Dear all

Apologies – I know this will almost certainly have been asked and answered here before, but I find the search function a bit hit and miss.

I am in week six, and have lost 13.4kg or 12% of my body weight. I’m not finding the low calorie eating difficult (although it’s hard to fit my diet into the eating plans of a family of four with two little kids).

I’m thinking of keeping up the 800 a day for more than the eight weeks. I’m hoping another go around would see me lose another kilo a week on average for ten weeks (the 2 I have plus 8). That would set me up to hit the 5:2 phase with something like 25kg gone, or 22% loss.

BUT – is that recommended or not considered safe/healthy / sustainable??

Any experiences welcome. I think some here (hashimoto??) has kept going. But what is the consensus and / or the “official” position?

I’d like to know too as I’d like to stay on 800 cals for longer. I’m not hungry at all and I think following the menu plan in the book is going to give me all the nutrients I need to stay healthy so can’t see why it would be a problem.

Hi Folks,
Bill contacted the BSD team about this and got the go ahead to continue a bit longer. He’s still on it. CaptainLynne has done 16+ weeks, Hashimoto did more than 8 but is now increasing her calories to maintain weight but still low carbing.
I think there are four or five others who have continued past 10 weeks.

Hey, thank you. I might keep going until 16 weeks or 91 kilograms, whichever comes first!

Hi – we tend to forget that if food was scarce or of low quality and low nutritional value we would not have the option. We know that active adults require around 2000+ calories per day to stay at a constant weight depending on diet and exercise. We have the luxury of deliberately reducing our food intake in order to burn off our fat reserves. If BMI is still above 25 then would expect to have more fat to burn. If the health benefits are triggered by fasting then where is the problem if the remaining diet is balanced? I have done 10 weeks to get to the Normal range with BMI 26.2 but over that period I have changed my eating style and should no longer need to count the calories and sugar that got me here. We all knew “Eat less and move more” was the answer but we didn’t do it properly.

I’m on week 11 and I really can’t see a problem.
After all, the whole start of this diet was because Prof Taylor noticed that post weight loss surgery patients were reversing their diabetes and those folk are living long term on a severely reduced calorie intake.

I’m in week 9 and actually looking forward to continuing. I lost 2 stone 3 pounds so far but have a few more stone to go. The only change I am now considering is taking a general vitamin supplement. I’ll stop the supplement as soon as I reach normal bmi / weight and move to maintenance. My husband finishes 8 weeks on Friday- he is 3 stone down in weight, all blood markers greatly improved, but still has a few stone to lose. So, we are both going to keep going.will keep posting progress. Have a go… We have nothing to lose but weight.
Much joy

What you say Skywalker makes sense, but then the Force is with you so it should! 🙂

The BSD is balanced so it is providing us with everything we need while we use those stores in our body as fuel. I’m going to keep going as there is definitely enough food on my plate throughout the day to satisfy my hunger until I drop the first 20kg. I’ll reassess then. 🙂

The folks from Dr. Taylor’s study returned to eating an isocaloric diet (33% of their calories from each macro) at about 2/3 of their caloric intake pre-diet at the end of 8 weeks (via a gradual ramp up). Since they were obese, and lost significant weight, a decrease from the calories needed to maintain their prior weight makes sense.

The bariatric patients are on drastically reduced calories for a longer period of time, but they also gradually return to a “normal” level of calories in 1-4 years. Most are only at a moderate deficit at a year.

Hi Toofastblack

I’m in my 18th week on the BSD. I started with between 6 and 6.5 stones (84 – 91 pounds) to lose, and the need to get my blood sugar levels down

To date I have lost 47 pounds (over 20% of starting body weight). And my blood sugar readings are within the normal range.

When I asked the team about continuing past 8 weeks, they said it was ok for a couple of weeks if I felt ok and had no problems, but then go to 5:2. As I felt so well and have no problems sticking to 800 calories a day, I decided to stay with this longer, reviewing the situation every 8 weeks.

At this point I cannot say when/if I will move off the BSD. I feel better than in years and now realise just how much damage carbs were doing to my health. There is no way I will be able to eat many of the foods I used to – I can’t risk my health deteriorating again.

I see my diabetes nurse monthly to monitor my progress. Tomorrow I’ll be having blood taken for HbA1c – which will give the average reading for 3 months entirely within the time I’ve been on the BSD. I’m intrigued to see the difference compared to the last couple of tests 😃

Thanks to all that took the time to comment. At some future point we will all need to go back to some kind of energy balance intake. It might be low carbon, but it will need to meet our energy needs. Whatever that will be it will be north of 800.

To those well beyond 8 weeks, well done. And good luck! Especially you Lynne, who seems to have about the same goals as I do.

You may be interested to know that Michael Mosely often refers to a Melbourne University study on VLCD participants – I was a participant in that study. It involved around 800 calories a day (meal replacement shakes for all meals!) for 16 weeks. The researcher thought I must have been one of the few that stuck rigidly to it, as I lost 40kg in 16 weeks (i started at a massive 155.8kg, the biggest I have ever been). So I know that (a) you can go beyond 8 (or even 16) weeks and (b) they work.

I’m staying on until 16 weeks or until I hit 91.2kg (25kg lost) whichever comes sooner. Then I’ll give 5:2 Med a go.

