Thanx Penny and happy, safe travels to you in India, it truly lives up to it’s marketing strapline of Incredible India, I was there for 7 weeks in 2014, it was a travel experience quite like no other. One of my most favourite meals is rice so avoiding that – as well as Pad Thai – is going to be a real challenge. My plan is to avoid the rice and try to stick with eating fresh fish, salads when I can.

With breakfast for the past year for breakfast I have been eating muesli and natural yoghurt but the portions kept increasing so I am now limiting that, just a small change but am convinced that by by replacing that with poached eggs or a cheese omelette has really contributed to the waist inch loss.

Finding it difficult to manage without snacks during day – am drinking water/black tea but still have cravings which I usually fulfill with almonds and walnuts. I am going nutty! Any other suggestions from you lovely forum members on permitted snacks gratefully received and devoured!

Hi vjc,
Welcome to the forums. You are absolutely right that ketoacidosis is dangerous. It is a life threatening emergency for type 1 diabetics and end stage type 2’s who aren’t producing insulin at all. A characteristic of this is the breath odour, described as ‘fruity’ like ‘pear drops’ due to the acetone being excreted by the lungs.
Ketosis is different and is a state where stored glycogen has been used up and the body is burning fat stores for energy.
I didn’t see any reference to ketosis in the book but neither does it mention what carb range to aim for. I think the book has been designed to be a simple easy to follow plan.
Many people who post on here are still losing weight without trying to stick to a particular carb target. I think if you follow the 8 week plan it will happen anyway, simply because it’s designed to be low cal/ low carb.
Some of us who are diabetic might monitor our carbs but more for blood sugar control reasons than weight loss.
Sorry it’s a bit of a long reply 🙂
Good luck with the diet, hoping to hear of your successful weight loss soon. You’ve already taken the first step.

Slower week this week – seem to be on the week 3 plateau that a lot of folk mention. Maybe it ‘s just that the first 10 days the weight loss was so rapid that even 1kg a week seems slow. Moved a notch on my belt and my jeans are now around my belly rather than under it which is apparently a far more attractive look (as long as I don’t pull them up too far). I’m going to thrash out another 2 tough weeks on this BSD and then I will have my regular appointments with my quacks – Cardiologist, Blood Specialist and Snoring Specialist. I hope to be knocking their socks off with the new me – lower BP, lower weight and fewer sleep apnea episodes – whoop whoop!

Thanks Hashimoto, I was getting a bit desperate for a while there but it seems it might be sorting itself out finally.
Lachlan, it will happen for you too! It really does seem to be a fairly common occurrence at this stage, judging by what others have posted. I don’t count my calories at all, I just try and keep my carbs around 50,because like you, I don’t want to be too thin. I just want to keep my blood sugar levels within the non diabetic range.
Squidgy, I do feel for you. It is scary to see your blood sugars going up like that, even without your extra concerns about the retinopathy. If you are following the same pattern as some of the others on here you must be about at the end of this period of high sugars. Maybe the gym workout caused your liver to dump extra sugar because of the exercise?
Plain Greek yoghurt is 6.8g carb per 50g, even without any fruit etc. so you might be taking in more carbs than you think. Learning carb values was the biggest part of doing the BSD for me ( and the biggest shock), it has helped me to be more mindful of what I eat and to spend my allowance more wisely. I have tried to have a low carb meal following a high blood sugar. So if I have a high fasting reading I would have a mushroom or two and an egg scrambled with butter for breakfast. Then yoghurt and fruit on a day when it’s a reasonable sugar level. Helps to balance things out and I use an app on my phone to help me choose low carb foods, and track my intake.
Hope this helps, for me it’s a whole new way of learning how my body reacts to certain foods and the cumulative effect of carbs/ sugars over the day.

