Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Fasting / 5:2 diet

Talk about intermittent fasting and 5:2, including what’s worked for others. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

blood sugar diet thread 5

999 replies

yumyumpoppycat · 15/10/2016 17:12

Continuing thread for Blood Sugar Dieters:
Phase 1 lasts 2 - 8 weeks and involves restricting calories to 800 a day. Eating healthy fats is encouraged as is limiting carby foods (no specific guideline on this but some people aim for under 50g), small amounts of complex carbs are allowed but should be balanced ideally with green veg, protein and fat to lower the glycemic load and reduce the effect on blood sugar.

Tips
You may get headaches at first so drink lots of water, possibly try mixing a teaspoon of marmite into boiled water and having that to replenish salts etc
Exercise: aim for 10,000 steps a day and ideally consider adding in resistance training and some HIIT workouts.
Fasting some people find it helpful to have an eating window e.g 14:10 – 14 hours fasting and 10 hours to fit in the 800 cals. Avoid snacking and grazing - split your calories into 2 or 3 meals for potentially better weightloss.
Use the menu plans in the book or plan ahead on My fitness pal app

Foods to avoid
Sugar, sweets, milk chocolate, biscuits, cake
White bread, pasta, rice, chips etc
Processed Junky food with added sugar
Alcohol, fizzy drinks, juice etc
Diet foods, artificially low fat foods
High sugar fruit

Foods to eat
Full fat Natural/ Greek yoghurt
Fish in particular oily fish, Meat, eggs, nuts seeds
Non starchy veg, cauliflower, leafy greens, avocados, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli etc
Olive oil, coconut oil, rapseed oil

Berries and low sugar fruit (2 portions or less)
Lentils, beans etc

Foods to include in small amounts and be careful of
Full fat dairy is fine but some people do better with less of this
Starch veg such as sweet potatoes and squash
Wholegrains (quinoa, buckwheat etc) limit to 2 tablespoons
Low carb crackers and breads made with coconut flour, almond flour etc

Phase 2/ 3
for more sustainable continued weight loss and then maintenance add in some days with higher calories but still lower carbs, and have 2 – 5 days at 800 calories. Continue to avoid processed simple carbs like white bread, chocolate etc but possibly add in small amounts of dark chocolate and red wine or less sugary alcohol if you wish to.

Useful links:
My fitness pal
[[https://www.amazon.co.uk/8-Week-Blood-Sugar-Diet-Recipe/dp/1780722931/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476547726&sr=1-1&keywords=blood+sugar+diet Bloodsugar diet recipe book
BigChocs Fasting exercise thread]]

For full recommendations and lists of those who should avoid this diet please see the BSD forum

OP posts:
Thread gallery
40
dogdaydisaster · 28/02/2017 13:36

Hi all. Week 4 started yesterday and I think in real terms I lost a pound. I actually lost more but was battling the previous weekends gain. Finished the weekend just gone 3lb up but that's gone now, so I really want to move another few pounds this week to get a bit of momentum going. Weekends are hard!

Elvish · 28/02/2017 16:07

Hi everyone, I need some support starting BSD again!

I did about 3-4 months last year and lost over 2 stone, going from a 16/18 dress size to a 12. But Christmas happened, lots of wine and sugar and I can feel my clothes getting tight, so I need to get back to it.

Last time I think the food was the easiest part for me, 800 a day was ok with planning, but I do like a glass of wine and then the sweet tooth comes out and it all goes horribly wrong.

DH has committed to a Dry March (in the house at least!) so a lot of temptation will be removed. I'm going to plan out my meals and try to get my head in the right place.

Someone was asking about quick/easy recipes I think? I took raw courgetti to work a few weeks ago to microwave, I put some philadelphia in and a chopped up slice of ham in the tupperware and just microwaved the whole lot for 3 mins - quick easy and tasty (just needed some black pepper). Anyone else got a quick hot meal for work lunches?

thenewaveragebear1983 · 28/02/2017 16:08

I quite like stevia and do use it in my coffee, although I have switched frpm from two spoons/tabs to one. It's like any sweetener really, it's pretty horrible tasting in large quantities. I'll be having a sprinkle on my pancake tonight!

Been an odd day for me. We've got builders in, plus the weather is awful so I traipsed off to a local shopping centre to have a mooch in the dry. So my food today has been: a full fat latte, a chicken Caesar salad from waitrose and a few of ds's root veg crisps. A bit carby to be honest, but I think probably within calories. I'm having soup and a pancake for tea tonight so that will probably tip me over but I know I'll want one so will let myself rather than pretend I'm not going to have one then eat the kids manky leftovers!

