Hi Lucia
I met a girlfriend this morning at 0730 and went for a 2 hour walk whilst we were catching up. Across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, through The Rocks, past the Opera House, through the Domain and the Botanical Gardens, back access the bridge and home! A glorious day and spectacular views of the harbour.

I even caught the train there and back so walked to and from the station for more exercise. I’ve hit 22,000 steps today😀
Tomorrow, I’m going on an 8.4km charity walk raising money for the Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia association around some lakes near the coast and even managed to convince hubby to come with me….well blackmailed would be a better word!
When he asked me 2 weeks ago what I wanted for our wedding anniversary, I told him I wanted his company 😜
He couldn’t say no!!! It’ll do him good😀
What’s everyone else doing?
Cheers
Linda

And I’m off!! weight and waist recorded, plain yogurt and a pear for breakfast! I’m writing my food plan for the week and then I’m off food shopping. I’ve almost finished reading the book and feel even more motivated now! My water infuser bottle has some frozen berries in and is in the fridge ready and waiting.

I can do this!

Hi Jules
I went in a Japanese supermarket and bought something weird called natto – it’s fermented soy beans, and high protein .
I found out later that it’s higher in carbs than I’d anticipated (14g per 100g).
I’m liking it less the more I google it, but I will give it a try!

Frog I’m jealous, I love rivers and the sea, I’m a water sign so maybe that’s why. Some years ago we went on a lovely river trip with my lovely Dad and sister, from Camden Lock up past London Zoo, to Little Venice. I was amazed that one canal had a sign pointing to Liverpool. Can you really go all that way on the canal. Next time I’m up there, I’ll persuade sis to do another trip, so interesting seeing London from a different angle.

I just have country lanes around me, very pretty this time of year. If I drive about 15 mins, I’m on the east coast, I love walking along by the sea rain or shine.

We have friends round for lunch today. I have a New York cheesecake and home made apple crumble, and strawberries for me. I feel like I’ve been abducted by aliens and replaced, this is so unlike me before BSD.

Steph, hope you have a good day and all other BSDers.x

Congratulations Lynne

Just got all of next weeks groceries sorted out on line, delivered to my door more time saved big cook up Thursday next week ready for week two making some extra meals also to freeze for emergencies.

Lucia I love your posts and your sense of humour and imagination you should write a “feel good” book! Meanwhile WE all benefit. 🙂

I am not one to push myself usually , I’m too fond of sitting around and being on computer. But you got me thinking with your challenges.

So far I’m getting to grips with the food side, but not the other two. If I really want to change my life forever, I have to get off my (now slightly smaller) bottom and do some stuff, really change what I do.

1) Just went and did some stepping on bottom stair, has made me puffed out and feel it, will do this every day in spare few minutes. Small start, but it’s something I never did before.

2) Will listen to a Mindfullness video tonight in bed.

3) I am not musical unfortunately, but recently got an old washboard, and feel this may be “my instrument” . So I will put a Youtube on and play along with them, to improve my skills. I love cajun type music, may even have a little dance around.

I keep a tally of how much water I drank in day. Will now also try and do a fun energetic thing every day.

Thanks for the inspiration. Xx

Yeah – well done Stephanie on ignoring the chocolate on the craving!
Lynne – yes its Regents Canal that I’m close to. Last week I went to Islington boat club for the first time – I did fairly sedentary narrowboat trip, which was great – but next week I’m going to try something a bit more active. I’m not sure about kayaking, but they have something called bell boats that look good fun.

Hi, Just starting Day 6 of Wk1 – feeling good. I have increased my exercise levels; steps continue to be 10,000+ daily; have done 20mins of RT with a DVD a number of days; weeding the garden on others. I watched Dr.Moseley’s presentation to the Australians which you can see via the link on this website – some good information in there.
Breakfast today – apple (diced); cinnamon; 10g large seeds; 5g Chia Seed; 5g Flaxseed; Plain Soya Yoghurt 100g = 210 cals. Great idea to have eggs on spinach – wicked thanks.
Good ideas gleaned from BBC programme on Wednesday evening called “Loose weight for love”.
I will be interested when I check my stats (i.e. weight, BMI, HR, BP etc) on Sunday to see how far I have come in 7 days.
Food diary a MUST, gives me a “real” picture of my calories intake. Also variety important too. 800 calories is perfectly doable but you have to work at being clever at what and how much you eat!
Keep going everyone, we can do this AND maintain – for now one day at a time!
P.S. I have a wall calender in the kitchen and I am putting little cartoon stickers each day I keep on track, which is a visual aid too!

