Ooh, Lucia, I bow to the masterchef!! I lurve my spiraliser! It’s so easy to make a quick meal – vegetable ‘spaghetti’ with cream cheese stirred in and a sprinkling of parmesan. Cheap and cheerful.

Hopefully you have some mince to put in your freezer to make it again!!

You can spiralise white(or red) cabbage, onion and carrot – stir in a mix of plain yoghurt and a bit of mustard – fabulous BSD cole slaw! Oh, but I add the yoghurt at the point of eating it and then the coleslaw veg stay fresh and crisp in an air tight bag in the fridge!

I’m onto the final batch of photo’s – but now the sun is showing his face again I’ll pop outside to do a few jobs there 🙂
xxx

hi Hashimoto

I used one of those fan-dangled new gizmo thingies.
It makes a carrot and zucchini into spaghetti.

Just steamed it and put the mince and tomatoes on the top.

I am so proud of myself , look at that meal , not a chip butty in sight.

Going giddy now.

I am the chef master. I have mastered the chef-ful-ness of it all.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Oh and my salad today has
Silver skin pickles.
Lettuce
Cucumber
Red onion
Spring onion
Carrot
Celery
Pineapple
Peppers
Beetroot
Pickled cabbage
Sun dried tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Beef tomatoes

Ha.
Beat that!!!!😮😄😄😄😄😄😄😄☹️🙁😒😘😑🙂😏😘😑😗🙂😠🙄😗😗☹️🙃😡😛😠🙃😕😛🤔🙂☹️🙃😵😛☹️😠😍😰Love Lucia
Xxxa

I lost about 10kg over the 8 weeks. I have stayed on it as I want to get down to 75kg, just under 5kg to go.

Hi Christie 1948.
If those scales give you any problems throw them out the bathroom window, I did.
Just waiting to see if I have a new set on the way.

Don’t worry about weight, just get into the flow of it all.
I had a plateau yesterday. Am I worried? Nope. Just getting in with it all.

I am now able to walk 20,000 steps in a day on the weekend. A month ago, I got out of breath just going into the kitchen,

Please share descriptions of your meal plans. It helps us all.

Love Lucia
Xxx

Really wish I had done couple weeks readings before I started this to see how bad I was !
My readings seem to be reducing two hours after meals from 9.4 day before I began this down to 7.6 now 6.8 two hours after meal of salmon salad and full fat yoghurt n berries.
Don’t know if these are good results or what to expect ?
Thanks everyone for input
Alan

Yes its fine to use it, just count the calories if you are trying to stick to the 800.

Hi Judith
SORRY! If it’s any consolation, we will be back in wet old Blighty on Monday,
daughter has told us it’s not stopped raining since we came away! She won’t have got much gardening done!
Christine

Hi Lucia
It’s sunny here too! Not looking forward to the midnight homecoming on Sunday night, I believe it’s really cold?
As usual we will be hitting the ground running, however I will look forward to getting on the scales on Monday morning, then sigh in dismay when I see how much weight I have put on!
Christine

Hi I have just started the BSD too. I am on my second day, and so far finding it easy to follow the only problem I have is I am not drinking enough water may be yesterday I had 1.5l, how do i increase my water intake.

Hi, if you are a British Citizen and haven’t already signed our petition would you mind sparing a minute to sign? Thanks 🙂

Wow Bill, you’re going some, yourself!! 6 inches of the waist is fantastic! You’ll be in waist size 38 before you know it! 🙂

Wow Christine you really have changed your life style!!

Snacks by the pool? Lots of ice cold water with a slice of lemon or lime plus the odd almond or two sounds perfect to me!!!
Here it is pouring down and cold! I’m so envious!!! 🙂

Hi just do it,
If you want a good peak flow chart can I suggest the one I use? I found it on the internet, it’s a peak flow chart from Australia it is from the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. I like it because it is an A4 sheet with an 8 weeks chart. It makes it easy to see what is happening over a period of time. I use different coloured pens for the morning and evening measures for greater visual impact when reading.

