I use an app called MealPlan, I entered the ingredients for all the meals in the book, which took a little time I won’t lie, but I thought if I’m going to do this, I’m doing it properly.
Now all I have to do is slot the meals into the menu and hit the shopping cart, you can even add other items to your shopping list, and email or print.
If it’s on you iPhone you can walk round the shop with the list in your hand, and as you get each item you tap it on the screen and it goes. I couldn’t do without it.
By the way, I’m not connected with the company that developed the app, but its so useful I just thought I’d tell you.

Hi munchkinsnan, I am on my sixth week and that is the one thing that I found really hard to do, make a list of all the food you need for the first week, it was even worse the second week for me! My mind seemed like it was addled, it does get easier like Lynne says, you have an expensive week first then it gets easier, the shopping that is, good luck.

Apologies i have been getting confused between this diet plan and the diet plan as out lined by professor Taylor from Newcastle university .http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/documents/StudyRecipes.pdf if you go straight to the link you will see the plan as outlined , this is the plan i am following hence the mention of no dairy produce.

I love both cauliflower rice and cauli mash, also butter bean mash. They all work for me in place of potatoes. I’ve said it before, but if in the UK do try Tesco 3 for2 tubs of cauli rice veg couscous and spiralised carrot squash or courgette. Honest I don’t work for them, just really love these handy tubs.

Sorry to hear this Bill. Thinking of you at this difficult time.

Thanks FoFi and Cherrianne,

I wonder whether the answer may be in the fluids I have been consuming. I have been really strict writing menu plans etc from the book but have been less so with drinks. Before starting the diet I would drink 10-15 cups of tea or coffee per day with one spoon of sugar in each cup and milk. Obviously I have stopped having the sugar and tried to substitute with the odd herbal tea. I have also swapped my semi skimmed milk for full cream milk. Do you think increasing my water intake (a glass before having a hot drink and trying to increase otherwise) will help?

Chrissie

Thanks bill, I know I will lose the weight eventually, I think I feel a bit down too because I tried on some of my summer clothes, which I had saved as they are a size smaller, and nothing fit! I have lost 16lb and seven inches off my waist, however nothing anywhere else, I know that’s where the fat is supposed to drop off first plus the bad fat round your organs, I’m just being grumpy I know, it’s just a bit demoralising when nothing seems to be going your way! Thanks for the support though, very much appreciated

Yes it is a lot to face, not something you ever want to consider for any member of your family. Such a scary time for all of you.
I think you are being amazingly brave considering everything going on. I’m really hoping, and praying, that the MRI brings better news and a more optimistic future for her.
You know that so many people on here, all around the world, are caring about your situation and wanting the best for you. You seem to have inspired a lot of love and friendship in a very short time. Make sure you let your wife know that she’s included in this love and support too. All the best x

I think you’ll probably find that slimfast is a low fat diet product hence the no dairy rules

Nothing in this diet (BSD) says anything about no dairy. Full fat yoghurt and butter along with a little cheese (can’t have that much on a 800 kcal diet) seem to be constant features. Do you mean slimfast says no dairy? I have no knowledge of slimfast.

Hi Chrissie, and welcome. That is very disappointing for you.
Are you following the menu plan from the book or counting calories of your own recipes?
If you are doing your own recipes, it might be possible that they are higher carb than you think. The other possibility is that you aren’t having enough full fat in your diet. You do need it to help your body make the switch from carb burning to fat burning.
Also keep up your intake of unsweetened drinks. You will need 2-3l of fluid a day.
If you read through some of the other threads you might get some ideas of how to tweak your food intake a bit.
Please keep posting and let us know how you’re going. There are lots of people on here who will be able to advise. 🙂

Welcome ChrissieM,
Are you keeping a record of everything you eat? Is there anything you are forgetting such as a coffee? It might just be one of those things and your weight starts falling soon, but it might be worth being even more careful for a few days and measuring the oil you cook with, portions of things like oats and anything else which has some flexibility in the interpretation. A few others have reported similar problems and then have gone on to lose weight. Are you drinking 2-3 litres of water per day? It is worth reading through a few of the threads on here.

Good luck.

