Hi Janet
What an irresponsible twerp. He is ignorant and should shut up about things he doesn’t know about. Millions will have seen that
Penny ( exasperated 😠)

Hi folks its me again.

I really will have to get my kindle back I need the book for the info.

How many carbs am I supposed to be eating a day. I cannot for the life of me remember!!

Thanks

Hi Sianyb
I don’t know about bloods but definitely drink 10 glasses/ cups a day, take painkillers, and in a day or two you ll be fine.
Good luck
Penny

Re ageism – which is a word. Here’s an example- I went to the doc a couple of years ago after my knee gave way on the stairs and then was very painful.
Of course I had searched the Internet for info.
The doc was very young, a trainee GP. She looked at my knee a bit and asked about it then said.’ Take these painkillers and carry on as normal, it ll be arthritis. ‘ I said ‘ but if it’s a torn miniscus I mustn’t walk on it’ ( which seemed more likely to me because of the giving way) Then she repeated what she d said and I repeated what I’d said, a few times.
eventually, with bad grace, she sent me for a scan- guess what, torn
Miniscus! If I’d ve ‘carried on as normal’ I could have ended up with a permanent injury. I think this was about her seeing me as an old woman therefore bound to have arthritis and not to be taken seriously. If it hadn’t been for the Internet…
Penny

Just caught a bit of ‘This Morning’ this morning, Joe what’s his face saying we shouldn’t be scared of eating carbs (he was cooking turkey burgers in bread buns). He then went on to say if you are fit and doing plenty of exercise, they are fine. I guess that’s where millions of people are going wrong then?

I also followed 5:2 last year, very successfully because I was strict and recorded all calories consumed and kept to my TDEE on non fast days. However, I think the BSD has a more balanced approach as I want to keep off all sweet items and I am hoping that my body will soon adjust to the routine of a regular intake of good foods and low carbs rather than just the two days a week as on the FD. Fortunately I don’t have much weight to lose, just doing this for the health benefits.

Hi
If you have a tea or coffee with full fat milk then wait… You’ll be ready for this later…

I have a teaspoon of each:
soya bran,
chai seeds,
flaxseed,
desiccated coconut
mixed into 100g Eat Water Slim Rice
with 100ml unsweetened Almond milk.
Warm in micro then drop 2 teaspoons of creamy Greek yoghurt on top.

It’s really filling so I have this closer to noon with a black coffee

Hi sianeyb
I test fasting sugars every morning and pre dinner levels at about 6pm
Drink as much water as possible to help with the headaches and take a couple of painkillers if needed. The headaches usually only last a couple of days.

Thanks for your posts.

Fifip I unfortunately I dont lie yoghurt – it would be so much easier if I did. I didnt know that using a lite version of Mayo had sugars and Im supposed to be an educated woman! I noticed on TV over Easter that a top brand of Mayo are advertising an Olive Oil Mayo. Might have a look at that.

SOS & Leeanne thanks for that as I said I’ll have a look and new olive oil one and see what thats like – checking ingredients before though.

When I look at what everybody is eating I’m not sure how I managed to lose 8 stone although to be fair I never felt deprived. Thank goodness for Michael Mosley!!

Hi Bill
I love that story!
I thought after- a better reply would have been- not the old lady in curlers, but a doctor of any age or gender!!
To which the right reply is -‘are you mad?’!!!!
Penny

Hi,
I am new to the diet and very headachey. How often do you test your blood and do you do a fasting test each morning. I don’t want to blood let unnecessarily!

Hi Bill
I so agree with you. I used to think’ how can people just have soup for lunch?’ – now I know! They weren’t carb addicted and therefore really hungry. Now I can just have soup for lunch!
Isn’t it great to not be in the grip of carbs!!
Penny

Blimey, not sure if I am detoxing or what but my head feels like it is about to explode! Is this commonplace ? I am drinking lots of water and have replaced a couple of cups of coffee with peppermint tea so I may be a bit lacking in caffeine

Hi Bill

Thanks for your reply.

