Just thinking. Ok, I know that’s dangerous!

As you know I was at a residential conference 4 days last week. Looking on as a BSDer, I was amazed at the amount of good served (and eaten).

Breakfast buffet had juice, cereals, fruit, yogurt, cooked option and toast
Lunch: cooked meats, salads (usually in mayonnaise) cooked option and stodgy dessert.
Dinner: 3 courses.
Breaks : shortbread to go with the hot drinks.

Then the size of the portions. The pork I was served was huge – nearly an inch thick!

In the past I would have chosen what I liked and eaten it all, even after I was full. After all, it was all paid for. And I saw people eating so much last week. Diabetics eating fruit salad (in sugar syrup) because it’s healthy. Oh, served with sorbet, too. 😳
Or the cheese board – lots of cheese with celery, grapes and crackers.

Many of my colleagues are overweight (it’s the lifestyle) and many are diabetic. One, on Metformin commented she can’t give up her carbs.

It’s been going through my little grey cells – when companies are looking closely at finance (and we are in an obesity epidemic) why are portion sizes so large? I felt guilty about sending back so much food at dinner, but better that than me be ill.

It was interesting to see how many were gluten free, had food allergies etc.

On the bright side. My boss, who hadn’t seen me since January, said I was wasting away. His wife asked how I’ve done it and for details of the book 😃 I had a long talk with one colleague who had gastric band surgery, then surgery to remove excess skin. She’s read this book too.

Ho hum. Looks like I’ve learned something!

I am so heartened to hear this Hashimoto. Hoping it works for me. I am such an emotional eater so I will have to start to meditate and exercise more to distract myself. The 5:2 was good because I could cope with the diet for two days a week but would like to see more of a startling weight loss(and less acid reflux issues). I am hoping I can lose some weight quickly on this diet…nothing else has worked. Thank you for your supportive comment:)

We’ve said it for years but it hasn’t really sunk in yet with the mass consciousness that ‘diets’ only help you to lose weight (maybe!). Its the change in lifestyle that keeps it off. Probably the most frequent thing I hear when discussing this programme is ‘what will I do afterwards?’ After what? There is no ‘after’. This is my life now – low carb, end of. Judith and I have both been on the sticky end of a carb invasion this week and I hope you are now starting to feel better Judith. Mine wasn’t as debilitating as yours but I did enough damage to realise that my body just cannot cope with having carbs forced on it anymore. Being ‘clean’ for nearly three months seems to have made me even more sensitive than before. So I am now looking forward to a very easy weight management programme of life without carbs. I know our veterans, Bill, Lynne, Penny and Cherrianne (and others!) would agree that is the way to go from here to eternity….

Judith, tried it out last night. Spiralised courgette. Fried garlic, ginger, onion and chilli. Added courgetti. Then some cream cheese with artichoke I found in M&S (they do 3 different ones). It was yummie😃

yup, too true, It seems bands do nasty things to tums, and they tend to balloon above the band location/eat into the stomach – I would recommend the sleeve before a band. And I have heard of sleeve patients stretching through constant overeating, it’s not as common though. The other point to make is with sleeves, the stomach heals and naturally the swelling goes down and it stretches out over a year or so post-surgery – so the volume increase with time as part of the healing process! Ghrelin production is taken over by the liver, (apparently?) so appetite returns to normal, especially if you have insulin resistant tendencies and get carb cravings just like anyone else.

I say do the restriction without the surgery, and avoid the rare but potentially terrible side effects. Especially the paralysed tum one, that seems so awful to live with :(.

