Day 4: I’ve lost 2.5lb and 2 inches off my waist! I’m so pleased! Thanks for all the kind words and support.

I’m off to the cinema tonight though, so I really need to have iron willpower! I may get myself some minty chewing gum just so I’m not tempted by sweets.

Hi just do it,
Oh I used to love yoga, I can’t do it now cause of a back problem, ironically yoga makes it worse! If I twist I trap nerves! Not good believe me.
On the up side I have found a Pilates class, the downsize, it’s on a morning that I can’t do, yet, I’m hoping I can giggle things around and try and make it.

Hi Lucia,
I hope you will feel better soon, and that you can have a bank holiday rest? Nothing worse than being up in the night coughing, you have my sympathy!
A bit of medicine is not going to impact on your weight loss that much, you need to keep yourself dosed up!
On a totally different point, I am 1lb/£1 nearer my sparkly bracelet.
Christine

Four weeks in and 10kgs lighter. Happy. Now for the next four weeks. I’m hoping to lose another 10kg. 🙂

Eureka
Ooh Yes…..just spotted. 10,000 steps = 5 miles …oops!
Easier than I’d hoped for. Perhaps we should Eddie Izzard…….on second thoughts….no:-)

Hi I have been watching the forum and I am about to go for it. I think I will try the menus for the first week so now planning for Monday – all diets commence on Monday don’t they ! Thank you all for your post they have helped me in my decision making.

Hi Eureka
The Penguin March is the distance the Emperor Penguins do on their annual migration, I think.
So hope I can waddle another 70 miles in the not too distant future.
Here’s to waddling forward if not jogging……yet!!!

Hi caramba
10,000 steps is 5 miles! 2,000 is 1. No way I could run – knees rubbish. But am seriously thinking could walk it?
Love penguins so not childish at all. Who said childhood belongs exclusively to kids anyway!! 🙋
I really need to move now. 70 miles is fab 👍

Hi all,
Just wondered if anyone has found that peanut butter causes blood sugars to rise?
Just 3 days from the finish line for me and for the last few days my FBS has been in the 9’s!!
I’ve put this down to peanut butter. Not as a meal but as a crafty hunger pang stick my finger in the jar sort of thing!! Obviously a bit too often. Had anyone else found this or is it actually something else.

Hi Cherrianne, Hashimoto, SteveT and FoFi,

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. Yesterday marked the end of week two. the time has flown and I’m really enjoying it. I’m not strictly calorie counting, but as I did before the program minus snacking, a daily glass or two wine, or an evening meal. I start the day by testing blood sugar abd blood pressure. I have two tbsp of biodynamic plain full milk yoghurt, a daily tonic that predates my diagnosis last June but has given the best functioning intestinal tract I’ve ever had. Then I have a small bowl of all bran (30g) with a few nuts and seeds, strawberries and blueberries and 160ml of whole milk. Some days i have instead wilted spinach, two free range eggs and two slim slices NZ smoked salmon, which is incredibly satiating. on my to work i stop by the salad bar and get a large salad of rocket, baby spinach, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and grated carrot, and small servings of kidney beans od chick peas, jalapenos, olives, some feta and chicken breast or roast beef. No dressing. That’s eaten in two servings at work, half for lunch and the rest before I go home, then nothing for bedtime. i do this every day, and I love it. it offers a wide range of ingredients but also a constant I can measure fluctuations in BS etc against.

This morning my FBS was 4.2mmol. Blood pressure 124/69. Weight dropped 1.5kg in the past week. BS spiked unexpectedly in the past few days, up to 6, for unknown reasons. Then last night I passed a lot of fluid, and felt remarkably well after. my BS dropped straight away to 4.4mmol. has anyone experience anything similar?

Yes Bill – you are right, Jacqueline, roll the fruit around to loosen the seeds (this is vital!) cut the pomegranate in 1/2, cut it in half, or score + tear it in half, hold it cut side down over a large bowl + tap/whack it with a wooden spoon, use a little pressure with your hands to squeeze – result!

Don’t wear anything pale when doing anything to a pomegranate….

Ref sizes, I go for a medium sized anything, chicken we tend to eat as 250-300g portions, fish about 250g, aubergines (goes to weigh one) are 250- 300g.

Hope this helps!

Hi Kris, which week are you at now?
Some of us started getting sugar spikes at week 4 to 5, this was explained as being caused by excess glugose being flushed from our internal organs.
It seems to stabilise again after 2 to 3 weeks.

Hi Eureka
Yes if 10,000 steps is a mile this is really doable. Should be straightforward if it is fast walking.
Not sure if I will actually join the official My Marathon for May with the British Heart Foundation but I think I will accept the challenge and send a donation.
My favourite new toy ( my Fitbit ) has this morning sent me a ‘ March of the Penguins’ badge….70 miles covered so far.
This is all very childish I know but we need motivation from somewhere and even if it is silly it made me smile at least.
Good Luck everyone and is anyone else ready to get moving more????

