TWills have a lovely birthday tomorrow 🙂

Hi April, glad to hear your scales told you a lovely story this morning! 🙂

ETO
Interesting. It would be easier to skip the exercise and stick to 800 of course.
My anecdotal non-expert experience so far:
I am also 8 days into BSD but being a tiny bit flexible with calories on exercise days, whilst weaning myself off carbs. In theory you are meant to ignore calories used but not sure how realistic that is.
My Saturday and Monday exercise sessions went as normal, though I was in warm up mode for BSD so slightly over on cals those days, and buzzing from the initial effects of feeling healthier and virtuous.
Yesterday I started with a 100 calorie blueberry tea shake prior to a spin class and then gym – used est 650 cals. I was worried about small breakfast but was ok and enjoyed both, though did 40 mins vs 50 in gym since I felt like I’d done ‘enough’ and was a bit pushed for time.
I felt a minor ache in my leg muscles later on in the afternoon – as if cramp imminent.
I drank plenty, and overall consciously had nearer 1100 cals vs 800 planned. I ate a veg lunch out which was +100 and also “needed” a healthy snack on top of menu dinner later on. Book says better to have something rather than lapse into sweet stuff which is the main point for me.

My weekend will be prepping food for going back to work on Monday after two weeks off. Started today with cauliflower bread and cottage pie with cauli mash (price of caulis is horrendous at the mo!). Spag sauce and chilli to do and portion up tomorrow. Then hairdo, mani/pedi and massage to prep the mind and bod for the coming 12 week stretch until the summer hols.

7.5 kg down so far. 2 and a half weeks to go and I’ll be moving to the other side 🙂

Thanks shortapple 🙂

1. Read the book twice – there is alot of info there and it is quite a mind shift to leave behind “low fat”. Highlight what u want to remember.
2. Get an app such as ‘My Net Diary’ to help you count your daily calories, fibre etc. Small differences in some foods can make a big difference.
3. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and do track your fibre. Too little in your overall calorie count can end up making it harder to lose the weight.
4. If you dont own digital bathroom scales and digital kitchen scales do invest in both.
5. Regularly include kumara and prunes and legumes if you like them. All are high fibre and low gi.
6. Get to know the food grains – oats, quinoa etc.
7. Plan ahead for special occasions.
8. Remember there are many others doing a similar journey and we want to cheer you on.

I have swapped years of eating porridge for breakfast for full fat yoghurt with fruit, nuts and seeds, almost identical to that mentioned about. Porridge always used to fill me up until lunchtime (5 hours later) and to begin with I was ravenous by 10am but actually I ended up waiting until 1pm for lunch and although I admit I was hungry it was nowhere near as bad as it has been so I think my body is getting used to it and I really don’t miss the porridge (in fact I look forward to the yoghurt more!)

ali2on, I’m almost identical, 4 weeks in and a stone gone (15lbs actually) and I have another 1.5 stone to go to be at a weight I have been happy with in the past. I’m eating little in the way of carby food, just the odd bean thing and starchy veg, and finding it okay. I’m not really sticking to the 800 calories, in fact I’m not counting calories at all (it just brought back too many horrid memories of WW and the like), I’m sticking to the lowest carb I can. I might have another week of 800 when I get back from holiday next month but I intend to stick to low carb when I am away (self catering so it shouldn’t be difficult).

Tomorrow is my birthday and I am out for a family meal. I have (more or less) decided that I will go for the most sensible main I can find on the menu but I am going to allow myself pudding. Partly I feel that this is how my life should be, that things like pudding should be once a year treats, and partly I’m interested to know how I feel with a dose of sugar having had practically none for a month. I will report back!

Have a lovely weekend one and all.

Thanks for your reply Eureka – I am reassured

Bill – my fat intake is down purely to reduce calorie intake. I am eating a lot of salads and stir fries with a bit of chicken, tuna, ham etc.

Signed and tweeted.

Nah kippers are smoked herring and I think they are classed as an oily fish, but delicious anyway.

No, they are not an oily dish I don’t think. They are smoked haddock aren’t they? But that’s ok, any fish is good and the butter is fine too.

Lol. Bill. Don’t be silly. …We just have to stand on our heads to read it. 😜

I’m tempted to say it’s printed upside down but I won’t 😀
Perhaps any food mentioned in there is more orientated to the area ?

Hi, just looking through the site and saw the book cover. …glanced over to my copy and the cover has a little green circle on it which says “Australian and New Zealand edition”. Just got me wondering about what the difference is. Any ideas?

