Hi gang,
Sorry but there wasn’t an Internet connection in work so couldn’t sneak out of the office and blog you all.

Anyway, I am here now.

All through the night, I have had a headache behind my right eye. Took a few headache tablets but couldn’t get back to sleep.
Is it the headaches everyone has at the beginning of the diet. Am I so dense I am weeks behind everyone else?
So I am making an appointment with the opticians. Hopefully with one that hasn’t had a ton of garlic the night before.
One that has dreamy eyes that I can lose my self into their depths and then as he rips of HIS corset, please god I wake up!!!😳😳😳😳😳
Love Lucia
Xxxx

It might be worth checking out oatcakes. I bought some yesterday and they are about 0.9 carbs each. The only ones I could get included about 30% wheat flour but I am sure some of Nairns are 100% oats, which might be better. I know a biscuit isn’t bread, but it might help. Have you considered looking at low calorie breads? They are nearly always smaller than ordinary bread and so might give you more slices for your carb total. I don’t know the answer to this one, as I haven’t checked yet. They were thoughts I was going to check out next time I’m at the supermarket. Just checked and Hovis Nimble Wholemeal Loaf slices do come in lower than a lot of its rivals. So maybe you can fit in the odd slice now and then. It freezes well, and just about defrosts in the time it takes me to make the sandwich or meal I’m having it with. Or it toasts well from frozen too.

Quorn is great (if you can stomach it) but check the ingredients on products before you buy – the sausages in particular have a fair amount of wheat in them which is not what you want. The mince and fake chicken pieces are fine.

Hi Lucy, We’ve only been going a week so newbies to this although experienced dieters otherwise! We’ve had lovely meals and are just having what we fancy but following the guidelines. We have mostly come in on or around 800 kcal. Our carbs are all over the place, very low some days and well over 50g on others. But we are logging the meals and will soon have enough information to plan the day’s intake by putting a high carb breakfast with a low lunch and a medium dinner and so on. We’ve learned an oily fish day can’t also be a cheese day for us. Our only slips have been one no added sugar muesli and nut bar each, finishing the low fat yog and sticking to a little skim milk as we really don’t like full fat. Our meals have been fab. We pinched a lot of ideas from the what have you eaten today thread. Such a helpful lot you are. I am so full, I often don’t feel like having another meal! I used to prowl the dining room and kitchen looking for things to munch up to an hour before meals were due. Isn’t it great? I have problems with drinks too. As someone who used to drink pots of tea and coffee, I’ve found switching to black has reduced the amount I want to drink of them. I now keep a pint glass of water handy. Having discovered I like it warm or hot. Who knew? I am managing round about 3 pints a day, just by remembering to keep my glass full. A cup of coffee/tea means a glass of water too. I really didn’t think it would be this easy. But it is just never feeling hungry, it transforms our lives. Onwards and downwards.

Hi Everyone again!

Thanks so much for your helpful replies!

The ideas for meals were great thanks! It all looks like a lot of food! (thank goodness!)

I have always had problems with portion control. But luckily, I usually make nearly all of my meals from scratch so although I put weight on, my cholesterol and blood pressure have been ok. I have never been tested for diabetes but I am worried about developing it due to my weight. I have stopped drinking even low/no calorie fizzy drinks and am limiting myself to only a couple of cubes of dark chocolate a day. I have now stopped drinking alcohol – I was having 2 glasses of red wine a week with a can of cider.

Lets hope this weight loss continues…

Lucy

Thanks for you r welcome hashimoto, Magpiemag, Cherrianne and Bill. Day 1 done! I took a scary lot of measurements this morning and hope to see a significant reduction in the numbers at the end of 8 weeks. Managed well although did find it hard smelling the cupcakes my 13yo dtr made today. Proud to say I did not eat a crumb! Craving something sweet after dinner and had 1 small piece of dark chocolate. Managed 2+ litres of water and herbal tea plus my beloved coffee. Looking forward to day 2.

Diabetes UK Twitter feed too
*Waits for the storm*

Oh 170 now 🙂

Another 4 Twitter football groups and a USA diabetes support group (b1ofthe9) have the petition URL now
I thought the USA thing may help with publicity.

Hi just resubscribinh

I’m on day 2 so still getting used to what I can and can’t have: –

Breakfast: 2 egg omelette with yellow pepper and courgette (140 kcal approx)

Lunch: Homemade vegetable chilli with cauliflower rice and natural yoghurt (250 kcal approx)

Dinner: Will be the same as lunch (but a slightly larger portion as I have a step class before dinner and will be hungry) (350kcal approx)

Snack: 2 brazil nuts (60 kcal approx)

And that will be day 2 done 🙂

Wise move Hallie to listen to your body.
My wife needed to go back on some “conventional” carbs and felt much better for it. She still managed -20lbs over the 8 weeks.

