Those cards in red lentils are good carbs, apparently. Just don’t add too many.

I use leeks to bulk out my stock based soups and that seems to work a treat.

I set my calorie goals as 800 and it works fine, yes it gives a “you aren’t eating enough……” warning but just ignore it.

I use the recipe builder all the time and it makes the food diary very easy.

Hurrah it’s spring. That should make it easier to get outside for some exercise and make salads and light, healthy meals more tempting than big plates of stodge. We can absolutely, definitely do this.

Deb, stir fries are good, when you get on to real food. I fry a little lean meat with a splash of olive oil and flavourings such as ginger, chillies, garlic and lemon grass until the meat is just done (I’m sure bean curd or other veggie options would work too) and then add loads of veg, especially beansprouts. By changing the meat, spices and veg you can vary the flavour a lot.

My husband has been eating this too and didn’t realise I’d left out rice and noodles until I told him.

Congratulations Spirit on you success so far and to anyone who has had a wobble this Easter, tomorrow is a new day and a new start. I put my son and daughter in laws Easter eggs in the car ready to deliver and wasn’t tempted as so far haven’t felt the need to pick or snack. ( son is 29 and his wife 27 but they are still my ‘babies’).

Week 2 is over and I have lost 12lbs and hubby 9lbs. It’s been a slow week after week 1’s excellent results but I have also lost 3 1/2″ from my waist and the same from hips which is amazing.

Desperately want to hit the stone mark this coming week so need to up the exercise, find some puddles to plodge in, country lanes to yomp through, shopping centres to drool over smaller size clothes, plan menus, stay focused, take inspiration from the blogs and look forward. Of course that is after finding a nice country pub for lunch today with suitable food choices!

I was counting on it all having turned to alcohol! Kidding myself a bit there though. It’s definitely something I need to be careful with as it’s very easy for one glass to turn into two or more and then to snack when resisence is low.

Like the lard idea – that is what we’re losing, isn’t it? I have some in the fridge. Not something we eat, but I make birdfood with it. I’m going to keep a tiny corner of it when I make the last batch as a reminder. Thanks.

I’m also premenopausal, and have hypothyroidism, and I lost just under a stone in the first three weeks of the BSD. The weight loss is noticeable too and comments from friends and family are very motivating. However, week 4 has been horrendous. My scale weight has been yoyoing all week, in some cases showing more than half a kilo gain in a day, even though I’m sticking like glue to the diet. I have also registered more in the morning than I was the night before. Because of the premenopause, I have been taking Duphaston tablets from day 16 to 25 of my cycle, when it’s there, and I started this month’s lot 3 days ago. Just wondered if anyone else is taking this, or something like it, and noticed any changes in weight. I wondered if it causes water retention, since visibly it can be seen that the fat is going, but the scales tell a different story.

Hi Deb,
I was thinking about this when I went to bed and remembered that initially I started with 3 replacement meals a day – one I used at suppertime (8-9pm). The evening meal I had either stir-fry or home made veg soup.
I suspect the protein one I found is available in N America so you may find it – Oatwell. it is Oats based which attracted me as Michael has done another article about the benefits of oats and barley.
I used the chocolate one – I find most artificial flavourings horrible, and chocolate the least bad! The powder is 43 cals and 2g carbs. The rest you make up with milk. They recommend 150-200 ml milk. By the time I was using it, I was adding in real food and changing over to cooking everything from scratch. I found the 150ml to be the most palatable.
If I was doing it again I would make one change. I used skimmed milk with it. It took me 3-4 weeks to accept that full fat was ok. I would recommend you start with full fat milk as it is almost your 200 cals for a meal.
Oatwell plus 200 ml skimmed milk – 115 cals; 11g carbs.
Oatwell plus 200 ml semi-sk milk – 135 cals; 11g carbs.
Oatwell plus 200 ml full fat milk – 177 cals; 11 carbs.
As you see the carbs don’t increase, but how full you feel will increase enormously with the full fat milk. Three meal replacements would be around 531 cals; 33g carbs allowing 20-30 cals per meal replacement for ‘snacks’ a few almonds, cherry tomatoes are good as they are like sweets! The fourth meal is then up to you for lots of veg.
Try the maths with the milks on which ever ‘Shake’ you decide on and have fun!