Hi Zendo, Last day of week 11 here (2stone 11 down, 9 stone more to go). At the start my fasting blood sugar was 16.7 on medication and I could see the insulin suggestion looming in my future – 2 weeks ago all my medication was stopped by GP as long as I continued on the diet (fasting bs now sitting around the 6.5 mark). Like Lynne and many of the others I fully intend sticking with the plan

Hi Will,
It can be a bit daunting seeing those high fasting readings, but there isn’t much data regarding blood sugar levels in the material I’ve seen from Prof Taylor’s research. So we are really learning as we go here. What it comes down to is we are trying to treat the cause not the symptoms. We are so conditioned, as are the health professionals, to maintaining lower blood sugars as the goal. The BSD makes the goal getting rid of the fat and insulin resistance that causes the high blood sugars. It takes a while for us to get into that way of thinking because it means living with higher levels for a while, in order to reach the goal. Scary stuff!
I think you are wise to cut down the metformin before ceasing it. I’m sure by the time your next HbA1c is due you’ll be having better readings. Then the next test will show the true results as you’ll have had good results for over three months by then 🙂

There is a brilliant book called Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure by Drs (ENTs) Jamie Koufman and Jordan Stern. The science behind acid reflux states that its not the stomach acid that’s the main problem but the digestive enzyme pepsin that causes most of the problems. However, pepsin needs acid to activate it, so they both work together to cause reflux. None of the anti-reflux medications turn off acid completely therefore human tissue needs a period of recovery. Critical not to eat late at night ie two to three hours before bed and eat low acid foods. Some foods are also idiosyncratic ie reflux causing for you. I can’t tolerate eggs at the moment as I am going through a bad reflux stage. Maybe looking at a list of low acid foods (contained in the book also) may help you incorporate them in this diet and give you some relief.

There is this herbal medicine called Iberogast sold through pharmacies that has had clinical studies done to say it is as effective as Nexium (PPI). You need to take it in tincture form – drops in warm water.

Good luck and let me know how you go. We should compare notes and buddy up.

I’ve just looked at the recipe pages …on page 183 it states that all calorie counts are for one portion.

Hi, I hope I am on the right page!. Single fasting glucose test by GP 2 months ago put my fasting glucose as 6.6….I now know how unreliable that is and wish he had done the 3 month one….Bought Accu-chek and after a shocking day or two of readings which everyone kindly gave me feedback on what to expect (5 weeks in) and how to remedy. All readings now seem to be settling (famous last words) below 5.9 but between 5.2 and 5.8, (except for one 4.8 so terrific results) but still quite close to 5.9 pre-diabetic threshold and that is me being v.strict!. So not much room for messing about. I still haven’t done pre-meal reading as I am one of those people who feels a bit hypo/ weird and have to eat a snack mid morning between meals and at about 4pm. Previously this would have been fruit which I am missing terribly, although enjoying 6 blueberries/6 strawberries. So three questions and advice please….(i) if I dropped a bit more weight would I be likely to get lower readings…have now lost 10%, waist within range and BMI 21? Yes I am a Tofi! Am I being too ambitious in hoping for some lower still readings? (ii) Do I try and not eat a snack to determine glucose level just before a meal or just let it be before meal and 2hrs or 90m after snack, since I will have to continue to snack? (iii) I am planning to continue BSD forever, at some point am I right in thinking that I become less carb sensitive if I am lucky and would be able to increase some things like fruit etc (recently read Richard’s current diet in the Guardian, that bowl of meusli looked big but I worked out his BMI is 18. He is also successfully eating brown rice and pasta ….lucky man. Thanks v. much Tofa PS The chemist advised me use pricking stick only once…surely ok to use numerous times on one day? V Expensive!

I have the Kindle version of the book, and on page 190 it says “1/4 galia melon.”
I too am confused about the calorie count, and have been meaning to work it all out myself, just haven’t got round to it yet.

Hi, I’m in Australia & using the MM book. On page 190 the melon, spinach, blueberry shake ingredients say ” 1/4 rockmelon”… That’s a lot of melon! Is there a word missing? Should it be 1/4 cup??? Also, the calorie count for the recipes (pages 194-245)…is the calorie count shown ‘per person’ when recipe quantities given are for 2 or more? Thanks for any assistance 😀

Thanks everyone.
Yes, I’m sure I’ll get into the swing of it soon enough. Its only day 2 so a long way to go yet. Last night was an achievement in itself …Saturday night without a bottle of red wine! And I really missed it 🙁
I actually made myself cauliflower rice last night for dinner …I stir fried it with a chopped up spring onion and a tsp of olive oil, bit of salt and pepper, and topped it with a chicken breast. I have to say, I really enjoyed it!
I’ve just ordered a spiraliser, so am looking forward to using that.
As for making the kids the same as me – I honestly can’t see that turning out well at all!
I tried tea without sweetener …bleuch! Can’t stomach that at all. Even tried fruit tea, but to me it just tastes foul. I’ll buy some fizzy water later and try that with some slices of lime. I know its a case of retraining my tastebuds. A cold can of diet coke is my favourite I must say …well, that and a large red wine!

