Hi I’m new here. I started fast800 today. I’m pretty active (in spite of my lard arse
😂) and I’m wondering if I should even attempt to continue with my exercise regime while cutting calories to 800 each day?

My exercise currently looks like this:

Swim with a masters group 3 x a week. Swimming about 70 lengths (25m pool) each time.
Run 3 x a week. 5K x 1, 8-10k x 1 and a Parkrun (5K).
Strength & conditioning sessions in my gym x 3 or 4 times a week.
Pilates x 2 hours each week.

Plus I walk and bike to and from most places if at all possible.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I’m very inspired by all the stories and support on this site.

Welcome aboard Caroline – wow! I was getting puffed out just reading your exercise regime. In the early days you may well find yourself feeling under the weather – we call this ‘carb-‘flu’. So for the first 10 days or so, you might struggle to maintain your program, but once your body has switched to fat burning mode (as opposed to carb burning) you should find your energy levels increase. Having said that, some days you might need a few extra calories, but still look to keep your carb levels down.

I’m sure others who have very demanding exercise regimes will be along with advice, but meanwhile be gentle with yourself in the early days of the BSD and listen to your body – if it says ‘I’m too tried to do this today’ give yourself a break and don’t demand too much.

Best wishes to you for every success. Hope we’ll see you out and about on other threads on the forum – there’s a wealth of experience and knowledge to tap into, plus bucket loads of encouragement and support.

Thanks SunnyB. That sounds very sensible advice.

During Nov and Dec I hired a dietician and did a calorie controlled diet. I lost 2lb as the calories 1,700 were barely less than I would normally eat. I’m 55 and don’t burn calories particularly quickly any more. I suppose that’s why lots of women my age put on weight. It’s a battle that I’m determined to win.

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Hi Caroline, Welcome to the forum.
I have a fairly physically active lifestyle, not from the gym but rather from my work. I have spent time with NHS nutritionalists who were unable to help me lose weight. – But I have been successful so far with this WoE, I have reached my initial target weight and plan to continue on to loose another one or two dress sizes.

Its not calories you eat that is important, its the macros (carbs / protein and fat) and the impact those have on our hormones. Our bodies do not have any method of monitoring the number of calories we eat. – The hormone regulation which controls if we put on weight, or turn to our own fat stores for fuel is driven by insulin levels. – If you keep your carb intake low and protein levels moderate so you have low levels of insulin then your body can access your own fat stores to make up the difference between the calories you eat and those you burn. – This is called ketosis, If your insulin levels are high then your body can’t access your fat stores and instead has to become more efficient in how many calories it needs to function.
If you go through the Take a look at this thread you will find quite a few links to articles and podcasts by people like Dr Bikman, and Dr Fung which help to explain this in more detail.
Depending on what your ratio of carbs / protein and fat looks like at present, you may want to take it in stages. Cutting out the “big whites” as I call them, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, flour etc and then once you are used to that bringing your levels of carbs down more until you are in fat burning mode. The level of carbs you can tolerate and be in fat burning mode varies for different people, some can cope with 50g a day, others have to get below 20g.
You may struggle initially with energy levels when you change over to low carb simply because your body is out of practice. However, I recently discovered that “carb flu” is linked to an electrolyte imbalance, so adding salt to your diet reduces the problems. – There is a link to an article on this also on the take a look at this thread.
You may find the book the Art and Science of Low Carb living by Dr Phinney as well as podcasts he has published as a useful resource. He is very focused on low carb for sports people.

Thank you for your welcome and wonderfully informative post.

I think low carbing works for me so I’m very hopeful.

I’ve set my MyFitnessPal stats to 30g of carbs per day. I’ve just ordered some ketosis sticks. I’ll then play around with the carb grams to see what works for me, testing for ketosis along the way. I’m a bit confused about what are good carbs. But I’ll learn quickly I’m sure.

Thanks.

Hi, I use the fatsecret app because it records the net carbs rather than the total carbs. It just makes life a bit simpler.
From what I have read the pee sticks for ketosis are unreliable. This is an example of an extract from an online article on how to measure ketosis
“One of the reasons they are inaccurate is that the body will naturally excrete more ketones before they are keto or fat adapted than after they adapt. So if you begin on a ketogenic diet, it is natural to see high levels of urinary ketones. Once you are keto-adapted, this should drop to small to moderate levels as the cells are more responsive to the ketone levels. If your levels stay elevated it means your cells are not utilizing ketones effectively.

Changes in hydration will also effect the concentration of ketones. If you are super hydrating your system the way that I teach you too, you will dilute your ketone concentration in the urine. Very high ketone readings are often indicative of a dehydrated state.”

That article goes on to recommend using the expensive breath monitor that is available on the market. – However, other articles online compare the results of the expensive ketones breath tester with the cheap breathalysers available for under £10 from amazon. I bought one of the cheap breathalysers a month ago to play around with and am very pleased with that decision. By now you will have realised that I am a bit of a nerd 🙂 so enjoy doing things like seeing what impact different meals have on my ketones readings.

I have posted links to articles and a video on using the cheap breathalyser on the forums that clearly shows an image of the unit so you could order the same one. It seems to be sold under different names by different companies on Amazon.

Hi all can you assist me – I am rather confused. I have the recipe books (plus others by Dr Mosley). I have lost weight and now just trying to tone.

Unfortunately I have been eating too much sweets/lollies and a large sourdough roll every day. I need to detox as addiction to sugar is my thing.
I have stopped eating sugar Day 1 was 26 May 20 this is now day 10. I have been following the fast 800 however my ‘Easy Diet app’ breaks down between calories eaten/drunk and show how many calories I’ve burnt from exercising. When I net these off I am still within the 800. Should I ignore the net and just look at the food intake and ignore the exercises that enables me to eat above the 800.

An example Yesterday Food = 1152 and my
exercising equated to (363)-
the overall net was 10 cal remaining.

This is the usual exercise routine (excluding when I go to the gym)

My exercises are:-
Monday
Body pump 50 min
Reformer pilates 45 mins

Tuesday
Body pump 50 mins
Callanetics 45 mins
Elliptical trainer, low 20 mins
Wednesday
Body pump 50 min
Callanetics 45 mins
Thursday
Callanetics 45 mins
Friday
nil
Saturday
Body pump 45 mins
Callanetics
Sunday
Body pump 50 mins
pilates 45 mins

Hi ajfella,
I would suggest you have a look at the podcasts and links on the Take a Look at this Thread. maybe go back to early 2018 and work your way forward. I particularly recommend the work of Dr Bikman and Dr Fung in understanding that not all calories are equal.

Out bodies don’t work on calories, they respond to the carb, protein and fat in our diet. – If you eat high carbs it raises insulin levels, which controls if your body is in fat storage mode or using fat as a fuel. High insulin levels also block the bodies growth hormone system which is what you need to activate to build muscle.

In summary, if you want to build muscle, keep carbs low, enough that you are in ketosis, protein levels at 0.6 to 0.8g per kg of target weight and the rest of your calories from healthy fat.

Some people find they can be in ketosis at 50g of carbs, others have to drop to under 20g. – If you want to be sure then aim for under 20g.

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