Hi, I’m in the same boat as you Nutella. Not diabetic but with weight to lose, carb addicted. I started this on Sunday and have lost 5lbs. I’m finding it really easy and it is hard reaching 800 cals as the meals really do leave me full.

I think it’s important to have variety so make the most of the recipes provided. I also did this to help with migraines as I get about 3 a week. My last one was on Monday evening so fingers and toes crossed I can say goodbye to them.

The support and information on here is tremendous.

Good luck x

Thanks for your comments, this does seem a very supportive & friendly group, which is good! I have about 2 and a half stone to lose, and need to get my sugar/carb cravings under control to do that. I do think that having support in this way helps and look forward to getting slimmer and healthier!

29 degrees !!!!! positively tropical
We are expecting 2 – 3 degrees with snow and ice !
So you are 10 and a half hours ahead of the UK if it’s Friday night there.
My week 5 weigh day is tomorrow and after the dodgy sugar readings this week, I don’t know what to expect, but I did tighten the belt another notch this week.
Sleep well and enjoy the market 🙂

I’m afraid at the moment Lynne we just have to go with the flow as far as the medical profession is concerned.
There are doctors and nurses out there who are supportive of this plan, mine among them, but there are many who will always go by the book and unfortunately, the current issue is wrong!
It must be so frustrating to have a doctor or nurse who tries to talk you out of a lifestyle that you have proven to make you healthier.
As I said, the book is wrong, it needs rewritten, and we are providing the data for that, if anyone cares to take notice.

Hi Cherrianne, thanks for the words of encouragement. I think I need to celebrate the successes more, after all a small victory is still a victory. I think you’re right on the carbs as , looking back on myfitnesspal, my carbs have been about 65-75 g a day as I’ve been trying to stick to my porridge for breakfast (a hang over from dietician advice, when first diagnosed, to stabilise blood sugar during the day) – may just have to move to scrambled eggs and smoked salmon!!

Visited diabetes nurse this morning, and have just about calmed down.

She’s always been really supportive about BSD and is impressed with my results – evidence!!!

Today she had a nurse with her who is joining the practice so I explained this plan to the newbie. Of course, I got excited! Then she took my BP, which was slightly up on last time – hardly surprising!!!

Then it started. The newbie put a bit of a damper on things. Well, quite a big damper. And they started saying that they didn’t know if thus was sustainable long-term!!! Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh 😱😱😱😱😱

When I mentioned this site and the FB group, all the evidence we’re gathering, eyes started to glaze over.

Ok I was enuthiastic. But we are proof it works.

All I can hope is that nice supportive nurse is back next time I go. Thought my HbA1c due March, but it’s April, so that and next visit to diabetes nurse mid-April. Should have calmed down properly by then!!!!!

With more evidence collated. 😃 We’ll show them this plan is sustainable!!!!’

Sorry for the rant but it got to me this morning.

No slaps or kicks Bill, value the advice you give on here too much lol! It is disappointing though that we can get such good control over everything else except the dawn phenomenon!
I’ve had fasting readings under 5 for over a week now because I’ve been really on top of the night time snack. In fact I’ve just had it because it’s 10.40 at night here and I have to be up fairly early, no Saturday lie in for me this week. My sister and I sell our handmade soaps and candles at a market on the first Saturday of the month. It’s forecast to be 29 degrees so hopefully our soy melts won’t, at least not until they’re sold 🙂

Hi susieq, that’s an impressive reduction in your insulin in just a few weeks. What an achievement. Definitely not a failed diet is it? Be proud of yourself, you will get the weight loss too.
Nearly everyone seems to reach a plateau after a few weeks but then the weight loss starts again. Stick with it, don’t be discouraged. If you read the other posts you’ll see you’re definitely not alone in this. Might pay you to do a quick check on your carb intake too. The consensus here seems to be 50 g a day will achieve good blood sugar control and weight loss. Hope to hear soon that the kgs are dropping 🙂

You are right of course cherrianne ***RUBS SLAPPED HAND***
I won’t make that mistake again, I do struggle to force food down when I’m not hungry but I’ll persevere with it.
Thanks for the kick in the butt 😀

Hi Buffy, the stuffed red peppers are delicious. Ive made them twice and they look so impressive! Ive just posted a very easy, speedy meal of spicy baked beans. Like cherrieanne if i know what food you like I can post more recipes. I was a veggie for years so have a few ideas up my sleeves 🙂

Hi, ME TOO! After 3 weeks of great weight loss I have stopped losing weight and, despite being really strict and using myfitnesspal, was beginning to think that this was just another diet I’d failed at! Having read the posts on here, I’m determined to carry on for the next five weeks as I have massively reduced my insulin (66 units a day at start – now down to 16) and have lost 5kgs so far (need to lose another 10 – so may need longer). I’m enjoying the food and haven’t yet felt any real hunger pangs. Keeping my head straight was ok whilst I was losing but it’s difficult to get through this barrier – just trying to stick with it. Joined the forums today, so hoping a bit of ‘sharing’ will help!

