Hi JaneCMann, I really feel for you and the Crohns really complicates things for you.

To tell you my story: about 23 years ago I developed M.E. with my GP’s help I got as much recovery from that as is possible. I also developed hashimoto’s hypothyroidism as well as chronic asthma and bronchiectasis. Oh and diverticulitis!.

My respiratory consultant put me on twice the normal dose of inhaled steroids BUT while on this diet I have managed ( with the consent of my GP and asthma nurse) to reduce it while keeping a peak flow graph. My peak flow is FAR better now than it was last year. My hypothyroidism made it incredibly difficult to lose any weight BUT on this diet I have lost 2 stones and 11 lbs ( I am now 8st 12lbs) and haven’t felt so well! Infact friends are telling me I am more like I was 10 years ago!
Diverticulitis – I suffered from constant flare ups requiring antibiotic treatment at times. I haven’t had a problem at all on this diet.
Hypothyroidism – blood tests show my dose of levothyroxine needs to be reduced – I am having repeat test at the beginning of May.

So far, Jane, I cannot believe the improvement in my health since I started this diet. Who knows what it will do for you? Only good things!!! 🙂

Hi Molly and welcome to the forums!
One idea which might be useful to you is check out the ‘what have you eaten today?’ thread. You could post daily into that thread ( it’s also useful for ideas) – if you let us know that that is what you will do each day there are lots of us who could check it out and offer tips if we think there is not enough fat, too many carbs, not enough water etc. It could be really helpful to you.

Make a declaration of intent and we will keep an eye out for you.

We’re all in this together and we are one big BSD family! 🙂

Make sure you drink 2 – 3 litres of water a day – it’s really important! You can have it hot, cold, still or sparkly or as herbal teas. I still drink two instant coffees on a morning .

Hi Orchid, both mine and Bill’s cholesterol was lower on this diet!!! Always nice to check for your data collection though 🙂

Good morning Lynne! A bright and sunny day here too. Thank goodness!!! Although I still can’t walk across my lawn without squelching! 🙂

Congratulations Jandz, on surpassing your first goal, like Cherrianne said you’ll soon reach your next target! 🙂

Great news Janet!!! I know BMI is not wholly accurate but it is a helpful guideline! You’ll get that other 11 lbs off fairly soon! 🙂

Celery and marmite???? 🙂

Welcome Molly

Everyone on the BSD is there to be your buddy and support you.

If you have any questions just ask there is always someone who can help you.

It is very helpful to read the forums they answer loads of questions.

Happy Sunday to you all from a sunny south coast
As it’s Sunday this would have been my day for marmite and toast for breakfast — I really miss my marmite any ideas on what I can replace the toast with? X

Hi Vanessa
I’m glad the salt has helped you. There is a danger when we increase our fluids so much and so quickly that we throw the baby out with the bathwater and wash away the good with the bad. Many of us are already on low salt regimes cos they told us to, when again, was salt really the enemy? Maybe not as much as they would have us believe. Maybe the salt issue only masks the real issue which is sugar. But anyway, I’m glad you are on the mend. Keep going!

Have finally hit the top of my BMI range today for the first time in probably four years. I don’t really believe in the bmi but as its out there, I set it as a major milestone in my progress. So I had to lose 17 pounds to get there. Today I made it. It makes me believe I can manage to lose another 11 pound to get to a weight I’d be happy to live with. Its also a weight I never thought I’d see again.

I’ve had a great week this week after a scary long plateau, 4 and a half pounds off in a week. That’s the most I have ever lost on any diet in a week – and in week 9 as well! So I think actually – thank you plateau!

Just downloaded this app. just started this diet today.

I HAVE HIT ROCK BOTTOM WITH MY EATING. I HAVE HAD THIS EATING DISORDER FOR 40 YEARS. I AM 54 YEARS OLD.

WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO BE MY BUDDY AND HELP ME STICK TO THIS DIET FOR 8 WEEKS AS I AM DETERMINED TO DO IT. BUT EASY TO SAY ON MY FIRST MORNING EH.