Caz, as far as I know KETOACIDOSIS only is dangerous for type 1’s
I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

Hi, I am just 8 days in to the BSD, I enjoy doing a weight training class at my gym twice a week but have found my strength is much reduced and my muscles really ache during the exercise, has anyone else experienced this or any tips to get round the problem would be great, thank you.

Oh yes I’ll be bubbling
Sitting in the jacuzzi bath 😀
Lunch was chicken stew and very nice it was
I don’t normally want rain at weekends but we have a new garden fence that needs painting, the whole 75 feet of it, so while you are blowing bubbles, I’ll be slapping it on
Have a great weekend L

Hi. Spoke to my clinic this morning and they have reassured that this is not dangerous for my BMI (obese).
All good. Just in case anybody else has the same issue and is a bit worried.

Sue my heart goes out to you. The combination of rice and stresss will have affected your blood sugars.

Today is a new day. You will probably find your clothes are looking better on you because of the diet 🙂

😀 4 weeks in and one stone down, 1.5 stone to go til I’m around “ideal” weight for my height, so I think this is do-able, and I’ve a couple of plans for upping my exercise to help as well.

Really feeling much better without carby food, so think this is a lifestyle change, although I do have a rugby sevens tournament that I’m going to tomorrow that will potentially involve quite a bit of junk food… will be doing some food prep tonight to try and avoid that!

So are we bubbling?
I am doing mine tonight, in the dusk, so the sunset catches the bubbles and makes them magical.
You can hide yourselves away, just open the kitchen door, or garage or shed doors, and blow.

Have fun!

Are you with us Bill 1954?
You making a loop, but be careful of the sharp ends.

Just enjoyed chicken and salad.

What are you having for lunch?

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Thanks guys for the advice, drinking heaps of water and headache eventually eased after getting worse mind you. Jumped on the scales this morning and was pleasantly shocked with the result so the headaches are worth it.

Hi David
are you getting enough fat in your diet? If you are restricting the carbs it needs another source of fuel to burn and if it doesn’t have it, your energy levels may decrease.

Hi David knight
Welcome. Very well done on all fronts

I’m type 2 & 9 weeks on BSD as I need to lose more. My first 3 weeks I felt very tired & no energy but knew this would pass. And it did, we also felt the cold a lot. My husband ( prediabetic bloods) joined me He was tired too & had a few days of ‘Keto flu’. That’s feeling achy like real flu but caused by the diet. Didn’t last long.

Fuzzy headaches & feeling energised, even euphoric are some of the feelings you can get while your body adjusts. All this passes & may only last a couple of days. We’re individuals so will react a little different. More energy will come

Drink 2 -3 litres of water a day & up your salt & fat intake a little to help things along Reread the BSD book again & other posts on the forum. Check your calories you may need to go slightly over 800.

Both my husband & I are feeling happy & well. We’ve lost weight , blood sugars are down & this diet / life style is ours for keeps. He will Probably stick to 5:2 diet later, but I might have to go ketogenic (eating fat for fuel) as I have to go very low carbs to get good bloods. All this is fine & not frightening.

I can control my blood sugar now & maybe reverse it in time
Please sign our petition.
Good luck
Eureka

Day 48 weight 10st 4lbs
Blood sugar 13.2 🙁 possibly the brown rice?!

Could have kicked myself over the rice. Had a meeting at the hospital yesterday and Mum is due home on Wednesday if her pain can be sorted, they are trying her on slow release morphine, yesterday it made her a bit dizzy.

My head is a mess at the moment, looked in the diary and it’s the big Cancer charity do tomorrow night and I haven’t even thought about what I’m going to wear – clothes hopefully – I don’t want to frighten anyone. 😝

Hi Cherrianne, I think you’re right, I have real problems with pollens and there are a lot about!! Also a bit of stress going on. My dad has terrible arthritis and I think his (terrible) practice should have sent him for knee and hip replacements 30 years ago. He’s 90 now. For several days he has been struggling to get to a standing position and walk across the room. He’s the old style kind of stalwart who does not give in. Good on him. Yesterday he was managing better and made the long trip to his favourite butchers this morning. His mind and reactions are incredibly sharp, in that sense he hasn’t aged at all. My eyes are already slightly better after starting the drops yesterday. And yes, I think it is a hot topic at my surgery with a GP and asthma nurse on board. I did the 5:2 for a while when it first came out and a GP (a different one), the physio and nurses were right behind it. I only struggled with 5:2 because going on anitibiotics for lung infections would disrupt the program for two weeks at a time and you know what oral steroids do to you!!

