I saw my GP today and he told me my HbA1C is the same as his and my blood glucose level is normal!
Finally!!!
However, I’ve only lost 2 kilos in the past year and particularly on 800 calories I don’t seem able to lose weight…but I have normalized my blood glucose. I am happy with that but do really want to lose the weight (BMI 34).

I am thinking of trying food replacement approach for 60 days but am a bit intimidated and not sure if it will work…am worried about slowing my metabolism and aggravating my type 2 diabetes…any info on this, for people who have a very hard time losing weight?

I am ecstatic to have got normal blood sugar levels now, so my efforts with 800 calories haven’t been a “failure”….just am not getting any lighter quickly enough…way slower than everyone I’ve read about here. I have really bad insulin resistance and I am completely diet controlled with my diabetes now…no meds. Blood pressure perfect. GP can’t really believe that for an overweight person I am as healthy as I am. I see the shock in his eyes when he looks at my numbers. Fortunately, he believes what I tell him about what I eat and is encouraging. In the past, I have experienced disbelief from medicos who really do think its down to claories. With me, seems it really isn’t!!

Open to suggestion. Intended fasting (bone broth) but haven’t been able to get going with it, hence idea of trying the meal replacements. A bit confused currently

Skywalker – congrats on your 15 weeks and on the improvements you’ve made, as detailed in your profile.
Pleased to see that the post loss lifestyle also makes sense. An irrational fear, despite all I’ve read and experienced, is of somehow needing to live abstemiously in order to ‘maintain’, so its reassuring to hear from those on the other side! The fundamental changes resulting from BSD seem to be that – fundamental and choices rather than restrictions. It was indeed frustrating to see the level of the debate yesterday.

Igorasusual
“I cannot be alone in looking at people I work with, and come across in my daily life, and thinking how much happier they would be in terms of spirit and health, if they followed these disciplines.” Yes – agreed. BSD is a revelation and thus it is difficult not to evangelise.

Dr MM in the Telegraph today responds:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/diet/52-author-michael-mosley-im-proof-low-fat-diets-dont-work/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/diet/52-author-michael-mosley-im-proof-low-fat-diets-dont-work/

Rather than start on medication I invented a diet (the 5:2 diet), lost weight (10 kgs) and reversed my diabetes.
Both my weight and my blood sugars have remained normal ever since.
To keep them there I have taken up mindfulness (it reduces stress), I’ve become more active and, most of all, I have completely changed what I eat.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/diet/52-author-michael-mosley-im-proof-low-fat-diets-dont-work/

Rather than start on medication I invented a diet (the 5:2 diet), lost weight (10 kgs) and reversed my diabetes. Both my weight and my blood sugars have remained normal ever since. To keep them there I have taken up mindfulness (it reduces stress), I’ve become more active and, most of all, I have completely changed what I eat. First I cut down the sugary stuff, then I cut right back on the starchy stuff, like pasta, rice and potatoes. I eat far more oily fish and oily nuts (such as almonds and walnuts), more grains (particularly the super-trendy quinoa) and have even taken to spiralising courgettes as a substitute for spaghetti. I cook with olive oil, eat full-fat yoghurt, snack on cheese and have switched back to butter. Eggs are a big part of my diet.

The reason, I believe, why this is a healthier diet than a low-fat one is because it keeps my insulin levels down. When you eat a lot of sugary foods or easily digestible carbs (like rice or pasta) your body has to produce lots of insulin to suppress the rapid increase in your blood sugar levels. Eating fat or protein doesn’t have anything like the same effect on your blood sugars, and therefore your insulin levels. Because insulin is also a fat promoting hormone, advising people to eat lots of starchy foods (which is still standard dietary advice) is likely to make them fatter, not slimmer.

My wife, who is a GP, has recently begun offering her overweight and diabetic patients similar advice with spectacular results. They not only rapidly lose many centimetres off the waist but are soon able to reduce, even come off, all medication. Unfortunately, partly because of the long shadow of Atkins (which required far more radical dietary changes) this sort of approach is still frowned on. In fact, if you go on the NHS Eatwell website, it still recommends basing meals around starchy foods and choosing low-fat dairy options. I’m not suggesting we should all start to glug down cream or gorge on stilton. What I do think is that the NHS and other official bodies need to urgently rethink their standard advice.

