Well done Collie, no need to be scared, just keep doing the same and you will get where you want to be 🙂

Sulking now…..
Anyone want to buy a banana?

Suppose bill would tell the little minions off too?

Suppose I can’t sing about banana either.

Bottom lip is now out.

Lip quivering too………

Love Lucia
Xxxx😣🙁🙁🙁😕😔😔😕☹️☹️☹️🙁🙁😕

Sorry Bill.
As I said, it’s a one off.
Isn’t that better than me eating a family size bag of chocolate? And huge bag of crisps etc?
I am allowed a tiny slip am I not?

Okay, so when I do it again , will you take a IOU?

Anyway it was worth it to get a blog from you.
Still missing you.

Love Lucia
Xxxxx

Well done ClairyB! It takes such a lot of willpower when surrounded by food to stick to just the thing you came in for. I’m similar with the ‘events’ as I have three weekends away in the 8 weeks. I know I could have started after them but having read the book I was excited to crack on with it.

@Frog- I laughed at the idea of you using all your willpower not to lick your hands! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Bill

1. BSD = Calorie restriction = mindful food planning, preparation and eating.
Just completed Week 5 of the on-line MBSR course, which was not a great week, as it was all about Dealing With Difficult Emotions/Sensations, which I don’t have much of nowadays [thankfully]. But the continuing practise of meditating in one way or another each morning works well with BSD. And I’ve incorporated some yoga into my post-workout steam room stretching routine. Double win.
2. BSD = not hiding so much of that extra fat in plain sight. Much of it was ‘hiding’ on my waist which is now 5″ less.
3. BSD = Mood enhancement and energy boost.
With all the added energy from BSD I’ve completed many long overdue to do’s. One was to fix and reactivate my hi fi system, after a few years of lazy Sonos listening. Vinyl is as good as I remember. There’s a guy in America who finds first pressings of classic LP’s for rich folks and sells them for up to $1000 each, so each listen to a classic album is literally a valuable use of time!
4. BSD = not snacking.
Realising that ‘hungry’ isn’t usually hungry but thirsty or a touch of boredom or an old habit. I’m thinking about this more as the end of the beginning nears, since it would be so easy to go back to frequent snacking and ‘treats’ and reverse the progress.

Feeling a bit of a cheat though since I am not eating a ‘proper’ Public Health England diet.

Good Luck Rachel, Hope you get a nice surprise and lose lots!

I’m conducting an experiment for dinner…. I will report back later!

be smug! it’s ok, and you will lose 5 lbs very soon I’m sure 🙂

Hi everyone,
I would just like to say how motivational this thread is and your achievements are an inspiration to me and, I’m sure, so many others. I hope this is the right place to post my first weeks results, so here goes.
Starting date 16/05/16: Weight: 15 st 3 lbs BS 5.9
Week 1: 23/05/16: Weight: 14 st 9 lbs BS 3.9

I have lost a fabulous 8 lbs and feel great. I must admit some of the withdrawal was horrid – I had really bad aching legs, but thankfully that’s all gone now and I’m truly loving this new way of life!
Thank you for reading, and I hope to learn so much more about myself, the diet and you on our exciting BSD journeys.

Something fishy going on.
I have had three portions of grilled fish today, purely because it tasted amazing. I even had fish for breakfast with some grilled tomatoes basted with some good olive oil! I haven’t felt tired or hungry today and the protein is really satisfying, so all good. It was a lot easier today, as I was back at work after weekend. I swerved the staff room iced fairy cakes, brought in by a colleague whose birthday it was, and felt totally in control. Maybe I am being a bit too smug today, as I can see from the forum posts that some days are a lot tougher than others. I will try to curb my exhuberance until I have lost 5 pounds – that will be a real milestone for me.x

I know everything reminds me of food!!! In the spar whilst buying my tuna, everywhere I looked, doughnuts, buy one get one free!! 4 mars for a £1!! I did however buy a bag of apples on offer for a £1, feeling virtuous. Just got home and feeling ravenous so decided to have the bacon and scrambled egg now and save chicken and veg for later, I know how to live!! I also have booked myself for a manicure I can afford it now I’m not buying any foodie treats.

Well done! You should be rightly proud of yourself!

I think the results speak for themselves, look at everyone’s blood results and then say it’s irresponsible.

