Michael Mosley - Blood sugar diet

[Yddraigoldragon]

Just wondering if anyone has tried this and how it went? I am about ten days in and coping well so far.

I have been low carbing for years on and off, and on 5:2 since Sept which seems to make the fasting easier.

Well done chaps! Really impressed with everyone's weight loss and attitude!

Feeling a bit hungry this afternoon but managed lunch at my parents - they eat incredibly healthily so that made it much easier. Just had a big handful of salad leaves, four cherry tomatoes and half a tin of tuna. I did have half a tablespoon of mayonnaise but it tasted strangely sweet. I felt really satisfied though. I think they were surprised at my willpower but also they have seen it all before...

I normally give up the internet for lent every year but will be making an exception for this thread as I am finding it very helpful.

In other news I just bought a spiraliser! How did I get to the age of forty without experiencing the joy of spiralising a courgette? Can't wait for supper now.

Easily I haven't really been hungry but did feel a bit odd and light/fuzzy headed this morning. I was beginning to wonder if I should move to 5:2 with 800 cals for the two fast days but I decided to try to give it a bit longer and I'm feeling ok now. I managed my swim this morning which is really the only exercise I can do at the moment. Even if I can do a week or two and move to 5:2 it would be a help. One day at a time!

I've just ordered a spiraliser!
I like courgettes so I think I'll find courgetti a good replacement for pasta and rice.
I'm doing roasted cauliflower as a side dish for the first time ever. I hope it's nice. I'm having it with some bolognaise.

Haven't checked in for a couple of days.
Thank you to BigChoc and Laska for answering my questions.

I just had courgetti bol for supper. Amazing. Leftover Bolognese from yesterday and I blanched the courgetti with a kettle full of water. Absolutely stuffed now.

Bit worried about a couple of things:

Firstly I am going to see my brother and his family on friday. I am taking soup etc for everyone's lunch but will be having supper there too. Also 2hrs plus in the car each way. They don't eat added sugar too so that part is ok. They generally eat really well but I need to come up with some way to help them feed all of us that I can have some. But DBro is vegetarian too. He won't mind any faffing around on my part but I feel uninspired...

Second problem:
I go back to work on Monday. Currently I am eating at 10am, 1-2pm and 5-6pm. I will have the opportunity to eat before 7.30am, 10.30am, 12pm and any time after 3.45 Mon, Thurs and Fri and after 4.30 Tue and Wed. I am panicking because I am so very scared of getting hungry. I know if I push it too far I'll end up being very weak willed. I have access to fridge, kettle and microwave at work and can also have salad bar in emergencies. The down side is that I also have access to school dinners, chocolate and biscuits.

Sorry to be so needy but if anyone has suggestions I'd love some input.

I would take calorie counted soup to work in a flask and have a cup whenever you can. Did this for years and it was lovely in the winter.

Given that we are all chopping veg like mad at the mo, is anyone interested in a chopper machine? I picked up a version of the jml nicer dicer today in my local What! store, for £2.99. It looks identical to the proper expensive one, has a decent peeler, mandolin and various chopping bits. Worth it for soup making when you have a pile of stuff to get through. Not sure if the store is nationwide but worth a nosey if you have one close.

I might well give the soup idea a try - the problem is that the times above are the only times I can eat or drink anything other than water. Maybe if I have breakfast (currently having a pot of yeo valley natural yog with chopped apple and frozen berries so easily portable) at 10.30am and then have a mug of soup at the beginning and end of my lunch break and then one in the car on the way home I can sort of spread my lunchtime calories out. I could also freeze it in flask sized portions. Now to calorie count all my fave soup recipes!

I had a Chinese meal out last night: salt and chilli tofu and salt and chilli squid, no rice, 2 glasses of dry white wine.
Today I had
youghurt, blueberries, raspberries.
2 handfuls pine nuts, 2 squares chocolate.
Courgette I peeled myself, with meatballs in tomato sauce.
Pancake with a tiny smidgen of Nutella.

I need to get back to basics.

wheres are you cooking for your brothers family? DR M has a vegetable and chickpea frittata in his BSD book, that I though looked good . also ahow about this Ottelenghi recipe Roast cauliflower and chickpeas with warm tahini yoghurt (at the end of thus article.. Im definately going to make this!

I have also very successfully substitued courgette for potato in a spanish tortilla here is a recipe some goats cheese in this would be good also ..

wheres do you have myfitnesspal app on your phone, wouldnt be precise but you could look up whatever your brother makes to get an idea of the calories and work out what and how much to have.

I am struggling at the moment obs and my weight hasn't gone down in a week so I need to get back to basics too. I am going over 800 on my calories most days but my calories are still very low and I am eating healthily so it's a bit of a bummer.

Those recipe suggestions sound good Laska and I have lots of tins of chickpeas to use up!

I have a julienne peeler rather than a spiralizer..it does pretty much the same and can be stored in the cutlery drawer .. also at £3.99 its lots cheaper than a sprializer!

So today I was ever-so-slightly dissapointed not to lose any more weight (What am I like? I know it cant carry on as a lb a day , but hell, its a good feeling losing so fast)..

I'm blaming evil Jillian! Actually Im not shredding to day as legs and arms really sore ( as I found when I was doing my fast walk and stair climbing today) , but have done about 14000 steps today 6 miles and 41 'floors' despite being at work all day so am feeling ok.. I will shred again tomorrow..

