Blood sugar diet thread 8

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Thread 8 for the blood sugar dieters

I've started reading the book, not read all of it yet, so this might be covered in there:

How do you combine eating with exercise?

Looking at my eating schedule above, is it ok to exercise whilst fasting, for example go for a run at 7 am even though I won't eat until 11am?

Is it ok to exercise after dinner, and then not eat until 11am the next day?

Hi everyone, may I join you? I bought the book months ago and it has basically been used as a coaster ever since

I've lost 56lbs in the last year through VLCD and then Slimming World but I have 30-40lbs still to lose and I'm sick of fannying around with it. We're going back to New York in March and I'd love to go away feeling fitter and healthier instead of huffing and puffing around the city.

I am your typical apple shape so even though I'm now wearing mostly size 12 clothes, I have a LOT of fat stored around my middle and it feels very unhealthy, not to mention how bad it looks

Hi tsunami, welcome. I am not really sure about the exercise to be honest- I suppose it will be trial and error to see what works for you, and depends on how vigorous your workout is? Your meals sound good, and again the 200 cals extra to play with would be a case of trial and error. I personally would struggle with only 200 cals at lunch- I tend to split the day 50/50 and have something small but high calorie for lunch (avocado, cheese etc), for dinner I use the bulk of my calories on meat, and have quite a lot of veg. For me, a 4pm snack is a bad idea because I seem to not be able to stop. That being said I have just had a piece of cheese! Other factors affect how you plan the diet too- for example, are you T2 diabetic, is this just for weightloss, and do you have much to lose? The book does promote a 3 small meals philosophy, but I found I was overeating by a bit at every meal (times 3) so cut down to two meals. I never thought I could do without breakfast but now after doing this 18 months I rarely even think about it.

I've had a really good, back to basics day 1 today. Avocado and ham for lunch, just had an apple and a piece of cheese, and tonight we're having chicken in mustard and cream sauce with broccoli. I'm absolutely freezing and keep needing a wee, so that's a sure sign I'm on the right track! Just by drinking water consciously it makes me realise how little I've been drinking these last few weeks. I didn't dare weigh myself this morning, but I might do tomorrow just to see where I'm starting from, and set myself a mini target for the next few weeks.,

And welcome amused, we X posted!

I did a craft fair yesterday and my stall was set up next to the local slimming world team- and do you know? Of all the people in the hall, they were the ones who did not stop eating. One Woman ate 3 apples, and the other had a big 2 litre bottle of lucozade zero which she drank throughout. One brought a huge Tupperware of couscous. It made me think how much I ate on slimming world, and that constant topping up of food, mustn't be hungry mentality. They gave me a magazine and while some of the recipes look nice, it is all about how much, eat loads, pile high.... This plan is the opposite of that. Nutrient and calorie dense food. It can take a bit of getting used to, and those hunger pangs can be quite overwhelming can't they? I have realised today that I haven't been hungry for weeks, because I've been eating far too much.

Thank you thenewaveragebear1983! Wow, 18 months....that's some good going! Do you mind me asking how much you've lost in that time? (If that is the reason you're doing this.)

I've been feeling very hungry this afternoon so had a tin of tuna. It made me feel better. So far today I've had just under 400 kcal.

The scales this morning weren't a pretty sight, for the first time in my life I'm over 15 stone! Almost made me cry. Want to get down to 12 stone (I'm quite tall), ideally by end of February but I do realise that's a bit hopeful.

thenewaveragebear1983

I totally agree. I've actually stopped staying to the meeting after being weighed because it's almost a competition to see who can eat the most. Also, that competitive focus on losing as much weight as possible every single week is very damaging psychologically.

I really have no issue with SW and the plan - it works for millions. However, I personally don't enjoy eating so little fat and so much sweetener/carbs. I've been tracking my daily intake and I'm eating roughly 200g of carbs a day, which actually adds up a lot more quickly than you'd think due to the sheer amount of fruit and veg the plan encourages!

I've low carbed before and loved the lack of hunger and not feeling bloated around my middle. I think this time around I will do 16:8 as a way to naturally control calories, then split them equally between lunch and dinner. I also go to the gym three times a week, which will not change.