I stand corrected Chongolo! Fortunately no one I have said that too knew any different so it didn’t increase negative comments.

I have heard though that some people have continued constantly stuffing food in with short gaps til they have expanded their stomachs and put weight on again.

I would like to gently correct the ‘bariatric surgery and 600 cals for life’ thing. All it does is limit the stomach size, it may be low calorie during the healing process whilst they eat fluids, and whilst ghrelin production causes a drop in appetite, but after that – having only room for small servings makes no restriction on the TYPE of serving eaten, nor the frequency. Highly processed carbs are in fact the most well-tolerated and slip through bands etc faster than protein and veg.

Its a bit different for people with bypasses and associated dumping syndrome and malabsorption, but even then, those people are perfectly capable of eating one slice of regular pizza at a sitting. Wait half an hour and eat another…

If something goes badly wrong then patients have to be tube-fed constantly, and for more then 600 cals p/day to avoid eventual death. 800cal is fine longish term when you have fat stores to consume. It would become a medical emergency fairly quickly for someone with a BMI of 18 or less after a few weeks.

I have friends and relatives and know someone on the web with the last mentioned issue, so I’m not being third-hand.

BUT there is NOTHING WRONG with what we are all doing, the book even lays out scenarios for TOFI people who have success – they just get to where they need to be and then increase calories! That may also be a good strategy for naysayers – point out that the 800BSD also works well for people already in the healthy range BMI, and is recommended!

and of course, as Hashimoto points out – you can eschew all of the simple carbs and get most of yours from veg and pulses etc. for life with no problems at all.

Hi Chongolo, I guess those cozzies I had such a hard time buying may not be needed after all? I have got to say I did once swim in the North Atlantic off the Ardnamurchan Peninsula with a friend a few years ago, it was freeeeezing cold and we came out lobster red all over. I think that day barely got to 17c and there was a wicked cold wind blowing. I only got in because my friend did – and as she had serious health probs I would have felt like a total chicken if I didn’t get in. Actually, it was rather nice as because it was so cold it was also incredibly clear, you could see the bottom even when it was over 30 feet below you.
I remember a lot of surf of the beaches round Perth! And the big brown jelly fish in the Swan river. Probably not wind surfing weather now!!
Thanks for the info! 🙂

Well done Lynne – you are an inspiration.

Wow Jandz, that sounds amazing! 🙂

I have set us a walking challenge…at the end of September we will walk the Lakeside Way around Kielder….all 27 miles of it!

Hi Lynne, only slightly better, I have a long standing appointment with my doc on Wednesday so if I am still like this then I will bring it up.
Yeh, Lynne you don’t want to lose your village surgery, that would make life very tough for so many.
Well, I think it is time for my brekky! 🙂

Ah, Hashimoto – you should be just fine, rarely do we have a whole day where 17-18 is the maximum in winter. Currently 17 here, which is enough to have me sooking in a giant cardigan, I guess the point is that its the same inside the house as well as out, so clear days will have colder mornings (8-12in a few weeks I’d say) so for me thats freezing, for you maybe thats a cardigan or jumper? Definitely don’t worry.

but you’re MAD to think about swimming in the sea, good gravy BRRRRRRRRRRR. Needs to be at LEAST 35c for that sort of malarkey! (you can tell i don’t do cooler climates, don’t you? 🙂 )

just got back form a trip to get supplies, and noted some people still wearing shorts or just teeshirts with jeans, so its probably just me….

