12.5 weeks in..2 stones down as of today. Now weigh 9 st 11lbs. Super happy..havent given up..very much a part of normal life now the bsd..delighted. also free from general aches and pains plus my allergies have eased. Only time I struggle is with hormones !! This is a lovely forum..

If pennies are tight,
Before buying a spiraliser, you can buy spiraliser courgettes from Tesco’s so you see if they are any help to your diet.
If you try them ready done, then see if you enjoy them, need them, cannot live life m, then go and buy a spiraliser.

Hope this helps.
Love Lucia
Xxx

Hi Befoon88
I had headaches as well on days 2 & 3 + had incredibly aching legs for about the first 5 days. At first I thought it was because I had started walking for about 40 mins per day where before I was doing nothing, but now I think it was withdrawal symptoms from sugar/carbs. Don’t worry, it will get better, stick to it and I promise!
Just remember to drink at least 2-3 litres of non calorie drinks per day along with your fats.
Good luck this week. 😀
Linda

Right , the one thing that helped me lose weight at the beginning, and I DO NOT recommend this to anyone is…..

New shoes.

I bought a pair of new shoes, didn’t break them in.
So when I wore them to walk, I couldn’t go far, so other than sit at my desk, I couldn’t nip out to the newsagents for chocolate, sweets and crisps,
Couldn’t get to the supermarket after work, just got straight home.
This is one of the many things that helped me on my way down the path.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Thanks Lisa
I’ve got a dinner to go to this Friday night, but fortunately it’s at a steak restaurant, so steak and salad it will be!!
I do find re reading both the book and the forums really keep me motivated.
Have a great week!!
Linda

Hi Imogen,
God do they slow my walking down, they give my calves a right work out
And
They keep me away from buying the food, just can’t reach it.
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Day 2…So far I have cold (expected), general wobblyness/shakes, puffy hands and ankles, constant headrushes (have to put my head between my knees whenever I stand up)..Anyone else in the same boat?

I was still low tonight on both carbs and calories so I had another hot chocolate but instead of adding vanilla flavouring I added a drop of peppermint, it turned out nice.

It occured to me earlier that I am almost at the mid-way point of my 8 weeks. In some ways it matters little as I now intend to keep going, but it feels significant to have the 4 week milestone looming.

It’s a great forum, full of welcoming, helpful people 🙂

Just saw your post albeit 2 weeks after the event…. Sounds weird but a tiny sliver of avocado is my friend at carb-craving o’clock. And I am someone who could eat raisins by the handful and nutella straight out of the jar with a spoon.

Hello there. I don’t have ravenous kids, just a toddler who loves his cereal with raisins, potato anything, pasta with cheese, butter & cream… I got used to hoovering up all his left-overs and here I am a stone heavier than I want to be. Things that have helped – chewing gum as soon as I finish what’s on my plate; being ruthless about portion size (only giving him little servings and then more little servings when he’s finished the first one); composting the any leftovers straight away (those few pieces of butter-loaded fusili don’t look so good when in with the carrot peelings); having a sports bottle full of squash made with fizzy water that I sip while he’s having a snack. Enjoy the rowing…1000m intervals with a 30 sec break used to be my favourite torture 🙂

Hi again, bumblebee,
Well, you’ve still got Day 7 before you have completed the first week. I don’t think it matters what you lose, the important thing is that you are losing weight. People who’ve had a spectacular first week often get a really slow week 2 or 3 – it’s just the way the cookie crumbles (oops, shouldn’t mention cookies). I’ve never had a majorly huge weight loss on any week – rather, the bigger the loss, the bigger the upward bounce that’s followed, and then it resettles bit by bit. Your body is still adjusting to being on the BSD – it will fight back! Don’t get frustrated if it’s slow, you will get occasions when the wheel comes off the wagon, but you just start again – but it does get easier as your body gets used to the new regime. Better you have an insatiable craving for salmon with garlic & paprika than something loaded with the sugar demon!
Hope your trip to Tesco was successful – I still quite enjoy perusing the reduced counter because you can get some decent cuts of meats. I am able to ignore the sweet treats I’m happy to say.
My weekend starts on Sunday – I work Saturdays – so I hope to spend time up at the allotment planting out more runner beans. Things are coming along nicely at the plot – I’ll have to spend more time up there over the next few weeks.
Anyway, you have a good weekend!

Thanks Izzy. I think I will measure out some milk to use each day. This looks like an active forum so I shall look forward to logging in and looking for tips and support. Beth

yes you can, but you should count the calories of the milk and sugar if you use.

