Hi there,

I am finishing on Monday morning – less than a week away and I am going to indulge in this long blog posting as I would love some feedback. I have not found if difficult to do the 8 weeks, as such, but it is a discipline – that is for sure. I have missed having a drink and I will be going to do that when I am done – guilt free- as it is a pleasure in my life and I have had 8 weeks off it.

I have lost a significant amount weight, specifically around my waist which was my goal and I have changed a couple of habits for the long term. I will keep carbs to a minimum now – which was not what I was doing before I was a carb queen, and I will be aware of how much I am eating without obsessively counting calories.

I would like to maintain my weight loss, possibly lose a couple more kilos, but that’s it.

A couple of things I would love some anecdotal advise on … what next?

What have people done after finishing (like immediately after finishing and then for the long term) and how have they gone with keeping the visceral weight off? Luckily blood sugar is not actually an issue for me. Would one day fasting work? Combined with remaining vigilant about carbs and sugar?

Is the general advise is that now I go onto 5:2? I have done 5:2 before, I am currently not working and I think I would struggle to get through two days a week fasting without being fully distracted by a busy work day.

I would love any and all feedback. It has been a great thing and I am secretly very proud of myself for – doing it (with perhaps one or two days of more that 800 calories) and getting rid of my spare tyre is something I have wanted to do for more than a decade, since I had my babies. I am in no rush to get it back again …..

So you should be proud BRRRR..youve done a good job! I am still in earlyish days,just finishing week 4 tomorrow..planning to return to 5:2 at some point but not for a while as expecting to do 24 weeks ( a lot to lose)
I’ m retired and have found 5:2 do able if i keep busy and my mind off food..i often used to declutter on a fast day,feeling that while i was fasting and repairing,my home was getting sorted too!
Really i jsut wanted to congratulate you ..not able to advise as am far behind you on the BSD ..good luck for your future success xx!

Congratulations! It’s a great achievement to do the 8 weeks and, I felt, get a real insight into what works and what doesn’t. I ‘finished’ the diet about 8 weeks ago now and like yourself, was not sure of how to keep at a stable level. I’ve found that I actually miss the discipline of 800 calories and the buzz of losing weight. Yes, come to think of it, it’s the latter that I miss! So I do 5 days of eating without too much thought; no obvious carbs, no snacks but otherwise whatever I fancy. And the odd glass of wine. And then 2 days of 800 cals. I continue to try and achieve 10,000 steps a day. It seems to be working so far. My weight fluctuates about 2lbs per week, but has stayed constant overall. Which suits me fine. And reading the forums and posting now and again keep me motivated and accountable.

I am finding going out for meals easier than I thought. I had a Nepalese meal last night and had mutton curry, okra and dal, not entirely without carbs but perfectly enjoyable without rice and a naan. I feel personally my eating needs to be like this for ever really, and I think I can do that! As someone much wiser than I said ” if you keep on doing what you have always done, you will keep on getting what you have always got”. So, for me, the change has to be permanent.

Sorry to go on for so long! Hope these ramblings help. Best of luck!

I too would be really pleased to find out about people’s experiences after they have finished BSD.
The discipline of the diet is so easy to follow. Have looked at 5:2 and read the book but don’t feel so enthused about it somehow.
Started BSD in February and have followed the diet since then trying to get to my healthy BMI.
Have increased my calorie intake in the last month but not hugely. My weight loss has completely stalled doing this.
Hopefully I have consolidated my losses. I am perfectly comfortable cutting out the carbs. Is the diet forever?

thank you! it was not small feat …. good luck and thanks again for the conrgats 🙂 you’ll be FINE 🙂

I am in week 10 and for the last few weeks have stuck mainly to the 800 principle but allowing myself a few off days. Both weeks I have lost a few pounds so this seems to work for me. Like Bissell, I think I would miss the discipline of the BSD and i’m not sure just two days fasting will work for me. I still have some way to go weight wise so not in maintenance mode yet. Maybe further down the line I will increase the number of off days but I now see low carb as a long term lifestyle choice for me.

Well done on completing the 8 weeks and getting such a great result. It feels brill to dig into the back of the wardrobe and discover long forgotten clothes – which in my case have been barely worn. I worked out the other day that I am now at the weight I was in 1998. Thank you Michael Mosley.

