Hi there Inka and other friends – I can totally relate to your frustrations, felt a little down in the dumps myself this week as my waist inch loss got off to a flying start in the first week, 2 inches lost, the following week fluctuated down to 34 inches and now in my third week is back to 35 inches. I also came across scales at the gym in the hotel I am staying at earlier this week so took the plunge and weighed myself – first time since I set off travelling in January – I was so shocked and upset to see I weighed in at 66kg, the heaviest I have ever been – what was even more worrying was the fact that I have already been on the low carb diet for 3 weeks so goodness knows what I weighed three weeks ago. Anyway, thankfully am reigning it in now so it is hopefully, onwards and downwards! I am using myfitnesspal to record everything I eat/drink, am finding it a useful tool. I have also taken advise of many forum members in measuring/recording other body parts too like hips, chest, neck, arms. In various research I have done I’ve picked up is that one shouldnt measure waist (or other body parts) daily – advice is every few weeks or once a month – so I am going to leave it 3 weeks before I get my tape measure out as I find it too soul destroying to see my waist at a static 35″. I’ve pasted below the advice on measuring from myfitnesspal.
Onwards and downwards my friends.

To help track your progress, you should record your weight periodically. We suggest once a week because your weight fluctuates daily due to uncontrollable factors like water. Try to always weigh yourself at the same time of day – we suggest early in the morning before breakfast.

Taking your measurements can be an even better gauge of your progress because when you burn fat and build heavier muscle, your weight may not change or even increase even though your body is tighter and smaller. We suggest taking your measurements every 2-4 weeks.

Hi Newlife
I am worried about the weekend too, I don’t know how strong I am yet. Chocolate was my downfall I used to eat so much of the stuff. We are doing an Easter egg hunt with our 5 grandchildren and have lots of family over, it is going to be so hard for me to resist. If I do have any(I am hoping I don’t) it will be one day that I have a blib I will get right back on track,

Awake since 4am – worrying about the choc-fest. I’ve made such a good start and I really don’t want to spoil it. Danger time starts tomorrow so if you guys don’t hear from me you can assume I’ve fallen head-first into a vat of chocolate.

Inka- well done for what you have achieved so far. I would certainly stick with it as I didn’t see the results in my waistline initially. I certainly do now (11kg lost) but the extra fat first disappeared from my upper back, arms and thighs as well. It’s only 8 weeks (depending on your starting weight it might not even need this long?) and I feel and look so much better than before. I am one of those who has tried so many times to lose weight and this is without doubt the easiest way and safe too.

Hi Libby,
No need to do without bread, we live in the Lucky Country lol!! Google Herman Brot bread and find a supplier near you. It’s a bit pricy at around $6.50 a loaf, but at 111cals & 2.3g carbs you can indulge. It’s delicious and freezes well. Dark, moist, seeded real bread. Enjoy.

Thanks, Hashimoto.
Good advice. I’ll keep it in mind as things progress.
I hope your asthma stays controlled. Strangely, mine calmed down when I moved to a rural area surrounded by pollens and dust from trees and grasses. I wonder if the constant exposure helps. Fresh air can’t hurt.

Don’t worry if your ketostix aren’t showing the colour you would like. It can be for various reasons such as the time of day that you take the test (later in the day supposedly has better results). The important thing to remember about them, and why so many ketogenic diets tell you that their usefulness is very limited (but encouraging in the early stages) is that ketostix measure EXCESS ketones- if your body has used up all the ketones that it makes then there will be nothing to show up. Good luck and don’t worry- I know I’m one of those that only ever shows up very mild pink if at all 🙂

