As luck would have it, I was driving past a Waitrose this afternoon so popped in and got 2 loaves of LivLife bread. It’s £1.59 for a loaf that is half the size of a “normal” one, but I was expecting it to be small. We treated ourselves to a slice each when we got home, spread with butter of course, just to try. We like it! Very seedy, which I love, and filling!

I will find a space in the freezer for the loaves and work out how to incorporate it into our meal plans, just a slice or two as part of a meal rather than it being most of the meal. I am very pleased to have an easy, go to lunch or meal to have if things get unexpectedly rushed or plans have to suddenly change (which they are doing frequently). Adding some cheese, or eggs or ham with a tomato would be a much better alternative then a microwaved ready meal (which had to happen last week 😱).

Thank you so much for the recommendation. And I can’t wait to have toast again! (all planned in of course……)

Hey Crispybacon
take a look at the results being posted in the 8 weeks and over thread.
In just a short time you and your OH can be posting results like that and we are all here to help you get there.
As SunnyB said, there is always someone here nowadays so any problems, just shout, although your whole attitude suggests that you are well up for this.

Hi Meredex
You’re definitely not alone in this, I plateaued quite early on too. It will pass and you will start to show a loss on the scales again. Bill is right about the fat and carbs – if you keep and eye on both, keeping the first up and the later down, things will soon start to happen again. Don’t be disheartened, go with the flow and don’t stress about your body taking time to adjust.
Hope to see some positive results posted by you soon.

orchid
Marigold I use — never noted the salt content but usually try not to add more when using stock.
Miso is new to me – off to Google unless you have any recs as to where best to buy along with linseed, flax etc..
I will experiment with the pepper soup – use them in pasta sauces and they make a nice juice with orange, carrot and sweet potato, but both are off the menu for a while!

Welcome to the BSD clan TWSAndy and wife. There is so much variety possible on this eating regime and with a little planning you will find yourself rediscovering food. Getting your head round full fat is a tough one, but an essential part of this way of eating, as it helps you feel full and for longer, as well as helps the body get into fat burning mode. And Bill’s right about the carbs too.

If you need support or advise, shout out, as there will definitely be someone around to respond. And be sure to let us all know how you get on.

Hi Alice
let us know the types of food that the kids usually have at lunch and one or more of the cookery gurus will soon be along with some advice.
Kids are really adaptable and with the help of a food processor and a bit of out of the box thinking, you can get all sorts of good stuff into them and they’ll never know.
Welcome to the forums by the way, everybody here has the same goals as you so don’t be afraid to shout for any advice you may need.

Hi Venusflytrap
Perhaps if you swap to full fat milk you will find that you use less? Full fat has less carbs than skimmed milk. I always used to find that I had to have a larger splash of skimmed (well its virtually just sugared water anyway) to get the same effect in my tea or coffee as full fat.

Hi Switzerland, haven’t cooked the squash yet. I planned to do it Monday but the weather turned quite warm so I had something else. It’s only going to be 19 tomorrow and I’ll be home all day so I’ll cook it then.
I always have quite a few giant zucchinis, they hide under the leaves and get enormous. Finding new ways to cook them became a big joke in our house because we’ve had a bumper crop this year and they’re still going. Even our chooks got sick of them 🙂
I’ve let a few grow big deliberately because I slice them lengthways and use the slices as lasagne sheets. I’ve posted that recipe. You can also cut off one end, scoop out the middle and stuff it with eggplant, capsicum, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, mozzarella and Parmesan. Add mince if you’re not vegetarian. Replace the cut end and bake until tender. Delicious. They make fantastic soup too, with veg stock, onions, garlic and fenugreek. Cook until tender. Whizz with a stick blender, add a tub of cream cheese and whizz again. Freezes well, and very low carb.

