I have found a source of literally hundreds of recipes at https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Recipes/. They are sub-divided into various groups, e.g. ‘Sugar Free’, ‘Gluten Free’, etc.

My main problem is that most cookery books use non-metric measures – a teaspoon of this or 1/3 cup of that, etc., particularly so with American publications. I always use metric and weigh everything. I use the UK ‘back of pack’ nutrition information entered into a database from which is extracted accurate energy and nutrition for the quantity of each food item used.

Since we are dealing with a small quantity of 800 kcalories per day, variations in ‘traditional’ measuring items – cups, spoons – from one country to another could result in a greater or lesser proportion of the 800 kcalories required.

Really helpful, Allychat. Thanks for that. This is the way we are going at the moment. Not far enough in to really know about weight losses yet. So nice to know it is working this way for someone out there.

Just do it, sounds as though you’re really benefitting from the diet, even if you’ve not lost very much weight. From what I’ve been reading it’s those who have a lot to lose and/or haven’t been dieting recently who see the biggest losses. You should still lose weight, but maybe not so dramatically.

Correction LOL – 2 chicken thighs not breasts!

Really well done to, Bruno, Lynne, Bill and Inka!

Only a pound for me, but it’s a pound in the right direction.

Re toothpaste.
Just read the back of kingfisher. No sugar or sweeteners. Pretty sure toms is the same.
Penny

Hi Judith and Inka
Check out the toothpastes in the health food shops. – kingfisher or Toms.
Penny

You’re right, shortapple – there aren’t any reasons not to give it a try.

btw, my autocorrect wants to call you chortle … maybe I will!

Hi Debi
I put the nuts and nut butters on a high shelf in the cupboard. I have to stand on a chair! So can’t casually eat them.
Penny

Thanks, Lucia.

It did give me confidence that I’ll be fine with the maintenance and won’t have to worry about measuring things then. Just need to be stricter with myself for a while first.

Yeh, janet, i use that every day but if you haven’t been on line for several hours you would have a few pages to trawl through. You can’t receive emails without posting and pressing the let me know about future emails at the same time. It makes it difficult to prioritize. I respond to received emails and check latest posts. This is the first and only forum I have used so I am a bit surprised by the sheer quantity of different threads. I would love to have it rationalized.

Threads for different nationalities makes perfect sense, same for 8 weeks and after,weigh in thread, petition (of course!), fasting bloods, just starting bsd, this has to work for me, first salvo fired and what I have eaten today – that’s all in the bsd category, I. Haven’t looked much at the others. Apologies if I have missed any others – i didn’t check all the threads first, there are so many lol

I like that analogy Janet! I am a wobbler (in more ways than one, sadly!!) and every few days I go off the rails. There is something about this diet that makes it possible for me to get back on straight away, instead of continuing to binge. I don’t know what it is, but it is working. Must be those abstinence muscles!

Hi Cherrianne & Janet1973, thanks so much for your replies and encouragement. You are absolutely right, great points re previous weight loss and benefits already realised, and I’m certainly not letting it put me off, I’m even more determined than ever to do well on this plan – just thought I must be going wrong when I read of people who’ve averaged a pound a day loss when I’ve only managed 4 in 16 days.

Amendment to my original post – fats are minimum of 50% of my daily intake, not carbs – duuurrrh!

Thank you

There is nothing in the bsd book that gives specific quantities of fat but the general feeling seems to be to have some fat with every meal. The distinction of ‘good’ fat is breaking down these days too. The only fat you need to avoid is trans-fat. A great website for this is dietdoctor.com.

Judith, have you tried using the ‘latest form posts’ button? Its under the forums tab at the top of the website and it shows you all posts made in the last few minutes, regardless of which thread they are on. Might help you keep up with the newbies!

Not at all John, I only find things out on this website by prodding stuff and seeing what happens! Any of the main supermarkets should have your fage yoghurt. Also has ‘total’ on carton. Make sure you get full fat one and not 0%

Stringbreaker you are not alone, I spent ages searching for first salvo fired.

I think we do need some rationalization. One would like to welcome and support new starters but with so many new threads starting they are very easy to miss 🙁

Janet,
I’m an idiot, I’ve just discovered the “search” box at the top RH corner of the home page – takes you straight there (as long as you can remember the exact name of the thread).
Doooh
You probably assumed I already knew that and wondered why I was being so dense.
Sorry
Just of to look for some “Fage” Yoghurt – sounds yummy.
John

Well done Karra!

