(info@eatweeds.co.uk)

Hi Bill, the best foods for feeding the natural good bacteria ( apart from normal healthy food) are fermented foods. If you know a spot where wild garlic grows I received this information from Robin Harford ( a renowned forager) about fermented wild garlic – all you need is a kg of garlic to 2 tspns of sea salt and a rolling pin tho bash the leaves.
The easiest source is make your own yoghurt – just find a plain probiotic yoghurt with a long shelf date and off you go, unending cheap yoghurt for life which is full of probiotics. There are some really cheap yoghurt makers on the market, although you don’t need a machine it does make the system fool proof.
I know you won’t give in, Bill, and it’s good we keep food diaries to analyse what works well for us!
Diabetes – the disease that just keeps on taking ! that provoked a grim smile. I wish I could kick the disease to hell

Hi Cas,
Yes, spelt is on the bad list! It is wheat, though an old variety, and not gluten free, for those who are sensitive or intolerant of gluten.
Well done on the results, keep with it 🙂
MaryR

Thanks for the encouragement hashimoto will give it a go. Certainly spurred on by everyone’s success here.

Hi all again. Just keeping in touch. Had good blood test results today as I’m off the Pre Diabetes and am now fine. The previous diet I went on last year till before Christmas I lost 11kilos and that must have done it. Since then though I put back about 2 to 3 kilos. I still need to lose another 10 or more. Weighed myself this morning and in three days of this diet I lost about 3 kilos with Blood glucose in the safety range at 5. My waist also shrunk by 2ins. Will be doing my best to finish what I started now. It seems that even my sleep insomnia is being fixed as since I have started last Monday I haven’t been once tired or without concentration. Can only improve my health in the short and long run to finish the 8 weeks.

Tried playing around with other flours but didn’t like the results. Was wondering about Spelt Flour. Is Spelt flour also on the bad list?

Hoshimoto, the recipe I posted earlier was the recipe from the site you posted re Lupin Flour and bread. Wanted to bring to your attention that Lupin Bread could have wheat flour in it. I am assuming that if there on site recipe contains normal flour the bread loves you buy might also contain them Make sure to read the nutritional information.

Here in Sydney been close to 35 in the suburbs. Been a record 20 days or more of constant days above the 28C average for this time of the year. You wouldn’t know that summer finished 10days ago. Mainly it ‘s been in the 30s and the nights in low 20s. Incredible weather!

Hi Kiwispot
I do leave the seeds whole in my yoghurt but I try to chew and crush them as I go. They are certainly helping me stay regular 🙂

Hi Judith
and yet I read a post on here yesterday about some Swedish doctor who recommended leeks as they feed the natural good bacteria in the gut.
Information overload. I think after my weigh in on Saturday, I’m going to evaluate what is going on, check my diary, and go back to the meals I was eating before the sugar problems although I don’t think anything has changed that much. Like I say post meal readings are ok, it’s just these fasting readings that are the problem.
Not to worry, I’ll get to the bottom of it.
Diabetes – the disease that just keeps on taking !

Hi bill, I’ve just googled leeks and apparently a single serving of leeks contains 13g of carbs. Perhaps the combo of carrot, swede and leeks caused a problem for you? I would never have suspected that about leeks, I do know my friend on dialysis can have onion and garlic but not leeks, but for her it is about sodium and potassium levels. That was enough to tell me the makeup of leeks is very different to onions and they do taste very sweet. I hope for you that it is something as simple as that so you can quickly get your sugars back in line. I know captainlynne. Has said she and her diabetic son have different responses to oats. All the best, Bill 🙂

Hi jeff, I. Love your friend’s saying ‘no food tastes as good as healthy feels’. It will be an inspiring mantra! I’m looking forward to your future posts about weight loss and improved health/ energy levels 🙂

Hi Everyone
Thanks for posting – it’s very inspiring to read about your success! Fantastic. I started 6 days ago. I think I’ve already lost 2kg (have another 18 to go) – I say ‘I think’ because it’s hard to believe 🙂

I haven’t experienced any extreme hunger and was wondering if others had the same experience?

Worried that I’m not doing everything correctly as so far I haven’t found it too difficult…which is nice – but some days haven’t reached 800 which makes we wonder if that is a problem if you have less calories some days?