I’ve just posted the petition to the british politics page on facebook in the hope that it’ll reach a wider audience than just my friends’ list. With enough shouting it will get the attention it deserves 😀

Good point Hash about spending less on junk food 🙂

Thanks Spirit, so far the consensus is 100% in favour of getting rid!

I’ve just ordered a pedometer, I think I need to go and lie down.

I think it might be a taste that takes time to get used to!

Another vote for chucking the ‘fat’ clothes.

I’m trying to exist on what I have already got for now. Luckily I work from home so haven’t had to buy a work wardrobe.

However, watch out shopping malls in Orlando, I’m coming to gettcha!

Hi sianeyb. Great start.

FiFiP – we’ve had European sugar mountains and butter mountains, looks like we’re getting a world-wide fat mountain. All that fat we’re losing does need somewhere to go! *waves goodbye to excess fat*

hi DJDAussie,
I aim for 200 cals so I have adjusted yogurt and rasps down a little. This is 149 cals, 8g carbs.
50g full fat greek yogurt; 25 g raspberries; 3 g linseeds (flax seeds); 3 g sunflower seeds; 3 g pumpkin seeds; 3 almonds (3g) chopped; good pinch of cinnamon.

Hi D, I’m not counting cals but here’s my ballpark: I have 3-4 heaped dessert spoons of yoghurt, a handful of berries and a dessert spoon of seeds. FF yoghurt is soooooo good.

Am in Melbourne. Week 1 lost 7lb and 1″ from middle. Two more days to Week 2 weigh in. Have found this regimen so easy! I have been amazed that I do not actually feel hungry. The last few days have been noticing that I feel much more energetic.

Hi Omega
What s fantastic unexpected bonus to not have migraines! I had the bonus of sleeping all night every night which I didn’t used to do.
Best of luck in your continuing journey
Penny

Thanks to all of you. Everything you’ve said sounds like plain old common sense to me. I’ll keep dong the BSD until my doctors tell me otherwise. Thank you for your support and I’ll let you know how I’m travelling.

Oh and the 5:2 recipe book has lots of calorie counted meals to supplement the 8 week book!

6kgs over 5 weeks is awesome! I certainly I hope I can achieve that… Well done Kags, keep up the good work. I’ve just concluded my ‘prep week’ and am starting the BSD800 in earnest from tomorrow. I’ve already lost 2.5kgs (which I expected as I usually lose that amount in a week whenever I start a diet) and am looking forward to losing more. It’s good to read posts by other people – very encouraging. 🙂

Just do it, stick with it, you’ll have weeks with low or no loss. Depends on lots of things I guess. Two things that I need to remember are to drink plenty of water and do some exercise – even just a short walk to get metabolism going! Good luck… Jackie

B – no carb bircher minus the walnuts
L – no carb ploughmans minus the chutney
D – luxury fish pie

needed to play around with quantities to get cals to 879

Tomorrow I am going to follow what seems to be the preferred breakfast on this thread …
Yoghurt with raspberries and seeds but can I have a bit of guidance please. How much of each should I use. I’m aiming at about 150 cals. Thanks. Dx

Just wondering if anyone else is wishing they’d not bought a pack of cacao/cocoa nibs! I bought some by “Creative Nature” and, frankly, I thought they smelled & tasted disgusting. I was expecting them to be bitter (visited Cadbury World a few years ago so I knew the choccie drink brewed up by the ancients of South America was bitter) but I wasn’t expecting it to be so bad. Admittedly, I’m more of a milk chocolate gal than plain chocolate. I did a bit of Googling and have seen references to roasting the nibs – a bit of deeper delving and it seems that the bean naturally contains acetic acid & tannins (hence the bitterness).
So I’ve just tried roasting a small batch (180C in a fan oven) for about 9-10mins and the end result is distinctly more palatable – still some bitterness but closer to plain choc.
I might actually try cooking with them now!

Ditto to what the others have said about talking to your doctor about your nutritional needs during treatment. I have chronic lymphocytic leukemia (ten years survivor) and from what I’ve researched about cancer and nutrition the Blood Sugar Diet sounds perfect for helping you maintain optimum health and it should aid your recovery. I’d be super cautious about doing the Fast800 version while being treated if your aim is to lose weight – sometimes medications are calculated on our weight and any sudden weight loss might result in an incorrect dosage. Ask your doctor if any of your medications may be affected by any foods – for example, grapefruit is contraindicated with many medications and shouldn’t be eaten if you are taking them.

