HI, love this thread. I am in week 4 and a stone lighter already. I love to see my fridge full of delicious looking veg and healthy food. I don’t have any health problems at the moment, but have had an incredibly stressful two years and just getting back on top of my wellbeing. I feel so much more well since I started eating like this.
Yesterday
B – scrambled eggs with a bit of smoked salmon
L – leek and lemon soup and an apple with a bit of natural yoghurt
D – baked salmon fillet with sesame pak choi

Today
B – green shake (celery, kale, carrot, apple and ginger)
L – courgette, feta and raspberry salad from the book ( I was sceptical but it was delicious)
D – baked aubergine with tomato sauce and a bit of mozzarella

yes go to full fat, old advice to use low fat

Hi Janet…interesting you mention people not tolerating dairy and berries…maybe that is me…chinese herbalist always tell me to cut right back on yogurt and cheese. Berries I hadn’t thought of as being an issue, can you point me to your info source?
I am not diabetic just want to shift weight post menopause and its not even moving on 800 a day for last five days 🙁

HI Zendi, welcome on board! I’m so pleased you have seen positive results so soon. Good luck with your new doctor and keep posting!

Hi Bill sorry to hear about your daughter..fingers crossed all is going to be fine.
I have only been on here a week and you are such a regular poster you already seem like family…I do have 4 semi adult ‘kids’ of my own so it is a worrying time for you and your wife.

Hmm, it only takes 30 seconds and is fairly unobtrusive.
It just sounded like a hypo so better to know if your sugar is too low especially if taking sugar fixes things.
If it is too low you could moderate the diet to make up for it.

Hi Katrina and Zendo,
Yours is a question people often ask here. Have a look for a thread called ‘how many carbs’. The info isn’t in the book as Dr Mosley is not that prescriptive about it. Proteins can be around 80g and fats as much as you can get into your allowance. Fat really does make a difference.

Thanks, I’ll take a look and try that.

Hello Hashimoto thanks for your reply i do in fact have the book but was looking to follow the 800 calorie diet as used by Newcastle university, one of the options was to use a mixture of shakes and vegetables which would be more convenient for myself , i have read in the book of drinking full fat milk and yoghurt’s etc but was intending to follow this advise once i had completed the initial eight week weight loss phase in which i would be trying to bring my blood sugars down to normal or as near as possible my aim if possible is to try and come off my medication after my diabetes nurse and doctor have told me i am now on the maximum dosage of metformin and have now prescribed another medication in addition , does anybody know if i would be able to use full fat milk for my shakes as i would still find this more convenient ?

Hi Bill,

No, as far as I’m aware I’m not diabetic. I only thought my problems could be caused by fasting hypoglycemia due to a google search.

As I only seem to get this during the week, testing my blood sugar isnt something thing that I particularly want to do at work.

Thanks,
Ian

Following the four week plan in book and on week one with a few substitutions eg pistachios for hazelnuts because I can’t always get all the ingredients . Still it still works . Tonight’s dinner was spinach and pea omelettes. I added a little salad and grilled apricots with raspberries can. Felt fuller than previous nights . Had green tea with dash of apple juice 1/2 teaspoon each of stevia and cinnamon . Very soothing . Perhaps I might sleep tonight 😀

Oh, I can see your problem re food at work, Sarah 🙁

I use a peak flow chart I googled a few years ago – I didn’t like the one given at asthma clinics in the UK. It’s an 8 week peak flow chart I found on the Australian asthma council the chart is from ‘2006 Woolcock Institute of Medical Research’. It is so much easier to see the long term results/triggers on the 8 week spread.

Very true Bill
I do plan to read the book properly and it would have been sensible to have done that prior to starting but I didn’t want to loose momentum. I also have an awful lot on at the moment….. timing not good but thought it better to start before returning to work to get used to reduced cals and break the habit of eating sweet things. Desserts are available everyday at work….. due to my job at the moment it isn’t easy to avoid seeing them but I’ll just keep reminding myself why I’m doing this!

Hi scotgran – lucky you, all that salmon. You can make fishcakes without the potato – chop some onion up and put onion and salmon into a blender with your choice of herbs/spices/seasoning, work to a paste. Then whip 2 egg whites into stiff peaks and gently stir your salmon mixture into the egg whites.
Fry as usual.
Hope that helps!! 🙂

Good idea…. possibly, I work in a hotel restaurant at the moment so you have to be very careful.

Your news sounds promising hashimoto, you also have my sympathy as to what you have to deal with. My lowest peak flow was 250 whilst I was pregnant many years ago, at the moment it is just over the 400 but I would like to get it back up a bit higher. I think I’ll check it weekly to see how it goes.
I also think you have something about the inflammation, yes it would be good to hear if someone has a thought about this.