Thanks everyone everyone your encouragement . I lost and regained 2 kg
Now compounding the problem is half an antidepressant Avanza which knocked me out slept all that night and most of the following day ! Some people eh? Never satisfied .
Stopped wishing I were dead but that is extra food I think . I will up the fluids and remain on as sugar free a diet as I can be managed . Have ditched muffins bread and anything processed .
My father reacts to practically. every medication that he has ever tried . With severe shaking and Gi symptoms . I am not the same but I shoukd know by now that a body can do things that can’t possibly be caused by Such and such a thing . Good luck everybody .

Hello. I’m new – just started the BSD and found this thread because I was searching for a definition of ‘low carb’. The info here has been very useful, but I’m surprised to see that quite a few people are actively pursuing ketosis. My copy of the BSD book is still on its way from the UK so I’m curious to know whether it actually recommends achieving ketosis to go into full ‘fat-burning mode’. I know that ketoacidosis can be life-threatening for Type 1 diabetics and it’s always been my understanding that it isn’t entirely desirable for the rest of us either (horribly pongy breath being one side-effect I’ve read about). I was thinking of aiming for 50 – 80g of carbs per day, specifically to avoid ketosis, but maybe that’s not necessary. I’d be very interested to hear from others about how they’re doing on seriously LOW low carbs and the various pros and cons. Btw, I’m doing the BSD to stave off the Type 2 diabetes that runs in my family. I’d like to lose the recommended 10% of my body weight and reduce my waist measurement for health reasons, but am not aiming to be a supermodel, so maybe I can stick to 50-80g of carbs and still drop up to a kilo (2.2lb) a week – any thoughts would be appreciated! 😊

i’ve got to day 4 and the headaches have found me. i’ve found it a bit harder than i expected, but it’s been good to see on the forums that the first few days can be tough. so i’ll find the paracetamol, drink plenty of water, and tell myself that means it must be working.

Thanks MaryR, I will try blitzing them as you suggest and use a smaller tin.
There is another recipe on here for apple and courgette muffins that doesn’t have any pumpkin seeds. I might try it one day, can’t face it after the last lot though!

My dad has one, he uses a teaspoon of oil (for chips) I have ‘fried’. Onions, courgettes etc with a tspn of oil then added strips of steak or chicken. They do cook incredibly quickly and make a loud pinging when the cooking time is up which is useful if you have things to get on with. You can have more fat in other meals or add a cream or cheese sauce 🙂

Thanks Hashimoto 😎

Great results graemesmith! 2 stones gone and fbs down as well, way to go! 🙂

My weight loss slowed down last week. I have increased my exercise and it seems to be working. After 6 weeks and 2 days I have broken the 2 stone loss barrier.

My aim is to lose another 9 lb before the end of the eight weeks.

This mornings fbs was 5.8! That just says it all.

Loving the diet so much that I can’t see much changing after the 8 weeks.

The support on here is fantastic, keep it up folks. We can all do it !!!

I have a birthday coming up and I have been given an actifry type appliance, basically you can cook most things in the machine without using any fat! The question I am asking is, is this the right way to go to keep my weight down when I finish the diet, I am thinking about continuing for a few more weeks until I get to the desired weight, then I want to try and do the 5/2 diet and see how I go, just not sure about getting this ‘actifry’? Any ideas or comments please!

Yes Purplepenguin I have been weighing everything and drinking water and it’s surprising how little food makes a lot of calories. So much so that today I felt quite faint and had to have a piece of toast! I have about a stone to lose and am re-thinking how to go about it. I don’t think this semi starvation diet is doable for me but I like the low carb approach. Maybe I will go for the Mediterranean diet Michael talks about (and you mentioned) instead. I also have My Fitness Pal which is very useful for counting calories so perhaps I’ll just allow myself more than 800 and see what happens. Being hypo does make it more difficult and I don’t want my weight to keep going up and up. You have done brilliantly to lose 5kg. I wish I had been able to but at the end of the day it shouldn’t have to make one feel unwell. You said you counted calories – do you count carbs as well? Do you keep under 40 or whatever is recommended? And fat – how many grams would be right I wonder? Good luck to you as well and I hope you maintain your progress.

