Well done on another loss, Topcac – you are on a roll!

As far as those standing still are concerned, that’s a helluva lot better than gaining – just look upon it as maintenance before the next whoosh (hopefully!)

I have managed to get 2lbs of my wriggle room back after another 24 hour water only fast – that’s been fluctuating up and down from the start of this challenge, but it has been a particularly challenging time, diet wise whilst running Hotel Theodora (can’t remember who christened it that, but thank you, it’s exactly what it feels like 😜)

I do seem to be a glutton for punishment though, because as well as having house guests, this time last week I was cooking desserts for 100 for a friend’s party, today I am cooking quiches, meringues, scones and cakes for our local regatta tomorrow, and I have been roped in to run the “Afternoon Tea” stall all afternoon at said regatta – o/h is running the BBQ (not sure why the organisers always put men on the BBQ and women on the Tea stall? Bit sexist in my view🤔) so will be surrounded by temptation all day today and again tomorrow, plus out for dinner this evening with friends!!! Why do I DO this to myself?🤣

I will try my best, is all I can say😇

Theodora you at e a one woman catering machine!!! Well impressed – I have a wedding to plan for 120… lol!! Hint hint

In Italy still in around 900 I need to tighten up to make my goal in just under four weeks of a five jag loss- seems unlikely – any tips? Have cut all the root veg out trying to get cabs under 30 from now on and going to aim for 700 a day.

Ooooooh, I need help with Onetowatch’s jargon. What is an Italian 900 loss?…. and what are jags?

I assume jag is kg with predictive text translation, but not sure about the other one 😄

Mystery solved, see Seriously post by Onetowatch for details 😁

This week has not been a great week. We were out dog walking and husband was pulled off balance by our two labradors and in trying to avoid falling on them he fell awkwardly on the pavement and broke his hip. He had to have a complete hip replacement as a repair wouldn’t have worked. Hopefully he will be home on crutches on Monday.

Then – this afternoon my daughter’s lovely little dog was attacked and killed by a pit bull terrier. She was injured trying to save it. We are all in shock and terribly upset – her young children were with her but luckily were not injured.

Other people around them rushed in and tried to help her as she frantically tried to stop the attack. They also shielded her children to keep them safe and to try to prevent them from witnessing the attack. When I heard this I was really struck by the kindness of people and that most people are good.

When husband broke his hip people bought out blankets to cover him and waited with me on the pavement until the paramedics and ambulance arrived.

Have really had to force myself to eat this week. This is the polar opposite to what used to happen when I was under stress pre-BSD. I have cried a lot today which I don’t think I used to do when I was a carb addict and would use sugar and carbs to cope with stress.

Whoa, Krysia – what a nightmare you have been living through. No wonder you are feeling a little off kilter

Can only say that our thoughts are with you during this really stressful time. Just remember that we are with you and we have your back xxxx

Thank you Theodora.

Krysia- so sorry to read your sad post. Hope your husband is home from hospital and on the road to recovery very soon. Shocking to read about what happened to your daughter and her lovely little dog. What an awful week you are having. Thinking of you.

Oh Krysia, how traumatic for you all, I’m so sorry you’ve had such awful things happen 🙁

Krysia, what a horrible week you have had! I hope that your husband is home soon, and your daughter and her kids recover both physically and mentally from their loss and injury. Look after yourself as well, eating right for all of you now will support your recovery.

Krysia, love and best thoughts for you and all your family xxxxxxxx

Thank you for your kind words. I feel a lot better this morning and reading your posts made me feel good to be part of such a supportive group.

Daughter and family are coming up to stay with us later today. It could have been much worse – my 9 year old granddaughter was holding Ruby’s lead when Ruby was attacked and was lucky not to be injured. The police have captured the dog – which had attacked 7 other dogs as well as Ruby yesterday.

Husband is improving. He must be getting better because we had an argument on the phone this morning about my plans to get someone in to help with the garden while he is recovering. I can see he is going to be a difficult patient.

So glad to read that you are feeling a bit better today, Krysia. You have all been through a very rough time and I’m guessing that you will all have a few more to come, so please, look after yourselves – and each other. There will be plenty of warm wishes and positive thoughts winging there way to you all, now and during the days to come.

What a horrific thing for anyone to experience, Krysia, even more so for young children. I hope Ruby is recovering as best she can and that you all find solace and support with each other as a family.

Oh Krysia, I just caught up with the posts — I’m very sorry for your husband’s injury and the awful attack on your daughter’s little dog. Your husband sounds like he is already on the road to recovery (cranky is good!) and I hope he is back on his feet very soon. The sad loss of Ruby is just heartbreaking — thank God no one else was hurt but the loss of a pet is so very hard.