I went for my bloods this morning, and the diabetes “specialist” nurse told me (authoritatively) that the problem with a high fat diet is the body converts it to glucose……………

It would be funny if it wasn’t so damn scary!

Congratulations Lise. I’ve got no clothes left – have sold 99% of them. Just sticking with very few while I’m losing. It’s a good feeling isn’t it!!

Week 4 Day 5
Still in Cali and food plan wise doing very well as is my hubby. Yesterday was our 18th anniversary and since we were eating out twice I decided to not worry about calories but just focus on carbs dig low and it worked. Calories were only 863 and carbs were 35!!! Yeah

Having major tummy issues again though so not sure what to do yet about that since I have tried almost everything. Can’t eat breakfast today as we have to drive a few hours to or next place to be for three days.

I did add some dairy the past few days for ease at breakfast (3/4 oz cheese) but am stopping that today I think to see if that’s the culprit. Also had a tea with cloves which I read can cause die off so who knows. Hmmmmmmm time will tell it seems.

Weight is fluctuating since I am losing so much water and having to redrink it back due to dehydration from tummy issues. Also too much salt when eating out all the time on the trip. Just sticking with fish, shrimp, crab and vegies everywhere we go basically.

Fingers crossed tummy holds on today and gets better.

Onward to another day!! 🌷

Congratulations Bill – that is amazing news. I would love to hear how you go with your Doctor. Went to my Doctor today about leg cramps. Of course, she checked my blood pressure and it was 100/60. I showed her my daily records and it is jumping around between 120/80 and 100/60. She said it was great but did not mention reducing my medication. I am due for another round of blood work in about 6 weeks so I am going to ask her about reducing all of my meds then.

Thanks all, I’ve worked shifts for over 20 years too. I’ve been coping really well on this diet for the last 3.5 weeks, eating foods like the sardine dip from the book, which I love. I tried diet shakes until I discovered they had huge amounts of sugar in them. I thrive on a serving of mixed (unsalted) nuts too.

The worst part is synchronising meals with my partner (Saga on this forum) as there are meals which occur when I am ostensibly asleep during the day. Still we’re working around that.

So, Bill, Circadian rhythms are being ignored! I’ve been able to ignore sunrises and sunsets for years now, so the internal rhythm isn’t going to bug me. I was just curious.

FeltWicked

Hey Izzy!!
I always read all your posts first things when I get up (5am this morning!) to start my day even if I don’t have time to respond right away.
So proud of you for sticking no with or and another 2.5 lbs lost and those inches too! Wow! It shows how we must measure for sure because we can lose inches even if not too much weight. A doc just told me the inches lost is amazing for me as it’s typically 1 dress size per 10 lbs.
we are melting girl!!!!! Yeah!!
Re the trip – doing super good re the food plan and calories and carbs. Yesterday was funny (see my diary on here as I will post there next). Tummy went back to wonky again though. Hubby having the opposite problem most have.
Have a wonderful day and a stone will be gone for you this week for sure!!!
💜

that is just brilliant news
and even better that the nurse was so encouraging
be proud
x

I find it very strange that some people are finding chocolate harder to give up than alcohol
I was a proper choccyholic before the BSD and ate at least 1 large bar per day as well as choccy biscuits etc.
Now I don’t even think about it and can sit in the room with the kids and grandkids happily munching away on the stuff without it bothering me in the least.
Beware the no sugar stuff though.
I tried 2 different brands last year and they both were the most effective laxative I have ever had 🙁

Well we did the investigations and found the brand is called “The Sugarless Co” which is misleading as there is plenty of sugar still in their chocolate per 100g: 509kcal; 14g Carbs (14g sugar); 45g Maltitol. I checked up Maltitol and it’s an alcohol- based sugar with 90% of the sweetness of sugar but only 2.1 cals per gram (I don’t know if that’s really kcals or just cals). There are unpleasant side-effects – here’s a dire warning on a website http://www.livestrong.com/article/250589-negative-side-effects-of-maltitol/
The sweets are worse as they contain no sugar but heaps of Maltitol and other such alcohol-sugar derivatives.