Not a coincidence Bill! You know that by now :). It doesn’t seem to matter how good my carb intake has been through the day. It still happens to me if I miss my snack, it’s disappointing but something we obviously have to learn to live with. So if I’m tired and likely to fall asleep before snack time I have to make sure I’ve at least had a drink of milk.

Hi Buffy, I’m vego too and just about to start week 4. I was also reliant on rice and carbs to fill me up. Do you like cooking and are you keen to experiment with new meal ideas? Some people have just lost their way and their cooking mojo, others have never cooked a meal from scratch. If you give me an idea of what kind of cook you are, and what kind of foods you enjoy I can post more recipes. I love to cook and experiment so have found a few ways to replicate fave meals that are low carb.
Some recipes on the forum are vegetarian too, the courgette bhajis that Hashimoto posted sound nice. There is also a stuffed capsicum recipe on about page 5.
Keep in touch and hopefully I’ll be able to help 🙂

Hi, I track everything I eat on Myfitnesspal so i know just how many carbs, fat and protein i’m eating, I aim to be well below 50 every day. Most days I’m under that. Blueberries are surprisingly higher in carbs than I thought, so I have to watch out for those.

Hi Nuttella, I’m not diabetic but am hypothyroid. This diet will suit anyone trying to shed some weight or just get plain healthy!! In a weeks time you will be posting about how great you feel! Great to have you on board! 🙂

It is but only some types. Some seem to be too processed and and so become the high GI carb things we’re trying to avoid.

I did eat porridge for the first couple of weeks and I was fine and I suspect that my porridge wasn’t the best sort which is why I have stopped.

I like individual portions because it stops me from cheating which I know I am prone to do, but they seem to be the ones to avoid.

I was eating Quaker ‘Oats So Simple’ in individual sachets. It has 10.5g of fibre per 100g which seems to be reasonably high compared to most brands, and I took to be a good proxy for lower GI, but I have no idea what I am talking about so some advice from someone else would be most welcome.

Edit: BTW I am not diabetic so not being as careful as others, but I need to lose a lot of weight and avoiding sugar and high GI carbs has made this much easier than I imagined.

Leeanne you won’t find this one hard – I promise. Some people are a bit shaky for a couple of days but I haven’t heard anyone complain about hunger ! Good to have you join the crew on here!! 🙂

He he, Pat, I had to smile at the core of the cauliflower!!! My son does similar things – a mound of plain iceberg lettuce or a gherkin or two! 🙂

Yeah what you read on here is straight from the horses mouth so to speak rather than second hand.
The diet was brought together by medically qualified doctors, if they see no harm in it, then neither do I.

Hey,
I’m in week 3 too and starting to struggle so enjoying the comments here. I’m feeling less hungry than last week (time of the month) but a little disheartened that the scales aren’t moving faster. I’ve lost 8lb but 7 of those were in week 1. Ive been very strict, weigh everything and input it all to myfitnesspal, so it’s quite disheartening not to lose more this week. However I did measure my waist and hips this morning and have lost 3 inches round the middle. My Mum said that when she used to do Atkins the scales might not move but the tape measure did. I’ve got another 1.5 stones to lose and a family wedding at the end of the month so trying to think of that to keep me motivated. Hopefully we will both start losing again asap. Good luck!

Not a silly question by the way, ask anything you like to get you on the right track!

I don’t have diabetes, just two stone to lose. I’m just starting week 4 and very happy with things. When you reduce your carb intake you also reduce your appetite so 800 calories isn’t as bad as you think. It is a time-bound diet, 8 weeks, depending on how much you have to lose so there is no expectation to stay on 800 calories long term. All the best to you.

That’s interesting Bill, what you say about the diabetic organisation. It’s just further proof that we have to take control of our own health and listen to the evidence and there is a heck of a lother of it on here.

Thanks all xx

Love the frozen lemon idea!

Great idea Spirit. Must try that. Thanks. 😃

Hey maxmac, welcome to the forums.
Loads of advice and support for you on here, also a growing recipe section, a lot of which have been uploaded by folk already on this eating plan.
Looking forward to hearing your progress.