Hi AliceInSwitzerland (love the name)
Welcome to the BSD forum and you new eating regime. I’m currently in week 7 and barring one or two small blips, have done okay – 12lb down so far. Try to plan meals for the family which can be adjusted for all – so you cook say a chicken dish, team yours with salad or veggies, but add in a carb element for the rest of the family. That way you are not catering a mass of different dishes. Just be aware of portion size when serving your own meal and try to stick as closely as possible to the 800cals a day, keep a check on the carbs and be sure to include fat and plenty of fluid in you diet each day.
Hope this helps a little and remember to make good use of the forum for advise and support and to let us know how you get on.

Thank you I probably will need that, had a bit of a double whammy me and hubby diagnosed prediabetes on the same day so there’s no choice in the matter we have to change x

Hi JWS,
Like FiFiP and Hashimoto I also start with onion and garlic! I use Miso stock – 1 packet per 1L or Marigold stock, 1 tbs – it is high in salt so I never use their recommended amount.
I make the peas soup with a large bag of frozen peas, (1kg) plus a very large handful of mint added at the end and whizzed through. Very quick to make, freezes well and a great standby.
The Cauliflower and Bean soup in the recipe section is great.
I also make a tomato, bean and pepper soup – a tin of tomatoes, tin of borlotti beans, then roasted peppers added to the onion and garlic. I use about 700g of peppers. Cut them in half, put them in a hot oven uncovered with a light spray of olive oil. This chars them, takes about 30 mins – just keep an eye on then after 20 mins. Take them out of the over and put all into a plastic bag (or box) and seal. Leave till cool. You can then take the skins off very easily and add straight to the tomato mixture. I also add some fresh chilli to spice it up a bit and . Blitz at end and serve.
For the mushroom soup, a variation is to use 50% dried porcini mushrooms and add the soaking mixture to the soup as well! I add a tin of beans to it as well for protein.

Bravo, Hashi
The evidence just mounts and mounts.
John

FiFiP/hashimoto
Soup will substitute for too much exercise I think!
Next I will try the beetroot and butterbean [maybe with some orange, and/or cabbage, and a bit of yoghurt].
I have some beetroot in the fridge that I bought to make veg juice, when I was pondering juice only, but the thought of wasting all that fibre etc now is not on.

Wow! That’s determination talking Crispybacon. I’m sure we will all be keen to read your positive results soon. Meanwhile if you need any advise or support, shout out and someone will definitely be around to respond.

Thanks everyone. The medics want me in the middle of the BMI for my height, so 9st 7 lbs. Cherrianne’s site gives my ideal weight as 10st 3 lbs, an extra 10 pounds. 😃 Going for that means I have another 38 pounds to go 😃 So I am over halfway there! YIPPEEE.

She has reason to be pleased, not only with the weight loss but by the fact that you have taken a grip of your condition and decided to do something about it.
If you were just diagnosed 9 weeks ago that was probably your first HbA1c test so you have nothing to compare it with.
Your next one, be it 3 months or 6 months down the line, should tell a very different story.
Congratulations on becoming a veteran, it looks like a fair few of us are going to be around for a while yet

Hi Darleen and Rosie, glad you’ve got books and are now sounding a bit more confident. You’re off to a great start! Lots to learn and re- learn eating this way but in a few weeks you’ll be helping the new ones too.
Any time you find a good low carb food, post it on the ‘low carb foods in Australia’ thread. If we can keep it near the top, then it will be easier for other Aussies to find 🙂

Well my fridge looks healthy it’s very green
Fizzy waters chilling, I’ve made to many spicy bean burgers and tried to tackle my new spirilser. I tried my new pedometer on my feet all day walked the dogs did the garden still only achieved only 4000 steps.
Drinking my last glass of wine for 8 weeks
My motto is don’t give up and don’t give in
Watch this space x

Hi Caroline999
Welcome to the BSD forums – sorry to hear you are doing it tough right now. Carb withdrawal hits some people worse than others unfortunately. Are you including enough fat in your diet? This is essential to help you feel full and satisfied. There is no reason not to take painkillers if you need to for your headache, but this too will pass as your body adjusts to the new eating regime.

Hope your body gets used to the BSD regime soon and you can settle down and enjoy this new way of eating. Look forward to reading more positive posts from you soon.

