What an inspiration you are, Frank! I’ve just finished my 3rd week and have to say that your story and ones like this that I’ve read on these forums are what keeps me motivated. Well done, sir.

Thanks Bill.
7 weeks under the belt ( a lot shorter belt) now and getting to the end of the journey without the signs of remission I had hoped for.
Blood is still all over. (Or so it seems).
Today it was 7.1 first thing, then breakfast and walk ( 5 km) it was 4.5 at 10.30…… , and the a protein shake for lunch midday and at 1pm a reading of 10, but dropped to 7.7 by 1.45….. Hanging out to see if it goes back to 5 ish as the day goes on ………
It is a roller coaster for sure.
Thanks for the support. I live alone. I told my Dr and finally said “I would like a check up” when nothing else was forthcoming..
So rather reluctantly I got a hands on assessment…..I can feel the organs and they are OK…..but whats this diet you are on ?
“I would like a long term blood sugar test please and an everything else test also if possible” Ok here is a prescription for a blood test.
“What about a liver fat scan”……reply….”why”….”it feels OK to me” !
So thankyou
May we all be D2 free !

Thank you for the support.
I have never understood the testing time theory despite being D2 for 8 years and on the 800 for 50 days (7weeks) and getting desperate because I wanted a conclusion !

Readings at 1 hr, 2 hrs and (if hour 2 is higher than hour 1) at 3 hours is a good schedule to give you an idea of whether your carb tolerance is normal or not. 1/2 hour is generally to soon to hit the peak of the spike, and 2 hours misses it (by design). Because people with diabetes spike higher than people without, if your goal is to go into remission it is important to confirm that you are having normal spikes, not diabetic spikes.

Ouch, get well soon x

Hi Chocolate_ee
Welcome to the forum. I admit to weighing myself most days but I picked a Wednesday as my official start date, so use my weigh in on that day as the one I record to show how I’m tracking. It really doesn’t matter what day and you’ll work out for yourself if weighing in every day or just once a week suits you best.
Just think, if you start before the bank holiday, your starting weight will be lower and you’ll have less to lose!
Good luck and keep posting your losses.

melbourne and morning here 🙂 about to do my resistance exercises then meditate and head off for a jog. brunch after I come back and then off to work (sigh) from 3 pm – midnight!

Hi all
Day 6 of BSD. Dropped a pound a day for first 4 days. Been making sure to track food with Easy Diet Diary and am averageing about 850 cals per day. I have a stressful job and prefer not to cut back further if my body is super hungry. I have been making sure to keep fats and proteins up and drinking approx 2.5 litres of water a day. Definitely been constipated (about 5 days now) so started taking metamucil yesterday. Havent been eating enough fibre I know!

I noticed yesterday that I seemed to have gained some weight over the day. Some of it (600 gms) has melted off again today. I did change scales yesterday so am not overly concerned and the new ones are better calibrated. I am definitely losing bloating in my tummy. I dont have any blood sugar issues (but my dad has type 2 and I def gain abdominal fat) so I am not tracking this as a measure.
I dont have a lot of weight to lose, about 8 kilos would be ideal so not too stressed, just tracking what is happening in my body with interest.

I havent been as active as I would like (PhD student – chained to desk) but plan to remedy that over the weekend. I dont want to bite off more than I can chew and force myself to do too much and then get tired out.

Just checking in to seek some feedback and to remain accountable.
Thanks 🙂
L

I’m from Perth, Western Australia. We’re just coming in to winter here, after a long dry summer. So the rain is very welcome. I’ve only seen snow once in my life, and that was on the east coast at the tail end of the snow season, so it was starting to melt. We still had fun though, building a snowman and having a snowball fight.

Today I’m possibly having a couple of family members come for dinner, but I’m waiting for them to let me know. I have plenty of chicken and vegetables, but no potatoes. I have a packet of frozen oven chips though from before I started this diet, so they will do if they do decide to come. No dessert, but I have a packet of chocolate chip biscuits I can offer. I bought them for unexpected guests because they are the least likely kind that would tempt me to eat.

I have a few internet friends from around the globe because my late husband was very ill for quite a few years, so other than visiting family we didn’t get out much. I chat with two of them every day, and have been very grateful for their support, even though they’re thousands of miles away. In a couple of months I’m going travelling and will be meeting one of them and staying with her for a couple of days. She’s English but lives in France. I’m beyond excited.

I’m making a real effort to bring more exercise into my day. I need to get it into my head that I have to make it my number 1 priority instead of thinking I’ll get around to it when everything else is done.

Lovely to chat with you all, Dawn

I’ve had a look at the inspiralize website lots of great ideas there.