As far as I can remember, the trick with pomegaranites is to cut them in half, turn the half upside down, and hit it several times with the back of a tablespoon to release the seeds.
I may be wrong but someone will come to confirm that, I’m sure.

Had a cough right through the night, so slipped cold water and had to take cough mixture to ease it.
I know there are a billion calories and a ton of sugar on each teaspoon, but I needed to sleep.
I had run out of lemon and honey with hot water.
I am okay if I put weight in with this cold, I know how to eat correctly, it is not going to make me give up.
I am ready fir e bump in the road if I hit it, and how to land on the other side of it.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

I will tell you the argument about temperature.

Salads are cold and chilly,
Chocolate melts in your mouth at body temperature. This is not fair.

But as summer is around the corner, okay, okay, around the block a and down the road a ways……. Salads will be cool and yummy. Chocolate will be a horrible brown puddle, smudging onto your fingers and going everywhere.

Salads win again!!!😇😇😇😇😇

Love Lucia
Xxxx

In my first week I said, it’s a lot easier and quicker to make butties for my lunch every day.
And I believed it.
But then I did a test.
I buttered two slices of bread at the same time I opened a Tupperware box
On the bread I put salad, in the box salad
On the bread, chicken , in the box chicken,
On the bread I had to put sliced tomatoes which made the bread soggy, in the box I put whole cherry tomatoes.

I gave the butties to hubby ( crafty eh?) and I took the box.
My salad was not like a squashed butty, it was nice and crisp.

So, i told you so. Butties are not faster than a boxed salad, the extra times is the buttering if the bread.

I won!!!.

Love Lucia
Cxxx

Thanks Hashimoto
I’ve been following your journey and you’ve been so inspirational, thank you so much for encouraging all us newbies.
Hopefully you know how much it means to us.😊 I’m going to keep posting and encouraging too and hopefully we can all encourage more to follow this new lifestyle, as that is what it is!
Linda

Hi Switzerland, woo hoo, that’s excellent, well done. Keep it up😀

Hi
I will tell you about the argument I had with myself and who won.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

I’m preparing my shopping list to start the Fast 800 on Monday. I want to follow the recipes I have found in the book which have also been published online in some articles about the BSD. However, I’m finding some of the ingredients or quantities puzzling:

Pepper with jewelled feta (seeds from a pomegranate)
I love pomegranates, but they are considered a treat here (Western Australia) as they are mostly imported. The recipe calls for ‘seeds from a pomegranate’. Fortunately, it is the season for them here (to be imported) so I don’t think I will have any trouble getting them. However, I have never bought them to eat as ‘food’, only as a ‘treat’. Which means taking absolutely ages to peel and eat and getting very messy. Is there a way to prepare a pomegranate to obtain the seeds quickly? The meal is for a work lunch and I will be preparing it the night before, but obtaining the pomegranate seeds seems unsurmountable at the moment.

Aubergine (Eggplant), lamb & pomegranate (2 aubergines, halved lengthways)
More pomegranate seeds, but it is the size of the aubergine/eggplant each that is puzzling. Eggplants vary in size considerably see http://results.diggers.com.au/search?w=eggplant . It is the long purple or slim jim varieties that are available the shop. Is the recipe for two big or little eggplants?

Beetroot falafels (4 mushrooms)
What is the size of an average mushroom?

Sardine dip (2 tbsp soft cheese)
Does it matter if it is brie, camembert, cottage, or cream cheese?

Spicy chicken and lentils, Harissa chicken (chicken breast per person)
I’m sure size matters here. Currently, we buy free range chicken breasts and they are ~ 400gm each. Should I look up serving sizes on some of the health sites to find out what is a serving size?

For me, following the menu plans is easier apart from the questions I have about the recipes above. Hope you can help.

I have searched for ingredients online, but all of the pages I was able to find quickly were to do with portion sizes of raw vs cooked fruits and vegetables.

Hi Beverley,

Thanks for getting back. All good tips! I think I may be making this too complex. I just want to eat the same things pretty regularly to begin with. What does an average day meal plan look like for you?

I’m not really doing this in the hopes of coming off medication, as I’ve been taking it for something like 15 years or more. I’ve been trying to lose weight for all that time, had a bit of success with Weight Watchers but was continually hungry and lost weight painfully slowly if at all.

I hated being so overweight, clothes shopping was a nightmare that made me snap at my poor husband when he kept pointing at displays in shop windows, saying they would look good on me. I knew the sales people would secretly have a good laugh if I went in and asked if they had them in my size! I always came home from clothes shopping sessions in a grumpy mood. So my strongest motivation is extremely shallow. I want to buy nice clothes in regular sizes, and feel good when I wear them.