!

Hello Funkydoofamily

Well done for your weight loss!

I can quite understand you not wanting to eat a lot more and making yourself feel uncomfortably full. An easy way to increase your calories without the bulk is to up the amount of fats – perfectly acceptable on this eating plan!

So what about a little more olive oil when cooking or in salads, a knob of butter on your vegetables, and snacking on some nuts – small but with concentrated calories. Slightly bigger portions of protein should help too.

Captainlynne, I’m the same. Got 2 granddaughters aged 1 and nearly 3. I buy stuff in for them – Ice lollies,
milky bars, freddo bars, etc, all untouched by me these days! Now hubby is a different kettle of fish!!

Took my Blood Sugar reading on Monday morning when I started and it was 8.0 (my blood pressure was also raised) and weighed myself … could not wait until Monday to test myself again sooooo have lost 8 pounds, blood pressure back in the ‘normal zone’ and Blood Sugar 8.8!!!!! Will defo have to go back to the drawing board to see what I am doing wrong … or if its just me! Am not going to give up as I would in the past am going to keep on trucking and am going to get this under control.

Just a quick check-in – back later. Wanted to report a loss of three pounds this week, total now 58 pounds. BMI now 30.3 so only another 2 pounds to lose before I’m overweight rather than obese😃

Week 22 weigh in. Lost three pounds this week, making total of 58 pounds so far😃 Another two pounds and I’ll be officially ‘overweight’!😃

Okay gang,
What’s the easiest, inexpensive, tastiest, lunch you have done for 400 calories or less?

Let’s get some fresh ideas going here team.
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Switzerland
Can you work out one thing for me please?
What English time do you regularly come on line? So We can occasionally blog without a six month time difference?
Thanks
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Eating
B. Berries and yoghurt
Lunch salad and cheese wrap
Inhaling chocolate aroma from the cakes in the coffee shop …. Well you cannot get fat sniffing them,!
Dinner. Veggies
Treat home made frozen yogurt with oranges and lemons in.

Wobble my blubber each time I want to deviate from the above.

Love Lucia.
Xxxx

Oh and watch the news on the telly tonight at six
I will be on it.

I am skipping and hop scotching early afternoon.

The news piece will say…… 7.2 earthquake felt in the north west today , epi centre lucia house 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀🌊🌪🌊🌪🌊🌪🌊🌪🌊🌪🌊
Love Lucia
Xxxxx

Hi Switzerland,
I blog about my uncertainty, my down moods, my failures, my cravings, as I was tired of reading sw ww blogs and magazines were…
Tracy eats half an apple a day, feels full, is in a good mood, never has spots, loses 15 pounds a day, paints her fingernails, swishes her long blond hair.
Me, I tell you that as I could not walk far, I walked to a bus stop, sat on a seat, was hot , red , sweaty , tired , cream crackered. Waited until I thought I wasn’t having a heart attack then walked for another three minutes and started all over again.
Losing weight is easy, don’t stick anything in your mouth. Yeh, right.
In the real world, we crave, we get depressed, we slip up, we don’t know how to say no, we can’t cope, we feel alone, we are HUMAN.
So team, just try and change one thing.
Cut the carbs
Or reduce your portion size
Or take a walk
Or make a friend
Just try one little thing.
Do it for me if you can’t do it for you.
I give you this challenge today. Give me the gift of your health getting better and better.
Let’s enjoy it together.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

I tried the Herman Brot low carb bread recently – it was good! Had it with soup, and also made chicken avocado sandwiches with it for a lunch to take to work. If anyone fellow Australians on this forum live on the Gold Coast, I found it at Goldsteins Bakery, Reedy Creek. They get it in twice a week, and if you want to you can place a regular order.

Am lying in bed with a cup of tea, browsing recipes and dreaming of losing two stones. My big worry is giving up that deliciously large glass of wine in the evening. The gym is a distant memory, so I need to give myself a good kick up the pants today and see if I can find my way back there. The husband is a barrier to losing weight. His Royal Smugness runs and spins five times per week, is wafer thin, but on metformin etc as he eats high sugar, high alcohol and controls his weight through exercise, whilst preaching. A lot.
I would like to show the bugger I can lose weight and be healthy without revealing what I am up to, so I need all the help I can get. Help!!!!!!!!

