Hi all, I’m now on day 10 and it’s going ok. Sorry to ask this, but has anyone had issues with the ‘runs’?! I can only guess it’s down to a change in diet (much more veg) and drinking more water??

Hi Jane-31, yes I think it’s quite common to notice, ah, a change in bowel habits, one way or the other (!) in the early stages! Many people, myself included, get quite constipated when I started this way of eating, but it soon settles down when your bowels adjust.
Stick with it and I’m sure it will pass. No pun intended.

Thank you Bissell! That’s quite a relief to hear. I am sticking with it although the scales seem to think I’ve gained a pound overnight!

That pound is probably water retention causing a glitch. Make sure you are keeping well hydrated, squeeze in an extra glass or two of water – ironically even more important given your recent bowel issues, as this can affect hydration.

Thanks SunnyB – why would I be retaining water though? Is that because I’m not drinking enough?

If you’re not drinking enough to compensate for the loss of fluids from the runs, your body may be working overtime to desperately cling to whatever water is left. Drink water constantly, and be sure to add some salt to your food to replenish your electrolytes. Think of yourself as a cholera patient connected to a saline drip until the crisis is over.

I know it’s hard advice to take, but try not to overthink these random ups and downs. It’s very early in the process and your body will do all kinds of weird and inexplicable things as you move forward. It can drive you batty if you dwell on it too much. As much as possible, just go with the flow.

Thank you Esnecca, off to get more water! 🙂

Well, I’m so frustrated and down today. Not lost a damn thing for 4 days now – I will never reach my goal at this rate. Just want to comfort eat and stop feeling hungry. Can’t even face another drink of water.

No — don’t stop now — you’re going to break through very soon — just stay calm and keep going — don’t weigh so much!!! The hunger is going to abate and you don’t have to drink so much if you are “flooded”! Stay calm — this way of eating works and you have already done the hard beginning part!
We tend to overthink this and measure against our imagined perfect weight-loss. Your body is unique and will get on with it in its own time. It’s working really hard for you — just give it a chance.

Thank you Californiagirl. Sadly I need to lose a lot of weight – my recommended weight for my height is between 7st 13lb and 10st 11lb. I’m currently 14st 10lb. It feels as though I’ll never achieve it, which is so frustrating when I’m putting in so much effort to stick to 800 cals a day and then not seeing anything for 4 days. A friend said, it’s only 4 days, but that’s half a week and there’s only 8 weeks of this diet to lose all that weight in. My goal was 12st, I thought that wasn’t too unrealistic, but thinking very differently at the moment. I feel angry at my body for not losing it too, when I’m giving it all the right foods. Sorry for moaning, just feel low.

No no no — your body IS doing what it needs to do — it just hasn’t shown up on that blasted evil contraption called the scale.
Right now your body is probably in ketosis, burning fat, mobilizing fat stores and your insulin levels are very low — your human growth hormone is elevated and that is really good. You may be holding on to water because bodies do that as they start to lose weight, but it is not fat, it is water and it will go.
I know it is frustrating and we get mad but just don’t let the old patterns derail you — it is so easy to fall back into the “comfort zone” — I know, I was there — have a bit of cheese and go watch Game of Thrones or something equally intense to distract you!!!
You are doing great. This will work but you have to give it a bit of time — please don’t quit!!! It is going to get easier and you will amaze yourself.

Jane-31, you are doing what a lot of dieters do, why are you blaming yourself and your body. Your body is wonderful and just gone through a big upheaval of losing weight and it needs time to take in that information and look at what is happening to it. Of course it wants to hang on to water and wants to hang on to its fat, it is comfortable with it. You are in control, you have to show it you are making changes and it just has to accept that and get over itself. Dont worry it will. This is probably the time when people give up but it is the wrong time. Your friend is right, it is only 4 days, plateaux can last longer then we get what is known as a whoosh moment when the weight starts dropping off again. Stop worrying, stop blaming yourself and dont stop the plan.

Thank you – just sitting here in tears at the moment. Feeling overwhelmed but grateful for your replies.

My first plateau struck on my 4th week which was coincidentally the first week I began weighing myself. I went up and down 4 pounds that week. To say I dissolved into a puddle of tears on a daily basis is to dramatically understate the case. If I’d had any makeup on, it would have been smeared all over my face like Baby Jane. The next week I lost seven pounds.

