Manufacturers normally give out test meters free of charge if you ting them. As Bill says, it’s the cost of strips that matters. I checked online to see which strips were cheapest and went from there.

LMAO
I knew you would have an answer to that.
Ditto on the trousers though, I had to tighten my belt another notch today, that’s 5 notches so 5 inches gone 😀

Bill 😱 LOL. That would seriously frighten the neighbours LOL.

Mind you, if I keep wearing these trousers outside the house, they will be on view. Note to self: these trousers are for the charity shop.

Hi Stingle.
Keep going and you will see weight coming off soon as 800 calories is 800 calories so sometime soon you will see the benefits of BSD.
As others have said don’t give up.
Nidge

Hi Kevin

Welcome. It seems like there’s a good trade in this book going from England across the pond. I sent a copy to my friend in Texas.

Hope it really takes off in US. Please let us know your progress, and how the plan is received in US.

Thank you so much for all your replies and Kimgall – I felt quite miserable too on days 4 & 5 but it passes – My body has taken a beating with extremely high readings for the past 18 months and for the first time I have got below 14 so I must be doing something right!!! Its about time 🙂

Make a flatbread by mixing 1/2 a cup of chickpea (Gram) flour with enough cold water to make a thin batter, you can add herbs and spices if you like. Chickpea flour is packed with dietary fibre and complex carbs
Pour the batter into a frying pan and cook on a medium heat for 3 -4 minutes or until golden brown, flip over and repeat
Great for those cheesey beans!

They all do the same sort of thing really.
The thing to look out for is not the cost of the meter, it’s the cost of the replacement test strips.
Just go for the best value.

Although I’m not diabetic my readings are in the high end of normal so I’d like to keep an eye on them and reduce them. I’ve been looking at some of the kits online but don’t know which ones are best – any suggestions?

Peanutbutty
I admire your tenacity immensely. That little voice never may never go away but you can make a new habit of ignoring it with time. Like you said, maybe you have been lazy, we all have, but you are big enough to acknowledge it and that’s the point where new habits can begin.

Bill’s suggestion is a great one and I will happily be one of the people who will respond to your next call for support whenever you need it.

Just keep fighting one craving at a time, one meal at a time, one day at a time. You already know it works!

Thanks chaps! I really am feeling much happier these days. So much better than the depression that comes with the underactive thyroid. That was how mine was discovered because I realised I was slowly becoming suicidal. But that’s in the past now.

I am persevering with the fizzy water so thanks for standing to that round auntylil! But clothes shopping will have to wait until I get another job!

And yes, even my shoe size changes when I lose weight to a stupid 3 and a half! Nightmare!

That’s great to hear merseychic,
5 weeks to go ???
That goal is looking more than very attainable. Well done.

Ok Ok
I wasn’t going to say it but I can’t help myself.
Kevin, when you take exercise, do you go WALKING IN MEMPHIS 😉

Hi Kevin
Welcome to our forums. We have everything you need here so when the bsd does hit your shores you will be able to say you already know all about it!

Use whatever measurements you feel comfortable with, we will get the gist!

Looking forward to reading about your progress. Btw, memphis/nashville/new orleans are the first places I plan to visit when I eventually get to go on foreign holidays again – its all about the music for me!

HI well end of week three I had lost a total of 7.6 pounds an average of 2.5 a week I am only 7 lb off my goal weight and my total weight loss since Christmas is 16.6lbs. Still no carbs still only 800 per day and still got 5 weeks to go.

Hi Yael,
Milk contains its own sugar – lactose – which has so far been considered an acceptable sugar for human bodies to metabolise.

Ww was sold to Heinz in 1978, hence the large range of food products with the ww name on them. But Heinz of course is not that interested in weight loss just selling their brand and they have been incredibly successful. I bet they have a whole pile of scientists locked away doing tests now though!

It didn’t, that’s supposed to be the emojie for thumbs up 🙁

If this works, it’s for you Judith, if it doesn’t, I’m a fool (Y)

Hi Yael, he he. My son came round for dinner last night and brought me a large, rather scrumptious easter egg. I don’t. Know which one of us was most mortified. He had forgotten i was on this diet and no way could this past chocoholic even fancy it!!!! 🙂

Go for it Kevin
we are all in this together and we are all available for help and advice.
It would be interesting to find out how the book is received in the States if you wouldn’t mind.
See you next week when there is less of you to go round 🙂

Try this peanutbutty
next time you have a sugar craving, post it on here, use a big bold thread title such as SUGAR ALERT URGENT HELP NEEDED.
Write down exactly how you feel and promise yourself that you won’t indulge until you have had at least 8 positive replies to your post.
Then, read your post again and think to yourself what advice you would be giving me if I had made that post.
Hope it helps.