Hi Patsy wine has a lot of sugar so can derail your efforts 🙁

4lbs in a week is a great result – think of 8 half pound blocks of lard, that will help you see your achievement! 🙂

Wow – people are doing well. Keep it up (or maybe I should say keep it off?)

End of week 1 for me. Lost 4lb and 1/2 inch of waist.

Apart from two small glasses of wine (different nights) I’ve resisted all carbs. (Does wine count as carbs? I know we’re not supposed to drink it in the 8 weeks, but maybe it’s more because of the calorie count). I’ve tried to keep calorie intake low, but haven’t been weighing and adding everything up so expect I’ve gone over 800, but it’s all been veg, yoghurt, eggs, nuts, olive oil etc – no junk.

4lb didn’t sound a lot to me until I worked out how much it would be if I did the same over the next 7 weeks. I’d reach my ideal weight!

Hi Rob
I’ve done every diet going and none has worked as well as this. I had two stone to lose and have lost one so I’m half way there. My main aim is just be in control of my body rather than being a slave to every bit of chocolate that passes in front of me. (Still addicted to lattes though)

As was said above, men do tend to lose quicker than women and just the simple removal of bread etc will probably cause you to lose a fair bit initially. The keeping going part is where your better understanding of food comes in as you will need to eat stuff that makes you feel the diet is worthwhile. Life’s hard enough without having to eat ‘diet food’ all your life! This is why doctors don’t get it. They haven’t realised yet that this diet is about proper food not just a lettuce leaf.

On the exercise front, you are going to lose weight whether you exercise or not so just do what you can after such a major operation. I guess you might be having physiotherapy and stuff? Some exercise is good but you really don’t need to be running marathons. Do what makes you feel alive but it doesn’t have to nearly kill you! How did you come to need your op?

One other suggestion – why not tell us each day or the day before what you are planning to eat and we’ll tell you if its within the guidelines or we can tell you how you can modify it to get the most from your 800?

I bet you’ve lost weight already. You’ll be great at this 😉

Hi monkeyescapade, this won’t help you in Thailand ( I think) but aldi do slim packets of nuts and seeds for 32p a packet. 153 calories, 2.7 grams carbs. Could be an emergency food for air travel in the future though. I find them pretty filling with a few berries. 🙂
You could always request a carb free meal on the flight and suggest suitable meal alternatives to give them an idea of what you need

I’ve done that before 🙂

I know what you mean – my son has lots of stuff germinating in my greenhouse – he has just got a very badly neglected double allotment. I already have garlic and onions growing away and will plant courgettes etc when I get back from my visit to Oz. There should be plenty of fresh stuff coming my way from the allotment! 🙂

Hi Aquamarine, that sounds fine to me, if you are sticking to 800 calories make sure you add the cals of the seeds to your allowance 🙂

Hi Rob, I don’t have a smart phone so just google on my pc, I tend to favour fitness pal but if that doesn’t pop up I use others. Sometimes I just google nutritional value for a given food. Some things are now firmly in my head – the easy ones like eggs!

What made me start….
I have hashimotos hypothyroidism ( it got so bad due to non diagnosis I developed a goitre and was going into mini comas) also chronic asthma and bronchiectasis.
I just kept putting weight on, no matter what I did. It actually got frightening by January because I was cutting my calories – but not my carbs). I tried Slimming World. no difference. I tried Weight Watchers. No difference. This was last chance saloon for me. I heard about it mid January and it has turned my life around.
I had a serious skiing accident about 21 years ago – multiple compound fractures to my leg, the tops of my tibias look like crocodile teeth! Achilles snapped etc… So most vigorous exercise is completely out for me. I can’t run any longer. No squash, no aerobics etc. But I can still walk – not the 100yards I was told would be my limit but 6 to 10 mile hill walks once a week. If you search for ‘Trust me I’m a doctor’ Michael mosley came up with some good resistance excercises – but being ex army you probably don’t need to look it up!!

