I’ve never noticed before that I like to be a bit distracted when I eat. I can happily sit and do nothing when I’m not eating. I’ll have to think about that.

Hi All,

Sorry I haven’t been able post an update in last few days. I am 2 weeks and 2 days in to this diet.

This morning weight is 95.9 kgs blood sugar is 5.0. I have really stepped up my walking. Yesterday I did 22000 steps by going for walk in the morning afternoon and evening. Weight loss seems to have slowed down but I am going to continue this diet as I feel more energetic and I am sure with dedication the result will be seen in weight loss as well. I defenetly have dropped pant sizes as an old trouser which never fit me in last few years now it fits me.

Judith- quite agree – except I don’t even do the supermarket!
Penny

Welcome to the forums and the BSD way of life Janey and Plumptious! You are making the right decision – this diet has been working wonders for us all! 🙂

It does seem a bit cruel though to mention bacon in the header. Could you perhaps rename the thread Kale or something and then continue the bacon chat?
Another one on curry attracted my attention.
Must have evening meal now.

237 signatures! If you are new and haven’t signed our petition it is to ask the NHS to urge T2 diabetics to follow this low calorie, low carb diet. Please will you sign? 🙂

Jane – congrats to you.
The best advice I received on here is to drink lots of water, eat enough fats to help you think you are full [e.g. Greek yog – that would be £2.99 for 1 kg not 2kg above!] and from me – it’s easy to use the recipes in the book to keep on track. We’ll see – relatively early days for us both.

I admit I listen to music, but avoid tv now when eating. Interestingly people say that ‘hard to do absolutely nothing’ thing about meditation – the stillness is scary perhaps?
As Pascal said:
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

Thanks Orchid. It’ll be hard but hopefully worth it.

Oh yes, Robmac, where would we be without our English breakfasts? even if they are scaled down!!! I often choose the English brekkie option if I’m eating lunch out with friends – it’s easier than doing what I was in the beginning…..now don’t laugh…….Can I have a ham sandwich without the bread, please? 🙂

Hi,
we started on the same day. Glad to hear you’re doing well 🙂
My first week was amazing (lost 4 kilos) but since then lost 1 more, then put 2 back on. Am trying to only look once a week now.
Is listening to the radio whilst eating allowed? I find it really hard to do absolutely nothing else.

[taken from another post but relevant here I hope]

I thought I was being mindful if alone by sitting at the table and mindfully eating BSD healthy meals, whilst reading a book on the iPad.
Mindful eating is in fact that strange thing of Just Eating.
Other mindful activities available include Just Walking, Just Meditating and Just Showering.
I had a bad case in a pre-BSD life of wondering, often out loud, what my next meal was, whilst consuming my current one.
Prof Mark Williams of Oxford tells a story of travelling to the West End to see a play and catching himself watching but not watching. He missed much since he was busy planning the trip home in his head.

Thanks all for your encouragement. If it weren’t for this forum I’d have probably felt rough and decided to give it up, as not suiting me.

I have also had a bit of a headache, so that must be the reason.I agree with Jane re weighing weekly. I know from past experience that if I see my weight go up (when I’ve stuck to it), it really puts me off, so I then binge. So I won’t weigh for another week, and hope I feel it in my clothes.

I am trying to vary my diet all the time, all the extra veg may have bloated me.

The trouble is, before I started this – I knew I was huge, but managed to ignore it and just kept eating mindlessly when I felt down.I was in a way happier then in my little binge bubble.

Now I have confronted how big I am, am aware of myself , it’s on my mind, I hate it and want to lose loads quickly, it makes me feel bad. It will of course take ages, so I have to be patient. One thing I am doing is having a short term goal – looking forward to losing first 5% of my original weight – then 10%. Apparently that alone can be beneficial health wise.

Great to hear all your stories, thanks 🙂

Shahi murgh tandoori [chargrilled chicken on sizzling onions and peppers] with veg sides; no rice or naan or beer!

Christine,
You’re an inspiration.
I’m going to keep the image of your 1.6lbs before me for the next few weeks.
My difficulties may not be as great as yours were, but I have in store;-

1) A working tour of Devon and Cornwall – very enjoyable, but staying with a friend who always feeds me huge carb-rich meals. I can’t be picky, so I’ll just have to fast for the rest of the day(s)

2) 5 nights away in various hotels taking my wife Annie’s big sister away for a “Special Birthday” holiday.

3) 5 days in a hotel at the “Pianoforte Tuners’ Annual Convention”

I’m not even going to attempt to lose weight but if I can do as well as you in damage limitation I shall be well pleased. All I can try and do is eat the right food and trust to luck – if you can do it……,

I’m even not going to get on the scales again until my Birthday in June when life returns more or less to normal and for me that is being brave, as I’m a scales/graphs/targets junkie.

