Thanks Maggie, it’s great to start feeling more energy today and to not feel as annoyed with everyone as well! Miso soup is a good one to try, will add to my list.
I think you’re absolutely right about the psychological aspect with dieting. I know I’ve tried so many diets over the years and failed at them all and piled the weight on…as a result my self belief was at a complete low and I kept expecting to fail at a diet. I was a classic yoyo dieter, which I suspect many people are. This group has made a real difference to my self belief and for me that’s key. I think the psychological aspect of dieting is a huge factor in whether you can stick with it or not.

I’d say good luck Verano but that sounds wrong somehow. Perhaps lose well and enjoy being in control of your eating. You know you can do it 😀
Thank you for the recommendation of Pioppi; I downloaded it yesterday – the Kindle version is only 99p!
Maggie

Hooray Mrs Thompson! Stay with it and you’ll feel wonderful. Miso soup is something I’ve found really useful. Little sachets of yumminess with just 21 calories, surprisingly filling and you can add prawns, spring onions, whatever takes your fancy.
I wonder if the real barrier to losing weight is that over the years we have repeatedly tried and failed so we are conditioned to expect
failure and may even subconsciously sabotage ourselves?
I think it’s critical to our success here that those who have made massive achievements are active in supporting us and tell us everyday that it works.
So thank you early adopters 🤗
Maggie

Friday and so almost half way through this week. Still time to make it count before next Tuesday. I have ‘Just started.. again’ and am raring to go. I’m actually sick of eating too many calories even staying within the principles of BSD so today is Day 1 for me ….. again!

Thanks for the course s-g. I have signed up but I think I may have done it before. I certainly signed up even if I didn’t finish it!

Have a good weekend and stay conscious and be careful and consistent!

Well today is my first day of ‘Just starting again’. I have gained 17lbs since last October when I hit my all time low in many years, albeit for just one day! But on the positive side I have still lost 42lbs. So over the last 8 months I have had lots of time away, a significant birthday and the usual Christmas and New Year. None of these are excuses they are just reasons for my gains, which have been gradual over the months especially with each holiday away.

Today is ‘JSA’ day for me. I know what to do and I know how to do it. All I need to do is act and I will. So it’s back to two meals a day and weighing, counting and logging initially. I would love to get to the position where I am comfortable not counting because I am sticking to the plan like glue. That day is a while away yet!

Frog glad you are enjoying Pioppi. I find it just reinforces BSD but has a slightly different take in that there is no counting, although the principles are the same. I have my own experience of weight loss without exercise and it can be done. It may not be ideal not to exercise but ‘moving’ may just be enough to stay healthy. I think any low carb/healthy fat regime is difficult to get your head around. I would say it probably took me in the region of 18 months before I actually ‘welcomed’ olive oil, butter and mayo into my diet.

So I’m off to write a shopping list, make soup and get out my ‘Fatsecret’. Will report back soon definitely with a few of those 17lbs gone!

sorry to hear about the facebook hack sunshine girl – sounds like a complete pain, I hope not too much damage (nice to know that we’re your “usual junk” 🙂 ), I had a vodka ‘forced on me’ the other day – someone had marinaded cherries from their garden in vodka for a year and decided that it was time to taste them; only one cherry and a spoonful of vodka, tasted amazing. well done on the weight loss.
i’m going on holiday today; not far, a cottage that I often rent. Trying to decide whether to put my scales in the car or not.
I’m enjoying the Pioppi book – a lot of it just makes sense when your head is aligned with BSD principles, but for anyone that picks it up that’s inured with years of low fat principles it must seem like science fiction. I read the bit about HIIT and the misconceptions about exercise and weight loss last night, really interesting.
i normally eat lots of bread with soup caravan sue, but had mushroom soup at work the other day, and didn’t miss it at all. For cal/carb logging I assumed it was similar to Covent Garden soup – made me compare it to the diet supplement mushroom soup; about a third of the carbs, no sugar, not to mention that it actually tasted of mushroom!

Good morning zoomers!
Made it to Friday! Day 5 today and I’m starting to feel better than a couple of days ago…hope you all have a wonderful day and keep going!

Sunshine-girl your reading was fantastic. Mine this mirning was 7.8 which is the lowest it has been in ages. Weekend is here, in for some snow tomorrow so I am going to make the roasted capsicum and pumpkin soup, its delicious. Will definitely miss the crunchy roll to go with it though 😐

I was thinking that we might start a thread for information for those persons who begin again —sort of a”best practices” site so people can quickly access the information for picking up where they left off?

