Hi Izzy, thank you for responding so quickly. I have read some of your recipes that you have posted, they sound delicious. I can’t wait to try them!

Hi folks! I’ve been reading the forum for ages and really enjoy all the info and chat..brilliant! Never been on a forum before so haven’t a clue if I’m doing this right so I’m just hoping I am!! Just over the 11week line and I’ve lost 28lbs and brought my BS down from 8.5 to an average of 5.5 and to be honest I’ve found it really easy. It feels so incredible to finally be in control and I’m happily chucking my fat clothes to the charity shop..NEVER going to need them again! I’ll stick with this for the rest of my life. I’ve got SO much more energy and look a hell of a sight better than I did 11weeks ago. Sleeping better, exercising more and my diabetes nurse is really pleased with my progress and impressed with the diet! My GP has put what I’m doing into my records and has been on the 5.2 diet last year apparently! My BP has dropped too. I’ve been sticking pretty much to the 800 cals and 50g carbs..not slavish about it but it works for me. Been low carbing for about 18 months just eating too big a portion of things. The BSD has brought this under control and stopped me picking..BAD habit! I have a shake and 18 soaked almonds everyday for brekky,veggie protein or fish and vegetables for lunch and a snack for tea each day. Incidentally..I see lots of folk asking which shakes to use. I buy Shake That Weight shakes(buy online) 130 calories..12.5 carbs. Nice flavours and the more you buy the cheaper they are! Can also recommend Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet book. There’s a good kick start section for 20 carbs a day..handy for people who aren’t sure about what that looks like! Combined with the lovely recipes in the BSD book I’ve found it easy to get the food and portions right. Anyway..I’m rambling..sorry! Look forward to continuing to read all your great posts and thanks for all the inspiration and laughs

Hi Georgia, welcome to the BSD 🙂 I hope this works for you. I’ve not been here long myself but there are many success stories, I’m almost through my second week and it has been far easier than I expected as well as actually reminding me I actually like cooking!

Well, Revenanto, as she doesn’t believe carbs and sugar are a problem why not? 🙂

Full fat yogurt
Aubergine
Roasted peppers

I used to eat very limited veg, when I decided to lose weight in 2014 I made myself try 2 new foods every month and now I eat shed loads of veg but never got round to the aubergine….kicking myself now!

As for peppers, I’ve never liked them until I tried some roasted recently…I’m wondering if my taste buds are waking up now they’re no longer getting to taste sweet foods?

Thanks Patsy, drinking water a lot today with fingers crossed!

Hi everyone, my name is Georgianna, most people call me Georgia. I live in Chesterfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. I am so happy to have found this site. I am married with three grown children. I have recently retired and have a lot of free time. I do not know many people from around the country and do not travel outside the USA because I have always been afraid to fly. So this will be exciting for me to get to know friends from around the world. I just joined this site yesterday. My husband bought me Dr. Mosley’s book . yesterday. I read the whole book and started the diet today. I am anxious to try it . I was diagnosed with diabetes last year. I lost 30 pounds and then I reached a plateau and did not lose anything for three weeks. I got discouraged and put it all back on plus more. I need to lose about 75 pounds. I have been on so many diets, get discouraged and quit.
Anxious to hear about success stories.

…… and I can take her a big box of chocs just to show there’s no hard feelings !
(I wouldn’t really do that to anyone..but it’s tempting 🙂 )

2 poached eggs and spinach for breakfast, reddish and chopped carrot (raw) as a snack and olives and king prawns for dinner.

It is strange – I don’t seem to be hungry, so just had nibbles this evening… (the olives and king prawns)

Total today 770 calories

Hi all,

Sorry I got sidetracked for a few days. Been looking at other low carb type diets online. I came across the harcombe diet and dietdoctor.com. They all have recipes which may be nickable 🙂 I’ve been plateauing and also trying to get my head around my diabetes diagnoses. Glad I’ve started to take the first steps towards correcting weight and sugar issues 🙂

Everyone else seems to be ticking along nicely 🙂

My favourite herb is thyme but am quite boring with it and mostly use it with slow cooked meat.

I know you only wanted one but coriander or cilantro in american recipes is really good either added to things like guacamole or just eat it in salad. I used to hate it cos it used to be like eating washing up liquid but I quite like it now. It’s also full of lots of good stuff

Polly x

I can’t see how being on the diet, especially for just a day, could cause pain in your joints like that so I suspect it’s either coincidence or possibly dehydration as you suggest. I hope you have a more comfortable night tonight.

Hashimoto and Jandz, those both sound good. I’ll give them a try.

Pureed butternut squash is a good thickener for curries, soups and stews. I’ve been using that for a couple of years. It’s got quite a rich, creamy flavour without too many colories but the texture doesn’t seem quite right o me for a white sauce.

B poached egg, 2 turkey rashers, tomato
L veg soup, apple
D ostrich steak, broad beans, green beans, mushrooms
Will have sugar free jelly with raspberries later

So gang,

If you were an ingredient, what would you be?
And why?

