Yesterday was –

Brekkie – Full fat yoghurt, pear and coconut shreds.

Lunch – raw carrots and celery

Dinner – 3 Heck sausages cooked with peppers, tomato and onions. Served with purple sprouting and mange tout.

One of our favourite lunches was toasted muffins and poached eggs. Just had my eggs with smoked salmon instead today and it’s really yummy. Obviously not quite as cheap a meal as it was, but with Aldi salmon it’s not too expensive and is very nutritious. My husband had a muffin and a tiny bit of salmon with his eggs and really liked it, despite not usually liking fish.

Hi gefspacegirl
Welcome to the BSD forums. There is a ‘contact us’ at the bottom of the page, maybe the team that monitors that contact point can help you with you quest to contact the team who built the eating plan.

However, there is no need to stick rigidly to the meal plans in the book, so sensible substitutions can be made. Think most of us using the forum, are mixing and matching – some dishes from the book and some of our own design. The key points seem to be keeping to the 800 cals a day as closely as possible, keeping fluid intake up, making sure you have a good level of fat in your diet and keeping an eye on carbs – the idea is to get most of your calories from protein and fat.

Hope your first day is going well and that you will soon be posting great results.

Got so much inspiration from reading what every one is eating so here’s my plan for today:

B: Greek Yogurt, Handful of Blueberries and a few crushed hazelnuts (223cal)
L: 4 Mushrooms stuffed with 28g goats cheese and 1 garlic clove with mixed salad leaves, dressing made from balsamic vinegar and lemon juice (272cal)
D: 2 Quorn Sausages, small roasted onion and carrot with low cal gravy found on ‘yummly’ (273cal)
S: light cheese triangle (25cal)

= 793cal

Mushrooms with Goats cheese and garlic was amazing! The best meal i have had so far on this plan and amazed that i can still fit in 28g of my favourite goats cheese in to the day at 110cal! 😀

Hi all
I am now on this thread as I finished my eight weeks with a final weigh in this morning, I have to confess that after all the visitors had left last night , we had 12 for dinner sat and 12 for lunch Sunday, then the local family stayed till 5ish, so after putting the house back to rights, we settled down and I had a coffee with cream and a chocolate eclair! However this morning I had lost another pound, mainly because I kept my carbs below 50g, anyway stop rambling christine. This morning I was 13.1! Yippee, I have lost 22lb, I intend to continue in this way until I reach a weight I am happy with, ideally I would like to lose in a few stages say half a stone then another until I feel comfy.
I think another 22lbs and I will be happy. So onwards and upwards.
Christine.

Janet, yes! “mind and body are finally in agreement with each other about what is good for me” – that’s the holy grail! Even after just two weeks I’m feeling more like that than ever in my life.

Todays menu:

B – yogurt, blueberries, raspberries and cacao topping
L – four gem lettuce leafs topped with hummus, two with smoked sprats and two with pork topping. (discovered the smoked sprats in Lidl today. They are delicious and only 173cal per 100g and 0.1carbs – approx. 6/7cals per fish)
D – oven fried lemon chicken and veggies.

Hi jpscloud
I couldn’t agree with you more about being able to control things much better now. I’ve been here nearly eight weeks now and its as though my mind and body are finally in agreement with each other about what is good for me. I am having a day off plan today, deliberately, but my mindset is completely different to how it used to be. There will always be times when I will make exceptions to the diet but I really think that is normal and realistic and Dr Mosley does it too! The difference now is that they really will be occasional treats without causing a binge meltdown. WW and slimming world used to tell us this is what ‘naturally slim people’ were able to do. I kind of get that now.

Thank you Bill

Hi there, I’m starting the BSD today and bought the book a week ago – I’ve been desperately trying to find a way to contact someone regards how to change up recipes due to food allergies and intolerances. I don’t tend to eat dairy – I get ill on cows milk, but eat eggs and hard cheese. I’m allergic to red peppers and mushrooms and in the first 2 days all of these feature. I’ve become very skilled at adapting recipes and substituting ingredients – but this is a rare health plan where no nutritional information is given other than the calories – I mean I can substitute a 100 calorie shake for a 100 calorie chocolate bar, but I doubt that would be part of the programme. Does anyone know how to reach the team that built this programme so I can get some proper nutritional info from them?