Ohhhh Krysia I am just catching up on the posts and saw yours. I’m so very sorry to hear of your traumatic times. My thoughts are with you. Your husband will mend and your grandchild will hopefully not be too traumatised. Take care of yourself x

KrysiaD, so glad you are feeling a bit better and what a rotten thing to have happen. Hope all is ok and hubby gets to come home soon!
Inka

Oh Krysia, just heard, how terrible for you. Hopefully hubby is on the mend and grand-daughter will get over it with love and reassurance. Take good care of yourself and them.

Granddaughter asked if we could make a card for the little dog Ruby and place the card and some flowers on Ruby’s favourite beach as a memorial. We placed the card and some ruby red roses on the dunes and her dad made a short speech. It was lovely event – sad but sort of happy at the same time.

A very old friend of husband’s visited him yesterday. He bought him a small bottle of lucazade – except it was actually a lucazade bottle full of malt whisky! Husband was very sensible though and hasn’t drunk any – I don’t think morphine and whisky mix very well.

Krysia I just read all of the posts – what a terrible time you’ve been having. The ceremony does sound lovely though, I hope your grandchildren are doing ok. Good to hear that your husband is on the mend and that he wasn’t tempted by the “lucozade” 🙂
Take care of yourself and I hope this week is a brighter one for you x

After being away from the site for a few days, I’m just catching up.

KrysiaD, love and good wishes to you, your husband, your daughter, your grandchildren. It sounds as though, despite everything seeming to happen at once, you are “keeping on keeping on” …. you’ll be able to laugh at “lucozade moments” before long, I’m sure.

Good on you, thinking of you x

Hi All, Sorry to read about all your difficulties KrysiaD .Sending you a big warm Hug and lots of encouragement to take care of yourself during tough times.
It made me really think about my blessings and diet issues and my motivations to get and remain healthy, I have new perspective on things and I’m more determined to continue to the next challenge. best wishes to all, Cheers Lynne

Not where I want to be at this point in the week, but not going to report until weigh-in tomorrow. Just wanted to enquire if there are any thoughts about a follow on challenge, as this one finishes tomorrow?

How about “The Fitter for Fall Challenge (ends 5th Sept)”? I know in the UK we call it Autumn, but in this instance the lack alliteration would make for a much less snappy title. Anyone have any other ideas?

HI all

Krysia, I am so sorry about all your troubles – it made me cry when I read about the service that you had for Ruby. I have two little dogs and it is my worst nightmare that this might happen. I hope all the family are OK and are recovering well including hubby – what a terrible pain in the ..hip. Sending hugs

I like the Fitter for Fall idea but I know some people also like it to rhyme so my suggestion is ”Fitter for Fall, a challenge for all”

TC

Like the sound of that TC. Let’s see what the others think.

Having treated this challenge as though it didn’t exist, I’m not sure I have the credibility to offer suggestions, but I like the idea of the rhyme topcac and SunnyB, and wonder if I can add a word to also cover the antipodes e.g. ”Fitter for Spring/Fall, a challenge for all”.

No, having just read back my suggestion, leave out the “spring”, its definitely snappier without.

I vote for SunnyB’s ”Fitter for Fall, a challenge for all”.

How about “Fitter for Spring or Fall, a Challenge for All”?

Agreed SunnyB – need to include the southern hemisphere for sure – not as snappy Marsie but definitely more inclusive 🙂

Anyone else want to wade in?

KrysiaD, sending you all a big hug and XXXX
Sunnyb and topcac, I’m liking your suggestion.
I’ve been away again, in a tent! I thought it would be nostalgic and fun, it turned out to be cold and uncomfortable… Lol!!!
Haven’t done so well this challenge, so can’t wait to start the next one!!!

Edit, Just read some more posts, what about just, “Spring or Fall, a Challenge for all”? Only ‘cos I like Rhymes!!!!

Hey Pod – We are 11 days off our camping trip with the grandchildren, which we have been doing for the last few years. You’re right, it is a comfortable experience, but it does make you appreciated all the mod cons when you get home!

Like you, I haven’t done well this challenge and I’m not fused about the title for the next challenge, just thought I would put something forward to make sure one happens, as I find it helpful to have something to help me focus on the task at hand. Anyway, happy to go with the consensus.

Hi Sunnyb, hope your camping trip is better than mine.! But you are right, I did appreciate my bed when I got back, it wasn’t on the ground for a start!!
I think I’ve just had a lightbulb moment! (steady on pod!) I’ve just been on the diet doctor website and realised that maybe I should have been deducting the fibre from my total carbs. And that it is NET carbs I should be counting. I have been trying keto low-carb, under 20g carbs a day. No wonder I’ve been finding it difficult to plan a meal, if I ate veg at lunch I didn’t have many carbs left for dinner. What a plonker! I gave up last week because I thought it wasn’t sustainable! Going to look at it again then with renewed vigour!

Hi pod if depends on where you are when it comes to carbs. In the US fibre is included so you need to deduct it to get net carbs. In the UK and EU fibre and sugar are shown separately so you don’t deduct! There have been a few discussions about this topic if you search above you may find a thread.