I have diabetic bloods tomorrow and then a review with the nurse in 2 weeks. I am waiting to see the results of the bloods but will mention it as the surgeon who ordered the gastroscopy is not the surgeon who did the operation – he has unfortunately left. The new surgeon is not very nice at all and told me I may have to live with the vomiting and excess acid. However if its causing problems with my sugars then he needs to look at things again in my view. I’ll wait and see the results of the camera.

The blood readings Ive been doing are around a couple of hours after food where they have been good well good for me! The 8.2 was first thing in the morning before food.

I hope things sort out cos I am fed up. Mostly with the stomach problem. A piece of advice to anybody – DONT have your gallbladder removed unless ABSOLUTELY necessary!!

Cheers

I also successfully lost weight following 5:2 last year and kept it off until just after Christmas and for the past three months have been eating far too many sugary and carb laden items, especially chocolate. Only on the 3rd day, but it does help having had the discipline of doing two fast days per week (500 cals) previously and being aware of some of the side effects of intermittent fasting. However, I really must concentrate on eradicating sugar from my life, even though my current BMI is 24.2 so hoping the BSD plan will help me boot out the sweet things in my life.

Tell
You what I found .. Atkins biscuits..: low sugar and low carb.. Not bad for calories. They any good ???

Ideally don’t want to use them but there are times so hungry and rushed off need to eat something fast

Hi Bill,
What’s your thyroid function like then? I’m going to ask for mine to be retested. My hair is thinning, first thyroid test came back normal, but it was that blood test that picked up the diabetes. I’ve since found out on one of the threads here that you should ask for all the thyroid hormone levels to be checked. Only one gets checked usually cos it’s the cheapest test.

*breathe*. Ah,that’s better. 😊

That’s a great idea – looking forward to seeing your update later 😃

Bill, we’re meeting on a railway station so the twins can be handed over for me to bring them back with me, so it’s a bit public. 😳

He goes to a diabetes clinic at a major hospital in Manchester and thinks they know what’s best for him. He’s like my late mother in that – she never questioned any doctor. But I’ve worked with lots of them in the past, so I have a different attitude😃

Well Bill, I’m a bit disappointed! I’ve been waiting for Judith to bite back but she obviously hasn’t read it yet. Thought that would be good for a laugh or two. Think you were hoping the same too 😉
Hi neohdiver, your story is very similar to my family history. You might find, as I have, that your personal fat threshold is very low. I have to stay at the lowest end of my healthy weight range. Then I can have around 50g carbs a day, occasionally pushing it out to 60g but I haven’t experimented with anything higher than that.
Your normal HbA1c and high fasting readings suggest to me that although your low carbs control your blood sugar really well overall, your liver must still be getting rid of it’s stored sugar. Have you had any indications of a very fatty liver from tests?
Once you get down to your personal fat threshold you should be able to increase your carbs and maintain your blood sugar in the non diabetic range.

Thank you all…………I am feeling very positive.

Hi Inka

I’m another daily weigher – for the same reasons as everyone else.

I record my weight, fasting blood reading and everything I eat in a little notebook (rapidly coming to the end of 2nd notebook since starting this!) so I can take it with me when I’m away from home. And take it to my medical appointments. It’s what works for me and helps keep me on track.

Breathe Lynne, appointments not until 3, and I don’t know if you suit blue.
I’m considering putting the phone on voice record and keeping it in my pocket though

ROFLMAO
When I was a kid, sexism and ageism (is that even a word? ) weren’t even a glimmer in the PC brigades eye.
Anyway, my Gran had this neighbour who was always hanging over the garden fence and minding other folks busuness, she always had curlers in too.
If she ever saw us kids doing anything she disagreed with she would describe what you were doing followed with are you mad ie “you’re climbing that tree, are you mad?” )
It became a mantra with us kids to the point that it didn’t matter what any of us did, someone would say are you mad
It just sort of stuck over the years.
FREEDOM FOR PINK HAIRED YOUNG MEN ? ARE YOU MAD ?

Hi Bill

Holding my breath to hear how it went at docs. In danger of turning blue😳

I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that appointment.

Hi jillyB,
It will get better very soon, you only have a couple more days and you’ll start to feel amazing. You’ll be posting about your weight loss and increased energy before too long. 🙂
It is helpful to go to bed when you’re feeling hungry at night. Much better than snacking and you’ll get a longer overnight fast.