I would imagine that it might help if you mention that your doctor is happy to support you by prescribing the optifast. Then, in your position, I just might not mention how many more calories I was aiming for. If they ask you, ask them what they would recommend and sort of make noises that that’s what you’ll do. A bit cynical perhaps but them’s the times we live in!

Thanks for the tips and support already lindab and Bill1954. All the best on your journey with this and I look forward to hearing about your progress and sharing mine.
Cheers 🙂

🙂 No wonder you’re emotional Peanutbutty – how lovely to be able to help your friend like that.

I am managing my secret eating better this week – I am planning a “meal off” tonight, after I weigh in. Now… I know that’s a red flag normally – there’s a destructive pattern where people starve before weighing, then have a binge after weigh-in. That was me all last year, along with many others from Slimming world – we used to see each other in the supermarket after group, and do “dirty food confessions”! The thing is, I couldn’t then stop bingeing, and it would go on for several days, stalling any weight loss.

It is strange but I feel very much more in control now. I do still have my secret eating moments, but they are more planned and controlled than ever before, and they are getting less frequent. I hope by the end of my 8 weeks, I will be able to say I don’t feel the need to do it any more.

I think the diet has shown me that I can eat less and it doesn’t hurt. I can stop eating, and it doesn’t hurt. I can sleep on a nearly-empty stomach, and it doesn’t hurt… it might grumble a bit, but it’s completely bearable.

Far from hurting, it actually feels SO GOOD!! I am sure that I will be able to retrain my psychology to dislike the feeling I get after a binge, and prefer the feelings of slight hunger.

Mindful eating – I must work more on that. I still sometimes find myself scoffing away without thinking about it, but the much smaller portions I am having now do encourage me to make it last and enjoy every mouthful!

Posted by Maddy, Hi, I had a shock in the middle of last week , my weight loss till then was one stone at the end of week two. I weighed myself mid week, shock, put on 3 lbs. I thought back and no I hadn’t even cheated, I was very upset, so it was very reluctantly I weighed myself at the end of the third week to find I had lost two pounds. So don’t be downhearted it works out over time.

I am searching high and low for a very low carb bread to incorporate into a ’50g carbs a day’ eating lifestyle (not diet!). I see that Australia has Hermanbrot bread in their stores, which has 2.3g carbs per slice but it’s not sold here (UK). Has anyone tried the Atkins low carb bread mix? It’s available online, but expensive to buy with postage added on. I have a bread maker so am very happy to make my own if there is a recipe that is actually nice! (I have tried one before that ended up like a brick, and was totally inedible 😳)

Peanutbutty
Glad to have you back. You are clearly a very wonderful and loyal friend! I think your new attitude towards food is a very healthy one. The thing about secret eating is the calories still count and most of us would admit that it is actually a form of self-punishment not reward because there are so few benefits to come from it. I’ve certainly been there. But the rewards of just a few pounds lost are massive. I think you are going to have lots more emotional moments as you are now an Aunty but they will be great times and we will help you through anything else you need.

That’s exactly what I was worried about.

I’ve already decided, If I don’t get the support, I’ll go it alone, as I’m desperate to come off my 12 month battle with insulin.

Just got another two signatures in the petition 154 and 155.

Doing my best
Love Lucia
Xxxx

What a numptie!

lindab
you could just highlight the text in a recipe, copy it, and then paste into a notepad doc to save on your PC.

Christine, it is the chemist within morrisons that dells the ketostix. We’ll forgive you your eclair especially as it didn’t hinder things. I hope it was delicious!

Jump right in and do it!!!
If you can stick to the plan you should get the results you want to see (Mum too)
Read all the success stories on the forums, understand the hitches and pitfalls, use the recipe section, and don’t be afraid to ask questions, we all had to have day 1 ourselves.
Post your progress so we can celebrate with you or even offer the odd commiseration but never forget, you are not alone, there are many people on the path heading for the same destination and we all want to see you there with us.

Good luck ! I am also starting this diet today, having read it and thought it’s exactly the right approach for me and makes tons of sense.

My Mum died aged 67, loads of health problems but – in my opinion – the majority of them stemming from her problems with T2 diabetes over the years. It made everything either worse or just harder for her.

I’m overweight and having just turned 50 (around the age my Mum was diagnosed T2), realised I really REALLY need to do something if I’m to have a reasonable standard of health in the coming years.

I’ve had a look at some of the recipes on here – wish there was a way to save or bookmark them – and will definitely be trying them. Had a one-egg cheese omelette for lunch and got a chilli in the slow cooker for tea. Might try the flat breads recipe so I don’t miss the rice and/or chips that would normally accompany it in our house !