Hi all
Checked my Pre-dinner levels tonight and has gone to 7.0 after that horrific rise to 11.5 yesterday morning. I have experienced high levels for two weeks now with yesterday being the worst result but, dare I hope, it looks like the levels are coming down again. So if you’re still getting those high levels hang in there because it seems they will come down. And I’ve even increased my calories per day because I’m getting so thin my wife is telling me I’m beginning to look like a carcass!

Thanks for the good wishes btw Cherrianne and well done for hitting those great results. Keep us posted.

I’m in week 7
Lost 20 pounds and blood sugar now below 7 fasting and 4 to 5 pre food.

Hi purplepenguin
I am on week six of the diet, however on the first week I was so lightheaded an faint I didn’t think I could continue! The first night I went to bed and said I can’t do it, in the morning I decided to give it another day, and here I am on week six, you can do it, especially with the help of the great people on this forum, keep posting your progress or otherwise, and you will get there in the end, good luck, christine

Thanks FoFi for the suggestions for the muffins- I might give them another try, specially since I had hoped it might be a way of getting some more veg into my four year old grandson :-), I think I’ll chop the pumpkin seeds, or use some smaller seeds (sunflower?) since pumpkin seeds are large. And I shall just chuck it all in the Thermomix and see what comes out. It still seems a lot of calories to use up on a small item, nearly a quarter of one’s daily 800! And do you think 220C seems a very high temperature for these? I don’t do much baking generally, so not an expert.

Hi cherrieanne, great news I hope your blood sugars are ‘steady away’ now! 🙂

Today I logged my cals on MFP and nutracheck. MFP says I am over the 800 limit and nutracheck say I have 120 remaining. What to do?

thabk you that is a good way to look at it. hard feeling this discomfort and having no weight loss yet 🙁 where are you up to?

Hi all,
Thanks Nettyrim for your post. It does seem that the rising levels show up around the 5-6 week mark.
Fasting blood sugar 4.9 for me this morning, again without the evening snack. Dare I dream that I’ve come through the other side of this?
Hang in there Lachlan, we’ll all keep on supporting each other through this 🙂

Breakfast: Home made yogurt with raisins

Lunch: Salad of romaine lettuce, rocket, cooked red pepper, cherry toms, olives, jalapenos, pork, cheddar, creme fraiche, dried chilli and garlic

Dinner: Pan fried mackerel with caramalised lime half, carrot, coconut, chilli, spring onion and brazil nut salad with marinaded ginger root and a lime juice and vinegar/fish sauce dressing. This was adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe and was very, very good (as long as you like ginger!) Rocket to fill the plate!

Snack: Avocado half

Water and one tea with milk.

Calories are over today (1063), partly because when I roughly planned out tonight’s meal, I wrongly assumed mackerel would be similar calories to salmon, but it is a lot more – I suppose because of it being a more oily fish, and partly because of the avocado half. So back on track properly tomorrow… Carbs were 55g

Thanks Bill. Your support is very much appreciated especially with all that’s on your mind at the moment. I don’t know you, but you clearly are an amazing person and the support you show everyone on these forums is wonderful. Keep your chin up.

Hi bill1954
I was just going to let you know how great I was feeling after a difficult few days, then I read the threads and realise what a great guy you must be, giving all these people (and me!) such positive and helpful advice when you are going through so much, I didn’t know until tonight, so I Just wanted to let you know you and your family will be in my prayers, God bless you

Wow John. Well done! Wish you could send us a picture of your diabetic nurse giving you your blood results.