Plateaux can sap your will and I hate to say it, but they don’t get any more tolerable as time passes. It’s always a struggle and takes a lot of mental fortitude to white-knuckle your way through it. The good news is they pass. Try as much as possible to push the static out of your mind and go about your business. You have food to measure and weigh, menus to plan, grocery lists to write, the whole rest of your busy life to live. Your body will catch up to you. Trust it.

On the larger question of your long-term weight loss goals, if the Google conversion is accurate, I’ve lost 11 stone in a year on the BSD. Your goals are totally achievable. There will be fits and starts. There will be moments of head-exploding frustration and moments of uncontainable joy and exultation. Let the latter carry you through the former and never forget that your will alone determines what you eat and drink, what you do, what you dwell on. You can’t control the numbers on the scale, but in the end they’ll give in to your persistence and strength too.

Thank you Esnecca and wow, well done you for your success! That’s amazing. I’d like to get down to 10st ideally, but my goal for the 8 weeks was 12st. I will stick with it – not even relapsed today at all, despite being sorely tempted – managed 728 calories. Yes, you are right about the head exploding moments, the tears and frustration. It’s not always easy to remember the good stuff at those times. If I don’t achieve my 12st goal at the end of the 8 weeks, what then? I’ve read people do the 5:2 BSD as a follow on programme, but is there any advice on how long you do that for before trying this 800 calories way again?

Jane, Esnecca is one of our BSD heroes, she has been there and experienced just about anything this WOE can throw at us. Listen to her wise words and hang in there. You are among friends.

You can happily do back to back rounds of 800. Many of us do / have done. I did 2 rounds myself and lost 47lbs in the 16 weeks even though I hit my first plateau of 12 days less than 2 weeks in, then had a whoosh followed by another 10 day plateau a couple of weeks after that. I have now been on maintenance for 3 months, so your goal is achievable. Some prefer to intersperse rounds of 800 with a period of 5:2 – totally up to you and what you feel comfortable with.

Just hang in there, believe in yourself and trust your body. It WILL happen.

Thanks Theodora. I’m still on the wagon – but 12 days with no change must have been tough. Thanks for the encouragement.

Plateaus, oddly enough can be a very good sign. The visceral fat around your organs is the most damaging, and while your body is burning this for some reason, probably water/healthy tissue replacement reasons, this doesn’t seem to be reflected by the scales. Make sure in particular you are keeping a check on your waist measurement or trying on formerly too tight clothes during a stall in weight loss, as these non scale victories often come instead of the weight loss.

Thanks Mixnmatch – that’s amazing timing, as I measured my waist today, and I’ve lost 2 inches around my tummy button. I also happened to try on a coat that I couldn’t fasten a few months ago, and whilst I can now (hurray!) it’s still a bit tight – but promisingly heading in the right direction. Still no change on the scales though … maybe tomorrow??

Hi Jane

I hope you are feeling a little better today – having read your posts you are due a day of feeling better about yourself! My suggestion, for what it’s worth, is to stop weighing yourself every day. It’s obviously not helping you. I know that Dr Mosley suggests often but weighing every day is a very personal thing. For me it absolutely does not work as if I have lost weight it gives me ‘permission’ to cheat. I only weigh once a week.

In addition, and I’ve given this advice before, drink water like it’s your second job. You will wee for England (or whatever country you are from) but that’s practically fat’s only way out so make it a priority. As a general rule between 2-3 litres is what you should aim for. I drink a lot more most days.

Thirdly, officially(Google :)) a plateau is when you have not lost weight for FOUR WEEKS!!.It is absolutely normal not to lose weight for up to two weeks, it happened several times with me. It is definitely easier to cope with when you only weigh weekly 🙂

Please hang in there – the first few days are absolutely the worst and it would be such a shame to undo that HALF A STONE you’ve already lost in 10 DAYS…..I will say it again – HALF A STONE IN TEN DAYS. Be proud of yourself, that’s massive achievement. DOn’t just look at how far you have to go but how far you’ve come…already.

Keep us posted, we are all here for you

TC xxx

Thanks so much topcac for your kind and encouraging words! I am feeling better today, thankfully. I’ve not been blessed with much patience sadly, so the thing about weighing every day for me, motivates me (most of the time) to keep going. Even when the scales get stuck like they have done recently, I feel cross or get down, but I do carry on! I’m honestly not sure I could go a whole week without weighing.

