Welcome Sue1234. Lots of support and advice on here.

Good Luck Daria!

Hello. I don’t have any answers for you but do have changes that I’m struggling with. Perhaps someone will spot this and have suggestions. Tomorrow is end of week 2 for me. I wake up light headed and feel faint a lot of the time. I drink lots of water as suggested and struggle because of needing the loo all the time which is impacting on life as I’m anxious to go out. Mushrooms and miso and soy sauce I suspect are responsible for thrush and I haven’t lost any weight or inches this week. Occasionally I think I have peardrop breath but I suspect ketosis is not kicking in for me. What to do? My blood pressure seems to be getting and staying very low. I went to physiotherapy yesterday and fell over. So, a miserable state of affairs in big contrast to first week’s euphoria. I am positive though and determined as ever but question that this is working for me. I am not diabetic or pre-diabetic. I enjoy the meals and stick to recipes and meal plan but yesterday I succumbed to a small amount of honey as I was so light headed. My gp is supportive so I might have to consult her but I do not want to come off this diet. Perhaps I have to consider a slower result time and go on the 5:2. I would like to know why this is happening though.

I would avoid it if you can. each “serving” is 7cals, and I think that’s pretty week, but mainly the carbs: 1.7g, is not ideal. I’m not good with too much coffee either, I try on or two cups a day, also have tea, redbush tea or half an OXO in a (500ml mug) and I’m managing to drink some water now by knocking back a small glass before each hot drink. Good Luck!

Hi Speedy,

I don’t believe the book spells out how many grams of carbs a day on average the diet includes. However, very low carb ketogenic diet’s have less than 10% of calories from carbs or less than 50-80 grams a day which promotes ketosis. One week into the diet, and cooking all the recipes, I would say these figures are fairly spot on. Have you consulted your doctor about the diet and whether it will help or hinder your medical issues?

Regards.

Hi,

The Hummus 3 ways recipe on pp. 204-205 does not suggest what to serve it with. Assuming we’re not to eat it by the spoonful, what are we meant to eat it with? Vegetables? If so, which ones and how much? Anyone have any ideas?

Also, I’ve decided to skip making this recipe and buy store bought varieties of hummus instead. Three different kinds of hummus, each recipe makes 3 portions and yet the book doesn’t suggest eating it again for another 2.5 weeks, just leads to a lot of food wastage for a single person, not to mention the amount of time and energy gone into creating these dishes!

Thank you.

Hi,

I cannot locate the smoked salmon eggs recipe in the book. It is first mentioned under the 4-week menu plan, week 2, Monday for breakfast on p.249. The closest recipe I could find was the creamy smoked salmon under Quick and Easy Recipes: 5-min breakfasts: scrambled eggs three ways on page 233. However, this recipe is a brunch option and contains 330 calories. Can anyone please advise where to find the recipe or to confirm the brunch version is it?

Thank you.

Wow well done cooktin. Can you give me an idea of what you have for breakfast please. I am a cook in a small community hospital and find that tasting the food can be a real problem(and of course it needs to be tasted).I am also a coeliac. You certainly inspire me.

Pat.Unlimited thats the way I have done it it is amazing what you can do with simple stuff and herbs and spices also big piles of veg! I am eating so well and loving it instead of carbs and felling rubbish for the following day ! (got to admit baking the bread at work is a bit challenging though ! you don’t have to be a chef just look up the ingredients and cook what you like not what will cost you in calories .

Hi Natasha
Glad yr feeling better.
I’m a slow loser but my waist has shrunk 4″ in 19 days so I’m pleased as punch. Also sleeping a lot better
Penny

Hi gooismeid
I went to pizza express Friday and had a chicken ceaser which contained Parmesan and anchovies (estimated 300 cal)I I asked for no croutons, dressing on the side (used about a tablespoon and estmated 100 cal) and gave my dough bread to my son and other half….it was difficult to not have pizza and dough balls but I kept reminding myself why I am doing this…I ate slowly and enjoyed every mouthful. I also had a glass of wine (200 cals) had lots of water and had been for a brisk walk prior to the meal. We finished eating at 20:00hrs so I fasted 16 hrs having a brunch at 12pm… Hope this helps

Thanks spirit☺️

Hi all

Read the book and am slowly phasing in 800 Cals a day and maybe 5 :2 have wife and son so need to juggle a bit however I think it is do able.

Being a vegetarian I need to go off piste quite a bit from the book recipes , so I cannot remember anywhere in the book it said what amount of carbs the menus/recipes were ?

I do cycle 30 – 40 miles a week and dog walk so am probably classed as exercising a lot ?

regards Paul

Great start – and really good advice about keeping it simple! I’m no chef, so at the moment tinned tomatoes with some garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce are helping to bulk out meals and give them taste 🙂

I have my shakes and shaker ready. My blood sugar monitor ready. My scales ready. My frozen vegetables ready. Hoping to keep a record here of how I get on. Just need to get a good sleep tonight and start early tomorrow. Going to have 3 x 200 cal shakes and 200 cal meal initially for easiness. I don’t eat a huge amount normally, so hoping this will be doable.