Hi Lucia,

……..in a word, YES. See you soon. The lettuce cups are chilling in the fridge!

My weekend,
Tidying the whole house, weed the garden,
Food shopping in aldi.
Meet old friend for coffee to laugh and cry with for about three hours.
Move a ton of boxes of stuff that I have sold on eBay as they are going to be collected Wednesday.
Walk 20.000 steps.
Walk in the rain and smell the clean air.
Do crafting.
Do three wash loads, dry and iron them.
I want to sort my wardrobe out as I don’t know what fits me,
Argue with the wii.
Swing my baked bean cans in carrier bags like cattle or kettle bells
Skip
Puddle splash
Do something different…. Hop scotch….
Go to the dishy veg man sorry veg shop on my bike
Then tomorrow I will make another list.

So I am having an easy weekend.

Love Lucia
Xxx

Hi Switzerland,
You are telling me your house is going to be surrounded by burly, handsome, fit, dishy, good looking, energetic, male type men in uniforms.
Where the hell is my passport, I am on my way.
Sod the wii, lets go and swoon after them.

One of those please on a lettuce cup. Sighhhhhhhhh……..

Love Lucia
Xxxxx

Excellent outcome! A bit more calories seems to protect muscle — let us know as you move forward!

My husband and I had a wonderful discussion tonight as I was preparing our dinner about breads and local/regional foods and what we all eat — all started with the “stottie” discussion earlier today — thank you all for such lovely enriching moments! Of course, we just TALKED about stottie, we ate tuna!!😜😜😜 and @imogen, wow, you were Tahoe /Sacto — we have a house in Tahoe (Squaw Valley) and you live in Lake District — want to trade for a week or two next summer/ fall/ winter??

Hi TiggerB,

Breakfast ideas:
– plain full fat yoghurt sprinkled with cinnamon, berries, walnuts , pumpkin seeds and sunfloweer seeds.
– Eggs in any form. Add bacon for variety.
– Sardines.

Lunch at work:
– (You may have to invest in a lunch bag cooler) Salad in one container. Small container of 1 serve olive oil and lemon juice (if the container is small enough it will fit inside the salad container). Add some protein (tinned salmon, boiled egg, legumes, etc)
-A hearty home made soup (make it yourself as it’s cheaper, can be frozen and you know the ingredients) – if you don’t want to heat it up at work, invest in a wide mouthed thermos and take it ready to eat.

Emergency BSD rations for if you’re hungry between meals:
– Serving of nuts/seeds.
– A piece of fruit.
– A small portion of cheese.
– A boiled egg.
Remember to drink water.
These are just suggestions TiggerB.
Remember the 3 principles of the BSD (BSD, exercise, mindfulness meditation). You can start with BSD and slowly incorporate the other 2 when you get the hang of the BSD.
Enjoy your BSD journey.

Hi Keeptrying — check out Dr. Perlmutters book, Grain Brain, about fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. It is my opinion, and only my opinion, that meat and fat (saturated and otherwise) has a bad name because it does not fit into a world where everyone is on a plant-based diet, which, does not fit into the dogma of global warming and carbon footprints. Why else would my US government recommend 8 or more servings of grains every day??? And we (USA) are the fattest nation on earth.

Welcome Jules27
I’m from Sydney so we’re neighbours of sorts!
I generally cook for 3 every night and they eat what I cook or they get their own! The food is healthy, nutritious and yummy so they don’t have much to complain about!
Can’t wait to hear how your colleagues and yourself are getting on, jump in, you’ll love it.
Just drink at least 2-3 litres of water a day, only eat full fat, not low fat or skim, walk every day and get hold of the book and read it from cover to cover.
I’m now on week 5, day 4 and I’m 8.1kg down! It’s easy!
Cheers
Linda

Love this conversation. You guys are so supportive of each other.

I’m in Newcastle Australia. I haven’t started yet I’m just getting myself families and organised.

It’s hard trying to do something a bit different in a household of 7 people, all with differing tastes and nutritional needs.

I’ve spoken to a few people at work and there are a few of us who want to give it a go so we are going to get together at lunchtime next week and work out how to go about it together:)

Well done to you all, I’m looking forward to blogging about my challenges and successes soon.