As for back problems….
I haven’t had spinal surgery but I had problems last year with ‘slipped discs’. Four times. My doctor and physio both encouraged me to go to a local Pilates for Bad Backs class. It has been a god send! It has strengthened my abdominal muscles and protects my back. The Pilates is ridiculously simple, you don’t think you have done anything until you wake up feeling your stomach muscles ache!! Ask your GP and google to see if you have a class like that in your area.

As for commercial low fat cakes – pumped up with sugar for taste – it’s what got us all into trouble in the first place. I find the cocnut flatbreads which Bill1954 posted to the recipes tab really hits the sweet spot these days! I may have one topped with a dollop of full fat yoghurt and blueberries/raspberries as a lunch.

Rob, there is nobody on these forums who wouldn’t tell you it hasn’t been a big learning curve! It took me 2 weeks to ditch the low fat, sugary yoghurts and buy the real thing! So you are not alone. We will all have made some mistakes on this journey!

My current aim is to get rid of some of the remaining belly fat, but I am eating about 900 to 1000 calories a day now, but only sticking with the principle of the low carb diet.

Looking forward to your future posts and thanks for signing the petition. 🙂

I had this for breakfast this morning but I added 1 tsp of chia seeds to it too…do you think that this would still be ok?

I am eagerly waiting for the warmer weather so I can get out there and burn off some calories while growing some veggies and salads!

Hi thanks for the reply, will most def sign the pertition

Wow you lost 2.5 stone, are you losing weight or are balancing your diet now ( like doing the 5:2 diet?)

I used to take vitamin c tablets every morning but stopped as I don’t know if there is sugar in them!

Took a photo today and I have def lost weight ( losing weight to be healthy and feel good)) )

Do you also train/keep fit in order to lose the weight you have? At present I can’t due to a major spinal op ( hence why I just ate and ate ( went to bed full , woke up full and just ate )

Which app would you recommend? As I always seem to download one I find annoying to use

Before I started the diet I went to the doctors to ask if my meds would play havoc with the diet, he said no do it but you won’t sustain it ( he is a very good doctor ) I then started the diet …started reading the book on the 3 day of the diet and I read what dr Mosley said the doctor would say and my doctor said it!!! The book is up there with the best books I have read…the people’s stories are truly heart touching

What I find at present people have a far better understanding of the diet and know so much about food ( what’s good and what’s bad and what the ingredients means ( where as I see low fat cake and have no guilt in eating 2!! )

They do say every day is a learning day

What keeps you going
What’s your aims
Do you find it hard?

Greetings to a fellow gardening enthusiast! Thanks for facebooking too! 🙂

I am a keen gardener, and I’m also very busy! I shared the petition on Facebook too.

Thanks Bizzy lizzy! Does your handle refer to you being a keen gardener or are you a very busy person? 🙂

Thanks Hawks! This petition only works for UK residents. Is there anything you could start in beautiful New Zealand? 🙂

Signed

Leeanne, a big pat on the back for avoiding temptation! A stone in three weeks! I bet that was a big motivating factor in keeping away from the chocolate!!
What will you have lost by 8 weeks – I can’t wait to see!! 🙂

Purplepenguin!! Shout it from the roof tops! You have done something amazing – and if you are like me- something you didn’t really think would happen!!! 🙂

Hi Rob, the book is still relatively new so that could explain it! I think a lot of the publicity is currently the occasional interview and people talking to their GPs/diabetes nurses.
I don’t know if you have seen the thread ‘Please sign our petition’? We are lobbying the government to ‘NHS to encourage T2 diabetics to follow the low carb diet….. There is a link on the thread and the web page enables you to post the petition to your facebook account. That way you will really help the message get out!!!

In my 8 weeks I have lost 2 and a half stones, gone from a BMI of 28 to 21.9. My breakfasts are always the ones I listed to you in a previous post – but mostly full fat yoghurt with berries and seeds or 2 eggs as an omelette or poached with grilled tomatoes. They are all low carb meals which will fill you up. Janet’s advice to count your carbs if you are struggling is a good one. Bill 1954 doesn’t count calories but sticks to the principles of low carb – ie no bread etc And his results have been amazing. I am eating more than 800 calories a day now but still sticking to the principles.

You might want to invest in some Ketostix ( just under £5 for a tub of 50 via amazon, free P and P). You dip a stick in your urine each morning, according to the colour chart on the tub you can check if you are fat burning. I have found it a useful tool.

