Hi Judith,
Told my hairdresser about the petition, she has lost a lot of weight on slimming world, she has tried all the diets and finds the sw diet works for her, however she was interested in the bsd diet and said she would take a look, so hopefully she will sign the petition!
Christine

Hi Lynne,
I decided to try on some of my size 18 trousers yesterday, I haven’t been able to get them over my hips, (I’m Apple shaped)! I managed to get half of them over my hips, however could only fasten one! So I have a fair way to go yet, I’m getting there though so I’m happy, lots of compliments when I go to church, we go into the meeting room for coffee after, it doesn’t half make me feel good to get complements from parishioners who are younger than me and notice the change in me!
So if there is anyone who is on this diet and think they can’t continue or are not losing weight, keep going! I have faltered and plateaued, got depressed when I put on instead of lost, however I stuck with it and I am two,pounds off losing two stone, if I can do it ( I’m a sugar addict) anyone can, so keep on keeping on folks,many as we say on this forum onwards and downwards.
Hope you don’t mind me ‘preaching’ on your thread Lynne!
Christine

Hi,
I’m new to BSD but just can’t face plain yogurt – even with berries added!
I know I probably can eventually but for now I’d prefer to skip the yogurt entirely than face the plain version.
However, I do think it adds good fat so I have bought Yeo Valley Greek yog with honey which I know isn’t part of the plan but am having a tablespoon once/twice a day.
Will the honey cause a problem do you think?

Waiting for my new spiralizer to arrive on Tuesday. Been reading the posts and got caught up in the excitement of veggie spiral cookery! Looking forward to trying some new recipes as tend to have the same ol’ stir fry for main meal. No Waitrose where I live in Cumbria, so if I want to eat courgetti need to make it myself. Hope the Cuisique easy to use and clean?

Good luck both of you.

Congratulations Rachel. We have started at the same time. My weight loss however has been slower. I did have a couple of pieces of dark chocolate, day four but I thought I was on track …then discovered that my approach of guesstimation re calories was way off and had not paid attention to the carbs in my diary… I was not eating any wheat etc but I was eating lots of nuts!..anyway back to the drawing board and am pleased I have stuck to this thus far… I normally give up before this so positivity is the way to go. Oh, I did a 15,000 step walk today so amhoping that there will be a positive reward on the scales tomorrow…

One of the best things about this diet is after awhile your appetite goes away. It is hard at first but now it is effortless. You have to be doing the 800 calorie phase strictly. Hang in there. 🙂

Lynne, that sounds delicious and perfect with some courgetti !!! 🙂

Chuckles. Our vicar used to sweep in for weddings and christenings often with mud on his boots. People used to complain but it was because he was really interested in the local history and was often digging for Roman coins in the vicarage garden ( he found loads and some old Roman mile markers). He visited parishioners a lot – especially the non church goers, not to hassle them but to let them know they were important to him. He was a lovely chap and always had time for people. He was also very interesting to talk to so I never understood what people were moaning about 🙁 ????

My congratulations to your brother and wife!

I must admit I would rather have real food than shakes but I think for some people they are a safety net til they have this totally nailed.

Don’t forget to get your milled flaxseed tomorrow – a teaspoon a day and it lasts AGES!!! 🙂

hi rubyswallow
that book looks very interesting, I may get it
I will see how the next few days of gaviscon etc pan out

what I just don’t understand is how all this flared up just 5 days after I began the 5:2 diet and how it just got progressively worse over the weeks with just a few days here and there of respite

unfortunately stress/mh issues exacerbate all these sort of things and cant be avoided
and once my throat/swallowing feels odd I seem to need to swallow more and more and round and round we go!

am more than happy to buddy up – have lots of weight to lose and although I am not prediabetic, things could easily change!!
I want to lose the weight and not continue my cycle of carbs/sugar/binges

Utterly and totally agree with you on that DemiMondaine!!!!

You really should try it – like a lot of us you may find you go right off carbs and see them as monsters not treats after several weeks of this diet!! 🙂

Hi Izzy, as a Scot you really should go for a dip in the sea at Sana Bay, it’s beautiful!! I’ve also swam in the sea off the Black Cuillin on Skye. I was so hot after the climb up – even though it was cold on the higher slopes – I just had to go in!
At least there are no sea wasps or other nasties lurking in the North Atlantic! 🙂

Pleased you had a relaxed brunch with your family! 🙂

Hello everyone,

Been on the 800kcal BSD plan since Tuesday, today is day 6. Yesterday we went to a wedding, I did eat the nice meal and have a couple of glasses of wine – was relieved to only see a 1lb gain this morning. Back to it today!

I’m 5½lb down on day 6, will be weighing on Tuesday for the “end of week 1” result. Haven’t found it particularly difficult – I lost 4½st on Slimming World last year, but even that plan I had tweaked to my own liking, and the more I look back, it was very similar to the BSD, low carb and lower calorie than generally expected. So I know this type of plan works for me.