So, sticking with the nuts and the dark chocolate.

Brilliant Tallyhoo and about the same response that I got from my GP
Isn’t it great to have a surgery with an open mind rather than the “!by the book” attitude we here about from loads of posters.
Congratulations, hope the doc stops your meds altogether or at least reduces them

that’s excellent Tallyhoo – hope all goes well on Friday

Just got back from my appointment with the nurse for my diabetic check. She opened up the computer and said ‘oh the blood tests are back and they’re ok’ – I was disappointed at such a mediocre response. Then she peered closer as she opened up another page and said ‘oh they’re not ok they’re brilliant!’ . Last July they were 80 mml and now they’re 44 mml (don’t really know what that means but obviously good) – my average BS is down from 9.5 last year to 6.2 – my weight is 95kg to 75kg. She sat back and said ‘so how have you done it’ – then gave me a high 5! I wanted to cry with joy!

So I told her…….she has done the 5:2 and together with one of the doctors in the practice has read the research about reversing diabetes and was really interested. She was talking about the possibility of my speaking to some other type 2’ers to encourage them and was so positive about it. She couldn’t have been lovelier, more positive and impressed – it was one of the best moments I can remember.

Now am seeing the doctor on Friday to ask if I can reduce my meds……………..fingers crossed! Just want to celebrate with fish and chips – no!! really not – just joking ha ha ha

An expression used on here a few times in the early days fits the jeans thing perfectly.
So once again for those who haven’t seen it before,
NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS SLIM
😀

So much for skipping supper & fasting because I wasn’t hungry last night!

I ate a piece of cheese at about 10.30 pm – only 30g, but more calories than the planned omelette and salad.
Sometime after midnight, TWO packs of Nairn’s snackers – OK not as bad as cake or chocolate, they’re about 100 calories a packet and 13 carbs, but I’m still cross with myself.

Oh well, today is a new day, albeit one that started 0.2kg heavier than yesterday , and I had the omelette for breakfast.

Woohoo! Today is a victory as finally lost as much weight as my four year old weighs (2 stone 6 pounds). Not all of that loss has been on BSD as started with slimming world but got stuck in a rut for months. So the last ten pounds has been over the last 2 and a half weeks on this diet. She is heavy! Can’t believe I was carrying that around with me all day every day!
Onwards and downwards!!
Epspecially you are right, you can make good choices eating out. There is loads, just avoid the carbs. Any chance you can look at a menu online first. That always helps me. Enjoy it! Xx

Hi Rozy,
Yep, was super analysing everything but your kind and comforting words do the trick and help me get back to zen (almost). I hear that about being like a snake – how much easier life would be, how much heavier our wallets and how much more free time! Alas….next life maybe if reincarnation is available?!

You say nutty…I hear voices going ‘brazil nuts!’ in my head!

I’m trying to think how to plan for the long weekend in a realistic way so I don’t start feeling deprived and go eat a cow instead of a steak lol – I still remember your wise words ‘ failing to plan is planning to fail’ – can’t say I’ve been good with planning weekends up til now but learning from my mistakes – tweaking until I get it right

So far this week has gone well, yesterday and today feeling good and in control – PMS is giving me these weird cravings for lamingtons and coconut macaroons so I’m going to do some research and find a coconut macaroon low carb recipe and make a few – will share the recipe if it turns out well – bought some xylitol which I’ve read is better than the other sweeteners because I just can’t stand stevia it somehow just tastes sickly sweet to me.

Thanks Bill1954,

Looking forward to feeling better and healthier, i have so many health issues which i know are all exacerbated due to my extra weight!! I’ve struggled with being overweight my whole life and i’ve tried every diet going – really hoping this is the lifestyle change for me.
How long have you been following the plan?