Yowser, I also tend to get busy when I am struggling with cravings. The house has never been tidier and needless to say the wardrobes have had a good clear out!!

OH and I had a long discussion about this, this morning (at our usual early hour, in the sunny garden, over our coffee – we do so look forward to those, mine without sugar now 🙂 – all the extra aliveness from the BSD!)

He is Type 2 and although happy with the weight he’s at, is waiting to see if Doctor will sign off on nil Metformin – only halved dose at present, but he’s only had 1 HbA1c test so far, and they are obviously waiting to see if the good and normal results from that will be maintained. At present he’s upped his calories, but is keeping carbs to 50g or lower.

I’m a pound or two away from my final target which will be nearly 18% lost of my starting weight, and I set this further target to give myself a bit of wiggle room to 9 stone. So I am sticking to 25g of carbs per day just for this last bit, with slightly increased calories to ensure no muscle loss. Our new scales say that both of us are less than 20% body fat!

Basically we both agreed that we will not ever eat refined carbs again except in exceptional circumstances (i.e. a couple of roast potatoes at Christmas, with perhaps a small portion of stuffing, with the rest of the meal. I might have a slice of really really good bread – one particular baker in mind – if I know it’s really good).

I have now got a handle on what my calorie intake should be to maintain weight, and it’s only around the 1500 calories per day mark, which is not a great deal actually. OH needs about 2000. These targets are much more achievable without refined carbs.

It may need keeping on with MFP to check the carbs and total calories when I start increasing the carbs from c 25g per day to, say, 50g. At least for the start, to get a handle on it.

I also want to ensure we are eating enough fat, and start creating some recipes which ensure this. Also want to experiment with some family favourite meals – such as kedgeree – with no rice. That one will be an interesting challenge! Cauli rice kedgeree?

Thinking about how to do it, and maintain what has been a life-changing experience, is very helpful. All entries on this thread much appreciated!

thank you. that’s great. that is kind of my feeling – I’ll try to avoid carbs where I can and do some kind of calculation in my head on every other night . I would like to avoid a slow slide back into eating and drinking whatever I like, as I love food, cooking and entertaining …. I think the challenge will be not having the restrictions – oddly enough.

It’s interesting – thank you everyone. What we are probably all saying — is the bones of this is for life, Isn’t it. Which I think is do-able. But not something I contemplated when I started this . I was a toast EVERY morning girl (yoghurt and berries now – and I think I’ll stay with that.)

I guess the reality is that you just DO have to think about what goes in your mouth, and pasta and sandwiches were just convenient but now that would be a disaster to have that every week (or even daily.) Interesting, I do think for me – I use food to reward myself and that will need to be something I will have to figure out.

I hadn’t thought about roast potatoes and Christmas, my mouth is watering now …..

The sad thing is, brrrrr, that everything surrounding us pushes us towards refined carbs.

I was out of the office on business last week, and had to really struggle to maintain BSD. At the service station on the M40, there were croissants, pastries, doughnuts, bacon rolls, cookies, baguettes, incredibly milky coffees (low fat milk, too!), honey laden snack bars, low-fat yoghurt with lots of sugared fruit, fizzy sugared drinks……I could go on. I had a M&S hummus and edamame protein pot (very nice), but there was a totally limited choice. I treated myself to a Costa coffee, but no point requesting full fat milk in it.

Later on, my colleague had a sandwich lunch – we were in an Asda cafe – and I had a terrible struggle finding anything at all to eat. If it wasn’t a sandwich or a wrap, it was a pasta salad with loads of mayonnaise, or rice, or other grains – in the end, I found myself picking out the roast chicken from a Mexican ‘salad’ and trying to find a bit of cucumber in it. He’s German, and too polite to comment, but I know he thought I must be mad.

How hard is all that for people to do? I wasn’t pressured by anyone saying ‘oh, just have a croissant, that won’t do you any harm….’ but many people would be.