Hi All, this coming Monday, will be the end of week 3. So far I lost 4.8kg. Had a few social things going on this week, but tried to stick to the plan. When I weight in last week, i kind of felt lighter, and the scales confirmed this. I also measured my waist again, but there was no change…. How can that be? Am I loosing from elsewhere? I thought the waist would shrink first?… I am a bit worried sbout my weigh-in this Monday, because I dont have that skinner feeling this time… If a couple of glasses of red wine a one meal out, Chinese … and no, I didnt eat the rice and only picked out steamed vegies and the meat with my chopsticks, will make such a difference resulting in no weight-loss for my week 3, then I dont know if this will work for me…. I am at a stage where I have been so many times before: I go well for a couple of weeks, then the doubting Thomas syndrome gets me, I fall of the wagon, and start saying to myself: Why are you putting so much effort in when it does not work anymore… and then I get all frustrated and angry with myself and, yes you guessed right, go for the chocolate or anything I can find, all the bad stuff of course… Any idea how to overcome this if Monday’s weigh-in is no good? I know I should not be doubtfull before I stepped on the scales, but I am usually pretty right and understand what my body is telling me…. Could you hit a plateau in only eeek 3? Otherwise, I am fine… No headaches or cravings or hunger etc…. I want that skinnier feeling back …:-(

I am looking at my vegie garden, planted well before I started this diet, (corn on the cob is calling me -dunno what to do with all those on a low carb diet?) and wondering whether anyone can recommend recipes for a lower carb preserve for all my cucumbers that are ready at once. The stream of cucumber has been a go-to vegetable all summer, fantastic for quick, easy salads, but what to do with the last batch all ready at once? Most chutneys are high in sugar, and I don’t eat a lot of the purely vinegarish-pickle type of preserve. Are there pickles I can make with cucumbers that are more chutney-ish?
I also have a huge number of chilli I need to use, and last years sweet chilli sauce, while very tasty, is probably not the right thing to stock the cupboard with! I have made some green chilli paste, but that isn’t a longer term keeper, so recommendations welcome please.

Hi Leeanne,
Try reducing your morning dose first because you may find that your liver pumps out extra sugar during your overnight fast and your metformin should control that. If you can get your two hour post meal blood sugars under 7.8 consistently, then have a go at reducing the night dose.
Reduce the morning dose again and see
what happens.
Once your fasting level is stable under 7 you should be ok to drop the night time dose. Don’t worry if your levels rise again, see the thread on ‘rising fasting blood sugar levels’. It’s happened to many of us but it does pass.

Thanks, Nic, you really seem to have made the diet work for you and planned it with military precision!
It does show that there can be flexibility in this diet and it still works.

I’ve fallen off the wagon these last few days and I’m feeling really yukky. Eating for the sake of eating.
You’ve inspired me to get back on track! Thank you.

Cherrianne I think I shouldn’t have read this late at night, salivating! After Easter I’m heading off to buy kit and create a soup kitchen 😀

Cherrieanne it is so easy to get side tracked onto this subject. I was stuck in a traffic jam this afternoon and watched in horror as an obese mother with half a dozen obese children walked past each with a family sized bag of junk – and that included the toddler in a pushchair. I wanted to jump out of the car and preach, well grab the junk and bin it if I’m honest.

Well done bill, you’re really spreading the word. I love that your wife can show off your fridge of healthy food – perhaps we should all follow her lead!

I confess to being a supermarket trolly peeker too

It’s happened to me too – I’m guessing it’s the higher fat doses, something my body is not used to.

Hi Nic,
Soups are a great idea, so filling and nutritious for very few carbs and calories. You can make soup out of just about anything. A stick blender or processor will make it thick and creamy in no time. Add some sour cream or yoghurt to boost the fat/ protein content and the satiety factor.
You can have a really nice soup in less than 30 minutes if you chop the vegetables finely enough. If you want to add dried legumes it takes a bit longer of course, but I keep a few cans of lentils and beans just in case I’m in a hurry. 🙂