I’m pleased your asthma nurse is interested. Mine is too, it makes life easier.

Personally, I discussed with my asthma nurse and GP about reducing my steroid inhaler (from 4 puffs twice a day) and promised to keep the chart to show them. I would be a bit wary of dropping the preventer inhaler without your health team being involved in case you have a sudden asthma attack, especially as symbicort is generally only used for people whose asthma is difficult to control – or unless you also have COPD.

My recent blood test gave me a cholesterol reading of 5.3 so quite happy with that – it has been as high as 8 at times!!! So glad I refused statins as well!

It does sound as if we both are getting benefits with our asthma on this diet. As well as weight loss! 🙂

I have made another observation, I’m sat by the pool, having just done aqua aerobics and a swim, we’ve had our morning coffee, ( I had two almonds too) there are people who have been by the pool since 9 am in full sun never going in the pool and they are sat munching on big bags of crisps! I used to do that! Mindlessly eating, even though I wasn’t hungry, I did it out of boredom.
We have swam, and or walked every day, I have been very good about my eating, except on Wednesday, I spectacularly fell of the bsd bandwagon! Got back on on Thursday, I wonder if I’ve put on weight?
Also I have noticed I now have bingo wings!
Oh well I will be on the scales on Monday morning! Just one question what do you snack on now while lazing by the pool?
Christine

Hi Hashimoto I just typed a long message, pressed back accidentally and lost it, arrrghh! Trying again. Re asthma, I haven’t needed my blue inhaler (Ventolin) once since starting BSD, I used to use it a few times a week. I still use the red inhaler (Symbicort), not because I need it but because I worry that if my asthma returns I will need the protection the build up provides. The way I feel now, I wouldnt know I have asthma! I haven’t kept peak flow records unfortunately, will try to dig one out and measure today. I can find previous records at next asthma review. By coincidence my last asthma review was the day I started the BSD. Nurse didn’t really ask about my asthma, just asked me to switch to a new inhaler which I haven’t done yet as using up old one – glad i didnt niw as might have attributed results to inhaler rather than diet. She was more interested in my last blood results, 3months earlier, which showed high cholesterol and wanted me to take statins. I refused and told her about BSD which I hoped would fix it. She was very interested as lost 2 stone herself on 5:2 so keen to see how I do. Nice to have a health professional interested. Jules x

Crikey Lynne, you’te going to be the invisible woman at this rate 😉
Week 11 weigh day for me and after last weeks blip I’ve lost another 2 pounds, takes me down to 12.5 stones and hits the 30 pound loss mark 😀
I think I’m well on the way now to hit the first target of 13.5 stones by June 8th
Another biggie for me, I knew that I had lost 4 inches off my waist so ordered size 42 work trousers. They were slack on me ! The wife got me a pair of new black trousers for the funeral in size 40 and they fit!!!
That’s 6 inches off my waist, happy isn’t the word.
Best of luck to all of you on this weeks results.

You’ve had a cracking few weeks TFB, Just a pound behind me and I’m on week 11
I have no doubt you’re going to hit that target so well done 🙂

Hi All,
Posted another vego/vegan recipe today, makes quite a large meal for low cal/ carb count. It might be a bit heavy on the chilli for some people so be warned 🙂
It’s called Salt n Pepper Tofu stir fry.

Hi fatwombat, welcome to the forums! Yes, it is certainly a good idea to keep a record of your progress. I keep a food diary in a little exercise book and all my other data on an excel document. I have a separate graph for my peak flow (I’m asthmatic).

I tried WW and SW and did not lose weight, so I know where you are coming from. It is the same for many on these forums. This HAS worked for me – 2 stones and 11 pounds have been kissed goodbye! Captainlynne has lost 46pounds – more than 3 stones. There are so many success stories on here from people who have failed on other diets!