You will need to try to keep your fluids up though, so I’ve switched to drinking herbal tea most of the time as it can be counted towards your fluid totals.

Best of luck with your start 🙂

I have just read the book and am getting ready to getting started on the BSD. Can I drink tea and coffee with milk while on the diet? I have the kindle version of the book and it may have talked about tea and coffee but perhaps I missed it.
Suggestions/tips appreciated. Thanks, Beth

Hi again,
Glad the lemon polenta cake was a success! Glad you are feeling calmer (but I see from your later message that things were kicking off – hope things are under control again).
A racing heart must have been a bit worrying – if it keeps happening do go back to your doctor. I know someone who had some mh issues and she also suffered from irregular heartbeat occasionally.
I’m glad you had a decent night’s sleep – a good kip is so important. And Collie is so right about electronics – using a laptop late at night does not help. When I had trouble sleeping during a stressful time in my life, my GP said not to use my laptop after about 6pm.
Things seem to be OK with me, thank you – my ailing car seems to be fixed now. After a major pigout over the Bank Holiday weekend, I’ve been back on track and sticking to the BSD. So you just keep on keeping on.
Best wishes.

I’d love to be musical but I’ve not got the endurance to learn properly! I hope your kilt stays up tomorrow! Life will always get in the way sometimes but it’s great you were able to stick to the principles because at least you didn’t regain weight.

my courgetti is currently cooking, hungry now after going out for an hour long walk with my daughter 🙂

Thanks Cherrianne. Feels really strange to be 21 weeks into this. Don’t think I’ve ever stuck with any slimming club for this long. And don’t think I ever lost this amount of weight with any slimming club. All that time and money over the years😱

Can’t believe I’m actually looking forward to being overweight LOL

I think the rapid results at the start really helped. When you have 6+ stone (84+ pounds) to lose, the slimming club mantra of 1 or 2 pounds a week makes the goal seem impossible to reach, especially with gains and the weeks you stay the same. You’re advised to stay to class, where they push their produce. With one club it’s easy to incorporate ‘bad’ food, while another does not help with portion control.

With the BSD I’ve seen rapid progress and I’ve not been tempted to have any of the carbs I used to live on😃 I’ll soon be starting my fourth notebook to keep me records of what I eat, weigh, measure – and test results. The first three are spiral bound with perforated pages. Started using them in case I didn’t stick with this – I could tear the used pages out and use the rest for something else. Well. It looks like I’m with this for life, so I treated myself – to a Moleskin notebook. No way to tear pages out!

I’ll be in Italy for when I complete week 24, so next thread will be either week 23 or week 25. Now, do I start the new notebook and take it with me, or start it when I come back? Thinking at the minute is to start it the Saturday before I go away – won’t want to spoil it!

Hi Imogen. Welcome and thanks. You’ll be here yourself soon, helping those following behind us. It’s not easy to see the end in sight when we have lots to lose. I still almost pinch myself when I look at my results and see how far I’ve come and how far I need to go to reach my goal. Until you officially move in here, you’re always welcome to visit 😃🌻

Hi jess1471

Welcome back🌻

Glad that you are going to continue with the BSD, especially as you did so well before. So you had a blip? … put the last few weeks behind you!

As for your mindset – how is it different at this time?

I have a problem with my joints and find swimming to be good (if you can fit it to your schedule).

Imogen x

Hi captainlynne,

Just nipped over from the first eight weeks gang to let you know just how inspirational you (and the other long term BSDers) are!

I am in this for the long haul as I have a lot of excess weight to shed and reading posts from the ‘ veterans ‘ really helps and encourages… so keep on posting… we need you guys!!!

Thank you,🌻

Hi Orchid

Please remember that when I started this I was type 2 diabetic, diet controlled for 6.5 years, but being threatened with medication. I needed to lose between 6 and 6.5 stones (84 – 91 pounds). I need to avoid some foods that others can eat with no problem.

Today I’ve finished 21 weeks on Fast 800, not only keeping to the 800 calories, but keeping carbs as low as possible.

During that time I had 5 days holiday abroad and 4 days at a residential conference. During the holiday I made the best choices available, but gained 2 pounds, which disappeared after a few days. That made me realise I needed to concentrate more on portion control. I don’t normally eat at lunchtime, but at the residential conference dinner was much later than I usually eat, so I had a slice of cooked meat with a small amount of salad. I had my usual cooked breakfast (bacon, egg, baked beans). When given the menu to pre-order dinner I immediately crossed out the desserts (including the cheese board – it’s huge and comes with grapes, celery and crackers). Then I looked at the starters, trying to work out the best option, deleting carbs as necessary. Same with the main course. When the veg arrived I just took a small portion, ignoring potatoes and other root veg. The portions for the main course were huge and I couldn’t finish them.