Hi Sarah111 – would you be able to put a few nuts in your pocket as a ‘tide me over snack’?

Susieq I quite like the white bean mash, use it a couple of times a week wonder if that would work in fish cakes. Reason for asking is I got a great price reduction on fresh salmon and I’ve poached it all, getting sick of the sight, so I froze the rest and salmon fish cakes might do the job of using it up. If it works I’ll let you know.

Tezryu, if you don’t have Michael’s book I would recommend looking at the thread ‘what did you eat today’ as there are so many helpful post of people’s daily menus on there.
Good ideas for meals to take to work:
Dips such as hummus with plenty of celery, pepper and cucumber crudites ( I like raw broccoli too)

Full fat yoghurt pots with fruit – either berries or an apple or pear

half a frittata

salads with either chicken, tuna, salmon, eggs, cheese or any thing else you can think of

Soups in a flask – or if you have access to a microwave any stew or curry.

A chunk of cheese (calorie counted) or tub of cottage cheese with some salad or an apple.

Hope that helps, real food will taste better than the shakes – and be cheaper! 🙂

Finally look on the recipes tab as you may find ideas there

Thanks hashimoto
I know what you mean about the full fat bit…. I also struggled to fine full fat yogurts in my local shop yesterday but it is one of the luxuries of this eating plan!! I’n off work at the moment but do get fed at work which is a bonus but I will need to be very careful as I have no control over how it is cooked just how much of it I eat! The other problem is one – two days a week it could 4 – 5+ hours between meals, I have access to drinks, not food so hence the milk shake would be very useful
Thanks again

Ok, time to ‘fess up. The salmon fishcake is a shop bought one and does have some potato in it but they are scrummy and not too bad on the calorie front. I would like to find a recipe so I can make a batch to keep in the freezer, if anyone has any suggestions.

Have also discovered Dandelion, Burdock and Hawthorn tea bags by Heath and Heather – got mine in Holland and Barrett – and they are delicious. They have 10 cals in each, so not cal free, but they have a lovely flavour for a herbal tea.

Thanks for all the lovely messages of support guys, it means a lot.
Pre lunch reading 6.1 and I’ve been mostly stationary at my desk this morning.
Post lunch reading should be interesting

HiSarah111 I can only say the ‘past is another country’ I have felt great since starting this diet. Last year my peak flow was around 270 – 320 with 4 puffs of fluticasone twice a day but for the last two weeks on reduced inhaled steroids (2 or 3 puffs twice a day) it is between 350 -400. A massive improvement!
I can’t help wondering if inflammation on high carbs could have made my asthma worse – I’m hoping Cherrieanne can cast some light on that for us! I had actually reduced dairy products to almost zero before this diet because of excessive mucus production – but now I am having a tub of yoghurt a day with no absolutely no ill effects!
I think this diet can do a lot more than help diabetics and people like me with hypothyroidism. It will be very interesting to see what happens to people who start this diet with either no health problems or ones which are different to diabetes and hypothyroidism. Like I say, I am keen to see what happens with your asthma 🙂

Hi Floradora. That’s great news about your Hba1c results – what a fantastic result in just 6 weeks! I had my usual 6 monthly bloods taken on the 29th Feb so will see my diabetic nurse on Monday for the results. I had only been doing the 8 weeks diet for 4 weeks when I had the test done so don’t know yet how the results will be – FINGERS FIRMLY CROSSED! I know I’ve seen a huge reduction in my finger prick tests and I’ve reduced my insulin from 66 units a day to just 10 now so hopefully my results will be improved. My aim is to come off the insulin altogether and reduce the metformin as well. Will update you when I have the results.

Again – Floradora well done for the brilliant results!

Hi Susieq,
What did you use in the salmon fish cake in place of potato?

B poached egg and half an avocado, sprinkled with chilli flakes, delicious and very filling.
L salad leaves, cucumber and sprinkle of seeds(not had it yet,still quite full, hope it’s enough)
D cottage pie with white bean mash topping instead of husbands potato version. Broccoli.
Really working at the drinks, tap water, sparkling water, green tea, red bush tea.

Congratulations FloraDora! Your results are an aspiration to all diabetics. This is what I’m aiming for at my annual diabetic review in June.

Hello Sarah
If we can’t help each other then we have no hope – old saying but rings true.
The amount of advice and support I see on here every day makes me genuinely proud of this forum. I’ve been a member of, and even moderated quite a few forums over time and this one is very very special.
Read the book thoroughly, you may be able to knock up something much better and nicer than a shop bought shake.

Hi Ian
are you diabetic ?
Are you testing your blood sugar levels regularly ?
I’ve had my fair share of diabetes related eye problems but nothing like that.
It almost sounds like some kind of hypo. When I’ve had one I get shakey with a headache and sweating.