Just been round Asda. Guess what – they’re cooked chicken includes sugar, although the front label does not mention it as clearly as M&S. I don’t think Asda’s labelling and nutritional info is as clear as M&S. Mentioned the sugar in poultry to the lady at the checkout and she was amazed – had never heard of it and would never add sugar to meat/poultry herself. Just suggested she read the labels in store.

When I’ve got more time (and it’s not school holidays) I’ll investigate further 😃 Might even get adventurous and check Morrisons and Tesco. Curious to see which is the best/worst , not only for sugar but for labelling/nutritional info😳

Wow Lynne
get the phone out and video the meeting, that should really be one for the family film library 😀
And tell your son the only one playing is him, with his health.

My family don’t know – yet. But they’ll find out on Saturday for the first time since last autumn 😃 My son’s type 2 diabetic on meds who likes his carbs so it will be interesting to see what he says.

Because his levels at diagnosis were higher than mine, and he’s on meds when I’ve avoided them, his usual comment is ‘you’re not really diabetic, you’re only playing at it’ 😳

Hi Annie, welcome to the family.

After all those years of being brainwashed by the low fat mantra, it’s not easy to find full fat natural yogurt, but it is there. Shelves of low-fat yogurts, with just a few full fat ones!

But the tide will turn 😃

Hi stringbreaker,
I hear you, re having to increase the calorie intake.
In a last minute change of plan last night I was presented with a small bacon steak, 2 sausages, and half a tin of reduced sugar beanz.
I left half the bacon, one sausage but finished the beanz, and as I sat there feeling bloated, I was wondering how the hell I could be feeling like this after what I had just eaten.
I have had one or two ignorantcomments in the “anorexic you’re going to kill yourself” mode but, I know I can increase my calories easily justby adding a little more fat to my diet so I reckon I’m doing ok.

Hi Inka
I weigh everyday and have found it a real encouragement to keep going – either because the scales are down which is a boost, or the same or up and then I dig in and redouble my determination. I have a spreadsheet on which I record everything as I go through the day, so I can see after every item recorded, what cals and carbs I have consumed and so know what I have left to keep e in or around the 800cals/20g carbs. A bit control-freaky, but it’s worked for me.

Hi Fran, for me the first few days were a nightmare. Sooo hungry and with a family house full of temptations! But I got through it and somehow my appetite adjusted. It just takes time and will power. Good luck!

Hi Bully

Stick to it this time so you can say “see, I told you so’ 😃

Hard isn’t it ? We have all been brainwashed by the low fat movement over such a long period of time.
Go for the Fage, but don’t do what I did at the weekend. I picked up the tub of Fage, to find out when I got home that I had picked the 0% fat free version 🙁

Hi annie68

It does take a while to get your head around the full fat thing. It definitely feels counterintuitive and had me panicking for awhile. I think I agree with Bill though, if you up the fat a little more it should help. In a few days, you’re system will feel more balanced and the carb cravings will ease off, so keep going, you’ll be thrilled you did when you start to see the results.

Hi, I’ve also been using Mayo (prob the most popular brand). I only use half a tablespoon and ensure I count the cals –
104 cals per tablespoon. I sometimes go for salad cream instead which is only 52 cals per tablespoon. Both are full-fat.

Ok everyone, I will heed your advice and start to weigh myself more frequently…. sounds pretty logical.. Being able to see if you have to make some changes to your food intake. Recording everthing and knowing what foods might be the culprit when things dont turn out once in a while, will certainly helps with this enormously. I kind of know when I pigged out, without looking at my food diary. It is also very interesting to see the nutritional breakdown for the day. Sometimes I think I did well and when everything gets added up at the end of day, I get a surprise when I exceed my daily goals for fat, carbs and ultimately the cal count :-(! .Thanks all, for your prompt responses, as usual :-)….

LMAO
she is like me, prepare for the worst and accept the best
BUT
I do have dark brown eyes and long eyelashes, in fact I was the envy of all Mums friends when I was a baby.
My hair unfortunately, seems to be leaving me faster than the weight is.

Hi Chezza
a lot of your questions are for your GP really but, these sugar readings, are they your fasting readings or are they taken at other times of the day ?
I ask because I had problems with higher fasting readings and the team told me not to worry too much about them as they are naturally higher than at other times.