Molly needing a buddy and support x

Hi Natalie, I also feel the need for a desert so I try and stay at 250 calories during the day, no breakfast, lots of black coffee and either a soup or omlette with salad. That leaves me 400 for dinner and 150 for desert. I usually have greek yoghurt, blueberries and almonds and then herbal tea.. Otherwise I feel a bit down. It also means I sleep well and keeps me going until midday the next day…Also if I go over slightly ie 900 rather than 800 I don’t worry too much but I am making sure I do 10,000 steps every day…

Yes that is interesting. My blood sugar is fine but my weight is not hence why I am doing this. I have also been eating mindfully for a long time so as a friend pointed out this isn’t that dramatic change for me whereas it is a radical overhaul of some peoples diet so of course they will see better results. Also interesting about your body needing a month to get with the programme. I am ramping up the exercise with minimum 5 km jogs a day, lots of water so something has to shift soon. Tomorrow is day 2 of week 3 for me and I am looking for a whoosh! May the scales be kind to all of us this week! Or perhaps us kind to the scales this week..

Thank for the info Cherrianne. Thought I might not need nuts or grains in my BSD. Maybe later when I’m ‘fitter’ I can try introducing them again. I understand about reducing my insulin. I did that when I did Whole30 which was successful, however as soon as I reintroduced grains & nuts my glucose levels increased dramatically , hence me trying this Diabetic specific diet. Whole30 is very similar so think BSD should be great! I will try however not to have grains or nuts! Thanks

Wow Jane, your auto immune system is certainly in overdrive isn’t it?
There are quite a few people on here who have seen various auto immune conditions improve significantly on the BSD.
Obviously grains, nuts and legumes might be a problem in their whole state but I think you should be ok with flaxseed meal, almond meal, chick pea or coconut flour.
We do have a low carb bread in Australia but it has seeds in so not good for you. There is a recipe on this site for gram flour flatbreads ( chick pea/ besan flour) which make a good savoury wrap. The coconut flour flatbreads are nice with cream or yoghurt and berries for breakfast or dessert.
You shouldn’t face too many issues and can always ask the forum members for advice on substitutes. Check out the what have you eaten today thread for ideas. There are also lots of good recipes on this site.
You may need to keep an eye on your insulin dose and monitor blood sugars a bit more frequently, as they tend to drop quite quickly when you start lowering carbs and calories.
All the best, stay in touch because if you need support you’ll get it, and any improvements in your health and blood sugar levels will inspire others 🙂

Hi Embob, I’m a week in and still learning so will be interested in the answer too. I think green veg, broccoli, spinach etc would be unlimitable? But not sure?
After years of slimming world finding it difficult to adjust to what I can and can’t eat! For example would NEVER have eaten avocado on slimming world but was allowed reasonable number of bananas, grapes etc
Am I right in thinking not to eat bananas on bsd?

Hi Everyone

I am gearing up to start the diet on Tuesday, tomorrow I will go shopping for my first weeks ingredients. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me whether you are allowed to add extra veg to your meals? Not root veg or those high in carbs but others?