I find mornings easier than afternoons, but they’re definitely not so much hard work as 2 weeks ago! I am one of those annoying types who doesn’t actually weigh myself; I just go by how my clothes fit (or if I need to buy a smaller size!) because people tend to get so hung up on losing a precious 1/2lb when those sort of changes could be down to time of day or whether fat is being replaced with muscle (which is heavier). If I can get back down to a comfortable size 14 pair of trousers I’ll be happy!

I’ll be really happy to kick the snacking habit finally, I haven’t had anything since lunch so I’m heading in the right direction!

How much weight have you lost so far?

Hi All,

I seem to be allergic to weekends! Luckily I still stay away from carbs and sugar but I can’t stick with the 800cals a day, Friday night ended up going to a Turkish Grill for dinner and ate BBQ chicken fillet with lamb skewers and salad – had some minty yoghurt with cucumber on the side. Felt good because I divided my plate in half and packed up the half before I started eating.

Saturday ended up eating and eating then had brazil nuts – skipped dinner was too scared to count how many calories, Sunday started the day with steak and eggs and had chicken for Lunch with watercress salad – dinner was leftover chicken turned into soup with a ton of vegetables.

Weighed myself today, didn’t put on weight so was grateful for that but would really like some input on how to stick with the 800?

I thought I had worked out a way to manage it but seems like its not working and back to the drawing board. Now all i can think of is those Brazil nuts – good job it will take me an hour and a half on the train each way to get to those exact ones so not likely I’ll be indulging anytime soon. Just feel annoyed I can’t control myself weekends and during the week I’m so good.

Any tips on how to stick with it? I’ve started in my diary today by saying week one day one – because these slip ups are making me feel really useless and I was thinking a fresh start might be a good idea.

I like what you said LindaA about the chance of a healthy me forever – just wish I could stick to the 8 weeks first – right now I feel like maybe this yo yo thing I’m doing will harm me more than benefit me if I dont be super strict.

Patsy thanks so much for posting this as I don’t think consciously I really thought about how hard the weight was for my body albeit of course I know if I stop to think about it.
Agree re adding to the lost pile is a great way to think about it!
Your post was a great nugget for me, thanks so much!

Keep it up JCH! I’m on week three and hunger pangs are GONE (apart from when evening mealtime is looming) so I have just about kicked the snacking/boredom eating habit. I have a tiny pot of toasted almonds on my desk at work, and have the occasional one or two if I need a boost. I agree that food seems to taste a lot better, and there are so many lovely new things to try! Halloumi cheese was a revelation, and butternut squash spaghetti is perfect with anything where historically I had pasta or noodles. A few more days and you will start noticing your clothes feeling looser – that’s what makes it worthwhile!

Hi P! You caught me browsing the forum threads! Glad to hear it’s still going well. I am really beginning to feel GOOD physically; definitely not got the munchies of previous bad habits. No snacking at all on weekdays in fact. I am holding off till week 4 to try on my M&S jeans.. will be delighted if they do up again! Well done on getting back into your jeans already. My OH is also supporting me, although he is already annoyingly slim so I am being kind and letting him have rice, pasta etc with the same meals as I am having on the eating plan. I think he is impressed with the new recipes though 🙂

Hi Frog
I’ve already had the 24 hour BP monitor thingy in Mid February and was told everything was ok with the results!!!!!
Perhaps he didn’t properly look at my notes and didn’t like to defer to a young junior doctor; or was being super cautious which I suppose is understandable with BP issues. Don’t suppose they like the idea of erratic BP.
Wish I had my old doctor who has taken early retirement.

Sounding good JaneyCD!
I try not to think about the bread and pasta lol. Hope everything good with you & yours.
Everything going well at the moment. I have tried to keep up increasing the walking and extra stepping/jiggling and swaying when doing the washing up etc (to music ).
I have lost another four and a half pounds this week and can definitely feel my fat getting softer/less solid to the touch. I am wearing jeans that wouldn’t do up in February.
My other half is being a sport and eating the same menu as me ( + having extras such as ham, lettuce, prawns and small cubes of cheese if he is feeling desperate) and has lost nine pounds too.

That’s a great way of looking at it! Let’s see if you lose weight as fast as that little boy gains it! I know my son used to seemingly grow overnight in the early months!!I hope your treadmill turns up soon. I really need to address the increased exercise aspect; its a case of making time (lame excuse I know). I used to squeeze in a gym session in my lunch hour but it was such a rush 🙁 I think I just need to make myself walk more instead of jumping in the car. This weekend I am at my friend’s wedding so I am giving myself a day off this eating plan on Sunday, although will still try not to go overboard on food and drink. At least my dress will fit better..

