Category: weight loss

Half Way Through BSD review

poster review BSD

Blood Sugar Diet Review

Half Way Through The 8 Week Diet

Those who have been through the 800 calorie, 8 week, Blood sugar diet and who support others in a group on Facebook have a method for describing which week of the diet you are on. Some of them do several rounds of the diet because they have a lot of weight to lose. It is suggested that you have a “rest” between successive rounds of dieting, so they say whether they are on round 1, round 2, etc. As it is an 8 week diet, they also say which week they are in, week 1, week 2 and which day of that week, 1, 2, 3, etc.

What I have Lost In The First 4 Weeks

At Christmas, I ate what I wanted for a week, then didn’t weigh for a couple of days! When I first weighed again after Christmas, I was 71 Kg, yesterday, I was 67.1 Kg, so I have lost nearly 4 Kgs in this New Year. Very pleased with that. The rule of thumb for this diet is that you lose ABOUT 10 per cent of your body weight in a round of dieting. So by the end of this 8 week round, I should have lost about 7 Kg, about 1 stone or 15 pounds in weight. That would take me to a weight of about 10 stone and that would be reasonable or a little overweight for my height. Ideally, I would like to reach 9 stone in weight but that won’t happen on this round.

Counting The Rounds

So someone on round 1, week 3, day 2, would write it down as R1W3D2. This allows for people starting on different days of the week – you don’t have to wait for Monday! If the time is right for YOU to start the 80 calorie, 8 week, BSD, then do it. I originally started it on a Saturday, after reading Dr Michael Mosley’s book and realising that I needed to “do something” about my weight. This was near the start of December. I stopped for Christmas and decided to start again in January and complete the full 8 weeks, unless I reached my target weight first! (That is highly unlikely, in case you were wondering.) At the moment, I am R2w4d4, although I did not complete round 1 – that’s still a benefit because I lost 4Kg in that half round, that’s nearly 9 pounds and well over half a stone.

Benefits From Being On The Diet

  1. Back, well before Christmas and for a long time before that, I had felt my heart was being compressed when I lay down on my side to sleep at night. It would bump and I would have to lie more on my back, which would lead to me snoring! It was my impression that the creeping amount of belly fat piling on my middle could be contributing to that. (Now let me say right here, that if you feel this way, go and see your doctor. It is my choice not to go but if you feel your heart is not behaving in the way it has done previously, then get it checked out!) By Christmas, when I had completed between 3 and 4 weeks on the diet, that was no longer happening and I was also sleeping better – a BIG bonus for me. Now, on round 2 of the diet, I have actually slept in a couple of days recently. Being retired, that is fantastic.
  2. I had 2 pairs of jeans in my wardrobe that I liked but haven’t been able to get into for a long time. I had even tried wriggling while lying on the bed sucking my belly in and pulling hard on the waistband to do it upYou might enjoy watching someone do this, because this is exactly what I would try, getting VERY red in the face! I can now get into the bigger pair of jeans, with no muffin tops hanging over the sides and can wear them all day comfortably and even bend down and sit down without either feeling they were going to rip or that I was gong to do myself a “mischief”, they were so tight. So big win there.
  3. The smaller pair of jeans will now fit on me and I can do the waistband up and the buttons, without spare pieces of belly poking out, having been pushed down from further up. I still have muffin tops though, so a bit to go here, yet.
  4. I go on a walk most days with my husband, it includes a climb up steps to about a height of 180 feet and it’s a lot easier, now that I am not carrying the equivalent of 10 bags of sugar in addition to me!
  5. My jogging bottoms, different pairs of which I have now worn for years because I couldn’t get anything else to fit, now feel much looser around the thighs. I was very surprised to feel that because I had been concentrating on my belly and hadn’t thought to check how well my thighs were progressing.
  6. I think my appetite is being reset because big meals now make me feel over full – that’s a BIG benefit.

Difficulties Of Being On The 8 Week 800 Calorie BSD Diet

I am totally surprised that it hasn’t been as bad as I feared before starting it. I read about it and thought it was just what I needed, so decided that I could do it for just one day and see how I felt. One day became, “OK, I have done this so far, what about 2 days?”. Just took it one day at a time and before I knew it, the first week was up. I hadn’t actually weighed myself at the start because I have not been able to lose weight for quite some time now and it’s discouraging but I assumed I started at 75 Kgs because that had been the lowest weight I had managed to achieve over the last few years (I was up at 81 Kgs this time last year).