Another idea might be to make a list of the foods you like most and google (or use an app) to find out calorie and carb content – it will take some time but save you plenty of time as the weeks go by! I’ll lay abet with you – when you see the results after your 4 week mark you won’t want to give up until you reach your desired targets!

Keep soldiering on (pun intended) and check out the petition! 🙂

If you miss baking there are recipes for low carb flat breads – coconut or chickpea flour – the latter are great with a curry.

I can’t believe it ! 8.3 kg in three weeks I can’t believe it, oops said that already 🙃 So pleased and excited for the end of 8 weeks to see where my bloods will be. 😎

Ay caramba, that is fantastic news!!! That is an incredible change in your BP and blood sugars. No wonder you are very enthusiastic about this diet! To get out of the obese range and to have lost 1st 4lbs is also something to be celebrated!

Welcome to the veterans – there is a thread started by captainlynne ‘the 8 week line and over’ – you should post your good news on that thread too!

Talking about other threads, if you live in the UK, we have a thread called ‘Please sign our petition’. We are asking for the NHS to encourage people to follow this diet. There is a link to the petition on that thread, you can also facebook it.

Good luck on the rest of your BSD journey 🙂

End of Week 8 for me.
Really pleased to have lost Ist 4lbs (18lbs) or around 8 kg.
BMI 29 not 32.5. Now overweight not obese!
Just over 8 weeks ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, Hypothyroidism and High Blood Pressure.
Wake up call.
High spike blood pressure taken at surgery due to a particularly stressful moment 203/94.This morning 121/62.
HbA1c 9.6% . This morning my blood sugar reading was 6.1.
Feel very enthusiastic about the benefits of this diet and plan to continue for another 8 weeks. Hope sharing results motivates
others. We are the only ones who can make changes for ourselves. Best of luck to everyone.

I was with the Royal regiment of Wales ))))

I am very new to understanding food ( 1 week new ) I used to eat cereal twice a day thinking it was good for you!

At present I am going to stick to the diet at written ( and when finding it to hard, have the portabelo and beans or pouched egg as that does give me a boost ) only going to do then4 week diet tho,, and during the four weeks I am going to read what is good food for the trillion of little bugs in our bodies

I do miss chocolate / muffins / “……….just 2 months ago I learned to cook and bake

What app do I download??

Christie …keep us updated on your progress, another 2 stone !

I also think Janet is the forum diet doctor so keep the tips coming

Does anyone think the food companies that produce food for us avoid eating them..

The focus I have is….I want to wear my jeans with a shirt and feel good, ( instead of wearing tracksuit bottoms and a baggy top!) another motivation is getting healthy

Why hasn’t this book been highly publicised …..doctors /nhs/…etc should be flying the flag?? I only new about it when I switched the tv on and seen it on the Wright stuff

Hi all,

Lucia your posts do make me chuckle! You’ll need new stair carpet by the time you finish going up and down stairs!

The weather on the whole hasn’t been brilliant this Easter has it. I did manage to nip out yesterday for a long walk by the river. It just feels nice to be in the fresh air, listening to the birds and the sound of the babbling water. I’m not allowed to go swimming for a couple of weeks following my surgery last Tuesday.. I’m lost without my thrice weekly swim. What am I going to do to fill the gap?

It’s my start of the 8 weeks today, so far 19lb gone. it sounds a lot, but I’d like it to have been more. some days/weeks I’ve stalled despite sticking rigidly to the plan.

But, at least all my ‘old’ size 12 things fit me now – and the mother of the bride dress of course. It’s going to be a pleasure again going out clothes shopping. Let’s see what this last week brings eh – although I shall be continuing with this right until the plane takes off for Florida.

Hi JeanB, I’m also using the same app and you are right it does not save your day if you are doing 800 calories and gives you a “nanny state” warning. I have found it doesn’t matter that it won’t save the day as you can always look back to previous days.

I’m also using Runkeeper to track my walks and runs, the app links to My Fitness Pal and shows calories using during excercise.

Good luck with BSD

Start week 4 today. Resisted all temptations Easter Sunday – perhaps overdosed on strawberries though! Today’s weight is 13st – pleased is an understatement!! (Almost a stone gone in 3 weeks).

