I said I wanted to have ago myself before I resorted to pills (I’ve heard nasty things about them). They wouldn’t give me a Glucose meter unless I went on the pills. So I bought my own from Home Health online – Code free (£21 – meter/100 lancets/50 strips) well worth it. £6.99 for 50 strips. I tested myself once a week in the morning & then 2 hrs after food – to see if I was on track. My count started at 9.3 and then went to 5.5 in the first 2 weeks. So I am sure you have already made a difference, you will need to wait 3mths before having the HBA1c again to see the big difference.

I’m not sure how doing the diet and being on the pills would work.

Good luck

Well, that was an interesting day!

Went to the station to buy train tickets to London. Travelling down at end of May, overnight at hotel near Heathrow then flying to Italy. Flight back lands early afternoon so will go straight to Kings Cross for train home. No problem there. Tickets bought, with seat reservations. Bought open return in case of delays. No problems.

Looked round shops. Bought nothing. No problems.

You’re wondering what happened, aren’t you?

In the travel agents trying to find a holiday for early next year. Gave her a very wide brief. Between mid January and late March. Sun but not too hot. Not crowded resort. Relaxing with places to explore. Not silly money. At least she didn’t run out screaming!

I love Italy, but difficult in winter except city breaks (or skiing). We’d looked at cruises, Malta, Cyprus, Madeira ….. you name it, we probably looked at it.

Then ….. we heard an explosion😱 Everyone on the street froze. No sirens! So everyone (including us) went back to doing what we had been doing. We found out later it was a controlled explosion near the main police station. We have scares, but not often a controlled explosion😳

So, back to looking for holiday. Cruises ruled out. Portugal – wrong time of year. Malta ruled out. Cyprus – good deal in Limassol, but I didn’t want to stay there. Paphos more expensive but I’ve stayed there before and prefer it. Hmmmm ….. Nearly. Back to Madeira. Reasonable deal. Good Tripadvisor reviews. Weather supposed to be ok. Flight times ok, from Newcastle.

So I did it. Booked to stay in Madeira, near Funchal. End of January. 7 nights. Half board. Upgraded to sea view room and seats pre-booked. Deposit paid. 😱

Hi dumptynomore
You’ve got all the King’s horses & all the King’s men behind you! Very glad you’re on the wagon 😀👌

Hi keeptrying
You are trying to move forward. Sometimes we have to try & forgive our trespasses & those that trespass against us. I can’t think of more appropriate words to say!
It’s not easy, life isn’t. And sometimes it takes all of our life to try & do that. I know.
This diet – the effort & concentration of the mind involved in ‘ just do it’ is remarkable! For the first time many of us are realising the power to change & of change is within us. We are able to change things. We have taken control & we are happier for it.

Mindfulness :
I think perhaps the Mindfulness forum would help you.

BSD followers please post to ‘ keeptrying ‘ if you are following this path. I think you could help her. Thanks

Hi rachel62,
Good to hear you are keeping on keeping on, well done, onwards and downwards!
Christine

Hi Christine.

Glad you found my answer to your sewing question 😃

Ooohhh 23 people on holiday together 😱 Seriously, hope you have a great time.

Bit like taking coals to Newcastle, taking Spiraliser to Italy – my friends might like it for their relation who is gluten free.

Glad you find my ramblings helpful 😃

Himalan
Oh dear, we all have times when we fall off the diet, good to hear you are back on the straight and narrow now.
Christine

Hi Lynne,
We are going to Oswestry in June, the whole family, 23 of us in a farmhouse with a bunkhouse, we did it last year so we need to find something different to do this year, of course there will be the obligatory bbq, you have given me the idea though, I will take my spirilizer so I can do something for my Saturday evening meal.
I’m looking forward to losing the weight like you have, I don’t mind if it’s ounces as long as it’s going downwards, I only have to lose one and a half lbs to have lost two stone, then it’s a case of fixing my next target.
Thank you for all the support you give, not just to me but loads of people on this forum.
Christine

Thanks Polly, I was looking on amazon I can pick up a pack online easily so I will do that soon. The pancakes help me along but I would love to make crackers. I do have a recipe I’ve found for coconut ones so I will try soon. Yay to passing plateau’s! Hope mine goes too!

I’m ever hopeful happy life that my scales will move tomorrow but if not I’m sure they will one day soon 🙂

I’ve had a nice afternoon with my son, we walked along to the park at the other side of the village, played there, then there is a nice walk between fields that takes us to the opposite side of the village where there is another park and we played there too, then walked home again. I’m up to 8500 steps so getting 10000 today will now be easy enough.