Michael Mosley advises full fat dairy – it helps to keep you fuller for longer and seems to have other beneficial effects. I know it’s hard to get your head around, it took me nearly 2 weeks to ‘dare’ to eat full fat yoghurt, and 3 weeks to come off skimmed milk and switch to ‘normal’ milk – but it does make a difference and those full fat yoghurts are delicious! You could take one to work with some fruit and nuts for an easy fuss free meal!

Congratulations Floradora, that’s amazing news. Inspiration to all of us.

Hi,

I recently started on the blood sugar diet and am finding the amounts and types of food ok to eat, but one problem that I am having relates to headaches and very blurred vision. This seems to happen usually just before I eat at lunchtime (aprrox 12pm) and again at around 4pm.
The headaches I can control with pain killers but the blurred vision is so bad that I cant physically read my computer screen and as I’m at work and work in IT, this is a real problem.

I have found that I can control these episodes by having a tea with sugar about 30 minutes before hand, but I’d rather not. So far I’m sticking to the diet quite easily and so don’t really want to go and change my diet away from what’s recommended in the blood sugar diet book. Any helpful thoughts?

Btw – I’m not diabetic (as far as I know) , just trying to lose weight…

Thanks
Ian

Hi sunnyB that spreadsheet will come in very handy for future meal planning as you have already done all the work of counting the calories and full daily meal plans – way to go gal! 🙂

Hi suesieq

Your info on your meal out is encouraging, as this is something I am doing as well, but two days running. I am hoping that by saving some calories today, Friday and Saturday, this will not impact too much, especially as the scales were kind this morning! When eating out, I am determined to keep all consumed low carb – except for a small glass of wine maybe. Tomorrow is an Indian meal, so I am thinking tandoori chicken and cauliflower bhaaji. Saturday might be harder, but I know the portion sizes where we are eating are sensible and I’m reasonably confident I can choose something that won’t mess with the low carb thing.

Word will get out, there are so many of us doing it that we will start a revolution in diabetes management 🙂

FloraDora
That is probably one of the most exciting and inspirational posts I have read on here yet
To get your Hba1c results as low as that in just 6 weeks is an incredible performance.
If it was me I’d be shouting it from the rooftops
Many congratulations, you are a shining light in the dark skies of diabetes.

Hi Inka, I am in the UK but there are, as Bill says, quite a few Australian and American pioneers on here as well.
Don’t worry about your waist – it will start to shrink quite quickly as you stick to this diet! I’ve lost 7″ of mine and I know some people have lost even more from their waists.
What part of Australia are you from? I’ve been to Sydney, Cairns, Darwin, Alice Springs and Perth – so have missed many places out, I don’t think even a year would help to see everything I would like to see there!

Yes, indeed it did! She was very happy for me. I asked if anyone else had tried the 8-week diet and she said only one other person had mentioned it. A disappointingly low response from diabetics!

Bill – sending very best wishes for your family from Scotland too. I think all of us on these forums feel like you are a best friend even though we’ve never met you. I for one look forward to your posts as well as to those of the other regular posters here too. Hoping to hear better news from you soon.

Cherrieanne you are SO knowledgable!! I do know a lot of breast lumps are benign, I had one myself about 30 years ago and had to come back to England for a scan (was living in the Middle East at the time). I didn’t know they were common in thyroid conditions though!
Bill, best wishes to your wife and daughter – I’ve just got back in and read your post.
I can’t believe how positive you have been for so many people on here while you are going through a personal nightmare.
I will definitely bring some of that bread back if Bill wants some 🙂

Congratulations FloraDora! This is what it’s all about, really happy for you and you got the results so quickly 🙂
Bet that made the nurse sit up and take notice of what you’ve been doing.

Further to the discussion about what milk to use, I use Koko dairy free coconut milk with added calcium. I previously used skimmed milk and really don’t notice the difference – apart from the benefits I’ve had from reducing the dairy I eat; just the morning yogurt now. I use it for my husband too but he hasn’t yet noticed the change – I won’t tell him yet!

Hi Anita,

I am only on Week 2 of BSD!!! ….and like you am not pre-diabetic nor diabetic – just want and need to by body healthy! At the moment I am enjoying all the meals, no cravings, no cheating (although had a couple of tbsp’s of cottage cheese last night and a couple of glasses of red wine in the week! Know the Dr Mosley says that red wine was OK if ya needed a drink in the 5:2!) and no exercise at the moment. I unlike you have had no headaches, but did expereince some onset migraine symptoms. Finally pleased also that my body is telling me I’m tired as I suffered with late nights which led to larder raiding!!