Tsunami

I'm 12st 7 and want to be 9st 7 by the middle of March so maybe we're both being a bit hopeful

Tsunami I started in March 2016 and I was 13.13, I just decided one day that I was going to do it. I lost 21lb in the 8 weeks, and then another 8 or 9 I guess in maintenance, the lowest I got to was 11.9. The first 8 weeks were life changing for me- I was entirely sugar free and zero alcohol for the whole time, which I struggle with now. And then it all went horribly wrong, and I have done multiple restarts and currently weigh about 11.13/ 12.2 depending on TOTM! I've managed to maintain at this Weight for several months, which would be brilliant if that's where I wanted to be!! I'd love to lose another stone, but my body fights to stay at this weight I think. I've made some permanent lifestyle changes now though that I rarely if ever go back on, which I think contributes to the maintenance even when in my mind I'm 'off plan'- such as: I never eat pasta or rice, rarely eat bread or potato; I have full fat Greek yogurt only rather than fruit/flavoured ones; I never eat breakfast cereals. I've not managed to cut sugar out completely but I do eat much less than I used to. I can't see me ever changing those fundamental principles because my tastes have actually changed.

I need to do more exercise, drink less wine, get more sleep, and my single worst habit is self sabotage which means if I cave in and have one treat, I will just go mad. Sometimes I can remind myself of this and not have them, but often I do, and that's why I'm still here after 18 months! I still have an incredibly sweet tooth, and that never went even when I was entirely sugar free for 8 months.

Amused sorry, I didn't realise you were still at SW! I continued for a few months to use up a countdown and by the end of it I felt so detached from the meetings as I didn't really believe their philosophy anymore. I was slimmer of the week about 6 times in those 10 weeks though, I felt like such a fraud!! I just needed the weigh in and the praise, silly as that sounds. Their SP plan is the closest you can get to this really if you do want to follow it, and if you use FF dairy in place of free dairy, and use your syns on fat rather than 'treats'. Watch out for too much fruit, that really plays havoc with my sugars and my cravings for more sugar.

Sorry in my previous post it should say 'entirely sugar free for 8 weeks' !!!

thenewaveragebear1983

I won't be continuing with SW, or perhaps I'll go just to get weighed while doing the BSD. I had a look at SP but it's really not low carb at all because you can still use your syns for rubbish and you get TWO servings of refined carbs a day instead of one

The plan isn't really how I enjoy eating, it actually feels like the least healthy "healthy eating" plan out there! Sooo many carbs, so much sweetener and sugar and people are encouraged to eat entire cakes made from weetabix and a muller light

Yeah I found that amused, I never had the b choices and had 2 a's instead but it isn't sustainable long term. It's a waste of a fiver a week really. When I said I was using syns to have things like avocado, extra cheese, fat on bacon etc you'd have thought I'd said I'd been out murdering kittens, the consultants face was a picture! However, I had done sw for a very long time and I think I needed to leave on my terms, when I was ready, rather than just stop. And it was nice getting weighed and finally being the one who was having the great losses week after week!

My dinner tonight: mustard chicken and cabbage, and cherries and raspberries with a spoonful of cream. It was nice, but I didn't cook the mustard out for long enough so it was a little bit sharp.

I started reading the book yesterday, and am planning to start on it as soon as possible (after I've finished the entire book, which is also recommended in the book). Counting on you all to be my support team!

Welcome hevonbu, we're a very supportive bunch on here so any questions do ask!
It's nice to see some new 'faces' joining us recently, for a while it's just been me, place and oblomov rattling around eating hobnobs- feel like we should be role models now!

