I’ve been following the BSD way of life since January and so far have lost 33 lb. For the last six weeks or so I have not been able to see a downward trend in my weight loss and seem to have plateaued. My lowest weight has been 140 lb and I am up and down the same two pounds to 142 lb and then down to 140 and then up to 142. Has anybody got any tips to help me get through this – Ive tried intermittent fasting, drinking 4 litres of water daily and am sticking to low carb. Did anyone find they had to eat less than 800 to achieve their goal. My BMI is 26.8 today and I am 56 years old. Do you think my body is trying to tell me enough is enough and to start maintenance? I really did want to achieve a healthy BMI of 25 but it seems to be impossible for me to lose any more weight!

Have you tried eating more! Sometimes people have reported almost ‘kick starting’ themselves again by have a high number of BSD friendly calories for a day or so. Also BMI is a figure used as a guide only and not in favour as a measure by some medics. If you’re healthy at your current weight then stop stressing and start enjoying your new body!

CC i am not a frequent poster but do read regularly and was struck how familiar you and I were. I am 52, started last September have lost 48 lbs and am now at a BMI of 25.5 and am stuck.
Need to drop 3 lbs to hit normal BMI but just keep losing and gaining the same 2lbs since Xmas.

I too ponder shall I just revel in the fact I have dropped from a 20 to a 14- even bought pair size 12 jeans at weekend -but also put on the pesky 2lbs again by Monday .
But I set a goal and one of the benefits of choosing this diet is that I feel I have some control over my body by the choices I make . THat confidence has been so liberating.
Thinking about my behaviour as I write this I think I have been falling back into the trap of using food as a reward and alcohol. I notice myself say – ohh let’s have a little treat. These days they are BSD friendly treats but I’ll eat a punnet of strawberries rather than 5, I’ll eat lb of cherries which are lovely at the moment – even marinated some in brandy and sweetener mmmm-maybe I’ll keep these for Xmas.
For me I need to vary the food to keep motivated but I need to stop rewarding/ soothing myself with tasty treats.
It is also worth remembering that if you lose 20% of body weight that the calories needed just to potter a long will have significantly reduced so the final bit is always going to be a bit tougher .

So yes I do feel really happy with where I’ve got to but think will soldier on and reach that target . below I am writing what I need to remember- think I need to remind myself- I hope some of this might resonate with you CC.

Plan and tips
Don’t eat if not hungry
Count the calories -weigh at least some of the high cal food to give sense of intake.
Drink hot drink when hungry to lengthen meal free time
Stop self medicating with food and booze- find other treats- write a blog/ have a bath/ do nails etc
Drink more ruddy water
Won’t swoon on train if don’t have breakfast-
Alcohol makes me eat more the next day -double whammy
WIne is sweet because it has sugar in
Take Vit D and magnesium supplement – seems to do something to me and weight loss
Having a ‘good day’ doesn’t mean the next day is ‘all bets off’. Be a bit more consistent .

This am lost the weekend 2lb – hooray – and was going to create myself a tasty breakfast but decided to write this instead. Let’s do this !!!! Time for a coffee.

NN

CC
I agree with everything NN has said in her post and think her little reminders apply to most of us.

However, with regards to Verano’s comment about possibly eating a few more (bsd friendly obviously) calories for a few days, I thought I’d remind you of my experience when I hit target. My weight loss had slowed right down, as it tends to as your goal comes into view, but I got there and started slowly increasing calories to find my maintenance level – not dramatically, about 100 a day I seem to remember and, before I knew it – literally within a matter of days, maybe a week – another 5lbs had disappeared, despite the fact my calorie intake had risen to about 1300 – 1400!! Obviously this didn’t continue as my body adjusted to the extra intake, but it did give me 5lbs of wriggle room, for which I shall be eternally grateful 😉 So may be worth giving it a very careful shot for a few days, to lull your body into a false sense of security, before hitting it hard with the 800 again?

Obviously I am no expert, and accept no liability if it doesn’t work 😉😜😊

Just to back up what Theodora says, I did much the same when I reached my target, adding 50 calories per day to gradually increase my calories, and went all the way up to 2100 calories which is my approximate TDEE without putting a pound on and in fact lost about 4 pounds more. I also increased my carbs (of the non white stuff variety) proportionally as I am not a diabetic and wanted to reach a sustainable level of glycogen storage. On a recent low carb week which took my weight down to 5 pounds below my target I proved that I had successfully built up those glycogen stores again, without adding any fat. If you have stopped losing weight it may be worth trying this, counterintuitive as it sounds, to ‘reset’ your metabolism. Whatever you do, don’t starve yourself. 800 calories allows proper long term nutrition, reducing this even further is risky.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to give me the benefit of your experience.

