Update on 13-04-2016…

For some reason my weight has increased to 97.7 kg. Blood sugar 5.7. Yesterday’s steps 13000.. I didn’t do anything out of ordinary. I did stick to my 800 cal yesterday.

I am feeling little tired this morning i only had 5.5 hours sleep but that didn’t stop me from taking walk from Railway station to work this morning in fact took a longer route. I can say that my motivation had big blow this morning when say weight increased but while i was in transit i thought i shouldn’t get dishearten and i need to stay motivated to do this that is the only way it will last 8 weeks and results will be better at the end of the 8 weeks.

Thanks Cherrianne for your support notes its very mush appreciated.

Today’s Mindfulness.
Ok – so I managed two sessions today – a shorter one, ten minutes guided this afternoon and just finished one unguided 10 minutes this evening. The problem with the evening one is that I yawn – 3-4 large yawns – every few minutes. It must be relaxing me, but I probably should not be back on the PC typing this up afterwards and undoing my mindfulness!
Need to shut down now. Will post more tomorrow.

Alanhypno,

In the US, at least, a repeated fasting test of 7, or higher – or – a single test confirmed by a doctor – will get you a diabetes diagnosis. My diagnosis was based on two fasting tests (a year apart) of higher than 7. ( I believe 7.2 and 7.8.)

As usual, breakfast of 4 or 5 strawberries and a handful of blueberries with plain full fat yoghurt.
Early dinner at 5:30 of half a tin of red salmon with a plateful of salad. Again. I’m sure my front teeth are getting longer and my ears are going floppy. It’s working though so who cares?

Hi,
Where do I find bills email?
Love Lucia
Xxx

Thanks Cherrianne,
So far the diet seems to be having a positive effect on the lupus, lets hope that continues. I am two and a half weeks in now and hoping that the plateau won’t last too much longer. I have been making an effort to eat more protein and fat over the last few days and I think I am feeling slightly better. Thanks again to you and everyone else for your help and support.

Hi Kate, I have a similar recipe to Jandz100, but using a tin of tomatoes and 700g roasted peppers. I also add between 1cm -2cm fresh chill – depending on how hot the chilli is, a couple of garlic cloves, an onion and a tin of cannellini beans towards the end, then blend well once cooked.

Great post Eureka, and lots of info.
Natalie you make some good points, the BSD is low carb but does include higher carb foods with low GI. Whilst not a high fat diet it does encourage a higher fat intake and use of full fat products.
I think the carb suggestions are not given as rules, but more in response to people’s queries about not losing weight or not seeing drops in their blood sugar levels. In that context it is a reasonable suggestion to make, getting people to check their carb intake, particularly with regard to blood sugars.
We are trying to formulate a FAQ sticky thread for newbies that will give a consistent message and guidelines, to prevent exactly those things you are concerned about. So your post is very timely. Thank you 🙂

Hi Kate

Very basic recipe I’m afraid as 1st time I’ve made it. This made 3 portions which I take to work and reheat.

Roasted 300g sweet red peppers. Once cooled remove the skins, pop them in a pan with about 400ml Passata, chopped red onion, garlic, season to taste. Simmer for about 20 mins then blitz with a hand blender.

I think you’d be able to spice it up with chilli flakes or additional herbs quite easily. Could even add some cream or grated cheese to bump up the fat content.

Hi Lucia – I put up a list of eat and don’t eat last night that I took out of MM’s book. It is not exhaustive – just says which foods are ok. See it that is useful, if so I can turn it into a list of items (currently grouped) and add carbs per 100g to each? Will take me a day or so…..
Here is the list
Here is a list taken from MM’s book of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods.
No to :
• bread, pasta, potatoes, rice. Be wary of “brown” alternatives: the extra fibre can be negligible. Brown rice is OK, but some wholemeal breads have added sugar.
• most breakfast cereals: they are usually full of sugar, even the ones that contain bran. Oats are good as long as they are not the instant sort.
• Avoid margarine and use butter instead
• Treat root vegetables with caution – potatoes, parsnips, swedes/turnips are high in starch.
• Sweet tropical fruits such as mango, pineapple, melon, dates and bananas are full of sugar.