Hi Lovely Lucia,
Well done you! 8 weeks done! Your words have been such joy to read throughout my time on the forums.
Have you ever considered a career as a stand up comic?!! I love your humour. You really do have talent!

Isn’t this blood sugar diet a revelation for we “former” sugar addicts??!! After 5 weeks I am really starting to believe I can live this low sugar lifestyle forever. I haven’t been on here at the forums for a while, but you, Bill, Hashimoto a a few others have been so inspiring to me. I just wish I could meet you all to give you a big hug 😍

My husband and I are planning a few days away to Melbourne at end of May (and end of my 8 weeks) for our 35th wedding anniversary celebration. I am looking forward to wearing jeans I haven’t been able to fit into for years. 😊

Hi hashimoto
Practical magic. You’re a star 🌟 😀

thepolly – Hang in there – – you are moving on the right path again!! 🙂

My Update:
Week 2 – Day 1
Lost 9 lbs. in first week
BS down 33 pts!!
Inches Lost: 4.25 Total (Waist 1.5 Hips 2.75)
Still having tummy issues at times – figuring that out soon hopefully….

Week 2 – Day 1
Lost 9 lbs. in first week
BS down 33 pts!!
Inches Lost: 4.25 Total (Waist 1.5 Hips 2.75)
Still having tummy issues at times – figuring that out soon hopefully….

Keep on going – seems easy enough except for tummy issues and the inches are melting off literally… YEAH!!!

Hey Izzy,

Well good thing you are figuring out what caused the slowdown…. 🙂 I am still having the other problem off and on…..
Gotta a ton of work to get done today so wishing you a great day!!

Stay on it!! We can do it!!

Hi thepolly, I ordered Jason fung’s book as well last night! His wallet will be chuffed! I’m great with the fasting part, I just want to understand the eating part a bit better now! Let me know what you think to the book when it arrives.

Oh …meant to say I’ve started a blog . If you fancy having a look it’s here…
http://bsdjourney.blogspot.co.uk

I find that writing about things helps keep me on track … well that’s the theory !

There horrible. I went with a Paleo Chocolate Brown instead they are very very Lovely

What’s everyone up to?
Love Lucia
Xxx

That’s fantastic news, I’m due at my first diabetic clinic on Monday (HBA1c was 88) so not sure what they are going to say as they mentioned pills over the phone when making the appt for me. I hate tablets and have been doing BSD for almost 4 weeks now.

I don’t understand why there is such a push to medicate either, but the nurse who did the confirming blood test for diabetes said she’d heard about this diet at least.

Not sure how much the diet will have affected my BS but hoping it has already. Not got a glucose meter yet cos I’m not sure if I can get one free through my practice. A friend says they do from the practice she works in.

I have just signed – totally agree the NHS are not helping, by putting people on pills

Thank you for your kind words. Yesterday I had the best food day EVER! I mean I ate food I would eat if I wasn’t on a strict diet.

Breakfast: Mixed berries, greek yogurt, flaked almonds
Lunch: No carb Ploughmans. I bulked it out with 1 sliced tomato and a few cucumber slices, sprinkled with cress. It was absolutely divine. When I was shopping around for the chutney, the lowest in carbs and sugars was small chunk branston. and I even dipped the apple in it. It was sooooo nice. If anyone has found a chutney that is even lower. Although having a tblsp of it isn’t gonna hurt me, I would still like to know.
Dinner: Smoked Salmon and mushroom omelette with 10 ton of veg. I adapted the muffin recipe I found on here. It was lovely.
I hit 800 cals on the nose yesterday.

My exercise was gardening it was an all day thing. I also weighed myself and have lost 1lb. going docs today so will see what she has to say.

hashimoto, you are just so lovely and supportive 🙂

dumptynomore, I’ve also been known to go to greggs and but 5 sausage rolls and eat them all in the past. Thing was I was sort of ‘punishing’ myself by making myself feel worse with food, then feeling guilty for eating all that food when other people in the world are starving (got that drummed into me as a kid in order to make me eat all my food). Lots of us on here seem to have years of being demonised over food whether by others or ourselves but it’s good that it’s a common experience in that others here understand.

keeptrying, hope you get to the bottom of the reflux problems. It’s horrible, happily I’ve only suffered it occasionally. I’m waiting for Jason Fung’s ‘The Obesity Code’ to arrive, it might help me get some more insight into all this stuff and I love learning new stuff anyway.