Wish me luck – see you the other side. (Just for the record, I’m currently 168lbs – I will follow your example and ‘fess up when it’s over on 15th June)

John

1. It is possible to lose weight relatively painlessly [ok, I’ll say, -9lbs].
2. A Tanita bodyfat/weighing machine is a thing of beauty, and encourages resolve.
3. Less is more: cooking tasty stuff and eating normal portions of high quality meals is fun.
4. Once you open your eyes, the variety and quality of food on offer is remarkable. E.g., a local farm type shop sells 2kg containers of proper, high protein, Greek yogurt for £2.99. Previously I’d have walked right past and gone to Tesco’s as it’s ‘easier’. Most of the produce they sell is locally sourced and has been a revelation.
5. Selecting a joint of meat should be done with a new attitude: asking for what you want not just taking what displayed.
Buying too much encourages you to eat beyond the 800 and roast pork is not as exciting after meal #3 if you try not to eat it all at once!
6. Clearheadedness is a great side effect of the BSD.

7. Obligatory Mindfulness plug: it is very complimentary habit, like exercise, to the BSD.
I thought I was being mindful if alone by sitting at the table and mindfully eating BSD healthy meals, whilst reading a book on the iPad. Mindful eating is in fact that strange thing of Just Eating.
Other mindful activities available include Just Walking, Just Meditating and Just Showering.
I had a bad case in a pre-BSD life of wondering, often out loud, what my next meal was, whilst consuming my current one.
Prof Mark Williams of Oxford tells a story of travelling to the West End to see a play and catching himself watching but not watching. He missed much since he was busy planning the trip home in his head.

Thanks.

Hadn’t thought about prawns and veggie side dishes! So used to just having chicken tikka masala, naan bread and mushroom rice that I’ve realised I haven’t really looked at the rest of the menu in years!!!

Lots of the recipes in the book involve fresh herbs, so I decided to grow some of my own. It’s really quite easy. Perhaps a bit too easy …

Any of you clever lot like to suggest lots of uses for a surprisingly large amount of fresh basil?

Any more economy tips for fitness/exercise etc?

Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves
Look after the carbs and the blubber looks after itself.

The sun is shining here. It will probably be snowing by the weekend. Anyone working on their tan yet?

The only tan I will have is rust?!!

May sit out tonight like a rock lizard and catch the last rays of sunshine.

Keep happy keep losing, keep going
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Glad to help Robmac. Just need to keep an eye on portion sizes!

I was so fed up and hungry last night, thought I’d make an effort today.

B- portobello mushroom, poached egg, wilted spinach
L- mungbean dhal + 1 mini onion bhaji (Morrisons)
D- waiting for the zucchini lasagne from recipe section with extra veg & quorn mince.

Will come in around 900 cals, but that’s ok.

My nana is 93 and Italian. She left Italy during ww2. She has often told me how pasta was only ever eaten as a starter, therefore very small portions, and pizza was only eaten by peasants. Make of that what you will….

Exactly what Rose said.

Such fantastic results Hashimoto, so happy for you!

Have made the decision it’s for life too, if I can stick to Med principles 5 days a week + just loosen up a bit on high days and holidays, then I shall be very happy.

Despite my current plateau, I have lost chins + at least 1 tummy. Result!!

Good to hear! My dad never let us waste cauliflower leaves! 🙂
Glad your soup turned out so tastily 🙂

Hi Rachel, it has been a complete success for me. I am in week 13 because I will stick to this way of eating for life. I lost 2 stones 11 lbs and now weight 8st 12 lbs . My asthma has improved, my acid reflux has vanished, my general health is so much better and I have lots of energy. My friends tell me I am more like I was 10 years ago. So stick with it and watch your amazing results!!
I am not alone in deciding this is the way of eating for life! so many of us have reaped the benefits!!
🙂

Make the most delicious soup today with something I normally throw away – cauliflower leaves. I used the leaves of 2 caulis along with a bit of broccoli, onion, fennel, leek, veg oxo, handful each basil & parsley. At the end I added leftover cauliflower cheese – just a couple spoonfuls. Blended when cooked – absolutely delicious. Couldn’t find cals etc for the leaves but sure not high. Will never waste them again!

Thanks again!

Black Pudding as well. It gets better!

That’s the trouble, orchid. If you know you have something in the house, it’s worse than having a conscience nagging you. I took a couple of the frozen brownies out of my freezer today and scoffed them with a cup of tea, thus cancelling out any good done by the 2-hour walk I’d just completed. I have told myself that once I have used up the cacao nibs & dates I will not buy any more so I won’t be able to make the brownies anymore. It’s just so annoying because I’ve trained myself not to buy choccie bars in the supermarket but I still splurge on supposedly “good” things. We are our own worst enemies.