Many thanks

Hi Skywalker – congrats on getting back on track.
It was a relief to see your post this morning as, like you I had thought I would reach the next target of 82kg (Prime 1.1) at the end of this coming week before I go on holiday, but the scales said no. The last 5 days I have lost 0.1kg and put it on again twice! I am still stubbornly at 83.3kg this morning, the same weight I was when I did my ‘official’ weight day on Tuesday.
What was particularly annoying is that I have been doing a lot of exercise this week – 2 hour walk in the country, 45 mins jog/walk, 45 mins aqua class and 45 mins yoga on top of my normal 60 mins pilates and this is the worse weight drop I have had.
I suspect my body is holding onto fluids (checked waist today and it is up 1cm) as I am pushing it hard and it is being ultra careful. If I can persuade it either – this is the new normal, so no panic and release the water, or a couple of rest days convince it that it does not need to conserve fluids, them maybe by Tuesday it will be back to normal!
I started reading a few more of the metrics my scales provided two weeks ago. I bought them to get fat estimates, and these ones have a few other measurements as well. I know the fat estimate varies a lot as %age hydration plays a large part in what is can read, and that varies through the day. There as another measure is gives that I was interested in and that was visceral fat. They have a scale 1-12 and if you are on that, your % visceral fat is ok – ie not too high. Above that and you have a problem. Mine was 12. I got the scales a year ago and at the time thought, fine – fat is in the right places and it will move as I lose weight. It never moved even when I dropped a few pounds or put them on again. I then ignored it thinking it was one of these metrics that was probably not worth the battery power it was drawing to measure it.
Since I started this diet – that figure has moved down from 12 to 10. I started to take notice!
I also noticed another measure – body fat to muscle – it was still saying I was obese, despite the BMI at 28. So, yes I am losing fat, and weight, but have been inactive for too long and my muscle mass is low. I decided to take these measures more seriously and set the jogging and walking programme up. I don’t think the difference this week is muscle being added (yet), more fluid retention and yes, bowels being a bit irregular. Also there is usually a plateau, and I have hit it. Pity it had to be now :-(.
Still two days to go before weigh in so it can still come good.
Good luck for tomorrow!

Jandz100 you must be so pleased, you’ve achieved your goal and more. The inches lost are very impressive too. 🙂
At this rate it won’t be long before you’re in that next weight bracket.

Hi, I am new to this forum and think its wonderful to have an online support group. I have been on the blood sugar diet for 5 days. I really like the diet . I am keen to lose lots of weight and lower my blood sugar. However I have a concern about whether the diet might increase cortisol which would have a negative impact on weight loss. (By way of background a few years ago I was on a strict low cal paleo diet and working out fairly intensively. I lost about 10 pounds and then plateaued and started to gain fat around my waist – which I understand is one of the signs of elevated cortisol ). Wondered if anyone could provide any insight or comments regarding this issue.

Thanks so much.

T

Hi Orchid, yes I have tried it…..we (hubby who has lost 1st 2 lbs whilst accompanying me on diet) actually took it to some good friends when we were having a curry take away and they tasted it too. It’s not fantastic but then I don’t think the stuff you make yourself is fantastic BUT it serves its purpose. You have a base for a curry/stir fry whatever. Psychologically you feel you are having proper rice as it comes out of a bag – daft I know, but you know what I mean. And the Indian one is brown so it looks curryish! Also, buying a cauliflower and making your own is just messy and more time consuming.

Give it a go as I think it’s so interesting that items like this are starting to come onto the market – someone’s paying attention!!

Morning. After all four seasons in a day yesterday 😱 The sun is shining today😃

Alan, many, many diet products have the fat removed and replaced by sugar, so they are best avoided.

If you are hungry, eat a small piece of cheese or have a hard-boiled egg. These are better for you + are ‘on-diet’.

My husband ( the diabetic one) and I have been on the low carb eating plan since January. He’s lost lots of weight, but still on Metformin, has half a stone to go. I have suffered from gastric reflux for over 5 years, with terrible heartburn, despite taking Omeprazole and Gaviscon Advance. It varied from well-controlled to awful. Since starting the plan it’s gradually waned, and I’m now off all medication. I was a stone overweight ( now on target weight) so don’t think it’s really because of the pressure of fat in my abdomen. Sure it’s the carbs. If I break out and have a biscuit before bedtime I will get reflux, mildly. Has anyone else experienced this? Have found a couple of references on the net.