To date I’ve lost a total of 49 pounds (3 this week). My fasting blood sugar has dropped from 10.9 to within the normal range. A recent HbA1c blood test also showed a drop – from 9.6 immediately before I started on BSD on 19th December, to 8.7 in January and 5.5 in April (within the normal range).

My BMI has dropped from 40.9 to 30.9. I only need to lose another 3 pounds to move from obese to overweight. I have also lost 4 dress sizes.

I still need to lose another 29-36 pounds approx to be where the medics want mr to be and will stay with 800 calories and very low carb until I reach my target.

After all this time, eating this way is a habit. I cannot imagine eating refined carbs again. I have also lost the taste for diet fizzy drinks – now I drink water (usually fizzy).

In a few weeks I’m on holiday in Italy, staying with friends. I’ve already told them I can’t eat pizza, pasta etc – so now they think I’m coeliac! They have a relation who is coeliac, so said they’re used to catering for it. Told them not to bother with special foods, I’m happy with meat, fish, cheese, veg and salad. When I arrive I’ll ask them to take me shopping so I can buy some food to help out their budget. And I’m taking a hand-held Spiraliser with me – introduce them to courgetti etc. 😃

At the age of 65 I feel better than in many years and wish I had found this way of eating many years ago. It is not a diet – it is a way of life.

Hope this helps. Any questions, please ask.

Hi Izzy – just had the opposite problem to your trouser one. I play fiddle and tomorrow morning have to be at the top of Calton Hill in my long kilt and white blouse for a recording. Floor length kilts being expensive, I tried mine on since it was on the tightest buckle at my last concert in March. It’s now too loose even on that tightest notch and I cannot make it any smaller without cutting a new slit in the waist😁

I have been absent from posting for a while since we have had exam stress and busy times outside of work but I have read almost all the posts on here and they’ve kept me going. I’m now doing a second round of 800 BSD since while I was keeping broadly to the principles I was eating larger quantities than necessary and not loosing more. Now down another kilo in a few days and taking recipe inspiration from the chickpeas and have checked out the pickled egg recipe too☺
I’m loving the Cusique spiralizer too – courgetti with cream cheese and chilli is yum!

Well done Lynne 🙂
Keep posting your progress cos everyone loves to read those great results. I’m sure that anyone who is feeling daunted by needing to shed a lot of weight will be inspired by your success.
Personally, I thinks it’s wonderful that you are still on the BSD for this length of time and getting weight loss and improvements to your health.
So, looking forward to you being overweight lol!!

Hi, I know the answer is probably no, but would slimline tonic water be OK.?? Just checking incase someone says yeh, perfect for the pre-diabetic!! I am wandering around the house feeling deprived, craving something sweet after all this time. Tofa

Hi Penny,
Yes you can swap the meal plans around and even use your own, or recipes from this site. Just stick with meals of a similar calorie count and keep it low carb, no simple starches etc.
All the best and let us know your progress 🙂

I too have just fallen off that pesky wagon – I ate 2 chocolate biscuits and 2 chocolate wafers in quick succession about an hour ago, there are more in the cupboard (OH has them). I haven’t done this at all until now (6 weeks) and I know it’s cos I’m fed up. I’d been trying to cook some recipes and non worked well, so I just felt bad and stalked round the house looking for chocolate (or crisps)

The thing is, we are out tomorrow with group of friends, and all meeting at a local fish and chip shop (I don’t eat fish) . I now need to get my mind sorted so I don’t eat more bad things. I could just have a drink there if no salad.I feel like I’m teetering on the brink.

Hi Collie
Of course you don’t need a gizmo to get moving and there are loads of these things around.
I decided to get something as extra motivation after I had been on the BSD diet for around 12 weeks and the weight loss was slowing.
My sort of reward for losing weight was a Fitbit and it has done that motivational job for me.
I was exercising but surprised that I was slobbing around at other times and certainly not achieving 10,000 steps a day.
Am challenging myself to do a May Marathon and up my step count. Love the buzz when you get 10,000 steps (you can set it lower)…..and I am a sucker for the badges too.
Surprised that when I mention that I need to up my step-count the person I’m speaking often seems to roll up their sleeves to reveal a gizmo and with a gleam in their eye and a big grin tells me their amazing step count. Must be working for loads of other people too.