I think, as you say, it will take discipline. But I think (I hope) I am up for that. And perhaps things will gradually improve……

Hi there,
I’ve been BSDing since mid-January – I didn’t religiously follow the 800cals, or the 5:2 parts, I probably just went in straight at the maintenance level! Still required discipline, though! But I’ve still lost weight, slowly, but still lost. I don’t regard myself as having “finished”, more that every so often I relax things – yes, weight loss stalls, yo-yos a bit. Sounds similar to what Bissell has described above.
So I’ve just been keeping an eye on things – introducing new (or previously off limits) foodstuffs in small amounts and making sure I have plenty of variety (to avoid boredom) and every so often going back to a few days of restrictions (just to remind my body that I’m in charge).
Although I’ve still got a little way to go to reach my ultimate target, I have to say that I’m happy with the weight I’m at. No-one wants to undo the good work they’ve done so I’d advise anyone to stay alert and if your weight seems to be heading upwards just nip things in the bud. A stitch in time saves nine! 🙂

Absolutely agree about the push towards refined carbs.
Embarrassed at an airport recently when we wanted to eat. The small group I was with kindly said (knowing that I was dieting)…..you choose! I trailed around everywhere trying to find a suitable outlet…..it was practically impossible. Hated to be such a nuisance!!!

You also have to scour a menu at a restaurant to find the best option. Usually a starter! This is fine when you are with a group and obviously overweight and dieting. Everyone can see you are slimming-down and understands.
What will happen on maintenance mode I wonder?

When everyone else is high carbing they will probably think we are slightly mad. In fact they do already.

Seems we are all thinking the low carb thing is for life now – I certainly am. It does make it tough when perusing a menu, but I find that there is a work round to be had in almost every case.

I’m sure once I get to the end of the weight loss bit, I will be eating pretty much as I am now, just with a few extra calories and the odd day off with extra carbs. I have tried the 5:2 in the past and it just doesn’t work for me – I find the fast days almost impossible. so I guess it will be more the Mediterranean style for me. I had a break of ten weeks recently and gained just 2.8lb and found getting back to the 800 format and losing that and continuing to lose very easy.

Still have a little way to go yet though before I reach my goal weight and settle back to a maintenance plan. Best of luck to all those already at their target weight and striking out on their next chapter.

Hi there,
I had a break like SunnyB during May and June when I had a holiday and visitors and a number of courses to go on. I was eating a lot less that I used to, but had little control over what was served other than not to eat things. I did put on about 5kg which came straight off again after 5 days on the 800 – so mainly gut fill and water.
Since I am veggie, the choices when out are more limited and you just do what you can. I am not diabetic or pre-diabetic (BS this morning was 4.4), so I will probably have one day a month that I can have eg a cheese scone and coffee – if I can get a small enough one! My biggest gripe is portion sizes. I despair when I go out for coffee or lunch – the amounts served are too much for one person! What I have learned is that if I do have a larger lunch, then I swap that for a small dinner. I used to have both and coffee and cake in between :-(. Those days have gone!
I am going to try a few other of MM’s experiments from his website – eg eating all your meals between 8am and 6pm so I have a 14 hour fast every day. I have been doing that now since the beginning of July and have adapted to that – it had not been easy, but in the evening I only have water or black tea. This seems to help the body maintain itself and you maintain your weight. I have also added in 20ml a day olive oil (good for heart/circulation). I have been doing that for about 4 weeks – it is not for cooking but eating ‘raw’ in salads, veg or even just drink it – I can just about manage a half of it if I have not been able to use it in a dressing. I adds a fair bit to the daily calories, but no carbs. It has meant I have had 900-950 cals a day, but kept my carbs to 55-60g . The extra fat has been useful as I have upped my exercise.
So I will move to a Mediterranean veggie diet, but I will use things like squash etc. My carbs will move up slowly over a few weeks to 80-100g a day so I can keep up with the right mix of beans and pulses plus winter veg. Just to make life harder, I eat local seasonal food as far as possible so my winter veg are needed! My calories per day will probably average 1600 a week assuming I am not inactive. If I am doing a lot of jogging etc, that will have to increase. Rather than do 5:2 I will use the 800cals /60g carbs for 2 weeks if my weight goes up, so maybe 5 weeks then two weeks! I can certainly see me managing that better.
What I will find a real bind is to record all I eat all the time, but I know it will be the best way to keep my weight down. From experience, I do know if I cook my own food from scratch, freeze and portion control – I can keep slim. So as long as things do not get too chaotic or stressful again, then that should work for me. The main thing is knowing there is a solution there when I need it – and it is not a 6 months slog, but done in a timely manner, is a few weeks of concentrated effort.
My next experiment is with barley and oats – in small amounts – again from one of MM’s TV programmes. That is for the autumn. I may start a blog of progress through that phase once I get there….. and getting closer day by day 🙂
Interested in others thoughts.