Hi mera123,
For a long time the accepted advice was to weigh once a week. I think the BSD encourages daily weighing (evidence apparently suggests that it is more motivational). Think it’s down to personal preference, really – if the weight is coming off you will notice it, either by feeling like you have more energy, or clothes fitting better. I used to be a weekly weigher, but doing the BSD I’ve become a daily weigher. The problem is that if you jump on the scales and find that you have plateau’d or gone up then you will be disappointed, no matter what the interval! I have found by daily weighing that if I do experience an upward blip I just look back to see what I weighed a week earlier – most of the time I have weighed more on the earlier weighing. It’s the overall trend that is important.
Sometimes the scales can be the enemy. Other factors such as measuring waist, or keeping tabs on blood sugar readings, etc. can give you an indication how you are doing.
Regards, Rose

Hi, I too wondered about this. I recently bought a packet of Artisan grains greenwheat Freekeh – the info on the pack proclaims that it is Low GI & high in protein. The figures quoted are (per 100g):

347 kcals / 1471 kJ
Protein 18.5g
Fat 4.3g
of which Saturates 0.8g
Carbs 63.5g
of which Sugars 2.9g
Salt 0g
Fibre 10.9g

It quotes a GI figure of 43.
It seems that 50g is a single serving. I suppose it depends how much you are restricting carbs – one serving will be slightly over 30g carbs which might be over the limit for some. Probably best to avoid in early stages of diet – maybe have very occasionally, just for variety to introduce something different (which was my reason for trying it). (I should point out that I’ve been BSD-ing since January, and I am neither T2D nor pre-diabetic.)

I can’t warm to the idea of cauliflower rice, I like my cauli to be cauli-shaped! I normally just steam a few florets. I tried freekeh as it has a similar texture to rice but it’s not something I would eat regularly, no more interesting than ordinary rice, so once the pack is used up I probably won’t try again.

Thank you JackieMac!
Good luck on your journey too!!
Rachel x

hi hashimoto
Thank you so much for your reply, I think you are correct and will have a proper cup of tea tomorrow. Am having water – a complete change for me, keep thinking about the glass of wine I cant have lol!!
How are you finding it so far?

Rachel x

Hi Barby,
I lost the same .1 of a kilo twice last week and nothing till this morning, which is weigh-in day and 0.7kg came off. It happens. We hit a plateau and then the body moves on.
As the other say – we are all unique and our bodies will adapt/change in different ways at different times.
Stick with it, and watch the carbs. Has your waist measurement gone down at all?

Hello! I love curry so have to be careful I don’t scoff too much but dishes I choose are Chicken Tikka / Chicken Shashlik ( no sauce) with veg sides or a prawn curry… Have a lovely meal out!

Well done Bill and everyone else doing well. I’m a bit stuck, but all my own doing. Maintaining though so happy with that for now.

Can’t believe you are complaining about shopping Bill, I mean how long does it take to buy a mankini? 😀😀😀

Welcome new folks! Good luck on your journey!

Rachel you can have a cuppa, wee bit milk no sugar 😊 you’ll get lots of support and friendly advice from the lovely people here!

Hi Rachel, yes lots of people felt a bit light headed and spacey in the first few days! It soon passes! I still have tea or coffee with a small splash of milk each morning then switch to water – plain or sparkling. There are so many herbal teas you are bound to find one you do like. Perhaps you will feel better about it once you have had your morning cuppa? No sugar, of course!

Make sure you do drink between 2 and 3 litres of water a day in some form – your morning cuppa will count.

Don’t forget you need to eat FULL FAT on this diet so a nice greek yoghurt with a few seeds and berries is a lovely, easy breakfast!

Good luck and ask for help if you need it, there is always someone awake somewhere in the world to answer you 🙂

Hello

How often should you weigh yourself a week to notice a change in weight when you are on the 8 week BSD diet?

Thanks

Hi Plumptious (love the handle!),
Never mind the number of steps – pedometers are not the most accurate things – the point is you were beavering away for 2 hours, using your muscles. Feel smug! You’ve benefitted & so has your garden! I’ve been frustrated with my pedometer when I’ve knocked it & accidentally reset it to zero, or when it reset itself because it needed new batteries. Other times I’ve just forgotten to wear the darned thing. A pedometer is just a tool to help motivate you – using one doesn’t actually help with weight loss, it’s you making the effort to exercise that’s important. Take care, Rose

Hello everybody
Day 1 for me too, felt a bit odd to begin with and have discovered I absolutely do not like pomegranates……. and definitely missing my morning cuppa, had a rhubarb and ginger teapig instead which didn’t really cut it.
Was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in February which came as a total shock and was a follow on from starting bp meds in August, so action is definitely required to get this hideous weight off and hopefully get back to normal!!
Did anyone else feel a bit peculiar (light headed, spacey etc) at the beginning?

