Hi Lynette
I’m in Australia

Hi Leanne,
There is a bit of info in the book about good food choices. I think what most of us do is check out the carb and calorie counts of food and decide if we can afford to use that much of our allowance on them. Bear in mind that the beans and bean flour are high in carbs but they are the good, low GI kind.
You’ve got the right idea with the zucchini soup and lasagne. Try to find meals that use the same ingredients so that nothing gets wasted. Even if you have to swap ingredients in a recipe to use something up. There are 7 of us in my family so I’m always on the lookout for bargain priced seasonal fruit and veg. Then I make the biggest variety of meals I can think of with the same ingredients. My freezer always has a couple of meals and soups for those busy days or when something unexpected happens. Or to allow for the ‘can’t be bothered to cook’ days 🙂
I’m sure you’ll soon be cooking up a storm, and once you start tasting that delicious fresh food you’ll be hooked!

Stated the 8 week BSD component today. Lets see how we go! Good luck me, good luck everyone

Wow that’s great, so this really does work, just started today so fingers crossed.

Hi Everyone
I am on the wrong side of 55…:) a breast cancer survivor, have a left sided physical disability. Have approx 20 kilos to lose after looking at my BMI. Had gestational diabetes 18 years ago…any ideas regarding exercise?

Hi, I am new and am totally clueless about calories.
Loved the nic chubbypenguin!

today i am going to eat brunch at 1 pm
2 beef sausages that are gluten free and made by my lovely grass-fed-beef only butcher around the corner.
fried with coconut oil
1 red pepper
one large tomatoe

For dinner I’m having greek full fat yoghurt with blueberries and rhubarb and cinnamon. No added sweetening.

I have no idea about the calories and am not sure where to find them but will go looking.
Here it is insanely hot (we are having a heat wave in Sydney) and I can barely think, let alone plan what I will eat. 🙂

I’m new. My blood sugar is always high on waking and I don’t eat til it has come down, usually after 1 pm and some physical activity in the morning.
There is a name for the early high blood sugar reading…apparently it is to pump us up for the days activity…(!)

Hi BexM
Welcome!
Re easy dinners. I’d suggest getting a slow cooker if you haven’t got one. £19.99 from Crockpot on Amazon.
At lunchtime you chuck in meat, veg etc and a small amount of water and leave it on til you get back, when it’s wonderfully cooked. It uses the same amount of electricity as a light bulb.
I make chicken with Mediterranean type veg, or lamb or beef stew. It’s a wonderful invention!
Penny

By tailor I mean eat more of the 800 in the morning and at lunch – smaller dinner 🙂

Hi Lolo
You could try counting your carbs ( you can do it on Myfitnesspal) if you’re not because it’s the low carbs that makes the waist reduce. Maybe you need to go lower?
Good luck with it.
Penny

Hi Rach19c
There’s a book you could look at. Jenny Ruhls ‘low carb problems solved’ (£3 on kindle). She deals with plateaus and everything else that goes wrong.
Good luck with the diet. This is just a blip.
Penny

Thanks Cherrianne, I don’t expect the weight loss to continue at that rate – I remember 20 years ago doing Weight Watchers with my mother and losing a similar amount in my first couple of weeks. The drop in blood sugar surprises me though. Gives me hope that I can actually reverse the Type II. Only adverse side effect is that I am a bit spacey towards the end of the working day (I teach in a design/woodwork workshop). I may have to tailor calorie intake to give me a bit more during the day…

Thanks cherrianne. Yeah I think that’s what I’m going to do. Iv got the zucchini lasagna and the chickpea chilli in my meal plan. Never had any of those b4. Suppose it’s just trial and error. Going to make a pot of the courgette and tomatoe soup too. Iv just realised there is also a Facebook page so hopefully that will keep me on track too. Do you know if there is a bit were I could get a list of allowed foods ?

Hi carsong, over 6kg down in one week and nearly halved your fasting blood sugars!!
You would just about be walking on air with those results. Fantastic success for week one. Well done 🙂

Hi Leanne,
Go for as much variety in your diet as you can and make sure you keep your fat intake up.
Treat yourself once a week and experiment with one of the recipes, I guess if you don’t cook much, or only for yourself, it can seem a bit daunting at first. Buy a few extra ingredients each week until you have a range of foods handy. If you enjoy a recipe, the food won’t get wasted as you can make double and freeze some for another day.
If you only snack on vegies you probably won’t be getting enough protein. You can add meat, fish or an omelette to your evening meal.
Be brave with your food choices, we are all learning new ways of cooking and eating 🙂

Hi All, just was fishing around FB and found that there is a FB group for the BSD. It is a closed group any one can join upon request. At the moment it “only” has 601 members, but it goes to show that this forum seems to be not the only space where people discuss the benefits of the diet, I really should stop calling it diet, and support each other. It can only grow and I hope that people everywhere take the step to improve their health. 🙂

Hi woofmum, sorry I missed your post. I’m in Aus so was probably asleep 🙂
Hashimoto has answered though. Neither she nor I are very tech savvy so you might just have to google it. I tried putting up a link on advice from Bill but it didn’t seem to work.
I know Jeff from the US was able to find it ok though, and a couple of others.