Penny – Goa sounds amazing!!
1.5 weeks to go and I’ll be a veteran too! Been super simple to stick with this and the results have been fantastic! Really pleased so far – but I’ll save the figures for the big reveal so to speak!
Contratulations Bill, Penny, Orchid & Springbreaker & others – the progress everyone has made physically and medically has been astonishing and I think everyone should feel really proud.
Springbreaker – go enjoy your afternoon tea, it’s a one off thing & it will be fun!
See you on the other side of 1.5weeks for final results! xx

Hi all

Anybody help with this. I started the diet a couple of weeks ago and although not a great weigh loss – about 7lbs so far – my sugars are not great. In October last year I had major abdominal surgery and also had my gallbladder removed. Since then I have had real problems with my stomach with bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea 2 or 3 times a week and dreadful acid both when vomiting and on the “better” days. Its not heartburn. The acid is in my stomach – the best way to describe it is a fire in my stomach. I am due to have a gastrosocopy on 13th April. Common sense tells me that the vomiting and such may have a part to play in this because the vomiting brings back undigested food and medication. My sugars have certainly been better over the last couple of weeks but some days they are higher than I would like them or what I think they should be. I eat as best I can on the bad days – some of those days I can only manage drinks because the nausea is horrible. It might be sensible to add that my readings before I started the diet were likely to be 11 & 12 and higher. The highest Ive had over the last couple of weeks it 8.2 and the lowest 5.4 which I am over the moon about. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Hi Judith, some men just have the best hair and longest eyelashes!! No your hippiness doesn’t show too much. The gardening, country walks and foraging etc. don’t give it away at all 😉
Bill, have you never heard that a sense of humour is a man’s best asset? You’d come up trumps on that count alone, never mind the ringlets. As long as your wife thinks you’re gorgeous you’re on a winner. 🙂

Hi, I’ve been using full fat mayo when I want it and it hasn’t hindered weight loss. I understand that any fat you use go for full fat everytime as the low or light versions have problematic fillers and additives that just aren’t good for us. Avocado is a very good fat food but might be high in calories.

Hi Chezza, I’m not a veteran on this site, but here goes.

One or 2 (?) of MM’s recipes use a tablespoon of mayo.

Full fat is better than a lite one, as low fat products typically add sugar to bulk them up.

When I’ve needed a dressing I have used a goodly dollop of Greek yoghurt, chopped chives & parsley, pepper & salt and a glug of balsamic vinegar all mixed together.

Alternatively you could add a tablespoon of Mayo to the Greek yoghurt if you are craving the consistency of a mayo as opposed to a dressing which I make.

Well, I can see by your responses that abbreviating the details, so my initial post would not be 10 miles long, backfired – since you both seem to think I’m afraid of fat. So here’s more of the story.

My body can only tolerate 20 grams of carbohydrates and stay within non-diabetic BG ranges (my primary goal). Because diabetes carries with it a risk of kidney damage – and a fairly high proportion of people with even pre-diabetic BG levels have kidney disease – I choose to be safe rather than sorry, and treat my kidneys as if they are damaged and limit my protein to moderate levels (about 60 grams a day). I also treat that as a target rather than a cap since protein is essential to maintain muscle.

That means that at 1200 calories a day, even if I eat the maximum carbohydrates my body will tolerate (around 60 grams) and cap the protein at 60 grams, I have 720 calories left that can only come from fat. I’ve actually been eating between 60 and 80 grams of fat every day for nearly 6 months (since the day I was diagnosed). As a side note, I’ve already had follow-up bloodwork – the A1c and the lipid panel are all normal.

Ironically, eating the BSD will mean lowering the fat content in my diet by about 50% I still want to maximize the carbs I eat in order to take advantage of the micronutrients they contain, and the protein is a target (based on my lean muscle mass). That means the 400 calories I am cutting out will come primarily from fats.

It is the same reality that is driving my concerns about moving to maintenance at perhaps 1500 calories. Unless my carb tolerance changes, the carbs and protein are relatively fixed (assuming I want to maximize my carbs and maintain normal blood glucose. The additional 300 calories have to come from fat. (Added to the 60 – 80 grams I am already currently eating.)