This is the first diet that I’ve been able to stick to, that is actually working. I’ve lost kilos and a good inch from my waist, so I’m on the way to my goal. I can’t say I feel any healthier or more energetic than before, but the lower carbs help stop me from getting so hungry between meals. Seeing the scales go down so fast and feeling my clothes that bit looser is all the motivation I need.

Cow milk is fine. I don’t see anything in the book to suggest anything other than it being good.

Cheese is restricted to small quantities because it is very calorific – not much room for anything else if you ate a lot of it.

Good luck!

Hi, always happy to chat because I live on my own with two dogs for company.
It’s 2pm here, and it’s just started to rain. A nice afternoon to be staying indoors. I bought an ox tail yesterday and am going to cook it in the pressure cooker, diet friendly of course.
I also drink chamomile tea Izzy, mine has lemon balm, peppermint and lavender and is supposed to be relaxing and soothing. I hope your new recipe turned out well.
Good for you, JustDo it, taking up yoga and swimming. I struggle with exercise I’m afraid. Not because I can’t, but because I keep putting off starting until the day is nearly over. I know all the reasons why I should, how good it is for me physically as well as mentally, and when I do it, I even feel good afterwards. So there’s no excuse really.
Keep up the good work both of you.

Hi

I’m in Australia and starting on Monday (after school holidays) and trying to get some things cooked and frozen for lunch. I am a little confused and am hoping someone here can help.
Full fat yoghurt is good
Cheese is ok in smallish quantities?
Cow milk is bad? Almond my life is ok?

Thank you in advance

Re BS testing
I’m now going to only do immediately before a meal and two hours after for more accurate recording of how its behaving as fasting is so erratic.

But does anyone know how long if at all it should take for fasting bs reading to reduce,I’ve had it down to 7 but back to 8 this morning 😱
Alan 1st 6lb in 3 weeks 😀

Well done Alanhypno😊

Hi – I hope this hasn’t been asked a million times before. I’ve read the book from cover to cover and I know its 800 calories per day, but what is the maximum carbs and sugar we should be eating on a daily basis?

Third week done
My weekly losses are,
Week 1 8ld
Week 2 8lb
Week 3 6lb

Have I reached a plateau ? 😱
I jest of course
Anyone tried Beurer app for weight Blood pressure,Blood sugar it’s brilliant

Alan strangely not hungry 😋

There was a vitamin carb etc list on here,sure it said 300 g carbohydrates ??
Alan

AliB 🙂

Eureka, it is 5am and I am still awake due to pain caused by that GF brownie. Never again!
Like you say, at least we know what foods to walk away from. Walk? I’ll be sprinting away lol

Fantastic start to the BSD LindaA! 🙂

‘Morning everyone

On your advice I upped my water intake yesterday, braved the scales and I’ve lost 1.5lbs!! (0.7kg) Very happy with that. Will continue with this and up it as much as I can so fingers crossed for more lbs off this week.

Have a good day everyone!

Ali 😊

Are these too sweet or carby or are they OK?
They aren’t tropical, as evidenced by the glut growing around here, but are they OK or in the too sugary category?

Online search says:
Sugar 8/100 g
est. 45-50 calories/100g

I do it alternately.

Fage is wonderful. We have it in the US, as well.

Watch for pectin as an ingredient – it nearly doubles the carbs.

How does everyone do this? Fasting and eating once a day or do you eat two or 3 meals? I’m going to see it the book is at the book store in town tomorrow. What kind of meal do you do? Any ideas will get me going in the right direction.

My reflux has if anything been more severe (3days in) but I have been changing from osemprazole (sp? and a PPI) to ranitidine ( a H+ inhibitor instead) which is not as effective and meant I had to take a tablet twice a day – first three diet days i have had to chew gaviscon in the afternoon too.

After hearing other have theirs clear up, I’m hopeful mine will settle down, even just only one ranitidine daily would be fine. I was concerned about taking the PPI forever, hence the change.

my reflux is structural in good part, so less food-based I suspect. We shall see, very early days.

Hi Dave,

If you tell your broad location I’m sure others will chime in with brand names, but overall a good full fat plain greek yoghurt is the go. Check it isn’t reduced fat, and also hasn’t had honey or something added (happens a lot to greek yoghurt).

greek yoghurt is strained so it is thicker and creamier as a result – this also concentrates it’s protein a bit too. Here in Australia farmers union is a brand I have tried. I have heard the UK types mention a brand like faage or something? good luck.

Bopping up thread Oi Oi Oi
Isnt anyone in NSW? I want some of those low carb spuds and that bread!