I have read the book and looked over all the recipes. Some of them sound really
Nice. Some of them have too many ingredients for me lol. Iv also looked up the recipes online and wrote a few of them down. I won’t be following the meal plan in book as I think a lot of food will get wasted. The kind of things I will be having for bfast is yog , the berry shake. Eggs with avacado . Scrambled eggs etc. Will probably be some kind of salad with protein for lunch. It’s the mains I’m worried about. I will probably snack on veg. Gerkings olives etc.

Hi Fifip
Welcome to the forums!
Re your confusion:
Cooked buckwheat per 100 g:
Carbs 20g, protein 3.4g
Heinz baked beans(with sugar) per100g:
Carbs 12g, protein 5 g
So getting towards twice as much carbs in the buckwheat.
Hope this helps
Penny

Hi and welcome Nisha,
Once you’ve put the kids to bed get onto the forums and read and chat. Before you know it it will be your bedtime and you won’t have had the chance to snack 😉
Use this time to plan your next day’s eating and maybe start cooking/ preparing ahead of time. Your kids will benefit too from good home cooked meals as you won’t be rushing to get dinner on when they come home hungry from school.
Keep in touch, there’s plenty of people to give you support when you need it v

Hello People 🙂 2 weeks ago three people mentioned this diet to me and one night whilst channel surfing I saw the documentary on TV. The universe was trying to tell me something so I bought the book, stocked the pantry and have started the journey. Morning 1, Week 1 I was 117.9kg and 10.2mmol/L fasting. Morning 1, Week 2 I am now 111.8kg and 5.8mmol/L fasting!

Hi Hashimoto,
Sorry to hear about your poor son, no fun having a tummy upset.
Look on the bright side though, with all that sick bucket emptying you’ll have had no trouble getting in your 10,000 steps 😉
Amazing the difference eight weeks has made to you. There you were feeling embarrassed about your ambitions to lose two stone! The eight weeks looming ahead would have seemed endless. Here you are today, exceeding all your expectations. Plus you’ve learned so much and are being a great mentor to the rest of us. Great stuff 🙂

Hi Rach, I think if you can stay in fairly close contact with your diabetes nurse you should be safe on this diet. Your insulin doses will need much more careful monitoring than a type 2 to stop you having hypos.
Not sure how the UK health system works these days,but can you get phone advice/ weekly visits or as you need them?
It is worth a try as long as you always have some lucozade, jelly beans or glucose gel on you. Do you wake at night if you start going hypo? That would be my concern for you.
How long since your insulin dose was reviewed? Your weight loss stalling and hypos might be down to the dose being too high? Having said that, many people find that their weight plateaus around week three. Review your food intake for carbs sneaking in ( it can happen after a few weeks as we get more laid back about the diet lol).
Lots of questions, I realise, but you are going to have to be a lot more mindful than the majority on here. You will have to be a bit of a detective as far as working out what is happening in your body. Great news that your nurse is supportive of you trying this. Best of luck, I’m sure you can achieve your weight loss goals 🙂 .
Once you get the weight loss out the way and maintain on a low carb med style diet you should see your blood sugars become much more stable.
Keep in touch, you’ll be paving the way for other type 1’s, truly a pioneer!

Hi Missay
I m keen on knowing every calorie too.
I wouldn’t trust the info on MFP though, it’s crowd sourced and sometimes wrong. I’ve made my own list on MFP on “my foods”, checking everything against Calorieking, which I’ve found reliable. It’s a bit of work but once done you ve got all those details. ( tho I found ‘blueberries’ kept disappearing off my list. I put them in as ‘blue berries’ – then they didn’t disappear- weird) I also put in the fat, carbs and protein so I can see how I’m doing with that too.
Penny

Hi Hashimoto, Janet1973’s mocktail sounds nice and refreshing. I will drink it cold with lots of ice. It still really hot here, 35+, this will definately hit the spot. …. and Bill’s white wine spritzer is also good. This is what I usually have if I drink anything, so its great to know there wont be much change for me in this department.