I don’t think a signature from NZ would be any help, but I hope you do get the message across.

Well done! It is great to see results like that.

Thanks for that. It turns out you can ferment cucumbers in brine, or pickle in vinegar. We might do both. We have way too many big fat ones ready at once to eat, even if we ate nothing else!
We’ll probably make some chilli sauce and freeze the others.
I’m going to make a few zucchini muffins or something like that I can freeze to use those up. They’ll be handy for when the munchies happen.

Thanx Hashimoto, yes, I have wondered/hoped it’s water retention so fingers crossed for the next weigh in, will keep you posted.
Inka – I recently travelled from Melbourne to Thailand, fairly long haul, first flight was about 9 hours to KL and we were with Air Asia, no food provided. This I think was a blessing from a low carb perspective – to eat on the journey we took with us packets of almonds and some cereal bars, now I know some of the latter are lethal but I was able to find some in a Woolworths supermarket that were actually low carb, main ingredients were nuts and were tasty. This was sufficient to last us for the journey to KL but I have to confess at the airport whilst waiting for flight to Thailand – about 4 hours – we did give in to a burger – terrible I know – but on the ‘plus’ side we didn’t have any side order of chips or milkshakes which was progress for us. The burger was still within our calorie count for the day. I did see that Michael M had answered a similar question on Twitter, his suggestion was along the lines of using the flight time as a fasting opportunity so that might be an option although when I fly home to the UK am not sure I will be able to fast for whole journey but I like suggestion of requesting vegetarian on airline. I would leave a good few days before weighing yourself in your destination because of the water retention. Have a fab trip, I love Germany – on the beer front, my husband is able to accommodate a large bottle of chilled Chang each day within his calorie/carb restriction on the Low Carb Diet.

Hi Rob,
Do you have a smartphone you can download an app for tracking your food intake? This might help you not to feel so overwhelmed by information.
The good news for you is that men usually find it easier to drop weight than women, something to do with bigger muscle mass.
As you are concerned about the volume of food on 800 cals, I’m with Janet on this, suggest you don’t count calories but stick to 50g carb or less. Use a food diary app to help you learn what are good low carb foods, and how much you can eat. It will also track your intake so you don’t have to keep a running tally in your head.
If you do this the weight, blood pressure, cholesterol etc will take care of itself. 🙂

Thanks, trees, we are up to 70 signatures now! X

I have the opposite problem. Some of my jeans are now too short!
This is because they are now being worn round my true waist, and not halfway down my hips because my old tummy wodge got in the way.
I will have to shell out for new one’s when the other one and half stone goes.

Hi Inka,
Ask the airline for vegetarian food but check they’ve booked it for each leg of the flight. It’s usually less carb heavy than normal. Just eat the low carb items and leave the rest. Sometimes fruit and cheese are available. Ask what food you can take on board. Often as long as you eat it in flight and don’t try and take it into the country you are visiting you will be ok.
Take a few sachets of low carb meal replacement drinks for emergencies maybe? Can’t think of anything else but someone else will. The main thing is to enjoy your holiday, catch up with family and don’t stress about the food. I bet if you tasted it you’d find it doesn’t hold the appeal in reality that it does in your memory! Have a great time 🙂

Hi All,
Patsy you have a very noble husband there! Pretty soon you will be able to have biscuits in the house without being tempted. It is one of my major achievements from doing the BSD, that I don’t eat biscuits anymore! This is coming from a person who’s family nickname was ‘the secret bikky nicker’ for my ability to get the lid off the biscuit tin without anyone hearing lol. No biscuit was safe, they’d be quivering in the tin!
Judith it wasn’t warm enough for a swim yesterday by any means! Only about 17C, the sand was cold under our feet but the water was warm by comparison. Interesting lesson there for the kids in the differences in temperature loss/ gain between land mass & water. Any opportunity to learn outside of school lol!
Lucia, you definitely do it with style, well done on resisting that chocolate. Your house must be shiny now with all that dusting and cupboard tidying! Nothing like tidy cupboards to make you feel virtuous is there? Don’t stay that way in my house for long though. I think my family are on a mission to keep me feeling virtuous, can’t think of any other reason why things would get messed up so frequently.
Any way lunchtime over so off out to pull up some of those green things that since the autumn rain have been growing like…, well what are those things called that grow in other peoples gardens but not ever in one like mine? Hmmm, not much. 😉