I’ve taken your advice about water on board though, and managed to drink about 2 litres today – that’s a LOT for me, as I don’t really enjoy it and under sufferance usually only manage a couple of glasses a day. I’ll continue to try and get as much water down me as possible from now on, now it’s been explained why it’s so important, so thanks for that. As an aside – I lost another pound today 🙂

Hi
I’d like to thank Jane for raising the question and the ones who answered.
I am not weighing myself since it’s been a big trigger to eat in the past but I’ve been on this for 3 days and don’t feel I’ve lost any weight. Your replies on trusting the body are heaven to me right now.
A million thanks

Three days in is much too early to worry Amsterdam joins. And almost certainly, whether you can feel it or not, you will have lost weight. Patience and perseverance is key. Don’t measure your progress against that of others, as our bodies are all unique and yours will do what it needs to do, when it needs to do it. Be assured though, the BSD DOES work and it WILL work for you too.

Best of luck to you and we’ll be looking forward to reading about your progress.

Hi everyone,

I am about to restart the diet on Monday after battling feelings of hopelessness, but I have been so amazed by the depth of knowledge, perseverance and support you are all sharing. Like Esnecca, I have seven stone to lose and I keep starting but quickly get disheartened by the sheer size of the task. Your achievements, all of you, are so impressive and inspiring. I think if I could just see some results I would be inspired to get on with it.

Hi Rosyposy — there isn’t a better antidote to the feeling of hopelessness than the BSD. By starting out you are choosing a path with so many good benefits and outcomes — weight loss to be sure, but so many side benefits too! Be proud of yourself for starting — you’re taking responsibility and it is going to empower you more and more as time goes on.
Break it down into mini-goals so you don’t have to face the whole of it as once. It is going to get easier as you learn the best way to use the BSD principles for your own body. Everyone finds their own way of BSD’ing.
Good journey! I will look for your posts! And no matter what, good or bad, just don’t quit! If you have a tough day, just start again.

There is a thread on the forum for posting mini-goals – just search for it using the search box in the top right of this page. This is a great place to put your next goal out there and everyone will offer support as you move towards it. Breaking the task down into smaller chunks makes the whole thing feel more manageable.

Californiagirl is right, we all fine our own way to work with BSD, but we are all here to offer support and a hand up, when things get rough. Try to stick with it, just one day at a time and when you slip up – as you will, because we all do – shout out and someone will help you back up.

Best of luck, Rosyposy.

Thanks so so much SunnyB and Californiagirl! That was only the second time that I’d posted on this forum and I’m really heartened by the response. Will keep you posted and look forward to hearing more from you guys

Hi Rosyposy, welcome back, and I agree that splitting a large goal like you have into many mini-goals, and not all scale related, is key to keep you going when things slow down as they will from time to time. Weight mini-goals can be in both metric and imperial units for extra reasons to celebrate, they can relate to how much weight has gone as well as to new weight or BMI numbers achieved, smaller dress sizes, inches/cm off waist and hips, even the first time you can do something easily like cut your toenails, or touch your toes. All of these and more were reasons for celebration as I lost the eight stone I needed to, to reach my current weight. You won’t do it all in 8 weeks anyway, so you will have to be in it for longer, mini-goals just make it more bearable (along with the fact that the food is basically wonderfully tasty).

You’re very welcome Amsterdam joins! I wish you success on your weight loss journey. Things do start getting a little easier when you find your way around some recipes you like.

Hi there,
I’m starting today so my first hurdle is to get below seventeen stone. ( I’m currently 17st 10. ) Can’t believe I just shared that!! Feeling ‘stoked’ as my teenage sons say😝

Have a great first day, Rosyposy. You will hopefully see the back of the bulk of that first 10lb this week. Like Mixnmatch says, celebrate every small success, whatever it is and please share it with us too, as we love an excuse to celebrate.When things get sticky – and they will – just put any slips, blips and transgressions behind you quickly and get back to the BSD. And share all of that too, so that we can offer support and encouragement.

Amsterdam joins, hope you are doing okay and sticking with it. Let us know how you get on when you weigh in. I personally find that weighing frequently helps to keep me focused, regardless of where the numbers are, but we all need to find a way to make the BSD work for us and if it helps you not to have frequent weigh ins that’s fine. Remember, even when the scales don’t show a loss, you might well have lost in cm, so use all the measurements of progress you can, as it helps to have something positive to celebrate.

Good luck to you both and we look forward to reading about your progress in the weeks to come.