There is a difference between including fat in reasonable quantities as part a balanced diet, and having 70% (or more) of my calories come from fat. If I cannot put diabetes into remission – or at least increase my carbohydrate tolerance – it may be necessary. But it will be the lesser of two poor choices (elevated blood glucose v. a very fat-heavy diet).

I”m not skinny – my weight goal still puts me in the top half of the normal BMI range. (But my body shape is between hourglass and pear, so I have never carried my weight as belly fat – aside from relatively evenly adding fat all over when I gain weight.) The person from whom I inherited my diabetes (my maternal grandfather) was an active string bean. 100% of his descendants my age or older have been diagnosed with diabetes- and based on their weight/activity levels/impact of losing weight after diagnosis – the particular family strain seems not to be linked to weight.

Dr. Taylor suggests that losing a substantial amount of weight, alone, should be sufficient – especially for someone who does so within 4 years of diagnosis. He defined substantial as 15% of your body weight (or a quantity that I can’t track down right now – but it is less than I have already lost). His time frame for the change in metabolism for recently diagnosed individuals is somewhat short of 8 weeks, based on the duration of the diet.

I was diagnosed not quite 6 months ago (and my doctor has been testing every year, so I have been diabetic at most 18 months). I have already dropped 49 pounds – 24% of my body weight since diagnosis. According to Dr. Taylor’s criteria I should already be in remission. My A1c is normal. But it is normal not because my BG metabolism has changed – but because of intensive dietary management. My morning glucose regularly rises to 6.9 by late morning, before eating anything), and if I eat more than 20 grams of carbs (or the wrong 20 grams of carbs), my BG has the same response it did the day I was diagnosed. In other words, so far this is acting as I expected my family strain to act – as if weight is irrelevant.

The fact that it continues to seem weight-independent was one of the primary motivators to try either IF or the 800 calorie diet. Both of those (like LC-moderate protein) seem to work for weight-independent reasons. Unlike LC-moderate protein, BSD and IF seem to trigger remission rather than disease management)

Hi Bill
Thanks.
I just like researching and reading up stuff plus I m not shy about giving advice!!
I started on Feb 1 st.
I just discovered on MFP it’s got me as weighing a lb more in the beginning so maybe I lost 13 lb!!
So great to have a waist. The standard difference in women’s clothes between waist and hip is 10″- so 0″ gives you a problem. I’m almost halfway there in both waist and weight.
So happy to have found BSD- what seemed an insoluble problem has an easy answer after all!!
The goa season is October/ November to March/ April. That’s 6 months so maybe you can squeeze in a holiday??
My grandsons father was at the wedding party- I hadn’t seen him for 26 years! ( he s Goan) That was strange.
Anyway, as I said, highly recommend.
Penny

Well, it’s started…..today is my first day, only 55 days to go !! It is now late at night [ I’m an Aussie ] and my insides are gnawing away and I am quite light headed. I have been drinking gallons of water and as a consequence, spent most of the day in the smallest room of the apartment. I have read many blogs and most people say it gets better after 2 days….I hope they are right.
Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Thanks for your helpful suggestions orchid.
I think when it comes to it I’ll probably just go for it. After all, it’s just one day in the whole of the rest of my life.
Just for once I really have faith that I (we) have been shown a way forward that’s both easy and beneficial. Too good to be true almost.
I find it hard to believe that I’m actually having to plan ways to increase my calorie intake – I feel as if I could just carry on, though I know that in the long term 800 kCals just ain’t enough.
I think MM deserves a medal or a knighthood. (And what about “Lord Taylor”? Other folk have had honours for far less.

Hi All

I have been looking on the internet for low carb recipes. Ive come across one thats a tuna and avocado sale – its looks delicious. However the woman who thought of it and posted it says not to use Mayo as the avocado does he same job and fats are not good for you!! Im not convinced of that. I have lent my kindle to my niece to read the BSD so cant find the info I am looking for. Am I right that I can use Mayo – obviously not a full jar – but it can be used because I need to be taking fats as well as protein and few carbs.

I only use light Mayo if that helps.

Thanks