Hi
Nail on the head with the sugar and carb withdrawal symptoms. These will go away soon and then most of us feel revitalised and sleep is much more restful.
The 50g per day carb level isn’t in the book, it comes from research that shows this is the level that will put you into ketosis or fat burning mode.
Grit your teeth and stick it out for the first week, it then gets easier and the benefits can be mind blowing 😀

Hi all,
Why is it that some days are easy and some days I could eat and eat and still not feel remotely satisfied?
Bumblebee, I just read your post and thought to myself, ‘oh she didn’t do too bad’ and ‘ just start again from now’. Then I realised that I need to tell myself the exact same thing. Gosh we are hard on ourselves!
Wow RozyDozy, amazing that you didn’t count calories. I find them so difficult to work out. Everything here is listed in kj but cal are easier to work in so I do get in a right muddle.
The cold weather has finally arrived, winter is definitely on its way. I seem to be so much hungrier when it is cold but it is probably just in my head. I do crave lovely savoury carbs at this time of year. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could have instead of the fatty, salty foods/snacks I would normally be munching mindlessly at this time of year.

We eat Thai a lot. Since being on the BSD I have been eating dishes like chilli,basil stir fry or stir fry with ginger and garlic. I think most of the stir fry should be ok as long as there is no sweet chilli or palm sugar in the sauce . I also love a jungle curry but feel I need rice with this. I have had some curries with coconut milk and factor the extra calories into my day. I love Thai salads but fear there may be palm sugar in the dressings. Enjoy your night out !

http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/healthy-thai-food-options

this might be helpful

Hi Barista girls, i know what you mean – some of the stories are fantastic. I must admit I’m sure my food tasted so much better yesterday because i was properly hungry when I ate. I’ve been reading up on the daily mail website to give me motivation until my book arrives.
I felt really tired and a bit irritable too last night, i’m not making a big deal of the diet at home, I don’t want to set myself up for a fall!! This morning i felt rubbish but better after I’d weighed myself 🙂
It’s almost lunchtime and I’ve only consumed 107 calories and i haven’t died – so i will stick at it!! Let me know how you are both getting on.

Hello ClairyB
I think it’s 50g – 60g we’re meant to try and stay below? Someone correct if this is wrong.
Keep going – my mum and I are on our second day too and both highly motivated but today I feel ever so hungry and yesterday evening we were wondering if anybody else felt a bit irritable at the beginning. Probably my sugar and carb withdrawal symptoms!
You really need to read the book so hopefully it arrives very soon. There’s some very good advice on savouring your food and eating slowly. You then feel full BEFORE you’ve crammed goodness knows how much in…… 🙁
What I find so astonishing is the distinct lack of unsuccessful stories.

Hello keeptrying,
Don’t worry, I have also pondered why my belly is still looking prominent! I’ve lost inches off my waist & hips, my backside looks smaller. I am sure I have lost blubber off my belly it’s just that it always was quite noticeable. But when I thought about it, I remember that I always had a bit of a tummy even when I was in the 9stone area (long, long time ago) and considered slim. I think some fat reserves will hang on as long as they possibly can – the belly blubber has been there a long time, it may well be the last to shift.
You are experiencing lots of benefits, so don’t worry about one aspect that hasn’t joined the party yet. It will happen.
Keep trying, keeptrying! 🙂

Oooo sounds great Lise – I share your determination for the jean challenge!! 🙂

oo sorry Catonamission I didn’t notice your question a few days ago. I hope you’re still doing so well. I love your name – I left my purring puss on the window sill before I went to work – though the only time he’s on a mission is when there’s tuna involved :-)))

All going ok since I’ve finally ditched the annoying head/eye ache thing – but now I feel normal!

Am going out for dinner this evening and am determined to make only good choices! There’s loads of things I can eat, right? Like fish and veg or steak and veg etc – and hope that they don’t put too much oil and butter on everything – though I guess that’s ok as long as I avoid carbs… am going to do it anyway!