MaryR, I wish I’d checked this forum before I made the brownies (an hour ago)! I don’t know what I was expecting I thought that the nibs might partially melt or something. I quite like them – I like almost anything at the moment. But I would not call them brownies. (One of our household has a nut allergy so I used half coconut flour and half gram flour.) When I make them again I might grind the nibs first. The dates came in packs of 9 so there are still 3 left. If no-one has eaten them by Friday I might have another go at a half batch.

I have just made the courgette muffins for the second time. I don’t mind the taste of the first batch but they didn’t hold together very well. This time I weighed the butter (52g) and I used half gram flour and half coconut flour as coconut isn’t that popular in the house. There is hardly any coconut taste now. I also used fruit juice rather than the juice of an orange and I suspect that I used slightly more than the equivalent amount. They are much more muffin like this time.

Hey ChannelK,
I too put on some weight after an indulgent weekend of drinking! But it soon came off – in fact within 2 days I am usually back to pre-event weight! Haha! I have been sticking to red wine, or gin and slimline tonic…with the odd prosecco here or there! (Gotta love the bubbles!)
I got worried that drinking alcohol was effecting my weight loss, but in fact I think it was just the plateau everyone had been talking about – and now it does seem to have kicked back in again. Keep going & I’m sure that albs will come off in no time xx

B – spinach and pea omlette, 180 calls, could be eaten cold as packed lunch or taken to work for break time if in a hurry

L – Spanish chickpea and spinach soup with chorizo, really tasty and very filling, again good for work, 210 caps

T – we were going to have the foil baked fish but after lunch felt full and couldn’t face another main meal so went ‘off piste’ for the first time (scary) and had cottage cheese, coconut flour flatbreads (added some water as the mix was thick, came out lovely and light and fluffy) celery, baby tomatoes, and cucumber, 388 cals.

All came to 778

Not been hungry at all today, tried to download the Aussie app as suggested previously to track cals and carbs but not recognised by my iPad!

Onwards and upwards and ready for another new day tomorrow with blueberry and green tea shake in the fridge for brekkies.

Oh dear, I’m putting weight on now! Had lost 10 lbs over 4 weeks and now in week 5, I’ve put 2lbs back on. Hm. Am hoping that’s just down to some alcoholic celebrations last weekend! Good to hear about weight loss for Lolo and Sunnyb so that’s motivating me to keep going one day at a time. I wish our bodies were simple to understand! 🙂

Fantastic John. Come and join us on the Fast 800 forum, there’s a thread ‘over the 8 week line and after’

I asked the BSD team about this. They said if I was ok and had no problems it was ok to do an extra few weeks then move on to 5:2.

But I have stayed on the BSD and am now in my 12th week (except last week was on holiday do just low-carb eating, straight back on BSD when I got home). I plan on staying on this for a while longer as I have approx another 56 pounds to lose, and lots of folk on here seem to be planning to do the same.

Hi All – Bill it’s great to see your improved results. It gives us hope! Are you on medication/ have you reduced it?

Today my fasting level was still high at 9.9, and I decided to test more often. 2 hours after my yogurt breakfast, my blood sugar was still high at 9.3.
Lunch was home made vegetable soup (all non starchy) and an apple. 2 hours later my blood sugar had fallen to 5.9 the lowest I’ve seen for ages. However I went to the gym to do a body max class and measured again before dinner and it’s back up to 8.5. So it seems as though my liver is dumping sugar through the day now too. I’mm hoping it’s a good sign, and once I’m at my target weight am thinking about asking for a liver/ pancreas scan to see if it is still fatty (probably will have to go private for that)

Cherrianne – I think I’m eating minimal carbs – only natural carbs in carrots, apples etc (and not many of them) – I think well below 50g normally. I’m slightly worried about letting my levels get too high as I’ve already got some signs of retinopathy.

Lucia, I had no difficulty. I just went onto easydietdiary.com and then it said download on the AppStore and I went there and hey presto. But I bought my iPad when I lived in Hong Kong so maybe it’s a different store as I do get a lot of Chinese apps.

How wonderful! Five pounds a week! Really well done John, go for it!