Good luck to everyone on here, I have been reading your posts with interest and its great that there’s so much support for each other !! :)))
Rachel x

Hi, I’m new to this but I think I would choose king prawns in a tomato based sauce and lots of vegetable sides, and maybe ask for one spoonful of someone else’s basmati rice – and avoid naans because once I start on them I’d have to eat it all! I’d also tell the person who will be sitting opposite me what I’m doing so they could a. keep their carbs out of my reach and b. frown repeatedly at me if I was getting tempted to give in and eat them!
Good luck!

Hi, since we are admitting things….. My father used to bake the Christmas cake every year and my mother iced it. After Mum died he carried on baking it and also make one for my brothers house and for me. I came home with a full size rich fruit cake – my favourite. I had some between Christmas and New year, but decided that I really should NOT have this lying around the house. I cut it into slices and froze it – to be eaten over coming months.
A few days later coming home from work stressed, I took the cake out the freezer and defrosted a piece – it did not take long in the microwave – fatal discovery.
Sure enough a few days later, it was another piece out and defrosted, then given how quick it was a second chunk came out, defrosted and eaten in one sitting.
After a couple of glasses of wine at the weekend, that was repeated – I did not bother with one at a time – but started with two and was nibbling on another frozen piece as I waited for the other pieces to defrost.
The freezer does not stop a determined carb calling! 🙁

I made the guilt-free brownies – although I froze them I still managed to eat 4 of them before they got near the freezer! So much for guilt-free. Don’t make them in the first place is the moral of the tale!

Hawks – your dog sounds like a noble beast, taking the calorie hit.

Hi barby, what Patsy says about not comparing your results to others is so true. The contributors to these forums have different start points, different medical conditions/medications, etc that influence weight loss. My weight loss hasn’t been a straightforward downward slide, like Cherrianne says you can plateau, go up before coming down again. Just yesterday I had a major splurge – I’d felt lousy for a couple of days (fighting off a cold) and this morning my weight had gone up by over a pound which I put down to all the extra liquid I was imbibing because I felt ill. Today I feel a lot better and things are under control. Yes, it can be frustrating when things don’t seem to be going the way you want – sometimes you just have to tough it out – but once you are past the worst of it you can take blips in your stride. Best of luck, Rose

Hi. While my friends in Italy do eat carbs for breakfast, pasta and pizza play a small part in their diet.

In their home a small amount of pasta is a first course, followed by protein and either veg or salad, then a little cheese or fruit. Pizza is a very occasional meal.

Eating out it is usually possible to have a meal without pasta, and no need to order pizza. There are meat, fish and poultry dishes on most menus.

Lots of olive oil and fresh produce 😃

Bill, I’m still catching up with yesterdays posts. Wow, another set of good results! 🙂

Hi again Robmac.

My grandkids were here for the last few weeks. When their parents came for them they always have brunch – bacon, egg, sausages, black pudding, baked beans and tinned tomatoes. I’d already had my breakfast – bacon, egg, and black pudding.

Sometimes I have breakfast in British Home Stores. A 4 item deal. Normally have 2 rashers of bacon, and black pudding. Depending on what I fancy that day the fourth item can be egg, baked beans.

No need to miss out on a great cooked breakfast. 😃

Shopping? I HATE it! Mostly shop on line, the only real shopping I tend to do is in plant nurseries or supermarkets. I don’t even go into bookshops very often as I love my kindle! 🙂 Cookery books etc I order online 🙂

Hi Christinetoo, welcome aboard the good ship BSD!!! Everyone who has stuck to the plan of low carbs high fat and 800 calories has had fantastic success!! Look at captainlynne!! Her results are amazing!! So are Bill1954s!
I love parsnips too, especially curried parsnip and apple soup but as parsnips are a starchy, carby veg it will be better to go without them for the 8 weeks of this diet. That way you will have greater success. Then slowly reintroduce them when the 8 weeks are over.

Bon voyage! 🙂

Tried out my pedometer whilst gardening this morning. I did 2 hours of barrowing, digging, weeding and hoeing and am absolutely cream crackered. I am disappointed by the steps registered though….it seems bending, stretching ,contorting ones body underneath branches and kneeling up & down don’t really have an effect on it. Never mind -I got lots of fresh air and sunshine so that should count for something if only vitamin D boost (Only 1720 steps since getting up…..it feels more like 17 miles lol!)