Marianne, very interesting. Do you just add it to water or mix it into something else?

Blackspot, that’s an extraordinary age for a Lab! Yes I know the raw movement is really big but it doesn’t appeal to me. As for the ghastly stuff vets recommended , well it’s follow the money !
Maggie

Maggiebath, look up http://www.rawmeatybones.com
It’s by an Ausie vet who worked out why wild dogs Dingos wolves and the like didn’t get the diseases of our pet pooches. Diet! Since Victorian times we’ve been messing with dogs eating habits since an enterprising salesman with unwanted ‘ships biscuits’ (sailor food) RE branded them as ‘Did biscuits’… He advocates dogs should eat raw meaty bones, offal, and no carbs (my Labrador disagreed but looked great for her 18 years and was happy to walk miles right up to her last 6months.
In the UK vets nutritional training is very often ‘sponsored’ by pet food manufacturers leading to unbalanced advice to vets then to us. (if NICE can’t do good nutritional information for humans then the canines are probably out of luck with vet school.)
Blackspot.

I think you’re right, Marie! Most of us have had to count carbs ourselves, and arrive at a level that
works for us 🙂 The independent research that I’ve done on what constitutes a “low carb” diet seems
to cross reference at <50g per day on a variety of websites. Only the keto component, i.e., how to get
into guaranteed ketosis, uses <20g per day. Perhaps little reference to these facts has been left
out of MMosley’s books for a reason. It gives everyone the option to fashion the BSD to suit
themselves. Extended fasting isn’t specifically recommended either, but many have incorporated it into
their own programs, with great results! It’s all BSD principled though, whatever are individual goals
might be. Definitely true for maintenance, as well. By the process of trial and error, I know exactly
where my tipping point is, and as long as I stay below it, I can easily eat up to my TDEE with no
regain. That’s true freedom for me 🙂 🙂 🙂

No marie, Dr Mosley never mentioned a figure to aim for but to cut the starchy carbs. I think if you are worrying about the carbs in canned tomatoes you would be taking things a bit too seriously – 100g of canned tomatoes has 42 calories and 7g of carbs so you are not looking at big numbers. I still eat carrots and onions although some people say they are too high but Dr M has recipes that have beetroot in which I always think of as high but it has only 43 cals per 100g and 10g of carbs. I think portion size can be very important too. I hope you didn’t make the recipe with the chickpeas and the kidney beans, I think it is meant to be one or the other and in fact the kidney beans would be more calories at 330 per 100g and 60g of carbs. Wow.

Jason Fung has just posted to FB that green tea – just 1-2 cups a day cause significant weight loss, and fat loss around the waist as well as a significant reduction in the risk of stroke.
https://idmprogram.com/tea-and-diabetes/

Hi Allie
I know quite a few people have commented on the inaccuracies in the recipes in the original BSD book – don’t know about the recipe book. Haven’t read the book for a while but from memory I don’t think Michael Mosley really talked that much about very low carbs e.g. <20 g, did he ?

I’m confused by the recipe book, too 🙂 Going by a calorie count of 270, the portion size must be
a cup of beans, plus tomatoes? My chart indicates that 1 c. of garbanzo beans is 220 cal, 14g of
protein and 26g carbs. I suppose this might fit into <50g of carbs per day if you are doing a less strict
version of the BSD, but for those of us who are impatient to get where we want to go and are also
insulin resistant, this wouldn’t be a good option. The tomatoes would boost the carbs too, so maybe
30g in total? I used to love turkey chili with black beans, but at 12g carbs per 1/2c of beans, I gave
it up, until I was introduced to canned blacksoybeans to use as a substitute. At only 1g carb per 1/2 cup,
they absorb the flavors beautifully, and I can’t tell the difference 🙂

Half a tin of kidney beans – 120 calories and 21 carbs.

the 400 grams can of chickpeas is actually 200g of actual chickpeas so you would get 100g – but even that is 260 calories. I dont think the calories come in at much over 300 as there is hardly anything else in it – some mushrooms, half a carrot, canned tomatoes.

Oh I have had a bad few days after a very good start. Today is Day 14. But eagerly awaiting my second delivery of shakes to actually arrive. For me they worked well in the first week and the hiatus has caused this blip (excuse!). But I’m holding on to this horse with my finger tips and determined to get back on properly.
I felt so good, now I feel blobby! But all things can and may change!

