In four days I have lost a little over six and three quarter pounds. In my successful dieting days I would lose about four pounds the first week and here I am losing nearly seven pounds in four days. I am very excited and motivated at the moment and really believe that I will continue to get good results.

Good morning all.
I am not a natural cook, but I’ve really been trying since on this regime – have been scouring the internet trying to find some tasty veggie burgers to cook and freeze. My lentil burger was a mushy disaster, some are still frozen but don’t think I’ll ever eat the rest. Yesterday I spent ages grating and squeezing courgettes, the kitchen was a green wet mess, likewise the blobs. I can’t make anything like the yummy ones I’ve had occasionally when out.

Before I give up totally and stick with my Linda McCartney sausages (getting bored with them) have any of you got a favourite recipe that I could have … please?

There is one recipe Michael put on (see below) – no one has reviewed. I would like some pulses in mine if poss, or I suppose could do with quorn. I also love Greek flavours.

medium sized burgers- Best with flavours eg chilli
2 medium sized courgettes
2 red peppers
20g pine kernels
Parsley chopped to garnish
Olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
Salt & ground black pepper
1 cup of Quinoa
Half a chicken or vegetable stock cube

Thanks for the congratulations lynne, eureka, Natalie and pam.

Lynne that is quite a size difference in your nightie!!!!!

:. )

Hi athorn, I think it is safer to keep your fluid intake steady throughout the day : )

Hi chongolo believe me you won’t want any of the white starch once you have done 8+ weeks of this diet as you will look at that kind of stuff and associate it with discomfort and weight gain. You will find you prefer to eat the BSD way : )

Made a mistake in my first line of previous post….I am in the beginning of my 7th week , not 5th as I said.

jillyB

Hi every one,
I am into the first two days of week 5. I am stuck in a plateau for over a week and not happy. I started weight loss moderately acceptable but no where like all the weight loss everyone else seemed to have. However, my BS readings went down from the very first week and I was thrilled about this, but now it has started to rise again…not dramatically but it means that I probably won’t get to normal at the end of the 8th week as I was hoping. I have lost 15 lbs since I started, fair enough , but not what was intimated. Blood pressure went UP at first but has gone down again. I take blood pressure tablets and was hoping to quit them altogether, but obviously not. Good news for my reflux which disappeared fairly early and I needed no tablets since then. Sleep no better as promised, have acquired severe leg cramps at night now, in spite of taking magnesium and am certainly not feeling full of energy like everyone else seems to be. If this all sounds very negative, I’m sorry. After dieting all my life, the wrong way , as we all know nowadays, this was to be my last “hurrah” and I was so excited at the beginning in spite of finding it a hard slog. I have stuck to it religiously and never cheated, through Mother’s Day watching my family eating goodies, ditto during Easter.
I hope others are doing better. The book DID warn that it would be harder for people who were long term diabetics, so perhaps this was the reason as it must be about 20+ years, first on tablets then on insulin.
Love and thanks to all who encouraged me,
jillyB

Week one question

I would have started earlier, like thirty years earlier.

I would have known then you can live on only 800 calories and be healthy and happy in it.

I would have started to walk more in day one

I would have started more veggie days

I would have read up how to much yoghurt to have in one sitting.

I would have measured out 800 calories over three plates, seen how huge an amount of food it is and not worry.

Look at all those would’s. ( I can’t see the woods for the trees here!)

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi lucia, to be honest there is nothing I would change retrospectively as I went by the book quite literally and it worked!
That is a good question to pose. : )

Hi Lucia,

I would not be scared and afraid that it would be so so hard – it really has not been. In fact – easiest diet I have ever attempted – and in reality the only “diet ” that has been successful. AND… I have been doing it for nearly fifty years….my mum had me on appetite suppressants at 8.. (as it turned out – early puberty)… best intentions – done with love – but man!!!… how to stuff a metabolism!!!!

Any way – let go of the fear….

