Disappointing results so far

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  • posted by je55icat
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    Hi everyone,

    I’m posting because after days of feeling down I thought maybe someone could share some hope and inspiration. I’ve only been on the BSD for 2.5 weeks. I lost 5lb in the first few days (and the week before had lost 3 lb just watching calories but no specific food changes). But for the past 10 days I’ve lost no weight at all. It’s really disheartening. So early in the diet on such restricted calories I thought I would do better.

    I did start the BSD a week I knew I had 3 night’s out coming up in the first 3 weeks. I don’t go out all year then have 3 in a row around my birthday. I’ve so far had 2 of the night’s out and the final one is this Saturday. It might have seemed an odd time to start but I just felt if I didn’t start then I never would and it was better to start then than not at all.

    Even with the two night’s out so far I’ve stuck pretty much to the 800 cals. I had half a bottle of wine both night’s out (which is half what I would probably have had before). I rigidly stuck to not having more, felt awful both times and don’t feel like I ever want to drink more than one glass of wine a night ever again! (And that’s saying something because I’d identified wine as my main vice beforehand). I’ll be driving this Saturday!

    I’m also in the middle of Couch to 10 K so am up to running for about 20 minutes 3x a week. So I’m getting exercise. That will increase in coming weeks. After the first run day I felt unwell and weak so I upped my calories slightly for run days, however I’ve never gone over the run+800 calorie allowance if that makes sense (i.e. if I burn off 300 cals I’ve never gone over 1100).

    Even on my birthday itself I only had one small glass of wine and we made a special sugar free birthday cake which I had one carefully measured slice of.

    I’m not finding the diet hard. I don’t feel as great as I expected – not seeing all this energy everyone talks about. But I’m happy to continue on it.

    I have had some dark chocolate and tiny glasses of wine but have never gone over 50g carbs on any day.

    But it is disheartening not to be losing weight. I have around 30lb left to lose so it’s not like I only had a little bit.

    Any ideas? Surely it’s a bit early to plateau. Things I’ve wondered about are:

    a) Not enough calories with the running? (Both times I noticed any weight loss I’d actually eaten more the day before…)
    b) Too much dark choc and wine even though staying within 50g carbs?
    c) Had a healthy diet to start with (I haven’t had to change much, mostly it’s just calorie/portion control for me) so not going to see the dramatic effect on my body other’s see?
    d) I have autoimmune diseases (coeliac’s and Pernicious Anaemia) – something to do with that? Someone suggested getting tested for thyroid problem but I had my well woman check just a few weeks ago and had everything tested and all my bloods are fine incl. blood sugar and cholesterol
    e) stress
    e) Something hormonal?
    e) Not enough red meat? (I don’t eat beef or lamb)
    e) The diet doesn’t suit me? (okay desperate at this point)

    Positive things that have happened have been

    a) surprisingly easy to cut down/out alcohol
    b) diet generally easy
    c) Not hungry
    d) sleeping a bit better but feeling like I need more sleep (have always needed 7-8 but right now 10 hours would be great but that’s never gonna happen with kids!)

    But less good have been

    a) strange hormonal things happened last week (one for the ladies….)
    b) headaches first 3 days but they went
    c) definitely more irritable even though I’m not hungry (but that may be a lot of stress I’m under and doing one thing positive seems to highlight all the negative things going on!)

    Would love feedback from people who’ve had a similar problem or been on the diet a while and rode this out.

  • posted by RozyDozy
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    Hi je55icat,
    Sorry to hear you are struggling! You seem to have done a very thorough analysis of potential problems – I can’t address all of them but here’s my thoughts:

    I’ve been BSD-ing for over a year now – one thing I’ve noticed is that not everyone loses weight fast on this plan. It may just be that you are one. I think last year when my weight was coming off my average was 1.1lb per week. It is common to lose a lot on the first week and then nothing (or very little) the second week. You are unlikely to be experiencing a plateau – more likely, it’s your body still adjusting to the changes you are making. Trust me, your body will try to fight back! (You are welcome to read my profile – just click my name – you’ll see how stop/start my progress was last year, and this year for that matter!)