So keep on keeping on and we won’t be able to call you fatwombat, it will have to be sleekwombat!! 🙂

Wow Lynne,
50lbs! You need to have a party when you lose the next 4lbs. A golden scales party. Like a weight loss version of a golden wedding anniversary 🙂

Lucia and Bill1954 I’ve been looking forward to an opportunity to say this; RFLMAO (hope that’s right)

I switched the TV on while I sat down with a cup of nice herbal tea, Saturday Kitchen was on, presenter to a caller “Hello Helen, what’s your name?”
I’m still chuckling!!

Well you won’t hear many mowers like mine Lucia – it’s my dad’s old 1940s push along mower. Gives the lawn a fantastic cut – no petrol fumes to make me choke, no electrical cables to trip me up! Hard work but I love it. My dad used to use it to mow the half acre of lawn in my last house ( this house has just one small lawn) there is no way I could do more than my little lawn with it. At least it gives me a work out Lucia!!! I thought it might be lonely but it may be able to talk to the 1950s mower across the road that my friend’s hubby uses!

Mince – chilli? Mince and pea curry? Rissoles/burgers? Mince with cauli mash? Ragout with courgetti Bolognese? So many things one can do with mince!

Well back to the photos. Still waiting for the book – and the peak flow monitor I ordered for my dad. In five years he has only had one ‘annual’ asthma review. Over the phone. ‘Are you ok?’. What could he say? How can he know? But to me his breathing has got worse over the last three months.

Well, the sun has got his hat on at last, hip hip hip hooray!!
xxx

Hi All

I have just started this diet and am hopeful that I will lose my excess weight – nothing else has worked so far – I put weight on after following Slimming World religiously! looking at that diet again though it is based on a lot of carb so not a surprise really I suppose.

Are you all only weighing yourselves? If so try measuring yourself on a weekly basis instead of relying on the scales. If you are doing more exercise your body will be burning fat and be building muscle at the same time. Fat takes up a lot more space than muscle – look at fat versus muscle images on google and you will see what I mean – so if you burn a pound of fat and gain a pound of muscle you will weigh the same but be physically smaller – for me seeing the numbers come down on the tape measure is more motivating and consistent than the numbers on the scales. I also set up a chart of other symptoms/feelings as well such as energy, skin appearance, mood etc and gave them scores, that way if I am feeling better and looking better it will be easier to ignore the scales and concentrate on the positives. Just some thoughts…..

You won’t feel alone with all the love and support on these forums – log in anytime you need a boost and there will always be someone here to answer yours questions or give you encouragement. You’ll soon start seeing results too, which as you’ll read in other people’s posts is incredibly motivating in itself. Good lucking getting started, and welcome to the ever growing BSD family 🙂 and as others have said no need to even think about exercise, just focus on eating the right things.

Hi Donno,
Welcome to the BSD. Sounds like you’re off to a great start.
Your blood sugars will drop fairly quickly on this diet. You are exactly in the non diabetic range at the moment so you are doing really well.
The janumet has metformin in, on top of the metformin ( glucophage) you are also taking. Metformin works by slowing down the release of sugar into the blood from the liver, as well as slowing sugar absorption from the gut.
One of the aims of the BSD is to get rid of sugar, stored as fat, in the liver and pancreas. You may want to talk to your GP/Endo at some stage to discuss reducing your meds. Many people on the BSD have reduced/ ceased their meds altogether after a few weeks.
Neither of your meds should cause you to have a hypo.
Keep posting, it will be great to hear more about your success in beating diabetes.

Hi Hashimoto,

He just thinks he’s living with a lunatic. 🤔

I feel as though this weather is leading us to Easter, not that we have passed it already.

I tell you one thing I have noticed, the mating sound of the lawn mower……

When you hear one, slowly you hear another one in the distance , then another, then another. All calling to one another. These are a rare breed , you never catch a glimpse of a few of them together……

No, I do not think it is the wife saying, well so and so is mowing his lawn, making ours look so untidy, go on husband , get out there and get our lawn cut. 🙃🙃🙃🙃

Oh, and I am going to do something strange with mince for lunch, haven’t the foggiest idea, but I am sure it will come to me.