  1. Being hungry. It’s not too bad, it’s just a “feeling” and doing something else puts it out of mind.
  2. Life can throw a curve ball sometimes and previously I would go to the kitchen cupboard and take a spoonful of something to “make me feel better”. It never worked but I still kept doing it. I had a big job to do last weekend and ended up on one day eating far outside my 800 calorie limit, although in my defence, all the calories came from “sensible” food, not candy. I didn’t have my celery available, so I should have taken some with me.
  3. Deprivation. It used to bother me when people could eat large amounts of chocolate with no problem. I have accepted that I can’t. Besides, the amount of sugar icluded is bad for anyone, even if they don’t put on weight, so I reframe it as “I am glad they are enjoying that and I am glad I can enjoy my juicy, crunchy, celery”.

Lessons Learned

I now keep a head of table celery in my fridge at all times, it’s a useful “go-to” food if I feel hungry or deprived or my mouth is bored. I am also taking in plenty of other sources of fiber and drinking lots of fluid, hot and cold. I have another 4 weeks or so to go on this diet.

From dieting over the years, I think I need to keep a watch on my weight once I reach my target weight and take action if it starts to creep up again.

High Fiber Low Calorie Foods

Getting Enough Fiber

If you are on a low calorie or low carb diet, it can be hard to get enough dietary fiber in your diet while remaining within your calorie allowance or on the allowed foods. Plenty of foods have high fiber contents but not all of them are low calorie or suitable for a ketogenic diet.

How Much Fiber Do I Need?

The current healthy recommendations are between 20 and 38 grams of fiber a day, depending on your gender (men need more than women), age (less as you get older) and the amount you normally eat. It also depends a lot on your own metabolism. Some people have very quick pass through in their digestive systems, others have much slower turn around times. According to WebMD, it is believed that most Americans get only about 15 grams of fiber each day and that includes those who are NOT on diets.

Just Eat More Veggies?

No, it’s not just as simple as that, though eating more veggies is part of the answer. It is difficult to get enough dietary fiber from low calorie vegetables without eating massive amounts of them. For instance, take celery, a lovely vegetable, I am very fond of it and it’s great for keeping hunger at bay and giving my mouth something to do. It has only 16 calories in 100 grams (about 3 ounces), but it also has only about 2 grams of dietary fiber in that same 100 grams (the actual amount depends on which source you consult), so to get 20 grams of fiber from celery, I would need to eat 1000 grams of celery, 2.2 pounds, every day. That probably equates to two whole heads of table celery every day. Much as I like celery, I don’t think I could manage two pounds or more of it every day and that would also use up 160 calories of my daily 800 calorie allowance on the 8 week, 800 calorie BSD diet. It’s the same for many other vegetables that are perfectly fine as part of a low calorie or low carb diet. They do not contain enough fiber to fill your daily needs without having to eat massive amounts of them and I MEAN massive amounts. It’s the same with broccoli, spinach and lettuce. Great foodstuff, fine for adding to your lunchbox to keep hunger at bay or for eating as part of your low calorie meal but by themselves, they are unlikely to add enough fiber to your diet.

High Fiber Low Calorie Soup

Some useful foodstuffs that contain high amounts of fiber include lentils, with 8 grams of fiber in 100 grams. These

High Fiber Soup

are much easier to eat (in soup for instance) and will keep you feeling full for a long time. I sometimes make my own bone broth (basically boil meat bones or chicken carcass with a bay leaf and some apple cider vinegar for a number of hours, or in a slow cooker overnight, then drain and store) and use this as the basis for a soup. Or you can use a stock cube or low sodium bouillon. I add some veggies, such as celery, half an onion and garlic to 500 millilitres (1 pint) of stock and simmer until the vegetables are almost cooked, then add 50 grams (about 2 ounces) of red lentils and continue simmering until the lentils are soft. Once finished, I divide the soup in half and save one half for the next day. Just before serving, I add about 25 grams (about 1 ounce) of oat bran or wheat bran to the soup. This thickens it and makes it very filling, so it keeps me filled for several hours. It also contains about 17 grams of fiber, almost a daily amount for some people. This makes a filling high fiber meal, which can be fitted into a low calorie diet.