Wow Lucia, love your positive attitude and humour. You can do this and you deserve to be up there soaring with the eagles and enjoying the view 🙂

Hi missay,
In 5 Weeks, mid April, I shall be dreaming about a size 12 dress or skirt or trousers. I want to throw away my size 20’s. I can just bearly get into an 18 but don’t ask me to breathe and I couldn’t go out in them as I can’t zip them up!

But for now, I am going to have an early night and look forward to my measure, weigh and record my body in the morning, then I aim to give myself a gift of time, to do 10,000 steps.

Have got my yoghurt for breakfast, ham salad lunch and fish with cauliflower for my evening meal.
This evening my hubby ate three chunky kitkats with peanut butter, two bottles of beer then a family bag of cadburys twirls. Ohhhh chocolate. But I didn’t fancy it, I didn’t ask for a tiny piece. I am in the right place now. With my seven pistachio nuts.

So if you are reading this and thinking if you should do it or not, give it a go. Read my previous blogs,see that I am just a big ostrich wanting to get her head out of the sand and become a bird that can fly, to actually get off the ground. Yes, I will probably bump along the runway several times but eventually I will be up above the clouds looking at my footprints below. Come join me.
Speak tomorrow.
Love Lucia xxxx

Will do! 😉 X

Good evening all. Can I ask if anyone has tried to log the green tea blueberry shake on MFP? Just tried to put in as a recipe and it logged 360 calories not 130 as in the book! Can anyone advise? 😕

You are through the worst of it now by the sounds of it. The carb withdrawal sounds like it’s run it’s course.
So now you’ll really start to enjoy the extra energy, weight loss and feeling of well being that are the benefits of eating this way.
Enjoy your weekend and post how you coped. It will help the next person who faces the same situation. 🙂

Aww thanks Cherrianne, that’s very kind! 😄 Great tips about the booze thank you.
It’s funny you should say that about the ‘early warning signs’ – my friend who is a nurse always used to wonder if I had some kind of pre diabetes thing going on- even when I was an 8.5 stone twenty something 😬😬

Your post will bolster my efforts this weekend!
Xx

Thanks for all your comments. I think it’s a bit of trial and error, so I’ll see how I go and will hopefully find what works best for me.
Day 1 today!! So far so good.

Wow, I just read my own profile – ‘I hope to lose 2 stones on this diet’. I remember entering that ‘unrealistic’ goal rather tentatively. So embarrased by my own wishful thinking I didn’t add anything else to my profile. Hoped but did not believe. I have actually lost 2 stones and 2 lbs so far!! 🙂
I haven’t posted replies as much as I would have liked today, brought my son home this morning as he is suffering from the most awful stomach bug, it began at work late afternoon yesterday, prescription drugs not working so far, I’ve never emptied a sick bucket so often in my life! Just as well I have been on this diet as I didn’t get chance to eat until half an hour ago – but NO hunger pangs.
As someone else said about this diet – ‘it’s a flipping miracle’! 🙂

Sounds like you started this just in time Mummytummy. You won’t go on to develop diabetes if you can get the eating under control now. I wonder if the shakes/ sleepy thing is a warning sign of problems to come?
This used to happen to me when I was an impoverished student living on cheese on toast, beans on toast, jacket potatoes etc. basically whatever cheap food I could afford ( lots of toast lol).
That was years before I became a diabetic, probably because as soon as I could afford decent food and veg my eating improved.
For your weekend away could you limit yourself to a couple of spritzers or maybe ask the bar staff to give you mineral or soda water in a wine glass with a slice of lemon? They will be used to people staying off alcohol for various reasons. Your mates will understand and look out for you if you explain you can’t drink alcohol because you’re being tested for diabetes. Alcohol makes you hungry so you’re more likely to give in to late night munchies if you indulge!
The English breakfast is a good idea. For dinner you could have meat or fish and steamed veg ( no potatoes), skip the bread but use the butter on the veg.
Good luck this weekend and stay strong 🙂

Thank you both. I must admit I was beginning to despair and wasn’t looking forward to the future, but now I feel like I’ve got a 2nd chance. Love reading everyone’s stories on here…very motivating x

Hi Bill – Just seen about your daughter, would like to add my very best wishes and positive vibes from deepest Dorset x🙏

I love that excited feeling Scotgran, you expressed it so well! Well done, you’re getting there!

Way to go Scotgran! Good to know you have shifted the flu as well as the pounds 👍😀

Brilliant!

