Hello,
Like many i have found this wonderful, life changing book & online community, read the book over the last few days and read some of the inspiring, interesting posts.
A bit about me, I’m male, 43 years old, 5ft 9in, weight around 16.7 stone, quite broad and my scales give me a BMI of 30. I have suffered from stress/depression in recent years and have a skin condition which while slightly better has left me with pigmentation marks on my lower legs of various sizes (lichen planus).
I have done and still do HIT training once/twice a week which i believe aids my BMI being 30 not 34/35. Do medium/long distance road cycling when i find the time and the weather is better.

Diet is a bit of a mess really, do eat a lot of freshly prepared meals but mixed in with high carb meals and far too much alcohol along with irregular eating patterns. This i know effects my energy levels, moods and focus.

My hopes & goals when completing this 8 week plan:
To lose weight around my waist, aim to get my weight to 13.7 — 14 stone.
BMI of 23.5/24.
To see my skin condition improve.
My energy levels get a much needed boost.
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My concerns:
I don’t complete the 8 weeks (lack of planning my meals).
My muscle mass (shoulders/chest and arms) reduces too much.
Don’t drink enough water as i struggle to do this now.
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What i can offer:
Talk about anything above in more detail if it helps others.
Record and post my findings on all of the above.

So that’s me in black & white, quite liberating in itself. I will start the 800 calories strictly on the 2nd January, in the meantime i’m trying some of the recipes and doing lots more reading.

Look forward to this journey and sharing my experience.

Thanks Nick.

Welcome aboard, Nick, congrats on taking the decision to change your life for the better. Sounds like you are determined and focused, so I see no reason you will not complete the 8 weeks. The first few weeks are the most challenging and once you have those cracked the rest will probably fall into place quite easily.

If hydration is an effort for you, I suggest starting to tackle that now, in your build up to you full on start. Have a think about what might work for you – using a drinks bottle to drink from, so you know how many you need to consume a day; draw a little chart somewhere to record each drink you have. I draw little cups and glasses on the white board in our kitchen and cross them through as I have each drink. You just need some little reminder, so that you increase your intake and can see what you’ve consumed.

This is also a good time to start to clear the cupboards and freezers of non-BSD food, as far as possible (assuming there’s no one living with you that will want such things) and think about what essentials you’ll need for 2nd Jan. Try to keep BSD friendly foods around which don’t require too much preparation, for those times when you need ‘a little something’ or a situation arises where you’re not able to use the planned a meal. If you feel the 8 weeks might be a bit challenging, join the next 4 week challenge on the forum. This is just a group of forum members who tackle the BSD in four week chunks, as opposed to the standard 8.

Maintaining your muscle mass should not be an issue, as long as you keep up your exercise and ensure you are including a good amount of protein in your meals.

Make good use of the forum – use the search box in top right of page to search for specific topics – there is a lot of wisdom and experience on here and people are happy to offer advice, support and encouragement, so just shout out. Definitely post all your results and let us know how you are getting on. I haven’t put anything in this post about my person stats and journey, as it is all documented in my profile, if you want to take a look.

Best of luck to you on successfully changing your life with the BSD.

Hi there, Nick! I’m adding my voice to the chorus of Welcomes. You are
about to embark on a plan that will transform your life 🙂 🙂 🙂 SunnyB has
just given you a list of things to prepare for your journey to wellness, and
I can’t improve on them. I just want to reiterate that planning ahead is the
key to success, and hydration is ultra important. Joining in on the challenges
is the best way to get to know our community, and for us to get to know you!
I’ve lost 10.5 stone, but the number isn’t really important. Whether you’d
like to lose 3 stone or 10, it’s all possible here with the support we have
to offer and share. I’m happy that you will be joining us on Jan. 2! Merry
Christmas, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you. I hope the cloud
of fatigue and depression will lift for you, as it did for me, when I adopted
this lifestyle.

Best wishes,

Allie

Welcome Nick! Keep us posted on your progress! Don’t worry about losing muscle — keeping your carbs very low (as low as 20 grams per day but preferably always below 60 grams per day) and eating adequate protein will target your fat stores, not your muscle.
Our bodies were not designed to become weak and wasted when we needed to access our fat stores (as happened all the time when we were living as hunter/gatherers) — we ALWAYS carried our fat as a source of fuel and it is no different today. Your fat is going to burn first as long as you get your insulin levels down so you can access that fat.
LOW CARBOHYDRATE = LOW INSULIN
If you work out while you are on BSD, you should be able to increase your muscle.

I can confirm from personal experience that there is no problem building muscle on the BSD, even at 800 calories a day. Three weeks after the end of my 8 weeks I used a Boditrax scanner that reported my body composition on the border between very muscular and thin and muscular, with 22% fat, and very low (4cc) visceral fat. In fact the trunk part of the scan showed almost athletic levels of fat and muscle which isn’t bad for a fifty odd year old with a completely sedentary job. If you want to tone muscles as you go, and build muscle this can only help your metabolism, so weight training and HIIT are recommended rather than a lot of longer cardio.