Hello,

I just found out about this and after reading a quick summary it immediately ‘clicked’ with me.

About 10 years ago I went from 32 stone to 18 stone following a very low calorie program using lower carb meal replacement shakes. I wanted to get down to 13 stone but never made it. I am 188cm male.

(I’m native to the USA but am going to try to use UK measurements since this program seems to be more popular in the UK!)

Alas now I have gained back and am 20 stone. So have been trying to find the perfect program and tried a whole lot of diets. I can’t go back to the original one because the company that ran it has lost their way a little bit, so I want to do something similar on my own. But other diets failed me, nothing quite controlled hunger like before.

When I heard about this on Reddit it sounded perfect!

The book isn’t available in the USA yet, so I had a friend in the UK get a copy for me. Hopefully it will be a huge hit here when it comes (March 22) out and I will have a big head start on everyone!

I’m going to read the book today and start the program tomorrow!

Cherrianne is right, Loukc … keep reading the posts and see how others are doing. The initial decision (which is yours alone … and a big step) is probably the one that is going to take you to the healthy and happy person you want to be. You can do it! Your medication may well make a difference to your weight initially … I know insulin does mine. But if I want to get off insulin, then I have to do something to change my current situation!!
It’s a vicious circle … we have a health condition, so we have medication … that may make some of the symptoms better, but it may cause weight gain … we overeat and get bigger … that causes other health conditions, so we have more medication … then we feel down cos we are on all these medications … so we overeat and get bigger …
Overeating can make us all very lethargic, and then we don’t have faith in ourselves. By sticking with this you can change your life. I believe this purely from the motivation I have received from reading Michael’s book, and the guys on this forum. I don’t have a success story yet … but I will … and you, and the others here, will all be part of my success!! Good luck creating your own success story, no matter what meds may get in your way x

Stingle, please, please, please keep at it!! Are you feeling hungry? Are you feeling unwell? You do understand that exercise will be building up muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat, don’t you?
I have been doing this for three days now, and although I can’t tell you if I have lost anything, I can tell you that I have felt tired and achey … BUT I have had really low readings … first for a long time … I have not had any sugary bad carbs since Sunday evening … and although I have a little miserable, sniffling, whining little devil sitting on my shoulder, I have not succumbed!!! And nor will you!!!!!

You have got this far … DO NOT GIVE UP NOW!!! All of these people on this forum aren’t here for the sake of their health … oh, sorry … they are all here for the sake of their health … 🙂 … and they are also here to get motivation for themselves … and to motivate others.

Do you think they haven’t had times when they’ve not been happy with their results in some way or another??? Trust me, they have!! But they have not given up … and nor will you!!

As Bill says, we are all individuals … we all will achieve our goals some way or another, as long as we keep at it!

One of the things I have learnt over the last three days is that I am doing this for my benefit … not anyone else’s. Be kind to yourself Stingle and look at what you have achieved … not what you haven’t!! x

Hello all.

I have a very stressful few weeks where I not so much fell off the wagon as burnt the wagon to cinders and got a train to the other side of the country. But at the back of my mind I thought of you lot, plodding along despite what I am sure are equally stressful lives, and realised that blaming it on stress was a lazy response on my part. The truth is, I wanted to eat the equivalent weight in chocolate as a fully grown German Shepherd, and I used the fact I was stressed to justify doing so. It is a habit I have got into and would very much like to crack. I am tired of that mosquito drone at the back of my always whining on about food and when I am next getting food sweet food lovely food!

Even though I had answered yes to every single one of the “addicted to carbs” questions, I was still trying to kid myself that I didn’t really have a problem and could eat what I wanted. Clearly not so!

So I am back here again, at least I am still 2 kilos down from when I originally started. Time to work on changing that script!