Verano- your comment has really resonated with me- I do need to enjoy and appreciate my new, slim and healthy size 10/12 body so thank you for posting. I have been so keen to get to a “healthy BMI” that and I am not taking time to appreciate how far I’ve come.

Theodora- I do remember reading your posts when you first started maintenance and I remember that you did continue to lose weight so it might be that I need to increase my calories to kick start things. No harm in trying!

MIxnmatch- I am going to give kickstarting a go- thank you for sharing your experience.

nervousnellie- thank you for you’re useful tips and I will make a note of some for myself.

Overall I have decided to
1) have faith in the plan
2) be happy about where I am at – 34 pounds off
3) Try kickstarting my metabolism with a few more calories – I will never ever eat white carbs again- I haven’t missed any of them!

THANK YOU- watch this space for an update!

Cathy, two things that have jolted me out of terrible plateaux are a radical increase or change in exercise and an extended fast. The week I went from 10,000 steps a day to 20,000 I lost 9 pounds after two weeks of up and down over the same pound or two. I thought my scale had had a well-deserved nervous breakdown. Last month for the first time I tried a 48 hour water-only fast. I managed to draw it out to 52 hours and lost 6.5 pounds in three days. One pound came back on for a few days before finally getting and staying gone. I did the same fast last week and lost 6 pounds and none of those have come back.

I’m your same height and weight and also plan to get to that magic 25 BMI then keep going a little further. My weight loss has slowed considerably as I approach the target, but those end-of-month fasts have given me two double-digit loss months in a row, the kinds of figures I used to see when I first started the BSD.

Yes indeed, CC, you should be enjoying your new slim, healthy body and, probably, extra energy too. It is too easy to become bogged down with targets and 34lbs off is a great achievement.

It sounds as though you have formulated a great plan and I will look forward to hearing of your updates. In the meantime, take pride in what you have already achieved.

Esnecca, I am a fast-lover too (err, sorry for the unintended double entendre there😜) and now that I am in maintenance throw one in (generally somewhere between 24 – 40 hours) every now and again to counteract any slight weight increase. It hasn’t failed me yet – touching wood here.😉

Esnecca- I bought the Jason Fung Complete Guide to Fasting book a few weeks back and my plan was to use fasting as part of my maintenance plan if and when the time came. I enjoy the principle of fasting and have done a 24 hour fast and regularly do 16:8 to try and increase fat burning. I will take your advice and aim to do a longer fast and hope that kickstarts things.

I have so many tools to try now – thank you everyone for sharing. I feel really motivated and happy to continue on my BSD way of life and feel very, very optimistic.

The biggest thing ive learnt today has been to appreciate how far I’ve come! It has made me feel lighter about things.

Hi ClarinetCathy,
Blimey, reading your original post, I thought you were describing me! I’m 56yrs, I lost about 35lbs, and I’ve been hovering around 10st / 10st 2lb for months (forays below 10st don’t seem to last long). I’m still trying to lose that final 1/2 stone (feel free to read my profile). And I’ve been asking myself the same question – has my body had enough because it just wants to maintain. Glad it’s not just me!
After too many food rampages, I’m trying to refocus. So thank you to everyone who has made suggestions. We’ll see how it goes…

HI RozyDozy

Our weight loss stories are exactly the same! one thing I learnt really early on doing the BSD was not to compare my weight loss rate with others. Some people seemed to lose weight really quickly and I found that if I compared my small, slow losses to them I would be disappointed. There have been many times when I’ve really struggled through plateaux and thankfully I’ve kept my resolve and stuck with this way of life with a lot of support from my forum friends. There have been some great tips on here today and we can both take advantage of them and continue our journeys. What a fantastic forum this has been for us all.

Best wishes for the loss of the last half stone!

Theodora, I recall your excellent idea of using travel days as fasting days and I plan to do the same when I go on vacation in a couple of months. If all goes well, I’ll be on maintenance by then so I won’t be counting calories anymore. It’s going to be a whole new world. I’m hoping that bracketing a vacation filled with other people’s cooking with fasts will provide the structure and sense of security I know I will be missing, as well as mitigate any potential gains.

Cathy, I need to get that book. It was Dr. Fung’s website and YouTube videos that spurred me to try reaching the 48 hour mark on a fast because of its big impact on blood sugar and insulin levels. The first time I did it I well and truly enjoyed it, got that great feeling of mental clarity and lightness of being. The second time felt like more of a slog, but seeing those numbers on the scale get smaller to keeps you going better than anything.

Good luck on the home stretch!

Hi again, ClarinetCathy, or can I call you my BSD-twin! Just peeked at your profile – think our only difference is that you are vegetarian. Like you, I was slower in losing weight than others – but that never bothered me (being on blood pressure medication I didn’t fancy quick weight loss in case I went woozy) and I went my own way, just following the principles of the BSD.
I’ve just jotted down a menu for lunches & dinners for the next 3 or 4 days.
Danger time will be Friday night when I need to go shopping after work – must stick to the shopping list. (Don’t buy the crap stuff in the first place!)
And keep drinking!
Best wishes to you too for the final 1/2 stone.