Dietary Fiber Supplements

If you still cannot get enough fiber in your diet, you may need to take a high fiber, low calorie supplement such as psyllium husks or apple fiber. Both are available as powder or in capsule form. It is VITAL to take plenty of water with these, to make sure they flush your intestines, instead of clogging them up worse than ever. These may not be suitable for people who have difficulty swallowing or have a narrow food pipe – consult your doctor.

Benefits of Dietary Fiber

There are many benefits to making sure you get enough fiber in your diet. For instance, people who have lots of dietary fiber in their food intake appear to be much less likely to develop heart trouble, to get strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes or to become obese.

Increasing the amount of your fiber in your diet can reduce your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol levels and improve insulin sensitivity for both diabetics and non-diabetics. Also, supplementing your fiber intake can help with weight loss in people who are obese and also help improve gastric and intestinal problems like diverticulitis, duodenal ulcers, hemorrhoids and gastric reflux.

And when that extra fiber gets into your large intestine, it appears to improve your natural immunity.

So What’s Not To Like About Dietary Fiber?

As with anything, use your commonsense about increasing the amount of fiber you take in. If you are sensitive to gluten, don’t use wheat bran. Don’t increase your fiber intake a huge amount in one go, it can lead to uncomfortable intestinal problems, including bloating and gas, if your body isn’t used to it. Increase your intake gradually and spread it out over the day. Take plenty of fluid, especially water and anyone who has difficulty swallowing, should be very cautious about taking supplements like psyllium husk and apple fiber, for instance. If in doubt, or if concerned about your bowel movements or intestines, consult your doctor or medical adviser.

 

When The Scales Won’t Move

Scales Are Stuck!

Do you feel the scales have “got it in for you”? Sometimes, the scales stay stuck in the same place or even go the wrong way, despite your best efforts! It can be hard not to get discouraged and to think “Why am I not losing weight” or “this is not working for me!”. It’s only a step away then to giving up the diet altogether and thinking “I just can’t do this!”.

Tips to Help

  1. Some people are slow movers, stick with it, it WILL work.
  2. It happens. Some weeks you lose a lot and others very little or you gain a bit. Try averaging it out, so if you lost 2 Kg the first week and none the second, well, that’s an average of 1 Kg a week, that’s 2 pounds a week, which is a good steady loss.
  3. Think about what else is happening with your body. For women, is it hormonal related? You may be retaining water and then you’ll have a bigger weight loss in a few days time. Are you stressed? Maybe you are constipated and holding onto a bowel movement?
  4. Are you weighing at the same time of day and wearing the same clothes? I don’t actually own a set of bathroom scales, I use my daughter’s and have no intention of stripping down to the buff in her bathroom to use them. I also don’t use the scales every day or at the same time, so I use the result as a guide. If it’s generally down over a few days, that’s fair enough.
  5. Check your body measurements. Sometimes, the weight may not go down, especially if you are also exercising, because you are building muscle, which “weighs more” (technically, is denser) than fat so you are getting slimmer, even if you weigh the same or a bit more. A quick check is to see whether your clothes are looser, if so, you are winning, even if the scales are not moving.
  6. If you think you are cheating, even a little bit, try drinking more water or eating a low calorie high fiber food, such as celery, when hunger pangs hit. “Just a little bit” DOES hurt. You can keep feeling full for longer by drinking hot drinks or making your own high fiber soup or even just making a hot savory drink with a stock cube in a pint of water or a low sodium bouillon base.
  7. Remember, while water has no calories it does have weight, so drinking a full glass of water just before you step on the scales, may affect the weight shown.

Stick With It

Sometimes our inner child gets fed up with the health kick and tries to get us to eat “just a tiny bit” or “once won’t hurt”. Remind that inner child of the health reasons you found for going on a diet or the treat you have planned when you reach your target weight or how you will feel going to an event in your new dudes!