Sounds like you’re doing amazingly well to me. Be patient with yourself and trust the process. 🙂

Hi everyone, haven’t been on for about a week – so thought I’d send a quick update. I had a REALLY indulgent weekend last weekend as I had a weekend away with the girls! Although I have to say I didn’t eat any processed carbs like crisps & bread at all, which is a minor miracle as they were all there! I stuck to the low carb plan – although did increase my calorie intake to around 12-1400 of food as I was also drinking alcohol. I put on 2lb over the weekend, which I recognise was down to pure indulgence. So Straight away on Monday I was back on the plan & the 2lb has come off really quickly, and I am now back to losing weight again. I think this is a real boost as it definitely shows that you can still go and have a great time – but get back on it. 2.5 weeks in and I’m 10b down now. Couldn’t be happier.
I have recognised that the more veggie you can go, coupled with medium/high good fats – the more effective I think it is. I found that last week I was eating a lot more protein than usual and my body really didn’t like it. So this week I have switched some of the meat protein for eggs & dairy, and I feel better.
Like everyone else I have added in flax and chia seeds to my morning smoothie to help keep things ‘moving’ 😉 seems to be working ok now! I’m also having some green and blacks dark chocolate – which is helping to stave off my craving for the odd sweet thing here and there.
It really sounds like everyone is doing an amazing job, don’t get disheartened when the weight loss slows down – re-evaluate and see if there are changes you can realistically make. If not, then be patient. I think everyone is achieving so much in such a short space of time it’s easy to let your expectations rise, when what you’re doing already is absolutely great. Have a fab day x

I won’t have scales in the house.
They cause disappointments to too many people and discourage them (I know what Michael says about getting weighed but that is a generalisation, some people just shouldn’t get weighed daily)
I go to the chemist at the same time every Saturday morning and use their scales – works for me

Hello Silver, The calorie counts given for each recipe are for a single serving – that’s on the page preceding the recipes themselves. However, for some of them, the total count hasn’t been subdivided so is way off. In addition, as you can see from this thread, many people have found the counts given on a number of the recipes to be inaccurate. It’s up to you whether to just use the counts as given and assume that because you are eating less than usual, and notably, less carbs, you will lose weight, or whether to calculate the calories yourself so you know what you are eating. The count for the hummus recipe is for a single portion, although the recipe makes 3 portions. The hummus recipes are some of the few that seem to be reasonably accurate! I drink fruit tea, but sometimes have a cup of Bovril – 10 calories, warm and savoury and good when a meal is a way off.

Keep going stingle
everyone loses weight at different rates, we are all individuals.
Given that the main aim of this lifestyle is to help or even reverse diabetes, albeit through weight loss, your sugar readings are excellent for just 10 days in and that is mainly caused by fat draining from your liver.
The weight loss will follow.

Hi bernie,
Glad you had a good time away, life needs to be enjoyed. When you jump on your new scales be aware that scales can differ by the odd pound or two. Saw a programme on wighing scales and they tested a wide range from £9.99 upwards and the best were the cheaped supermarket purchase. They were tested by Weights & Measures and they all differed, and the ones that did body fat etc were very inaccurate. We went away last night for our 32nd Wedding Anniversary to a lovely Spa Hotel and had a very relaxing tim. I had a glass of champagn and a coupl of things I wouldn’t at on th diet, I only had a couple of tea spoons of hubbys icecream. One night out of seven shouldn’t do too much damage, and it was a great time away. Fun is over now so back to being strict for a while. 24 days in now and 13 3/4 pound down, vey happy with this.

Havent done the 5:2 yet but I started at 16 stone 9 and others have started at much higher weights.
My advise would be to try the 800 calories for a few days to see how you go, you will be surprised at how little hunger you feel.
You will also have to get rid totally the WW low fat approach to things, this way of eating depends on putting fat back into your diet, both to encourage your body into fat burning mode and to give that full, satisfied feeling.

Hi Pete, trip to Aus shouldn’t be a problem for you. Many people here going low carb/ paleo for their health. Most restaurants and cafés will have suitable food and will be happy to accommodate your request for no potatoes, bread, rice or pasta with your meal. We are quite civilised here lol ;).
Stick with protein and salad or steamed veg and you can’t go wrong. Family and friends who visit from the UK love the quality and price of the meat and seafood here. Can’t comment myself as I’m vegetarian. I’m sure you’ll find food to suit.

One good thing about living in France is that low fat foods are almost non existent. I used to think this was a problem!

Ok so I’ve been on the BSD for 10 days – my fasting sugar has come down from 21.4 to 13.1 which is absolutely amazing ! I am exercising 3-4 times a week , have lost 2 inches of my waist am feeling so much better but have only lost a total of 4lbs. I assume this is because of the vast drop in blood sugar but could do with a bit of encouragement if anyone can add 🙂

A question on calories – In the book there is often recipes that says serves 2 – does this mean the calorie count quoted is for the 2 people and you half it or for one of the two portions? i.e. there is a tasty humous recipe and it states a 270 calorie count and that there are 3 serving in it – is this for all three or for one of the servings? Many thanks. Day 2 only – craving sugar but i hope it will pass – drinking mint tea!