Yes to:
• Quinoa, bulgur (cracked wheat), whole rye, whole-grain barley, wild rice and buckwheat.
• Legumes, such as lentils and kidney beans.
• Full-fat yoghurt – add berries, (blackberries, strawberries or blueberries), for flavour; and or a sprinkling of nuts
• Breakfast/brunch – eggs: boiled, poached, scrambled or as an omelette. Add smoked salmon, mushrooms and a sprinkle of chilli for a change.
• Snacks -nuts are a great source of protein and fibre. No to salted or sweetened!
• Healthy fats and oils plus oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel). Add a splash of olive oil to vegetables, improves taste and the absorption of vitamins. Use olive, rapeseed or coconut oil for cooking.
• Butter and cheese in moderation is fine.
• High-quality proteins: oily fish, prawns, chicken, turkey, pork, beef, eggs, soya, edamame beans, Quorn, and hummus.
• Processed meats (bacon, salami, sausages) no more than a couple of times a week.
• Leafy green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, kale, chard, cauliflower, plus carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are rich in vitamin C and fibre and very low in sugar and starch.
• Sweet fruits: berries, apples or pears are fine in moderation.
• Add sauces and flavouring – lemon, butter or olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, chilli, gravy.
• Alcohol – no more than one to two units a day on average (a small glass of wine or shot of spirits is 1.5 units) and cut back on beer – it’s carb rich.
From: Dr Michael Mosley’s “The 8-week blood sugar diet”
Hope it helps.

Thank you very much for that we shall follow it up.
Re T2 I test over 3 hours after lunch and now down today to 6.4 not sure if that’s good bad or wrong way to test
Many thanks

Hi Annie
Try eating more fat and protein and see if that helps, but keep an eye out in case it is a flare up of your lupus. A radical change in your diet may be enough to trigger a flare. It should only be temporary though as your body adjusts and settles into fat burning.
There are a few people who’ve had improvement in symptoms of their auto immune diseases after going low carb. Would be great if it happened for you too!
Two weeks into the diet is when many people hit the plateau, or what I call the week two blues, but this will pass.
Don’t push yourself too hard while you are so fatigued. Give yourself permission to rest and recover when you need to. The lupus does make a difference and you will need to take a bit more care of yourself.
10lbs in two weeks is a pretty impressive result though 🙂

Hi Jandz100

How did you make your red pepper soup or was it shop bought?

Thanks Kate

Oh I see, it was the calorie king bit that I’d missed. I use that too if I cant get the info from a packet so I’ll have to watch that in future. Thanks for clarifying.

Thanks Orchid. Tonight I got the Linda McCartney frozen sausages from Lidl at £1.25 for 6 – they have 141 cals and 6.9 g carbs for 2. They kept their shape well and I could also do them with a big heap of allowed veg and gravy.

I fried them, with a 2 eggs omlette and some tomatoes, they were quite tasty, better than the quorn, I will buy them again unless I find something better. I’d like to try the red onion ones if I can find them.

I’ll try the Cauldron ones next. The Dragonfly range look interesting, but as you say, really too high in carbs. Ocado seem to have a good range of veggie ready meals but don’t deliver to me annoyingly.

I’ll report back if I find anything else.

Hi janet that’s true but there isn’t always info on carbs on food so I used calorieking which I’m told is american so needs fibre deducting. It may have been Penny’s conversation with me.
Now I have lists in a book I’m happier 🙂

Re backs – cannot recommend a qualified physio-led Pilates class highly enough. In Edinburgh I am lucky enough to be able to access sports physios at FASIC who work with elite athletes – they are brilliant and the fee well worth it. Pilates exercises given me helped strengthen my back hugely and pain now a thing of the past, but avoid the classes run by folk who are not qualified physios as you want to improve things not worsen the problem. An appointment with a good physio is money well spent.

Yesterday:

B – full fat yogurt and berries
L – red pepper & tomato soup
D – fried bacon & cabbage with 2 poached eggs
S – full fat yogurt and seeds

Today:

L – red pepper and tomato soup
D – salmon fillet, cabbage & green beans with a cheese sauce
S – full fat yogurt and seeds

Hi Neohdiver,
Great results on the weight loss and blood sugars.
All the best for your mammogram results. Praying it’s just a cyst and not an inherited cancer. Good job you’re aware and on the ball with regards to that.

Thanks Deb. Was so impressed by the book and I have recommended it to my diabetic brother too. I must get the OK from my consultant before I start.

Polly

Hi Judith
I might be wrong about this but I thought the English food labels all have the fibre already deducted from the carbs. I thought it was American labels that don’t. I think I remember pmshrink having a conversation with someone about it here. Maybe I got it the wrong way round.

L – Smoked salmon & cream cheese omelette wraps with salad & an apple
D – Prawn & peanut stirfry

I’m on day 8 & have lost 8lbs so far 🙂

Hi Alanhypno,
You say your wife isn’t diabetic but if your wife had a fasting reading of 8, I think she should go and see the GP for follow up tests.
Blood sugar results for non diabetics should be:
Fasting 4 – 5.9
2 hours after meals under 7.8

Results for type 2 diabetics should be
Fasting 4 – 7
2 hours after meals under 8.5

Write these ranges inside the cover of the book where you log your blood sugar results and it will be handy for you to refer to.