Hi Rosyposy. By the time you read this, your first day will be over. Well done! I’ve just finished my first week, and I can’t believe how easy I’ve found it. So hope you find the same. I’m signed up to the BSD Australian programme (tho I live in Scotland). So I’m getting menus and shopping lists and recipes a week at time. and that is exactly how I am going to take it – one week at a time. You’ve done the hard part. Getting on the scales. Coming on here and putting it in black and white. I’ve only been on this forum a few days, but from reading past posts, I can tell that you will get loads of support. There are some super success stories and lovely positive people. We’re all on this journey together and know it’s taking us in a new direction and one we need to stay on. Welcome along. (Ps. I’ve lost 4.5 lbs which I think is great for a starting weight of 14 St 7.)

Sounds like you’re doing brilliantly LuckyLil! That’s a great loss and it sounds as if you have really got yourself into the groove. It’s great to hear everyone else’s story- there are some amazing achievements.
I’m on day 3 now and am struggling as I had to get up at 5 to drive my son to the airport. The temptation to ingest large quantities of sugar are very strong but have resisted so far. So easy to give up and to promise to start again tomorrow ( default mode for me). Onwards and upwards.

Thanks Rosyposy. Having done every diet going over 30 years, im not really on this for weight loss, but to get my blood sugar into normal and avoid meds. (See my post on depressing NHS advice). And this must be why I’m finding it so different. I know I’ve been fortunate, but 11 days in and I haven’t had any headaches, felt unduly hungry, or even had a sneaky glass of wine. This must be the longest my liver (poor thing) has gone without alcohol in two decades! Hubby says he’s never seen me so determined. (He, as always, has lost more lbs than me and isn’t even fat.) I’m really interested to see if having cut out all these processed foods and thus most sugars will actually reduce a sweet tooth in the long term. Being Scottish, I’m sure I must have kept Tate and Lyle in profit over the last half century – tablet, macaroon bars, tray bakes. But my body is telling me “sorry, can’t do it anymore”. So hopefully I’ve found a way of eating that will be sustainable. The stories on here fill me with optimism.
Carole

Hi Jane-31. How you doing today? Hope you’re feeling better. Have a giggle on me:

One of my little goals is to get comfortably back in to a favourite pair of jeans (about 10-14 lbs away). So I thought it’d be good to have a before picture of me squeezed half into them now. Took an amateur selfie in the mirror, on my phone. Not a pretty sight. Burgeoning abdomen, huge boobs, gap revealing inches of pink, Bridget Jones knickers.
Last night hubby is on his iPad and suddenly says, “yikes, what the hell is this?” I forgot my phone is tied to his iPad and uploads my photos automatically. Cue much laughter. And even more reason to get to a decent after photo. Ah well, they say it’s good to share. 😬

Hi Luckylil – Thanks so much for sharing your story – it really did give me a giggle! Probably because I can so picture the scene (and a similar thing happening to me too!) I seem to have got over my blip with weight not shifting, for the time being anyway. It’ll be 3 weeks tomorrow since I started and I’ve lost 11lbs!! Still greedy for more though 😀 and hoping it’ll come off in more than 1lb increments, which is what it’s doing for the past week. Dropped a lb last Friday, same Saturday, dropped another lb Sunday, same Monday, and dropped again on Tues and Thursday by a lb each time. Yep, I can live with that – 3lbs a week is fine for me, thanks very much. Let’s hope it continues or even increases, lol! I’m aiming for half a stone at a time, so only 3lb off my first stone …

Does anyone know what the recommended amount of carbs is per day on this diet please? I’ve read the book but can’t remember if this was covered. Thanks 🙂

Hi Jane-31
I don’t think it is actually specified in the book, but a good proportion of us aim for 50g of carbs a day or less. Think most people find that doable whilst seeing good results at that level. However, some of us push beyond that and try for sub 20g. Really, it’s a case of seeing what suits you and your body. By the way, dropping a pound a day is amazing! I’m a slow loser, so have never seen anything that good, even on the BSD.

Luckylil – you should indeed see a lessening in your sweet tooth. This way of eating changes your tastes and preferences when it comes to foods. Things you really loved to eat before, will become much less palatable.

Hope you both continue to see good results – keep going and keep posting.

Thanks SunnyB, I thought I remembered reading on here someone aiming for 20 or less each day and just checked out my porridge and that was 24g of carbs per serving!! Hence the question. By the way – I wish it was a pound a day – but still ok with 3lb per week. I’d be curious to know what others weight loss averages out at per week too.