I’ve just dug out my flow chart ( Australian one) from 2015, even with 4 puffs of inhaled steroids twice a day my peak flow was no where near as good as it is now, dipping as low as 200 at times with a good average of 350. Now, on BSD and on azithromycin 3 times a week I’ve reduced my inhaled steroids to 2 – 3 puffs twice a day with an average morning peak flow of 420 -430!! and 400 – 410 on a night. Not the normal pattern, I know!

I have an appt for blood tests next week so I am leaving copies of both flow charts to go with my records.

The other strange – but good thing- is I am not getting as near as many serious foot cramps. I could spend the whole night, several nights on the trot, walking the floor trying to get rid of the cramps and as soon as I laid flat in bed it would be off again.
I am getting very few now and they will last a few minutes and then GONE! I haven’t had to take the quinine for weeks!

I wonder if anyone else is noticing previous medical problems reducing – other than blood sugars, of course!!!

I always, pre BSD, used to have hot milk before bed I think I will start to again. I love it!! sometimes plain, sometimes with either cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom in it. It is sleep inducing!
🙂 🙂 🙂

Thanks Judith, life is pretty good when I’m eating this way, never thought I would be able to maintain the non diabetic range but thought it was worth trying. It seemed too good to be true at the start but I hoped to be low enough to avoid the dreaded metformin.
Hope the blepharitis clears up soon. Something’s triggered your immune system by the sound of it. Your GP is definitely a keeper. Obviously the BSD will be a hot topic at their practice meetings.
Hellybelly, I almost always have hot milk before bed. At first it was to fend off the dawn phenomenon and it worked, but now it’s just because I like it. Helps me to sleep too. 🙂

Yes, all newbies who are British Citizens please sign out petition!!! 🙂

Hi Alan, if you are in the UK and have to buy test strips, find out which are cheapest and get that meter.
I can’t help with meters as I am in Aus and we usually can get free meters and pay only about the equivalent of 65p for two containers of test strips. We have a scheme where diabetes supplies are subsidised.
Fasting blood sugar levels are useful, as are a random one a couple of times a week. Usually two hours after a meal or a bedtime one.
I do a fasting one every morning and one bedtime reading each week, plus another after a meal. So one week might be breakfast, another week dinner etc. I usually pick a meal where I’m not sure how my body will react. So if the meal seems carb heavy or it’s something I haven’t tried before, I will test.
Over time you get a good picture of how sensitive you are to certain foods, and what you can eat that doesn’t spike your blood sugars.
A bit of a long winded reply but hope it helps.

Hi hashimoto

Many thanks. Glad I slept on it & deleted the expletives!

All newbies please read & sign our petition. Pass it on
Up the Revolution!
Eureka

Are kippers ok the frozen ones usually with knob of butter in plastic bag
There’re oily,I think
Cheers folks Alan

Hi Karra,
I can see why you’d have a hypo feeling if your body was used to such high readings. Very unpleasant for you and you will need to be careful to lower your blood sugars a bit more slowly until you get accustomed to it. Could you try halving your metformin dose so you are allowing your liver to release stored sugar, but without risking a hypo?
I agree with Penny that you need more fat in your diet and you have cut your carbs quite drastically, especially as you’ve increased your activity level so much.
Fat will encourage your body to burn fat, it also converts more slowly to energy so will help to smooth out the peaks and troughs of your sugar levels.
Try eating some complex carbs too for the same reasons, add some beans or lentils to soups and stews perhaps, or a little cooked quinoa or chick peas to a salad.
Just a little bit of tweaking here and there might make the difference for you. I hope so 🙂

Hashimoto, thankyou, i am very happy to have joined. Kingdoone, please forgive my previous post, not all diabetic nurses are so blinkered. She was following the rules at the time, but i can honestly say her words were my motivation to prove them all wrong and 8 years later my new diabetic nurses are wonderful, helpful and interested in what I have been doing over the years to keep off meds. I am only 9 stone so might be fat on the inside, I am also active but want to get down to 8.5 stone in the hope my pancreas clears? But I have found it difficult to get under the 9 stone. I definately know how to maintain my weight…but I want to lose it. I eat very well but possibly too much good fat! My fasting bloods today were 6.3, hmmm I think my previous low reading was when I had hot milk before bed, so I will try this tonight and post my reading tomorrow. Good luck to all, we will ‘cure’ ourselves and how fabulous would that be!!

Hi Switzerland

You had me fooled!
Great stats. Got any good recipes for Joey burgers? As if!