Go, go, go! 🙂

I am not type 2 or even pre-diabetic but I am overweight and a chef. I needed a big change as I was scared stiff of being diabetic. So this was the diet I decided on as a make or live with it ! I have found it simple and easy 800 calories and I divide them between breakfast and a big dinner breakfast carries me through the day and dinner carries me through to breakfast works for me …..11 days in and 13lbs down ! I doubt this speed of weight loss will last but it is a huge boost when you see the scales moving ! I find the simple to prepare foods are the best. Fish is brilliant with roast veg if you smear mustard on it and add lemon (made me actually moan with pleasure! don’t try and find alternatives for “normal” food you can’t Just try new stuff !
Good eating xx

Thank you!!

I was wondering if anyone could tell me this?
I’m trying to plan and understand very fully before I start. To often I’ve lost weigh then put it back on again. I have a lot of weigh to lose but I’m concerned not to make my existing gall stones worse and also not trigger more kidney stones – I’ve read that very low carbs are suspect of that – though how it works if you drink a lot I’m not sure. Thanks for any input.

Jahooly, that’s what we’re here for 🙂
Blackfriar, welcome to the forums, all the support you need can be found here.

Just joined this Forum and looking forward to being a part of this! I have been a type-2 diabetic for 3 and a half years and most of it spent in denial. My friend told me about Michael Mosley’s interview on Jeremy Vine a week or so ago so I listened to it via I-Player later. I can honestly say it was as if a light had suddenly appeared at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. I can reverse it. I want to. I got the Blood Sugar Diet book on my Kindle and read it this last week. Since I stuck to Michael’s suggestion to ‘read this book all the way through’ I haven’t started the diet properly until now – but I snuck in a couple of things in the week that I could do anyway before I knew the whole picture. I have lost 4 lbs and 2 inches of my waist. Needless to say the diet has started in earnest now!

Just posting to follow, Fab results CaptainLynne.

Hi Bill thanks for your reply and I’ve now just read your story, pretty Inspiring and love everyone’s comments so hopefully can belong to this ever growing group. I ve started talking to my pancreas ….sounds nuts but want it to be my pal not my enemy……..
Think I might try eating something at bed time and see if that makes a difference with blood glucose level…… I was convinced they d be lower in the morning after not eating for so long but now reading all the threads I see why they are not ……. Thanks everyone for the good tips and advice ……

Hi. That’s fantastic. 👍👍👍 x

Hi everyone.

Just wanted to report in, because I’m so pleased!

Lost 8.9lb. Bought myself a blood sugar monitor today and tested before dinner: 5.0. Just tested 2 hrs after dinner and it’s still 5.0 now. No idea what my BS was when I started, but it won’t have been that good!

🙂

Hmmm, interesting. I’m wondering if I’m eating too much protein anyway, and this seems like a good reason to re-evaluate that.

I can’t have coffee – neither the normal nor the decaffeinated variety. Is it OK to have barley coffee?

I’ll type that bit of the book for you.

It’s attributed to the fact that people eating very low carb diets are burning ketones some of which are eliminated via the lungs. Dieters believe it’s something they have to learn to live with. Wrong (I’m paraphrasing a bit here).

Some people advocate drinking more water or use breath mints or brushing your teeth. None of those things will work because it comes from your lungs not your mouth.

That supposed ketobreath is not coming from burning fat. It’s almost always from eating too much protein. Low carb dieters tend to overdo the protein than what it should be which is a high fat diet.

If you detect also a strong ammonia smell in your urine, this is a sign too.

So she says what needs to be done is cut down on the protein a bit.

Hi Salky. Looking forward to it 😃 We all need all the support we can get.

If you want to read all the gory details, check out my post on this forum ‘Over the 8-week line and after’. You’lll be joining me on there next week – getting a bit lonely!

Just thinking – my family won’t know me when they see me after Easter, not seen them since last autumn! *waves*

Hi,

I’ve not encountered this yet, BUT, on Penny’s recommendation in the useful links thread, i read just this morning the book called Low Carb Problems Solved by Jenny Ruhl, It’s about £3 on Kindle.

It tells you all about the why’s and what to do in there – along with lots of other useful info.

Well yes and no as i live in the village of that name.

Thanks liveinhope, that’s exactly my worry. Is your username a nice pun?

Hi guys, Interesting.
I live in the Peak District so hills out and back when you are cycling are obligatory. I also run over the fells. Since i have been on the low blood sugar diet i have defiantly hit the wall when out. I too am interested on whether taking on board extra added carbs will cock up the diet. I was climbing at an indoor wall on Thursday and after about one and a half hours i was totally pumped. Losing the weight though at about 1lb a day so don`t want to blow it. Keep the discussion and experiences going. Mark

Thank you captainlynne, we think very much alike. Yes, replies on the forum will be lovely.
Looking forward to our little project very much.
Just for the record, you’ve said how much you have lost, brill again! I’m on a 20lb loss, waistline down around 5in. And a blood reading of 53 after 7 weeks.
Let the battle begin!! 👍👍

Thanks Mrsjaffa13. I do feel so much better. Less joint pain, more energy, thinking more clearly & better concentration. Only problem is trying to find something to wear LOL. Wardrobe rapidly shrinking and can’t find anything I like in the shops! On the plus side, the charity shop is doing well – have to look there when I take my old clothes in 😃

Hi Salky. Happy to be your diet buddy and compare notes. It should keep me on the straight and narrow 😃 Posting on this forum?