Any thoughts?

Hi Lucia, you’re getting there step by step, well done on ditching the cereal. I would try to replace the banana with something else, maybe a pear or berries with yoghurt as bananas do have lots of sugar.
it’s a learning curve but an enjoyable one when you get into the swing of it.

Will keep you posted. Post lunch BG was 6.1 which really surprised me, lower than fasting this a.m. My neuropathy is not very advanced so hope it may improve under this calorie counting regime!! Thanks for your interest😀

Wonderful results missay – and they will continue to get even better 🙂

Well the frustration continues
Yesterday for lunch I had a 2 egg omelette with a litttle ham and cheese and a small red pepper chopped and stirred in
Dinner was a home made chicken stew, 6 chicken thighs, 2 leeks, 2 onions, a medium carrot, celery spinach and a few sugarsnap peas and half a small swede went into the pressure cooker along with a couple of chicken stock cubes.
This made 6 portions, 4 of which are now in the freezer, 1 for todays lunch and I had a portion for dinner.
I know there are some carbs in the swede and carrot but this is divided by 6 so shouldn’t be a problem.
2 tbsp of greek yoghurt with a few berries at 10pm
Sugar readings pre bedtime were 5.9
Fasting reading this morning 9.9 !!!! 4 points rise is ridiculous
Ketostix test shows that I have ketosis happening so I still can’t get my head around what is causing these high dawn readings, especially when they were showing a downward trend up until 10 days ago.
If this is stored sugar being released, I must have a liver like a farm silo.
I’m sticking with it though as I feel so good otherwise and the weight loss has still been happening.

Hi,
I have always had cereal for breakfast even with a cooked breakfast.
I should give this up, are you mad? I will not survive, the whole world will stop and change. OMG!!!
So I had a banana for breakfast this morning very cautiously… Guess what, I survived, the sun has come out on a frosty morning and I am here to tell the story!
Funny how you get set in your ways for many, many years. You don’t think you can take that step.
I just took this giant step and it’s great. I will now be able to have a choice at breakfast.
Phew!!
Now on to this wrap at lunchtime….. But I always have bread. I will upset the universe……… Well maybe a nice ham or chicken salad? Mmmmmmm!
Yes I know, baby steps.
I will be ready by the weekend for the start of my official BS 800 🙃
Love Lucia xxxx

Thanks Penny 🙂

Hi cherrieanne, oh I will love to see that photo and 24 C sounds much better. I really hope the promised rain arrives and fills your tanks! We had nothing but rain all day yesterday . My dad’s garden was flooded even though he lives near the top of a hill I wish I could send some rain over to you, you need it more than us lol.;)

Hi georgiarose, that is really interesting, I’m not diabetic myself but I had a conversation about neuropathy with a friend who does remedial sports massage and she said in the early stages it can be reversed with the right treatment. I’ll look forward to your future posts and hope for the best for you 🙂

Hi everyone, great thread captainlynn.

My partner and I are doing this together and are about 6 weeks in. I have honestly lost count! Neither of us were diabetic but middle aged and with ‘overweight ‘ BMI I felt we were probably heading that way, especially as I’m hypothyroid.

He has lost 7kg and is very nearly at 10% weight loss, I’ve lost 4kg and have a little way to go. The best thing though, is how well we both feel, sleeping better, & food cravings have gone. I have spent my whole life thinking about the next meal and snacking, and that has gone. When I feel hungry it is at meal times and feels like a genuine hunger, rather than a carb craving.

I’m not sure what we are going to do when we get to our targets. Maybe 5/2 or med style, but I worry carbs will creep in and take us back to where we were.

Hi Cherrianne
Thank you for your really helpful response. It is good to know that I can get answers to my questions re the diet so quickly and that there are people out there happy to help a beginner like me. I will definitely look for calorie/carb counter app to help me find some alternate recipes and track my intake as you say. Is there one in particular that you would recommend? I have an android phone and a Mac computer.