I’m not aware of a fat intake limit but the BSD recommends “good” fats and full fat versions of foods like dairy. I don’t worry about how much fat I am having, but I do calorie count it all. So for example, I’ll have 2 tablespoons of olive oil as a greek salad dressing, but that’s about 250 calories so I have to adjust the amount of feta cheese I have with it, and adjust other meals in the day to allow for it as well.

So long as you know what the calories are and can make room for them, you should be ok. you might have to weigh your quarter cup one day to find out exactly how many cals/carbs there are and then include your milk too. They are quite high in carbs and some people find they want more bang for their buck – that was me. But see how you go, you can always try something different later if you feel its not helping you.

Hi Chris
I was much the same, having porridge and semi skimmed milk each morning. I am 7 weeks in to the 800 cal diet now and have avoided porridge totally. My reason being that it was not given as an option in the meal plans,. I intend to reintroduce it ( for cholesterol busting purposes) once I go on to the maintenance plan. I was in a similar dilemma at the start as you are, but I found so many tasty and tempting alternatives. Hang on in there. Between all the folk following this diet someone will be out there on their daily porridge. If you are needing to go v low / no carbs, then it might be best to avoid. I think 100g of oats is about 12g of carbs if that’s any help. Good luck and let us know how younRe doing. Much joy

Janet, when you say “find your thread” is there a direct way of doing this?
John

Chris,
Welcome to the community.
I’ve eaten porage for breakfast almost every day during the 8 weeks and lost 23 lbs.
It must be proper rolled oats and not instant porage. Rolled oats (such as Scotts “Old Fashioned”) are good-ish carbs, being low-ish on the Glycaemic index. They worked for me as they kept me full until lunch time.
Admittedly I always make it with water, but skimmed milk is not that different, I guess.
Don’t know what a “quarter cup” is, but I do know that I’ve kept the kCals to under 100
Hope this helps – it you want some motivation, go to the thread “This has to work for me” and read it right though – you will follow several peoples’ whole 8 week trip with all the ups and downs involved – it makes a great motivational read, even though it will take you a while as there are over 500 postings.
John

The other way I do it is when I am reading comments in my emails and I want to respond, the link just above the comment takes you to the thread

Find your thread, click on the last comment or the time of the last comment which is shown as a preview. That will take you to that comment. As you say, very useful when there are hundreds of posts.

Hi folks, inka and I have been shocked at the overwhelmingly sweet taste of toothpaste and as suspected the 3 types i have just bought contain saccharine. I am writing to the manufacturers.

I do not choose to have saccharine in my diet, i know we don’t eat toothpaste but we must be ingesting some through saliva. I for one am sick of waking to the sickly sick taste.

How does one go straight to a particular thread?
I wanted to catch up on this one, and had to page through over 500 postings on “Latest Forum Posts” to find a “This has to work for me”
The community must be getting huge – 500+ postings in under 2 days!
It’s a shame there can’t be some rationalisation, similar conversations are going on on so many different threads. Miss a day and you’re out of it.
I suppose it would have been a bit quicker to go through “All recent topics” but even that is not exactly direct.

Thanks, both of you.

He’s not keen on much salad, but we could have it sometimes. Had to look up kumara – never heard it called that.

A deli platter is an excellent idea – there are plenty of things he likes which I could include. Actually I couldhave salads with a little of the platter stuff and he could do it the other way round.

Inka i have bought 3 toothpastes and they all have saccharine in. I’m writing to the manufacturers! 🙂

Well I’m pleased to say that my blood sugar readings last night were 8.6 same as they have been all week, and this morning it was 8.4, so instead of rising like they’ve normally been doing they went down, so that’s good and I’ve lost ¾lb.

My carb intake yesterday was 30g

BTW I don’t think I’ve seen what the FAT intake should be per day, can anyone tell me please?

hugs
Karra

Cherrianne – welcome to the “Vets” – I agree that this really does seem sustainable – for the first time I’m not heaving a sigh of relief that the big effort is over and I can now reach for the beer and sarnies.

