Sorry to hear about your headache Mrs Jaffa. Hope it’s gone tomorrow. I’ve had to log in 3 times to reply to your post – hope this appears in the right place 😮

Thank you The blackspot, that’s a great idea. I don’t usually eat from catering units but, I can give it a try. I already use my fitness pal. I think the making up of a box of seasonings is great. I can keep them in my van. Thanks again

You could do some no carb ploughmans, some low carb heck sausages, chicken or fish salads etc. The important thing is I believe to plan ahead and you’ll be fine.

The maintenance then turns to 5:2 and the med diet. I haven’t really gone too far into that as had hard enough time getting my head around the 800. I did the 5:2 at the beginning of last year and it really worked. I fell off the wagon when I got the flu and never got back on, not sure why as I didn’t struggle after the first couple of weeks. Give it a go Sue, I don’t think you’ll regret it and sure you will do great!

Any good ideas for help with sleeping without gluging the night nurse?

You could try taking a box of seasonings oil & vinegar and some bags of leaves then buying hog roast, or sausage, bison burger or whatever looks least processed and most like real food, ditching the cheap white bun and having it with your salad.
Use an app like my fitness pal to guestimate the calories in your meaty feast and adjust accordingly.
Good luck and stick with it, after all, salad and grilled meat? Can’t be bad!

Couscous is made from wheat flour and is therefore a carb. I don’t think there are any recipes in the book using couscous so I have taken that to mean it is not encouraged. However, the book doesn’t ban anything as such, it just encourages low consumption of carbs and sugar. If you can manage without it, great but if you really do want to eat it, count the calories and perhaps bear the carb count in mind and don’t have it too often.

With loads of parsley, lemon zest and juice, a bit of chili and a glug of olive oil and it’s good. S&p too.

Thanks blackspot,ihave someof that inthe cupboard,i’ll give it a whirl x

Carbs not cars…

lol I like cauliflower rice. I actually eat that anyway. Also cauli pizza base/bread, thats nice too.

Mainly couscous is a type of white flour pasta, so I’m sticking clear of it personally.
Bulgar wheat is similarly easy to make and convenient, but totally whole grain and low gi/gl.
I’ve been at it only one week, but felt good on the food, by virtually ignoring cars all together and eating vegie with nice fats and protein in limited amounts.
Good luck to you whatever you decide.

Damnit! thought it was toogood to be true :-\

Trouble is after 8 week you have to keep it up where I go really wrong but thank you encouragement is always helpful. If diets working you’ll loose inches I did on last one.

I doubt it it’s a carb. Quinoa is, which is like a couscous consistency, high in calories but it’s a protein if eaten in moderation.

Well done Viv, I find that planning meals a few days in advance really helps keep me on straight and narrow. All the best to you!

Hola, does anyone know if couscous can be eaten on this diet? I looked it up and it seems to be low GL, just wanted to check O:-)

Has anyone got any ideas of what I could eat at the weekend. I work at shows and exhibitions. This weekend I’m at a Tractor show in Malvern. I usually take stodgy food to fill me up and keep me warm. The days are very long and I sleep in marquee. I do have access to a stove. But during the day I won’t have time. It’s breakfast and lunch I’m more concerned about as I can cook dinner once the marquee is closed. Ps it’s only my first week

Hi I have had a good first day. I had yogurt and apple for breakie, the pepper with jewelled feta for lunch (so filling) and the foil steamed fish for dinner. It was delicious but am used to having huge dinner portions. Am having some hunger pangs now so am going to bed to read and take my mind off it. My fitness pal just gave me a telling off lol! It said I have not eaten enough calories today 🙂

I had chicken stir fry for tea and just had a tablespoon of light soy sauce instead of our usual sauce. I was blown away by how much carb is in those sauces. I have counted calories when I have been on diets before so this is a real eye opener to me. I hadn’t thought about the jelly so will have to have a look at that. I have a really bad sweet tooth but am really surprised at how little I have been craving over the last two days, just waiting for it to kick in! I am drinking far more than I usually do as I can see from the other posts that it has a real effect on the symptoms. I don’t get thirsty so forget to drink regularly. I am thinking that it is just 8 weeks of my life and the motivation is to be healthy rather than diet to be slim (which I am never going to be!).