Cheers
Less fatty…

Hi Natalie, it was interesting – and shocking- reading your post about the dietary advice still given out for diabetics. The official advice there and here in the uk is quite literally killing people slowly and painfully. Thank god for prof taylor and michael mosley 🙂

Notsweet cut your carb intake to 50g a day – or less- and those readings should stabilize 🙂

So vets,
The question I have is.What would you do/change on week one if you knew then what you know now?

I would love to hear from everyone on this question?
Love Lucia
Xxx

Hi Linda – It was Zambia, as my dad worked on the mines there, great place to grow up. Escaped when i was 11.

well, BSD is going along ok, but week three plateau has hit – that 0.2 which showed up missing three days ago is still just 0.2. I knew this was going to happen, so I’m pressing on, but deep down dropping numbers really boosts your mood! I still fee like things are shrinking slowly, and that is the main thing after all!

I made a really carby meal using cannelini beans and tomatoes and onion/garlic/bacon – probably abrinch recipe for people really on the first few weeks an dlooking for glucose control, but ok for me. It was super tasty, but I got 4 portions out of one can of beans, just goes to show what you can be satisfied with.

continually astonished with the low cal values of veg, too. I discovered Huon brand smoked salmon bites (well, its like chunks of cooked smoked salmon in a pouch in the same place where you would find the usual smoked salmon raw slices here in oz supermarkets) my god, everyone buy some and mix it with salad leaves, salad veg and some cottage cheese or sour cream – hop to it – its SO DELICIOUS. I had this for lunch today, really tasty and satisfying.

tried to make the coconut flatbreads but the mix was too thick I think. they are also such a wodge in your tum, too. I need to get my technique right, and have a suitable meal to go with one – I just made them on a whim – I think they would be nice with a curry (not found gram flour yet for those flatbreads)

overall its going ok. the odd day where dinner volume doesn’t satisfy me, and I find myself wanting more – so the cheese comes out. i have gone over 800 quite often, but never with any food ‘off plan’ so to speak, and almost never more then 1200 cal total. So I recognise this will slow loss a bit, but this is for a long time, so better to have a bit more then throw in the towel I think.

My nibs in yoghurt and squares of 70% lindt are keeping urges for sweet sugary sh!t at bay very well. We shall see how the regime comes with hormonal ‘must eat all the things surge’ pre-period – though I have decided if it becomes too much I will just give myself leeway to have as much as I want of allowed stuff (not nuts though) for those few days. Better than being ‘miserable’ and breaking out the croissants.

I also finally managed to get a loaf of that herman brot bread (mmm, had one slice under those beans to try it) so i can let myself have a daily slice of that to if needed (to help assuage hormonal stupidity – its in the freezer now so i don’t just eat some daily). Just conscious of the wheat in it – because….

I have really REALLY noticed that all of my minor unexplained aches and pains in my hands and forearms, feet after pilates etc have gone. Completely. wrists hated some pilates moves – again, gone. the overall back pain is still the same, but the disappearance of all the other achey symptoms which we were watching as suspected beginning of AI arthritis is awesome! this could be attributed to the removal of all the white carbs and wheat/rice… a bit sad for maintenance eating in the future perhaps, I will have to find the level i can consume when I go to 5:2 or so – I can cope with wheat as a treat only, but would ultimately like to have brown rice and kumara back.

enough of a wall of text. I will check in in a few days with further observations. 🙂

If you are a British Citizen please could you sign our petition urging the nhs to encourage diabetics to follow this diet? Thanks 🙂

I forgot to say that I have just completed 6 weeks on the BSD and have lost 11lbs – most of that has been in the last 10 days. I’m pleased and am not giving up. 28 more lbs and I will be very happy. That is my goal. So you can see it’s not falling off like there is no tomorrow and it might be the same for you JSR. Good luck!