Relief! back on track now at 80.5 kg so maybe I will make it tomorrow to 80.3 and a so called upper limit for Normal BMI…

(Steve – now ex? diabetic) I think the diet’s trick is getting you off the carb/blood glucose roller coaster. Then you don’t feel so hungry. I used to feel hungry all the time for years. Two hours after my, NHS recommended, porridge breakfast, or wholemeal bread lunch, I was hungry again. Only will power kept my weight down. Now my fasting BGs are in the “normal” 4s. All well worth it, and enjoyable too.
Difficult to get let go of the low fat programming we’ve all been on – yes. But there is some lovely food out there. Spinach and cheese omelettes for breakfast. Fruit, and Greek yoghurt for puds.
(Ei – 16 to 14 to 12ish) Yes, the weeing is normal. Probably fat cells deflating. The internal, unhealthy, fat seems to go first. Not quite so obvious, but measuring the waist shows it up. We found, in the early “8 week” days, that eating breakfast late, and then not needing lunch, and having a fairly early evening meal, worked for us to keep the calories down. A pile of “too big” clothes is the price, but some fun shopping. Tip- Try some supermarket clothes bargains while your weight is on the way down – you may not need them for long.

Hi Tallyhoo, you can also get it at Tesco and Sainsbury’s Have you actually tried it? I was not that taken by it and decided I would try to make it myself (recipe in MM’s book) when cauli’s come back into season.

Hi Elyzab – don’t want to put the cat amongst the pigeons as it were but my suggestion is, if you want to do this diet properly for the 8 week period forget the whole idea of looking for bakery type items at all. The idea is no carbs except for those in vegetables and even they’re not allowable if they’re potatoes/parsnips etc.

I know at first it seems hard but what’s tougher (I think) is doing your own version of the diet with a bit of bread or making your own pastry with a flour which is better for you like chick pea and finding your putting in the effort but not losing the weight, or as much weight. Also the point is that you’re trying to get your blood sugars down.

I thought I could manage this diet for 8 weeks and then do 5:2 and reintroduce bread/pasta – as it happens I finished the diet 4 weeks ago and I’m still going strong without the need for any bread/pasta – weird isn’t it!

My advice – just try to follow the recipes in the book without changing them and you’ll see the change in you! Good luck

Oops thought I would have a Tesco diet shake this morning but seems it’s 25g sugar and 26g carbs ! 15g protein ….only 200 calories tho
7.1 fasting today after 9 days on this 👍

Hi fatwombat,
Welcome on board. I measure everything I can :-). I took weight, a range of tape measurements, cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, blood pressure, BMI, plus a few other metrics that my scales provided! I also put them into a spreadsheet and made graphs from them.
Initially I recorded my weight every day and FBS (I was not diabetic, but getting close to being prediabetic). Tape measure was twice a week. I only did cholesterol once as it was normal, will do another test soon to ensure no changes with the full-fat diet and BP stopped after a week or so. I now record all weight tape measurement, FBS once a week, although I step on the scales daily.
I added in fat burning about 10 days ago – ketostix, which I have been doing daily – and the last few days 2-3 times a day as I have been exercising a lot more and wanted to see the results of that. I now know I am in fat burning mode!
The BMI I used to set goals – under 30, under 25 etc. and calculated the range of weight-loss I should expect weekly if I were to lose between the range of 10-20%. It also helped set expectations as not everyone will be losing the 20%+.
I also have daily records for calories and grams fat, protein, carbs if I ever should need to compare that to anything else! Seriously – that is the one thing that must be recorded daily so you keep to the calories and carbs! Carbs are sneaky things and get into all sorts of places!
It has been fun getting to know how my body works and what things make changes where!
Having said – the thing that I got the biggest kick from and still do, was finding I was a dress size down, then two dress sizes down!
Enjoy the journey.

I’m starting week 7 today having reached my first mini goal 😃

When I lost 4 stone in 2014 I was 179 lb by Xmas…by the time I started this plan on 6 March 2016 I was 192 lb, my 1st goal was to get back to that weight.