Lol, no problem Cherrianne! Wow, you still have Woolies…

Hey Bill, good work spreading the word. You are living proof of the fact this diet works. All your contacts would see you shrinking before their eyes, they would see for themselves your extra energy too.
I always look in other people’s trolleys too. Can’t help myself, it’s way more fun looking and speculating than flicking through the trashy mags on display.
One thing makes me sad though is seeing the number of OAPs with loads of pot noodles instead of real food. That used to be the age group you could guarantee would have fresh fruit and veg and unprocessed meat and fish. The other ones are the obese Mums, with overweight kids who are each tucking into family sized packs of cheesy, salty twirly things before they’ve even gone through the checkout.
Our Woolies over here in Aus has a stand near the entrance with free fruit for kids. It usually has a great selection of three or four kinds of fruit and helps keep them quiet while you shop. Great idea.
Our nearest large shopping centre has a pop up Jamie’s Ministry of Food and it was great to look in there yesterday and see a group of young girls learning to cook omelettes cooked with fresh ingredients! Also great to see in an area that is quite welfare dependent with a growing obesity problem.
Oops, seem to have climbed back up on my soapbox and derailed the thread! Sorry folks, just that having 5 kids and a lifetime of working in health care does make me really conscious that a lot of chronic diseases can be prevented with good nutrition. Ok better quit while I’m ahead 🙂

Well I tried them on early but they went on a lot better than they did before the diet!!!!
Incentive to keep it up 😀 still need more room in them for comfort but can’t believe the zip goes up after this short time. Headaches gone sticking mostly to white meat and fish with salads or stir fry. Berries and plain yoghurt for treat and omelette for breakie. Good luck everyone 😉

Hi susieb

Thank you, so far so good. In answer to your question I have had a bad and limited diet for a long time. I had to eliminate that first and it took time to think about it, what I wanted to achieve and most importantly why. I have followed the principle of the diet while not embracing all the recipes! Too many years of plain eating make some unpalatable. I eradicated bread, rice (almost completely), potatoes and pasta. I retained the good vegetables and salads. I don’t eat any processed meat. I need to limit cholesterol so I have one or two eggs a week only. I eradicated the bad fruit but enjoy healthy doses of strawberries, blueberries and clementines/mandarins – the perfect breakfast for me. And it works for me.

What I need to do is start making my own soups to avoid salt spikes and reduce further processed food intake.

Cheers
Nic

Judith

Me too

Judith
I have reported it.

Good news re the scales Denise! 🙂

Thanks julia, the plateaus then drops seem to be a feature for a lot of us and well done on ignoring the choccy eggs 🙂

Denise i reported his post as soon as it popped up. The more of us that report the better. Sounds like he/she is getting pretty scared about something

Well said Denise47

Denise of course we will. As soon as it goes ‘live’ everyone will be able to sign it. We are just waiting for it to be checked. The site shuts the petition temporarily once there are 5 supporters. Can’t wait, denise!. It sounds like you could be a one woman mission! You are really going to get the ball rolling with your contacts!

I think it will take a lot to change minds , we have all been brainwashed for so many years 🙂

Hashimoto I stood on the scales and have stayed the same…phew. Glad I got on there now.

Back to work tomorrow so back to reality!

PS Happyslappy – please stop posting negative messages on here. Your spelling and grammar alone make me cringe, let alone what you are saying. I am certainly not looking at this as a quick 8 week fix and then go back to my old ways, and I don’t believe anyone else posting here is that naive either. Your opinion is noted now please respect ours and politely do one 👉

Yes Judith, and all others here, let’s continue with our POSITIVE messages and continue to make progress. I was out tonight and resisted the chocolate eggs which passed under my nose several times – and have had a good few days on stricter track so hoping my plateau might become a downward line again.
Thanks for your work on the petition.

We will, and as so many people are saying on the forum, this is a lifestyle change that is sustainable.

Can I come and sign the petition too! You are all so wonderful and supportive! Inspirational! I’ll get friends and family to sign too, and I run a lung cancer charity so will get a couple of the doctors who are trustees to sign it too!

Things have to change and we can help that happen.

My Sister-in-law is a dietician….if she tells me once more to eat low fat yogurt I swear I’ll be serving a 25 year stretch inside!

Leeanne, my OH’s fbs was 26 and they tried to control that with a low fat diet.
She now controls it with metformin, gliclazide, exanatide injections, and insulin.
The tragedy is, she honestly believes she has it under control.