I was doing LowCarbHighFat for a couple of years before I relaxed too much put on weight & started this eight week diet. (I don’t like that word but can’t think of another one) There are lots & lots of LCHF recipes on the web and they may be a way forward for some people. Motorway stations are THE worst place to try to get something healthy to eat though. Using the supermarket section is the best thing to do.
I don’t know why I’m giving my ideas. I’ve only just finished week one!

It’s fascinating – how expert we all become and how much of this is lifestyle related … managing it with work travel etc. I think this might be on the money for me – “I don’t regard myself as having “finished”, more that every so often I relax things.”

I am v keen to not undo anything but feel like I am not ‘on a diet.” Maybe I need to consider myself as just eating clean now and know when to compensate when I’ve gone completely off the program.

Thank you everyone, really helpful! Keep it coming if you’d like to continue to discuss …. and good luck, ultimately we are all doing a great thing and taking control of our health, I was thinking about it this morning. It’s quite a ‘movement.’

I sometimes think we worry too much about what others think. I was at a residential conference, worrying about how I would cope with the meals. Until I realised how many people were asking for substitutions for different reasons. And people were usually too busy eating and talking to comment on what I was (or was not) eating.

On the way there, the driver stopped at a burger van for lunch. What did I order? A bacon roll. But I ate the bacon and threw the roll away. Another time I’d just flown back from holiday and was changing trains at a very small station when it was lunch time. Very limited options. So I chose the sandwich with the best filling, sat down and ate the filling, then threw the bread away. That kept me going until I got home.

I’ll soon be at my target weight and have decided that carbs have no place in my life. After all this time I don’t miss them. The way forward for me will be staying on Mediterranean style eating, low carb, slowly increasing calories until my weight stabilises. It’s worked for me when I’ve been away from home, so that’s when I aim to do long-term.

I’m with you captainlynne, carbs no longer fit into my lifestyle either and I really don’t miss them. I’m rarely tempted to transgress now, although I will confess to a small nibble of bread at a restaurant and the occasional square of dark, dark chocolate. There have been – and will be – occasions when it is all but impossible to avoid those dreaded carbs completely; visiting friends/family etc., but in the main it is easy enough to get around the issue and I think once you have been doing the 800 for a while, you no longer feel bad asking for what you want to eat.

Hi. I haven’t been strictly following BSD or even 5:2, more just adopting the complete Med approach. I’m on summer hols, with family around, so being really strict with cals is next to impossible. I will be going onto complete 800 per day approach as of Sept 5 when school starts again because I really want to accelerate the weight loss and hit targets ideally by end of year and then just maintain embedded healthier lifestyle.

I decided to change the way I ate on June 2, and in the intervening 12 weeks, I’ve lost 12 kilos, which I’m very happy with. I’ve upped my activity considerably, so that I am now doing 20-30 mins of warm-up/HIIT and then 50-60 minutes walking most days, which easily gets me over the 10,000 steps mark. I’ve also lost a lot of centimetres from hips, waist and bust, although I have a long way to go.

I am monitoring my food with a daily diary and I’ve kept to under 1500 cals every day apart from at the end of my first 8 weeks, when I decided to have a day off and eat all the things I’d really been craving, e.g. toast, honey, chocolate, wine and roast potatoes. I am going to give myself a day off every 8 weeks or so, as that really does keep cravings at bay, and the results in the 8 weeks are measurable.

It has been way easier than I thought – my appetite levels have diminished considerably since I gave up all products with added sugar and starchy processed carbs. I don’t eat pasta, rice, potatoes or bread any more, and my only sugar comes from fruit and vegetables. I already ate a quite healthy Mediterranean diet as a base line, but was very greedy with processed starch and especially with puddings/sweet treats. However, I don’t miss these at all. I love cheese, but am happy to eat it with crudités, such as red pepper, carrots or celery and grapes rather than with biscuits or bread. My carb intake is usually between 90-150g per day because I eat quite a bit of fruit (berries in the morning, an apple at lunch and maybe a peach or cherries after supper).