Did tai chi once upon a time so mindful in that. Should do it again. I’ve found the whole thinking, planning , shopping , cooking , posting (I never did that before) BSD experience to be of itself mindful

Didn’t know I was ‘Sad’ before ( not depressed) can’t think of another description for it. But I’m happy now. Haven’t been for a long time. Been grieving my parents deaths. Know my mum would be so pleased I’m where I’m at now

They both were type 2 & I wish I could have shared this with them

Wow! Heavy ( auto came up Heaven) so yeh, Heaven for a Friday
See what mindfulness does
Ciao
Eureka

Hi Natalie
I find headspace a bit annoying! I sometimes use The Calm app – but not very often! In fact I tend to forget about that aspect of MM s advice although the Calm app I do find very calming.
Penny

Hi Karra
That fat level seems very low to me. I have double that. 35-60 g per day.
Penny

Hi julia I think a lot of mothers are suffering from children’s exam stresses. I remember it well! Commiserations x

Hi lucia
6 degrees here
My nose is also cold
Love judith

Xxxx

Is it important to measure blood with one those meters there’s some free ones on line are they all the same,ppl type 1 and type 2 ?

Not sure what I’m looking for,I thought doing some two hours after lunch to compare with my tests when I start this plan next week.

I hear morning readings can be erratic .?!

Any suggestion how to measure blood to compare to results when been on plan for a while sew very welcome

Thank you Alan (rambling)

I had trawled the diabetes uk site to see what dietary advice they were giving. Not impressed. It was reactionary rather than proactive – seemed as if they were covering their a…. After criticism from the daily mail!!!! They reckon a low carb/low calorie diet could work BUT would have to be done with a health professionals guidance to be safe.
In short they speak with forked tongue

Hurray we finally have a signature in northern ireland! 202 signatures so far! Ive been promised a few sign ups just waiting for them

Lucia those bacon egg cups sound yummy! I’m going to try them! I’ll have to pop out and buy some more bacon, just finished mine yesterday.

Bubbles, nos there’s a fun idea!

I didn’t wear a new frock on Wednesday – the weather was vladivostoc and pouring down but I did my hair slapped on the lippy and wore some new old clothes! Friend duly surprised! 🙂

Hi Bill1954
Wow! Someone is taking notice of Low Carbs & YOU😀
Nope didn’t know either. They must be rattled! Keep on keeping on
Eureka

Fantastic Beverley, you will do it! Just look at captainlynne! I. Bet she thought she couldn’t lose the amount she has lost in just 14 weeks! You still have weeks to go to reach your goal and this diet just gets easier the longer you do it 🙂

Cherrieanne that’s good going – blood sugars stable and 50-60g carbs!
I rang my surgery to leave a message that I have a flare up of blepharitis, the gp rang me within ten minutes and after dealing with eye prob asked me about the diet, was I still losing any weight? Thought the ketostix were a good idea and was very interested about the fact I had increased my calories but was still fat burning. Very pleased with my fbs etc

It’s great that some GPs are so open minded. I must say though that the surgery I go to have always provided a first class service. It has made me reluctant to move from their catchment area. 🙂

Thanks for all your advice everybody.

Newlife that’s amazing!! You really are in full control!
I’m glad you are making sure you do not miss ‘the window of opportunity’ with your clothes. I’m still miffed about missing mine:(

Newlife it is newlife:)

Hi desperate, yes you can use your own recipes. Just make sure you count the calories and carbs and include some fat in each meal. Try to keep your carbs under 50g a day. Some of the recipes in the book are slightly fussy.

The only extra ingredient I have bought is coconut flour. I already used coconut oil, gram flour and I have always loved nuts and seeds.

If you like curry the gram flour flatbreads are a good substitute for rice and indian breads.

Like lucia I often have bacon, egg and tomato, it’s quick and easy and fits in with the dirt.
That should say diet not dirt but I cant get the cursor to move back 🙁

Well done on your weight loss 🙂

Hi Sharon,
I’m still very happy with my results. Got my blood sugar levels down to under 5 fasting. It’s very consistent. Post prandials between 5 & 6. It’s all very stable and exactly what I wanted to achieve, but barely believed was possible.
I’m mostly sticking to 50g carbs or slightly over, and now starting to experiment with one or two days a week of 60g. So far so good, no ill effects on sugar levels. Don’t know how many carbs I’ll be able to have and stay in the non diabetic range as I am fairly carb sensitive. I have plenty to eat staying in the 50-60 range because I don’t count calories. So no problem for me if I can’t go any higher, would rather be healthy 🙂
Let me know how you go on the metformin, it might be worth taking the plunge and dropping it. You could always restart the evening one if you go too high, or are you on one dose a day?
Anyway, whatever you decide, all the best for success.