Love Lucia
Xxxx
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Thanks,luise!!!! Some of us have posted to facebook as well to spread the word further 🙂

I’ve signed too ! Great petition.

Lucia, what does hubby make of all this energy??? xxx

Lucia, it’s only raining here – it’s snowing where captainlynne lives lol it’s only mid april after all!!
Well, my peach tree, greengage and plum are in full blossom but the cherry trees across the road are not. My patch in the lawn is seeded – great minds think alike. At least I won’t have to water it!! Every cloud and all that…. 🙂
Yes, I’ll strut my stuff but daren’t have the music on too loud – apparently my book on ‘heal your own knees’ that pmshrink advised is due to be delivered today so I daren’t make too much noise in case I miss it! Haven’t dared go out for my paper either!!
xxx

Oh, I just came in for a drink, about to dig the borders now to get rid of those weeds.
Will put grass seed down on the patches and feed everything. I can hear my flowering cherry tree straining….. Waiting for my first but if sugar pink blossom to open. I have been watching for two weeks. Mike next doors one starts a good week before mine every year unless……… This year I may just beat him. Come on blossom, move your blooming arse!!
That was a quote from the movie my fair lady, when they are at the racecourse.
I apologise if it is inappropriate.

Also

Where the devil did I get this energy from?

Michael I wish you could bottle your magic, you could be a millionaire by tea time.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi Hashimoto,
Are you just sorting photos……or are you sorting photos with a twist? Shake, rattle and roll.
Are you boogie-ing down,
Play some funky music while you are sorting, it’s bound to get you twitching, then shimmy-ing.

Go girl it girl, strut you stuff.

Oh and it’s still sunny but very cold here.
I have the washing still out ,the Windows are open but I have the thickest fluffiest billet on, oh and my nose is cold too.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hello All
Have read some of your posts and you are all amazing…..for a couple of reasons, the health improvements and secondly the weight loss!
I am a newbie, just about to start, had a false start last week while waiting for my book to arrive, have read it and now have a much better understanding of the science behind the diet.
Although I am not diabetic, and without the aid of a crystal ball I see it in my future, I was diagnosed as insulin resistant about 10 years ago and followed a strict low GI diet, lost some 15 kg, but have since put it all and some back on. The low GI was a long and hard slog, nearly eighteen months…….I was so over it!
I am aiming to loose about 30kg, this has got to help with general health as well as the severe OA I now have in back and hip, along with moderate in one knee. I have lost most of my mobility…..and I need to get this back……I am too young to turn into a vegie on the couch!
All you BSD’ers are setting a high standard, so hope I can keep up!
Cheers All

Hi Natalie, I live on my own so if I have two slices of bacon one morning there are four left over!!! Makes life easier!!! salad or courgette with sprinkled bacon are lovely – or sometimes I have a slice as a snack if I have a hunger pang! 🙂

Jules, I am very interested in the improvement to your asthma as I have chronic asthma and bronchiectasis. Have you kept peak flow charts? There is a staggering difference between my 2015 chart and the one I started 7 weeks ago when I was reducing my very large doses of inhaled steroids. I know some of the difference will be down to the fact that I have been taking azithromycin since December so I don’t get repeated chest infections now. All of which makes me intrigued about your improvement 🙂
PS I’m 63 and 5’4″

Lucia!! you will make us all hang our heads in shame!!! Well at least I feel OK about not mowing the lawn! It started off sunny but is pouring down. Trudged through a squelchy lawn to open the greenhouse doors. Washing will have to wait for dry weather again!! I’ll carry on sorting my photos into albums – that will keep me busy for a long time!!! 🙂

Hi everyone, I too would love to know what it is about some of us that means we lose weight so slowly compared to others. I was intrigued by Pmshrink’s comment about weight loss being higher the more out of control blood sugars are and Odette saying maybe it’s because we’re older and regular dieters so mote resistant to loss and would make an interesting study.