It’s great to see someone planning to start this adventure the same day as me. I was reluctant to post anything publically at all because in my mind that binds me to the process. Aaagghh! I’m really not sure why I’m so trepidatious about it since only good is likely to come of it. And 8 weeks is a small commitment to implement the benefial kind of lifestyle changes that others have talked about in the forums. I guess I’m worried about failing, about not having enough time in the day to prepare proper meals (I have a ridiculous commute that is almost as long as the work day). Anyway, here’s to perserverance, new aquaintances and some seriously fantastic health improvements!

Batch cooking is where it’s at, y’all. Make a couple of big multi-serving recipes of good stuff the weekend before the first day and fridge it or freeze it in portioned servings. Choose something that you’re already somewhat familiar with and strip all the carbs out of it. That doesn’t mean just no bread or rice or pasta, btw. Fruits and veggies can cross into dangerous numbers as well, as do pulses, oatmeal and legumes. Use an app like MyFitnessPal or Fat Secret to tally up all the calories and carbs and determine proper serving sizes. A lot of folks aim for a top limit of 50 grams of carbs a day. I go way lower than that (less than 20 grams a day) to combat insulin resistance, but whatever you choose, choose something. Picking your carb celing is a good anchor point to help you get a grip on the process.

My first week on the BSD I ate chicken salad — baked chicken breasts, full-fat mayo, a squeeze of lemon juice, a small green onion, fresh parsley, fresh thyme, salt, pepper — on a bed of greens for every lunch. I just scared up a big batch of it on the first day and weighed out 4 oz onto arugula or romaine lettuce until it was gone. The week after I switched it up to tuna and egg salad with roasted red pepper (just half of one because they tend to be sugary), garlic and cumin mayo. Again, something I’d been making for years.

For dinners your easiest bets are soups, broth based, not tomato (also sugary), omelettes and srambles, fish fillets that can be baked in the oven wrapped in foil with assorted veggies, or even smoked fish that doesn’t need cooking at all. Some of my favorite soup options are cauliflower and blue cheese, zucchini with masses of cooking greens like broccoli rabe, chickory, escarole, endive, chard, turnip or mustard greens, and the easiest of them all: miso soup so full of multiple kinds of sprouts (broccoli, alfalfa, pea, sunflower) that you have to eat it with a fork before you can sip the miso-delicious chicken broth.

You do not, I emphasize, do not have to go miles outside of your comfort zone. You just have to replace some of the old ingredients with other ones. Look them up ahead of time to avoid any nasty surprises because innocuous seeming veggies can deliver a shocking carb hit. Onions are hugely high in sugar, for example. It’s not about complexity of cooking. It’s about knowing what you’re eating and how much of it so you stay within your 800-calorie and self-determined carb limit.

Fear nothing. You have a forum full of people here ready to leap into action to help you out if you get stuck. Square your shoulders, heft your gonads over them and face a bright, healthy, empowered future.

Thanks, Esnecca — that sounds like great advice. Much appreciated.

Hi Nick
I am sure you will manage to do this diet. Because of the type of food you are rarely hungry, and as far as drinking water is concerned, that was my issue initially but I was so thirsty that I had to drink so you will be fine.Im coming to the end of my 8 weeks now and I am no cook, i have just kind of managed to wing it really with my own take on stuff but keeping within the 800 cals and about 20/25% carbs. I use my fitbit to monitor it all and thats kept me on track. I plan to have my Christmas dinner then get straight back on it on Boxing day. It does work though. I have lost approx 8 inches off my tummy and nearly 2 stone now in weight, thats how I managed to stay on it because I saw fast results. You will smash it!

Hi Nick, I’ve just joined up to the program too. I’ve been on the diet for two days now, I figured if I started before Christmas I would be more likely to achieve something by the New Year, because Christmas is the time I always put on a few pounds, this time it will be different!

Also, buy some scales, Digital Body Fat Analyser type, they are excellent for motivating you.

As for the diet, be as strict as you can ‘sugar is poison’, I say this to myself if I’m tempted to eat the stuff or any white carbs. Stock your freezer with as much frozen green vegetables you can and use a microwave to cook them if you are lazy like me. Use this veg instead of rice, potatoes or pasta. After a couple of days you will start to feel different.

And drink plenty of water or herb teas.

Good Luck

Thanks everyone for those warm welcomes and comments.

Took notes from above and did a lot more reading all last week, i can see now by understanding a little better that losing muscle shouldn’t be a concern.
Calories wise i probably a little over 800 for the first two days but HIIT training last night was one intense 45/50 mins, so i won’t beat myself up about it. Eating twice a day, late morning and evening which seems to work for me and haven’t felt the need to reach for any sweet or white carbs!

I’ll update my profile with my stats and first weigh in will be Saturday.
For now it’s all positive and moving in the right direction.

Thanks all.

Glad things are going well Nick C. Will look forward to reading your results – keep up the good work.

Sounds as though you’ve made a goot start, Nick. Keep it up.