    It sounds like you have made plenty of adjustments to accommodate the BSD but wine is one of the big dangers. If you can cut it out completely it should help. Same with the dark choc. At least while you are on the 800 – when you’ve got through the 8 weeks, you could try re-introducing them as very occasional treats.

    Most of us have a special occasion to deal with – an occasional splurge is not going to make that much difference, it’s when it become a frequent occurrence we experience problems. Don’t deny yourself, but it sounds like you managed to rein yourself in on your birthday events – I doubt the damage was too much, but if you can string together some weeks without veering from the plan you should see things happening.

    Well done on doing the run – sounds like you are a pretty active person to start with.
    I’m sure other people on this forum will have advice that they can chip in with.
    But don’t give up – this plan is very flexible, once you find what works for you things should fall into place.
    Good luck.

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi je55icat, I think both you and Rozy have answered your question for you. One thing strikes me, you had been on a diet the week before so you are not going to get the big whoosh loss which is mainly fluid as you have already been there, done that. A plateau is exactly the body adjusting so just give it time and dont give up the diet. Half a bottle of wine on a couple of occasions can certainly kick out any weight loss so, as Rozy says, give it up while on the 8 weeks so hope all your special occasions are over now.

    With the exercise, great you are doing it, but it does not really help you lose weight. It helps maintain weight, keep muscle tone and is good for the heart lungs etc so keep up the good work. To walk of half a bottle of wine would take around 2 and a half hours, twice in one week you would be walking for 5 hours just to come out even.

    With the pernicious anaemia you should make sure you get your proteins, if you dont eat red meat you can find B12 in chicken, fish, eggs and dairy also soya based proteins.

    Get on the diet properly and you will see your results improve, it is only 8 weeks so good luck.

  • posted by Flygirlanne
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    How are your sugar readings?

    I am 2.5 weeks into the BSD and have been really strict. Sticking to under 800 calories, no cheats at all and have lost 10lbs so far and 1.5 inches off my waist which I am more than happy with.

    However, my sugar levels are still so high. I had expected at nearly 3 weeks in to start seeing some improvement or am I expecting too much too soon?

    Annette

  • posted by je55icat
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    Hi sunshine-girl

    Pernicious Anaemia is an autoimmune disease where you can’t absorb B12 because you don’t have Intrinsic Factor. There’s no cure and I have intramuscular injections of replacement B12 for life. I can’t absorb any B12 from food so it doesn’t matter how much B12 I eat through chicken, fish or anything else, it won’t make any difference to me. It’s like being a Type 1 Diabetic. I just felt I needed to point this out because you have to be careful giving medical and nutritional advice if it’s incorrect on these kind of forums and unfortunately your advice there would be dangerous – I think you may have mixed up vitamin B12 deficiency with PA, a bit like some people mix up Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. In both cases one can be corrected with diet and lifestyle, the other is an autoimmune disease.

    I’m not running to lose weight. That’s just something I do anyway to keep fit. I’m pretty fit and active. I was just making the point that I’m doing exercise and was finding 800 cals not enough on run days. I felt too weak to do anything the next day. Maybe that’s settled down a bit now.

    Have already planned no more wine so hopefully that will make a difference. Thanks.

  • posted by je55icat
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    Hi Annette,

    At least I’m not the only one feeling frustrated. I’m not checking my sugar levels. No need. At my health check a few weeks ago they were well within normal range. I’m wondering if that’s part of the thing for me. I don’t have a sweet tooth so consumed virtually no sugar before and only a few carbs. I’m allergic to dairy and a coeliac so never ate sweets and cakes and things. Just dark chocolate and wine 😉 Maybe there’s just not the big adjustment for me in that sense.

    A 10 lb weight loss is great though! And 1.5 inches off your tummy. Well done! I’ve not lost any inches either 😮 I think you’re doing great! I’d be made up with 10lb and 1.5 inches. I think I saw a forum thread somewhere about blood sugar levels not changing – maybe you could search for it? I confess it’s not something I’m really following or bothered about.

    I think I’m going to re-read the back end of the book too.

    Good luck.