Yes, Hashimoto. Eating full-fat yoghurt is such a wonderful experience. Better than any sugar hit. I have had spinal operations and, like you, was advised to keep my weight low (52-55 kg/8-8.5 stone). I am daring to think that 55kg might just be possible.
Husband poured me a glass of wine last night. Wasn’t trying to sabotage me, just forgot. I had a sip or two. Lo, and behold. It didn’t have the usual taste of pleasure. So I left it.

mrsmoog, please don’t get waylaid by worry about counting calories. It will just add to your stress. So many people here are losing weight successfully despite the calorie counts not being accurate. The low carb bit is the key to weight loss and blood sugar control.
Just look at the inspirational stories people have posted on Bill’s ‘this has to work for me’ thread. You’ll see for yourself the amazing results!

It will pass
What you are experiencing is your body adjusting to this new way of healthy eating, it usually only lasts 2 to 3 days. You can help by drinking lots of water but once you get into fat burning mode proper, the smptoms should go away.

Hi SOS,
Welcome. Yes your experience is normal and many people have reported feeling the same in the first days of the diet, even down to the tearfulness. You are nearly through the worst bits though.
Tips from the ones who’ve already ‘been there, done that’ :
Paracetamol for the headaches is a must!
Plenty of fluids, 2-3 litres every day
Make sure you eat full fat products. You will feel an improvement if you keep up your fat & protein intake.
Keep in touch and read/ join in on other threads for lots of advice and encouragement.

For those of us in the UK, Lancashire Farms natural yoghurt is creamy and mild. I wouldn’t actually want to add sugar to it. Sold in 1kg buckets in the orange supermarket!

Loukc, if you stick with us the forum members will definitely help you to stay motivated. Just join in any of the threads and you will be made welcome. Most people seem to post on the ‘this has to work for me’ thread. Lots of posts on there are really inspirational.
Great you’re going to chat to your GP, and that you’re reducing meds under advice. Be sure and tell your doctor of your concerns about tiredness, lack of energy, diabetes etc. a blood test will help sort it out and you’ll soon know if diabetes is a concern.
Once you get the ok from your GP and start the diet you will soon begin to feel more energetic and in control. Over eating a high carb diet saps all your energy.
Keep posting so we can follow your progress and help keep you on track 🙂

Due to start work in an hour but I have a banging headache, ache all over and feeling tearful. Oh, and constipated. Is this the “flu” they talk about on the keto diet? 2lbs down though so not all bad I guess. Please tell me this will pass. Yours miserably

Hey Kimgall, fantastic start!! You are not going to know yourself soon. Well done for resisting those evil little pastilles :). In my case temptation was a packet of chocolate digestives in the cupboard that definitely were calling my name. I even opened the door and looked at them a few times lol. I knew as long as they stayed unopened I was safe. I just love biscuits. When the kids came home I opened the packet and shared them out. Even though there are 5 of them it was still a fair few bikkies each. Think they thought it was Christmas again, but at least the temptation had gone.
Hope your sleep improves very soon. A good night’s sleep and you can face anything!

If any of you live in Australia & want a delicious full-fat yoghurt, Jalna natural is the very best. I hadn’t eaten it for ages because my cholesterol has been high, but I’ll be interested to see what it is the next time I test it. (Mind you, I couldn’t resist the full-fat yoghurt made with sheep’s milk, made by the owner of a little store in Thessaloniki where I was doing research for 2 months last year at the university there – and to think I felt guilty about eating it! It was superb stuff.)

Can any of you help explain a statement that Michael made on Australian TV? That even before you add sugar to a latte, there are already about 4 teaspoons’ sugar in the drink. I make home-style Italian latte for breakfast (hint: surname’s Formiatti) and it is very different to the stuff you get in cafes. About 2 thirds strong good coffee (made with ground beans); one third hot milk. It’s meant to be a breakfast drink, not an anytime snack.

Another real trap is chai. The cafe stuff is generally a processed product full of sugar, chemicals, and – I suspect – trans fats. You can make it in a saucepan. For two: 2-3 cardamon pods, 3 pepper corns, a few thin slices fresh ginger, one inch cinnamon stick, 1-2 teabags/equivalent in loose tea, water. Put all in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes. Add some milk. We have to do without the sugar, but traditionally sugar is added. Adding freshly crushed ginger to coffee is a great taste, too.

I’m putting a net on my small fig trees in the back garden. No parrots or wattlebirds are going to get them! They’ll be ripe soon. You can use fig leaves to make yoghurt (as the ancient Greeks did).