Well done ClairyB
I went for a manicure this morning – CND’s hand scrub and moisturiser smells of almonds – MARZIPAN alert!!!
I did manage not to lick my hands (I did sniff them a bit on the way home though)

I’m on my third day and doing ok so far. The hunger is still up and down but I’m following the forum advice and I’m sure this will improve soon.

Here’s what I’ve learnt:

Two cashew nuts can kill a hunger pang! That would have been a bar of chocolate or pack of crisps before… And then another!
Drinking loads of water is definitely the key to keeping the headaches at bay.
A drink of water can kill a hunger pang.
I actually taste the food now, not just hoover it down and move onto the next thing, even a cup of normal tea with milk tastes a lot better and I appreciate it more.
I’m buying things I’ve never bought before – today it was coconut flour and flaxseed – I’m going to make some pancakes for brunch this weekend (recipe from here) and add the flaxseed to my yogurt.
My fridge contents look completely different to normal.
I’m carefully thinking through my food choices, to make the most of each meal – I had a skimmed milk coffee on Saturday at 70 calories but that’s an apple or handful of nuts which is more satisfying so I won’t be doing that again for a while.
I need to plan ahead and be prepared with my food, not buying things on the way home from work when I’m really hungry.
A few seeds can improve the flavour of natural yogurt!

I’m weighing in for the first time tomorrow so hopefully all these changes will pay off!

Thanks Especially!

Patsy – scary, isn’t it! I was chatting to a friend who is pregnant when we had that warm spell a couple of weeks ago (I so hope that that wasn’t Summer in its entirety!), and she was saying that she’s pleased she’ll be giving birth before it got to summer because of carrying the extra weight.

I know there’s fluid, and other gunk aside from the actual baby, but now thinking about the excess weight I’m carrying in relation to that!
If I loose all the weight I want to, it will be the equivalent of giving birth to an adult! (albeit a non-overweight one!)
SO – the eight weeks will be up mid July – if I’ve managed to loose the claimed average of 14 kilos – that’s 31lb – several babies

Thanks Bill
My better-half also told me I would be in a stronger-looking position with a BMI in the ‘normal’ healthy range and plenty of accurate records to support my claims.
Another 4 weeks to an even slimmer me. 10lbs in 4 weeks is doable I think!!!!!

When you think in terms of losing more weight than we could lift, it shows what strain we’ve put on our bodies by carrying that around all the time. I don’t want to visulise what’s still there – will concentrate on adding to the lost pile. That’s the important one as it’s staying off, whereas the extra I / we’re still carrying is a temporary situation which is getting better every day.

Brilliant – well done!

Day 1
Breakfast – 1 apple
Lunch – tin of tuna (not sure if i went for the right one though – it was in sunflower oil)
Dinner – Chicken breast – brocolli – green beans
Supper – scrambled egg

All sounds very righteous – but i could kill for a mars bar!! Must stay focused – only 7 hours until bedtime!!!

Please tell me I’m on the right track 🙂

Thanks Collie! As i said i was totally unprepared today and ended up buying a tin of tuna – i am now salivating about the thought of a chicken breast and vegetables later. I could also fit in some scrambled egg as some calories left. I will see how i feel after aqua – feeling smug – even if it is only day one!!

Wow – Switzerland in Australia – how exciting!! Thanks for Brownie tip – i haven’t got the book yet – it’s on it’s way so i will look up the recipe on line.

That’s amazing, I’m on day 3 and struggling with feeling hungry today so posts like this keep me going, well done you!

Congratulations Kathy54!

What a lot of positives from from your first 8 weeks. I bet you’re really chuffed with yourself!

Probably white coat syndrome Caramba! – hopefully that’s what taking your own readings will sort out.

I had high blood pressure a few years ago – turned out it was a side effect of medication for other problems.
I had to wear one of those automated monitors that measures every half hour for a day. That service had just been outsourced, and I think the infernal phone system to try and make the appointment to have the thing fitted probably caused it to raise several points higher!

good luck for the next appointment.

Top class results MJW
That’s the kind of thing we love to hear about, no wonder you’re delighted
I hope to join you before the end of the year and this one post will motivate so many others
Congratulations

Hi Janeycoughdrop. Yes I do feel better for it. I haven’t noticed any change in my measurements but I am definitely not hungry and convinced that I can sustain this for the duration – however long that is. Also had lovely cuddles with my new grandson and I can’t get over that I have lost more weight in the past two weeks than he weighs. I have lost a whole person albeit a little one😉

It won’t do any harm TBH as long as your readings don’t go too low.
Just 4 weeks and you may have the proof you need to reduce or stop them all together 🙂

Thanks Tallyhoo and my pal Eureka for their welcome to ‘old timers’ like me!!!!!
Am feeling great in myself and looking fairly slim now too. Only about 10lbs to go to reach my so-called healthy weight.