Sometimes, even though I know what I should do, I need someone else to ‘approve’. So this thread was very timely.
I had stalled. I knew it was because I hadn’t eaten enough one day ~ we’d been out for the day, and in the rush I forgot to have any breakfast, lunch time I had planned to have fish and chips, but the cafe didn’t do F&C only carbohydrate rich stuff, so I passed, in favour of a proper ice cream cone (made with real cream and milk). It must have been a very high percentage of real cream because I didn’t get hungry after that. I ate a minimal supper (100g pilchards iirc) because I just wasn’t hungry, and forgot to have a protein shake at bedtime. It’s possible that the ice cream did indeed have the missing 670 calories, but I’d had a fast day (500cal) the day before, and that plus the long gap til I ate the ice cream could still have triggered it.
Anyways, the weight had stopped coming off well and truly when I read Verano’s post: “Have you tried eating more! Sometimes people have reported almost ‘kick starting’ themselves again by have a high number of BSD friendly calories for a day or so.” and it was a lightbulb moment and I knew what to do, and I am pleased to report that I have broken the stall, and lost another 3lb. 🙂

Thank you Verano 🙂

ROzyDozy- I’ve just read a post on another thread about you being resigned to accepting your 2.5 stone loss and do you know something- I feel exactly the same as you! Last week I got down to 138 lb and this week I am up again to 140.8. It’s virtually impossible to get below 140 and stay there. Like you I started at 12.7 and have lost 2.5 stone and as we have said, our stories are virtually identical. I really think I am going to have to accept my 2.5 stone loss which for me is phenomenal and concentrate on maintenance as I’ve tried everything over the last two months to get and stay under 140 lb.

Hi my BSD-twin, ClarinetCathy! It’s very strange that our weight loss mirrors each other so closely… my lowest weight was 138.5lb. I got tired of being disappointed at the lack of loss, so I comfort ate, so the vicious circle led to more disappointment, etc. I decided to take a break & be a bit more relaxed in what I scoff (there are some things I still miss). When I can recover some enthusiasm then maybe I’ll have another go. But we can’t all be size 10s, and 8st+ . I’ve gone from a size 16(clothes pretty much at breaking point) down to a size 14 (a little on the loose side) but not so far as to risk buying size 12. But I’m comfortable with that – I hate buying new clothes so a new wardrobe was never an incentive! I take comfort from the fact that in 2017 I have spent more days under 10st than in 2016 so maybe there is a glimmer of hope but I don’t think I have the necessary will to restrict things to get deeper into 9st territory, let alone stay there. But at least I’ve been able to maintain my losses of last year.
So good luck to you, hope you can keep where you are.

RozyDozy- I am impressed by your attitude and quite agree that for us it seems to be that we have done what we can and I have already stated that I will not eat any less than 800 calories in order to achieve my desired goal weight. It seems that this is as good as it gets for us both. I have been 100% committed to BSD and see it as a way of life like me being a vegetarian. I would never eat meat or fish and I will never eat white carbs ever again. This way of eating should then hopefully sustain the weight we have lost but if I do go over then I will fast and stick to BSD principles. Unlike you, Rosy, I have not comfort ate but the constant disappointment resonates with me at trying to obtain a weight that is just not obtainable- I seriously don’t know how many of the people on here have done it. I am going to try doing a little bit more walking – I’ve currently got a chest infection and don’t feel well but when I am well I am going to try and move a bit more. To be perfectly honest by the time I come home from work I am pretty much exhausted so exercise is the last thing on my mind but it may just help to boost things a bit. Thank you for sharing your journey which is virtually the same as mine and please keep posting. We’ve both done remarkably well losing 2.5 stone. I am in another thread doing the four week challenge and I will complete the next three weeks of the challenge and make a plan going forward when that challenge ends. Hope to see you along the way.

Hi ClarinetCathy,
Sorry to hear you’ve got a chest infection – hope you shake it off soon. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather this week – rather annoying since I am off work, supposedly on leave. Am getting stuff done but am feeling dog tired – but I’m taking it easy today, a walk to the PO is on the cards this afternoon. I’m with you on feeling too tired after work to do serious exercise but work days seem to be the days when I make inroads – but every little helps so I don’t feel the need to do massive walks.
I think (for the time being) being content with 10st-ish is a good place to be – I’d not been close to 10st for nearly 10years before starting the BSD. Like you, I didn’t want to obsess about calorie count and have to accept that I didn’t go down to 800 nearly as often as I should have to achieve further losses, but that was my choice. Keep going with the principles of BSD & we shouldn’t go too far wrong.
I will continue to check in and read through the messages. Good luck with your challenges.