Hi Jandz, that isn’t a bad idea. I find rosemary and caraway seeds added to the batter make for a nice wrap. The cumin seeds and chilli are what I use for curries.

You could also take hard boiled eggs and little packets of nuts and seeds – even an apple. That should keep her feeling ok!! The coconut flatbreads are sweet ( if you miss the salt out) so she might like them as they appear quite carby to the uninitiated!

You are both doing well to walk 13 miles!! And you are obviously a very good friend to her! 🙂

LYNNE!!!!!! Amazing! 50 lbs is staggering – all that loss and away in a hotel for a few days! What a heroine!
Will I still recognise you next time we meet? 🙂

Hmmm maybe I should make the ‘sandwich’ next week and use the flatbreads 🤔

That’s the odd thing though, she recognises certain things need to change, for instance her fitness levels.

I agreed to go walking with her on a Sunday afternoon, each week I encourage us to walk further, I’ve got her walking 13 miles now. She loves it! Last week she brought a banana and chocolate with her to have at the half way point, then said it was a bit of pain as she wants to walk to lose weight and ends up eating chocolate. I asked if she could bring something else and only use the chocolate in an emergency and she agreed…..she’s told me she’s swapping it for a sandwich! I asked if it was a slow release food and she said no and then changed the subject!

I can only keep trying …..

Hi Marcia, I thought it should be 50g of carbs or less a day? Or did you mean 10g carbs per meal?

The cottage pie with cauliflower mash on this website is also delicious!!! 🙂

Hi Collie you will be shocked at how many people ( myself included) have tried a bit of carby food and suffered the consequences of feeling bloated, sluggish, unwell etc. It is becoming clear that carbs drain us of energy. I now won’t even have a single roast potato when it’s Christmas. It’s not worth it!!!

Hi Chocolate
Try aubergine with lamb and pomegranates. I love this meal and cooked it twice. Cook the aubergines for an extra 10 mins in the oven or until they are soft. Don’t worry if you can’t find the pomegranate!!

Hi Chocolate
Try reducing your carbs to 100g per meal. That should be equivalent to a small roll or 1/2 slices of bread. I was addicted to carbs and now replace it with a small serving of nuts, fruit and seeds throughout the day….

Thanks, Marcia!!!
Some of us have posted it onto social media as well to reach as many people as possible. 🙂

Hi Trishadawn. 10 or 11 sounds like Blighty!!! That’s what we have (on a good day) here if it isn’t snowing lol

Thanks for your good wishes and the info! Well I don’t like weather too hot but I thought it would be warmer now than in August when it is winter. 28 years ago when I was last over I didn’t need jeans or jumpers in August – has the climate begun to get colder generally?

I won’t be swimming if it’s 10 or 11c! 🙂

Hi Alipalicat, welcome to the forums 🙂 Your brother is right you should do this diet and I hope he is too!!! The fat around your middle will be the first noticeable thing to disappear.
Aldi have a large round squat tub of authentic greek yoghurt for £1.29 ( I think ) that is similar to the fage yoghurt – but cheaper. They also sell full fat cream cheese for peanuts!!!
So for protein you need full fat yoghurt, cheese, fish, eggs, beans, pulses, nuts, seeds and meat.

The fat is important on this diet – it helps to keep you full and it isn’t full of sugar and other nasty crap like the low fat yoghurts.

Aldi also sell milled flaxseed for £1.99 (£6 in sainsburys!) It is good to sprinkle a teaspoon on your yoghurt with a few berries – aids against constipation as well as being full of good stuff!!!

Aldi also sell little packets of nuts and seeds( orange colour pack) at the checkout. Useful for keeping in your handbag for emergency situations. 157 calories and 2.7g carbs.
You will find that the full fat yoghurt has carbs in it – as does milk.

If you take some general ideas from recipes in the book and this website I think your levels of protein intake will be sorted naturally. You still need your 5 a day although a lot of it will be in the form of berries and veg which grows above the ground.

You will be happy with the results you get. My niece and her husband started this diet on Monday and when they weighed themselves – fully clothed and after food – they were really surprised at how much weight they had lost by Friday!

