Hi, I have been on and off this diet since the beginning of March, but had problems due to a couple of family birthdays including my own, Easter, a couple of family lunches and a high tea.

I don’t usually have such a busy social life, just bad timing. I decided to put it all behind me and start over again a week ago.

My first week back on the diet and I’m down 800 grams. Which is really good for me, I’m short, not young and don’t exercise nearly enough. From the 1st March when I first began, to today, a week into my second beginning, I’ve lost a total of 4 kilos. I’m more than happy with that. Some days it’s a real struggle not to give in, but since I gain weight so quickly off the diet and take so long to re-lose it, I’ve managed to stick it out.

While I know the BMI doesn’t always give a true picture, I’m thrilled to be now in the overweight category instead of being classed as obese.

I eat Ryvita and it doesn’t seem to affect my bloods , for instance 1 sesame Ryvita is 5.8 carbs but 1.8 is fibre no net carbs is 4, use them as a treat with some thinly sliced cheese, hummus or peanut butter

Hi everyone,….I’d never thought of freezing slices lemons/limes. Thanks for the idea hashimoto, and my weekly budget thanks you too.

Hi everyone,

Lucia, here in Australia we’re commemorating ANZAC day today. A pretty busy time. Many of us attend ANZAC marches/parades.
It’s been a long weekend, with the public holiday today, so I imagine lots of Aussies are ‘out and about’.

I am a bit of a grazer so take my breakfast and lunch to work but divide it into 4 little pots as it seems t keep me fuller longer

1small Apple sliced with 1tsp hummus

1 pot kale chips with 6 cashew nuts

1slice of ham with chopped salad veggies

4 mini fish balls (home made with ground fish, seasoning and small amount ground almonds)

I also drink lots of water with lemon

For dinner tonight fried up 2 pepper and 1tomato with olive oil till very soft and scrambled two eggs into it

I agree with the breakfast here and sometimes add a fresh fig or a kiwi for variety.
Last week I had chicken sliced and fried up with with leeks, peppers, a sliced green chilli, stirred in some spinach and some mushrooms and a spoonful of Creme fraiche on top. Served with courgetti. Yummy

Hashimoto, that recipe with the garlic and chilli sounds really good! The courgetti take seconds to stir fry but I’ve never thought about baking them in the oven as Izzy suggests – any ideas on temp or time?
Also any advice on butternut squash or sweet potato either with the ribbon blade or as ‘rice’?

1001 now.

1000 posts! Well done. All very interesting and uplifting xx

Hi nicolaan, I was terrified about eating fat after decades of being brainwashed into eating low fat sugar filled crap. For the first 2 weeks I clung to my low fat yoghurt and….felt hungry!
Recently haf a cholesterol test – guess what? My cholesterol is lower after weeks of full fat!

Go on, be a devil and treat yourself to some scrummy FF yoghurt 🙂

Hi Judith
That is so frightening, just walking into such terrible health problems knowing he could avoid it. It can’t even be ‘it won’t happen to me’ because it already is.
Penny

Judith, as long as the cooked breakfast is ok I’ll be happy😃 Might come home looking like a rabbit if I have nothing else to eat but salad😱 Can’t remember what the Internet access is like, but will try and check in each day. Leaving about 12 tomorrow, back late Thursday afternoon. Food in fridge and freezer so I don’t have to worry about it when I get back.

Hi georgiarose
Another possibility is a blood pressure spike that can happen from a lot of coffee. That can certainly cause dizziness. I don’t know if it causes blacking out. Good luck at the doc.
Penny

Thanks hashimoto. I’m afraid of fat lol been buying low or fat free for years. I’m in uk.

My pleasure christine 🙂

Hi nicolaann, welcome to the forums!
Make sure you eat enough fat to help you feel full. Things get much better after a few days.
Take some paracetamol for headaches and make sure you drink 2to 3 litres of water 🙂

Lynne it comes to something when you’re glad the hotel food won’t be very good lol 🙂

Hi lachlanh
You have tried hard with this diet & I’m sorry this isn’t the result you hoped for. A lower HbA1c is really good.
Perhaps you could still post occasionally to tell us how you are. Best wishes to you.
Eureka

Glad to hear day 2 went well Paula 🙂
I was thinking the freezing lemons/limes would be good on the island.