Hi Lynne and Eureka, I had a very painful episode some months ago where my ‘hip’ was twisted up by 2″. Nothing worked until I went to a sports massage therapist who said it wasn’t my hip but a rotated sacroiliac joint. She used pressure point massage on my spasmed back and leg muscles then manipulated my sacroiliac joint back into position. Painfree. However, she and my doc said it is easy to knock it out again once you have done it. So each time I go she puts it back in the correct position, sometimes it is only fractionally out but I can knock it right out of kilter doing something silly – like dragging a heavy pot in the garden.

It might be worth you finding someone who could do that for you 🙂

Keetz, I’ve tried the chicken Italia ones. They are low in cals and carbs but didn’t really taste much of Italy. There are a couple of other chicken ones to try.

Hey Alan if the B’S readings are going down then you are definitely on the right track. Portion sizes are hard to grasp but check the pictures in the book (or Google Michael Mosley Daily Mail if you have the kindle version since the recipes feature there). Weight will drop off before you know it. 😊
Julia

You can get heck sausages at iceland.

My first day. Things I have learnt:

It’s easier than I thought to skip breakfast so that I’ve got more calories to play with for lunch and dinner.
When I’m not spiking and crashing my blood sugar levels by consuming huge amounts of chocolate I don’t get screaming hunger pangs, just a gentle reminder that now it is time to eat.
As I’m not mindlessly shovelling food in all day long I have savoured and appreciated what I did eat today.

Today was easier than I thought, I fear that tomorrow will not be so easy!

Lucia I’m glad you could strut your stuff with the trolley! xxx

Hi Superred,
I’m with Penny on this one, I think rather than stopping your insulin altogether you should try cutting down as you see your blood sugar levels start to drop. That’s assuming you are on a short acting insulin. If you are on mixed or long acting you really need to talk to your GP or diabetes nurse. Take in some info on what you’re doing and your recent results. Ask for a sliding scale insulin regime. This will give you a dose based on your blood sugar levels.
Keep posting and let us know how you’re getting on. All the best 🙂

Same here, Lucia, I have spent ages googling them on calorieking and making a list only to find I should have deducted the fibre. I nearly lost the will to live after so gleefully putting my list together only to find it is wrong 🙁
My friend came round for a BSD dinner tonight ( and I sent her off with 2 days worth of packed lunches) and I was able to give her photo copies of the relevant pages.
If you email Bill he could let me have your email address and I can mail the pages to you. It will be cheaper than buying the book for just 2 pages!!
xxxx

Should we carry on with metformin,and monitor bloods until it’s lower ?

Wow . Well done.

Oksana, most of us were terrified when first eating out. Don’t be shy, tell the waiter you are on a specialist diet and can’t have carbs so please could you have your dinner minus the chips, potatoes, pasta, rice, bread. I always do that and have only ever had a really helpful response. 🙂

Yeah Cherrianne, in actual fact that is what Natalie Giles said… they don’t think it actually works in some people and they suspect it is those that have no side effects that also have no efficacy… so … that would be me… we shall see…. I have had a few spikes overnight late last week but it seems to have settled… so far… and I have halved my metformin because I want the glucagon dumping done with!!! Will see what happens over the next few days…. but so far I have not noticed any change…. except for more energy generally in myself… and staying below 50g carbs after reading your posts with Lachlan… working for me too… Cheers for that…

Hi Sharon,
Yes it’s because of the gut issues. So many people have indigestion, diarrhoea or urgency and even just uncomfortable gut symptoms. I was really adamant I wasn’t going to go down that path! Personally I’m not entirely convinced by it’s effectiveness, even the manufacturers only claim it MAY help to lower blood sugars lol. If they don’t believe in it fully, why should I?
At the moment you’re right in the middle of where Bill and I and a few others started to have some blood sugar spikes. It took about 3 weeks for me, and a bit longer for Bill, to come out the other side. Give yourself a few more weeks and you might find yourself med free like Bill. The big blood sugar changes seem to happen towards the end of the 8 weeks.

Hi Lucia, I bought a cheap ‘Low carb high fat diet’ book, it arrived yesterday, it has list of carbs in a 100 g of a range of fruits, veg, nuts and seeds.

I just tried scanning, copying and pasting onto this post but it wouldn’t work.

It’s in the ‘quick start guides’ if you want to get one. I ordered from Amazon. Book has 100 recipes but no pics and cheap paper. But the carbs lists are useful 🙂

John green leaf Whittier. Don’t give up.