Julia nothing to be sorry about, I was out a lot myself and the rejection was sat in my inbox for a while. We have to have our normal lives lol.

Folks the petition is currently been checked again. Hopefully it will pass this time and we can get down to business. 🙂

Surprisingly enough they are, and that gives yours truly the opening to preach the BSD bible.
Lots of folk showing interest too.
I also have plumbers at work asking about it and 2 of the sales girls at a supplier and one of their mums are actually doing it

Isn’t it lovely to be able to go out and stay with the principles of the diet? The more we all post events like that the more reassurance it gives to others. Hope you all had a lovely evening 🙂

Sorry have been out all day just got in and signed now!

Signed Judith
Been out with the family for dinner and I was very good 🙂

Breakfast: Greek and home made yogurt with mixed berries

Lunch: Ham and blue cheese salad, with the usual lunch time salad bits and bobs

Dinner: Mackerel fillet cooked with a rub of coriander seeds, black pepper and orange rind, served with rocket, shallot, chilli, cherry toms, , cooked yellow pepper and sesame seeds, orange juice, sesame oil and grain mustard dressing, coriander leaf

Half an apple

Water and black coffee

I got the link as soon as I pressed post. Spooky. 🙂

Going back to your original post, Nic2385, your results are really impressive – well done!

With regards to your “forethought and preparation, as much mental as in planning a new recipe set” – did you follow the diet in the book or did you adapt and use your own food plan?

spooky, what happened there? one second I was responding to your message the next I get email confirming your support!!! 🙂

That was quick signed

It must be slow, I’ve only got a response from janet and lynne so far. It seemed slow last time too. 🙂

Hi Ladies,
The longer you can fast overnight the easier it is for your body to burn fat. If you do need to snack choose a high fat option as it will satisfy your taste buds and body for longer. One of my fave snacks is a piece of cheese, 20g = 86cals 0.1g carbs and 5.4g protein. Doesn’t sound like a lot of cheese but if you cut a thin slice and break it into small pieces as you eat and let it melt on your tongue you can make it last. A handful of hulled sunflower seeds can replace nuts if they are a snack you would normally choose. Especially if you dry fry them in a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce or tamari for gluten intolerant people. Yummy salty snack at 200 cals 9g protein and 1g carb per 1/4 cup prepared this way. You wouldn’t need 1/4 cup of them.
Strawberries are a good snack if you want something sweet, 5 medium are 1.6g carb and only 13 cals. Add a tablespoon full fat Greek yoghurt for an extra 26 cals and 2.7g carb.
I think the problems we’ve had with snacking in recent years is the snacks have almost become a meal in themselves. Snacks have become high sugar, high cal foods and we can easily eat all day without thinking. Those of us doing the BSD are now much more mindful of what we eat, and it’s a shock to think back on our previous eating habits. You quickly become satisfied with less though and the cravings disappear completely for most people.

Hi Judith

Not got the link yet.

Thanks hashimoto!

My feelings exactly Patsy.

I need to get a photo of the label on the chicken in the shop and attach it to the email. If I can remember which cooked meat it was I’ll try for a photo of that label too.

Apparently the guy I emailed started off in the food department and worked his way up. Hopefully he will listen and act.

I caught something on the radio the other day talking about recycling used chewing gum into a plastic substance and using it in some industrial setting for something or other – that made me pretty sure I didn’t want to eat any ever again.

Yes Stringbreaker, that makes perfect sense to me too. I don’t like gum for many reasons including this one.

I stress that I am no expert, but I read something about chewing gum some years ago which has stuck in my memory.

The burden of the article was that chewing gum can be a problem for some people. It said that when you chew, it stimulates the digestive system to produce the acids which will digest the food it is about to recieve. As no food arrives, then the acid is floating about in your digestive system with nothing absorb it. The result is damage or irritation to the digestive tract.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but it made sense to me and I haven’t chewed gum since.