I must admit that I was expecting to have lost a lot more weight – lost 7lb in my first week ….really happy! But the last three days haven’t seen the scales shift! I am increasing my fluid intake as struggling with 2 litres and have decided to put the rowing machine in my bedroom, instead of it gathering dust in the garage!!

The 800 day is suiting me at present, albeit a week or so, and feel that I will stick to it for the 8 weeks and hope to have lost 2 stone by the end of it – moving on the 5:2 after! I like you am enjoying eating more vegetables, but am pleased that the BSD doesn’t involve eating loads of fruit as didn’t eat much before and my sugars were mostly refined! Haven’t had one meal yet on BSD that I don’t absolutely love!

I wish you and everyone else doing BSD every success going forward and hope that you have a more positive loss to reach your goal.

Ella x

Sorry to hear that, Bill, children ( of any age) being ill is more stressful than something happening to yourself. I hope the scan will show the lumps are benign. Keeping my fingers crossed

Hi Bella,
I live in Australia so I’m not sure if the one I use is available in the UK ( assuming that’s where you are ). I use one called Australian easy diet diary, which is free from the apple store. There must be something similar in the UK. You can enter your current and goal weights, and your target energy intake. It also has a daily diary where you enter your food and it tracks totals of calories, carbs proteins etc. you can look up cal and carb values on it and type in recipes and it will give you the values per serve. It is really useful. Somebody will no doubt read this and be able to let you know of a good one. Or you could have a look on the net and see which ones are best suited to you and the device you want to install them on.
There are plenty of people on here willing to help, we want everyone to succeed 🙂

I have also been weighing everything as I don’t trust myself with portion control! I used myfitnesspal to record everything. Today I’m having:
breakfast: 100g full fat yogurt with 100g of blueberries/blackberries and 10g of mixed seeds/linseed
lunch: 2 scrambled eggs with a couple of large flat mushrooms
dinner: salmon fishcake with large mixed salad and oil/balsamic dressing

Further to earlier posts, cinnamon in warm milk is delicious and I read somewhere that cinnamon is good for reducing blood sugar, if consumed regularly – not sure how true it is but who cares, it’s yummy!

Had to ditch the morning porridge as too many carbs for me but just as happy with the full fat yogurt with various berries (I have bags of them in the freezer) or a tsp of almond butter with seeds or nuts.

Struggling a bit with getting in enough fluids but, having measured my cups and glasses, know I need to be having 10 drinks (non alcoholic!) a day. Trying to have a glass of water before every meal, which helps fill me up too.

We went out on Tuesday to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Skipped lunch to give me extra cals for dinner and stuck to a tomato and mozzarella starter with olive oil dressing, steak and salad with mushrooms – it really helped that we went to an Italian restaurant but managed to avoid the pasta!

Hi Sue1234

I too am on Day 19 and like you I have had plateaus – one for most of last week and then again for three days this week, which does make it harder to stay motivated and positive, but stick with it, I’m sure you will see progress again soon. It looks like you blood sugar readings are generally improving, which is all to the good and a positive to hold on to. Stick with it, at 800 cals a day the weight lose has to happen at some point. Good luck!

I am just into week six of the 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet. Yesterday I had an appointment with my Diabetic Nurse to discuss the results of my recent Hba1c test. I was amazed and delighted to discover it was down to 35 which is non-diabetic levels (down from 103 six months previously). I am now off of all diabetic medications and have to return in three months for another Hba1c and possibly a glucose tolerance test.

The diet really does seem to have worked in reducing my blood sugar – it does indeed do what it claims to do! I have also had steady weight loss, nothing too dramatic as I had already lost quite a bit by eating Low Carb. Switching to the 800 calories plan tighten up my diet with very good results. Planning to go back to Low Carb/mediterranean with 5:2 when I finish the diet.

Hi lachlanh
I’m going through exactly the same thing here, I thought it was just me.
I’ve stuck to the no carb rules religiously but, like you, after seeing the sugar readings fall steadily for the first few weeks they started creeping up again to the point where this morning it was 9.9 !!!
Trying not to worry too much, after all, if I’m not putting carbs and sugar in, and this is stored sugar being released, then it has to run out sometime.
Keep posting your readings as will I and let’s see if we can work this thing out.

Day 19 weight 10st 9lbs again!!!
Blood sugar 10.5

Have gone back through my journal and checked my eating and drinking habits. At the start I tried to make one of my 6 drinks a day a sugar free soft drink or a hot drink without milk, recently all of the day’s drinks have had milk in. Also I haven’t been having my evening shake, due to time restraints ie having to go to the hospital. I will try to address this and see if it makes a difference. My waist measurement has not changed, but it is still 1 1/2 inches less than when I started. I have felt tired, hungry and fed up recently. I felt great when the weight was moving. I’m not going to give up, rant over – hoping for a loss soon.