My weight this morning is 178 lb 😍😍😍😍😍

When I started I measured some bits that I wanted to shrink…I measured them again this morning

Waist – 3 inch loss
Stomach – 4 inch loss

My nemesis is the spare tyre between my bust and belly button – 4 inch loss 😘

I’m now 12 stone 10 so next goal is to lose 11 lb to get me in the next stone bracket down

Just done my end of week 7 weigh-in and I have lost just under 8kg (17.6 lbs). FBS is still a bit erratic, but it was 5.3 this morning, so I’m happy with that (pre-diabetic). Not too bad considering my underactive thyroid and medication. One more week to go, but I think I will have a day or so off and then continue, as I still have around 18kg to lose, though it is Easter here in two weeks and the extended family is big on food at this time. Need to book some blood tests too, I think.

Just wanted to let everyone know about this product. Stumbled across this in the rice section of my local Waitrose and there are two varieties – original and Indian. It comes in a microwaveable pack which is so convenient. It’s made by a company called Cauli Rice Ltd – check it out on http://www.CauliRice.com.

The product is gluten and preservative free

Morning Lucia,
the frost has melted from my lawn, the sun is shining the little wrens and sparrows are busily feeding their young in the hedge near my patio doors. So happy to see the sun!
XXXXX

I think 8lbs is a fantastic amount to lose in your first week! I lost the same and my starting weight was 208 lbs. I’m now down to 176lbs and so that makes a loss of 15% body weight. The thing for me is that – apart from reaching a plateau twice – I have steadily lost weight – I weigh every day and am surprised if I haven’t lost something ie .2 lb even. I am utterly amazed at how my body has reacted to this way of eating.

I did have a blip over Easter and got straight back on the scales to see I’d put on a whopping 8 lbs but went straight back on the diet and it took me 2 weeks !!! to lose that.

My blood sugars have halved and my doctor is thinking of taking me off medication – blows my mind! I am 58 so ‘they’ say it’s harder to lose weight the older you are – I have tried every diet under the sun btw.

I don’t count carbs but I don’t eat them either – except for vegetables. No bread, flour, pasta, rice, potatoes……and I am now used to it. Every other week I stay in hotels for 2 nights and I still lose weight. I have changed my way of eating utterly and I can’t believe I’ve done it.

What I did – and still do in the main – is follow the receipes in the book – especially for the first 4 weeks – strictly followed and it totally worked for me. Now I do the same pretty much but understand what it is I can and can’t cook/eat for myself.

This is no longer a diet for me but it is now a way of life, I don’t feel deprived or miserable. I now drink wine when I want to and I still am losing.

Tomorrow is my weigh in and it will be my 12th one since starting and I have lost 2.8lbs since last Monday – I know I can make it 3 lbs this week with one day to go as I know what I will eat today and my meal tonight will be 1/2 an avocado with a poached egg on top but I will be having chicken stir fry for lunch.

I feel evangelical about this diet – went shopping yesterday and am now taking in sizes 16 & 18 (not 20/22 as it was) and am thrilled that mostly I am buying 16’s – almost feel like a normal person. Still have lots more to lose but really feel I can achieve it.

Hi SallyM, Welcome on board! Full fat food makes you fell a lot fuller – isn’t it lovely! Especially well done for starting it day one, many of us – myself included – took 2-3 weeks before we could touch full fat food because of the years of preconditioning that full-fat is bad for you. I would recommend keeping to around the 800cals as you need a balance of different nutrient and want to ensure you do keep full.
Yes, at different times I (still) find myself weeing a lot. Some days it is ‘normal’ other days not.
You may find different things change at different rates so having lots of baseline measurements really helps. I was losing weight, but not as much off of my waist as hips to begin with and had to readjust to full fat and 60g carbs per day. That got the weight off of my waistline moving. If you have the measurements, you can keep motivated when one thing changes when another has not. It also help work out where things may need tweaked.
Good luck tomorrow!

Would love to have some communication with others who may have Crohns & Diabetes who can give me some tips regarding suitable foods. Please see my profile to understand my dilemma!!