Captainlynne – brilliant results – I do hope you’re allowing yourself to feel a bit smug 😉

I’ve survived this week (Easter, my wife’s birthday and a pre-ordered “Champagne Afternoon Tea”) with no loss or gain – happy with that but determined to finish this job and get another 16 lbs off.

Burnt 610 kCals this morning on the bike so allowed myself a small piece of fruit cake at the destination cafe. A bike ride without cake is just not on.

Hi cherrieanne, what a shame about your breads. I hope the current attempt works!

I know, I can’t wait to hear what lynne s family say!

Well I went to M and S this morning to buy a loose white, fine cardi to go over summer tops/dresses. I saw two lovely dresses in the colours I can wear, in a style I would have avoided pre BSD. I tried on one with a zip up the back AND I walked out of the cubicle to ask an assistant to zip me up. I haven’t had the confidence to do that for YEARS!!! Upshot I have two beautiful new dresses in lovely colours AND a new loose cardi, or two, one white one navy and I had to go for size 12 cardies. I’m happy dancing!!!! Id sing if I still could :). 🙂

Only just found this thread – I’ll log my results here as I guess it is a handy place for MM to gather stats.
January – on 5:2 Lost 12 lbs
February – March – on BSD Lost 23 lbs
Male – 66 not aware of any diabetes problem
5’11 ish
Started 205 lbs
Aiming for 154 lbs

Hi everybody. One question before l start this diet. My normal breakfast for the last few years has been a quarter cup of porridge oats with cup full of semi skimmed milk. Can l continue with this for the next eight weeks, it keeps me going all day ,our follow the recommended breakfast in the diet programme?

Hi handsofgod,
I have started eating Fage full fat yoghurt with blueberries/raspberries /strawberries and nuts/seeds.
It’s filling and contains the fat you need on this diet.
Don’t forget cheeses is GOOD on this diet – it keeps your digestive system busy and helps to keep you feeling full.

Don’t forget your 2-3 litres of water.

Otherwise you’re on track. If you don’t have the book google daily mai,8 week blood sugar diet. There are 5 articles and 4 weeks of daily menus

I sometimes have a fried egg, 2 rashers of bacon a d grilled tomatoes for breakfast. You could mix and match between eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and baked beans. Just watch the carbs!
🙂
::

Hi inka, I now suspect diabetic toothpaste will contain artificial sweeteners. Recent research shows artificial sweeteners do some nasty things to you.

I am going out to buy some toothpaste to check the packets.

Look at the thread ‘first salvo fired ‘

We are the pioneers, the activists who must cause change. The more we point things out to big industries the faster we will get change.

They are about MONEY so they won’t want to miss a marketing trick 🙂

Welcome shortfalls. I started Tuesday too and so far so good.

Don’t have to be diabetic to choose this, just know it was inevitable if I didn’t do something. More to lose than you and had the same operation 4years ago which made my weight pile back on. Well it was probably cause I seemed to crave eating and usually carbs. Loving the vegetables, but my digestion seems to be finding it tough probably cause it used to bread and pasta. Lost weight already but as I weigh every day i can see it goes up and down and I will wait till one week market before I own the loss.

Enjoy your week and we can ask our questions as they are really helpful.

Welcome shortapple
I,ve just hit the 2 stone loss mark on 9 weeks, and I’m by no means the biggest loser on here.
Come and beat me 🙂

Hi all. The 800 refers to 800 calories. You do need to count calories. In chptr 4 of the book Michael distinguishes between the fast starchy carbs like bread, flour, pasta, rice, white potatoes etc. Its not that you have to count bad carbs but you shouldnt base yr meals around them. (I personally treat them as ‘special occasion only or no more than once a week foods’). These are distinguished from good carbs which are important for both fibre and weight loss (most veggies, legumes, nuts etc) and which are fundamental to Mediterranean diets. I sometimes have quite high carb counts – but as long as they are “good carbs” and I stick within the 800 calories per day limit and keep up my good fat and protein Im still losing weight and it is coming off my waist where it needs to be coming from.

My husband is not officially doing the diet either but eating same as me – only larger portions. We are both enjoying different kinds of salads most days. I boost the fibre up with cold kumara and/or chick peas with a small portion of cold meat or smoked salmon or an egg. I always use a base of lettuce, cucumber & celery. Roasted red pepper is also a great addition. When the weather gets cool (still in the 30s in Sydney today) im planning to make hearty vegetable based soups for lunch. I dress with olive and lemon juice or vinegar and alternatively I use whole egg mayo (full fat).