Hope it all goes well and don’t be afraid to ask – there are lots of people on here who are willing to help 🙂

Not Chongolo, but from Perth. It’s cold by our standards, expected to have maximums of 22, down to 21 by next Saturday with minimums around 10 or 11. Jeans and warm top weather, not overcoat weather.

I know it’s relative. This weekend I had family up from Mt. Barker where it’s always that bit colder. They were in T shirts while I had broken out my winter clothes. When I went to stay at their home in summer, I had to borrow some warmer clothes.

Not many West Aussies would be swimming right now, but there’s always a few hardy souls. If you’re from the UK you’ll probably feel fairly comfortable while we’re hugging our winter woollies.

Have fun while you’re here, I hope you enjoy your stay and that the sun stays out for you.

Hi Collie. As you’ve seen most folk on here are getting great results on the BSD, including me. Unfortunately much of the medical profession is sticking with the ‘official line’, and there are folk who would sooner follow that advice, go to slimming clubs and take increasing amounts of medication.

I’m a 65 year old female. Diagnosed type 2 diabetic, diet controlled but threatened with Metformin before starting the BSD. In 19 weeks my fasting blood readings have moved down into the normal range and I have lost 3.5 stone (2.5 still to go). You’ll also see on here that other health issues are also improving.

I think that when something comes along that upsets conventional wisdom (like this) if takes a while for the ‘experts’ to come on board. They are reluctant to change. Bur, in this case, we are the experts. We know our own bodies and are collating the evidence of our results as we progress with the BSD.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

I’ve just signed😊

Thank you hashimoto , I can hear the joy in most people’s post. I am a carb lover but also am aware of the reason why I like them so much. I am pleased you have the gp and nurse on board , I am having bloods done this week so this will open up the conversation for me and get me a baseline reading. So one day one meal at a time. Thanks

Hi Collie and welcome to the forums.

You will notice there are a lot of people on here who now say this is the way of life for them now due to the improvements in their health and well being.

I have had the odd comments about starvation diets : my answer is that no other diet has worked for me, that this 800 is a short term plan and if I am overweight I have enough blubber to supply my body with energy!! Also, as Dr Mosley points out: people who have had bariatric surgery can only eat 600 calories a day FOR LIFE!!! so it can’t be bad.

I also tell people to read the forums.

If people comment with things like ‘Don’t you think you have lost enough weight now’ or ‘Don’t lose any more you will look gaunt’ To the first I say I am now in the middle of the healthy weight range according to the NHS site – before I was in the healthy weight range I pointed out that I was in the overweight range. To the latter, rather rude comment, I just say I am doing this for my health not my looks. It tends to shut people up. If you are lucky enough to have your gP or nurse on board ( thankfully mine are) then I say my Gp/nurse is happy with what I am doing and are pleased with my health improvements.

You never know, you may get some doubters on board when they see how you improve!!! 🙂

Hello everyone

I’ve just finished the book after being advised by my diabetic brother to give it a go; I have just been told I’m pre-diabetic and I’m also carrying far too much fat round my middle. I plan to use my fitness pal to keep track of my calories but wanted to make sure I had set the carbs/protein/fat to the right ratio. I understand to aim for around 50g carbs per day but would should the protein and fat be?

Also I shop in Aldi – can anyone tell me the best yoghurt to go for?

Thank you

Captainlynne ….that is…..FANTASTIC!!!! well done you!

PARTY TIME😃 This is your invitation to the party to celebrate the disappearance of 50 pounds. Yes, that extra pound escaped overnight. Fifty pounds since 19th December.

Jandz, my best friends partner is diabetic, has retinopathy, trouble with his kidneys and nerve pains in his feet. He frequently goes into diabetic comas. I made a bSD meal for them and afterwards he did not go into a coma. So very much liked it. So I made him some chickpea flour flatbreads he could have instead of toast. I bought him the book. All to NO AVAIL !!! He thinks it is easier to get a pizza and chips delivered than make the effort to make an omelette??? Some people do not want to be helped, my asthma nurse said the same.
This is worse when you know my dear friend is in end stage renal failure. He sees what will happen when your kidneys fail. He has been in the renal wards when they are full of people who are blind and have amputations because of diabetes. But he is complacent. He takes the tablets!!!!! Yes, he takes the tablets is his answer.