Hi Frog thank you for such a quick reply I really appreciate it!
I’m such an idiot I forgot that I already take fish oil capsules everyday as it is very successful at keep my ezcema at bay. I wasn’t sure about adding more meat to my diet as I have come to understand that too much meat, especially red meat, isn’t good for you. I currently have meat in various forms and variety around 3 or 4 times a week.

Thanks also for the search tip. I will definitely try that. My daughter decided to become vegetarian around 8 months ago so we have been having quite a lot of vegetarian meals, while being mindful of the protein needs of vegetarians.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your feedback.

hi Jules
I would have thought meat a simple switch for the protein – & maybe look at taking fish oil supplements to compensate.
If you type “vegetarian” in the search box (top right hand corner) it brings up several threads on vegetarian and vegan options that may be worth reading through.

I haven’t started the BSD yet as I’m just trying to get organised and deal with my biggest problem – not liking seafood (I don’t mind some prawns or calamari) especially fish.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could substitute for this integral part of the BSD (& healthy eating for life)?

I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you in advance

Hi Beth
How are you going now? 1 week in today? How much did you lose?
Cheers
Linda

Hi Lucia,
So good to read your upbeat posts again…..the floppy days may be part of being human (we all are, and it comes with ups and downs).

In answer to your latest suggestion……drum roll……lettuce cup tacos! Yes, I said it out loud. The other evening the males of my family had a hankering for tacos. Truly, I was there thinking ‘what am I going to do?’…..then it came to me. Use lettuce leaf ‘cups’ instead of carb laden taco shells. They were great and enjoyed by all. I got the inspiration from the Chinese dish San Choy Bow.

This week-end is going to be interesting (?). The rural fire service are backburning (deliberately setting fire to specific areas of bushland to reduce the post- summer fuel load). There are going to be 70 (yes, seventy) of these around the greater metropolitan area that I live in. So, it will be an indoor week-end. I’ll have to break out the Wii fit and blow off the dust (bushwalking is so much more fun, but not when there are fires).

Have a great week-end Lucia and fellow BSDers.

Hi Lynne
I gave up trying to remember what the benefit of soaking oats was & googled it.
This article is about eating the soaked oats raw, but does talk about overnight soaking changing the resistant starch level (?), and therefore having a different impact on insulin. I don’t understand it – but may mean that overnight porridge will cause less of an insulin spike for you?
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/reasons-raw-soaked-oats-are-a-must-try/

As with all research, you have to look at where it’s come from. and make your mind up about the sources.
I think it’s interesting that there are several ‘movements’ challenging the stuff that’s been around for years about all fat /saturated fat is bad – I do tend to go with the theory that natural is better – have always avoided margarine gunk!
I’m eating a lot less fat than I used to, even choosing full fat options, apart from milk because I really dislike the taste of whole milk, simply because without fat, I’m not using any butter. (and no chocolate, no cakes, etc!)

Grains the enemy? – well they are on this diet, but it’s far from mainstream
Peanut butter is lovely with cheese, and apple – and following my success with hummus the other day, I might try spreading some on cabbage next time I have a peanut butter craving – just choose the ones that are pure peanut without any added sugar or dodgy vegetable – I always try to get salt free too

Hi Captain Lynne
I play fiddle music – foot stomping reels and jigs and also marches, Strathspeys and hornpipes. I find the type of folk who play to be amost as lovely as the folk on these forums. All great fun… we usually throw in a few slow airs and some waltzes to get the oldies singing and/or crying😊
All good healthy fun and a great stress buster.
Have a good weekend. Seem to recall you are off to Italy soon… while Lucia and I sweat working in our gardens in cooler climes. Not that we are envious or anything 😆

I had to google stotties californiagirl, you’re not alone! I have seen and eaten an eccles cake – I used to work for an organisation that had an office in Chorley, and she used to bring us some when she visited the London office.
I remember being in Wakefield once. and being asked if I wanted a teacake with my meal – a bit surprised, here it’s a lighlty fruited sweet bun – it turned out to be a soft white roll,

Congratulations on the coat Lynne – I always seem to need a size higher with Mountain Warehouse compared to most other stores.

Hi California girl,

I live in the lake district – the post walk beer is exceptional -as is the rain!