Hi everyone, I started the BSD this morning and would appreciate your support. I have 2 girls ( 9 and 13 ) who come home for a cooked lunch everyday ( no school dinners in Switzerland 🙁 ) and I’m worried I’ll cave in having to make their meals everyday. I am very motivated at the moment but would love to hear all your tips to survive the next 8 weeks. I’m originally from Bolton, Uk, but have lived in Switzerland for almost 25 years. I am not diabetic, but have a 41 inch waist and feel like I’m heading that way! I would rather do something about it now before…..

Caz,are you having a decent amount of fat in your breakfast and lunch ?
If not, try it, fat does help to keep those feelings of hunger away.

Over the 8- Week line and still going strong. Determined to do this diet until I get down to ‘normal ‘weight zone. Not sure how long it will take me to get down to a healthy BMI. Only lost 1lb this week but as hubby said, if I carried on at that rate I would lose over 2 stones in a year. Note to self …..that sounds too long……and surely he doesn’t think I need to lose over 2 stones….oops he may be right!!
Saw the Diabetic Nurse yesterday and asked loads of questions. Diagnosed Type 2 just over 9 weeks ago so a bit of a Newbie
She was pleased with the weight loss of 21lbs but I was really disappointed with with my HBA1c result of 7.2%
Realized later that the result would have only recorded 7 weeks of being on the BSD and Metformin.
Looking forward to better results in the future, losing more weight and coming off medication, if possible.
Still feeling positive.
Hope our positive attitudes and results motivate other people to persevere with their diets. Good luck everyone.

Chinagas – thanks for sharing your experience. I’m guessing that you stick to the 800 as well as much exercise?
Good willpower. I found over years of exercise that you have to enjoy it to keep going. I’m now down to 3 days of spin followed by 50 mins of gym for strength and then a warm down swim. I am also reading Fast Exercise so on my rest days thinking of doing a couple of 10 minute HIIT sessions on my Concept 2 rower [parked in the hall and less used nowadays] as another ‘experiment’, with an occasional bike ride for fun. I too was carb heavy and believed that if I did enough exercise the world and me would be in balance!
Congrats on the 6kg in 5weeks to you both.

I eat 3 meals a day – I hate not having breakfast, I would never get anything done if I did that! I don’t have an issue with the same breakfast each day – so the yogurt, blueberries and seeds works for me. The proportions I use give me a 205 cal start to the day which leaves 600 for my other two meals. Lunch is usually a salad and soup. Soups (homemade) vary between 120 cals to 200. Blitzed soup take longer for your stomach to digest so leaves you feeling full longer. The salad is cucumber, tomato, spring onions, all chopped up an mixed together, add balsamic or drizzle olive oil. I sometimes add 20-25g feta cheese to the salad if the soup is at the lower end of the calorie range. That leaves me 350 cals for the evening meal.
good luck

Nice one Chinagas, it looks like you have this going like a breeze.
Hope you hit your eventual target even if it takes a wee bit longer.
Your comment, wish I had done this sooner rings a chord. I wish it had been around 10 years ago, I could have side stepped so many problems if it had.

I turn to tea or coffee (7 cals as I have milk). I tried the 10 cal Hartleys jelly pots too which were sweet but gave me the runs so I gave up!!

Hi ruthleonie, sorry to hear of your diagnosis. You have made a good plan to continue until your doctors tell you otherwise. You will go into surgery much healthier and with better recovery if you are closer to your ideal weight.
Pay close attention to your protein levels between now and then to make sure you are getting plenty. Eat from a good range of vegetables, especially the leafy greens, and include eggs and nuts to make sure you are getting enough vitamins and zinc. Maybe even a multivitamin with zinc, to help with post op recovery.
If you need chemo you will most likely find you lose some weight anyway, so you can afford to relax the diet. Michael does say not to do the BSD if you’ve recently had surgery. The nutritionist will help you with food choices, and your weight will be closely monitored during treatment.
Wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery and return to good health 🙂

Hi bizzylizzy

I tried this last week: http://www.hi-lo-bread.co.uk/ from Sainsburys and it’s actually very good. It can be frozen and tastes good at 5g per slice. I don’t have a Waitrose or Morrisons near me but apparently the LivLife is better and even lower in carbs. I actually used two slices of this in place of the bun at Burger King with some mayo and other than the seeds it was a worthy opponent to the white seeded bun.