For anyone reading, I wouldn’t bother with the Spicy Bean Burgers in the book… mushy and not at all tasty, and they didn’t stick together at all! Ended up in the bin 🙁 But that’s ok, loads more recipes to try. I like that idea Izzy of using weekends to try out new recipes as more time – makes it seem like a treat! Which it is I guess. 🙂

Had scrambled eggs, celery and 25g of feta for breakfast, have saurkraut and tuna and tomatoes with me for lunch and as planned something respectable for dinner! On day 9 but it’s beginning to feel like a normal way of living. Had one square of 80% chocolate last night – was wondering afterwards if having that every now and again will stop me retraining my tastebuds? Hope not. Was seriously delicious though – having only a small bit made me appreciate every tiny scrap!

Here’s to another 2kg this week or even more. (Though any loss will be ok with me) Really like hearing the getting-into-smaller-jeans stories that people have. Jeans have always been annoying to buy and the idea of just slipping into a pair is more delicious than anything I can think of:-))). Know I will stick to this so hopefully that’ll happen to me too!

so why is my belly staying fat

Hi bumblebee,
Are you getting yourself in a pickle again? So you overdid things at the weekend, but you were good during the week – so that means for 5 days out of 7 you were following the plan so on balance you aren’t doing too badly. Don’t keep resetting yourself to Day 1 just carry on, things will settle down. Don’t fixate about hitting 800 cals exactly, in the ballpark is OK – I never calorie counted (I knew I was overeating so just cutting out the extras meant I was reducing my calorie intake anyway). I just preferred a more relaxed approach because I felt I would be more likely to stick with it for the longer term.

Every so often I have a meal with larger portions just to make me feel really full – a bit like a snake devouring an antelope and it doesn’t need to eat for a year (I wish). I’ve had my pigouts and the last one was the worst – but since then I’ve been pretty good and, to my amazement, I’ve hardly felt hungry at all. It’s taken quite a while to get to that stage. Whether it’s the warmer weather, I don’t know. Maybe it’s having a box of nutty trail mix at hand when I feel a munchy attack approaching, I don’t know. Or maybe I’ve just been drinking more and not realised it. Maybe it’s been so busy at work I’ve not had time to think about food!

If you are strict with yourself then you will feel bad when you stray from the path. Maybe relax a little, just recognise where you went wrong and think ahead for next weekend. But don’t deny yourself a good time out – I occasionally give myself a little taste of forbidden foods (they’re still in my cupboard taking up space) but they are not calling out to me demanding I eat them anymore. It’s still early days and this diet is a lifestyle commitment.

Just give yourself a break – stressing will not help.
You can do it!

Hi Lynne,
Just wanted to tell someone that after a few dodgy weeks on the diet and no weight loss for longer, this morning I had lost the weight I put on last week plus some! I was VERY good yesterday so it has given me the kick start I needed, I am taking a medi platter for my lunch today to craft club, the members are always interested in what I have, then a couple of them then discuss their diets and how much they have lost on the w/w or s/w, however I have to bite my tongue because one lady in particular has lost a bit but her stomach is still huge and it doesn’t matter what I say about healthy fat she carries on with her s/w diet!
Some people won’t ‘hear’ what I’m saying, shame really because this one lady really does need to lose the stomach fat, she is a very stubborn lady though who thinks she knows it all, she is a lovely lady in all other aspects though!
Happy holiday preparations to you!
Christine

The first thing that springs to mind is increase your fat intake a wee bit and make sure you drink lots of water.
Maybe try to save a few calories for a late night snack, a piece of cheese or some full fat yoghurt

Hi Lucia,
Was it you who posted that you were having frozen yogurt with orange and lemon? If it was you, did you make it yourself and then how please!
I love my fage yogurt with blueberries or strawberries for breakfast, but frozen yogurt for a dessert treat sounds yummy.
Christine

Can anyone tell me how many carbs we are supposed to stay below – per day? My book hasn’t arrived yet so still a bit in the dark about some aspects.
I have the My Fitness Pal App which i was using anyway and it calculates calories, carbs etc so yesterday I had 780 calories, 43g carbs, 35g fat and 73g protein – ?????