I remember something a long, long time ago.
I will have to google it.
Sorry if I have misspelt it more than usual.

Love Lucia
Xxx

Ooh nice ideas…thanks Janet. Only sausages in the Freezer (might have to order these Heck ones people talk about!) X

Kate, have you seen the weigh in thread?

I’ve lost 8lb in 3 weeks – but I’m having more than 800 calories.

Lucia,

You forgot down, down, deeper and down (all our weight losses of course) !

It’s better if you can avoid them as they encourage you to crave sweet foods.

Hi Lea,
Don’t be discouraged. You are still 2 lb lighter after only a week.
It is tough going when you are surrounded by temptation, especially in the early days of the diet.
If you really stick with it during the first two weeks the carb cravings will disappear and it won’t bother you to have teenagers munching away 🙂
Prepare some snacks and keep them handy for when you feel hungry. I used to keep individual portions weighed out in zip lock bags in the fridge. That way you can grab one in a hurry or take it with you if you’re going out. Get a variety of snacks ready for when the urge strikes. Eg: hard boiled eggs, weigh out 20g cheese, 50g strawberries, 30g raw almonds or pecans, serve of hummus and some celery/ cucumber/ peppers to dip into it. If you have a variety of ‘safe’ snacks ready to go you’ll be less likely to stray.
Another good idea is to delay your snack by telling yourself you can eat after drinking a full glass of water, or a cup of tea, or ten minutes of reading forum posts etc. sometimes you’ll find you were just thirsty or bored and not really hungry.
Stick with it and stay in touch, you’ll get plenty of support and encouragement here.

Honestly Lucia this is the first time that I have exercised since I started the BSD! Maybe my body is in a state of shock, maybe jumping in the puddles helped but I was quite chuffed that my knee didn’t give out, it maybe knows it’s going the journey in August and was being kind to me!
I had stewed rhubarb with yogurt for breakfast, did my walk/ jumpy thing, prepped the soup and tea then did the test, woohooo was my reaction – who cares about pee on your hand when you are in fat burn?

I made a lovely celeriac and fennel soup for lunch but didn’t have it till about 3.30 so really the exercise is the only thing different, bring it on, same tomorrow come rain or shine if that’s what it does, can’t believe it’s taken me all these years to wake up and dell the coffee.

Other than potatoes, are there any vegetables I should be avoiding?

I had betroot today and as I was eating them I wondered if maybe I shouldn’t be as they’re so sweet and a bit potato like. Also how about sweetcorn, sweet potato and butternut squash?

Bet you know one can tell that my mood is lighter.🙂
Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi Bill 1954

Was that a touch of quo?

Let me raise you a three cord wonders that they are.

I feel as if I am in the army now
But
Turn me on to your love sweet love
If you send me
Pictures of match stick men and you
But
Do you want to ride my paper plane
As
It s so nice what you are proposing
As
It is marguerita time
Now
We are living on an island.

WHAT EVER YOU WANT WHAT EVER YOU LIKE 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
(But keep off the carbs)

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi all
Re baking I have found that the best tasting cake and closest to BSD (to achieve both of those a bit of a compromise is needed) is to use the 4 quarters French classic cake recipe but replacing flour for ground almonds. i.e. weigh your eggs and use same weight of butter, sugar and ground almonds (adding a bit of baking powder). If you want it chocolate flavour add cocoa powder to almonds. Obviously the sugar isn’t good but the almonds are way better than the flour. I generally use 4 eggs and so that normally means 225 g sugar and 225 g butter creamed and then 225 g almonds (or almonds and cocoa) added with the eggs. Bake at 180 C for 25 to 30 min. Other cakes I have tried taste like diet stuff. That said I tend to do the cake thing on a very infrequent basis for my gluten intolerant mum for family birthdays only and not as a regular treat and have 1 slice only.

Julia

I have always struggled with exercise, even when i was a skinny teenager.

So this is all new to me.

Since starting the 800, i have alternated a Kettlebell routine (20min), a jog with a short sprint for the HIT element (10min), Swimming (30min), Pads with the husband (10min). One of these things 6 days a week. Thats currently my limit but i can see that I’m not struggling as much and my recovery rates are reduced the more i try.

My question is what do all other exercise newbies do?

Hi Janet 1967

Loved the ebb and flow reference.

Before the diet, I had a moon face, big and round like a dinner plate.
So I do not mind the reference to the moon as waxing and waining.

So I had a quick one day wain now I am waxing lyrical. Ha ha ha.
I have a weird sense of humour and words
Love Lucia
Xxx