Polly x

I was diagnosed in December as diabetic after my second HBA1c test (result69) and the doctor wanted me to go on tablets straight away and I didn’t. I asked to be put on a health style course via the NHS (it was useless and took a month to come through). Then this book came out and I decided to take control myself and also get a fitbit.

So my results have comeback (38) – NOT A DIABETIC and I have lost a stone and a half and feel FAB.

Without this book I sadly feel it would have been a different story. Considering this is such a UK problem the NHS appears to do little about getting it under control yourself and giving people hope I was told:
– Its in your family, so you have it
– It cant be reversed
– You need to go on pills.

My doctor can’t believe my results and has never seen such a drastic change following a lifestyle change (all I really did was do 10,000 steps a day and follow the diet and have portion control). You would think the Doctor would have wanted to know how I did it to pass on advise (but NO). More people need to know about this and I can’t thank Michael enough.

Good luck to all of you that are taking control it can be done.

Happy to support anyone that’s starting the journey

Chickpea flour has lots of different names, hashimoto has put all the different ones on another thread which was really helpful. Still had to make sure by reading the ingredients though lol, it can be called gram, Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean and sometimes known as Egyptian pea, ceci, cece or chana, or Kabuli chana (nicked definitions from wiki)

Mine was 2kg for £3.85 so have to make lots of things with it now. I still have lots of coconut flour from when I was trying to eat healthily. Gonna give my dried dates away to a friend today too as they were in these ‘healthy’ recipes that I was using before finding this diet.

So far today breakfast was a Granny Smiths with some Fage yogurt and pumpkin seeds. Not sure about lunch but dinner is chicken in (probably bad chipotle and cola sauce but it was only 20p in Sainsbury’s yesterday and have only added a little bit) and stir fry veg with homegrown beansprouts!

Plateau has been left behind as long as it doesn’t go back to 13 st again 😀

Are you able to post links/names of researchers/papers who have looked at the effect of blood sugar in non-diabetic children? I’m very keen to get info about how to regulate my kids’ blood sugar via their diet. Also keen to hear more about the effects too much sugar in-utero can have (not at the gestational diabetes level). I have a GP husband so I’m going to need research to get this to the table!

The half a bread roll could be causing the bloating. I hadn’t realised wheat products made me feel a bit bloated as I ate them every day so the feeling was normal. Since being on the diet, I have noticed it the few times I’ve eaten bread or pastry. Nothing drastic, but noticeable.

Too little fat does seem to be something to avoid with this diet. Most veggie meat alternatives are low fat, so you might need a little extra cheese or nuts to make up for that.

Over a stone gone now after about a week of no losses :D, it’s going slowly

Hi Judith
I ould just about manage it but it’s much easier now 🙂
Into May ! Nearly holiday time for you 😀
I still have to wait until June 9th and I so need a break ATM 🙁

Hashimoto my dear
I am tuff when it comes To name calling 😜😘
I am an old psychiatric nurse and midwife who grew up on a sheep station with four older brothers. So……..,You can call me whatever you like. Hahaha. But I like your thinking. – Positive names are always good though.
🌞✨
And Switzerland best of neutral luck to you too X. 🍀
Fatty with less boombah!!

Hi Thankyou for reading this. I am 2 weeks into the 800 diet and weight is dropping off. I am even exercising again. I was wondering however if the low carb could promote the growth of kidney stones in any way. I live remotely and my doctor does not know so I was wondering if anyone else may have any information. Thanks so much.

Sausages can be tricky – go for the bacon instead with any fat cut off. There’s the weirdest ‘recipe’ in the BSD book described as cheesy beans – yuk. If you can eat that you can probably have baked beans although I’d have thought they would be high in carbs ( just looked them up – but annoyingly it only gives their calorie value on toast ) .

I bought a ‘Carbs and Cals’ book on Amazon ( endorsed by Diabetes Uk ) which gives pictures of portion sizes of every conceivable food – and pics of what you can eat out too . I’m finding it invaluable. It’s here if anyone’s interested.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1908261153/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’m going away for the weekend to a friend’s and I”m dreading falling off the wagon – I need an iron resolve and nerves of steel ! But she keeps chickens so eggs will be in plentiful supply – it’s just the curry she suggested tomorrow evening but I’m going to stick to chicken tandoori – no rice .

Hi barby, I had a week of not really losing anything but it seems to be over now… not really sure.

Hi janet 1973, I just ordered Jason Fung’s ‘The Obesity Code’ which should get here by Tuesday. Really looking forward to reading it as I think it help me understand nutrition more.