Thanks Olive,

Must have missed that. Am reading on my Kindle and now wished I bought a hardcopy.

Anyway, started today and so far so good. 55 days to go.

i have some fresh lemons sliced and frozen. I take one out and pour boiling water on it. sometimes I add a slice of fresh ginger.

Coffee with milk, Asda own brand flavoured water, and the odd diet coke does it for me.

Thanks Bill

Pretty much, yes! Milk is no problem other than it taking up calorie space. Sugar wouldn’t be clever of course!! 😉 Artificial sweeteners aren’t great, but in moderation if a Diet Coke gets here and there gets you through the night then no-one here is going to judge!

I have to agree with Bill. I CANNOT believe that I complete 3 weeks today, and am not finding it a struggle at all. The first 5 days or so I was a bit ‘hungover’ from Crap Withdrawal, but apart from some quite reasonable hunger pangs here and there I’ve been fine. Not been tempted to cheat and not really missed starchy carbs. My one ‘indulgence’ was last night, when I polished off the core of a cauliflower after dinner!!

Lots of non diabetics are doing this Nuttella, and I haven’t seen anyone having problems.
Don’t worry about the 800 calories, it sounds low but if you eat the right foods including full fat products and drink 2 to 3 litres of non sugary fluids a day, you won’t even feel hungry.
Loads of support and advice on here, welcome to a whole new lifestyle.

What Janet1973 said!

I’m not counting my grams of macronutrients (i.e. fat, protein and carbs) but I am steering clear of all starches and grains, so all my carbs are coming from vegetables (as green as possible) and a few berries. Fruit and veg have a lots of the micronutrients we need (vitamins and minerals) so you don’t want to miss out on all that good stuff. Depending on if you’re eating mostly protein or fat, shade a little off one or both to make room for some more. You can easily double, if not treble, the amount of carbs you’re eating and get a great plateful of food for very few of your calories.

I do seem to have a problem with sugar, (& carbs), so this would seem a good diet for me, although slightly concerned at the 800 calories per day?

Thanks

Hi,

I have been using myFitnessPal since I started the BSD (about 5 weeks) and today as I was adding my new weight firefox warned me that it was stopping the site from installing software. I think it might be a rogue advert. Has anyone else had any similar problems?

Probably your body just readjusting, It does tend to hang on to stored energy reserves when under assault by a new eating plan.
Make sure you keep up the water intake and that you have a decent amout of fat in your food.
If you stick to 800 calories the weight has to start coming off again.

Hi justabloke, i finish the 8 weeks in 4 days. I have the same concerns as you, i think i might start pushing to 900 calories in week 9 just to see what happens. Nuts are a very easy way to gain calories and just increasing portions of the current eating plan. Perhaps getting 4 portions out of the cottage pie with cauli mash rather than 6 portions. 3 courgette bhajis rather than 2 with a bigger portion of raita ( full fat of couse). It’s going to be a real learning curve for all of us once we reach that 8 week line. It’s actually a wee bit scary this thought of coming of 800 calories when I feel better than I have in a decade. BTW I. Loved your post – so informative and well written 🙂

Hi there maxmac, it says on the front page of the recipe section that “All calorie counts are for one portion”, so that 290 calories is for each of the two portions – those felafels are amazing though and huge – 4 of them make a great and filling lunch.

To be honest I would ignore the UK diabetic society, they were the ones that recommended this diet to me via email, but, when I visited their forums I found a war going on between Type 1’s and type 2’s and a lot of clannish behaviour.
People with absolutely no knowledge of the BSD were either dismissing it as just another low carb diet or warning others that it could be dangerous.
Concentrate on what is happening on this forum, we are the pioneers of this new lifestyle and we are adding relevent data on a daily basis.
Those that don’t know should either find out or not talk rubbish.

Hi Justabloke. I’ve answered you on BSD Way of Life. Hope it goes some way to answering at least part of your post.

I just had a look back through my carbs. I’m on day 22 and lost 8lb. I’ve generally had between 20-40g carbs but some days as much as 80g, whoops. I’ve not eaten any grains, starchy veg or processed food so not quite sure what happened on those days! Have only lost 1lb this past week but overall 3 inches off my waist and an inch off my hips so I know it’s working!

Morning Justabloke. Congratulations, sound like you’ve done really well.