I think I was a King Edward potato. Big, uneven, dull, just a plain old spud.

Now I feel I am celery, green and youthful, crispy, slender.
But
Like marmite you either. Love it or hate it.
You either love my crazy, going off on a tangent, or hate that I am not just fact and figures about the diet.

I hope , merely to bring a smile to your Face and dull days.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

B – full fat yogurt & warm berries
L – nothing
D – lamb tagine with courgetti
S – full fat yogurt with cinnamon on top

I need to use stuff up out of freezer, careful planning needed so don’t eat too many carbs, thankfully have a week off work so can miss lunch if needs be as never normally hungry when at home during day

Just been having a browse around on this subject and found folks saying to thicken sauces with gelatin powder. No carbs, obviously, as it’s an animal derivative.

Hi everyone what a great day.
I have had my eyes tested and all is well with them.
I have been to a little company that has a unit, not a shop, and ordered a pair if specs, I had to get the new glasses fitted as my head is SO SLIM now.
Garden is tidy again, front And back.
Been out and about
Had steak onions and mushrooms for my evening meal.

Been okay today but now, in the evening, my cold is coming back, so more honey and lemon etc.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

I do similar, but use milk instead of butter.

I make a cheese sauce by melting butter & cream cheese in a pan, add in some grated cheese and Worcestershire sauce.

Could swap Worcestershire sauce for mustard

Not quite the same as traditional sauce but it’s still yummy

On Atkins and other Keto diets, arrowroot is recommeded as the lower carb option for thickening sauces, etc. It has 7g net carbs per tbsp. When you think about it, you don’t use much to thicken and the sauce goes a long way, so fewer carbs per serving.

B – Fage yog/50g blueberries
L – half tin tuna, tomatoe, cucumber, lettuce
D- sirloin steak, tomatoe, cucumber, spring onion, half tbsp mayo

Tea to drink

Hi Willf, I’m on my very last day of my 8 weeks tomorrow. Weight loss has been good – lost just over a stone and a half. However this last week has seen fasting readings in the 9’s!! In the beginning they were 11. Mid-diet they dropped to the 6’s then went up to the 7/8’s in weeks 5/6. I halved my Metformin to 1000mg about 3 weeks ago. However today I’ve upped them back to 2000mg at this late stage. I’ve blamed the 9 readings on peanut butter finger in jar eating at hunger pang times. Disappointed with my levels but pleased with everything else. Maybe I will have to keep on going to get better results.

Thanks MooLoc …good luck with it too.

Patsy …Thanks. I think my husband could manage larger portions of what I plan to eat too to be honest. Its the 4 fussy teenagers, and my 3 year old that are the problem ones! haha!

Today has gone ok actually, but I’ve only managed to eat 700 calories, which had total 44g carbs. Is there a certain amount of carbs we should be consuming per day?

Day 2 Today – 737 cal 37 carb

B – boiled egg
L – 2 oz salmon, 2 boiled egg, 1/2c carrots, 1/2 mushrooms, 1 c strawberries
D – 3 oz salmon, 1 c raw vegies, 1/2 berries, 1/2 Greek yogurt

Hugs and thanks to all in here for sharing and supporting!
💗

Having finished Week 1, I just got on the scale. I lost 13 pounds. Pleased. This was my second start –stopped on day 3 the first time ’round, stopped when my doctor told me I’d be having surgery a couples days from then. Not a good time for such a radical change, but this time went very smoothly and I’m hoping for the endurance to do the next couple of weeks. The surgery was for nerve degeneration in my right arm and hand. Know what the number 1 risk factor for this condition is? Right! High blood sugar. Having surgery on the last arm and hand in a month. But I need this to work! By the way, I started at 272 pounds and am 259 today. 6 foot, 2 inches. A way to go, but a nice beginning. Good luck to all!

Thanks Judith, I see it now!!

courgette curly fries….. didn’t really work 🙁

I tossed the courgette in olive oil and just salt and pepper, baked in the oven and they don’t go crispy crunchy. If you left them long enough to be crispy crunchy there wouldn’t be any left I guess they are a high water content. On a positive note though they still tasted nice, even my fussy daughter ate some.

I try to get through it by drinking water/herbal tea but tbh most of the time now I’m not getting very hungry. When I am and the other stuff hasn’t worked then I just try and find something to do until it passes (which it does)…. Stick with it, as everyone says, it really does get easier x

Arrowroot is high carb so not good on this diet.

I haven’t tried this but could you make a white sauce by frying some finely chopped onion and cracked pepoer corns and stirring in some cream and mustard? I know it wouldn’t be thick but might work with some things

Yes please Willf, it would be great to hear about your T2 journey and hope your bs stays low 🙂

What about arrowroot powder?