Healthyana, try not to beat yourself up if you do have a bad day and eat more than you intended or which wasn’t exactly healthy. I think we all do to some extent. (I *may* have had wine last night …) Just try not to let a temporary blip become more than that.

Thanks Janet, will do – looks like a really good site.

I can confirm that the recipe for creamy cauli and canelini bean soup is yummy. So can my son who enjoyed his bowlful, I was jealous of his slice of bread he had with it tho lol

I would recommend you have a look at the dietdoctor.com website. I mention it a lot here but it really has taken my knowledge and understanding to the next level. I particularly like Jason Fung’s videos on fasting and you should look under the ‘science’ tab at a critique he wrote about that new study just out on the biggest loser. There may be some answers in there about your fatigue.

I have used food to support me emotionally since childhood, probably most of us have in some way or other. The big change for me though has been not to see any slip -ups as catastrophes. Life will always chuck in events where you can’t eat the ideal way. There will always be days when you want to pull the duvet over your head and stay in bed. There will always be celebrations that demand cake. I know for a fact that Dr Mosley DOES EAT CAKE! He just doesn’t do it every day or even all that often. This is the state of mind we need to get to. That its alright to make an exception once in a blue moon and it doesn’t have to lead to a massive bender.

What I try to do now when I tempted is ask myself some questions; will it pass if I make a cup of tea or read a magazine or do something to distract myself? Do I really think eating that food will make me feel better? If I eat it, am I prepared to live with the consequences? Its fine if I am prepared to accept the consequences, that’s what grown ups do. If I am going to guilt trip myself then it simply isn’t worth it as the pleasure will be spoiled. If I do decide to eat the naughty stuff, I really enjoy it for what it is but I no longer let it spiral as I am not prepared to deal with the consequences if they are severe.

This is a period of learning – and unlearning – very deeply ingrained habits. If I went on a bender after every slip-up I have had over the last twelve weeks I would probably be two stone heavier not a stone and a half lighter! So get your wheels back on your wagon and keep your toolkit close to hand! You don’t need to be perfect, just better than before!

Hi Janet1973, great many thanks for confirming that

Hi Ziggysmum
Yes, its absolutely fine, a great cleanser/detoxifier apparently! Dr Mosley is a big fan of lemon and lime added to cold fizzy water to make it more interesting. So go for it!

Hi Judith, thanks for this, what you say always makes a lot of sense to me. I did have to giggle to myself yesterday when I got your message – I hope you got my reply – fortunately, you gave me lots of really good clues as to who you were! I don’t know anyone else who is going to Australia so I guessed you were getting giddy with your new phone! I hope you are enjoying using it. For the most part, they make life a lot easier.

At three o’clock this morning I decided the sensible thing to do would be to ring my surgery and ask for more detail about the results. Last night I watched a video on the dietdoctor.com website that said it is good for hdl (good cholesterol) to go up and the only way to make that happen is through a low carb high fat diet. Great I thought. But then it went on to say that some people on said diet also get a raise in ldl (bad cholesterol) but they don’t really understand it why yet. So not so good. Of course, the thing I didn’t know was was it my hdl or ldl?

So I rang the surgery this morning and spoke to a lovely nurse who was very supportive of my weight loss and told me exactly what I needed to know – and also said the same things as the video last night – hallelujah! So both my hdl and ldl have gone up but both are well within acceptable ranges for now. She said that the ldl one might even rectify itself over time. But in the mean time I need more ldl-reducing foods. I should admit I still don’t eat enough oily fish etc. Walnuts are also supposed to be good so a great excuse to eat more walnut cake and walnut whips! (you know I’m joking right?).

So my new mission is to find lovely foods that reduce ldl and rejoice in the knowledge that the bsd has yet another benefit – it can actually increase our good cholesterol levels!

I hope you are getting the same lovely weather we are further south? Who is going to be looking after your garden while you are down under?

I didn’t answer lisas nanny about the silicon cups, I just picked them up in tesco 🙂

Hi Christine

Thank you :)) How are you getting on?

Rachel

Hello, I am on day four of the 8 week programme, so far feeling really good.
Could anyone tell me if it is okay to have warm water with half a squeezed lemon in the morning? I seem to remember, when reading the BSD book, something about avoiding citrus fruit (of course I can’t find it for looking now).
I’m not sure if the advice may be do do with the fact that lemon water makes your body more alkaline, in any event I would like to drink a cup first thing if that is okay but certainly don’t want to wreck the good the diet is doing.
Advice appreciated, many thanks.