Hope this helps in terms of advice/experiences.

SunnyB – it certainly does get easier the longer you stick with it. Must be something to do with the length of time to make something a habit.

Perhaps I’m fortunate because I live alone, so I don’t normally have to worry about feeding others. But I do have family and friends visit/stay, as well as going on holidays, residential conferences etc. Most of those I see through work now know not to offer me food – just a black coffee. And I normally have a bottle of water with me.

For me, it was the threat of Metformin looming over me (again) that drove me to stick with it originally. Then it was sheer determination to prove my medics wrong when they said it might be ok short term but wasn’t sustainable.

Yes, it’s been a learning curve. I realised after a holiday early on that I needed to pay more attention to portion sizes when away from home and familiar foods. But since then I’ve either stayed the same or lost weight when away. It’s so ingrained now that if there’s nothing much I know I can eat, I’m happy with my black coffee. If somebody doesn’t like it, that’s their problem. But usually people are interested (especially those I’ve met before BSD) and ask questions.

At the end of the day, it’s my health, my body, and I’m the only one who can take care of it. Nobody ties my hands behind my back to force feed me – the only person who puts food in my mouth is me. And for far too long, I’ve been putting too much of wrong food in me. But not any more.

Way to go captainlynne – you are absolutely right. We are responsible for what we eat and taking on the BSD teaches you how to eat well and ditch the rubbish. Think you are right about the eight weeks making the lchf habit forming. They reckon 21days is long enough to make something a habit, but I think the additional discipline of the eight weeks really helps to ingrain the lchf as a way of life.

My small weight gain when I was away, was because I chose to transgress occasionally. What was great, was how easy it was to get back on track and lose it again, simply by reverting to ‘normal’ and eating the BSD way.

yes, this is all great and interesting and super useful, thanks. Even on my LAST DAY at my kids party I found I had to share in some b’day cake and some nibbles, which I didn’t want and tasted super sweet. I feel like I want to be able to loosen up a day a week – but really my plan i to stay as close to what I have learnt over my 8 weeks – but not get to hung up on joining in and not being too strict when I am in company (which is a lot.)

I also know that if I eat something verboten (bday cake) I have just sacrificed those calories and I just have less for my next ‘meal.’

I still want to loose a couple of kilos, without having to be strictly on the BSD diet. I think I can – and I don’t think I have to ‘tell’ anyone I am dieting anymore. The only other thought I am having is — how readily, before this exercise, I just put food in my mouth without thinking. I think I will be a lot more thoughtful in that process now ….. I’m 50 this year – its time to realise my body doesn’t burn off calories the way it used to.

Thanks everyone for the super helpful advice, I will come back to this forum to remind myself over the coming months ….

I got to goal at weightwatchers in 2008, and can remember saying I would need to keep going to the classes to maintain, maybe not every week but certainly regularly. However, I got complacent and stopped going, thought I could keep steady on my own….. and over the next few years I regained all the weight plus some. Of course this is great for slimming groups as it encourages folk to start again and keep paying the fees.
This seems more sustainable but I think whoever said we might need to monitor things via MFP or similar, might be right. There are many online resources for low carb eating but not many things for maintaining weight loss. One I do know is ‘refuse to regain’, an American doctor’s site.
I think weighing in and having a ‘deadline’ in your head might work as well as continuing to post on a maintenance thread here might help, will be interested to hear how you go over time.
As for me? Back to the beginning….

yes, a deadline is important I think. perhaps that is the trick, having a reasonable but timetable of deadlines to check progress and address/redress any size when needed …

Perhaps for those who are interested enough, I can share my recent experience of how NOT to finish the 8 weeks. I went out with my sons to celebrate a family occasion and ate pizza and two glasses of red wine. I lay awake all night groaning as the pizza sat heavily in my stomach. I felt GROSS. I have to say – I don’t think it will take much to keep me off the carbs! I certainly don’t want anymore in a hurry. I am totally cured. I felt gross all day and ate nothing but clean Vietnamese soup. Phew, interesting if a big carb eater like me can be reprogrammed so completely in one round of 8 weeks, let me tell you there is hope for all of you out there. I can’t imagine eating a sandwich or bread roll , I am right off the carbs in a way I didn’t think was possible!

brrrrr……..think I wouldn’t feel well after the pizza …..but the glasses of wine need testing out……more research needed???