JSR please don’t give up. I know how pointless it seems when you are eating what seems like starvation rations and you lose nothing. However this way of eating WILL work. For some it takes longer and is a slower process. Feel pleased for those who have substantial weight loss particularly in the early stages but remember we are all different and perhaps for you it’s going to be slow and steady. From past experience for me it takes about three weeks before any significant weight loss occurs. That fat just wants to hang on for grim life! It may be the same for you. Watch the carbs, drink water – although that is very hypocritical of me as that I find hard, and eat fat. After dinner I usually have a small wedge of Brie or similar with coffee – because I love it! My treat for the day. When I eat like this I have more energy, sleep much better and my stiffness of joints and back retreat to niggles. It’s strange that in the past I forget, eat bread, chocolate etc and complain that everything hurts and make grunting noises when getting up of the sofa! This time I won’t forget. Hang in there – there will be a loss and I look forward to reading of your success 😉

Hi everyone, End of week 6 for me, down 800gms. Total weight lost 6.8 kgs.

What a great journey jungle, well done.

Congrats hashimoto! I slip up so often, but I never give up for long because of all the inspiring people posting here.

Late response to this… but when I went to my pre-diabetes nutrition course we were told to eat 45-60 grams of carbs PER MEAL and 15-30 g for a snack, to keep our blood sugars steady??!! I told the instructor that 60 g of carbs would send my blood sugar soaring so she told me to stick to 45…

I remember one participant very put out at the limit of 60g per meal because she wouldn’t be able to eat 4 slices of toast with jam, sugary coffee, and fruit all in one meal and how was she supposed to cope?

We have an official diabetes recipe magazine in Australia, I’ve borrowed it from the library but don’t buy it, recipes often include pasta with a carb count of 60ish grams. Crazy.

TrudiP, my fasting blood sugars have always been fine, they only go up after a carby meal or the GTT glucose liquid. I think there are two paths to a diabetes diagnosis, some get bad fasting levels others get bad post-meal levels but both will lead to diabetes if you don’t do anything about it.

66 year old male. I have lost 15.5 kgs in 9 weeks. Cholesterol down from 6.4 to 4.1 in the first 5 weeks. Blood sugar down from 8.4 to 7.1 in 5 weeks. Will have another blood test is mid July. I am hopeless at weighting food to calculate calories. We have a product called Liteneasy in Australia. Pre-packaged food with varying calorie levels. I order the 1,200 calorie meals without breakfast which then reduces daily calories to less than 800. I have a few cups of white tea and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per day. I always walk at least 10,000 steps per day. I think the walking is important. Weighing myself every day has been a huge incentive. I also have a watch which counts calories burnt in a day. It may not be super accurate but I find it a fantastic incentive. Since I started the 800 diet we’ve had Easter when I also had a cheese and ham croissant with my family, two Easter eggs and a hot cross bun. I have also been out for lunch/dinner on four occasions where I over indulged. I am not letting my campaign rule my life. But to date I am very pleased that I read Michael’s book. The bottom line is that you must never make excuses to fail. My wife is now wondering if the new slimline me is straying. ha ha. I think I could lose another 15 kgs. It may take longer to lose those further 15 kgs but it will happen. Good luck, Stay with it.

I try to drink all my water 2 hours before bed. It helps.

Hi JSR, some days I was just so hungry I was frustrated beyond belief but on those days I ate just a bit more to keep myself sane. Maybe, if you’re super stressed, add in an ounce of cheese or a small extra bit of meat, like steak — just until you are past the worst. It DOES get better (then maybe you hit another hard day a week or two later) — it isn’t a perfect outcome every day — if you are in need of a bit more, eat something very satisfying — in my case, that is a bit of fat and quality protein. Drink hot liquid with your little bit extra — that also calms down the raging hungries.

7.5lb is amazing Mobydill! Everytime I go to the loo I visualise fat cells being flushed out of my body, it keeps me motivated!

After 8 weeks on the BSD, I have managed to lose 10.2 kg. This morning, I had the blood tests done to check on HBA1C and other things. Next Thursday, I have an appointment to see my GP. He is very encouraging of my taking part as he has heard Michael Mosley on Radio New Zealand. I am hoping that our doctor will bring me the news that I am no longer Type 2 Diabetes.
Now, off out for lunch – hope that they have soup on the menu.