Ive chosen a bad week to start expecting to do this regularily as have DGS (3) all weekend and then am away sunday/monday. But I will do tomorrow and thursday (if legs allow) and try and fit in as much as I can in the way of short bursts of Jillian-like exercise over the weekend.. (its got to be bettter than nowt..) and il be running around a lot anyway with a toddler..

760 cals today, .eggs, soup and then I had a nice made-up dinner again , chicken breast in dijon mustard sauce with spring greens ( lots of spring greens , I love them!)

Easily Some people seriously overeat due to emotional / psychological problems.
However, many do so because of hormonal imbalance - especially insulin, leptin, ghrelin - which buffered fasting (daily 800 low carb cals) can correct.

Body fat is not an inert mass: research has shown it secrets hormones which affect blood sugar & appetite, also up to 80 different proteins, e.g. Article
So, as you reduce this fat, you can significantly improve health and mood.

Useful diagram here to explain interaction of hormones and how imbalance can lead to obesity:

eva You can try having one day per week allowing yourself larger portions of the low carb Med food, then add another day if you wish.
So, you gradually ease into 5:2 BSD rather than a sharp change where you might get a bit lost.

Wheresthat From the book, the 800 cals should ideally be in 3 meals, without snacks.
I recommend a protein breakfast before 7:30 - boil eggs the night before if necessary
Pack a salad with protein and beans for 12 pm lunch
Then eat supper when you get home - again you can batch cook so you just have to nuke portions from the freezer.

Stop being afraid of hunger between meals:
. Many folk on classic 5:2 just have their 500 cals as their only meal in the evening, which maximises fat-burning
. Also, 3 decent meals are much more filling than snacking / several tiny meals

BigChocFrenzy thank you, I think that's what I will do if I run into problems. I'm not hungry at the moment and don't miss carbs at all. I was just worried by the light headed tingling feeling this morning and was a bit worried going swimming with it however I suffer from anxiety normally and I don't know that lack of calories had anything to do with it. I'm certainly fine now.

Anyone got any thoughts about the Insulin Index and it's possible relevance here? As far as I can understand it, and I may well have got it wrong, there are foods such as proteins and dairy produce which do not have much effect on blood sugar, but DO still cause an insulin response which can be measured several hours after eating.
Forgotten the details of this bit, but I think it is not measured in the blood but in other tissues.

Hello!

New here, have managed two whole days after trying a couple of weeks ago and finding my mood sunk within days. However am two days in now and feel fine.

Have read the Mail info and bought the book. But know the gist so have started.

I am not prediabetic but like a few on here I am overweight that I carry round my tummy and am quite addicted to sugar! Although I have been trying to reduce sugar intake over last few months.

I really want to stick it out for the 8 weeks - I keep telling myself it is only a short time before I could go on the 5:2 so it will be worth it.

Loving reading everyone's stories and info on here. Did a recipe thread get started?

Well done everyone. Lots of success stories.
Welcome to the newbies.

BorderCollie Insulin Index:
It was proposed in a paper "An insulin index of foods: the insulin demand generated by 1000-kJ portions of common foods," Am J Clin Nutr 1997 66: 5 1264-76.
However, there hasn't been much work since on how it could be helpful or used. Doesn't seem commonly used by doctors or in diabetes care.

The insulin index of a food represents how much it increases insulin in the blood during the two hour period after eating. In contrast, the Glycemic Index measures blood glucose levels.
High protein foods were found to have a high insulin index, although they have near-zero GI.

I could be wrong, but I think it's only something that might affect people who take insulin.
Those with T1 seem to benefit from low carb, but need to work with their doctors to adjust insulin dose, because higher fat can increase their insulin requirements, e.g.
Am Diabetes Assoc

For the rest of us, low carb is quite straightforward:

As carb intake falls below a certain daily level, usually about 100g, the liver will start generating the glucose necessary for brain function etc from glycerol in lipids (fats) and amino acids in proteins.
This process is called gluconeogenesis

I don't know why but I haven't been able to stop eating today!
I'm going to list everything I've eaten today so hopefully I'll see how much it is and put a stop to it.

Yoghurt, 2 spoons of no added sugar alpen (my regular breakfast)
Blueberries
Cheese
2 rice cakes
A whole can of chickpeas made with onion, garlic, chilli, tomato, mushrooms and coriander.
Packet of sun bites

Not great but at least I've not succumbed to the fresh white bread I bought for the kids!

No more food now til dinner (courgettes and prawns)
I shall just sip green tea all afternoon.

Oh and 8 almonds!

I am struggling at the minute. Have hidden myself upstairs but will need to cook for the dc in a bit. 315 calories left - had two sensible meals at 10am and 1pm but am soooooooo tired right now and very very hungry.

Maybe there's something in the air!

Maybe. Dh, who's doing this too, said he feels unstaisfied with his food. He doesn't know quite why as he's been enjoying it and hasn't been overly hungry. He ate a kitkat.

That was me yesterday and I actually lost a tiny bit of weight this morning compared to days where I have been a paragon I only have about 300 left today but on that Dr Mowsley Trust me I'm a doctor programme they said it is better from a weight loss/blood sugar point of view to follow the adage 'breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper' so lets pretend we are all doing it deliberately!