😂😂

Allie, what do you mean ‘washing a piece of fruit before eating it’ ? Oh dear, my Mum always said I was a mucky pup!

I’ve got the book but haven’t used it because I don’t trust it. Look at the carbs, they’re horrendous.
Hello freezer?
Maggie🤨

Help, I am making the chickpea chilli in the BSD book page 104 for the second time. IT IS GORGEOUS but having logged the recipe into My Fitness Pal the calories per portion come to over 600 per person, not the 270 quoted. The volume of food is huge and I am wondering if the serving of 2 quoted should have been 4??? I genuinely couldn’t eat half of the quantity. If I cut it to 4 portions it comes out at around 310 calories which is more like it. Any comments welcome. Thank you!

LTC, re resistant starch: I have about 1/2 teaspoon of potato starch every night. I really think it is making a difference in terms of getting a good night’s sleep! It’s supposed to be very high in resistant starch, it’s just a bland white powder that can be added to any liquid, and it couldn’t be easier.
I have a filter on my water faucet and when I taste unfiltered water now, I really taste the chlorine.

BonChance , don’t feel bad. Your husband hasn’t appeared to have done much for your self esteem, and food can be such a comfort when we feel alone. But you can have the last laugh. You will lose weight on this diet , as many others have done . Buy the diet book and recipe book , there are lots of easy recipes on line here too. You can lose the weight you want to – my neighbour lost 7 stone on another plan , but I think this one is much easier. I recall from previous posts that people have successfully completed blocks of 8 weeks, I did it myself three times in my first year, now due to knee and mobility problems I need to lose another stone – but I know I will. Try and keep positive, I know it’s hard , research the recipes and posts on here – you will get there in the end! Good luck, and keep posting if you need advice or support . 🙂

Thanks Allie, yes I’m exploring far and wide now- and thanks for the tip on Josh Axe, his Eat Dirt has been downloaded. Our children were brought up with dogs cats and horses and certainly ate plenty of it! Their friends when they were over- quite apart from their crazy food preferences – were instructed by their parents to wash their hands every time they touched a four legged animal. These kids were not thrifty.
Oddly, I nearly always have bone broth (we call it stock) in the fridge but give it to the dogs! Since I discovered this WOE they’ve moved on to a diet without any refined carbs and I’m seeing a difference in elderly pug who’s quite arthritic. Last week I started her on turmeric capsules and I’m looking forward to elder daughter coming home in July (she’s a maitre’d on a cruise liner) to see if she notices the difference. Some frankincense arrived today so when I mix it with a carrier there’ll be some puggie massage 🐶
Lavender and rosemary for me which should make a relaxing sleeping environment.
I have been quite off salmon as the farmed stuff is so oily and unpleasant but I’ll make a point of trying some wild.
You’re amazing, you have such major concerns of your own and yet you have so much kindness to share with others.
Have a lovely day x
Maggie

Mrs. T, you are absolutely right. In short order measuring and counting will become second nature
to you, and you will do it automatically, like washing a piece of fruit before eating it!

Sunny, took your recommendation and bought some bottled water to rinse the grains. My guess is that the city water I have is probably too chlorinated for them and don’t want to risk it. The good news is the milk did not seem to have soured but discarded it anyway to be on safe side and rinsed grains and put them in fresh milk (smaller quantity). The grains looked like they plumped up considerably so my sense is that I am off to a good start. Thank you for all the expert advise.

Allie…will seek out the Bulgarian yogurt and give it a try.

On another note, have any of you tried the recommendations re the resistant starch?

I have been in maintenance mode now for about a month per my most recent bout of “whatever” (still think it is Lyme in spite of negative test….but don’t want to do the heavy antibiotics anyway so really is a moot point). Going to do a semi fast for about 5 days (300 calories a day….mostly kefir and salads) as a jump start to get me back in the groove. But would like to see how my blood sugar reacts to resistant starch down the road. My guess is that it might be ok for maintenance but not good for weight loss. Would be intereted to know if BSDers have any experience in that area. Very intregued about the green bananas and the cold potatoes/rice/pasta etc. The thought that vichyssoise could end up being a “heath food” is hilarious (cold potatoes and leeks supposed to be good for the gut bacteria). If it works, sign me up.

XXX LTC

Hi BonChance
I can’t add any more to what people have already posted, so just wanted to say welcome.
You won’t find anything but great advice, support and kindness on here. Something we all need at times.