I decided to be brave and try the gram flour in a roux. It worked, but does have a different flavour. I made a cracked pepper sauce and could still detect the difference. It’s not unpleasant just a bit ‘beany’. The result seemed a little thicker than with wheat flour, so I’ll use a bit less next time.

Hi Tealover, there are a few of us who, in spite of sticking like glue to the diet, lose very slowly. I seem to have a loss every other week, one week had a small gain. Not sure if you’re male or female but for us women the time the month can cause weight gain, could it be that? Do you check your carbs, fats, proteins as well as calories? I know its crazy and on 800 cals per day weight should just fall off no matter what you eat but keeping the carbs low does help so worth checking – I use myfitnesspal which breaks it down simply.

Thanks for this hashimoto. I did read them but they spiked earlier than me. Think I’ll continue for my final week on lower meds and see what happens. I did check my BS again 2 hours after my breakfast this morning (and 1 metformin!) and level was back to 6. Would be so happy if it stayed like that in the mornings! Will keep you posted….

Hi MooLoc that sounds like a good idea.
I sometimes do a variety of curries with rice for guests and chickpea flour flatbreads instead of naan 🙂

Hi Orchid
Hope this link works Ok for you. https://mymarathon.bhf.org.uk/

Have fun in the Orkneys.
If you can’t use the link you could always keep track of how far you walk as an estimate and send a donation if you like.
I’m intending to not join the official challenge site as such but to send a donation, as is Eureka.
For me it is partly the challenge, and partly the charity motivation.

The very best of luck with your marathon for Cancer Research UK. The Breast Cancer cause is one close to my heart and have every respect for your future overnight effort. Have only managed to attend a ‘Fairy Flutter’ myself!!!

Best of luck.

sugar free gum helps me 🙂

Thank you! I cut a slice off a portobello mushroom that I was cooking!
Great ideas Snaggers, thanks.

Thanks Hashimoto – yes will try that! I’m thinking a traditional style roast dinner might be easiest to start. Looking forward to the challenge!

Hi ay caamba, Can you send the link to the BHF my marathon – I just tried to find it and failed :-(.
I’ll join in – I need to start training soon as I am walking a full marathon overnight 24/9 round London for Cancer Research UK (breast Cancer).
I have just arrived in Orkney for a weeks holiday and will be in and our of coaches sightseeing all week. Weather not looking great, so may have to do most of the walk over 3 weeks not 4!
Will start counting tomorrow……

Hi Marcia
Pleased that you are ready to accept a Marathon challenge.
Had my Fitbit for around 3 weeks now and I am finding it very motivating. It also makes you notice the days when you do very few steps.Today have been sitting in a car most of the time so my step count is really low. Need to get walking tomorrow to make up.
Well….. start My Marathon March for May.

Tried to explain my Penguin March idea to my husband and he looked rather puzzled and said, ‘So does this mean you can walk faster than a penguin?’ Grrrr….

Talk to your doctor, mine told me se would take me off my meds once I fainted (light headed) from too low BP as that would mean I didn’t need the meds anymore.
Just started the program but hoping to get off meds at some point.

Wow great job – motivational and thanks for posting in lbs also – 😄

I started yesterday and it went well except for some hunger. But last night everything started hurting (knees, back, fingers) etc and I don’t know why.
Today I drank a lot of water when I got up because I drank mostly tea yesterday so thought maybe I was dehydrated.
I feel better now but wondering if anyone else had this or has advice.

Did lose 2 lbs after one day. Mostly water but any weight off is good. 💜

Thanks Hashimoto
Good point about the banana……need to be really careful with fruit and the hidden sugar.
Forgot to take one with me anyway and haven’t felt so light- headed lately.
Think I just slow down in the last part of the class anyway. Not hauling so much weight about too so that must easier on the old body!
Hope you are feeling better now.

Hi if you are a British Citizen please could you sign our petition 🙂

MooLoc, I just make a three course BSD style menu for guests 🙂
I save all my calories and now make sure I eat less than my guests! 🙂

thanks for the link
that is also one of the things my gp suggested
although I have some additional symptoms

I am left with the advice from the consultant which is to take gaviscon after each meal and at night, for the next month, to allow my oesophagus to heal (from the reflux damage or something)
and to sleep with raised bed
will give it a month and hope it improves
he seemed adamant that all my symptoms were caused by stomach acids/fluids into throat although since I have been taking a ppi for over a year, I am confused – but he said that there are other stomach fluids that irritate, not just the ones the ppi stops

oh these things get so confusing

Hi Happylife it is in this thread!!! In fact just above your latest post on this thread!
Judith 🙂

From what I’ve heard it’s common for people to have weeks were they don’t lose or maybe gain, only to lose weight again suddenly. Although the tea may not be to blame have you tried having some herbal ones?

You don’t say why you’re not active, is it possible to be more active? Just small goals no marathons. I understand there may be a reason you’ve not mentioned.

Are you being 100% About checking/measuring/ logging what you eat?

Post your food here if you like I’m sure some experienced members would look for you. I’m only on week two myself.