Hi Everyone
Glad to be here.

Enthused – Ever since I watched the Eat, Fast and Live Longer documentary about fasting, I have been a Dr Mosley fan.
Today I completed by seventh 4 day water fast since I first tried them in January 2013. I truly believe the fasting health benefits, specifically in terms of cell damage repair, are genuine and backed up by solid evidence.
I tend to lose around 4kg when I do a 4 day water fast. Having done this several times I have come to know a couple of things. The first is that I can do them! The evening of day 2 is always hell for me, but I pray and get through. So that is a positive which I can exploit: I have short term willpower.
The second thing I have learned is that I always put the weight back on again.On Sunday night I weighed in around 106kgs and at 184cms, I am embarrassed to say I have crept into the obese range. Although my blood pressure is normal, my cholesterol is in the 6s. As far as I know I am not a diabetic, but my health can’t be good. I have been a complete failure in avoiding junk food like bread products, pies and the like. So when found out that Dr Mosley had released a new book: The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet, I knew that this might be the thing that could stop my recidivist tendencies around poor food choices.

Confused – Having also just finished reading Dr Mosley’s The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet, I am even more confused now about what represents good advice on dietary manners. For perhaps the last decade, despite not following their advice, I have found that that research of Colin T Campbell PhD, Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, and Joel Fuhrman MD on plant based nutrition has been impressive, whilst their work with patients has been highly beneficial and well documented. I have read the China Study and the evidence seems quite compelling that those who had a low protein diet avoided the affluence diseases of their Chinese peers like cancer, stroke, heart attack and diabetes. In everything from that area has suggested to me that animal proteins and dairy products kill you. So the dietary prescriptions within Dr Mosley’s book are almost alien to me. I admit that I have had some anxiety that this was another Atkins type diet. I do want to lose weight but I also want to do what is best in the long term. You can see where my confusion comes from I hope.

I wonder if Dr Mosley or anyone else has any thoughts on the above. I am going to give the diet a go anyway. I need to lose weight and at 800 calories a day, the maths is easy.

Hi Halicarnassus, it sounds like you’ve read a lot so not sure I ha e the expertise to advise really but just to say that after 8 weeks on this, at 800 calories I find it’s mostly veg I end up eating, with limited amounts of protein and good fat. even if you did have concerns about eating dairy and meat, on this plan it’s kind of hard to eat much of anything except lots of over ground veg and at least the benifits of eating more vegetables is one thing nearly all the dietary advisors seem to agree on 😀

Definitely worth a go I’d say, and hopefully one of the longer term bsd-erswill be able to encourage you about long term effects they notice. Lots of luck with your choice anyway👏🏻👏🏻

Hi Halicarnassus
Not able to give you a professional scientific answer ( apart from Prof Taylor’s ‘ Newcastle Study’ that supports this diet) but it has worked very well for me and so many others on this forum.
Read their success stories and ask for their advice.
If you can fast for 4 days…. this will be a doddle.
You have great will power.
Welcome and good luck.

Hi Halicarnassus, I haven’t read those books but I’m aware of the findings in them. I personally wouldn’t ever want to give up eating meat for good, although I have found that my land based animal protein consumption has reduced quite a lot on this diet (apart from the juicy steak I had last night!), whilst my consumption of oily fish has gone up.

But that’s a conscious choice I’ve made. One thing I have done is give up all processed meat, with the exception of bacon/sausages but then I only get those from a local farmer who uses the traditional method of curing the pork (i.e. with salt and not nitrites).

If you really want to go down the non animal protein route, then you can get what you need from plant based foods, but the temptation can be to fill up with starchy carbs as your choices are more limited. There is a very good extract in Holfords optimum nutrition book which details how to combine foods (an in your case plant based foods) to make sure that you are getting enough of the essential amino acids for muscle repair. And that is the key to it. Lots of food have “protein” in them, but unless that protein is made up for the 8 essential amino acids then they aren’t any good for the body.

The older I get the more I realise that everything comes down to a balance and moderation. The Chinese don’t drink milk, but they do eat beef/chicken/fish/pork. But the probably limit their consumption compared with Western cultures. Weightlifters look healthy, but cardio wise they are screwed. Cardio freak will have great hearts and veins, but their bone density and joints will suffer.

So my approach is to base most of my food around naturally growing vegetables and wholegrains, with a bit of organic meat/eggs (I have my own chickens) and fish. Red meat I normally restrict to once or twice a week (saying that I’m definitely having it twice this week, lol). Same with exercise. I do a mixture of running, swimming, cycling and weights and I’m about to start pilates too.

Thank you for the replies. On the subject of animal protein, for non-health reasons (which I no longer buy into) I had given up eating meat and dairy for 11 years, and only this year have I returned to eating these foods. It’s a myth that all vegan-vegetarians are skinny healthy types. You can eat salt and vinegar square crisps all day and be a genuine vegan for example. The point is, during those 11 years I was generally still overweight. But since I started eating meat and dairy I have balooned. I now understand what the cause was: not meat and dairy necessarily, but extra calories on top of the unhealthy processed carbs I had been eating for as long as I can remember. My favourite food is bread. My next favourite food is bread.
I’m generally a positive person, but I’m entirely cynical about the ethical compasses of the major food manufacturers. And in such I believe we are being poisoned on addictive nurtitionally devoid trash.

Just back from a dietician, who my GP referred me too. I informed her about my new regime. She fully endorsed it and said it was a good choice. 🙂

A quick update. Into my 26th day of the BSD and I have lost a total of 7.2kgs. I started at 105.6kgs and this morning I am 98.4kgs.
My BMI has moved from 31 to 28. I’m no longer officially obese. I never thought I’d be happy to say I’m overweight 🙂

OMG! 15 pounds in one month time! That is amazing! I can only say 4 magic words to your success:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr2vj87DRKM

Take a guess the 4 words! 🙂

PrincetonianStud

Thanks, yes it seems to be working well for me. I really don’t feel that hungry on it either.

Ok, just another update. That is one calendar month I have been on the diet and I have lost 8 kg: 105.6 kg to 97.6 kg Very happy with this. Last few days I haven’t lost really anything but I suppose that happens.

Well done Halicarnassus – that’s great
you MUST go and make an entry in the “how did you get your name” thread – we need to know!
(weight loss guaranteed if you explain it! 🙂 )

I return humiliated, beaten though not defeated, humble but determined to get back on track. The usual story, I was doing well and then Christmastide came, and I piled on the weight. Combined with sitting around I weighed in this morning at 108.6kgs the heaviest I have ever been.

That’s behind me now. I’m determined to make it work this time, this year and be at a good weight by my 50th birthday in December.

Starts today.