Today has been not as I’d planned. Vilely busy at work and I felt hungry. Normally my motivation and excitement about starting again keeps me in a buoyant mood where I ignore greedy hunger but sadly not today. It wasn’t awful but I’ve had lots of wine and crackers right at the end of a knackering day. After my ‘on plan’ dinner I might add. Hmm. 1300 calories, 120g carbs. Bollox, that’s terrible!🤭
But I’ve now sat down and caught up with all the above thread and feel less bummed out.
Such interesting parallels- I too crash out massively. Not just succumbing to crap food but also stop taking vitamins, stop exercising, start opening wine much too early in the day. It’s beyond sabotage, it becomes punishment. I do it fully aware. Oh the mad psychology of eating.
So perhaps I need to re read the book (for the 3rd time) and remind myself of the health benefits, the science, the body chemistry stuff. And like you all, I’ve spent a good few hours over the past years in church halls listening to the SW nonsense. Mugshot pasta gloop for lunch every day. At least that shits behind me!
It’s lovely to have so many new folk on the thread, I’m joining you. So yes, Bear, Oblov And Place - you are the guides!
Tomorrow.... I start again!

Thanks Aplace for eating window info. That sounds interesting though - almost like you’re having two fasting periods which means your blood sugar and insulin have a time to clear right out of your system twice in a 24 hour period. And I’m sure I read something about the difference between fasting when asleep and fasting when awake. Your metabolism responds in some way as the body is resting yet cell repairing over night but during day everything is on the go and doing that awake stuff in a fasted state means everything is different than when you’re asleep. I’ll try and find my source as my gabbling explanation is of not much use!
But whatever - changing the pattern has helped you. I’ll remember that. Ta

I'm glad you crossed out the word -hobnobs- I try to avoid thinking about such things. Am still working on getting through the book (first read) so I'm not strictly on the program yet. For breakfast I have switched from cereal and milk to an omelette with one egg, salad, tomatoes, olives, bell pepper and a tiny slice of ham.

Ok, braved the scales after my few weeks off plan and it was actually down to 11.12.2. So not too terrible after all. There's no rhyme or reason to that as I don't deserve it one jot, but I'm going to take it.

Today's menu: some sort of frittata or quiche for lunch, and Jamie's teriyaki pork for dinner (it does have a small amount of honey in it so not technically allowed, but I bought the ingredients so need to use them!)

Okay, here we go for day one! I'll try my best to push to 12pm for my first food but will drink plenty of water until then. I did three months on VLCD meal replacements so this isn't totally foreign to me.

Oh I forgot to say: I weighed in this morning at 12st 7 on the nose.

I like to weigh myself "officially" on a Saturday morning so my first weigh in will be then - even a couple of lbs off in that time would be welcome! We're off to Paris for a couple of days next weekend so this probably wasn't the best time to start the BSD but frankly, I'd rather do what I can in and around the Christmas period than do my usual of rolling into the New Year 7lbs heavier!

If I feel okay after December and the stop-starting that comes with it, I plan to continue as long as I can so I'm not setting out to only do eight weeks.

Had such a good first day yesterday, I stuck to my meal plan and it was yummy! I then took a HIIT class and later on in the evening DP convinced me to go for a 40 minute walk with him.

I'm finding that drinking lots of water, green tea and coffee really helps.

On my way to a conference in London this morning which means that even if I want to eat, I won't be able to until 1pm. I'm hoping to find something suitable to eat then, I think M&S normally do quite good salads.

Hope you all have a great day!

Sorry, me again

I'm a very visual person so I've drawn up a grid with 110 boxes to represent the 110 days until I go on my big holiday next year.

I've added in our Paris break and the Christmas social events coming up and there are only 7 days out of a possible 110 where I won't be on plan. I feel much better seeing it laid out like that because I was starting to worry that December was going to scupper everything but I still have 103 days to make a serious difference to my body.

Place marking. Didn’t realise I hadn’t been on for so long.

This is my danger zone. I'm hungry, the dc are playing angelically arguing over Lego and it's still 90 mins til a reasonable teatime. I've had a few cashews and a few spoons of Greek yoghurt to keep me going.

Hi oblomov, how have you been doing?

Amused I did the same for November/December up til Jan 2nd. It helps me see that even though it feels like we've got a lot on, not much of it is actually food based and if it is, it's only one meal. It's easy to feel overwhelmed and I for one can't function if I've got all the calendar whirling round in my head. Even though we have an actual calendar, it helps me to see several weeks at a glance.