a big one and something that I can’t miss. The restaurant he has chosen does a mix of English food (roasts I think) and what they call ‘Mediterranean grill’. Their website is down and I don’t live anywhere near it so can’t check the menu out any further. Has anyone got any suggestions of what I can eat that won’t cause too much damage? I’m a vegetarian who eats fish. The meal is booked for 4pm, so should I maybe skip lunch? (I don’t want to do this if possible because I normally don’t believe in skipping meals!)
TIA for the advice X

Hi Izzy,

very well done!!

Hi mermaid2,
I hope you have given day 1 a crack. Once you get into this way of eating it is hard to imagine any other way – and this is coming from a lifelong junk fooder. I just feel so much better. Tell yourself that you will commit for 2 weeks and see how you feel from there. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hey ashri,
can’t promise that you will bounce out of bed, but I certainly find that mornings are not as grizzly as they once were.
I eat heaps of fibre in this diet, in the way of veg. More than I think I ever have before at any time in my life. So no probs with getting moving.
On the first few days of the diet I had sore heavy legs. No idea why this was but it passed, as did the hunger.
I missed bread for a start but feel really full after meals now so no longer feel any cravings as I watch my kids toast a loaf after school.
I know that you can do this and achieve success. I can’t wait to see where I am at in another 4 weeks. It has such quick and amazing results that every time I step on the scales I am motivated to keep going.
You can do this.

Hi Izzy,
CONGRATULATIONS! (Imagine sound of a bottle of bubbly popping)
Let’s all celebrate with bubbly water and lemon/lime slices.
I really enjoy reading your posts.

that’s brilliant Izzy, well done
– and you still have the excitement of the new food processor to play with! – has it arrived yet?

Yes it was very small actually and I did enjoy it – it’s funny but if it had been big I probably wouldn’t have wanted it all! Few weeks ago I would have tucked back several!

Hi Mags
Earlier in the year i did a sugar free diet for about six or seven weeks – at a conference I had some water from a jug with lemon in – it tasted soooo sweet I left it, as I thought it must have something sugary in. I tried it at home, water with just a lemon, but left it a while rather than drinking straight away – and yes, it really did taste very sweet.
I’ve found I’m drinking a lot less diet coke than I usually do – I drank a huge bottle a couple of weeks ago, but other than that I don’t think I’ve wanted it at all.

good luck with BSD

hi baristagirls
I hope that was a small bar of chocolate – and that you really enjoyed it!

I’m at the start of week 4 too (I though that was tomorrow, but checking back it’s actually today, and I’ve lost 13.84 pounds (6.3kg), which I’m counting as a stone – so pretty similar results – I have a bit more than another stone to go though.

Yeah, finally, my weight starts with 95! 95.7kg
And a full stone lost – just under 4 weeks (6.3kg)

Finally off of another plateau – what was different? Not a lot – I did have a fasting blood test, so was very rigid about not eating late (after 10.30pm) and I didn’t have breakfast until about 11, so maybe try to repeat that more.
I used to often skip breakfast, but on restricted calories I feel less inclined to do that most mornings.
No choice today – GP had only ticked Lipids on the form, not HbA1c, so I have to pick up another form and go back to the phlebotomy centre – I could get the bus, but its an OK 4 mile walk there and back.
About 15k steps yesterday, 11k of them ‘aerobic’ on my pedometers criteria

I’m a bit of an imposter in this part of the forums, but I have found it interesting what has happened over the last few days. Last Thursday I had lost 12lb 8oz, yesterday marked the start of week 4, today I weighed the same as each weighing since last Thursday. That night I had supper with my grandma, I told her I was doing low carbs, ate far more than my calories but virtually no carbs, Saturday and Lordsday we had friends in and it happened again, I overate, but the only carbs I ate were a few crisps (and a chocolate bar in the evening, oops…), back on track yesterday.

I am thinking maybe this is an example of how I will maintain my weight when the eight weeks are up, and want to lose at least another stone in that time.

Like Sue says, it’s all about choices. The type of food.

Congratulations BSD on your great results! 3 stone lighter and now not Type 2?!!!

I think people suggesting you are too thin are those who’d like to lose a bit of weight themselves, don’t know how to do it, and are envious.

My OH is concerned that ‘his face will look too thin’, and I’ve been saying that when you feel fit and healthy, you look great and the perceived ‘thin-ness’ of your face doesn’t mean anything – you look slim and happy and healthy! He’s very happy to have got into a Medium shirt (used to be XL) and a pair of 34″ jeans (used to be 36/38) and to be honest that’s made him look much fitter anyway!

Thanks guys for the update on Vimto, really helps and well done for losing so much in 4 weeks, I hope I do the same, I am not diabetic either just doing it to lose the weight so If I lose as much as you have done in 4 weeks I will be really please… thanks again.
Keep up the hard work… 🙂

Oh yes, fantastic, Izzy and CONGRATULATIONS!

Do you realise how inspirational your posts (and those of many others) are – not just to the people who respond on these threads, but to everyone reading them and passing them on?

Thank you for posting, even when things got tough for you. It so helps. 🙂

Yes, Baristagirls is (are?!) right, this is the right nutritional info for Vimto – and also right that you could start off as you’re used to with it, and then experiment with, say, fizzy water and a bit of lemon/cucumber/mint etc to see if you can wean yourself off sweeter things.

I had a slightly different problem in that I took sugar in tea and coffee, and after having worked out how many useless calories that was (let alone useless refined carbohydrates), I gave it up. Just here drinking my sugar-free coffee now, and feeling so proud of myself. 🙂

A number of people have said that after doing the BSD they don’t crave sweet things anywhere near what they used to, which could be useful for our lifestyle change in general.

Hello Mags, This is only 2kcal per hundred ml so fine on that score. I think the idea is not to have too much sweetener as it makes you crave sweet things, but each person is different. Mum and I have sugar free drinks and have kept going fine, however we’re not diabetic, just out to lose the needed weight and slash the carb cravings. In fact SF vimto is one of mum’s favourites 🙂
I’m just into week 4 and have lost 12lb 8oz which is pleasing, I don’t have as much to lose as some and have had a few slip ups as well.
All the best!

A really simple question, but i picked up Pecans instead of walnuts by mistake at the shop.
I know that pecans are SLIGHTLY higher in carbs, but is there that much of a difference between the two, particularly in the small quantities i’m using (no carb ploughmans and Bircher)?

thanks

Hi Lucia,
I spent a while ‘trialing’ that I could actually do the 800 cal and then jumped in. When I finished the 8 weeks I’ve gone to 5:2 and try to get 12 -14 hours of fasting overnight. On week-ends I can manage 16 hours fasting and eat ‘brunch’ and a night time meal.
Some days are easier than others but I like how I feel having cut out all of the starchy carbs.
Hi Izzy,
Bread? Who needs it? It’s so pre-BSD.
I’m smiling a lot today, can’t you tell?

Wahooo congratulations Izzy!! Great and so encouraging stats 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻♥️

Could someone clarify… I am about to start the Diet today and not sure about no added sugar vimto, I don’t drink tea or coffee and usually have a hot vimto, is this okay? Don’t want to start the diet and do it wrong…

Would love to hear from you to make sure I am on the right track… Thanks Mags

Izzy congratulations on your graduation. I saw your numbers; Go GirlGo. Three cheers. What’s your next plan?

Is there a link to a site that displays the levels of sugar and carbs in the different types of alcoholic drinks. I think that would add some context.