Jim

Hi Rowansummer,
Welcome to the BSD.
No need to stop metformin before starting, it won’t cause a hypo. You will need to review your meds with your GP/diabetes nurse once your blood sugars are down consistently, to see about ceasing them.
Keep good records to take with you when you see the GP. All the best 🙂

thank you for your reply rose
yes things are pretty tricky mh wise
just trying to work what the cause of this current spell is

I actually like the low carbs but have found myself a little shaky before breakfast which is also worrying me
added to that – no sooner do I have cereal for breakfast and I put on any weight I lost, even though I am certainly not over eating
my mh team think it is probably all related to the happenings of the last few weeks but who knows

I made a lemon polenta cake today – not on our list I know but it is a special cake for someone
not tasted it yet so hoping it is ok

Hi hashimoto
You worked, 😇 🏅 BSD worked. 🎯 ✅ Enough said! 🖖🏻💐 🌈

Hi keeptrying,
How are you doing? I can’t say that I noticed being overly hyper when I started this diet. I felt that my head was clearer and I just generally felt better. Maybe what you are experiencing is a more exaggerated version of that, perhaps?
If I remember correctly from some of your previous posts, you’ve been having a tough time recently, so maybe it’s all part & parcel of that and things will settle down in a bit.
Take care,
Rose

Love reading all the posts ( Lucia – you’re a legend!) just finished day one . Had a couple of wobbles as I had a deadline to meet and all I wanted to do was sit at my laptop and stuff sugar in my face. Proud I didn’t,

Sleep well, my little BSD Buddies,

Xxxx

Ruby Wax suffers from depression and I believe promotes better understanding. Think the blurb on Amazon said she’d been awarded an OBE for her work on mental health issues. It’s strange but I never really took to her as a stand-up comedian. Anyway, I’m hopeful I will find her book to be readable when I get it.

Apple , 5 Brazil nuts

Green salad,tomato, cucumber,olives, ham’ ,I thin slice cheese

Chicken, broccoli fritters, ( recipe to come)yoghurt dip, green salad

1 Ryvita,1 tsp peanut butter

RozyDozy,
Yes, you do have to be ready for it – the good thing is that the books you have will give you some ideas for ‘having a go’.
There’s a lot of mindfulness needed for the BSD – careful selection of ingredients, cooking methods and controlled eating.
I’ve been trying to encourage my wife and daughter to try meditation for years. With the wife we suddenly have yoga in common and I now understand the connection. Daughter is trying to meditate regularly but is not ready for a course yet.

Good luck with all.

Izzy you are not a spammer at all and there are far more prolific posters than you but the forum can be addictive – probably in a good way lol.

Not sure if I do or don’t like pickled eggs, they are very strange. Usually love anything pickled though. Need to look into fermented foods I think. Bought a jar of sauerkraut the other day but haven’t had any yet.

Good on your eating, I think there is very little point in beating yourself up about slipping as that is usually the starting point for people leaping back into old ways. Your slip may have been useful too, as you saw how tired it made you feel. Silver linings.

It is weird how hard it is to for some to tell other people that what they are eating is junk and you are no longer damaging yourself with what they are choosing to eat. Happily I’m very blunt and not worried about telling people what I’m doing.

Harder week for me next week as it’s respite week and my mother is in the home for a week and I get to go stay with my boyfriend – already told him I’m not doing roasties etc. He made a face but I can always tell him (again) how to do them himself if he really needs to eat them.

Bought a new nightdress today – desperately needed to protect my modesty on holiday! Remember, I’m staying with friends in their flat. My current nightdress is getting rather low at the neckline and getting close to revealing parts of me that I don’t want my friend’s husband to see😱

So, finally tracked down one that I am happy with😃 Size 16/18 – well, didn’t want it too tight😳 But what size is the one it will be replacing? Errr … 24/26!!!!!!!!!

Something else for the charity shop!

Hi bumblebee,
Bit of a late night on the forum – I tried logging on earlier and got a message saying I’d been blocked by anti-spam registration software so I had to wait for the tech people to allow me access again! I don’t post that many messages!

My sympathies with your job – years ago I was working on big project at work which I hated. About 4 or 5 months after we implemented this new system our division was closed down – what was ironic was that it was a new planning system. You got to laugh – we didn’t see that one coming! I was one of the few people who actually welcomed redundancy.