Welcome Blackfriar. You’ll get lots of support on here.

Hi

Thank you all for your responses.

I am not diabetic but I guess could possibly edging towards pre – I was in hospital last year for a suspected heart attack, angio confirmed not and clear arteries. They then thought it might be gall stones, I have it seems three large ones that aren’t going anywhere but possibly has a little one that slipped away and caused the problem. Whilst in hospital they said that my blood sugar level was 5.6, they weren’t unduly worried said it was just a little high.

I always use olive oil in cooking, frying etc. Although if for example I am making a chilli or spag bol I do not fry my mince in it, I dry fry the mince. But for all other types of frying I use it.

I think I will actually find it easier to not eat during the day than try and have three low cal meals. I would rather save up and have a decent evening meal.

Way to go Mrsjaffa! You are so going to do this….there may be a few tough moments, lots of us have had them but it gets better….can’t wait to hear your successes.
Bill…you’re a shrinking man…..great news!
Welcome Blackfriar….you’ve come together right place…best of luck to you.
Have just posted my first recipe!

Thanks for that mountainman. I think energy gels are a very good idea, they saved me yesterday when I could feel weakening beginning. I’d like to find a solution that doesn’t involve taking on carbs so much. I’m reading up on making adaptations to using fat stores to a greater extent, but I think that this requires time and careful planning. Good luck with the walk on the 28th.

Hi Bill, I am starting on Monday this week. Got to do something. Have been a diabetic for 10 years, no retinopathy but had a cardiac scare at Christmas resulting in a stent insertion. Good luck to you.

Hiya aliba thank you for the fantastic coffee suggestions, have just ordered myself some coffee cups from Amazon, and will try your ideas, if I don’t feel deprived am much more likely to stick to it!

Captainlynne your loss is amazing, and two dress sizes sounds a fantastic achievement, you must feel amazing, keep those positive thoughts as you journey into your next few weeks.

Bill 15lbs in three weeks is fab. I struggle to exercise, usually manage my 1000 steps a day running after my 7 year old and taking the dog out, but will never be a gym person, and feel need to lose weight before attempting some of the exercises in the book. I do also have an exercise bike and go on twice a week but nothing more than that! I love my Fitbit as if haven’t done enough steps will do a night walk with the dog, or up and down the stairs a few times!!

Day 2 for me, and so far not hungry or tempted! 😇

Yes fat…eat more of it with the protein and veg….coconut oil, a little butter, full fat milk, full fat cottage cheese…you have to recondition yourself…..it improves your mood, your skin and keeps you fuller…listen to Bill he’s a man of wisdom!
Jahooly…I’ve lost 12lbs in 3 weeks on the 800, a total of 30lbs in the last year (before this tried the 5:2 and cut back on sugar) feel healthier and happier than I ever have on this plan but believe me I haven’t been a saint on this and have gone over 800 at weekends or I might have lost more. But the principles of it are very sound.
Every time I read a post on here I think…yes, that was me or I’ve been there and know how that feels…some of it is just getting your head in the right place like Dr M says. The Headspace App that he recommends is good and worth a try. Good luck…7lb weight loss is magnificent!

Oh captainlynne, you have done sooo well. I’m like you, once I’ve got my little granddaughter’s birthday party out of the way next weekend, off I go again just like you. We have exactly the same aims ( except I won’t be needing new dresses, me being a Mike ). 😉
The book suggests finding a diet buddy to help you along, so if you would like to compare notes over the next few weeks I will be up for it.

Jahooly I had exactly the same thing week 2.
Someone on here suggested that I wasn’t having enough fat to prevent my liver releasing sugar into the blood overnight.
I added more fat to my diet and the sugar levels fell quickly.

Thanks Aliba, you’re right, need to be kinder to myself and less stressed, will take your words of wisdom . Sounds like you’re doing well

We went to a Wetherspoons and I Had a steak with salad. All calls are given at the side of the menu. With a shake for breakfast and some salad for lunch I was still inside the 800. Until I had the wine but that’s another story.

Thanks captainlynne did just that thanks, very inspiring and a brilliant t achievement for you , congratulations….. Great to have the support of others

Hi Jahooly…Martin’s right. Testing only tells you what is happening at one fixed point and it is so so easy to become obsessed…..been there myself so stopped testing and now rely on HBA1C results.
You’re doing the right thing trying this way of living so better to give yourself a break and relax…stress makes blood sugar go wild sometimes so a bit of mindfulness and being kind to yourself might help!

Jahooly, if you go to my thread “Over the 8-week line and after” on this board you’ll get my full story.