Well done Lise
I know the feeling well after slipping into a pair of size 38 jeans last week, down from size 46.
Won’t be long until you’re in a size 12 🙂

I’m a shift worker for over 20 years and have spent the last 10 years after stopping playing football battling fluctuating weight issues. The success i have had(on week 13 and lost 31lbs, now 12st 8lbs!!!) has been the need to plan ahead each week depending on if i’m on nights or days making and freezing plenty of what are now favorite meals and cutting out takeaways. So happy to have discovered this way of life after listening to MM on Jeremy Vines radio 2 show. Myself and a work friend started off at the same time and both have lost very similar ammounts. Now on a maintainance period and looking forward to introducing the occasional beer back into my lifestyle. I have really missed a cold beer now and again.

Thanks all for your kind words drinking 3lt of water plus not hard to do here in oz.
post soon
steve

Hi FeltWicked

I would agree with Bill on this. I manage very well on my shifts, but only do one night shift so am able to get away without eating at all on this and eat normally on the day before and the day after my shift (but these would be the brunch/evening meal days). On my long days in work, I would eat breakfast about 9am, and then split my lunch over my 2 breaks during the day, and have my evening meal as soon as I could when I got home (about 8pm). Its about finding how you can fit this new lifestyle into your life and think of it as a long-term way of living as opposed to “how can I fit this in for the next 8 weeks?” This is now how I live, I have found what works for me and have stuck to this pattern.

Hope this helps x

Hi I just copy and paste into a Word document than print off : )

Hi Paul,
I just highlight the details and copy/paste into a Word document.

Thank you all for your kind words!
I did start the next day and after 2 weeks I have lost 3kg. Half way through my third week now.

I keep waiting to feel better but I just feel exhausted. So far resisting the temptation to reach for that quick pick me up sugar though!

Need to find a good snack to reach for in the mid afternoon.

I feel starving right before bedtime too , but don’t want to eat. Any tips to curb the hunger?!

Hi Izzy,
You speak a lot of sense. We can’t look at things in isolation and say this is good, this is bad – it’s about how things interact, be it drug-drug interactions, foodstuffs, different needs of the individual. As you say, more research is needed to better understand what’s going on.

Thanks Kate W87, but please tell me it get’s easier??? I really struggled at aqua aerobics which I go to every week, felt as though i had no energy. I ‘ve also had a terrible nights sleep – or lack of it and woke up feeling down with every fibre of my being screaming “give me chocolate”.

I am now safely at my desk having ignored the taunts from the mars bars in my kitchen cupboard and have eaten a small apple and a slice of cheese for breakfast.
On the plus side i have lost 1.5 in just 24 hours so surely i should be elated, but unfortunately I’m not!! Need to get a grip – I can do this!!
I apologise in advance to all you fellow bloggers i feel i may need to rant on more than one occasion today – so please be gentle with me 🙁

Also anyone know how to print or save the recipes on the site?

Two weeks and two days into the diet. Lost 5kg. 15 to go. Pretty standard?

I am quietly doing a happy dance. I went to buy a pair of jeans and the sales assistant said “Gee I think size 18 is going to be too big so I’ll give you a 16”. OK i thought and slipped them on easily. By the way size 18 were starting to feel a bit snug a few weeks ago. So I squeezed into a 14 and yes there is a muffin top today but in a couple of weeks…. I am very determined 😉

I’m fine usually eating out especially at an Indian restaurant – that’s easy but we’re going to a Thai restaurant this Saturday (I need to always plan ahead at the moment!) and I want to know the best choice – am I right in thinking I could have a chicken satay for starter – I mean 1 skewer not a whole portion – and for main course would I be best off having something like a chicken and basil stir fry? Any suggestions gratefully received – clearly no rice and I’m driving so no wine!!

Lucia, I have a strong feeling that, until someone can produce medium fat, medium protein, low carb food, cheaply, that causes health problems, the manufacturers will never bend in this direction.
It’s all about profits for the big food and drug companies.
A sudden drop in sales for both groups could actually cause a worldwide financial crisis so our health comes a poor second to that.