My exercise regime fluctuates – if I ease up the weight loss does slow up. Being on my feet most of the day at work I can clock up the steps but it can be more difficult when I’m at home (I work part-time). With the summer I expect to be more active in the garden & allotment but I really ought to start swimming again. Now that I’ve lost weight I shouldn’t be so shy about putting on the cozzy again – that’s another target to aim for. When I was a regular swimmer I would swim for an hour or so, doing 50-60 lengths, so I’m rather annoyed with myself that I’ve let it slip.

Good luck for another successful day!

Hi HappyLife
Am so pleased for you. It’s a huge change to our former lives that we are trying to make. This diet/way of life seems to be self empowering. He is believing in you & your resolve & that makes life so much easier. I was lucky my husband joined me from day one. Well done to him too.

Hope you got your insurance sorted, hashimoto.

Brilliant on getting down to pre diabetic range, Bill.

Will be interesting to see how they define which bit of the diabetic spectrum you are now on, HT.

Came to bed 20 mins ago, now got to get back up to go to loo again ! But it’s worth it, completed my first week Tues with a 7.5 lb loss.Delighted!

Hello JackieWilsonSaid,
I’m glad to know that you thought the talk a bit dull – it wasn’t just me! I think maybe a whole course is probably too much for me at the moment – I’ll read through the books I’ve got and see how I get on. I can see that there are benefits to mindfulness but I need to be in the right frame of mind – a bit like losing weight, I knew for months that I ought to do something but until something “clicks” in my brain…

You thought yoga was a girly thing… I do pilates and I find that tough enough. I’ve not mastered the plank yet.

I read somewhere that the energy (weight) we lose – is lost through our breathing

I swear mine is lost down the toilet – also go LOTS of time, day and night

Oh thanks i.e. the explanation and recipe!!! It looks great, I may try it!!

Going to the loo three or four times a night. Does this ever settle down? I’m soooo tired!

in the UK they are often sold in take-aways, and people might have one along with fish and chips or whatever. Basically just eggs pickled in vinegar!

I followed this recipe, but left out the optional garlic and onion.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/member-recipes/recipe-detail/3527/

Woo Hoo Izzy, you are doing so well!!!
If you are a spammer so am I as I posted a lot today! It’s our support system so it’s great!
What are pickled eggs? I never heard of that and might love them!!!
Big congrats on another day well done!!
🌷

Hi Lynne,
Yes I’m getting there, I’m just surprised how it has affected me, I’m having to keep a low profile all round, just to deal with it all, I react by being depressed and wanting to eat, not good when you’re trying to lose weight!
I will get back on the forum and the diet when I have rationalised my response to the tragedy, I know it’s harder for the mum and dad, but can’t do a thing about how it has affected me! Which is awful, however I mustn’t start on that thought process or it will be the slippery slide. Will ‘talk’ soon, thank you for your concern it’s appreciated.
Christine x

it was nice of him to think of you, but even better that he now knows how to best support you, well done for not just eating it!

Thanks everyone 🙂 it’s great to have your support! I did it again today… A customer gave me a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit, she sat them on the shelf beside where I was working. So I drank the tea and thanked her returning the biscuit explaining I was ‘trying to be good’ and then we ended up having a long chat about what I’m doing and why etc. It was quite nice to chat about it randomly in that way.

I went to the shop earlier and restocked on a few things, and I have my pickled eggs almost ready to jar up.

Looking forwards to a day off tomorrow and will take an early night tonight as I’m tired still.

I also had a mad panic as when I got home from work I was blocked from posting! some anti-spamming message and said I had to ask for permission to post again. I sent a message to the tech support people but it’s taken a few hours to be allowed back in. Never mind carb cravings, I was having forum withdrawal anxiety!!

So… Do I post so much I am labelled a spammer? actually… don’t answer that.

Ok I’m off to sort out my eggs and head off to bed, night all 🙂

anyone get really hyper – as in hypervigilant and not able to be still and crazy head = when they began this diet?

wondering if its the food – which I doubt – or mh
hmmm

Week 1 done and half a stone lighter! Enough said! Roll on week 2 x