Soz for delay, I posted this important (to me) question then merrily forgot about it.

Gday Cherianne – thanks for the confirmation on the breakup of the 800 cals, which I think is super important. If you just try to stick to 800 cals without checking carbs I believe it doesnt work. Sticking to 50g carbs a day I am finding quite difficult since there are unexpected carbs in lost of things, like low cal foods etc, so just doing 800 cals isnt enough IMHO. I have started but faltered and am about to restart, I lost 2Kg in the first week when I was being super good so I know it works.

Hi Toofastblack – yes the app does work it out but it gets the wrong breakup, as above, you need to adjust that in the settings/goals.

Well done Olliepops but I do understand. Although 14lbs is really fantastic, and should not be ignored, I do understand your expectations. I can only suggest that you look at the carbs, they are hidden often, and this is really a low-carb low calorie diet.

Hi,

Please can you advise which full fat yoghurt is recommended for the 8 week blood sugar diet.
I visited the supermarket and found myself confused by the bewildering array of products on offer, most high in sugar.
Which high fat natural yoghurt do you recommend ?

Many thanks

I am using CalorieKing http://calorieking.com/ to help calculate calories and carbs and weigh almost everything I eat. This is growing my confidence in the diet and my ability to choose low carb foods. I am having problems with feeling confident that it’s okay to eat fat – my training to reach for low-fat options at the supermarket is still strong. Eating nuts is helping, especially if I eat them really slowly.

I am expecting to not lose a lot in the last 3 weeks of the 8 week FastBSD diet and am thinking that’s when I need to add some physical exercise to my daily activities to help the weight loss process along. Although building muscles will mean adding weight, but at least it’s not fat. 🙂

In the book Michael says the diet if adaptable to foods from other cultures, for example, Asian inspired recipes and menus – just follow the basic guidelines of using non-starchy vegetables, drinking lots of water and avoiding anything labelled low-fat. High sugar fruits, such as tropical ones, are a no-no too: try apples and pears instead. I snack on dried apricots (a couple a day at most eaten very slowly) because they are highly nutritious. Nuts, including almond meal or L.S.A. (linseed, sunflower and almond meal), are a mainstay for me too though they bump up the cals and carb count they are filling in a sustaining way.

I think taking out the grain carbs and starchy vegetables from your diet should have an immediately positive effect on your acid reflux – I’m not an expert but that has been my experience in the past. Cutting out bread, and then other wheat based foods from my diet resolved that issue for me before I found out about the blood sugar diet. 🙂

I am taking lots of readings. They continually disappoint.
Maybe I am eating too much ?
The readings range from 6’s to 9’s whereas they were 8’s to 12’s so I am pleased about that but I can start in the morning at 7.00 am at 7.0 on the Accucheck and after walking for an hour as briskly as I can it still reads 6.9. It sometimes even goes up. But then it inexplicably drops to as low as 3.9 then on other days, 5.9 or 6.5 I can not understand.
I try to test about half an hour after eating. As a regular gauge. But even that is erratic.
The lack of energy is awful, I sleep after a walk no problem. But I am 7 I have had D2 for 8 years, I have lost 20kg and am determined to lick this sucker !

Would love to hear from other people about the Blood Sugar readings…..what are yours doing ?
If some clever lass could develop a chart that we could post the readings into that would be a great reassurance. Need some rules….like only following 1 hour after food because we are looking for evidence of insulin being effective in our systems again aren’t we ?
Well thats what I want and when about week 4 I was getting good 5’s and 6’s and now it is 6’s and 7’s I wonder if I am being careful enough.

Good luck fellow D2’s

Hi melb100 and Eureka (and other dear readers), I’d thought at first that my motivation is purely physical- health driven, which it is, but for me it also encompasses the sense of wellbeing that the low carb mediterranean way of life gives me. Not feeling hungry constantly is life affirming and a great motivation for continuing the BSD. I can’t help but think ‘this is how I used to feel decades ago’ and when I reflect on that, back then I ate very few processed foods.

Hi everyone, Well it’s Week 5 Day 1 for me and I’m delighted to announce that I lost 2.1kg in the last week (that’s a total of 5.6kg over the 4 weeks, with no loss week 3). I’m so HAPPY that I stuck with the BSD and conquered my week 3 plateau. It’s really empowering to have stuck with it. The old me would have given up. It’s also with great pleasure that I announce my waist circumference is down 6 cm from Week 1 Day 1.
I also want to mention that for me it’s the whole package. I’ve also been walking every day (varying distances because ‘life’ gets in the way), but I do aim for 10 000 steps now. Daily mindfulness meditation has been beneficial. I use the Smiling Mind App (Australia). Have a great day BSDers.