Hi feltwicked, Another useful source for quick checks are the supermarket websites. In the UK, those who do home food deliveries have the brand and their nutrient info online. I am not sure if Australian ones do the same – all-be-it upside down :-).

Good morning all,
The sun is shining after a very frosty start.
The sun set last night , dawn and the sun rise this morning there all just beautiful.
Been out playing, sorting things now to go for a long walk, aiming for 20,000 again.

Speak tonight.
Love Lucia
Xxx

I started 5 weeks ago 14.2 and 40 inch waist. I lost 6 lb in first week but have only lost 1-2lb subsequent weeks. But my waist is now 37 inches.
I was eating oats for breakfast too Fantail but cut those out 10 days ago to reduce carbs a bit more and replaced with 60g Fage full fat yog, 80g frozen berries warmed and 20-30g nuts and seeds. It’s not been a dramatic change in weight loss as a result but I just generally feel so much better, not hungry in an uncontrolled way as I have been before and I know that I’ve broken the cravings for sweet and carbs. So I’m motivated even though I’m not seeing the dramatic changes. Hope that helps, don’t give up!

Thanks Cherrianne. That is a good idea to keep the tofu separate to keep it crisp, I will try that in future. I will also try some Tempeh as I know our local health food shop usually keeps it.

Hi Alan I’m on my second week and still getting into this. I use My Fitness Pal on laptop, and although it won’t let you complete day as under 1000, I still find it very handy to log food and see if balance of foods eaten is OK.

Yesterday I was shocked to see I’d eaten way too many carbs. I’d had lentil and veg soup for lunch, then chickpea and lentil burgers for tea. I just wasn’t thinking! My cals were just OK but carbs way over. I could kick myself, but i’m learning. Will stick to simple veg soup in future.

Sounds like you’re doing really well, good luck with it.

Alan – if you don’t click on the complete food diary button at the end of the day then my fitness pal won’the keep telling you this message. Another way round it is to just click on the quick add calories button and add say 500 cal without noting nutritional information. Then the app will be happy!

Well done with your progress both on sugar levels and weight loss!

I have frozen it when I’ve had it soaking in marinade and that works ok, I’ve also frozen the tofu pillows. Haven’t tried freezing this one though. Tempeh can be frozen.
For the stir fry recipe, I experimented with what I had in the fridge and cupboard then weighed everything out. I thought I was making enough for two portions but when it was ready it made 3 fairly generous serves. I photographed one plate then took it through to ask my husband if he thought it was enough food. He asked to taste test and ended up demolishing the lot! This was at two in the afternoon and he was still too full at 6.30 to eat any dinner lol.
So I guess that answered my question 🙂
I think it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. I have a portion left but have kept the tofu in a separate air tight container so it stays crispy.

Hi Alan,
You are doing so well, ignore the myfitnesspal app, everyone seems to have that problem with it. It doesn’t like the 800 cals.
Your fantastic blood sugars show you’re on the right track 🙂

Tomorrow is my first day! Im excited to get rid of this horrible disease. Im a little overwhelmed. it seems that it is essentially no sugar and low carbs.

My first week was “only” 4.4lbs, but because I am on a diaretc I know that was mostly fat, not water. I lost 3.4 the following week and I’ll know week 3 when I weigh in tomorrow. I’ve also lost 1.5″ from my midsection.

I am quite pleased with these amounts and hope they continue (although I wouldn’t say no to a loss of over 5, lol)

I am staying at or really near the 800 mark calorie wise as well.

I track my totals in my profile too. Best of luck!

Cheers,

Deb

Thanks Vanessa. Like you I was hoping for more since my weight is high. Will try orchid subjection below and hopefully this will move things along. Am trying to go hardcore because I just want to get it done so I’ll keep the 600 ish which should give me a bit of leeway if I need a treat day ie I just feel like I want more of something. Will keep you posted.

Thanks orchid. All products full fat but it looks like the porriage will have to go :(. Will give that a try this week and let you know. – I just realised that ryhmes !