Hello my lovelies

I’m starting the fast 800 tomorrow, really looking forward to it .

Largest challenge I face but I will get used to it is to completely cut out sugar which is one of the reasons I’m overweight, I read in the book that you can wean yourself away from that by using some sweetners.

For various reasons I won’t use xylitol.

Do you think it’s okay to use Candarel or does it defeat the object of keeping the blood sugar regulated?

I just want one or two sweetex in my herbal tea, and a little candarel in one of the shakes because obviously I can’t use honey.

Answers on a postcode please 🙂

Or even a postcard, giggle. As I have just said on another thread, having sweet things does not allow the body to know it should be in fat burning mode and also it does not allow you to rid yourself of the craving for carbs (not just sweet carbs). Try to cut it down and eventually give it up, just remember sweeteners are a by product of the oil industry and also from plastic products, so a chemical that your body is wondering what the hell to do with it. I am being a bit of a hypocrit here as I use Stevia in my coffee, but as I only have a coffee every 3rd or 4th day it is once in a blue moon. The other thing is, if it helps you get past your sugar craving then it can be for the good but you should still try to wean yourself off all sweet things.

Hi Missy D, welcome to the forum and all the best for the fast 800. I finish as you start.

In the first 3 weeks as the cravings were leaving, I used sweeteners and drank diet drinks. So I would say you’re ok to use.

I did wean myself off of them for the remainder of the 8 weeks so try to if you can. You’ll notice a big difference in your taste perception. Instead of sugary tastes, I now find myself wanting umami/salty tastes.

I must’ve done something right because I’ve dropped 55lb in 55 days from a start weight of 248lb.

Hi
I agree with Sunshine Girl that its best to cut down as much as possible or avoid artificial sweeteners

I also use Stevia when I need to (probably no more than two or three teaspoons a month, not everyday) – mostly when I cook rhubarb
It is plant based, so allegedly more natural (I could just be falling for the marketing hype) but for me the big advantage is that it is a powder, so you are totally in control of the amount you use, making it easy to cut down gradually rather than being in discreet chunks of one unit or two.

When my Dad was alive, my sister and I weaned him off of sugar (most of the time), but he used to have six sweeteners in a cup of tea! Unless I made it – I’d put in three or four, and I don’t think he noticed.

Welcome MISSY and best of luck as you start! A lot of inspiring stories here to help keep you motivated.
For example, look at CMAWP..55 lbs in 55 days..how amazing is that!
I totally agree with FROG and SUNSHINE’s advice re using sweeteners x

Hi Guys!

Haaa Sunshine Girl: it should have said Postcard not Postcode! (What a tit)
That’s me being lazy and using Siri!

Thanks for the warm welcome all.

As an overall assessment of your replies I’ll just use the little candarel and then wean off.

CMAWP that’s a phenomenal loss you should be really proud of yourself! just out of interest because it doesn’t say on your profile are you male or female? because men lose faster.

One other question what I’ve got you all here… I just want to clarify, do you have to do 10,000 steps a day and HIIT three times a week? I’m fine with it I just want to get it right.

Before I became lazy and overweight I used to power walk an hour every morning fasted before breakfast that’s 3 miles each way that the 10,000 steps done really because it’s too thousand steps approximately for 1 mile and 6 miles it’s all over .

I could do that every morning no problem and HIIT three times a week using an app I presume that’s enough ?

Cheers for the warm, welcome guys xxx

Just thinking about that 55lbs in 55 days can you imagine if that happened to me? I’ve got 70 to lose and I’m guessing it will take at least 4 to 5 months if I did it in 3 -4 that would be amazing.

I’d literally have to have a straight run which would exclude Christmas dinner but I don’t care it’s only one day and it’s just psychological .

missyD you might find you don’t have much energy in the first 2 or 3 weeks in which case some walking would be fine along with the HIIT. I don’t walk, I swim but now winter is here and we have closed the pool I tend to do aerobics in front of the TV, local swimming baths once and week and HIIT 3 times a week. If you don’t feel up to exercising at first it should not slow down your weight loss but doing some exercise is great. You are all fired up and ready to go, good luck and keep posting.

Cheers honey thanks for being supportive and kind x

I knew I was wrong to believe the hype about stevia – Truvia not quite as natural as they’d have us believe – and ‘natural’ stevia is only a minor ingredient, after being highly processed

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/dec/14/sugar-subsititutes-sweet-and-sour

I’m male, which may explain my rapid weight loss, although I’ve fully applied myself to the 8 week plan and have rarely deviated.

On the question of exercise, my view was to get the diet right and then introduce exercise. Once I felt confident on the food side of things, I introduced the 10,000+ steps but have not done any HIIT.

My aim for the 8 weeks was 50lb which was 20% of my body mass and the upper end of the expectation range in 8 weeks, so I surprised myself with my result.