Although I live on my own which makes dieting easier I still manage to have friends and family round for meals. I calculate the overall calories in a dish – so if I am cooking for three people I may divide the total calories by 4 and give myself one quarter and divide the remainder between the two guests. Just by leaving out the carbs I can eat the same food. I also use the Fast diet recipe book which helps when catering for others, I may make two low calorie meals from the book and have a half portion of each for myself. Guests are happy with their two course delicious meal.
Investing in a spiraliser to make courgetti has been really helpful. A ‘starter’ of courgetti with a simple dressing of garlic and chilli with a small sprinkle of parmesan or a tablespoon of low fat cream cheese stirred in is only around 100 calories or so.

Stick with it, people on this forum are having amazing results.
I started on Monday and already I’m seeing a blood sugar reduction, down from 9.8 to 7.8 and if i can do it, anyone can.

I am on day 5 and am shocked I’ve not had a headache as it’s something I would normally get on a fast too but think it’s because I have drunk so much water and most of it warm… Never drunk so much in my life…. Water, water, water…. Wee, wee, wee…. But it works!

Have started today with blood sugars 9.8 so am hoping they drop over next few days.

Have just read the BSD book and wondering if it’s for me. My blood sugar is fine (so far!) but have PCOS, my Dad had type II diabetes and I’m about 20kg overweight (carrying lots of this weight around my waist). I have tried the 5/2 diet but would always get a migraine on the fast days. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks Squidgy. I tried the yoghurt and berries etc and prepd it then took into work . It tasted a lot better than I thought it would . Will definitely have it again

Hi Hippo

Holland & Barrett sell flaxseeds.

It does sound nice but I have found that carbs push up my blood sugars too much – even healthy oats – I think I must be really carb sensitive.

I’m hoping with time and clearing out my liver that it gets better!

Tuppence

Hi I am Day 5 tomorrow. This is the only diet I think I’ve ever enjoyed. Being type 2 D for 6 years I have finally made a stark reality check with myself.
I am a little concerned that I have gone over my 800 cals the last couple of days by about 30 to 50 cals…
But I am also thrilled that I have gone from having good no exercise to almost 10000 steps every day which is equating to just over an hour of brisk walking.
The calories I’m burning walking – will that impact on me going over slightly ???

My hubby really enjoyed the No carb bircher Tuppence. We need to find some flaxseeds though.

Hippo

Good luck Aliba.

Hippo

Well we are on day 4 and I am pleased to say, that hubby and I have lost 1/2 stone each already!

Favourite meals so far are the No carb ploughmans, No carb bircher, Portobello toast with goat’s cheese and pine nuts (outstanding) plus had Sardine dip for lunch – very tasty. No issues with eating less calories. I actually feel better – no spikes in blood sugar. So good so far.

Hippo

It’s weird Bill ……I felt exactly the same. Didn’t know how I’d survive especially as I had absorbed all the advice about eating carbs etc.
I’m a week in, lost 6lbs and feel brilliant. Haven’t felt this good since I was diagnosed. Sleeping well, eating well, wake up feeling alert not worn out, more energy, better mood. Have missed sugar, bread etc and no cravings.
To be honest there hasn’t been a downside for me, I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I love these forums.
Lots of positive encouragement which we all need

Bill that’s marvellous news…..congratulations. Hope you’re finding it easy and enjoying the feeling of being virtuous!

Hi Southern
This just what I have…..I’m sure others will have different ideas.
The practice nurse gave me a Mediterranean diet off the internet last year but I had no idea about how to put it together or what to do on a daily basis.
This is much easier and I’ve lost 6lbs in a week.
Hope you’re going to give it a go…..I was a bit scared that it wouldn’t be possible or I would faint through lack of food but nothing could be further from the truth…..it’s been remarkably straight forward!
Good luck

Is it ok to use liver/kidneys and the like in the 8 week diet? I notice it’s never mentioned in the book.

Yep know the feeling . Skinny husband cupboards full of biscuits sweets etc.

I started 17 days ago. Have lost 11lbs – delighted. I have not been diagnosed type 2 yet. My fasting blood sugars have been high for a few years now regularly over 7 and sometimes over 8. It is now down to 5.7 already. I have a family history of diabetes and I think I was eating my way towards it with my head in the sand.

I live in Normandy. Have just been on 5 diabetes workshops run by the local health authority. They got quite cross with me because I refuse to have a starchy carb with every meal !!! It’s also sometimes difficult to get hold of certain products or produce here, being rural France. For example, Michael Mosley puts spring onions in a huge amount of his recipes and they’re just impossible to get here. In the summer my husband grows them for me but at this time of winter in rural France you have the options of carrots, leaks, onions, green beans, turnips (and in recent years broccoli and parsnips)!!

thanks, its like this it can’t do any more harm

Well done Bill – So glad to hear it 😃
So looking forward to your updates 👍🏻

Best of luck Poppyseed. My Niece is type 1 and I know the way she struggles.
I hope this all works out for you.

Result !!! fasting blood sugar this morning down to 7.8 🙂
I’m really happy about that, here’s hoping it’s the start of great things

Hi Aliba, best of luck, I started on the 1st and TBH I was dreading it, but surprisingly, I haven’t felt hungry at all, and, touch wood, no side effects either.
Hope it works that way for you.

Well it was just an idea! Being busy / distracted definitely helps me too.
Where are you? I had assumed uk!
Penny

Yes I’ve started drinking more coffee again. I used to drink about 6 cups a day when I was at work but these days usually have one at breakfast time and one mid evening. It does help – I think it’s just the habit of having something to do really. I do a lot of cross stitch and when I do that I forget to both eat and drink because I’m too busy with my hands. At the moment I’m waiting for fabric to arrive from the UK so that I can start a mega picture – hopefully that will help!!! Hate both marmite and bovril by the way! 😉

Marmite or bovril!