Started with a Fitbit Charge but have since changed to Fitbit Charge HR so I can monitor my heart rate.
Only had the HR for a week but my resting pulse rate has dropped from 60 bpm to 54 bpm. So that seems like good news.

Haven’t been on my bike for ages so I need to get it out and get those rusty cogs working!!!!
Collie…. thanks for that reminder.
Keep on rolling.

Thank you all for your supportive replies, I am still plodding on with the diet and things are slowly improving, haven’t got to the buzzing with energy stage but I am hopeful. I need the energy to get on top of my garden, it is full of brambles, bindweed and ground elder!

Thanks Bill 😃 You too are an inspiration to many on here. Hope you reach your target for your holidays.

Hi HappyLife. Thanks for your kind words.

I sometimes feel awkward about posting my progress as I’ve been around so long, but comments like yours and Bill’s reassure me and keep me posting.

Thanks everyone💐🌻🌹😃

Lucia,

Have you been wearing those flippers again??😄

Imogen.x

Thanks Julia18togo,

Just me being melodramatic – over the tantrum now!
Really appreciate your sound good sense and support.
How would I manage without the care, positivity, and humour of the BSDers?

Thanks to all.🌻

Imogen.x

Igorasusual: interesting you should say that you notice the inches more than the weight. I threw a party last night and EVERYONE commented on how much thinner I am. It’s not a huge amount of weight – about 7lb last time I looked, which is a few days ago, after just over two weeks on the diet – but it’s two inches off my bust and four inches off my waist, so it shows. My clothes are definitely looser.

Today we went out for a Chinese meal and I intended to eat what I liked, but I just wasn’t hungry. I ordered my usual wine but drank less than half, as I really wanted water (if you knew how much I love my wine, you’d realise how odd this is – we have a cellar! I buy wine by the crate). For my starter, I had a huge lettuce leaf and a mound of red cabbage with a nem and a couple of samosas, no main course and some fresh melon for dessert. The DH had a modest starter and he too went straight to dessert, eschewing a main course. This is absolutely unheard-of and I hope a sure sign that he’s getting used to smaller portions. He even put fruit salad on his ice cream (OK, he’s no saint).

I’ve decided that we won’t sweat it when we eat out, as many restaurants round here have a set menu and we only eat out 2-4 times a month anyway – we work from home and I cook all our other meals from scratch. I’ll just follow it with a fast day each time, and the DH loses weight the minute he stops eating biscuits anyway!

I’ve spent the afternoon assembling two flat pack cabinets, I’m now sat here setting up my new fitbit 🙂

Funny thing though… when I was busy assembling the cabinets, I split my trousers. They aren’t even too small if anything they were loose! I’ve wore them a lot so the fabric had gone thin and weak haha. They are now in the bin and I’m wearing my jeans.

Going to have courgetti bolognaise for dinner nyum nyum nyum!

I’ve also had a delivery of gram flour, almond flour and coconut oil. baking coming up!

Yeah! Scale finally moved and I am down another pound!
On top of that my new shirt I returned last week to get a smaller size is also too big and now I have to return this one. It’s huge!!
Life is good!
💜

Hi all,

Reading how well so many of you have done on the BSD is so inspiring!
Having tried the 800kcal BSD for 3 and half weeks, I found that I felt so much better, not hungry at all after the first day or two and managed to lose about 14lbs. Then came a day of celebrations and everything went backwards…for about 3 weeks now, involving carb overloads and a bottle or two of wine. I know in my head that I need to start again, and can recall how good I felt, but can also feel my mindset is not the same now as it was when I started last time. Does anyone have any tips about how to get back in control?
I’m not diabetic yet but I do have a waist of 45+ inches which needs to change for sure. Two things that haven’t changed are cycling to and from work and keeping at least 10 lbs I lost at bay so at least that is something. I have a dodgy knee so have to be careful when it comes to exercising, so does anyone have any good ways of incorporating exercise into busy work schedule and dodgy knee life?
Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Hi Barby,
I don’t use mayo or salad cream much, I usually use olive oil now with balsamic vinegar.
When I started I bought a couple of dressings for the salads one from M&S and one from Sainsbury’s. Both low-fat and lowest calories I could find.
M&S Soy, chilli and coriander dressing – 1.7g carbs (of which 1.4g is sugars), 9 calories for a dessertspoon – 10 ml.
Sainsbury’s Harissa dressing – 1g carbs (of which 0.9g is sugar), 1g fat, 13 cals. for 10ml.