Glad you’ve joined us.

Marie xx
btw, love the name

Thank you so much for the help, that’s made things a lot clearer for me! So much to think about with this food tracking… I guess it’ll become more routine as time goes on. Thanks again everyone x

By the way, Maggie…This is somewhat off topic, but I remember reading that hypertension was a
particular concern for you. You may have already done research on the correlation of omega 3
to omega 6 in protecting your heart. This subject is of major importance in my life, as I have
cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart) and my husband has advanced coronary artery disease. Western
diets are way too high in omega 6 fatty acids, and wild fish is the best source of omega 3, wild salmon
being the gold standard. Just a thought! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hi again – yes, if in the UK you just need to add up the number of carbs for each food/meal. If you don’t already use fatsecret.co.uk or MyFitnessPal you might find that really helpful – enter what you’ve eaten, it will work out total carbs, cals, protein etc for you. xx

Hi Mrs Thompson
I’ve only been on this way of eating for 6weeks but right from the outset I went low on carbs, around 20, because I’m just impatient and I want everything yesterday.
Some products seem to require an adjustment from the gross to net, but it’s the net figure you need.
Maggie

Hi Mrs Thompson
Some people keep to below 50g carbs, others below 20g carbs. Some start at 50g and move down if they find they are not losing so much. I went straight in at 20g carbs but that’s because I’m Type II Diabetic and I’d read here and elsewhere that would give me best results for my blood sugar levels etc

I’m sure other people will also be able to advise on what they did.

Btw, hope you start to feel more energetic soon. Like you, I couldn’t follow any way of eating that made me feel permanently tired. You won’t, I promise.

As far as my targets for this month, I’ve managed to do 12,400 steps so far today (even with a bit of a wild wind blowing) so happy with that.

Krysia – thanks for your kind words. Reaching maintenance I think I definitely hit a psychological bump in the road – but I definitely feel more back on track today. I’m just going to do what sunsine-girl advises us all to do – keep on keeping on.

Mrs T., I’m American, so our nutritional panels show total carbs, and we have to subtract the fiber
to arrive at “net carbs”. It is my understanding that in the UK this has already been done for you.
I’m hoping one of your countrymen will come along and confirm it for you 🙂

Carb flu, Yup that’s it. Bone weary, aching headache… Was awful by the end of yesterday and this morning, but getting better through the day.
Carbs. Less IS more!

Thanks Allie, the question was for anybody who had time to answer! When you’re counting carbs are you counting total carbs or net carbs? I’ve just been going on the values on the back of packets which I’m guessing is total carbs?
I’m feeling a bit better this evening! I had some really tasty fish and my favourite cheese so I’m feeling happier than I have done this week.

Hi Mrs Thompson! Not sure who this question is directed to, but I’ll respond with my own anecdotal
experience…I began at about 40g of net carbs. After 2 months I experienced a plateau that lasted
for 18 days where the scales didn’t move at all. I went back to the drawing board, researched keto
diets, and simply adopted the carb recommendations there, <20g per day. For the remainder of my
weight loss period I never experienced another plateau, and lost a dependable 3.5lbs a week until
I reached my target. It took 10 months, not really a lot of time, considering it too 17 years to put
on the weight. 🙂 I hope the carb flu symptoms are abating for you!

Allie

Can I ask…roughly how many carbs are you having a day? Do you remember when you first started this diet how many carbs you were having? Not sure what kind of level I should be aiming for…

Hi there, I dont know why there has been a change in your reaction to something that didn’t have an effect before but oats is very high in carbs and should be kept to 25g serving and only once or twice a week if you cant live without it. Sorry I cant help more.

If your tap water isn’t heavily chlorinated I guess you can rinse your grains in it, but to era on the side of caution I have always use bottled, even here in Turkey, where the water to our apartment is direction from a well under the building.

Keep us posted on your kefir LTC.

I would suggest you give the Skirlie a miss as it is very high in carbs with it being oatmeal.

Wow, she doesn’t pull her punches does she? So it’s a start of the whole way of eating going mainstream. Good news. Let’s see who picks it up over here.
Thanks for that Allie
Maggie

Hi disco, that depends on what you want to know. What do you want from the diet, are you diabetic (you dont have to be). How are you managing so far.