OK so who are you and what have you done with Lucia ???
Seriously I’m loving your whole attitude to this and I can see that you have the determination to succeed.
I suspect you are surprising yourself at that.
Keep posting, but I’m really looking forward to your day 7 results.

Bob that is such good news. Almost 2 and a half stone down !!! you have lost the equivalent of 68 half pound packs of lard (picture that lot on the kitchen table)
Keep us up with how you get on when you go on the maintainence plan, I have no doubt you will hit the 40lb mark 😀

Hi,
Help!! I am not losing weight despite doing everything right (I think). Week one I lost 5 pounds (most in the first 2 days – ?water) Week two – no loss Week three – gained 1 pound. Today is the beginning of Week four – getting quite demotivated – suggestions/advice?
Chrissie

Darwinbabe – I would suggest the very large chip on your shoulder is also a carb you should be getting rid of. Your trolling is boring.

Way to go Pete 🙂
You’re only two weeks in and you’re nearly half way to your first goal of losing 15 kg. I have a feeling you’ll be adjusting that goal before too long, and realising that getting under 100 kg isn’t a pipe dream.
Good for you. Keep posting, we all love reading the success stories and will celebrate with you.

Hi,
So here we are Day three already and I am still here.
Had an apple and full fat Greek yoghurt for breakfast.
Lunch was Chicken with salad, lettuce, toms, celery, spring onions, it was yummy.
A work colleague said I sounded like a caterpillar crunching away. What a great compliment, as chocolate has no sound.
Haven’t weighed my self today, I will in the morning, it’s exciting isn’t it?

By the way, I have had two get well cards, one from cadburys missing my purchases (joke) and from my Chinese takeaway (joke)
I am going away this weekend, so will have a cooked breakfast and have a couple of apples on me in case there is no choice for me in the eating places.

Have you noticed how sunny it is, it’s like Spring has now arrived. All is well in my world. Keep going everyone.
Love Lucia xxxx

Cherrianne it’s a lot to face hun.
All we can do now is wait for the result of the MRI to see how aggressive this thing is, until then we are all trying to act normally for the sake of her 2 kids.
If everything goes wrong we are going to have to have conversations that we hoped we would never have.

I’ve had enough of this.
After your nasty response to Penny you posted a legitimate question and I tried to be a s helpful as possible – then you post that drivel.
You are acting like the worst kind of troll, everyone has their problems, we don’t savage other people who are only trying to help because of them. No one thinks they own the forums or they are monumentally important, all everyone tries to do is help
I for one will not reply to further posts from you and I have reported you for your absolutely disgusting attitude to others
Best of luck

Sorry if i seem to be dragging up the same question over again but i am a little confused over the use of milk for my shakes on the above mentioned diet , because Optifast was used in the study by professor Taylor i had a look to see if it was available in this country only to find that it is only used on prescription in the states , not being deterred i have opted instead to use slimfast as an alternative the problem being that these shakes are to be mixed with skimmed milk , which i have replaced with whole milk ,as recommended by other members of the forum , the guide lines clearly expresses no dairy produce am i to assume this means no dairy produce other than that used in the meal replacement shakes.

Hi Bill,
Devastating news for you and your family. So many people on the forums wondering, and hoping that you were all ok.
Like Julia, I wish there was something we could do for you. Sending you all lots of love.

Hi Col,
I’m very happy to help. Most of my cooking is done without recipes, just based on what I have available or what we like on the day, so I have to stop and think if I want to replicate something. I
will do the pie recipe soon.
I’ve been busy experimenting with lupin flour this weekend, trying to get a decent low carb, bread like alternative. Not quite there yet, but getting close.
Also have my F-i-Law staying so now cooking for 8. All my kids would be gold medallists if eating was an Olympic sport lol ;). Sometimes it feels like feeding a small army, usually when they’re asking for seconds before I’ve even started mine lol, but I’m so used to it now.
We are all vegetarians so any of the recipes I’ve posted would be ok for you if you’ve gone off meat. Try the harvest pie if you need something filling. The sage turns it into a real comfort food.
All the best with your tofu experiments.