I made cauliflower mash for the first time tonight. Just beautiful! And surprisingly similar to potato mash. I have a feeling I’m going to be eating a lot of cauliflower from now on!

Welcome samurai , I’m on day 4, but today woke up with awful headache and shaky so think I might not have been eating quite enough. Luckily was working at home so split my 800 over the day with little and often and plenty of water and feel better tonight. I had to take some paracetamol for the headache but hoping tomorrow will feel better and work thro it. 😢🤕

I’m was wondering if we could incorporate green lentils or buckwheat things like or does that totally alter diet. Tried similar diet before Scandinavian diet but doing it all the time proved hard because of limited foods. I just ran out of ideas eventually. Think you must be good cook of which I admit I’m not!!! Never have liked cooking.

Fantastic bill at resisting temptation and taking the helm for your family meal, as you say onwards and upwards

My evening meals do included spices, herbs and garlic which is why I didn’the mention them. Lots of steamed fish with ginger and garlic. Chicken in various way, cauliflower mash and spiralized veg. I do enjoy cauliflower rice as well. My husband also adapts the hairy bikers diet meals for us picking out meals that contain the right amount of calories. We have all the hairy dieters cookbooks and haven’the had a meal we didn’the like.

Janet your right. tbh when I was cooking it I thought I’ll not like this. Thought it would be bland. Couldn’t get over how flavoursome it is.

Hi Teej I found this with last diet I tried I just could ent keep it up. I use no sugar jelly a lot when dieting to curb cravings too. I decided stir fry might be a way forward for me because I’m really bad at counting carbs. I usually had salad at night Tuna in my case because I’m diabetic and don’t use drugs to control it I use diet.

Hi Sue. I look forward to the replies to your post as I am another ‘one’! I struggled when I read the book as there are lots of recipes that I looked at and thought ‘well I don’t like this and I wouldn’t eat that’. I started on Sunday and, having read other posts, I have just tried to keep low on my carbs and around 800 calories. I have been using myfitnesspal to record my food so it shows the carbs (hoping to keep between 50 & 80). I am not sure if I am eating enough fat but have incorporated a bit of cheese with a prawn salad and cooking my scrambled eggs in butter. Debsym62, what are you doing about evening meals?

Good luck, hope you get on well. I am on week six now and have found it great, somewhere along the line my usual demons have been kicked in to touch.

I don’t see why you can’t do this without the herbs and spices. I have yogurt and blueberries for break fast then peanut butter, cream cheese and celery for lunch. You could pick and choose what you eat really.

Hi I started on 15 Feb and have lost 7 pounds so far…… I had a small hiccup on Fri eve at a family get together, there was food everywhere!!! Managed to resist all the really bad stuff but did eat a few lumps of cheese with grapes. Also have been craving chocolate a bit (my downfall) as I had some dark choc on Sat as I made the skinny chilli which has it as an ingredient so ate the leftover bit. Going to keep on going but I am going to Vienna Friday to Mon and am a bit worried about what to eat!

Tried two days last week and found it too hard. Have spent time looking at recipes and made my shopping list for tomorrow. Will try again. I find it difficult being vegetarian as I get so hungry. It scares me to think of doing without carbs!

Oh dear just finished reading book will read again to really take in. But know I’m awkward but I don’t eat herbs spices ever. Hate them. A lot of the recipes I’m going to struggle with. Is this the only ones we’ve got? Or are their more somewhere else?
I know there’s always one!!!!.

This is my first day on the BSD and I am committed to sticking with it even though I could fancy a nice G & T !
I love all the positive comments on here and all the support you give each other. I love the recipes and have planned meals for the rest of the week, so wish me luck.

I started off this year on weight watchers and lost three pounds in two weeks (I thought I should be grateful for anything in a downwards direction!) and then stopped counting points. But I was more hungry doing that diet than I have been in my ten days on this diet so far. And yet, I was probably on twice as many calories, but most of my food then was carbs, especially pasta and potatoes.

isn’t it great when you find things that really are lovely to eat, yet still good for you! They are life-savers!

I made this out of the book for my first days dinner. It is absolutely beautiful. Just wanted to tell someone lol It got tastier and tastier the further down the bowl I got.

How is it going JennieS? You’re two weeks in so how have you found things? Are you managing to plan your meals? And how are you finding keeping up with work at the same time?