Sorry Jane-31, I must have misunderstood your post about how much you had lost, but 3lb in a week is good going. Being slow loser, I have rarely managed more than a pound a week. If you want to continue with your porridge, try trimming the portion size and aim nearer to the 50g carbs level daily, unless you are diabetic, when trimming the carbs back harder is important to aim blood sugar control.

No worries SunnyB! Not sure how I’d cope with a pound a week – I think with great difficulty if I’m honest. I’ve always maintained my body is slow at everything, as it takes forever to heal itself if I get a cold/virus or some soft tissue injury. Well done you for persevering with it. Only have a 25g portion of porridge as it is, but now I know about the sort of levels of carbs to aim for, I’ll be taking more notice of the recipes in the book. Made the Cauliflower Cheese tonight, and it was sooo delicious! I’m not diabetic, just want to lose some weight and if it continues at 3lb per week, I’ve worked out it’ll take me til Christmas to reach my target weight.

I’m one of the people who has set themselves a daily carb limit of 20 grams per day. I’m not diabetic but I am insulin resistant and have been since my late teens. For years I followed the advice of my doctors to eat more complex carbs (whole wheat, brown rice, barley, amaranth, spelt, etc) than simple ones and for years I steadily gained weight that I could not shed until finally I was over 300 pounds. If I hadn’t found the BSD, I’d still be dreading the physical challenge of walking 20 feet to the bathroom. I don’t touch any grains now, I don’t care how supposedly healthy they are. I know what they do to me and it ain’t pretty.

What kind of oats are you eating? Steel-cut/pinhead oats or rolled oats? If it’s the latter, I would junk them. If it’s the former, they’re probably alright. You can always ditch them when your weight loss rate slows. And it will slow, Jane, so prepare yourself for it. If you can’t cope with the idea of losing a pound a week now, you are going to lose your mind when you reach a plateau that lasts days, even weeks. As someone who has been doing the Fast800 for a year and has dealt with multiple stalls and the hysterical fits of frustration, rage and tears they induce, I strongly advise you not to extrapolate your current weight loss into the future. It will only make the inevitable meltdown worse when you hit the wall.

They are rolled oats Esnecca – so not good then? I was only going on what the recipe book says, as I’ve never even heard of the steel cut/pinhead variety. What do you mean by extrapolate? Predict a certain weight loss over a period of time??

Rolled oats are steamed and flattened so they cook faster. That strips of them of some of their fiber which means your body has to do less work to convert them to glucose so their impact on blood sugar is higher and faster than steel-cut oats which are the complete raw groat that’s been chopped up into tiny bits. They take longer to cook and longer to digest. My OH (who is naturally slim and has no blood sugar issues) has them for breakfast. Because there is no way he’s stirring oatmeal for 40 minutes every morning, I make a giant batch of them in the slow cooker on Sunday and he reheats a portion with a splash of almond milk in the microwave. Because steel-cut oats are denser and chewier than rolled oats, they can take reheating easily without turning to mush.

Yes, by extrapolate I mean apply your current rate of loss to months in the future as if there will be no changes. There will be. It can happen in fits and starts (no losses one week, a loss the next) or it can be a gradually slow-down. The closer you get to your goal weight, the more time it takes to shed a pound.

This is a completely natural process. Our bodies need to adjust to new realities and they’ll do it on their time table, not ours. There is no way to bypass this, no diet that will guarantee you x amount of pounds lost per week without fail until you cross the finish line. You just need to hold on tight and get through it.

I see, thanks for explaining all that. Is there a method somewhere on here on how to cook the pinhead oats in the slow cooker? So I’m guessing that as they contain more fibre, they’ll keep you feeling fuller for longer as well? Also thank you for the advice about future weight loss, I will definitely bear that in mind and try to be less scheduled about it – I tend to think of it as being on target at the moment if I’m losing 3lb a week, but what you’ve said makes perfect sense.

They should definitely keep you full longer than the rolled variety. I can’t speak from personal experience, but my perpetually hungry overgrown teenager of an OH can’t subsist on rolled oats without getting hungry again halfway into the morning. Only steel-cut oats truly tide him over until lunch time.