So they just tell me if my body is in blubber bashing mode?

It seems that if you keep your carbs down, that’s when bash mode kicks in

I don’t fancy using the sticks as I have enough to sort out in the bathroom and march at the same time so accidents are bound to happen.
Don’t want to leave puddles in the bathroom. ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️😳😳😳😳😳😳

Love Lucia
Xxxx

Hi All,
Just joined site today. I’m in week 5 of the diet. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to products sold at Coles or Woolies try your local asian food shop. You can find Konjac noodles sold under lots of different names for a fraction of the price. I think last time I bought a packet it was only $1.50 and I’m pretty sure it last for more than 3 days.

Hi Orchid
not an authorative reply, cherrianne will do better, but, that sounded a lot like a hypo to me.
If you have cleared out your liver to the point where there is little sugar in storage, that may have caused it.
It may be an idea to have breakfast pre exercise now if you aren’t testing your blood.

Hi all,

I have been away for a while as I had the honour of being birth partner to my bereaved friend – a very emotional time and eating schedules have somewhat gone out of the window with first the labour and now the support/ solidarity shifts. Both mum and beautiful baby boy now doing well and back at home – if only we could attach photos to threads?!

I have been doing this plan on and off during that period – some days sticking to the plan, other times going round to cook lasagne for friend or sharing a coffee and apricot pastry with her. The main thing I have been trying to crack is the “secret eating” that jpscloud refers to. I have been telling myself that I can eat whatever want as long as I eat in front of other people; if I am eating my myself then I have to stick to the plan.

That has seemed to work to some extent on the sugar cravings (not even an Easter egg for me!) although obviously I have still been having some carbs. Now that things are a bit more settled with friend and baby I want to go back to the plan full time so that hopefully, by the end of the 8 weeks I will be able to answer more “nos” than “yesses” to the carb addiction questions (currently all yesses).

I have been keeping in touch reading the forums and must confess I actually shed a tear or two reading some of the threads here – whether it’s the support people are offering each other, or the progress they are reporting – Bill going to pre-diabetic?! AMAZING! (Having said that, I did cry the other day at the mere sight of a man walking a dog, so may still be a bit emotional in general!)

Hope everyone is well and wishing you all a peaceful week of mindful and determined eating x

Today I began the BSD. I hadn’t intended to buy another diet book but I read the first few pages and was drawn in. I think this one makes a lot of sense. My mother is T2 and I am about 15 kgs over weight. This time I have a good feeling that this diet is the one for me. I am also motivated to change right now as my mum has just come out of hospital and I don’t want my health problems to escalate as hers have done. She is nearly 70 and almost 50kgs overweight. I am seriously worried about her and would like to have her around for many more years to come. She has given up on trying to change. Perhaps if I can have success, she may also be tempted to try it.

Any ideas or help you can offer along the way will be greatly appreciated.

FiFiP
21 pounds down is nothing to sniff at either, give yourself, and hubbie, a big pat on the back.

hashimoto – thanks for the suggestion to keep it separate. I do have a database I track everything in (actually two, since I’m too lazy to carry the food data into the BG data). The stats from the BG database maxes out my doctor’s tolerance for data 🙂

I definitely did a lot of research. My family attracts medical unicorns, so I’ve gotten in the habit of doing enough research so that I stay a step or two ahead of the doctors (in the narrow area of the medical issue) . (Medical unicorns: The advice to new medical professionals – when you hear hoofbeats, look for a horse – rather than a zebra. Our family repeatedly stymies doctors, since usually what shows up is actually a zebras (uncommon diseases), and occasionally a unicorn (e.g. one on the rare diseases database – that has no treatment and no cure – for that one I had to tell the doctor what tests to run, at the time he believed there was still nothing serious wrong). Diabetes is the (uncommon for us) horse – as is my Hashimoto’s disease and Vitamin D1 deficiency, but research habits die hard.

Bill – I looked through some of your thread. Definitely attracted a lot of posts!

Thank you for all your comments. Is there a way of replying to individual posts? I am so looking forward to getting these first two weeks over.