Not had time to try the courgette curly fries yet but maybe this weekend I will 🙂

Hi Happylife, good luck with your start! I struggle to get full fat yoghurt at a nearby store so I use a small pot of Yeo valley natural yoghurt it’s 175 grams. I don’t know if it is full fat but it’s the only one in the local shop that doesn’t say ‘low fat’ The fruit is up to you provided you are keeping your carbs low enough and the calories. I’ve had a satsuma one day and an apple another but had to make sure my other meals were lower carbs to compensate. I’m not weighing but it’s a small amount of berries I put in, 2 or 3 strawberries, 5 or 6 raspberries sort of thing. I use my fitbit to log all my food and it keeps me right 🙂

Well today I’ve got my ECG and smear test (yuck) at the doc out of the way, and we’ve been busy gutting out the house. I have scrubbed the bathroom as well as having the bath panel off to fix a leak that’s been … ignored for too long. Glad I finally got around to it because we couldn’t have a deep bath (it was the overflow that was leaking) We decided to chill tonight and play rockband on the xbox, and have a take away.

So for take away I knew I am breaking the diet slightly, but if I’m going to be staying on it for the foreseeable future then it needs to be manageable. We were having Indian food, so I chose a chicken based meal and didn’t have rice or naan etc. It was a chilli/sweet and sour sauce and had carrots and onions, but as my calories were only up to 350 before that and 16g of carbs, I’m feeling quite secure I won’t have gone over the top too much. take aways are only once in a while here so I know 95% of the time I can cook my own and keep on top.

I’ve also filled a jar with a ‘lucky dip’ of my favourite varieties of herbal tea. I was spending too much time deciding which one to have haha, so I’ve got them all jumbled up and get a surprise with every cup. Simple things amuse me as you can probably tell.

My first week in and I commenced th is program/ lifestyle with determination and commitment. The first two days were tough but weighed daily and there was a downward shift. I busily worked out what weight I would be and thus smart targets were set. Joined some discussion threads , went to the gym, cooked great meals and then day four came … By this stage I was 2.3 kilos down …. I was so hungry that day, well maybe not hungry just craving whatever… I ate two squares of 70% chocolate, looked at the jar of vita weets, thought about a glass of wine but that was that…oh probably did eat more cashews and haloumi cheese than I should and this morning I was up 1.2 kilos… Devastated is not the word…. Thank goodness there is not anything really to eat that would make me momentarily satisfied. I am worried That I will give up but as I have had a couple of higher blood sugar levels in the past two years I know that I have to change my lifestyle habits… Will go to the gym as planned this morning… The only thing I can think of is that as I have been on SO many different eating plans I was not fussed about counting calories. I thought I knew what was what but today the new plan is to actually write down the calories . Today is a new day…

Sorry to hear you’re unwell Judith.
I’ve been up to my eyes in paperwork so just in and out of here quickly.
This is a hard learning curve finding which foods we can eat without horrible side effects like that.
Hope you’re feeling better tomorrow. 🙂

The most important part seems to be to cut out refined cards – sugar, white flour (and everything made with it eg pasta, bread, cakes, biscuits) and white rice.

That’s great, Frank!

Like you say, it’s good news whatever the reason.

If you’re drinking more water that might be helping?

That’s a yummy idea Eureka!
I’ve also spiralised beetroot to make borsht – it really cuts down on the cooking time!

Hi Eureka, I hugged the hot water bottle to my stomach all night last night.

It’s definitely diverticulitis rather than a bug. Its throbbing in the same part of my bowel as always happens when I get it.
Last time I had a costa brownie was a few years ago and then they were in manufacturers cello wrap. Now they are just unwrapped squares on a plate so I think cross contamination with gluten foods is a possibility. It did have the unmistakable texture of GF flour but that doesn’t mean it was ‘pure’.

It’s a good idea to contact costa as they ought to go back to the wrapped versions that have been kept well away from gluten products. Also it has just occurred to me that they use the same tongs for the gluten and non gluten products. That could be enough to cause problems for some people.

Thanks for your input, it’s appreciated 🙂

Hi hashimoto
Think I’d ring Costa & ask if others had a problem & was it indeed Gluten Free ? I’d also be thinking maybe cleanliness was suspect with such a bad reaction as you are having? Hope you get some sleep. Does a hot water bottle help?

Hi Christine, no problem, there are lots of us ‘talking’ to each other so a very easy mistake 🙂

Hi hashimoto et al
Spiralize carrots & beetroot & then pulse them in a food mixer. It makes rice. Then stir fry, steam, microwave or eat raw. Great veggies

Julia you will love it!