Carbwise this meal weighed in at 12g as opposed to 45! BTW I felt VERY full afterwards! LOL

Thanks Newlife, Orchid and Hashimoto…. that’s all really helpful. I’m having a bit of difficulty staying between 800 and 900 cals, and I notice that I’m eating 3 meals a day, where some are only having 2, so thought I would try to cut down on breakfast as I’m not really a breakfast person but need to eat something to stop the dreaded fasting sugar monster. I’m doing OK with the higher daily cal count in regards to weight loss and glucose levels but don’t want to slowly creep up on the calorie count and I can forsee myself doing that. Ps not sure what fage is, Hashimoto, is ita brand or type of Yoghurt? Dx

Hi chris53
I don’t know if 10 days will be enough time. I had tests taken 4 weeks in to the plan and they showed a definite lowering of HbA1c levels so there may just be a pointer in your results.

Hello everyone, hope it’s ok for me to join in. I’m on day two and have a raging headache, it’s also only mid afternoon and I could eat my own arm I’m so hungry. Is there anything anyone suggests for getting through this? I felt the same yesterday, just hoping it won’t continue like this. Drinking more water than ever in my life so I don’t think it’s lack of fluid.

Cherrianne – What a great site. I love the idea behind it.

Interestingly it gave me near the weight I was in 1991. Where, I think, I felt most at home in my body.

It’s the number I was aiming for in my head.

Judith – 3.8 is awesome!

Deb

Hi chris53,
They’re usually done less frequently than that but if you’ve been monitoring your blood sugars and seen them drop, then there should be a change in your HbA1c. Remember it’s an average measure of about 90 days of blood sugar levels, so it will include the time before you started. So if it’s not a huge decrease don’t be too disappointed. Keep up the good work though as the next one will be even better. 🙂

Great going chinagas!!!!

Ooooh, river cruise and dolphins!!!! I want to see it!

This diet seems to sort a lot of problems!!!! 🙂

That’s a coincidence Judith, my Mum and I were just saying the same thing today. Neither of us get that anxious, jittery feeling or dizziness anymore if a meal is late.
Today my sister, parents and I went on a 1&1/2 hr dolphin cruise up the Port River. We had planned to go on the 11.30 one to be back in reasonable time for lunch. We then saw a huge party of school children, around 50 of them, on a school trip about to board the boat. We knew it would be really noisy and busy so decided to wait for another boat which left at 12. By the time we needed to return we hadn’t seen any dolphins so the Captain said he would continue a bit longer. So we didn’t get lunch until after 2 o’clock. Breakfast had been at 7, but we were both fine with that. A huge change for us.
Yes, we did get to see dolphins ( knew you’d ask Judith). The river is a dolphin sanctuary and home to about 30 of them. Lovely day, 28C, cheap day out the equivalent of about £4 and we’ve never failed to see the dolphins yet. Recommend it to anyone visiting Adelaide.

I know, I was a bit stunned! I had even eaten a fairly large apple the day before.

I just know I feel better than I have for a decade and no blood sugar crashes like I used to get 🙂

I’m now into my 5th week of the BSD 800. So far have lost just under 6 kgs. My wife and I started together and so far she has recorded a similar weight loss. I have been type 2 diabetic for around 18 months and at the time of diagnosis weighed in at 82 kgs with a bmi of 29 then aged 55. I ‘ve been a vegetarian for around 25 years, ate dairy products and fish. One of those people that exercised on and off (a run here, a bike ride there etc) loved all the wrong kind of food… potatoes, bread, cereals. We joined a gym back in November and have been going regularly 5 days a week since then. Do a whole range of stuff in the gym from spinning, yoga, HIIT, weights and aerobics just to keep things varied. The weight is coming down, the paunch is slowly disappearing and I’ve never felt fitter. The diet is going good too. I used MyFitnessPal to record everything and most of the time keep to the 800 calories. Breakfast is full fat yoghurt with 4 strawberries. Lunch can be a salad with either tuna, sardines or mackerel. Not much of a dinner as we do the gym in the evening after work so invariably just a low cal snack. Target weight is 70kgs. At the end of the 8 weeks, we’re going onto the 5:2 Med Diet and the gym membership is there for a year. Wished I had done all this sooner, actually enjoying every minute of it. Going to try out some of these recipes over the coming weeks.