Luv, the difference between Bulgarian yogurt and the Greek is that the whey hasn’t been strained out.
Consequently, it’s much “soupier”, but contains extra vitamins and minerals, as well as a higher
number of active cultures. Flavor is tangier, too. I mix my breakfast portion about 1/2 and 1/2.
The recommendation came from Esnecca originally, but I can’t remember if it was on the forums
or in one of our lengthy phone conversations 🙂 Whole Foods carries the “Trimona” brand, which
is organic and grassfed. Nutritional breakdown for 1/2c serving is 4g protein, 70cal and 5g carbs.
I use Stonyfield fat free (I know, a travesty!) and 1/2c of it is 11g protein, 60cal and 4.5g carbs.
Let us know how your kefir production proceeds! Glad Sunny found you…I knew she would!

Hello from the west coast of the US, BonChance. I’m glad you’ve joined us. The amount of weight you want to lose is completely do-able — it seems an impossible number right now to you, but there are many here who have lost as much, or more. So don’t give that part of it another thought — it’s just a number, and as you move in that direction, you are going to discover a lot of other motivating and life-affirming aspects to this way of eating that are going to help sustain you on your journey.
I ‘m from a family with difficult relationships too. I understand how those get into your head and are not useful and quite damaging in our lives. But I think you already hit the nail on the head — you said they are “unhelpful thought patterns” and I totally agree with you.
For just a few months now, can you just stay out of your head and stay out of your old thought patterns as you embark on this BSD way of eating? It is going to be very important to think in a fresh and new way so you can start to change the old pattern.
This diet can set you free — but you will have to push out the old thoughts and focus on the new to make the switch to BSD-life. When you start obsessing about your dad and your husband and your awful “friend” who scanned you at the grocery store, it will be helpful to replace those thoughts with some new thought or activity — go for a walk, or knit or scrapbook, or call a supportive friend or volunteer somewhere or take a class — anything to stop the “tape” in your head.
I had to get my revengeful, churning thoughts under control too — I think Dr. Moseley knows this too when he recommends mindfulness. We get so “into” our own life story in our heads it distracts us from focusing on our eating and our happier selves.
And of course, you are getting a physical, dopamine rush from sugar and carbohydrates and that is a terrible feedback loop leading to more and more.
I always recommend getting a copy of Gary Taubes book, “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” — it was my perfect companion book to the BSD and it will change forever how you think about eating carbohydrates. Several of the most successful “losers” here agree it is very helpful.
There are so many resources for you — find a thread you like and join if you want to. If it gets to be too much to post, you can just read the threads and take away useful information.
BonChance, you are going to change your life — you are going to amaze yourself. And that creep at the store was a truly mean person — why didn’t he think to himself, wow here is this beautiful woman who gained all this weight, what has happened in her life that this was the outcome? He should have thought to himself, what can I do to help?

Well done CaravanSue, that is a great weight loss. I am stuck right now due to my lapses of the last couple of nights but back on a strict regime again. BG down to 4.3 so will be reducing insulin. Still hoping for 2 lbs loss this week.

Hi All! This article on the dangers of belly fat is trending today, from the New York Times. I hope
that you will be able to access it 🙂

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/well/live/belly-fat-health-visceral-fat-waist-cancer.html

Hi everyone, hissy fit over and back on the strict plan after a couple of nights on the wine. I am known to have predictive dreams but I put them down to just reflecting what is going on in life. So, I dream someone has died but in real life they have been seriously ill so not a surprise that they died – a bit extreme example but you get what I mean, I dont believe I am psychic. Two nights ago I was dreaming that my daughter was crying that the bailiffs were coming as she had a County Court Judgement for £4500. I wanted to help her and, as I can jump in and out of dreams, tried to go back to sleep and continue to sort out the problem. Then hubby said, are you ever getting up so I told him about the dream. Last night I was on messenger and asked daughter if she wanted to chat, she said no she was busy but to let me know she has a CCJ against her name. This was a total surprise so my dream was not about something I would ever expect to happen. Turns out she got a parking ticket a year ago which she never received as they sent it to her old address. With court costs etc it has risen to £450. Dont know why I am tell you that but how spooky. My daughter has always said I was a witch in a previous life.

Dont know if you are interested V but there is a course starting with FutureLearn on 2nd July called Food as Medicine. Thought I might dip in a see what it is about.

Back to the diet. Obviously no loss over the last 2 days but no damage done. BG has dropped to 4.3 so time to reduce insulin again. Have a good day everyone.