I remember WW when there were no WW products. Think it must have been sold to some corporation which saw the marketing opportunities.

Love reading everyone’s posts!

Or, like me you can stick with the recipes for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.
I have lost 17 and a half pounds in 4 weeks using this method, it works for me and many others.
Calorie counting just isn’t my thing, I’ll consider it if the weight loss stops BUT the comment about your husband not reversing his T2D is totally wrong ! Stopping the simple carbs will achieve that, not counting calories.

Thanks Cherrrianne
Like Lynn, I intend to stay on the fast 800 until I get to my target weight, by which time the blood sugar should be permanently low.
I have seen warnings about staying on a low cal diet for too long, but weight loss surgery patients seem to manage ok, so can I, just without the scar 😉

Hi all. I’ve also been calculating the calories and have found them to be more than stated in the recipes. E.g.
Apple,mango and hazelnut with yoghurt (if using full fat which they tell you to do as it contains less sugar) – recipe states 180 cals but it is actually 383 cals plus of course it contains mango and on a previous page they tell you not to eat mango as it contains too much sugar!
Pea and spinach omelette states 180 cals but is actually 252 cals.
No carb bircher states 180 is actually 217
That is just the first section of recipes !!
Certainly not going to help me lose weight or my husband reverse his T2 diabetes 😕
I must admit i did think the meals were a generous size !! Guess we’ll just have to remember calculate all the recipes and adjust them accordingly ?

Great reading these posts, so inspiring that everyone is losing weight and getting better blood sugar and blood pressure results.
I have never joined a forum before this either Hashimoto. I don’t do FB but I will use email. I get a real buzz from the concern members show each other and the helpful, supportive community spirit on here. I get a sense that we are all genuinely interested and involved in other members experiences. There is so much common ground even though we live in different countries, time zones etc.
Hashimoto our local parrots ( actually, corellas, cockatoos, lorikeets and rosellas, but I didn’t think many people would know what they are) seem to have an awareness of seasons and when fruits are ripening! You might not see black cockatoos for a couple of months but the minute the pine comes start to open they are here in the 100’s. They rip the cones open to get to the pine nuts and the ground is littered with the remnants. You risk getting donged on the head by a pine cone if you are foolish enough to walk past. Same for the fruits. Most people here have to buy anti bird netting for the fruit trees or you’d never get any! I’ve made the choc cake with zucchini too, it stays really moist, but hubby and kids will have to eat it now. I’d not thought of trying fried courgetti before but your recipe does sound delish. Definitely going to try that as my spiralizer arrived this week. No vegetable is safe from the blade in our house at the moment ;).
Aly it really sounds so positive for you now, despite the chest infection. Once you are over that you won’t know yourself. 🙂
Bill you mustn’t be so hard on yourself! Your blood test must have been an HbA1c judging by what the nurse told you. That measures your average blood sugar over a period of about 12 weeks. So a one off high fasting level isn’t going to make much difference. This one will include your pre diet blood sugars too, so won’t accurately reflect your achievements since starting the diet. It will be better than your usual results though, and you will probably see an improvement in your cholesterol. The next one when you will have been on the healthy eating plan for more than 12 weeks will probably knock their socks off!!
Yael I hadn’t realised you were in Aus too. I had really been looking forward to the SBS segment. Ignorant naysayers will be eating their words soon enough. BTW did you see the post re low carb Herman Brot bread from Foodland & IGA? Only 2.3g carb per slice and is really yummy.
Kimgall agree wholeheartedly with your comments about Bill. Truly a pioneer and wise friend to many on here.

Its best to buy full fat natural yogurt, Greek is nicest because its not so acidic and then stew up some berries such as blackcurrents or blueberries to mix in. If its not sweet enough and not palatable you can sweeten the stewed fruit with some Erythritol, its the best I have found as Stevia for example leaves a horrible aftertaste. The Erythritol is safe for diabetics, goes straight through you and is recommended from my Peer Educator Tutor for Type II diabetes, and she has done all the research on this low carb diet for her PhD.

I understand there are a lot of trials now going on to demonstrate the benifits of a very low carb diet so hopefully that will start to provide the evidence and encourage clinitians to change their practice. My daughter is dietician and it is interesting to see how she been trained to resist ‘crank’ diets, understandably as some of her patients have really odd eating habits. However with overwealming evidence they will come round. If you think its hard for us to change habits and embrace fats, think how much harder it is for a professional who has to admit they were peddling myths over a lifetime in medicine. There is a really good interview with Dr Tim Noakes about low carb diets and how he has completly change his opinion, worth watching.