BTW Lucia the no carb ploughmans makes a good packed lunch x

Lucia i wondered why you were trying to weigh a spoon of yoghurt lol. Wish I had had a light bulb moment and let you know we eat a small pot – I’m addicted to fage. You might find it keeps you fuller! X

Hi Scot gran,
How do you download it as the uk App Store doesn’t know it and I don’t know how to get the Australian one?
Simple clue please because I am thick.
Love Lucia
Xxx

Hi Scot gran i will look for the spreadsheet later this evening.

I went for a wander in the ‘what have you ate today’ blog.
I thought the normal portion of yoghurt was a tablespoon, people there are having a whole small pot. I had a lightbulb moment.

Am going to look for the ploughmans lunch , it sounds good. May have that at the end of the week.

Also, I am going to try some mince or a small steak, just to see how I get on. I prefer chicken though.

I am learning.
Love Lucia
Xxxx
X

Fantastic! You must be feeling great. Wishing you continued success.

…and Marjorie

Hi DD,
In that case I might give it a bash myself once the 8 weeks is over.
I hope to have just another 20lbs to lose after the first time round so I may be able to shift that on the 5:2 – I’ll certainly maintain the Med style food whatever.
Very good luck to you

Hi Stringbreaker, I haven’t re-read the book but I do plan to, mainly to get some motivation again. I didn’t stick to 800 calories for the last 2 weeks so it wouldn’t really be 4 months for me and if I do find it a struggle then the 5:2 is my backup plan. Must admit I don’t feel as if it’s an effort either 😀
I am going to do it again Desperate so let’s trailblaze 😀Good luck to you too!

Lost 40lb. Blood down from 7.2 to 5.2. My diabetic nurse dismissed the diet before I started. Had bloods taken today, carnt wait to get my results from her. !!!!! Going to contine and hope to loose another 20lb. Which will take me to my ideal weight. Good luck to all, I am proof that it works.

Lucia I use easy diet diary which is free to download. It’s actually an Australian app but it’s easy enough to use if you are using fresh rather than branded products. I have noticed that whilst my calorie count is usually a little below the 800 my carb count is often quite high. For example today I’ve had 691 calls but 32 carbs. I will work on my choices to try to bring that down to under 30. By contrast yesterday I had 791 calls but only 23 carbs.

Hi string breaker
The book is a bit vague on continuing, it just says some people may have more weight to lose and may want to continue. I’m going to give it a try. The recipes are really well balanced so , if we choose carefully, it should be okay; and if it’s not – we can always stop! Have a go and see how it works. Good luck.. Much joy

B blueberries yogurt almonds and flaxseeds
L chicken celery lettuce one cherry tomato olive oil
D stir fry turkey breast with 1/2 pack of Chinese stir fry veg
Snacks half a pear and a small square of cheese mid afternoon as I had an early breakfast and an early lunch today,
All comes to 691 so may have some yogurt later but not hungry at the moment and feeling tired so will go to bed early before the evening munchies come on!

Hi Sunnyb, thanks for the info about the oopsi bread, I might have time to make it tomorrow.

Bill, I think my batter for the flatbreads is just two thick (avoiding the joke at your expense!), as you said before more of a paste, so I maybe need to add some milk or water or something to get thinner ones.

For Kiwi’s – there is a NZ version of the ‘easydietdiary’ iPhone app. I find it really easy to use and the more people who use and add NZ brands the easier it will become. I find it a lot easier to use than the MFP app.

I had a plateau at week 3 for 13 days – so started to track using this app, I am now losing a kilo a week again, which for me is amazing. I specifically tracked the carb intake – to my body it doesn’t matter what type of carb – I need to keep down below 30g a day what ever the type to lose weight. Find what your threshold is and you will be able to keep losing if you stay below it.

Best of luck out there everyone. 🙂

Lucia, no need to dry fry anything – get the butter in that pan!