After reading The Fast Diet (5:2) my understanding was that as long as I ate low-carb Mediterranean style for 5 days and restricted calories as well as low-carb for 2 days it wasn’t necessary to worry about calories on the 5 days (hope that makes sense).

Regarding calcium, perhaps you could eat more cheese – full-fat of course. I’ve developed a passion for Gorgonzola and Brie (Not at the same time LOL).

Admittedly, I’m not following the meal plans in the book, just sticking within the 800 calories and severely restricted carbs.

I’m seeing my diabetes nurse monthly so she can monitor my progress (seeing her today, in fact) so, unusually for me, I’m doing this under medical supervision. Hoping to come off blood pressure meds today.

I asked the BSD team about carrying on. Their response was it was okay to continue on this for an extra few weeks as long as I felt OK and had no problems, but then to move on to 5:2.

On here and FB some people are talking about staying on this for longer, some going to 5:2 or a variation of that (2:5, 6:1, 4:3 etc).

Personally, I’ll complete 10 weeks on BSD tomorrow. I feel great, weight, blood sugar and blood pressure all greatly improved. I’m away for 5 days next week so intend to eat as low-carb Mediterranean style as I can without worrying too much about calories. After I get home and see what effect that has had I will make a more informed decision on how to proceed. I may stay on this for another few weeks (until a residential conference) or may move to 2:5 (5 days limited calories, 2 days more relaxed). At this point I’m really unsure.

One thing I am certain about – after seeing the effect that the carbs were having they will not find a place in my life again. Like so many of us, the carbs were slowly killing me.

Hopefully this has gone some way towards answering some of your questions.

Hi Pat

I don’t measure my blood sugars but have lost inches as well as pound and fit into a size smaller jeans.. I also feel better but am disappointed with no further loss as I want to keep motivated. Good point about the additional days worth of food. Thanks

Been tracking my carb intake and it’s in the 10 to 15 grams range since starting BSD. Life before BSD the figure was more like 150 grams! Just wonder how many carbs folks are having. I’ve lost 5lbs since Sunday and blood sugar reading has gone from 5.5 to 4.1. All good but I have looked at the UK diabetic society and it worried me that they put such a scary spin on going too low carb. Feeling much better today as well after yesterday’s flu like symptoms.

A tip I found on another low carb site suggested a salt water drink (yukky) to get things moving, if ya know what I mean. Not to be done habitually though. Over and out xx

Do you measure your blood glucose or take any body measurements? That might give you confidence that changes are happening. Selfies can also be helpful in revealing differences in body shape.

If you go over by up to 100 every day, that could amount to almost an extra day’s food every week, so beware of exceeding the recommended 800 regularly. I’d suggest tracking your calories quiet carefully for a while and seeing where those extra 50-100 calories are coming from. If any of it is starchy carbs or if you eat a lot of fruit, that would be a good place to trim back.

Finally, how are your bowel movements? Depending when you last had one in relation to when you get weighed, that can make quiet a difference in the short term.

Other than that, be patient with yourself and be particularly vigilant tracking your calories for a while.

Psyllium husks are good for keeping things moving – or at least stopping the stool becoming hard and impacted. Available from Holland and Barratt. I have also always believed what FoFi says – the less volume you eat, the less waste you produce, so the less often you need to pass it.

Hi Buffy, Aly is a vegetarian so she might give you some pointers. I know i will be teaching my granny to suck eggs, so to speak, but the gluten free flatbreads are a good source of protein as they are made from chickpea flour same is true of the coconut breads – both are in the recipes on this site. Soups with beans, cheese, eggs, lentils etc I’m. Sure you will find plenty. Can i suggest breakfast: greek yoghurt with berries, lunch: vegetable frittata, supper: veg curry with flatbread. Simple plan like that will give you all you need. Cherrieanne has posted a lovely cream of mushroom soup which is a suitable meal for you. I think the we have all had some difficulties around eating when our staples of rice, pasta, bead and potatoes are off the menu. Keep at it. I will try and post some suitable vegetarian meals in next few weeks. Do you like spicy foods?
Don’t let the issues of rethinking your diet put you off because it is great when you (quickly) get to the place where the planning stops being difficult. I think it would have been more helpful to vegetarians if there had been a section in the book dealing with their dietary issues but there are veggie recipies in there. Keep going and good luck!!! 🙂

Hello

Hunger pangs do improve over time. I am four weeks in and have really adapted. When I feel hungry i have a mug of coffee (decaf or standard) with a splash of (soya) Milk and it helps to make you feel full. Also miso soup in a mug does the same but is salty. I have a hot drink before I cook family meals!