Shall we try to analyze it ourselves? If those who are struggling to lose weight are happy to post a few details we could maybe narrow it down and provide useful info so newbies aren’t discouraged and feel it’s something they are doing wrong rather than it being normal? Then, if others have similar stats to us but are losing weight sucessfully maybe they could let us know what they are eating/doing so we can make adjustments in the right direction? So, my details:

Female in UK
Age 51
Height 5 ft 3 inch
Not diabetic
Asthma and osteoarthritis (both dramatically improved)
Previously tried Atkins, Dukan, Slimming World
BSD started 17 March 2016
Starting weight 11st 3.4 lbs
Week 1 – lost 4.6 lbs
Week 2 – gained 0.4 lbs
Week 3 – lost 1.4 lbs
Week 4 – no change
Currently in Week 5. Total loss 5.6 lbs

Anyone fancy joining in?
Jules x

Oh and whilst I was doing my chores I was singing the tune to … Mission impossible.🎶🎶🎶🎶🙂🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🙂

Keep happy, it’s sunny but very cold here.
Love Lucia

Xxxx

Good morning team,
Got up early, made the bed, cleaned the bathroom, done two loads of washing, hoovered right through, washed dishes, sorted breakfast, got meals out for weekend, washed the car, lawns cut, it’s only 9:30am.
Where oh where am I getting the energy from?

I heart you Michael Moseley .

See I am even fashionable with my speech.

Now I am going for a walk the long way around to the shops.

Love Lucia
Xxxx

I’ve been T2 since last June, my first daily bs reading was 10+ mmol, weight 99.8kg but by Oct my a1c was 5.7. By Nov weight was 86.6kg with good diet and plenty of exercise and plenty of walking. We had an exceptionally cold and wet winter here in HK which cut my walks (or maybe that was the excuse) and my diet was a bit heavier so weight crept up slowly to 90kg. However, since late March I got it back to 86.6kg. But my BS readings had drifted up to the high 5 to mid 6 range. I told my endocrinologist at the start of the month that I wanted to try 5:2 to get my weight and BS down, and was OK with that. I’m on 500mg Glucophage and 100/1000mg Janumet a day, plus 20mg Lipitor and 100mg Cartia, and she said that the dosage would not let my BS drop to low. But last week I discovered the BSD, and decided to jump right in. On Wed and Thurs, my BS was 5.3, 5.4, about the same as the few previous days, and were the same at bed time, then on Friday morning it was 4.6, the lowest reading I’ve ever had. This morning it was 4.4! Is this a normal response, and should I be concerned that it’s dropping too fast? Advice welcome

Thanks. Sigh! I feared y out were going to say that. It’d probably be good for me to have a bread break anyway!

Have you found any good flours for pastry? Like a quiche crust?

Hi, if you are a British Citizen and haven’t already signed our petition would you mind sparing a minute to sign? Thanks 🙂

Hello, I have just started the BSD too. I loved the book and all the science. I am on my third day and so far it has been a pleasant experience. I cook for a living on a boat, fortunately based in Italy at the moment. But with often long work hours I was reaching for carbs and sugars to get a quick burst of energy ! Slowly the weight crept on and over the years its getting harder to loose. Being short doesn’t help, I only have to sniff a piece of bread and I am 2 lbs heavier!
I have PCOS which causes weight gain without even trying. The body responds badly to carbs and sugar. So I am hoping that following this new regime will re-educate my body to stop craving carbs and sugary food !
I must admit, even after a couple of days I feel slightly more energized. I have felt a little light headed at times, but keeping a big bottle of water with me keeps me aware of how much I am drinking or how much I need to drink !!
The Fage total Greek yoghurt is great, it has more protein by the looks of it than a couple of eggs! I am aiming to try all of the recipes in the book. It helps not having to think too much about the meals. The platters are great for easy lunches and last night I made the Harissa Chicken which was delicious. Today I had the Blueberry green tea smoothie which was OK, but I find blueberries a bit tasteless.
The cauliflower rice I have been doing for a couple of years. Jamie Oliver was using it in one of his books. Its a great alternative to Rice or couscous. I also will try the guilt free baking recipes, since I am human and I will want to have a treat at some point. The coconut flour I found quite easily in Sainsburys, when I was home. I was amazed. Its usually a real drag trying to locate the more unusual ingredients especially abroad.
Looking forward to the big weigh in at the end of the first week. 🙂 Happy eating to all.