Hi Ami,
Hope things are moving for you by now, but I thought I’d share my fellow dieters frustration with you because that sometimes helps. I’m a VERY target driven dieter, and draw up graphs and charts and projections etc. etc.
These are great fun to fill in when you lose a pound or two but so demoralising when you don’t.
Like you, I’ve been stuck at a weight (or, actually, gone up a pound or two) now for some time, but in my heart of hearts, I know that the day will come when it will all start to go in the right direction again.
I suspect that none of the weight gains or losses shown on the scales is a true representation of what’s going on inside, and that the weight you are showing now is no more accurate than the reading that last gave a wieght loss. There are so many factors, such as fluid retention and food still going through the system which also play their part. (Not to mention the scales)
As long as we are all doing the right thing, it WILL come good in the end – we just have to keep our heads down and wait for the outward manifestations to appear.
Yours in slowly disappearing patience,
Stringbreaker

Haha Bill, youtube it – its an amazing contraption

thanks Celsa, so far we’ve made lamb with veggies – the lamb was so succulent. last might we made the miso chicken with veggies, with very small (and I mean not even 1/4cup) brown rice mixed through -DELICIOUS!!

Thanks georgiarose, that news will bring hope to a lot of people. 🙂
The best thing I have found to keep post meal blood sugars in the non diabetic range is to count carbs.
If I aim for 15g carb per meal, and max of 50-55 per day, I can stay within the non diabetic range. As I don’t have to lose weight I don’t worry about the calories, they pretty much take care of themselves if I stick to my carb allowance.
Keep us informed of how you’re doing with the neuropathy. It will be very interesting to follow your progress.

Hi Bella 51,
I’ve checked the counts for those recipes and it is just for the toppings. I guess you would have to weigh the chicken and work out the calories. The app I use shows a 300g chicken breast, baked with skin eaten as 560 cal, take off 100 cals if you don’t eat the skin. I don’t eat meat but 300g sounds like a lot to me.
The yoghurt would be the full fat natural ( plain) one. Michael does advocate using full fat dairy. It keeps you full longer and doesn’t have added sugars.
If you use a calorie/ carb counter such as an app or device to track your intake you can use your own recipes. You just have to keep within the allowance and swap high carb ingredients to a low carb substitute. So for example if you wanted a shepherds pie you could substitute the mashed potato on top for cauliflower mashed with butter. Courgetti instead of pasta in a bolognaise and so on. Browse through the recipes on here, they all should have a calorie count and an indication of what they are suitable for.
Read through some of the other posts for ideas of what other people are eating. Keep posting on here if you have any questions. Everyone wants you to succeed at this, so you’ll get plenty of help.

Good for you Jeff, you’ve made the right decision to join us here. Plenty of support and encouragement for all. No negatives to doing the BSD, just good health, extra energy and a new outlook on healthy eating.
Hi Hashimoto, it’s warm and humid today. 24C and we have rain threatening so it’s quite misty in the hills here. The rain will be welcome to fill up our water tanks which are our only source of household water where I live.
I’m planning on making pizza scrolls on the weekend using the lupin flour. If they work out, I’ll take some photos of them outside like a picnic,so you can see our hills and the view when I post the recipe. Then you can tell me if they live up to the dream you had 🙂

Hi Kiwispot,
You can continue to enjoy some of the carb vegies, you just have to eat less of them.
I still cook with kumara, parsnips etc but I weigh them and include them in my daily count. I then make sure I have two low carb meals for the rest of the day so that I can have enough allowance saved up to spend on the carb veg.
I make kumara, chick pea and cauliflower curry and can enjoy it with a couple of popadoms or a curry flavoured flatbread from the recipe on this site.
I also do a bean, tomato, parsnip and carrot shepherd type pie with a cheesy cauliflower mash on top. I am vegetarian but you could adapt these ideas to include meat.
Do you use some kind of app to track your intake? I’ve found the easy australian diet diary helpful but not sure if you can get it in NZ. If you weigh what you want to eat and check the carb count, then keep a daily tally it will help you to be more mindful of what you are eating. It’s so easy to eat two carb heavy meals in a row if you don’t keep track of your intake.
Fruit, I agree, is the worst temptation. One smallish nectarine is more than a fifth of my carb allowance and who stops at one when they are ripe and just hanging there? I have to limit myself to a quarter with full fat yoghurt for breakfast. Or I stew and then freeze them and just have a couple of spoonfuls with yoghurt. It’s hard but it’s the only way to stay healthy.
Stick with it, be mindful of the carbs as much as the cals and you’ll soon see the weight loss again 🙂