Darwinbabe, do you really think with the vast amount of dieting experience we have on this website, that we don’t know dieting can make a person irritable? But its no excise for your horrible posts. I get the feeling you are enjoying being vile but I, for one, am taking no pleasure in reading yours.

Don’t worry, Linda, we’ve all been there – it can happen because your body is trying to readjust to the new regime and it will try to fight back! Taming the “carb monster” (nice description, Bill1954) is probably a bit like training a horse – when you’ve been unseated, you have to saddle up and get back on track. And it may happen again but you’ll be able to deal with it.
This weekend the wheels came off my wagon – a stressful Friday (self-inflicted, I left my car lights on overnight leading to a flat battery), and then a very busy Saturday. I felt quite woozy for a while on Saturday morning – whether my BP went up due to being stressed or it went down to having lost some weight I don’t know (trip to the surgery lined up for tomorrow morning to get my BP checked). But I devoured a whole big bag of salt & vinegar crisps, and a chocolate caramel egg – and I enjoyed them. But today I don’t feel the need anymore. For lunch I’m going to make myself a soup using some of veggies that need using up and go for a long walk afterwards.
Take care & keep it up.

Just starting week 8 and 34lbs down. Going to give a big push and see if I can crack 40lbs. (I do have an awful lot to lose) If I don’t I won’t be disappointed because this lifestyle “diet” is the best thing ever. Will probably keep on 800 for a few weeks then go on a modified 5:2. Keep the chip butties and choc away from me, my previous diet.

Stick with it Christi, we all experience small plateaus, it’s just your body readjusting.
A lot of folk report that, even though they didn’t lose weight over a period of time, they did still lose inches.
How about you ?

I have used both Quinoa and Barley. Cauli rice is available commercially in the UK, not sure about elsewhere, but you can just finely chop fresh cauli with a knife.
The increase in full fat intake is a necessity. It encourages your body into fat burning mode or ketosis and keeps you feeling full as it takes longet to digest, I can vouch that it works.
The simple fact is, if you keep your carbs down to 50g, especially complex carbs, and stick to 800 calories, you have to lose weight.

[comment moderated]

Feeling very despondent today I haven’t lost any weight over the weekend, still done the diet strictly except on Sunday had an apple before going to church, (can’t get through to 1pm without something to eat) also having terrible hunger problems, again I am sticking strictly to the diet, after mass yesterday they had the big brew with fairtrade, croissants and toast with fairtraid preserves, it was awful seeing everyone enjoying breakfast. I still kept to my diet though, I know the one thing I need to do and that is excercise more! I hate excercise so need to walk to the village and back for shopping! Sorry for the grumpy post just wanted to sound off!

Hi Munchkinsnan
There doesn’t seem to be a shopping list as such.
When I started out I made a list of the best vegetables to eat, meat and poultry are no problem.
Then I had a look through the recipe section and just made a list from the ingredients.
I will say that if you want bread alternatives, make sure you buy coconut flour and chickpea flour (also known as gram or besan flour)
Best of luck

sit with a coffee paper and pen and decide on the weeks menu and write down exactly what you need, the 1st week will be more expensive but it evens out over the other weeks! Good luck😊

Hi, I have downloaded the book and am nearly finished…Looking to start tomorrow so doing a shop today. Anyone found a shopping list of any kind?? Just to get me started x

Cazzowary,
The problem I have is that I not only did not lose weight I actually gained 1 kilo in just a week.
I am sticking to the 800 calories. Some days are substantially under.
I am seeking advice as to how I can achieve similar success to the other forum members.
Penny suggested monitoring the carbohydrate intake. It is good supportive advice and I noticed that today I exceeded the 50g. I have also read here that some forum members have increased their full fat intake. That seems drastic.
Another possibility is to try some different meal plans and recipes.
I need something to swap with rice, which I usually eat a few times a week. Do you think quinoa would be a suitable substitute? Is barley OK? What about glass noodles? Freekah? Cauliflower rice is not possible because I do not own the kitchen equipment to make it.

Thanks once again Bill its great to be able to share my questions with people who are doing the same program , never taken part in a forum before, finding it very supportive and a great source for finding answers to my many questions.