I was looking again a few weeks later and realised when looking at the labels, that the NORMAL dressings were lower in carbs and higher in fat, so better for this diet. They are also more calories.
Sainsbury’s Caesar Dressing – 0..6g carbs (of which 0.2g is sugars), 4g fat, 36 cals for 10mls. Note it is also high salt.

All three are flavoursome. So, the ‘normal’ dressings are better for low sugar, but the low fat ones better for lower cals.
Given how much I put on my plate, and yes I even measure this – it is normally 10-15 ml’s per plate. So, the extra calories for the non-low fat foods seems worth it. If you are using more, then you may need to look at the calories.
I spotted the difference when I was browsing the shelf and saw one with ‘green’ on the traffic lights for sugar. It was ‘normal’ dressing. All the others were ‘amber’ as they were low fat so high sugars.

Does not help with Salad Cream and Mayo – but maybe some other dressing types can be if use instead?

Just read another blog.
Someone with without a gall bladder etc.
I have the cutest gall bladder, I have a sexy spleen and my pancreas is just so photogenic.
I am grateful and humbled by others less fortunate but are still able to lose weight.
Thank you for sharing.
Love luciaXxx

Oh, and guess what one of the items that helped me lose weight.
Come on you have to guess.
Now you know me so don’t pick anything sensible.
Will tell you after the shops.
Lucia
Xxxx

Hi gang,
Just come back from walking into town for mushrooms and eggs.
I still find it weird the way my wrist vibrates as I hit the 10,000 steps with my fit bit. You don’t expect it, then that happens, I think I am having the hebe-jeebees.

Had ham on the bone salad.
Just building up to go to aldi.
Love Lucia xxx

https://thebloodsugardiet.com/forums/topic/root-vegetables/
Hi HappyLife,
Sweet potatoes are root veg and should be used in moderation only I’m afraid. See link above for a previous discussion.

Hi Polly,
Glad you posted this as we noticed if my hubby even has 1/2 orange with a meal his blood sugar is up the next morning a lot.
I didn’t know we could have sweet potatoes!! Maybe that will help my tummy with some fiber. I will check thanks!!
🌷

Yeah Izzy! It’s these little steps that keep us all going to our goal of success!! Huge congrats to you!
I must say the train sounds fun to me!!

Doing the happy dance for you on your win over the carb catastrophe (which is the perfect term by the way).!
🌷🌻🌷🌻

Thanks Demi, I just finished 2 weeks also so we are on the same timeline. You have so many great things already happening with your plan!!! Congrats!!

I too have tummy issues. Still working on those.

Good luck!!
💜

Thanks keep trying!
I had never heard of the calcium trick before so will try it!’
💜

BLT with B + T in the L – no dressing and then a ruby grapefruit but 2 hours later BS was up to 10.2, Last night and this morning was 6.2 so a bit down that I need to avoid grapefruit

Ate at harvester last night and had ribeye steak and salad with sweet potato fries and they didn’t seem to send it up that much – which is nice!

Hi Izzy!!
Thanks for the info…. Had no idea you were also on the no gallbladder boat!
I used to only have an issue if I ate something liked fried fish so am surprised this has been an issue.
I am gonna try the lower fat in my day version and see how that works. In the book it does say most people don’t have cheese since its high in calories.
Hugs!! 💜💜

Thanks Orchid, I did use egg with the courgettes, but I think they were not dry enough – even though I’d drained them and squeezed, just too much trouble to do again. I also added some gram flour.

I just found this https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2015/01/31/carrot-cumin-kidney-bean-burger-9p/ which I may try, with addition of a little egg, as some said it was crumbly. Will let you know if they work.

Yes I found a lovely old Cranks nut loaf recipe, but way too many cals for me at the moment. When I’ve lost 5 stone, maybe as a treat 🙂

Lynne I am so happy for you!! It must feel amazing to be near reaching so many goals you have worked to achieve and you are still losing so much in one week!
Thank you for giving me hope as I look forward down my own road with this journey.
You are an inspiration truly!

Hi Stacy, thanks for replying. I managed to go to sleep so didn’t eat! I look forward to the scales dropping. I’ll keep the cheat with meat in mind if I get desperate. Hope thinks are going well for you and meat cheating or tuna hunger is minimal. Xxx

You ARE doing it – and doing it well.