I got sick of wasting half lemons what is why I started freezing slices 🙂

I started yesterday. I must admit I’m a bit hungry but I guess I’ll get used to it. I’m having headaches from lack of sugar but I’m motivated. Hi everyone.

Hi Judith,
Can’t remember if I have said thank you for the heads up about the gram / chickpea flour, so thank you!
Christine

Lachlan I’m so sorry to hear your news and wish you the best 🙂

Hi Lucia,
My favourite ice cream is pistachio, last year at Cromer I found one called salted caramel, so it’s a toss up now between the two!
I hope you enjoyed every last slow morsel.
Christine

Hi Ali,
Patsy is quite right. A little bit over on the cals won’t matter, you are keeping the carbs right down and that really is the key to good blood sugar control and weight loss. Rather you than me with the 5am starts lol 🙂

Hi Izzy, I agree with Patsy – but make sure it is full fat Greek (style) yogurt. I add seeds (linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds) and almonds to it with a little cinnamon. Lovely breakfast and very filling.

Hi peteSuffolk, welcome to the forums!
Do yoj think you think you could give up bread and wine for, say, 4 weeks and see how you go? You’re likely to get some fant results. 🙂

Hi Cherrianne and all

Sorry I haven’t been on this for a while. I have tried the low carb approach for a couple of weeks but still getting the high readings unfortunately. I have been to see a specialist consultant and with great sadness I have to tel, you all that it seems my diabetes is not reversible. So I’m back on the metformin and looking to manage my condition. The good news is that my second hba1c result is drastically less than what is was when first diagnosed I have the blood sugar diet to thank for that. I will be getting a scan to confirm my condition but because of my weight ( i.e. I weigh so little now) it seems most likely that my pancreas is just not working well enough and there is little I can do. However, that is not to say that this can’t work for everyone else I certainly hope it does so I wish you all the best with continued progress.
Lachlan

Great tip Hashimoto. I have just made myself a glass of iced sparkling water and lemon. Love the sound of mint and lime… That’s one to try for sure. I’d never thought of freezing them either – very canny lol and on the Island it pays to be able to stock up in advance….

Thanks Patsy, yes that’s very true! It’s certainly something to aim for. I’ll certainly feel like a little celebration if I can fit into a dress without a fat belly lol.

Well Day Two has nearly passed and I don’t feel at all hungry or deprived. It’s quite astounding how well you can eat on 800 calories. Here’s to Day 3 and thank you for your support 🙂

Yoghurt with fruit/nuts keeps me going until lunchtime.

Bruno you and lynne are really losing a lot of weight! 🙂

should have read “want to lose another 3 stones”

Thanks for your replies. OH does eat dairy and eggs (and will eat Quorn although doesn’t especially like food that looks/tastes/pretends to be meat). Thanks for confirming the 50g carb limit Venusflytrap. I know when he starts he will become quite obsessive about measuring everything but we originally became vegetarian when on the (original) F-Plan diet many years ago so this low-carb dieting is another complete turnaround for us.

Well done!

Hi everyone,
I’ve not posted for a couple of weeks.
That’s me at the end of week 11, and on my weigh in on Friday I had a total weight loss of 41 pounds, one more pound and it would be 3 stone in total.
Weight loss has been a bit slower over the last 3 weeks, still managed 6 pounds though, 3 pounds, 2 pounds and 1 pound in that order. Hope it doesn’t level out and start going the other way 🙂
Still got a long way to go as I wasn’t to lose another 3 stone.

