Blood sugar diet thread 8

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Thread 8 for the blood sugar dieters

i'm craving chips too, normally i'd crave sweet things. Amazing how quickly your taste buds can adapt.

Starting today!
Have done LCHF before but didn't really lose weight, ate too many calories!

The problem with juices, even vegetable juices, on this plan is that they are relatively high carb, and more importantly, those carbs become higher GI through the blending process as the fibre that makes then slower to digest gets pulverised (and sometimes even removed entirely if you use a juicer not a blender). So a plateful of veg is going to have the same calories as its juiced/blended equivalent, but will raise your blood sugars more as the fibre is less effective at slowing down absorption. Juiced fruit, especially just juiced fruit, is pretty much a no-no on BSD, for the same reason. If you want a quick shake for mornings, I'd suggest a blend of avocado, almond milk, a few frozen raspberries, perhaps some Greek full fat yoghurt/peanut butter/cacao powder. It's high calories, but also high fat, which will keep you fuller.

It's useful to bear in mind that this plan is low calorie only in as much as each meal is small. The actual foods are probably the highest calorie foods going, because fat has more calories per gram than any other nutrient, and we are aiming for a high fat/small portion ratio that keeps the calories down. A bit of 'bulk' helps, but our aim is to reduce the amount of food quantity we eat and replace it with high calorie/high fat/small amounts.

*sorry, with regards to the plateful of veg vs juice in my post above, the juice will raise your blood sugars more.....!

The actual foods are probably the highest calorie foods going, because fat has more calories per gram than any other nutrient, and we are aiming for a high fat/small portion ratio that keeps the calories down.

Once you get over seeing the smaller plateful of food, the food does actually fill you up better as its full of protein and fat.

I did the bolognese from the book yesterday, but had it with a massive portion of cauliflower rice. So the portion still looked big which made me happy.

I've just gone and ordered a size 14 Christmas party dress.... At the moment 16 is tight on me so here's hoping I'll fit into the dress in one months time!
The dress does not look stretchy at all but the reviews said the sizes come up big...

But this diet is about keeping your blood sugar levels steady....any juice will have the opposite effect as it will cause a spike in blood sugar.

Fruit is ok as nature intended, but when it is juiced you lose the benefit of the fibres.

Glad it worked for you though!

urgh, forgot to bring my almonds to work. Cracked and ate an old cereal bar lurking in my drawer. I knew i shouldn't have. Feeling the effects already. Can console myself on its mere 74 cals but obviously packed full of sugars.

Juicyamy I really am not being rude, but juices really aren't recommended on this plan. It's a very specific plan that does need a calorie count, and does rule out things like juicing because it specifically is concerned with stabilising blood sugars. It does this by allowing high fat foods and avoiding easy digested carbs. We all eat carbs btw, but there are specific ways to reduce the glycemic load of them. I am only commenting this because we have had a lot of new starters recently and I wouldn't like them to think that they can drink smoothies or juices in this plan, as it will not work. Perfectly OK on other 5:2 plans, or as part of an overall reduced calorie or lower carb plan, but not bsd

I'm not scared of carbs but I do know that I've lost more weight more quickly and feel a lot better doing bsd than any other way of eating.

I'm making Chicken Chettinad today from my Diana Henry book - which is a quick (ish - for Indian) curry with yoghurt and spices. I'm going to have it with roasted cauliflower.

Will take a photo of the recipe if it's nice!

Nearly cracked and ate toast but have just made half an avo, a poached egg and a slice of bacon for lunch. Also a mahoosive cup of tea! Worried about getting headachy though - have any of you found that happens?

juicy have you read the book? I second everything bear has said. This WOE isn't about being scared of carbs. It's about choosing wisely and thinking about the proportions of fat/protein/carbs. Since it's specifically about blood sugar levels, juicing isn't recommended.
It's great that juicing has worked for you but that isn't what BSD is. And there are quite a few of us who have tried other plans (including juicing or/and 5:2) and they haven't worked for us but BSD does.