Hi AnneElizabeth, 9lbs is still a big weight loss!!! Sometimes the scales seem to ‘stick’ a bit and then you get a sudden loss so please don’t be disappointed! professor Roy Taylor and Michael Mosley say it is not necessary to exercise while on the fast 800 so put your mind at rest. You will still lose weight.
Can I suggest buying some ketostix to measure your fat burning – you may find that reassuring 🙂

A question for the ladies (gentlemen: look away now LOL)

I’m coming up to the end of week 4, and have an incredibly heavy period 🙁 For the last few years, thanks to the mini pill, I’ve had next to nothing, so this is unusual for me. Having Googled, it seems that it can be a side effect of a low carb diet – apparently, the fat cells can also hold oestrogen, so when the fat cells go the oestrogen is released, flooding your system (quite literally …) and causing things to go a bit haywire. Now, it’s only been nearly a week so I am willing to try to stick it out a bit longer, but towards the end of the month I have some trips planned which I couldn’t even contemplate at the moment! I’m not sure what I should do, as it could take months for things to stabilise on their own (although that’s only a guess). I think my options are: (1) stick with the 800 and see how it goes, or (2) start increasing carbs, maybe with things like butternut squash (rather than bread and cereal). Option (3) is obviously go and see my doctor, but she is probably going to say ditch the diet, which I don’t really want to do because it is working!

Help!

Dear All

I’m feeling the frustration! At the end of week 3 and although I have lost 9lb overall this week I didn’t loose a thing! I felt so disappointed but I’m guessing that’s what happens at times. I also haven’t been able to exercise much due to being unwell so that could also have an impact on weight loss? I feel slimmer but so frustrated! On a positive note I love the diet and don’t feel hungry ever! But more importantly am changing my relationship with food so in the long run that will definnately be better for me to maintain a healthy weight, hanging in there seems to be the best option as overall I feel better – not bloated and no IBS!

Hi jillyb, my name is Judith so that should answer your question!!!
If you are not a fan of the food I am assuming you are sticking to the recipes in the book?
You don’t have to. Many of us are eating our usual diet minus the bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. I still enjoy (as does Lucia) a cooked breakfast of bacon and egg with perhaps grilled or fried mushrooms or tomatoes. Lucia makes a kind of breakfast muffin. Lucia I think you should post it in the recipes section!!! She puts a mushroom in the bottom of a muffin case, wraps the bacon around the edge to form a ‘cup’ and drops in an egg and bakes in the oven.
So a curry, a chilli, roasted chicken , fish etc are all on the menu with a salad or veg.

The important things are keeping at 50g or below and including fat in your diet as well as 2 – 3 litres of water a day.

The ‘what have you eaten today’ thread is full of ideas!

Hope things improve for you 🙂

Amazing results Lynne!! 🙂

Hi Xrissy, it does get easier, believe me. You will find this easier than 5:2 as your stomach will adjust quite quickly to the smaller meals every day rather than jumping between a ‘normal’ day and a fast day. 5:2 will also be easier to do once you have reached your target weight on this programme.

Listen to what Neohdiver says about the 800 being critical for reversing T2 – she’s right! 🙂

Another pound rides off into the distance 😃 Another 4 pounds to reach 50 pounds loss!!! Fasting bloods still between 4 and 4.9😃

Another pound gone. Soon (4 pounds) have lost 50 pounds😃 Over half way to target weight😃