Well, it’s been so informative so far on this forum and I believe I’m getting it right at present. Just counting calories seems to be easiest. I’ve found this the best program and with quick results. 5 kgs in 17 days ! Very motivating. Is anyone adding exercise and if you have, are you adding calories to the daily 800 to make up for the shortfall and maintaining weight loss? Thanks again

After seeing the mixed responses from professionals I have to say it will be a bit of a lottery.
Some are giving out dire warnings, others are totally supportive, it depends on the individual until we get some proper guidelines in place.

Perhaps someone should have told her that the diet can negate the need for metformin & gliclazide?
I despair at the medical profession at times.

Discussed the diet with my GP last week, I told him that I would prefer to do the 8 weeks with the diet shakes, he’s happy to provide me with Optifast during the eight weeks, but will not prescribe it until I’ve seen a dietitian.

I just hope it’s not too long before I can see one!

I was just wondering if a dietitian will have any opposition to doing the 800 cal. diet.

A week late and posted elsewhere, but this was my diary thread so just a quick resume.
Started week 1 at 16 stone 9 pounds (typo on my original post said 16:5 but my diary noted at the scales is 16:9
Week 9 weigh in shows me at 14 stone 9 pounds ! a whole 2 stone gone.
FSB on day 1, 9.8 this morning 6.4
Pre meal readings into the 4’s This is after stopping the Exanatide injections and cutting the Metformin dose in half
Reclassified as pre diabetic based on blood tests taken just 4 weeks in.
Retinal blood vessels looking good with no sign of inflammation (Major unexpected bonus)
Cholesterol normal, sleeping much better and feeling better than I have for years.
Future intentions are to stay with the fast 800 until I hit my first weight target of 13.5 stones then the 5:2 to take me to 12 stones (Ishould be 11 stones to get out of the over weight category but to be honest that was the weight I was at when I was 18 and training 3 times a week and playing rugby on a Saturday so maybe a bit OTT for me at 62)
I have every intention of being totally med free by the time my next blood tests come around in September.

When I titled this thread, I was in that frame of mind, It HAD to work for me as nothing else was and I was on a very slippery slope so this really was the last chance saloon! I was sort of confident but not entirely until those week 1 results hit and then I knew I could do this.
With all the wonderful help and support I have had from all the brilliant folk on these forums (more than most due to personal issues) and the absolute good, common sense that floods out of Michaels book, I have managed to get where I am today knowing that my future is now in my own hands.
So “THIS HAS TO WORK FOR ME”
Did it ????
With a bullet it did 😀
I will spend the rest of my days grateful to Michael and Professor Taylor and I will recommend my new lifestyle to anyone who is prepared to listen.
I sincerely hope that everyone who embarks on this journey has as much or more success as I have had, and one last thing folks

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS.

Hi,
I have completed the 8 weeks 800 and lost 13.5kg, now no longer obese. I have just over 10kg to go so have stayed on the 800 for a couple more weeks.
I decided to up my exercise today as I am not longer worried about damaging my knees! I was able to do a 10 minute bike warm-up, run/walk (fartlek) on a treadmill 15 minutes prior to a session with weights October/November last year when I was a lot heavier. I have only been walking for 60 minutes (usually evenings) recently a couple of times a week, plus I do an hours pilates every week.
I have started jogging a number of times in my life so I know what I need to do to build up and have completed a 5k fun run plus 2 10k’s for charity a few years ago.
I got up and went straight out 7.30 this morning (no food or drink since 9pm yesterday), walked to a nearby park (6 football fields that are not used at that time of day – grass and paths that you can go round) then did jog/walk 100 paces each around the park and walked home as a cool down. Stretched start and finish. Comfortable, no breathlessness, legs fine. Haven’t yet managed to get Garmin loaded, so can’t see my heart-rate, but it beeps at me when I get into the dangerous range and it did not do that. It was about 2.4km in 25 mins 40% jog, 60% walk, so a very easy ‘run’.
I went up-stairs and started to feel queasy. As I got ready for the shower, I was a little light headed, as I was during the shower. When I came out I had to lie down for a few minutes as I was still dizzy (I never have dizzy turns normally). I got myself dressed, and back downstairs still not feeling great and had breakfast – full fat yogurt, blueberries and seeds plus a cup of cocoa, half milk.
Started to feel better, and now fine. Could not get a BP reading on my HR monitor – error only. Did get one an hour ago 109/70. It is a wrist one so liable to be low. Pulse when I was having breakfast was about 80 – fine given I had just exercised. Now 65.
I used to go out first thing with no breakfast or just and small glass of orange, and never had an issue, so I assume it is some thing to do with available sugars in my blood and if my body is needing energy it is fat converting which is slower or worse – using protein? Anyone any ideas? I assume I also need to eat something before I go out in future – will nuts work or are they also too slow release?
Sorry for the ramble…. any background that you can point me at will help! I did a search on MM’s book, but nothing came up.