Suoon2bthinner…..really like the mantra…..’refuse to regain’. Will look it up.

I’ve just been away for three days in a hotel which has been my first real test in the 6th week of the plan.

I have just cut out refined carbs but do keep a diary every day. My carbs averaged around 75 during my first three weeks and calories around 1100. So nowhere near as strict as I should be!

BUT I think I have cracked any carb addiction I may have had. I had no problem refusing bread, croissants, Danish pastries or potatoes. I did have one dessert …. a berry eton mess with ricotta instead of cream. It was so so sweet I scraped of the meringue and ate the berries with just a few spoons of the ricotta!

So I’ve tried ‘sugar’ again now and I really didn’t enjoy it. I really do believe that I have cracked the carb issue!

Maybe it really does only take 21days to break a habit.

Wish I could pass on the wine when away 😕
At least I have cut it out at home except on a sat night and trying to make that a small g and slimline t instead.

Hi all, this is my first posting and I’m just about to finish my 8th week, have had a really good result losing 6kg and just 2kg to go, best result has been the halving then stopping of my diabetic medication together with blood pressure and cholesterol meds prescribed just because I was a Type 2.
I am worried that my fasting glucose is at the high end of the normal range and really want it to be lower – what can I do?
I will be carrying on with the menu plan (even my husband is happy to continue – he says its all been good, tasty food) for at least a few more weeks.
I was a definite carb addict – just five me fresh crusty white bread, pasta and rice (and keep it coming) – I weakened once in the 8 weeks and had 2 slices of multigrain toast and suffered with a brick in my stomach for the rest of the day! I keep my carb addition under control by Konjac noodles – a life saver!

I am often away from home with meetings with clients and eating out with them and in the last few months I’ve been watching how the slim people eat. It was working with one particular couple that really started me looking at this diet (don’t know if they were on this or not, I think it was their normal way of eating). Firstly for the breakfast buffet they just had a very small amount of yogurt (maybe a tablespoonful) with a few seeds sprinkled on top then had one egg with one slice of bacon. For dinners if it was set portions they only ate half of what was on the plate and then LEFT FOOD! If it was a buffet they had a very small portion, ate that and then went up for another small portion. Something clicked in my brain watching them eat i.e. you don’t need to eat a lot of everything just to be social. I’ve seen some people actually push some of the food on their plate to one side before they start eating and only eat the rest.

So I think what it boils down to is not only what you are eating but how much you are eating and that really is a discipline this BSD is helping me with. I’m slowly getting over the guilt complex of actually leaving food on my plate, of telling family/friends before we meet and eat that I’m not eating much and no heavy carbs please and if I’m with clients I’m not fussed what they think about my eating habits, I’m not fussed about their’s.

A motorway service station tip – if it’s got a supermarket on site buy a packet of cold meat and some small tomatoes. An expensive option but it’s BSD friendly or just buy a small box of nuts or a small pot of natural yogurt if you’re not that hungry. I go for the nuts or take some with me.

16Kg to go to my target weight – think I’m going to be on the full BSD for a lot longer than 8 weeks. Done 6 weeks and lost 7Kg so far.

I have also noticed that slimmer folk will leave food and stop eating when they are full. They also seem to only eat when hungry and not just because it’s a meal time, both good habits to work on I think. One eating plan I read about advised that you should stop and think ‘ what would a slim person eat’ when in awkward eating situations like eating out or family occasions, though honestly I think family would be delighted if I was eating sensibly and not pigging out.

Great posts, people, very inspiring.

Sherry Martin, can I ask why you are worried about fasting bloods? I am not type 2 though OH is, and we have been following various threads including Bill1954’s (where he abandoned fasting tests as they are not necessarily indicative of insulin response) as well as talking to doctors about best measurements.

OH has just come off his Metformin and I wondered if you had discussed your fasting results with the doctor? I assume your HbA1c results were good?

Congratulations on your successful BSD 🙂