Hi Petesuffolk…..welcome ! I’m lucky enough not to be diabetic or pre but 6 of my friends and I started to change our eating habits after reading the book. That was 8 weeks ago and between us we have lost just under 10 stone! I love red wine and have carried on drinking throughout the last 8 weeks as I see this as a lifestyle change and I need to set myself realistic targets. I put all my food and drink onto the my fitness pal app and hey presto 21 pounds lighter. Look on line for meal ideas or on this site as there are loads of delicious recipes out there that are low carb, low calorie and you won’t feel like you are missing out. Good luck 😊

Hi all,
Start my 8th week tomorrow. Weight loss good. However I just can’t seem to get my morning fasting levels to drop below 7.
Looking back through my notebook they fell to the 5s and 6s for a few days but these readings were short lived. I fast from 7ish onwards to about 9am. I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong. I halved my metformin about a week ago but the higher readings were occurring before this time. Not all bad though as when I first started the BSD my fbs was 11. Just wondered if anyone else had suffered prolonged highish readings, not the common blips which I felt I’d also had.

I am just starting too. Our usual diet is pretty good. Low meat, plenty of pulses, plenty of veg. Take outs very rare, zero ready made meals. We cook all from fresh and I bake my own bread from organic flour. Sadly the bread consumption is going to have to drop, not sure I can cut it altogether. Is crispbread ok to eat or is it just as bad? My blood sugar was ok but the other reading -haemoglobin or something, indicated prediabetes. I could happily skip breakfast most days, it is not my favourite meal. Can I add the calories to dinner? Is wine a complete no, no? I love my evening glass of red. So many questions! Sorry.

200g Greek yog/strawberries
Poached egg and tiny tin baked beans
2 sl roast pork, tbs stuffing, brussels, runner beans, gravy
Teas to drink

https://www.verywell.com/low-carb-diets-4014695

sorry I thought I’d put the link it to it..

Lucia I am with you on the McFlurries. I used to scoff them in a similar manner but now consider a better option a ball or 2 of real homemade Italian stuff. More flavour and less junk, and more satisfying when eaten mind fully. My justification for this treat is that my dad always found that if he had eaten a low GI meal then finishing with an ice cream had no adverse effect on his blood sugar. So I reckon the odd one is a good thing – although it no doubt slows down the weight loss!

This is my query too! Crispbread like Ryvita don’t seem to get a mention in the book so I don’t know what the attitude to them is? Better than bread? Avoid altogether?

Hi lucia, I’m fine – bit busy planning my hol to Oz – a lot to sort in a short time! I tried one of my swimming cozzies on today – i will need some new ones – theres loose material where my backside used to be lol

Sounds like you enjoyed your ice cream! Mindfullness is great.

Lynne I don’t know that coconut flour would work – I think they would glue themselves to the frying pan 🙁

Hi team,
Anything happening in Australia?
What’s the weather like?
What are you eating?
Glad you are here on this website.
Love luciaXxx

Hi string breaker,
I know you are absent until June, just a little note here, to say I am thinking of you and wish you well.
Love Lucia
Xxx

CaptainLynne
I have made pancakes with a mix of coconut flour and chickpea flour and they are yummy so I suspect that the flat breads would also work with the mix. However I wonder if you’d need to use much more liquid if using only coconut flour as the stuff absorbs a lot of liquid on standing?

Where are you bill1954.
I wonder if your eyes are still sore and you can not spend much time on the keyboard.
Missing you.
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi captain Lynn.
I love some of the herbs and flavours you are mentioning.

Last week, I said I was getting a little fed up of what I was eating, so I put lemon and rosemary on chicken last week.
I put mint in my yoghurt.
Just little touches but they change the personality of the. Eat.
Love Lucia
Xxx

Hi Hashimoto.
How are things with you?
Hope you are well and happy.
Love Lucia
Xxx

Hi. Christie,
Just plain vanilla.
I used to have , in one sitting two or three McDonald’s mcflurry icecream several times a week.
I justified it as they were only 99pence each.
So I totally cut them out as I felt… Addicted to them.
I don’t want and will not allow myself another one for. Month.

I ate it slowly, and focused on it. I didn’t want to throw it down my throat and not notice it.

I Think if you don’t focus on it, you don’t notice it, you don’t know you have eaten it, so you will not believe you are full, you just carry one eating more.

Boy , hasn’t my way of eating changed so much.

I am the better for it.
Love Lucia
Xxx

Thanks Hashimoto😊