Hi Winston, that is a terrible disappointment for you! I can understand you being so upset. Please persevere though, even for just a couple more weeks. I see from your first post that the spike started in week 5, and you are one day into your final week. My high blood sugars lasted for a little over 3 weeks, I think Bill was also around the three week mark too. It is a scary time wondering if you are going to ever get through it. Like you, I dreaded the threat of meds to control my blood sugar. They really only treat the symptoms not the disease. Then slowly my fasting sugars came down until they are now consistently under 5.
So please don’t give in yet after all the effort you’ve put in. It’s worth pushing on, even if you have to do an extra week or two. Check your carb intake is low enough, 50g carbs a day is what achieved results for me. It would be awful if you dropped out without realising your goal, so keep posting and let us know how you’re doing.

Just been on a diabetes course and raised this diet and the dietician mentioned keto acidosis and also seemed to have made the same mix up. Basically she said the diet wasn’t a good idea for people on metformin or glucazid. What a disaster the course was. Although I did mention the diet loads.

Hi Lucia
Thanks, will have to have a look for them, maybe even take them on holiday with me! or is that being a bit too ‘anal’?

Hi Lucienne – I have hereditary eye problems, as Bill says please either go to your Doc or Optician for a check-up, it’s always best to nail anything like this fast to put your mind at rest.

Hi hashimoto
Snap, I wonder what else we have in common? Will have a look in morrisons for the ketostix things, any idea where they would be and what to look for ice colour of box etc?

Soup is our mainstay, you name it, I have made to for lunch, every single variant of permitted vegetable has been cooked & blended into an edible bowl of warmth, been a life-saver on cold days. Usually chuck a handful of pulses, barley or a can of cannellini beans in for good measure with lots of herbs.

I don’t weigh the veg, it’s whatever fits in the pan, goes. Not hugely scientific but I have lost 21lbs so far and my husband is touching the stone mark.

Well done Skywalker, 2 stone is to be congratulated!

Hi janet1973
confession time, yesterday evening when all the family left, we( husband) sat down with a coffee with cream and a chocolate eclair! I was still under 50g carbs when I had reckoned them up so guess what this morning I had still lost a pund, well pleased!

Hi SunnyB & Cherrianne. Thanks for the advice. Great ideas, will give them a try this week. 😀

My son is a pharmacist too, I just never thought to ask him, just ordered them from amazon. He looked a little disappointed when I showed him them as I could have got them through him! 🙁

Lucienne
I find the floaty dots in your visioin concerning.
Has your doc sent you for a diabetes eye check yet ?
I ask because those floaters, whilst normally nothing to worry about, can also be an indication of early retinopathy. Best to ask I think.

Hi Cherrianne,
Thanks for thinking of me… I have been great… had to look at the calendar today to see if it is week three or four… Yes the low carb choices here are amazing!!!! hahaha…. but we spent easter in Luxembourg and I actually learned to choose well from the menu’s…. Italian is easiest – of course not the pasta or pizza but their fish and salad choices are better.
Thanks for reminding me about tinned fish though will invest in some tonight… too far from the coast here to eat the real thing…. having grown up in King George Whiting country frozen fish does not cut it…
Anyway… yeah cannot weigh myself but clothes are getting baggy…
Fasting BSL is still hanging under 8 so, I am pretty happy – but waiting for the expected spike before I relax completely… would like to see it under 6 of course but realistically I have been diagnosed 16 years so feel I am doing amazingly well given that. Had to halve my BP profilactic med as was having dizzy spells but metformin remains unchanged for a while yet I reckon even though it is XR so will take longer to deplete my glucagon stores but don’t want to harm myself while trying to do good. Diamicron I have not taken since the day after I started this change… I have the app you recommend but had stopped using it in Germany.. will take a gander….
Thanks again chic..

Hi hashimoto
Thanks for the info, I should have asked daughter Emily , she is a pharmacist! However, (don’t tell her though!) She tends to talk down to me when I ask her leading questions! Like that. Will check Amazon.

Wow, spenloven that will spur you on through the complexities of your new diet!! 🙂

Thanks Magpie, hope it all works out 🙂