Darwinbabe, you are the very first poster on this forum to make such a personal attack on someone. Very disappointing!
Penny was trying to help. We all ask questions to try and get to the heart of the issue so that we can give the best advice.
Given your forum name and the $ sign in your post it was a reasonable assumption to make. People in other parts of the world might not understand the challenges of getting the more cold climate vegetables or the difference in cost and availability, for those living in the Top End!! So it was quite reasonable to suggest another Aussie might be able to help.
It wouldn’t have been for cyberstalking or any ill intent. It’s a pity you didn’t take her response in the spirit it was intended.

LMAO
4 vitrectomy ops and 2 cataract replacements would beg to differ but happy to help and thanks for the compliment 😉

That’s marvellous lulalinda
Yet another name to add to the growing list of success stories. Well done and keep it up.

Hi GwendfolineAnne
You will lose weight on this way of eating, you have to.
I too have quite a bit to lose like others so we are in for the long term.
Whether or not you keep it off or for how long will depend on how wel you adapt to the Med plan after 8 weeks
Best of luck, I’ll watch out for your first weigh in post.

DarwinBabe- if you want to substitute something in a recipe, try to make it like for like. Lentils are not a substitute for cauliflower because they much higher in calories. At the end of the day if you stick to 800 calories you should lose weight, and if you do go up, consider water weight.

I also think you are out of line in the way you’ve addressed Penny- we’re pretty friendly and caring in the forum and what you’ve said were neither. Penny’s question was perfectly legitimate given your user name so if you don’t want to risk your anonymity I’d suggest choosing a more anonymous user name. Anyway, good luck.

Hello have just weighed after 1 week on bloodsugar diet have lost an amazing 9lbs so am very pleased.Not found it too difficult I did read the book thoroughly and have found the recipes and forums very helpful.So now into 2nd week have huge incentive to continue. Also my fitbit has been clocking up the steps

Hi DarwinBabe
I’m terribly sorry if I overstepped the mark. I was just going by ‘Darwin’ and in no way meant to be intrusive.
Good luck this week
Penny

Thanks, Bill, well spotted! Your eyesight is much better than mine…:)

Dont’ worry SOS, many of us have had/are having this.

I eat plenty of veg and have flax seed etc. they don’t really help. but the herb tea certainly does!

It’s ok for me as I work from home but don’t recommend taking it the night before you have to get a busdrive anywhere 😉

Darwinbabe
Penny was trying to be nothing but friendly, helpful, and interested. There is nothing wrong with that.
The purpose of the forums is to find out about people and give what support we can. I’m afraid your attitude is going to provoke very few responses to your posts after reading that reply
Only person I see here being a “smart ****” is you

Hi Larpent
Sounds like you’re doing well. That empty feeling – we re just used to keeping ourselves full! You get used to it, and now I actually like it. Once you realise it’s not actually hunger it’s ok.
Good luck this week
Penny

Darwin and, having anonymity does not give you the right to abuse other members. If you continue to post offensive messages I will speak to the administrators of this site and have them look at your posts with a view to removing them – and you – from this forum. If you cannot offer words of support to fellow members, you shouldn’t be here.

Hello guys to contact the team scroll down to the bottom of any page and on the right there is a contact us link. click that and you will be taken to an email page to send your message.

I am sorry I misinterpreted your question.
You are absolutely correct that those things are not on the site. Possibly the MRI has some sort of ownership issue attached to it???? And the calorie tracker has definitely never been added. A few other people have asked about that. Maybe it was a bit expensive or beyond the skills of the website designer. Mistakes sometimes happen for other reasons too. Fitbit are advertisers on this site so that could be a factor. Probably a better editor might remove the mention of these things from future editions of the book.

Starting Week 5 today and have lost 2lbs so pleased with that especially as I have had to curtail the exercising as I have done something to my knee! Have lost a stone altogether now which was my target for half way! BS reading this morning was 5.2. Next few weeks are going to be challenging as I am away a lot but I feel that I have the mindset now to keep going – I certainly haven’t found it hard and I know that keeping to low-carb is going to be a way of life from now on anyway. Love hearing about the successes of everyone else – keep it up!