Lynne and Julia there is a Cuisique youtube demonstration video which is worth watching 🙂

Hi Kris
Not sure how many weeks you’ve been on the diet and whether you’re changing medication doses…
Personally, diagnosed D2 a few years ago, I do just one reading a day, on rising, before breakfast – not even a tea or coffee (just as my doctor insists for the annual blood test, nothing consumed in the previous 8hrs and as DrMM suggests in page 121 of his 8wk BSD book). I’m looking for consistent long-term trends here, rather than readings during the day and after meals when I know they’ll be up and down.
If I was on insulin and needing to monitor sugar spikes more carefully, I believe I’d have to upgrade to readings more often but never less than 2hrs after a meal (it’s all about glucose tolerance – see DrMM on pages 253-254).
After 8wks and nearly 20lbs/10kg lighter, my daily diary shows mine have dropped from around 6-6.3 to the lower range of 4.7-5.4.
I’ve definitely noted a rise in morning readings if I eat anything the day before that’s been contaminated with sugar or anything remotely linked to carbs like bread/flour/potatoes/rice/pasta.
That’s enough evidence for me about how my system is coping in the blood sugar department. If my readings were jumping wildly from one morning to another, I’d have to ask my GP for a referral to a Diabetes Educator at my local Diabetes Centre who’d organise more detailed tests and focussed advice.
Best wishes!

Hi Judith,
I thought I had got one of the people’s names wrong but was too,late to edit it!
Christine

Hi Californiagirl
Belated welcome! Guess you weren’t really dreaming! Well done on all fronts, for picking up the book & all the rest. Not just my pants (knickers) falling down now, my jeans are going south too. I feel a spending spree coming on. And the charity shops benefit too on this diet/ way of life. Hope you are ready for new clothes too.

If you are happy with the BSD then do it for a bit longer. I’m 12 weeks in & captainlynne is 19 weeks I believe. I’ve posted before that prof Roy Taylor Newcastle uni, original diet Diabetic Reversal trial, said bring your calories back up until you are eating 2/3 of the total amount you used to eat. You may put on 1 – 2kg over a few days because your glycogen stores return to normal & glycogen is stored in the water inside your body. We all like eating this way.

Have a look at the Answers & info topic in Fast 800 I posted to Chocolate_ee
Your compatriot, Jenny Ruhl – Blood sugar 101 & Diet 101 the truth about low carb diets, is the fount of all knowledge re diabetes.
Keep on keeping on & glad you here

Mine also arrives tomorrow – was waiting for payday yesterday! Cannot wait as the pencil sharpener type cheapo one I have takes ages to do one courgette. Spag bol here I come…

Hi californiagirl! That’s a brilliant result re your waist.

Lots of people are staying with 800 calories for longer than 8 weeks, so just go for it until you are happy with the results! 🙂

A GF brownie in Costa, my stomach bloated within half an hour of eating it 🙁

I’d been shopping for a cozzie for hours and decided I could have one because I had 150 calorie breakfast at 8 and it was 3 in the afternoon.

So, I can have 1600 calories a day with no problem but a bit of starchy carb plays havoc with my guts! 🙁

BSD for ever!

Oh fantastic lynne! My sister’s arrived a couple of days ago and she loves the courgetti, in fact sbe prefers it to spaghetti. She also said she wasn’t bloated after it which harks back to the conversation Janet and I had on the forums earlier! How many people don’t know carbs, especially wheat, cause them problems until they stop eating them?

Guess what I’ve just ordered – delivery tomorrow!

What was it that got you, Judith?

Lidl also do a Turkish version of the full fat yoghurt I’m, tempted to try that next time to see if there is any difference in taste.

I suggest adding a few frozen berries just warmed in microwave, + tea spoon chopped nuts/seeds – delish.

Thanks lynne. Self inflicted – though I wasn’t expecting this result!
I’m still in pjs and drinking like a fish and sticking to low residue foods. I’m hoping it might improve by the morning. 🙂

This post is a confession of a “lurker” — I have been following several threads but not participating since February. Today is my day 56 on the BSD so i thought I should come clean and say “hi” from California! I ran across the book in February at London Heathrow on the way to a winter ski holiday — I almost didn’t buy it because I was embarassed and I figured everyone around me was thinking “well she sure needs that” — but I bought it anyway and although it was a struggle for me (I got really hungry!!) I did it. I couldn’t face a scale so I used a measuring tape — I have lost 6 full inches off my waist and yes 😜 I can relate to pants falling down! I am a bit trepidatious about what comes next — I am continuing for a bit because I have more to lose but it sort of scares me — I have actually become comfortable on this super-restrictive diet — how funny is that!! Thank you for all your funny posts in the past weeks — it helped me hang in there.