APlaceOnTheCouch · 28/02/2017 17:08

My food has been random today too. I got caught up in a meeting so ended up grabbing a packet of crisps at school pick-up at 3pm. Then I came home and ate lots of roast beef straight from the fridge. Not ideal because I am still starving and now have a migraine threatening probably partly caused by lack of food this morning. So I'm now eating to stave off the migraine . . .and there are pancakes. Today may have to be written off tbh.

FirstSeemItThenBeIt · 28/02/2017 18:23

Hummus question: can it be frozen? The recipe makes shitloads and it says can only be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. There's three weeks' worth!

ButtonBoo · 28/02/2017 19:51

Right...this is it. This is the heaviest I am ever going to be. Tomorrow it starts.

I've made my breakfast and lunch ready for work tomorrow. Its measly. Yoghurt and stewed rhubarb for breakfast. Salad, chunk of feta and a handful of olives for lunch. Please tell me I'm not going to starve and be miserable...

Scandicat · 28/02/2017 19:55

Stevia on pancake was ok. At the time it tasted good but it left a bit of an aftertaste. I only had 1 pancake which worked out at 110 calories and 10 g of carbs. Seems a lot, doesn't it.

I've also had weird food today now. Flapjack and Greek yogurt for lunch then chicken soup, 1 pancake and a babybel cheese. Definitely don't feel satisfied tonight.

APlaceOnTheCouch · 28/02/2017 20:27

ButtonBoo could you swap in more protein? It helps to keep the hunger pangs at bay. tbh the first two days can be difficult but then you quickly realise how much 'real' food you can fit in 800 cals.
Scandicat that's the problem with random eating, isn't it? It isn't as satisfying as properly planned meals. I've ended the day with chinese chicken followed by a blueberry pancake with double cream. Cals are over 1000 today and carbs are over 70g but I was under on both on Sunday so I'm hoping it balances out over the week.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 28/02/2017 21:18

Welcome button. I agree to add in more protein- the lactose in milk/yoghurt play havoc with my appetite if I have too much. Maybe some boiled eggs in your salad?

It's strange isn' it- today I've been spot on with calories (832) but way over on carbs (70g). The balance is wrong and tonight I feel distracted and unsatisfied, whereas last night I didn't feel full as such but felt satisfied. I didn't have the wanting feeling. That must be purely down to having a higher amount of carbs.

My pancake was lovely, but I agree, not really worth it!!

Tomorrow I'm having a lunch/dinner combination - halloumi salad for lunch and hopefully fish 'pie'for dinner.

Last night I did some baked sprouts- sounds horrible but it was sooooo tasty. Just chop up some sprouts, bake for about 20 mins until they brown, then add a mixture of: yogurt, egg, grated cheese and I also added some of those pre cooked crispy bacon bits. I added some sliced cabbage too, mix it all together, add salt and pepper and grated nutmeg, and bake it when until it goes Brown and crispy on top. It was delicious, and would make a good accompaniment to a roast meat dinner.

APlaceOnTheCouch · 28/02/2017 21:34

I love sprouts and that recipe sounds amazing bear.

ButtonBoo · 01/03/2017 06:33

I've got ricotta chicken for dinner. And TWO anchovies in my lunch. Whoopee! Unfortunately I don't eat eggs so that's a no go for me. Will see how today goes.

And yes, for the first time ever, I might be tempted by sprouts!

Scandicat · 01/03/2017 07:10

No planned meals today, which is really bad. Have a busy day though so no time to eat anyway! I do have lots of portions of meals frozen - one of those for dinner. Still not got back to the weight I was on Sunday morning. Can't believe it can take 4 days to offset one bad one.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 01/03/2017 08:07

Scandi I don't know the exact science, but isn't there some understanding that in order to digest carbs/glycogen the body holds onto a few pounds of water? Which is why we get the woosh of water loss when switching to this plan. That may be part of your gain, but should go just as quickly!

I've had two reasonable days in plan, and this morning I've weighed in at 12.5.7 so down 3.5lb! That's a nice boost.

Dh and I keep discussing our 'dry march' plans. He reckons it's not necessary, but i really do as i know it messes up my will power and I regain half what I've lost during the week. So I might be going it alone..... I might ban him from buying wine though and insist he has beer instead so I'm not so tempted.