I’ve had a few days this second week where I haven’t lost any weight but I think I have got to the bottom of that now that I’ve realised that, yes, olive oil has calories, quite a lot of calories! I’m thinking of going down the route of getting my fats from actual foods, ie, avocado, yoghurt, etc as they seem like better value to me. But I think I’m back on track now with a little loss this morning.

I’m feeling pretty darn virtuous today. I’m having part two of the aubergine bake for tea which I made yesterday. That’s a really great recipe! I have done half an hour’s trampet rebounding which I haven’t done in ages. And I have prepared all my meals for tomorrow as I am going to be in Nottingham all day on a training course. Lunch will be provided but I don’t want to risk a diet catastrophe so I bought a snazzy little lunch box with loads of compartments (any excuse to go shopping) and I have boiled an egg, cut up some avacado, chopped some tomatoes and cucumber and added some sweetcorn. The last compartment is full of strawberries. I’ve got a slimfast shake for breakfast for 206 calories as I will be travelling at breakfast time. And then I plan to have veggie sausages and cauli mash for tea, I have made the mash already, hence my euphoric comment earlier.

Normally I would dread eating at training days but this time I feel like I have total control and there is no reason why I would need to deviate from the diet. Just hope they don’t have chocolate cake for dessert!

Amazing. I’ve got a lot to lose myself. Good to know it’s working for you 🙂

Hi all
Lovely to read about how well people are doing. This is my first day and I’m so surprised by how satisfied I am having only eaten 800 calories. Beetroot hummus is lovely. See how I go tomorrow.

Did try to get started on Saturday but I kept obsessing about the calories! It’s a lot easier being at work!

Maybe life is worth living after all…just discovered cauliflower mash. Wonderful!

Well done. I hope it encourages you if I say that although an inveretate “snacker” I REALLY haven’t felt hungry on this diet. This is the only diet I have ever done about which I can say that. It seems to be so much about WHAT you eat, even more than the amount. The recipes supplied really keep you satisfied for hours. Keep to it (3 weeks and 12 lbs off so far – and I was on the 5:2 already)

Hi pmshrink. I am inclined to agree with you. Although, frustratingly, I have still lost nothing from my waist, I do feel so much better that I know this diet must be doing me good. I am assuming its just a matter of time before my waist shows some results.

Well done sunnyB. I have also gone over my calories but I have talked/ran 9k so not going to stress too much. I am also weighing everything. I made the blueberry green tea shake for breakfast. The book states it as 100 calories. However, it came out at over 170 so i had to jiggle it about. Got it to 128 in the end.

Wishing all you lovely people a great start and end to day 1.

You know you’re taking the diet seriously this time when you find yourself saying, “Oh sod it, I’m having an extra gram of seeds, I have just walked five miles.” So, yes surprisingly easy, but then it has only been five days.

No worries – let us know how you get on 🙂 xx

Hi – Good luck with starting 🙂
Re: Alpro products, some of them contain added sugar. So I would say check the ingredients labels and nutritional information. If there’s any added sugar – then switching to one without would probably be better I think x

Hope everyone has found their first day on the BSD manageable. Have to confess I found it easier than I had feared. Came in at 810 calories for the day – smidge over, but I’m not going to stress about it. I have religiously counted absolutely everything, so am happy with the outcome. Looking forward to see some results as my week progresses and to hearing how everyone else is fairing.

First thing this morning, I got on the scales, put the tape measure around my waist (scary!!) and checked my blood sugar. Weight was about where I expected, my waist two inches large than I had thought(!) and I’m pleased to say my blood sugar was well within the normal band. So this diet for me, is about trimming the waist and getting my weight under control, as I am definitely in the obese band.

Found today much easier than I had thought it might be. I have been keeping track of my calories on a little excel chart I have set up and I have come in at 810 calories for my first day – only water and herbal teas now until tomorrow. Kept breakfast and lunch very modest, so that I could have my main meal with my husband this evening, but it wasn’t difficult to get through the day.

I hope all those who also started their BSD today, have managed to come in at around the target calories and have not struggled. Hope to hear how others have found their first day.

Hi Scotgran,
Do you like dark chocolate? I had a little bit over the weekend as I was really craving some sugar & it did the trick. The green and blacks lemon flavour is lovely 🙂 x