I have been a type diabetic for 20 years. I am on maximum medication and I trust this diet. I have been eating the very nutritious food for three days. After two days my blood sugar reading were as normal for a non-diabetic.. Not surprising, I think, because of the low carbohydrates in the meals. But I feel excellent and am so motivated because of these results. I am seeing my doctor tomorrow but I have already dropped the Glimepiride because otherwise hypoglycaemia may result. I am also willing to drop the blood pressure medication but will seek advise on that one. I have a new doctor so is am not sure what he will say but if he isn’t in agreement he goes. Weight loss I estimate should be about 10% (8kgs) but an advantage for me is I have already lost 20 kgs in the last 2 years.. Partly due to the Byetta medication I think. The Australian Diabetic Association are not up with the latest research and still follow the old carb guidelines…. I feel a bit angry with them that now I am 71 and this is the best I have felt for years… The food in Michael’s book is excellent and I follow it exactly, although I admit to struggling with the quantity… Just managed half the lunch but I will complete it before dinner… I never feel hungry or miss the high carbs I was eating… Not yet anyway…

I also started 3 days ago and I too am doing well. I can’t help with your question because I am seeking the percentage of carbohydrates in the 8 week plan as well. I would also appreciate some information.

Started 3 days ago and doing well – 3 lbs so far. But I’m struggling to understand ratios – ie what the percentage of fat, protein and carb (obvs very little carb) should ideally be. Can’t seem to find it in the book. Any help appreciated.

Hi, the only meal plan I know of is in the book. I’d happily send you that meal plan, but all the recipes are from the book, so without it, it wouldn’t help you much. I think reading the posts from the longer term members, especially those giving their carb levels, will help you. You need a good calorie and carb counter, whether online or a book like the Calorie King one sold in the newsagents. Good luck, I’ve only completed one week so far, but it does work.

I have just started the 800 cal diet and I am finding that some of the recipes in Dr Mosley’s book seem to be missing some detail. For example in the Simple Suppers section – 5 Ways to Jazz up a Chicken or salmon steak- does the calorie count include the chicken or is the count just for the toppings? Also how much chicken do you use. Other recipes just say “a chicken breast”. Surely the size of the chicken breast would affect the amount of calories. Also some recipes just say yoghurt- is that full fat yogurt of any type? I also noticed that many people seem to be using recipes from elsewhere to make up the 800 calories. an anyone suggest another good recipe book that would fit the bill for this diet?

Would be really interested to hear from those of you who have completed the 8 weeks, how you are finding your body responds once you introduce carbs again. Have you noticed a difference?

I am currently in week 4 – lost 4 Kg in 2 weeks then no weight loss for 13 days – I think because I added veggie’s higher in carbs for variety and this has stopped the weight loss even though sticking around 800. So I guess I am wondering if I will handle the carbs better after 8 weeks.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks for the encouragement – yes I have been sticking to blueberries, raspberries (no strawberries ripe any more) or two plums as these are ripe and sooooooo delicious at the moment. But decided the plums, and carb veggie’s have to go again, so just gone and bought lot’s of fresh low carb veggie’s and will carry on. Realised it is actually 13 days since I had a loss, so that has spurred me on to action!
I did Atkins successfully so I have been happily eating full fat ingredients for years (having done the low-fat things for years before that – biggest mistake of my life!). Eating so low carb gets very boring – so I am really hoping this will re-set my insulin response to carbs and allow me to maintain on 5:2 without having to be so strict with carbs.
Might start a thread and ask if anyone post 8 weeks is finding it easy to maintain.
Good luck with your journey 🙂

Thanks for all the helpful comments re vegetarian. We have now completed day 2 and feel okay. Not hungry as I thought. Had frittata yesterday and cottage pie with cauliflower mash the whole family loved both dishes. Not sure on all the full fat yoghurt etc as I have spent years consuming the low fat zero fat versions. Well we are looking forward to day 3 tomorrow.