Hi, ref petition – Facebook – I’m going to post it now suggest if any of you use it you do the same. Social media is powerful! I also emailed my local MP.

J

Wow , week 12 POUNDS OFF ! Feeling energised, blood sugar down to 5.4 in the mornings over the last week and going well so far.
Yes I feel hungry at times, most afternoons but I get through it with mint teas, fizzy water and black coffee!
This is a challenge but pre plan meals, never skip breakfast even if you just have some yogurt and berries and watch the pounds melt away. One day at a time is my mantra as with any addiction, looking too far ahead is not a great idea.
Keep at it, keep the fridge stocked with great foods. Celeriac soup is a great filler , just blend it all and it is thick and tasty , put pumpkin seeds onto instead of croutons for extra bite.
Keep going everyone

As Bill has said, this is the time to listen to the medical profession. A few years ago when I had a cancer scare I got hold of a book called “Foods to Fight Cancer” by Richard Beliveau & Denis Gingras, published by Dorling Kindersley. Many of the foodstuffs written about in the book are encouraged on this diet (fish, broccoli, etc) but some (like citrus fruits) are not. You will undoubtedly have been eating a lot of good stuff on the BSD but see what the nutritionist says.
So well done on what you have achieved on the BSD so far, and every best wish for a successful outcome for your surgery – easy to say but try and remain positive!

Oh dear, I had this packet of rye Ryvita so I thought I may as well use it today.
I wish someone had told me not to spread the cream cheese on them in advance.
I now have what is very similar to 4 pieces of soggy cardboard coated in cheese 🙁
Lunch today isn’t going to be very inspiring.

Hi Kags, good post
it does look like you’re experiencing the wayward sugar readings that a few of us have in weeks 4 to 5.
This seems to take on average 2 to 3 weeks to sort itself out from my experience. Just keep doing what you’re doing, it will come right in the end.
Nice to see the weight loss happening again for you, you know yourself now how to get to where you need to be, it’s just a matter of time.

Thank you Hashimoto, fully take onboard the non-Uk resident side of things, do hope that the tecchie team make the streams less clunky!

Lynne, Bill & Hashimoto, I am so impressed at your combined weightloss, that’s a massive amount of fat, simply gobsmacking!!!

: )

Good to hear Just do it
Let’s get you on a roll now and see those pounds melt away.

Saturday and Sunday brunch sorted 🙂

This is really one for the professionals I’m afraid, they are the experts in their field and are really the ones to listen to at this stage.
Have a chat with your consultant and nutritionist about it. If necessary, you could always take a break and come back later.
My thoughts and best wishes are with you during these troubling times.

Great news 🙂

Lostgirl – what they all said.

Binning the cake was brilliant. I think a gentle word with your husband is in order – you’re aiming for a new you and so you need new no-food rewards.

Hi all,

After posting about not losing weight, it seems I am on the downturn again, finally (hopefully not speaking too soon)! Have managed a loss of 6.1kg over 5 weeks. FBS, however, is all over the place. Had a beautiful 4.8 yesterday, but managed only 5.9 this morning (I am pre-diabetic). I’m not giving up, though. Still have around 19kg to lose and want to see the low FBS reading become stable. I felt so demotivated after my long plateau (almost two weeks), but it is right what many of you are saying. If you stick with it, it works. Just wanted to post to help motivate those who are experiencing something similar.

Enjoying reading about all your successes! Keep going!

I am into my 5th week on the BDS and have lost 7 kilos. It’s amazing and I really want to continue until I lose the 10 kilos my doctor advised me to lose at the end of February. However last week I was diagnosed with a small (8 mm, stage 2) breast cancer!!
While I do not yet know how the hormones I have been told I will have to take may affect me, I do know they may affect my appetite and/or weight.
I really would like to continue with the BSD but am wondering how safe it is. All advice welcome. I will be seeing a nutritionist before I have surgery in two weeks time and will also discuss it with her/him.

Plateau over ! Delighted to say that after stalling in week 2 I have dropped 3lbs in the last three days, what a relief. I shook things up a bit by doing some of MM’s book recipes which I’ve absolutely loved. They include beans and pulses which I hadn’t been having so maybe that got things moving. So stick with it all those on a plateau, it really does come right with a bang.