  • posted by je55icat
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    Hi rozyDozy thanks for your words of encouragement. Can I ask how much you’ve lost overall now? In the end that’s what counts I guess, even if the journey’s a little longer 🙂 I think I’ve got more discouraged because 2 of my close friends started at around the same weight, are the same height and have both lost 3 stone (42lbs) in 12 weeks. I mean their results are amazing. The difference (apart from different bodies) is that neither of them did any exercise before. One had an awful diet (loads of coke and crisps) but the other one similar to mine. It’s hard seeing close friends doing so well and me going at a snails pace!

    I’ll take a look at your posts I think.

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    thanks for that je55icat, I should have remembered that as I was looking PA up just last week. My daughter has been having weird symptoms, numbness, loss of memory, holding a conversation but not knowing she is there or remembering it. We thought she might have been going into ketosis due to her erratic eating but blood tests show she is low on B12 and Folic Acid so now awaiting more tests. She already has hypothyroidism so lets hope it is just her diet and not pernicious anaemia.

  • posted by RozyDozy
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    Hi je55icat,
    To answer your question – last year I lost a total of 2.5stone (I was aiming for 3st) – had a bit of a relapse over Xmas and I’m still trying to lose that final 1/2 stone!
    I understand your frustration with your friends’ splendid results (I’m jealous and I’ve never met them) – however, don’t compare your results with theirs, that way madness lies! We are all different – there are plenty of people who can lose loads and others who struggle. As you said in one of your posts above, as you didn’t have a sweet tooth to start with you may not benefit as much from this plan as someone who viewed biscuits, ice cream, etc as a staple part of their previous diet.
    Your existing medical conditions may be playing a part if there are things you cannot eat – I’m sure there are people on these forums who’ve got some relevant experience they would be willing to share.
    Good luck with your efforts.

  • posted by je55icat
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    Hi sunshine-girl

    I’ve been thinking about your daughter this week and the suspected B12 deficiency. A couple of things. How old is your daughter? PA is usually something only elderly people get but those diagnosed ‘young’ like me are usually diagnosed around aged 30. No-one really knows why but that age is very common unless you’ve had some kind of stomach surgery.

    Your body stores B12 for a couple of years so your daughter would be unlikely to develop a B12 deficiency because of short-term dietary changes. However if she’s been cutting out B12 for more than 2 years it could be dietary.

    Another thing to watch out for is, I don’t know where you’re based but be sure to ask what the actual B12 levels are when the test comes back. In the UK NICE set the B12 levels for ‘deficiency’ stupidly low at 200. But many, many people have pernicious anaemia or B12 deficiency at much higher levels. You have to fight this within the system unfortunately. In many ways I was ‘lucky’ because my levels were below 200 when diagnosed – but then I was rushed into A&E so that’s how sick I was. In Japan they class people as deficient at levels below 500. It’s just important to know that because your GP may well tell you you’re fine….when actually you’re not. Diagnosis and treatment for PA hasn’t changed much since the 1950s when it was first ‘discovered’ (before that it was fatal) and there is very little research into it. PA sufferers constantly battle for better treatment and more research but the irony is because it’s rare, there’s no real support for it.

    Also Vitamin D deficiency can have similar symptoms. My sister thought she had PA as it runs in the family and she had similar symptoms but she turned out to have a Vit D deficiency.

    You can find more information from the Pernicious Anaemia Society. There’s also a very helpful Facebook Group (just search for it – it’s the one with loads of members). Just be wary of the Facebook group as it can be a little scaremongery! There is lots of support but there is also a lot of very sick people which can be a bit demoralising and scary! Hope this is helpful.

  • posted by sunshine-girl
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    Hi je55icat, thank you for thinking about us and the information. Daughter had her appt yesterday and it turns out to be a foliate problem which can have similar symptoms to B12 deficiency. She has been put on a course of Folic Acid which should hopefully clear up the problem. The doctor puts it down to stress as she has been going through quite a lot lately with leaving her husband, the problems that causes for the children, one sone being seriously bullied at school and her job is very high flying. She is settling into her new life, school have been advised of the problems and she has talked to her boss about some of the stresses (which it turns out she has been doing a lot more than required) so it looks like things will be getting better for her. We are going to Spain for Easter so I will make sure she gets a proper holiday and hide her laptop. Many thanks.

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