APlaceOnTheCouch · 01/03/2017 08:26

scandi I find where I am in my cycle seems to impact on how quickly or slowly I can lose a bad day. Although maybe you're losing inches instead of weight atm too
I haven't pre-made anything but will probably have salad or fish cakes for lunch. Then chicken and red pepper curry for dinner. I need to go back through my food diaries and see what else I used to make. I feel like I'm slipping into making the same four or five meals over and over again.

dogdaydisaster · 01/03/2017 08:57

I'm slightly stuck at the same weight, but I've been properly on plan for past three days. Think time of month isn't helping so I'll just keep on and hope to see a drop in a day or two. No food plans today. I have some almonds in my bag and a baby bel which I can have later, but I'm out in town so have plenty of access to M&S etc between meetings.

Justonemorecupoftea · 01/03/2017 09:30

New starter here, hi! I'm very fat and T2 diabetes is in the family so I want to avoid it. No blood sugar problems at the moment but I feel it's time to get real. Day 3 today and I woke up feeling good even though I was hungry going to bed so I'm sticking to BSD rather than 5:2. That's all really, I just wanted to check in Smile

APlaceOnTheCouch · 01/03/2017 10:40

Welcome Justone ! I found Day 3 was when it became easier for some reason. Checking in on this thread definitely keeps me motivated. I started last April and would definitely have fallen off BSD if it wasn't for the support from the fabulous posters on here.

dogdaydisaster · 01/03/2017 10:52

Welcome Justone and other new starters. Justone, your description of yourself could have been me talking 😀

Tricky moment. Am in a school for a meeting and one of the children handed me a plate loaded with brownies that they had been makingConfused and stood there expectantly. Luckily they were cut into tiny cubes so I got away with about a supermarket mini bite size. Now craving sugar so will eat my almonds/cheese and hope that gets rid of it.

IWillGoToTheBall · 01/03/2017 16:12

Day one here. I am a self confessed greedy guts so am not worried about the quantity for the first couple of days while I remove the sugar/carbs....... am then hoping that "it" will click and I will scale down the calories. Is this a really crap idea?

Scandicat · 01/03/2017 16:19

Hello Ball. It's not a crap idea. The best thing is definitely to find something that works for you and is sustainable. No point trying to do 800 and quitting on day 1. You might not see such a dramatic early loss though.

I'm having a really tough afternoon. My head knows the urge is comfort eating but it's so hard.

APlaceOnTheCouch · 01/03/2017 16:37

scandi could you comfort eat something BSD-friendly instead? My go-to comfort eating BSD foods are cheesy,creamy garlic mushrooms or mashed cauliflower with cream and cheese.
I'm currently snacking on sugarsnap peas with salt and pepper, and trying to convince myself it's just like crisps Wink

Justonemorecupoftea · 01/03/2017 17:27

Thank you for the welcome Smile I must admit to lurking while I stop faffing and get on with it. The tips and encouragement is what I need so I will be reading regularly.
My biggest hurdle will be booze at the weekend Gin I love gin and wine so am dreading Friday Blush

thenewaveragebear1983 · 01/03/2017 17:43

I will I do that sometimes to ease myself back in, and just stick to the BSD principles but not calorie count.

I've just had a very unhealthy healthy tea (if that makes sense??) 2 heck chicken sausages, a fried egg, and a grilled mushroom. Lovely!

ButtonBoo · 01/03/2017 18:32

Survived day one so far! And I wasn't hungry. My lunch was a tad random. But edible. Am waiting for my ricotta stuffed chicken breast to come out of the oven now. Mmmm.

Scandicat · 01/03/2017 18:34

I survived. It was boredom today, and I had a very small cup of coffee and then just waited it out. Once I started cooking tea, it was ok. Just had a bit of a disaster though. Didn't fancy the chicken korma I'd planned, so decided to cook something else. Looked through the book, decided on a lentil recipe but when I worked out the calories it was 550 instead of the 300ish it said in the book. Angry Decided to cook lentil and bacon soup instead and found a recipe that looked good. About 350 cals. But after I'd made it and was waiting for it to cook, I discovered it is really high in carbs and I'd have been over my limit by quite a way. So I've left that for another day and I cooked the korma after all Grin. Almost ready and smells good. Shame I don't have any broccoli rice to go with it.