Janet and I sing from the same sheet !
I don’t count calories either. I find that watching the carbs and sensible portion control takes care of everything I need.
I’m not saying don’t count calories, but personally, I’ve never needed to.

Lynne, the comment don’t lose too much i think comes from thd shock of seeing someone lose a lot of weight quickly. People are not used to seeing it. We were all brainwashed by the its best to lose weight slowly brigade.

Emergency call from dad. Speak later – oh it’s Ict related, not health!!!!! ..:)

Hi Lucy, welcome to the BSD way of life, glad you came out from lurking, now you’ll get lots of helpful suggestions. 🙂
Try having your full fat yoghurt and berries for breakfast, add some flaxseed meal to help with protein and vitamins.
You could change it now and again with bacon and eggs or scrambled eggs with cheese. This will keep your carbs down and add protein and fat.
Lunch could be tuna or chicken salad, soup and cream cheese/ Greek yoghurt/ creme fraiche stirred through. Or really thick veg soup/stew with grated cheese on top. Check through the recipes on the site too. Bills flatbread recipe is very nice. If you add Garlic and Rosemary to it you can top it like a pizza, or coriander and cumin and have it with curry instead of rice.
Dinner is meat/ fish and any above ground veg have very low carbs. Or you could grill/ roast courgette, eggplant, peppers, mushrooms with olive oil and some fried halloumi cheese.
It is important to keep up your fluids to prevent headaches and dehydration. Any non sugary drinks count towards your fluid intake. If you use milk you need to add it to your calorie count. Herbal or fruit teas and mineral water or hot water and a slice of lemon help to ring the changes.
Just a few ideas, hope it helps.
Keep posting and let us know how you get on.

Eggs are great for protein, I have a two egg omelette fried in butter with cheese, have a salad or some veg with it and you have hit all the bases in one meal. These days, I always add butter or oil to my veggies and where I would have grilled before, I now fry in butter. However, I do not count calories as this amount of fat would put me way over the 800. I just stick to 50g of carbs a day and I am still losing weight that way. All the best to you, you’ve made a great start.

Hi lynne so glad you finally got that deserved compliment.

Bill is right it depends what you are happy with.

I am 5’4“, 63 years old and bang on 9 stones. My GP is happy with my weight and BMI of 21.6. Her words were ‘thats good you are in the healthy weight /bmi range’. She knows I am still following the diet and doesn’t have a problem with it. 7 stones 6lb would be the lowest end of my healthy weight range.

I started out hoping to drop to 11 stone. Revised it to 10 stones. Revised it to nine and a half stones, then 9 stones.
Now i am aiming for 8 stones 12 lbs. I. Will be happy with that. Don’t want to be seven and a half like I was in my younger days. But alower weight will protect my damaged leg.

So short answer, lynne, is what you personally will be happy with. I never dreamed I could get down to 9 stones. I think Bill still sees 12 stones as a dream weight!

The only sure thing is – we are all doing splendidly :). 🙂

Silly predictive text… I meant ‘delish’ and that I can’t reach total without carbs!!!
Lucy

Hello All!

Congratulations on all your results so far..Amazing!

My name is Lucy and I have been doing some ‘lurking’ over the last month and have decided to join in for real.
Just to give you some background.. I’m 46 and 5’1″ short and weigh 12 stones on at present.(I was 14 nearly 15 at my heaviest) I lost 6 lb last week doing this properly (ish)
I have been trying ‘diets’ for as long as I can remember but after initial small successes..given up. My husband (who never puts weight on and who loses it quickly if he does) is heartily sick of me!
I am finding this way of eating ok but just having problems with balancing nutrients. I seem to eat over the recommended 50g of carbs but hardly take in fats and proteins.
I have been eating no breakfast then full fat yeo natural yoghurt and fruit (straws,blues and plum) with mixed seed for lunch (which is relish!) and for dinner yesterday I had mackerel and small amount of quinoa and veg.
Sometimes I go over the 800 calories but often I can reach that total without carbs.
I have seen the thread re meals and have tried following them … any sound advice?
I have also struggled to drink water and this has resulted in headaches so I am really trying now on that front!

Thanks, Lucy

Hi Ficip It’s a good idea! I am waiting for the tech team to make a decision on making it sticky.

Part of the problem is only Uk residents can sign. A lot of people on the forums do not live in the uk and the number of threads does not equate to the number of individuals posting. Though as you say there will be ‘lurkers’ in the shadows.

We all want this to reach as many people as possible 🙂