Hi Jackie
Latte and toast????oooh you naughty girl, but I so empathise with you, toast is my big thing too. No, Im lying, ALL carbs are my big thing, but having read your reply I dont feel too bad about the bottle of red I drank on my wedding anniversary, or the subsequent 5 sml g&t’s (I did count in the cals lol)
So glad to have helped you, albeit inadvertently :))))) let me know how you’re doing

Rachel

So TMI alert, I think I was constipated… I’ve had to go twice this morning lol. Apologies for sharing such matters but I think it may have contributed to my slower loss as well as my mood yesterday.

Today I’m feeling more normal, but I recognise that this is little to do with the diet. I’ve been clawing my way back to mental health over the last 18 months after my husbands depression almost cost us our marriage, leading to my own depression. We are both much better now, but I’m not quite 100% yet. Proud of my husband though as he has really turned his around.

I’m low on steps today, and water, but it’s only 11am. There is time to catch up. I’ll take the small one out for a walk soon and that will help a bit. I’m attempting to make cauliflower and cannellini soup from the recipes on here for lunch so hopefully that will turn out nice. I’ve also made pancake batter with coconut flour and put some in fridge and some in freezer, as an experiment to see if they still turn out ok. The recipe did say you could freeze the made pancakes but I like to have them fresh out of the pan and still warm to eat 🙂 Need to buy more chickpeas too and make more salt and vinegar ones as I think they are going to be something I can pacify myself with when the urge for junk interferes with my calm.

Todays food looks like this…

Breakfast yoghurt and strawberries

lunch soup

dinner courgetti bolognaise

Hi healthyanna,
The first step is to read the book. There’s so much information in it and it helps prepare you for the 8 weeks (or really for low carb mediterranean style lifestyle). There are helpful tips concerning cleaning out kitchen cupboards etc and stocking them with BSD friendly foods.
Then it’s a matter of following the core principles of the BSD (the diet, exercise and mindfulness meditation.) Personally I’ve found mindfulness meditation very helpful in combatting emotional eating – well worth a try if you don’t already do it.
It’s very important to be kind to yourself. Use the forums for support and if you do have a slip up try and return to the BSD (all 3 principles) as soon as you can. We all have slip ups but it’s how we deal with them that can make a huge difference on this journey.
There’s a quiz in the book to take to see how you’re coping with the BSD. Remember that if the fast 800 isn’t for you, there’s the 5:2 and the BSD way of life as alternatives.
I wish you the very best on your BSD journey.

Oh wow Hashimoto please please please tell me you’re in London so I can go see this practitioner….crossing fingers and ankles now!
I love this all day breakfast idea!!! Don’t like sausage coz I’m always panicky on how much cereal and carbs go into it. Do you think it would be ok doing egg, tomato, mushrooms and beans? – yummy weekend brunch idea!

I get so obsessed thinking of food and looking at food websites its kooky.

Hahaha I hear you Chocolate_ee!

Last night I chopped up some veg, added a packet of bernard matthews roast chicken cut up, threw it into a big bowl and topped it up with boiling water and half a stock cube – felt like fine dining and I was never ever a soup person. It was so delicious and under a 200 calories, didn’t know what to do with myself after because I knew I needed to eat my calorie allowance or I’d get hungry. Ended up boiling an egg and eating it just like that 🙂

Smoked Salmon and avocado with courgetti is on list of meal options for this weekend….I love this indulgent idea of smoked salmon for breakfast, reminds me of Christmas!

Don’t know how I posted my reply twice!!!

Wow, I see what you mean with cod vs salmon so I need to worry more about the calories than weight. I had to look up Fage yoghurt as I hadn’t heard of it but I think it may be also sold in Aldi here in Australia. I think Jalna and Chobani were pretty good low carb options. I think the soup is a great idea. Maybe I could do some minestrone (no pasta) or chicken soup. You have helped me so much as I have dragged the chain this week worrying about starting – more the logistics and the ‘what ifs’ I can’t stick to it.

It seems that real oats are contentious. I know that Michael Mosely said they are OK but probably not best option, I’m not great with eggs.

Hi Hashimoto, that plan sounds great. Very doable and one I would stick to. I don’t want the worry of inventive recipes and calorie counting – I know that would trip me up. Can you have a pot of yoghurt 150/200g or is it really just 2 tablespoons? And for the chicken or fish or meat, is it 100g for women? x

PS do you eat any snacks – I’m thinking they will bump up calorie count easily.

Good news about the doll, Christine – shame about the price though 🙁
Yes, I think planting the seed might light a spark in the grey matter. Sorry for the mixed metaphors!!! 🙂