The great thing about the Blood Sugar Diet is… that you rarely feel hungry.

I completed 7 weeks of the 800 calories a day diet.  It’s supposed to be a minimum of 8 weeks and a maximum of 12, but I had a holiday at the beginning of December.

I am pleased to report that I lost a total of 13lbs!  This is quite incredible given my slow losses.  I’ve not got that much to lose (ideally about 21lbs) so this loss went a long way to getting me back to target.  What’s more, I felt fantastic.  I was sleeping really well, waking refreshed and ready to start the day.  My aches and pains diminished.  I felt less bloated and lethargic after eating a meal.  Most days, I only needed 2 meals (usually lunch and dinner, or brunch and dinner”.

So the weight loss was going well….  Until that was… a 2 week holiday to Tenerife.  I did my very best to stick to the principles of the diet (no bread, pasta, potatoes, sugar, wheat products, rice) – I did eat bananas, lots of avocados, many ice-cream and other desserts – (well, at least one a day!) and a few gallons of sangria – not in one sitting I hasten to add!

So damage was done and a few additional pounds were gained.  But I was heartened by the fact that had I not lost the 13lbs, I’d now be further away from my weight loss goal.

The past few days, I’ve gone back to avoiding the things I should not be eating on the BSD.  Until this morning when a couple of homemade mince pies and a few sausage rolls warm from the oven needed to be quality tested!

Today is Christmas Eve.  One great thing about the BSD is that cheese can feature.  Not kilos of it, but in moderation.  I enjoy mine with a satsuma or sliced apple instead of crackers.

I have assembled my cheese platter.

I’ve tried a couple of cheeses courtesy of Tesco’s Orchard Programme thanks to a £6 voucher they sent to me.

Castello Blue will be featuring regularly (you’ll notice I’ve already started on that one!) Creamy like Brie, but much more flavoursome. Also trying their French Chevre Goats cheese which I’ve had before, the Finest St Felicien and a Finest Extra Mature Cheddar Truckle (the black wax cylinder).

The St Felicien is described as “Perfect on a cheeseboard, this creamy and unctuous cheese can also be baked with black pepper and honey. Delicious with potatoes or just bread. Perfect to share with friends.”

I had to look up what unctuous meant, when I looked up the definition on-line, it seemed inappropriate!  But in relation to food, unctuous means  “buttery, luxurious, luscious, creamy, etc”.  As the serving suggestions imply really!