Breakfast
Two egg omelette with flax seed and strawberries
Lunch
Salad leaves, tomatoes, French dressing, 25g smoked salmon, hard boiled egg
100 g Provamel soya yogurt with 29 g blueberries
And 5 g walnuts
Snack
Small Apple and 5 g almonds
Dinner
60 g chicken with Mediterranean veg. ( slow cooker) with kale and cabbage
Home made soya yogurt with one large strawberry, 20 g blueberries and 5 g sunflower seeds.
Penny.

Penny

Hi Hashimoto
Well done.
Penny

Hi Santosh
That’s a great result.
Did you do that in 3 weeks? Wow!
5 more weeks to go so you ll be very happy by the end.
Penny

Hi TrishaDawn
It’s such a struggle with WW for little reward. Re the empty hollow feeling. I think I’ve got used to it and even like it now!!
Good luck
Penny

Hi to you all,

I have been reading about this way of life and am going to start tomorrow. I have a very sweet tooth and I know I eat too much of the stuff hence am overweight. Find it very difficult to give up sweet things, almost like an addiction. Wish me luck!!

Hi I am using My Fitness App to measure calories.

With the app it adds 800 base plus the calories burned for exercise to give a daily total.

Example 800 + 1450 burned cycling = 2250.

How many calories should I be eating only 800 or somewhere between 800 and 2250?

Hi Channelk
It’s in the recipes posted on here. Scroll to the bottom of the forum, you ll find recipes. Tap ‘all recipes’ (at the bottom below the new recipes) and you should find it somewhere there.
BTW I imagine soya flour would work as well.
Penny

By the way, I think its only the beginning…

Hi john13. The answer very much depends on you as an individual. According to the book, you might be able to move to a simple med diet with no need to calorie count. Or you might need to go to a 5:2 arrangement, continuing to fast on 800 calories for 2 days but being more relaxed on the others. I would venture some other suggestions. The main thing is not to go back to eating carbs on a regular basis or we will pile the weight back on. You might be able to be fairly relaxed on the med style diet for several weeks but might need a week of 800 every now and again to reign in any weight gain. So its really up to you exactly how you choose to do it, but the general theme is to stick with many of the new habits you have developed in the last 8 weeks. Well done you.

Hi cherrieanne how is your weather today? 🙂

Hi carommartin, I write everything in a diary, inc calories. If I make a soup, stew, curry etc i count the calories of the entire dish so that I can decide how many portions are in it – i record those in a separate recipe book. I like experimenting with new dishes or variations on old recipes.
I know some people are following the principles but not counting calories 🙂

Some great ideas on this thread. Do you all weigh the ingredients and check calorific values?

Hi lucia, writing the meal ideas down is a splendid thought. It will make the changes so much easier for you. Good luck for the weekend and well done for increasing your steps so much. You’ll be delighted with the results of following this diet 🙂

Hi sarah111, there does seem to have been a slight improvement in my asthma but I also have bronchiectasis and have finally been put on antibiotics every other day. I haven’t had a chest infection for nearly two months which in itself should cause an improvement. The asthma nurse was impressed by my weight loss and increased energy levels. I. Showed her my print outs and the book and told her about this site.
I am currently, under supervision, reducing the amount of inhaled steroids (the consultant had put me on double the standard dose – but I needed it) and it is going well so far.
I can’t categorically say the diet has improved my asthma – but it may well have done. I’m certainly not huffing and puffing anymore. I will be very interested to hear how your asthma is after a few weeks on this diet 🙂

Hi channelk it is trial and error and a steep learning curve but it does get easier and you will soon have a lot of favourite recipes to keep you fit and healthy for life 🙂

Hello again, I’ve been worried about the toe numbness which is now in both feet. But there is hope! Just read this:
“you can reverse neuropathy by lowering your post meal blood sugars. ” Yea!!
“Effective Treatment for Neuropathy

Everything changes when you define “tight control” to mean “Maintaining post-meal blood sugars below the level where neuropathy begins.” That level turns out to be 140 mg/dl (7.7 mmol/L). Lower your blood sugar to this level, meal after meal, and your nerves sill start to heal.” http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com.au/2008/12/diabetic-nerve-pain-and-what-you-can-do.html

OK, just checked creds of the blog writer. A diabetic herself who has done lots of research and written books re blood sugar and diabetes. Will double check the facts, but at the moment will start taking post-prandial BS.

Cheers fellow travellers.