Hi, I am on day 5 of the 800cal BSD.
Doing this with my partner who has type 2 diabetes.
I am overweight (3 stone over ideal BMI), but blood sugar levels are fine.
Been on the diet 5 days and just feel really strange: light headed, legs wobbly, feel hungry despite being full. Any ideas why?
Ta!

Hi there and welcome!

It might be your body ridding itself of all those carb-toxins and fighting you every step of the way, making you feel like only those sweets and grains can make you feel good again. It’s a mind and body game and those carbs are STRONG persuaders! I bet you’re stronger, though! In fact, I know you are or you wouldn’t be here! You’re on the right track to a phenomenal life with your partner!

There are many wiser and more experienced folks than myself but my experience (and I’ve only just started Week 4 so I’m really not that experience, at all) was that the first two weeks were undeniably awful. I was hungry beyond words, to the point where my kitty’s strong muscular hind leg began to feel like like a chicken or a turkey leg to me and would make me salivate, craving sweets (but, truly, all carbs) beyond measure, was super weak and unbelievably crabby. There were days where I was sure I was going to give up and just couldn’t feel those feelings anymore. I wanted to give up so badly! What helped me, and I got the idea from someone in this forum but I can’t remember who, was to google pictures of T2D patients with severe foot problems who were either awaiting amputation or very close to it. I got started because I was diagnosed T2D in October 2016 so those pictures helped me stay on track, as much as I hated every gosh darn minute of those first two weeks. On the first day of Week 3, it was like a light switched and I experienced my very own miracle because my hunger disappeared, my strength returned, and my mood made leaps and bounds to the sunny side.

Now, into Week 4, I’m never hungry and always have energy which has made me want to walk more and move more. It’s been amazing. And now, I just looked at the clock, and my first 24 hour fast (ok, pseudo-fast because I had some tea and broth) ended 15 minutes ago and I didn’t even realize it. For a foodie by nature and a trying-to-be-former carb addict by choice (I mean, by the choices I alone made for myself!), that’s kind of mind-blowing! I’m prepared for the carb addiction battle to be waged in my mind in some way or other every day so I’m not surprised when it happens and I’m overjoyed when I get to the end of the day and realize I haven’t thought about it once. Of course, that day hasn’t come yet but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost hope that it ever will. I’ve only just begun this trip……my goal is that within a year, I’ll have experienced at least one day where I didn’t secretly (or not so secretly) dreamed about a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

Stay strong and be kind to yourself…..you can do this! WE can do this 🙂 . There are so many people in this community willing to reach out a hand or a hug to help in every way possible!
Lisa

Hi Cass (may I call you Cass?) It’s carb flu. Your body is detoxing from the poisons you’ve been eating all your life, and believe me there’s a ton of evidence out there that show refined carbs and particularly sugar are toxic and addictive.
The sensation of feeling hungry when full is your gut demanding those foods which you are now denying it. Did you know you have neurons in your gut connected to the brain? These are what sends out the fake sensations of hunger; it’s all in MM’S book Clever Guts, a book which makes sense of the fairly secret life of our digestive tract.
So, the good news is that it doesn’t last long, 2 or 3 days and then you’re out the other side feeling really energised and in control of your eating.
Read around the threads and you’ll find lots of information and links. I would encourage you to explore them as the more knowledge you have the better your understanding of this way of eating and the more you’ll get out of it.
Welcome to the board and do stick around to share your journey. And the best of luck to you both.
Maggie

If our bodies have been used to regular supplies of refined carbs, getting energy from other food sources and our fat reserves means they have to work a bit differently. You may also be in a form of withdrawal for sugar or other substances you’ve given up. It’s quite common to feel a bit weird as your body adjusts to the changes. That passes really quickly.

Are you drinking lots of plain water? If not, do try to have a glass at least every couple of hours. I found that very helpful.

When you make this change in eating habits you are making a wide range of changes to your body. For example.
The range of gut bacteria you have and the ph of your gut will have developed based on your diet and there will be dramatic changes following your change in eating patterns which will have some impact on how you feel. You will be providing more food for some types of bacteria which will be multiplying, and those bacteria which feed on carbs will be dying off. – There is some research which suggests that they will not go quietly, and will be trying to encourage you to continue with your old eating habits, but this is an area of research which is just starting. (Its rather difficult to research in a lab setting 🙂
There is research that demonstrates that the presence of bacteria which break down sugars produces a by product which causes inflammation in other parts of the body.
Also a high sugar diet produces a ph environment which encourages yeast infections in your gut. The yeast anchors itself in the gut by putting threads through the gut lining which causes leaky gut. As the ph changes, the yeast dies off and the gut lining can heal.

This may all sound unpleasant. but the reality is that we are doing a lot of long term damage to our bodies eating a high carb diet, so its all well worth making the change. –

I had been eating a high carb diet from childhood. My family background was that you had bread and butter with every meal to help fill you up, and my mother coped with my eating habits by providing extra bread and butter because it was something I would eat. – The first couple of weeks on this way of eating were hard, but I have so much more energy having gone through that phase. Just give your body a little time to adapt and you will feel the benefits.

There are a range of different recommendations on podcasts and books on the take a look at this

Thanks Lisa 🙂

Thanks Maggie, yes of course call me Cass 🙂

Thanks for all your replies – I am feeling a bit better this morning mercifully! It’s all very interesting – I wasn’t prepared for feeling quite as bad as I did yesterday from the information MM had given in the book!
Thanks again
Cass
x

Hi Cassiopeia, yes it could be carb flu although I have never experienced this – maybe because I had already worked out that carbs were not good for my diabetes and had cut by about half when I started this plan. You could also be suffering from low blood sugar, it makes you feel weak and wobbly and gives you blurred vision, strong hunger pangs – you might not feel hungry but if you are sticking to 800 cals your body will be screaming for food. As you are not diabetic this only has a short term annoyance effect and you will get used to the diet and soon be able to tolerate the low calories. However, your partner might also be experiencing this too and will need to watch their blood sugar very carefully. Do they take medication, do they have a blood monitor, how are they feeling. They might need to reduce meds or have an emergency snack nearby in case they go low. Please talk to them and ask them if you can pass on any information that might help to keep him / her safe.

Should have said the snack should be BSD friendly like a piece of ham or chicken or a tablespoon of yoghurt with a couple of prunes. It might take them over the 800 but if it is needed it is needed and better than the old remedy of having something really sweet and fast acting which increases BG quickly but it drops again very soon.