Perhaps you could have her round for the odd meal and prepare BSD meals – obviously larger portions for her as you don’t want to put her off. So curry with chickpea flour flatbreads looks like a normal carby meal for resistant people. You could do coconut flatbreads smothered in ff yoghurt and berries for a dessert. Try and haul her in slowly – but it still might not work. I am learning a lot of people do not want to improve their health if it means changing their habits. 🙁

You never know though, she may change her mind one day 🙂

Hi , I am planning my diet probably overthinking but does anyone have any good strategies for the negative peeps , I need a good answer not rude just a positive reply. I have made the mistake of researching the diet on the net and seen +++ comments against slating the research. However looking on the forum it is mostly positive. I guess as it is such a life changer both in results and in the level of commitment I just need some considered opinions please.
I am pre diabetic and 4 stone over !! 😥

Hi Zendo. Just answered your post on another thread.

Hi Zendo. I’ve just completed 19 weeks on BSD and plan to stay on it longer term as I still have more weight to lose (3.5 stone gone, 2.5 to go). I wasn’t on diabetes medication, but my fasting level on starting was 10.9. Now it’s consistently within the normal range. I asked the team about staying on the BSD longer term and they said it was ok for a few weeks as long as I felt OK. But there are now many people on here sticking with it long-term.

Hi hashimoto

I completely agree, so many people could benefit if they just tried.

I have a good friend who is diabetic, she’s a bit overweight and tires very easily. By Wednesday she needs an early night and on a weekend quite frequently needs to have a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. She seems to lose her appetite quite regularly aswell so often survives on toast for tea..she eats lots and lots of carbs!

While I do talk to her about her diabetes she’s very defensive when it comes to discussing what she should and shouldn’t be eating…she talks like I haven’t a clue what I’m talking about and too be fair I don’t as I only know what I’ve read on here. I really want to get her to read the book but I know it would be thrown in my face so all I can do is keep planting the seed in her head about food choices and see if she takes the hint.

Hi Chongolo, I’m off to Perth soon – please don’t tell me it is cold???? What kind of temperatures are you talking? How many pairs of jeans and winter woollies are we talking? I’m very comfortable at 17 or 18c.
I was also planning on swimming outside a fair bit – pools and ocean. 🙂

oh how nice it is to find other people experiencing similar issues – everyone over on the 5:2 forum just keeps saying it isn’t happening, which clearly it is or I wouldn’t be experiencing it!!

I think my symptoms are similar to lpr, although my gp said that he would have expected doubling my ppi to have helped if that had been the case, and it didn’t

but since the ENT dr said I needed to do the things I mentioned above to allow throat to heal – it does indicate that there is damage to the throat, so much higher up than normal GERD

what I find totally perplexing is that all this should start when I STOPPED eating lots of wheat/sugar/chocolate
when I STOPPED bingeing, and ate smaller meals

oh well, thank you for your support because it really is helpful knowing I am not alone in all this

Hi Rubyswallow, I am one of those whose acid reflux has disappeared on this diet – and there are quite a few of us who have had this experience.
Also, lots of us eat our familiar foods but just don’t eat the starchy carbs – so you are not alone! 🙂

Oh and I am going to try a pair of leggings on today.
Hope they doing look as if they are filled with marshmallows.
Finding it uncomfortable now to do yoga in jeans,
And it’s not really ladylike or grace full showing next weeks washing as I wear a skirt 👗👗👗👗👖👖👖👖👖👗👗👗👖
Cellulite, sounds like the brand name or a battery not blubbery skin.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Welcome to the forums Georgia, and good luck with the BSD diet. It is changing lives! You are not the only person on these forums who has been a yoyo dieter but this one is the one for life, you can eat really well on healthy foods, you will find your energy increases and you will reap the rewards very quickly! 🙂