Hi Everyone,

I am 5 days in on the Fast 800 diet. I have always had big spikes and drops in my blood sugar (sleepy after carbs and shaky if I was in need of fuel!). I also used to get ‘Hangry’ a lot- (hungry+angry= hangry- Lol!! )

I did a fasting blood sugar test first thing on the morning of day 1- it was 8.2!! I repeated it and it was 7.2. That would mean I am diabetic!! I was really shocked and worried so rang the GP who sent me for a HbA1C.i went ahead anyway and I have checked it again- once on day 3- it was 5.8 ( still in the ‘pre diabetic’ range) but a relief all the same. Today’s was 4.9 (normal range) phew! I don’t know if the original one was a ‘rogue’ result or not, but I’m keeping an eye on it and hope it continues to stay in the normal range.

Ok, so far, the first two days I had a splitting headache, which settled on day three. I’ve had a really sore tummy at times- not sure if it’s the fats, but it gets better with more fluids, especially if they are warm…..? That too has improved today along with increased energy, better mood and less brain fog. I have felt hungry at times but have found that having a 2 litre bottle of water handy helps so I can swig from it regularly! I haven’t craved bread which is amazing for me because I LOVE it.
The recipes are gorgeous, I love them so it’s a winner for me. Once I’ve lost a stone and a half, I’ll switch to low carb med style.
I am due to visit friends in London for a couple of days this weekend and am nervous about managing my calories. I worked out that if I eat full English without the bread for breakfast and salad for lunch and dinner, I might be ok, but it’s the alcohol that worries me. It will be a boozy affair with girlfriends- eek! Any tips? What’s best to drink?
Thanks in advance!

You’re sounding very positive and focussed there Lucia! I am nearly at the end of week 5 and can’t believe how quickly the time has gone.

Oh ! Oh! Today, four and a bit weeks in, my husband noticed that I am thinner, then I noticed, the “tummy wedge” is much less and the boobs fit in the bra and the trousers are slack and the jacket buttons up and and and and…….. Wow ….I am so excited. I feel GREAT.

I’m just on the verge of starting this and am fine with breakfast and lunch but am a little concerned about dinners – not being a particularly good or adventurous cook! Also short of time most evenings due to family commitments (clubs etc). Does anyone have any ideas for quick and easy dinners that won’t make fall at the first hurdle? Thanks..

Great results Mrs Crimbo!

Hi, I’ve just got the book and signed up. I plan to start on Monday so I can get myself organised. A bit worried since I am a carb fiend and eat just for the hell of eating. I’m a single mum so when the kids go to bed that’s when I struggle….. But sounds like the people on here are a great support. Now off to browse some receipies.

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with mixed berries

Lunch: Salad with lettuce, toms, gherkins, olives, basil, green pepper, celery, blue cheese and beef, horseradish dressing

Dinner: Tofu and veg stir fry. Veg: onion, yellow pepper, courgette and mange tout, sauce for tofu marinade and in stir fry: fish sauce, peanut butter, lime juice, garlic, ginger, tahini, soy sauce and chilli flakes, with a chick pea, garlic and fresh coriander wrap

Snack: half an apple

Water, tea and coffee with splashes of milk

Calories: 821
Carbs: 45g

Start of day 4 – I am still adjusting – I have been under the 800 plus active calories every day and lost 1.7kg.
More importantly I am feeling lighter and feeling like I can move again. Next step is to try to stay at the 800 calories and exercise

I did my first 1km repeats for about a year this morning at a very pedestrian 5:30 min/km pace and only did 4 but it was great didn’t feel light headed.
12 weeks until I am 53, looking forward to what I can do in a 12 week transformation.

I can’t wait for my book to arrive in the mail.

Hello Leanne
I just love the Middle Eastern recipe, it is only 90 cals, and is yum, I did find planning ahead helpful to me.
I make a lot of my own veg soups which I count the calories of all the vegetables I put into the pot. They usually come out at around 100 calories for a big pan full, which does me and my husband for a couple of days. Then I can have a few more calories with my dinner dish.
Hope this helps you.
Gail

B no carb Bircher
L quite pleased, met friends in pub for lunch, chose burritos, peeled off the wrap, didn’t eat any of the nachos, felt full with the chicken, pinto bean and brown rice filling, ate the avo salsa and sour cream.
D poached egg and smoked cod

Hi Rose and Ella
Many thanks for the replies.
Rose, great achievement and I’m glad your approach is working well for you. Stick with it !!! Let em know how you are getting on xx
Ella I have been doing burst exercise and you’ll find once you start with the the rowing you’ll have more energy and sleep even better. The fluid in take may account for no weight shift in three days?? But I’m certain once you start with the exercise the weight will shift. Xx

I struggle with a work life balance but am now incorporating quick bursts of exercise either at work, whilst commuting or a quick walk with short sprints around my block (that way I can run indoors if it pours) !!

Let me know how you get on this week xx