I used to live in Sacramento, then at Lake Tahoe, before that Naples Florida and for a short while in New York. Your post started me reminiscing – such good times 😊

Thanks,

Imogen🌻

This is interesting to know thanks, just wish we could see what’s going on inside. Although if we could, most of us would have done something about it years ago.

I have noticed that most of my weight has gone from my bottom for some reason (it was rater large and is noticeably smaller). I have lost some from tummy, but more to go. This has never happened in previous diets. I am looking forward to be able to bend down easily and put socks on/paint toenails etc. I’m on the way. 🙂

Strange that as the latest research shows that it’s not saturated fats but transient fats that cause high cholesterol.

Thanks Skywalker.

I spoke to a biomechanist today who said that the fat I was burning would indeed be from round my internal organs and that it was to be expected that this would be affected first

He said that the more visible weight would be lost next, and that the weight below my navel (hello, belly wodge) would be last!

He seemed to feel that the body got rid of the most dangerous accumulation of fat first.

Best regards from me, proud possessor of a very slim pancreas and liver. I hope 🙂

Not having a fixed end date is a good thing. I certainly don’t want to wake up on the first day of week 9 and think I’ll stock up on pasta, bread and chocolate cake. I’m hoping this WOE is a permanent change for the better. Fat is not your biggest enemy on this eating plan. You just need to watch the type of fat you eat. If you can bear it, grab a pot of Longleys full fat cottage cheese (in Morrisons and also Sainsburys I think) because not only is delicious but it fills you up. Third of a pot is enough to do the trick! Anyway, I donated blood this evening.. And I feel a bit ‘whizzy’ seeing as I declined the chocolate biscuit afterwards. I had a tiny piece of dark chocolate when I got home to try and stop feeling faint..

this is the current advice on the American Heart Association web site –

“There’s a lot of conflicting information about saturated fats. Should I eat them or not? The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fats – which are found in butter, cheese, red meat and other animal-based foods. Decades of sound science has proven it can raise your “bad” cholesterol and put you at higher risk for heart disease.

The more important thing to remember is the overall dietary picture. Saturated fats are just one piece of the puzzle. In general, you can’t go wrong eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fewer calories.

When you hear about the latest “diet of the day” or a new or odd-sounding theory about food, consider the source. The American Heart Association makes dietary recommendations only after carefully considering the latest scientific evidence. ”

Hope the concert goes well. What do you play?

Well done on your forward planning😃

You must have felt great when the dentist commented😃

Thank you for your comments guys.

This is certainly the easiest diet I have ever been on, if I get any sort of hunger, then I know some carb has slipped in to the diet.

So excited to be shedding weight, and I feel so full of energy…

I do miss red wine, but not enough to be tempted to have a glass.

I am now on 29lbs so should do 30lbs in the first 4 weeks.

I know it will slow, but I could not be happier….

thanks for the support
and well done janey, glad your week 2 has gone well

I am really struggling with a desire to have food stuffing my face

I have had several of my small coconut flatbreads today – 3 with melted brie on top, with baby spinach, for lunch
but right now, I want more and more and more food
have to go to bed because I need food

I don’t think I am having the amount of veg that I should, but I just cant eat bowls and bowls of saled

am just having another couple of squares of dark chocolate – that will be a few today

last week I only needed 1 square and it did the trick – I am slipping already

also reading about fats (did separate thread on this) it still seems as though I should not eat so much brie or anything

two more days to go for end of week
thing is I am not doing this as an 8 week plan, I am just doing it – if I set an end date then I have a date to go back to all the rubbish, and that is not the intention

Hi Rachel,

Sorry to hear that you have been going through such a hard time this week. There is no failure here… though depression can whisper negative untrue comments into our ears!!
Be gentle with yourself…you have done so well up to now.

I am part way through week 5, my weight loss stalled two weeks ago…despite taking great care over my food choices, watching carbs and calories…I even put on couple pounds this week!
The way I am choosing to approach this setback is to decide that I have plenty of time to lose this weight – I certainly took years putting on the extra pounds – so it’s not a problem if it takes a little time to for me to lose that weight. We are all different and some people take longer, or a different route, to reach their goals.

I understand how difficult it can be living with depression…remember the Samaritans are there whenever you need someone to talk to….you don’t need to wait till you are feeling desperate. Please also go back to see your GP – they may be able to speed up the referral for talking therapy.

In the meantime, we BSDers are here for support and encouragement. Stay strong.

Hugs

Imogen.x