Hi Chinta
That’s hard.
I d suggest having soup or a hot drink like marmite or no til whe hungry like that. That’s what I’ve been doing and I’m definitely feeling hungry less often and not so intensely.
It seems to be true that weight loss is never straight forward or predictable but goes in fits and starts.
I lost a pound on day 2 but nothing since then. Now on day 4. Had to go to a dinner last night. Didn’t eat any carbs and ( by my standards!) hardly anything else much but the pound has come back on. 😞 ( despite 13,000 steps yesterday)
We just have to keep on trucking!
Penny

Waterbalance is a good app to remind you to drink water. It fills up your ‘body’ with what you have drank during the day but takes it away again if you drink coffee/tea/alcohol. Its really useful to see how much water you lose every time you drink coffee

Well I have read the book, written out my shopping list and meal plans and am starting tomorrow. I’m actually a type 1 diabetic and have low carbed for what seems like forever but 2 stone in weight and mental blood sugars have made an unwelcome appearance so need something to get it back to where I was. Think I took the high fat part of low carbing a bit too far lol Recipes look great and I’m looking forward to my Blueberry and green tea shake in the morning.

Blood sugar was really high yesterday but back down again today. Can’t work out why. I’ve put on half a kilo today 🙁 but I did have just over a 1000 calories yesterday. I was really hungry last night so had a little bowl of hummous with carrots and cucumber which took me over. I’ll try again today. It really helps just writing this stuff down but also hearing that real people really have lost 5,6, 9lbs in just a few days. Gives me the incentive to keep going. Well done everyone!!!

Thanks Penny. I’m wondering about what a days grain intake would look like ?

Thanks for this Aliba, good to get a picture of the diet in practice.

Day 5 for me lost 7lb and as I walk 5 miles every day I have upped it to 6 which is a struggle. I have a fitbit one which is great. Blood sugars are down to 5.4 in the morning and I have lost my dreadful thirst. Have posted a couple of really simple recipes on the recipe page hope they help you Keep going everyone we will all be fit and healthy for the summer!

I made them last night, They came out ok. I added 1.5tsp of butter (instead on 1), and the eggs I had were large, so the mixture was not overly soggy but was sticky.

When baked, they came out well enough, popped them out of the muffin cases ok they break apart easily when eating. Next time I will add more of the spices as I don’t think it was strong enough.

The mixture made 12 exactly.

The soup sounds amazing Penny….will have to get a new slow cooker this weekend as I use my for jewellery making. That’s definitely one I’m going to make…great idea
With your walking and that kind of food your going to smash it eventually!
Have a good day

wow you’re a step Dynamo Penny
Well done Auntie….amazing isn’t it!

Thanks. It seems to have settled now, touch wood. Weight loss has slowed and I’m still seriously tired but I’m hanging in there. All for the greater good lol!

I started monday and after 3 days with high fasting sugar readings (9.6. 9.8. and 12 :O ) Today was 7.8 🙂
Hopefully this is the start of better things.
BTW, celeriac, boiled mashed with a knob of butter and white pepper is a very acceptable substitute for mash.
Keep it up folks, it’s all good.

Start of day 4 and 9lb down yaaaay!!

Keep going everyone

Love, Auntie x

I only had the oats because of the vertigo the night before and still feeling unwell the next day. I just wanted some slow release energy, it is not a normal part of my diet 🙂

Or perhaps, just cutting back on the amount of oats? Adding them to some eggs if the oats are important. Don’t forget a little healthy fat. Maybe a few walnuts or cook the eggs in a tsp of olive oil. i vary what i eat at breakfast depending upon what i seem to need. Sometimes a little more healthy carbs, sometimes, less. Sometimes more protein if i’ve noticed that the protein was less than Dr. Mosley recommended the day before. My first meal of the day, i’ve found that eating less carbs seems to make me more full the rest of the day. Experiment! Each of us is different.

For the first time today I have not been hungry when we had to raise the prednisone I was on! Holy Moly! Wahoo. And i’m feeling good!

Has anybody else made the zucchini & pumpkin seed muffins from the guilt-free baking section of the book?
I am in my first week of the 8 week BSD and thought I’d make them as a treat while I wean myself off my guilty pleasures.
They were the biggest epic fail ever – I am so disappointed 🙁 and just wondering where I might have gone wrong.
My instincts told me something wasn’t right with the mixture even before I put them in the oven. However, having never used coconut flour before, I wasn’t sure what to expect so followed the recipe to a “T”. The muffins were dry & crumbly (completely inedible)
I’d be interested to hear if anyone’s had any success as I’m reluctant to waste another lot of ingredients for a similar result.

Hi, I’m planning to start next monday (so I do the brunch days on weekends), I have sleep apnea and have read that this alters hormones so I don’t recognise when I’m full. Any comments on this and its effects on BSD.

Hi Nessie
It might be because it was oats. That’s a lot of carb to have in one go. Maybe try a hard boiled egg instead? Or something else non carb.
Penny

Page 131 in the book explains why 800 calories!

Hi Citykittie
Hope you’re doing ok. I think you just have to guess! Eg with chicken breast- take the middle weight and substitute that. We really all a bit in the dark about those sort of details.
Penny

Hi southern
I think a couple of measuring tablespoons.
Penny

That’s fantastic floradora. And in one week!
Penny

I had 1000 calories yesterday (I had a vertigo episode the night before, and was very drained yesterday, so had some oats for some energy), but stuck to the M diet. I bloody well gained half a kilo! Why oh why oh why? How can I expect to normalise and stabalise my weight, if eating just 1000 calories causes me to gain weight!

Hi Paddy
I have a bathroom scales that tells % of fat. ( alarming!)
Penny