I agree Place this thread is about the blood sugar diet. The book does not say no fruit or juices for the rest of your life but they certainly don’t fit in to this diet.
I have always calorie counted before and ate more,lost weight slowly and felt hungry. On this diet I don’t feel hungry but if I started using my calories on carby foods, even healthy ones, I would be starving on 800 calories.
When I am maintaining my weight I will add the good carbs back in to make a healthy, balanced diet.

Well done with your lunch Neenook. I think I was headachy for a day or two. Keep drinking loads of water, it helps.

Neenok, i haven't been particularly headachy . Had one bad day out of 14 so far and i think that was more to do with stress and noise. I'm doing ok. Need to tighten up a bit soon but in the middle of assessments right now so barely have to time to wash my hair let alone count calories. My last one is due next week so from next Saturday (i started on a Saturday) going to attempt the last 3 weeks full on. (i'm doing 6 weeks then having a few days off for Christmas then shall see where i am). Best thing so far- feeling in control over food, to be honest that is priceless.

blue I agree, to get to the stage where I feel in control will be amazing. Have to admit to caving and in last night and eating all kinds of rubbish. Have just woken up feeling like 💩
Right, fresh start today with lots of willpower.

Me too neenook we had pizza last night and I've been awake lots in the night really thirsty, finally woke properly at 6.30. Horrible. All you can do is draw a line and move on.

yep completely agree, if you step out of the boundaries of the diet just draw a line and immediately start again. I think even though its just 8 weeks it is hard to be perfect and we still have to deal with real life and learning how to maintain this afterwards, so think of these mis steps as part of the learning process.
i only lost 1.5 pounds this week. Bit disappointed given how little I think i'm eating (i'm eating closer to 1,000 calories but sticking to low carb ) . I guess it shows how much i was probably overeating before given my age (49) and small stature. Which of course is why i was gaining weight! I think to maintain i probably need between 1,600- 1,800 depending on exercise levels. And due to current work pressures i've not been doing the exercise so hoping to add that in from next weekend.
oh well, i'm trying to stay positive , another 1.5 this week will be another 3 total to add to the 4 and that's a whole half a stone ! and I feel in control which is fab!
hope everyone has a good weekend. BTW how do you bold a person's name?

also is anyone doing the exercise he recommends in the book?

bear yes, yes to the raging thirst!! Woke at 4.30 and felt like I'd been in a desert. Drank a whole litre in about 20 mins!
So, line drawn. Starting afresh today. I'm 5ft 5.5 and 11st 3lbs. Would like to lose at least a stone. Feel fab at 9st 7 but not sure if that's unrealistic? Anyway, I'd just like to feel better, less fat and slow and with more motivation and energy. Almost didn't admit I'd gone wrong yesterday, but actually really helped to post it.
(Use an asterisk either side of the word you want to embolden)

bluenail you put an * on either side of a name to bold it.
I didn't do the exercises recommended in the book. First time round, I did try to meet the walking target. About a month ago until I pulled tendons in my shoulder I was exercising two or three times per week but, again, not the book exercises.

Neenook I usually try to be honest with myself when I've gone wrong. Writing it on here helps. For me it's usually the same reasons as well, and reading back through makes me see that. Hormones (big one for me), feeling bored and stressy with life, and not planning properly are my big downfalls. But anyway. Forwards!!

Thank you thebluenailbrush for the reminder; tomorrow I will throw away a couple of cereal bars I have in my desk drawer and bring a bag of unsalted nuts and almonds instead, to have them ready for any of those emergencies when the blood sugar is dipping quite unexpectedly.

We've just had a Pho Vietnamese restaurant open near us, we've been there every few days since it opened!! Solved the eating out for one low cal person/one vegan person issue we have. Shredded chicken salad, 219 + an amazing pork/prawn spring roll, that feels really high cal and gorgeous, 134. 20g carb total.