I’m based in London, looking forward to getting to know you 🙂

Rachel x

Hello to the newbies 🙂 yay for so many Scots both true born and by name lol but it’s no nice hearing about other places too. I’m jealous of 17 being typical winter day, that’s really nice weather for us! Like hashimoto I don’t like it too hot. I’ve never swam in the sea, sounds like a wonderful experience.

We’ve had a lovely chilled family morning and a nice brunch 🙂 first time I’ve done that seemed strange having a bigger portion but I hadn’t eaten breakfast. Good fast too as probably about 16 hours from last meal.

We were going to have a family day out today but weather isn’t great. Might do something tomorrow instead.

Have a great day BSDers 🙂

The thing that really occurs to me is that 800 calories a day and plenty of protein is a far far better diet than zillions of people are ever lucky enough to eat. It’s certainly a better diet than I’ve been eating for most of my life. I am keen to try it because I’m a carb addict and I find it easier to cut carbs out than just to cut down on them.

They bring an actual trolley round twice a day, piled with carbs. Anyone got any tips? (Other than blinkers).

Thanks for all the fab advice Hashimoto, I’ve just been to Aldi but was unsure about the yoghurt as I hadn’t seen your post but I’m back there tomorrow to get some of the above. My brother did follow the diet, although I think he sometimes used shakes (I’d rather have food) and him and his wife lost over 2 stone each!!!

Judith, fortunately I had others to wear – only realised when I put them on for the funeral. Walking out of my shoes would not have been a good look😱

Judith, I’ve pulled some salmon out of the freezer for later – a ‘salmon parcel’ from Asda. Salmon, butter, sun dried tomato and pesto!

Hi Hollowman, the calories are per person ( or per serving) if it says quarter of a rock melon it will mean that – rock melons aren’t very big – well not in comparison to a water melon! 🙂

Congrats Lynne! That milestone is so exciting.

I don’t know why but that made me chuckle, Lynne!! It’s such an unexpected side effect!!!
It’s a shame though as shoes are never cheap! 🙁 but guess your feet will be more comfortable now when you are on the move 🙂

Hi Ruby, I tried 5:2 for a while as well but this is much easier as you can have three meals a day rather than 2 small ones, the extra 200 calories makes such a difference! 🙂
My niece weighed herself after 5 days – fully clothed at work, after brekkie and still had a 4lb loss to show!! She said she had ‘had it’ with SW because it had never worked for her. 🙂

Another side effect 😳 Some of my shoes (court shoes) are now too big😱

More for the charity shop!

Wow, Lynne, spreading the word as well as shedding the weight!!! You will have them all converted at this rate! Barring the one who said she can’t give up carbs…..but you never know!! If others start BSDing perhaps the hotels could supply appropriate BSD meals then chef’s wouldn’t get upset at left over food. Wouldn’t that be an achievement for you Lynne!

For people like me and Janet who are hypothyroid you are very likely to develop gluten intolerance – or even coeliac disease – but with allergies you often crave the very thing which makes you ill. Bizarre!!

I’m so pleased for you with that 50lb weight loss, Lynne! 🙂

Hi Cherrianne, apparently reducing insulin resistance damps down other inflammatory markers in the body. Clare ( Michael’s wife) said that is why things like my asthma get better on this diet. I didn’t even realise that Hashimoto’s caused inflammatory markers derrrr sooo
Willf, so you can look forward to other health improvements – but you are probably noticing them already after 7 weeks of BSD!!!!!

Pure Gold Captain Lynne! Absolutely fantastic weight loss results, and well done sticking to the plan at the hotel despite all the temptations. 🙂

Glad you liked it Lynne! It goes well with salmon or a sausage too! 🙂

Hi Janet, I’m not quite right but I hope you are feeling better. My awful episode with a GF brownie was after approximately 16 weeks of this diet, with increased calories after week 8. I really did not expect to be debilitated by it – let alone so severely or so long!
I hope you are over the worst of your carb invasion, I know only too well what the after effects are now. Never again will I eat any simple carbs. So far I have lost 2 entire nights sleep due to it.

The most surprising thing to me is I am still losing a little bit of fat from my stomach – very slowly. A week goes by and then a bit drops off, but I am eating more calories (1650 rather than 1000) than I could before and not putting weight on. I know for sure I can eat the low carb way for life – like Janet, Bill, Lynne, Penny, Cherrianne and others. I think for diabetics this is the only way to go and after what Clare (Michael’s wife) said to me about inflammatory markers that goes for people with hypothyroidism as well. There was no other way I could stop the weight from piling on or feeling constantly ill. Or my stomach being bloated to the point of looking pregnant – not a good look at 63!!!

In fact, I think if I see, even a GF, carb in future I will associate it with how awful I have felt since that brownie.

I think you may be correct about being more sensitive now we have had a clean diet for over 3 months or we just lived with how awful it felt and it considered it normal. It isn’t nice being robbed of your new ‘normal’ even for a few days.
My niece, her hubby and my sister have started this diet and seeing results in their first week. My sister and her husband have tried the baked bean recipe from this site and say they prefer it to tinned beans. I shall have to try it myself!

So as you say Janet, from here to eternity!!

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! 🙂