Hi DJD,
Welcome from a fellow South Aussie!
This is the best way to bring your blood sugars down and keep them down.
When you are ready to start you will get lots of advice and support from the lovely people on here. 🙂

Just have another wuestion, mostly to all who have travelled recently: How do you manage the airline food? I am flying to Germany in a few weeks to visit my family. Its a long way from OZ. I will have a stopover in HK, I think I can handle the food there, but what do you do if you are stuck in a plane for 12-14 hiurs without having a choice what kind of food is given to you. Its usually full of carbs with the intension to fill people up with very little food, not to mention nutrition! One leg is an overnight flight, so there will be little food avaibke for most of the time, but the day-leg and the wait times in lounges are different, not sure how to tackle that. Should I tell the airline that I have special dietery needs? What did you do and can I prepare for the flights somehow? Being in Germany will also be a challenge! I will be away for 8 weeks and will be surrounded by all the yummy foods I grew up with and haven’t eaten for ages! Not to mention all the tasty cool beers served in the beer gardens! I will have to be sooooo strong.
Looking forward to you advice!

Hi All, this morning was my weigh-in day and also the beginning of week 4! I have lost another 1.5kg and finally finally my waistline woosh occurred: 2 inch off! I am really happy, success despite going out for dinner, having wheat bread with butter and a couple of wines during this week. I am hoping that week 4 will be just as good, but I am mindful of what everyone is saying. Week 4 could turn into a plateau week. Never mind, I will take as it comes, do my very best and deal with what ever the result will be next Monday. Hope you all had a nice Easter break so far. Dont forget to listen to M M’s radio interview on the Aussie ABC tonight …. Long live success and health to all!!!!! 🙂 🙂

We’ve got plenty of room for you here DJD. And answers, good advice and some fun too. You are right to take some time to get your head together. Once you are ready to start, you will find this a wonderful new way of life. Looking forward to reading about your progress! Its 12.45 am in England now so I’m off to bed! All the best to you and your husband

Hi Everyone, is there room for yet another Sth Aussie? I bought the book on Saturday and my husband and I are hoping to start the eating regime on Tuesday when we return from an interstate trip after spending the Easter weekend with family. I’m in research mode at the moment so have found reading this thread both educational and entertaining. I’m T2 and have been diagnosed for about 18 years. Firstly diet controlled (or not as it turned out) now I’m on slow release Metformin and Diamicron. I’ve had some success with controlling my sugars by restricting carbs but I’ve been doing it on my own and the weight has not come off. So I’m hopeful that this will be the answer. My husband is over weight but is not diabetic. He is very supportive and so we’re doing the journey together. I’m looking forward to reading and sharing your experiences along the way. Well done all for your journey so far….

Orchid,
We used to have Boots! In the 80’s, lol. The plan is to use the commercially available shakes so I will keep my eyes open for the low-carb/high-protein ones. Thanks for the tip!

jpscloud,
Thanks-will do!

hashimoto,
Thanks! I’m very lucky that my doc is open to a lot of things, if I bring him the research, lol.

Patsy,
Eggs are a go! Thank Goddess 👍🏻 The allergy is to a pretty specific protein that, thankfully, breaks down with cooking. So cooked veg is fine.

All, I appreciate your kindness.

Cheers,

Deb

Not sure if Micheal is watching these discussions…. but

In a couple of BBC shows, Michael discussed the differences in potato, rice and pasta when it is consumed as a precooked and cooled food (as opposed to eating it freshly cooked and hot).

If these foods are precooked and cooled then eaten later – it becomes resistant starch and does not cause sugar spikes and the carbohydrate value changes, also becoming prebiotic in nature. The university research was discussed.

Can precooked rice and potatoes be part of a low carbohydrate diet and used in the 800 BSD?

I have been using My Fitness Pal previous to starting the 800 calorie regime, however this app does not work for programmes under 1000 calories. Does anyone know of another app for this diet.