Bit disappointed today because I managed to get myself an appointment …..a bit like hen’s teeth round here …to try to get my medication reviewed.
Saw a lovely Junior Doctor who was really pleased to see my BS and BP readings……and of course the weight loss.
She was ready to reduce my Ramipril and look into the Metformin dosage. Unfortunately she took my BP which was 167/72 in the surgery.At home this morning it was 109/58. I’d taken my machine in with me and my arm cuff monitor showed exactly the same reading as her’s. She then had to go off and consult with a senior doctor who said I needed to take 10 readings a day for 3 days and return in 4 weeks when I could have another HbA1c test (at least I get one now).
My test taken 2 months ago only included 7 weeks of BSD diet and Metformin (dosage 3 X 500mg) and was 7.2 % (9.5 mmol/l).
Anyway I’ve been told to stay on all the same medication……the Junior Doctor said she was sorry she’d asked!!!!!!

Think I’d better do as I’m told as I am T2 newbie and not as brave as many others on this forum!!!

Kicking off day one here. Target loss is “only” 4,5kg. That said I haven’t shaken them off in years, think the focus that the bsd brings to food type choices and quantities will help enormously, kicking alcohol has already made a huge difference.

that’s Brilliant MJW, and really inspiring.

I’m still on week one, and a bit more than one and a half stone to loose, but I will get there.
I calculated it this morning as 18 6-can trays of catfood – but I have lost one tray already!

Good work Collie!! That’s a fantastic weight loss!

Hey celestee, like you neither T2 or pre, but inspired not to ever get into that position and lose those kilos that have crept on. Just killing the carbs has already had a positive effect, sure you’ll end up having the dress refitted, and not to have to squeeze into it! Good luck

and some double cream on top

Well done Dogsbody that’s amazing!
You’ll end up more greyhound than great dane at that rate!

I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic in 2001. At the time, I was told I would definitely become Type 2 diabetic in 5 to 10 years. I managed to keep it in the pre-diabetic range with diet and exercise, but my weight did gradually increase over the years and I started straying into being overweight. And it was becoming harder to keep it down. So, I read the book and started cutting carbs and sticking to the Med style diet. I lost a stone and a half in about 3 months with out feeling as if I was dieting at all.
That was a great result in itself, but I had my standard diabetic check a couple of weeks ago and, lo and behold, my readings have dropped enough for me to be no longer classified as pre-diabetic. And, what’s more, my blood pressure medication has been reduced as well. Needless to say, I am delighted.

well I think my body is definitely TRYING to burn fat, since it is still making me shaky – 2 hours today, after breakfast, while I was out walking
I need to stop my carby breakfast again but I cant at the moment as it is helping my stupid reflux
maybe in a few days

I had this bizarre image whilst walking – of something like fat bubble wrap inside me, and popping the bubbles as I walked
sad – I know

You’ll see it’s a breeze! Proper food and no starvation involved. Best of all, you’ll likely find a whole new world of food, without the sugar……!

Have at it! The first step is the hardest, and the most important. Once you’ve taken the decision it’s simply a matter of persistence. You’re bloke will twig once the meals change and the carbs disappear from the kitchen, but this isn’t about him is it? Day one for me today….. Can absolutely recommend the chicken, red pepper and asparagus suggestion in the book as a starting point for dinner! Just walking for exercise to get up to 10k a day steps is a gentle way to get moving. Welcome to a new way of living 😉.

Today I have reached the 8 weeks of this new way of life. -22 lbs, BS down in the 5’s & 6’s. BP gone from 140/75 to 115/65. Am now off BP tablets and stopped Metformin 4 weeks ago with no effects.
Liver has shrunk so that it can no longer be felt.
I plan to continue.

Having read the book and today is my first day of trying it out as I am a bit overweight and looking at my fasting bloods pre diabetic! I was wondering if there was any info on Konjac flour. I have a family that love pasta and to cut down I have found this in the Bare Naked Noodles and Holland and Barrett are selling a variety in pasta form. Only 0.1g of sugar per 100g serving. Any info on this flour and if I can include it in the diet .