I don’t think there’s a recipe here for the slow cooker oats (it’s not the most BSD friendly of foods), but I can tell you how I make them. 🙂

Put two cups of oats and 8 cups of liquid in the slow cooker. I use unsweetened almond milk because it has little to no carbs and we always have some in the house. I’ve also used a mixture of nut milk and water when I was running low and it worked just fine. Add a teaspoon of salt and any spices or flavorings you like (cinammon, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla or almond extract, etc.). Add a teaspoon of butter. Stir it all together and cook on low for about 4 hours.

Check every hour to give it a nice stir and see how the cooking is going. There is a lot of variance in cookers so it could take more or less time. When it gets close to done it tends to stick to the bottom, so stir it more often in the last hour. You can tell from looking at it when it’s ready, which is good because I can’t taste test it. It goes from a hard little pellet to puffy and soft. The whole thing should be creamy without being soupy.

This will last you a long time because you eat so little of it, so depending on the size of your slow cooker, you might want to start off with 1 cup oats to 4 cups liquid. My slow cooker is too big to make the smaller batch. Anyway my OH eats like a horse, bless his heart, so there is no such thing as making too much of it in this household.

I get the oats from the bulk bin at my local health food store, but you can also find them packaged and sold in regular stores. They might be called Irish or Scottish oats. McCann’s is a popular brand. https://www.amazon.com/Mccanns-Steel-Oatmeal-28-Ounce-Pack/dp/B008J1HO4C?th=1

Thank you so much! That’s fantastic, I’m definitely going to try them – I found these online and have already ordered some, but always good to have more than one option: http://www.realfoods.co.uk/product/715/organic-oatmeal-pinhead. I’m trying to avoid too many eggs for breakfast as my body still hasn’t adjusted to this new diet yet and things haven’t ‘settled down’, and struggling to find alternatives! My slow cooker is a 3.5ltr one I think, no idea about the wattage, but I’ll try the small amount for 4 hours and see how I go 🙂

I don’t eat breakfast myself as I tend not to be hungry in the mornings so 16:8 intermittent fasting (only eating between noon and 8:00 PM) fits my natural inclination. Have you considered eating things not traditionally considered breakfast foods in the mornings? People in other cultures eat things like kimchi, fish, stewed fava beans and tomatoes for breakfast all the time. Heck, it wasn’t that long ago that kidneys and kippers were a common breakfast food in Britain.

What are your thoughts on tofu? Firm tofu cut into slices and marinated in soy sauce and fresh herbs make lovely little crispy pancakes. The best part about the tofu crispelles is they can stay in the marinade for days in the fridge and only get better tasting as the week progresses. You only have to do the work on it once, then it’s a simple matter of taking out however many slices you want and popping them on a hot pan for 5 minutes in the morning. You can also make fake scramble out of soft tofu by adding turmeric and a weird kind of black salt that has a sulfurous flavor which deceives your taste buds into thinking you’re eating eggs.

I only eat twice a day on this diet, mainly because of finding something that I like and that fits in to 800 cals. So I usually eat between 1pm and 7.30pm – so a very late breakfast!! I’m very traditional when it comes to food which makes things more tricky. I don’t like fish (apart from tinned tuna and salmon) and they have to be prepared with plenty of vinegar or else I can’t eat them (yes I know I’m probably a bit weird!) and also struggle with spicy food, so tend to leave out things like chillies in the recipes. I can’t eat mushrooms even! So you can hopefully appreciate that I haven’t even considered anything like tofu! Although you make it sound quite appealing. Sorry for waffling on but I guess I should look for alternatives to eggs and porridge … Thanks for your support 😊

Oh, we’re all weird in our own ways. I love canned tuna with lots of vinegar too. I make a salad where the tuna sits in vinegar and parsley for a while. It’s so tart and bright. Do you like fresh or smoked salmon or did you mean that you like only canned salmon?

You may find that your tastes change as you continue down the BSD road. Cutting out the white carbs, especially sugar and wheat, can alter your palate a great deal. It did mine. I used to avoid salty, sour and bitter foods, and like you, I had big problems spicy things. They gave me terrible heartburn. Now I can’t get enough of salty, sour, bitter and hot and I haven’t had heartburn since I quit the carbs.

I know it’s hard to contemplate right now, but try to keep an open mind even about preferences that you think are set in stone. This way of eating can cause seismic shifts far beyond the mere weight loss. Maybe set yourself a goal of trying something new once a week? Worst case scenario you don’t like it and you move on. There are enough restrictions in the Fast800 as it is. It might be helpful to try expanding your personal boundaries to give you more options.

You’re not waffling on at all. That’s what this forum is for. 🙂