Thanks all! Good luck!

That will be interesting to see the results CaptainLynne.

I think that if our doctors know what we are doing, especially if we’re on any kind of medication that might be affected by dieting, then provided they give the nod too, it should be okay to continue if we still have lots of weight to lose (like me!) I’m seeing my hematologist next week and she’s going to be very happy with my weight loss. She’s been telling me to lose weight for 10 years! I see her every 3 months and need a blood test done beforehand so I’ll be playing close attention to my blood sugar and cholesterol levels to see if there is any change.

And thanks for your answer Toofastblack – that really helps. 🙂

Hi TFB, i’m near the end of week 13 and have upped my calories since week 8. I stick to the principles of the BSD – no starchy carbs etc and my weight is now stable. Oddly I can eat more calories and remain at a stable weight than I could before the diet! I can now eat 1400 to 1600 calories a day whereas before I was gaining weight on 1000 calories. Weird but true! At 5’4 and 8st 12lbs I don’t really want to lose any more – unless it was from my stomach – but I have a feeling that that is mostly skin.

Good luck on the rest of your BSD journey and it is so interesting to know that you were part of a 16 week study. Respect! No way could I do 16 weeks of shakes! 🙂

Hi TFB
Like some others, I’ve carried on beyond the 8-week limit (currently 13 weeks) and am feeling no ill effects whatsoever. I’ve lost a stone and a half (9.5 kilos for our metric chums) in that time and am aiming for another 6-7lbs (3.5 kilos) to reach my target weight. I’ve stopped thinking of it as a diet and now view it as a change of eating habits. I followed the diet rigorously for the first 8 weeks, but do occasionally now have the odd slice of toast or bread when I feel like it, along with a potato or two occasionally. This seems to have no effect on my weight, which I’m losing at a steady 1.5 – 2 lbs per week. I also exercise every day (15 mins core strength in the morning and try to walk a few miles every day plus a weekly yoga class) so maybe that’s helped, too.
I was diagnosed pre-diabetic in January, which was the kick-start I needed. Wish I’d done it years ago – I sleep better, my skin is clear and (curiously enough) I’ve had no recurrence of the gout I was suffering from prior to Jan (which was the reason for the blood test in the first place).
Good luck. Your body will let you know when you need to stop losing – till then, go for it.

I am about to start week 8 and wanting to continue as have had remarkable loss. I do not have a scale so have done waist measurement and so far I have lost 20cm. Very proud of this achievement but, still have 15cm to get into healthy range. I do not find it difficult but am finding it sometimes hard to fill the emotional void with something else. So, I think I need to continue until that urge disappears (and I lose 15 more cm).

LouLou you have done really well!
Have you tried the mindfulness approach to filling the emotional void?

I can’t remember who it was but someone posted a list of their blessings for a day – it included things like getting a parking space without hassle!!
It really does help if you list every small thing during a day – I even list someone acknowledging I have let them passed when driving – little things can mean a lot when you add them up.

20cm of your waist is amazing in just 7 weeks! You must be so proud of yourself!
Plan a treat for yourself when you get another 5 cm off your waist, perhaps something new to wear or a BSD lunch with a friend.

wishing you the best 🙂

Thanks Hashimoto. I haven’t really got into mindfulness but agree it might be time to do so. The other motivator for me (given no scales) is taking a photo at start of each week. Believe me this has stopped family in their tracks. I am significantly smaller. In fact, dropped from dress size 22 down to 16-18. I am soooo impressed with this diet.

I am now on my 9th week and feeling great the compliments have come thick from close friends and people I meet in the street. I have spoken to my Doc. about it and he has given me the go ahead to continue as my sugar levels are improving and I need to lose more weight and I am a 71 year old so anyone can do it. Good luck to everyone.

Hi Elma the team told captainlynne she could continue for a while after the 8 weeks and she has just finished week 18!! So don’t worry about a few more weeks before switching to 5:2 🙂

Hi Elma
Way to go!👍
I’m in week 12 & off meds for a week & a half. My FBS shot up again at first but are now heading south daily so fingers x ?
I’m 65 in July & looking forward to it now ( well we all know the alternative don’t we).
Just had a family hol & went swimming! First time for years as I didn’t like to see me in a cosi let alone others! Looked OK & felt same. More water to come 🏊🏻 as I still need to lose more weight
Keep on keeping on

Hi.
New on the forum but now in week 14 of the 800cal. I started on shakes and non-starchy veg as per the Newcastle protocol but now I’m ‘on solids’ again. I’ve lost 2.5 stone so far but I’ve another couple of stones to go as I’m 81Kg and need to get to around 66kg to be in the middle of my normal BMI. My fasting BS levels have fallen from early teens down to mid-six’s. Weight loss has slowed significantly to less than 100g/day so I’m considering ‘proper’ fasting for a couple of days per week. This is also to help improve my insulin resistance and improve my BS readings. My HbA1c after eight weeks was 43 (normal 25-41). No ill effects 14 weeks in, though, and feeling hugely better in myself as my blood pressure is now low and my cholesterols are brilliant. Started the gym yesterday too.
guthlac

Good to hear guthlac but please be careful with the long fasting period, the last thing you want is a hypo.