Judith 3.8 on a FBS ?
Given that we now consider normal to be between 4 and 5, a FBS of 3.8 is incredible.
Very well done, no hypos please.

I was going really well for the first few days of the 800 / day but the last couple of days have been HARD. I’ve been hungry mid morning and mid afternoon and so tempted by snacks.
I’ve been having a handful of almonds to satiate myself but they’re so high in calories that when I have my evening meal, my 800 gets blown out of the water.
Is there anything that I can eat between meals that will fill me up without blowing out my caloric intake?

Thanks

Hi all,
I liked the site best because it was based on what real people think is their ideal weight. Not some boffin who has failed to take ageing into account. It’s only a guide really, because we are our own best judge of what is happening with our blood sugars, and where we think we look and feel our best.

Hi again everyone. My recent HbA1c two weeks ago was 6.9 hence why l am on this diet. The question is my doctor apart from other blood tests wants a repeat and next week after 10 days on this diet would there be a changes in this result.Thank you.

Tomato and butterbean is another good soup. I used to blitz it when serving to people who don’t like butterbeans lol – they never realise!!! 🙂
Yeah, I always start soups with onion and garlic too!

Well,I got a basic result back from my FBS test – 3.8. That’s a less than the 4.9 to 8 I was getting back in 2011 when I was tested. I wish I had had the test done before this diet as I am sure it would have been much higher as I was piling on weight on fresh air lol
upshot – I think this diet has had a helpful impact on my blood sugars. I don’t get those crazy dizzy hungry spells I used to get. 🙂

Cherrianne that ideal weight calculator says I need to lose another 8 lbs!! That will take me to 8stones 8lbs – near where I was aiming!! (i.e. 8st 12lbs) Oh well, onwards and downwards!! 🙂

Thanks Patsy, but Sweetheart is doing all the cooking this week so not heading kitchen wards often enough. I remember my Mum doing that and she had fantastic skin. So there are extra advantages. Thanks Cherrianne, (and Bill), but I am allowing myself 60mls of skimmed per day. So either two brown coffees or 1 beige one and I am adding a sweetner and it’s my sweet treat, if I’m good. I need to practise not drinking lots of milk because if I have what I want, it comes to a pint and a half a day! So I’m going practically cold turkey on this one. Yes I know I need the calcium but I get loads!

Hi FiFiP

Thanks for that. I wasn’t actually concerned too much about the 26 calories but I was more confused about why I hadn’t gained any calorie intake for the rest of the day by using non-fat yogurt and light cranberry juice. I was expecting the calorie count to come out lower than the book but instead it came out higher so I was concerned that the book calorie count was incorrect and if that was incorrect, then were there anymore that were wrong.

I am trying to stick quite strictly to the diet but there are things that I just can’t eat so some swaps are necessary and I want to ensure that I don’t go too far over the 800/day because some counts are not correct.

I’ve only just begun this and I don’t want to scupper myself in the first week. I am staying away from the carbs though.

Thanks again

Absolutely bizzylizzy. I can’t be the only one hiding all the bread etc at the bottom of the chest freezer and the biscuits and bars at the back of the cereal cupboard with lots of half open packets of non tempting things in front of them! Thanks Hopeful and Bill1954, Morrison’s here I come. I am really missing bread and am prepared to faff around just for 1 slice with butter. Funny I thought it would be the fruit or the low fat dairy that would sabotage me, and they haven’t …yet!

Interesting cherrianne
that gives me 12 stone 5 pounds, much nearer to what I feel comfortable at.

Thank you Cherrianne – excellent site, very helpful as I think BMI belongs in the same deep hole as sugar…..