Hi christine, Captainlynne, janet1973 and I met up nearly a fortnight ago. They are both really lovely ladies and we had a good old natter! I think we could have talked for ever! 🙂

I would second – Lidl Milbona Greek Yoghurt- the dark blue pot. (light blue is low fat) Absolutely delicious! Can’t live without it.

Hi HappyLife,

In a 20cm cast iron frying pan:

Fry half an onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic
1 small chilli pepper (if you like it)
Some sweet pepper,mushrooms (basically what veg you fancy)
When it is all cooked add some rocket and let it wilt
Add 4 eggs and quickly stir it through the veg, leave to cook through.

When almost cooked pop it under the grill to cook the top.

Sometimes I add left over bacon
Sometimes I sprinkle cheese on top before putting under the grill

As a rough guide the frying pan is half full before I stir the eggs in

Courgetti
Fry some garlic and chilli, add courgetti. Stir in some cream cheese or parmesan (or both!)

Hi AngieP
I eat twice a day mostly. Breakfast, which could be early or late 9 -10am. Then between 3 – 6pm. I try to get a long fasting period in during the 24 hours. But don’t obsess. Saturday I’ll eat later as got guests. Be flexible, just keep carbs in the back of your mind. The more you do this the better you will be at it.
Then it’s your turn to help & spread the word

Congratulations Frank

Eureka
Glad you are going to May Marathon as well. That makes two of us at least.
No of course we don’t waddle any more 😉
(Btw ….spotted on another post that you were on Week 12 and had lost 1 and a half stone which is sort of a ‘snap’ for me too.
Hope you are getting loads of people saying ‘Wow you have lost a lot of weight’. Finding that a bit embarrassing atm).

Anyone else up for taking the walking/jogging challenge of 26.2 miles during May? A sort of Marathon..I definitely realize this isn’t good for everyone due to the various injuries and health issues we seem to pick up in life. You could choose your level.
My maths isn’t good……see above post!!
But if you did the recommended 10,000 steps a day ( or 5 miles )..phew…..it might be possible to do 6 Marathons in a month!
Am I getting a bit too intense here?????
Anyway little challenge/ big challenge?
Anyone else in?????

Hi Judith. Sorry to hear how the brownies affected you. Hope you’re feeling better!

Rubyswallow, many folk following the BSD find their gastric reflux disappears when they are no longer eating carbs.

Hi catgirl,
I haven’t seen any post from you in a while, I hope everything is going well with you? I might well have just missed reading your posts, however would still like to hear how you are getting on
Christine

I eat breakfast then most days I don’t feel hungry until it’s time for my evening meal

Hashimoto – would you please share your garlic frittata recipe? Sounds yummy!!

Hi Revenanto and Carolg

Been away for a few days and just catching up on posts.

As hashimoto said, I’ll have finished 19 weeks on the BSD tomorrow. That includes two separate weeks when I’ve been away from home in hotels so no calorie counting but sticking to the BSD principles.

When I started this on 19th December I had 6.5 stones to lose. To date I have lost 3.5 stones. My aim is to stay on the BSD until I reach a weight that the medics and myself are happy with. There are also many others on these forums that are staying on the BSD for longer than the 8 weeks and we seem to be collecting information on here about all the health (and non-food) benefits we are finding.

My suggestion would be to stay with what works but you may wish to check with your GP about the possibility of reducing any medication as your weight drops.

You can see how many of us ‘old-timers’ are doing on the Fast 800 forum on this site. I’ve started two threads on there – ‘over the 8-week line and after’ and ‘over the 16-week line’

Let us know how you get on.

Hi Judith,
I have been meaning to ask for ages but I keep forgetting. Did you finally meet up with janet1973 and Julia? How was the meeting did you have a good time exchanging ideas and recipes etc?
Christine

Thanks so much for posting this! I am just starting today and just got the book! So figuring out what I can eat is a little daunting. Your diary is greatly helpful!
How much yogurt and fruit for breakfast?
Today I made the no carb Bircher for breakfast which is 245 cal total and I found online. After 2 hours I was hungry so had 12 almonds.

Big thanks for any advice!!!
🌷

Hi general
That’s kind it’s still fresh!

Hi Scott

It’s been said we are two nations divided by a common language!

I’ve travelled Stateside many times but still find it strange that you drive on the pavement while walking on the sidewalk. Our scones are your biscuits while our biscuits are your cookies! Not that we talk about them any mire – too many carbs!

Good to see folk from your side of the pond joining us on here. Let us know your progress.