Thx hashimoto. I feel like ive settled into a routine with the exercise (7 days of consecutive swimming but only started the diet on day 6) and i don’t wanna give it up especially after so many failed attempts to keep up an exercise regime.

Currently this is my meal plan
Protein rotation for dinner
Prawns, Tuna, Chicken breast (just stir fry with a little bit of garlic n olive oil)

With a side of (1 cup)
Roasted cauliflower (very tasty my favorite)
Carrots, capsicums, cucumber, tomatoes and leafy greens.

Lunch is tofu stir fry with mix veges or tuna with the side of veges.

A few strawberries for an emergency snack. At most 3.

Breakie has been 2 hard boiled eggs and 100 grams of cherry tomatoes. A cup of ceylon tea no sugar no milk obviously.

Im looking at the self made baked beans recipe here looks very tasty.

Am i on the right track? I need more recipes for breakkie but i love eggs so i think im happy just egging it different ways.

yes, hashimoto, i reckon i’m a bit intolerant… i also think my body is now thanking the hell out of me for losing all the bread! 🙂 better hit the sack or there’ll be bags under my eyes tomorrow… ciao.

Hashimoto, I am glad that I am not becoming a” taste freak” after all:-)…. When I bought this new one today, I never thought about looking at the ingredients, but I remember someone telling me that there is actually a toothpaste for diabetics? What does this mean? Do all the so callled normal ones, have that many sugary things in them that it could have a negative impact for diabetics… That sounds horrendous and outrageous, it this would be true. I will have a look at the ingredients as well…. What kind of reply did Lynne get? and what can they do, not much I suspect, they wont change their recipe for a handful of people … and they probably dont care … Hope I dont have to go back to the future and use “charcoal” instead 🙂 lol! A horrible thought just cane into my mind…. When I was really little, my mum used a kiddie. proof toothpaste, I guess to get me used to brushing my teeth, I still remember that the paste was pink and tasted like strwaberries. My sister and I often used to squeeze the whole contents of a tube into each others mouths… We ate the stuff, by the tube full, and naturally this made my mum really angry. Silly little kids…we were 🙁

Hi orchid because barley and rye contain gluten I can’t eat barley.

My mother used to use ham shanks to make glorious soups packed with veg, barley and other pulses, ooh I’m salivating now. 🙁

Hmm… I’m trying to understand th calorie and carbs limit. Sometimes carbs high and calories are low. Eg rockmelon. Not sure which to count, any help appreciated. I’m only 2 weeks in have lost 3 kgs but now plateauing. Is it the carbs?

Bizzylizzy, I guesstimate about 15-20g carbs per thin slice of my bread, based on what I can find on google.

Orchid I started using spelt and rye because of their lower GI values, but I know some people spike on them. My mum is 82 and won’t give up bread, so I set out to make a loaf that wouldn’t spike her and after much experimentation to find one that she liked, the recipe above was it! It doesn’t spike me either so I indulge in a bit now and then.

Edit: I should also add that my mum is underweight and has age-onset diabetes, still in early stages and managed by diet. She just won’t give up bread and as she’s underweight her dr recommended trying higher fibre bread. She doesn’t like flat rye bread.

Thanks for the welcome annie68 and SunnyB.

annie68, well done on your 20 day 19lb weightless thus far excellent.

My doctor says I have 34lbs/ 15kg/2.5stone. to lose and get to a healthy weight for my build and height….we’ll see. I will be happy when my waist size is not the same as my 6ft1″partner.

SunnyB, looking forward to not craving carbs, the testing time for me will be going back to work after a week off this Wednesday, there are carbs everywhere, my work mates are very generous with that poison. I’ll need to prepare well to avoid temptation or become antisocial and leave when the home baking, biscuits, easter chocolates are freely distributed and the MothersPride bread is toasted, buttered and shared. Salivating at the thought of it.

Hi 14kg, I just wondered with the current lack of bloating if you are slightly gluten intolerant as I blow up like a balloon with just a trace of gluten – not coeliac just very intolerant. 🙂