Sorry but sadly Verano is right on this Pod and I believe that Diet Doctor is a US site – certainly recipe measures are in cups rather than ounces or grams. In the UK the carbs shown on packaging etc, is the net rather than gross carbs. I found if I wanted to get my carbs under 20g within 800 cals, I had to up protein and fat and really limit non-veg related carbs. It can be done, but it takes focus to sustain.

Thanks Sunnyb and Verano. Boo! I was hoping to be able to eat more veg!! I don’t take any notice of the nutrients on recipes, I always weigh everything myself and use my fitness pal. I haven’t been deducting the fibre from the carbs on that. Sigh! I thought I was in for a treat!! I’ve been trying to up the protein and fat, but I really don’t think I can sustain it! The ketogenic low carb did sound so good though!! I’m still confused about the carbs and fibre in veg though, and how my fitness pal log it. Looks like I’ll be reading a lot of posts tonight to try and get my head around it.
And I’m glued to the World Athletics in London!

Pod maybe try fatsecret.co.uk which lists UK products , supermarket brands etc. It may just help!

I hope I’ve got it now! I’ve had a look a fat secret uk ( thanks Verano) and compared it to my fitness pal. 210g of sweetheart cabbage was 9g carbs on both sites. But my fitness pal listed fibre separately as well. Fibre wasn’t listed on fat secret. From that I’ve deduced (careful pod) that my fitness pal lists net carbs, so I don’t deduct the fibre.
Phew! Hope I’ve got it right! So, a ketogenic diet is hard to sustain 😤, as Sunnyb has already said 😘

Sounds like you have it sussed Pod. Yes, it takes awhile to get your head around the keto thing, but like when we started the BSD and getting used to its mechanisms and nuances, it is possible to do that with a ketogenic eating pattern too. Think it does take more thought to get carbs really low – i.e. at the 20g or sub 20g a day level – but like anything else, one can get used to planning meals, to accommodate this and keep the carbs down to this level as the norm. At this level of carb intake, you would expect to be in ketosis.

I would say if you are finding it a struggle pushing the carb intake really low, not to stress yourself with it though and just work to the 800 cals, keeping carbs around 40g to 50g a day if you can. Most find that this is very doable and they still lose weight. Hopefully you will settle at a level of carbs that suits you and your body to still be able to see the pounds fall. Best of luck with it.

My Fitness Pal tends to use US calculations, in my experience, so unless there’s a UK-specific version of the site that I don’t know about, you probably can deduct fiber to get net carbs. My daily carb limit is 20 grams and nowadays I usually don’t get anywhere near that. I eat mounds of veggies, I’m just particular about which ones. Cooking greens are always great — rapini, kale, chard, turnip/mustard greens — and raw leafy greens like spinach, arugula, green leaf lettuce and Romaine. The sprouts of greens (as opposed to bean sprouts) are so high in fiber they net out to zero carbs. I have a huge arugula and sprouts salad with a creamy goat cheese or blue cheese dressing almost every day.

Picked up husband from hospital this afternoon. It is so good to get him back home.

This week has really shown me how much better I function without the sugary/starchy carbs. I can’t believe that I used to think that a carb fest was the best way to cope with stress. It is slightly bonkers – especially as a carb fest would be leave me exhausted and suffering from brain fog.

Well, the moment of truth has arrived, and after 17 days of various holidays, indulging in local delicacies and eating with my family rather than planning my own meals I am weighing in at 11:00.2. This is technically above my comfort zone by 0.2 pounds, but since I have had no fast days in that period, have had biscuits, cake, ice cream, pasties, potatoes, rice, wine and even occasionally gin on many of the days, and at least one full blown party (and a picking session last night that ended in some carby crackers and rather too much dark chocolate after tea) that isn’t bad I think. Clearly my glycogen stores are fully recovered again after my fasting mimicking diet week, last month.
I will fast today I think, maybe fluids only, although with my usual protein shake for the badminton tonight, and I will also walk to work and back home after badminton today. My steps were way up from my usual sedentary average on my holiday, with one 33,000 day and a 100,000 week in Cornwall, and want to keep that going while I can. Still feeling good, and still fitting into all my clothes, so will revert to weighing Tuesday, Thursday and at the weekend only for a while, and just make sure there is no upward trend. Back on 5:2 I would expect maybe to lose another couple of pounds, and maybe get back to my target again which is the centre point of my comfort zone, so that is the plan (along with watching the carbs again, and keeping any white carbs to my golden hour).

Krysia, so pleased to hear that o/h is home and really hope your family comes to terms with the dreadful attack soon.

Well done MnM. That’s a pretty impressive result. Shows this WOE is doable for life.

I too have had a pretty challenging month weight wise, but despite only 5 days in the entire 4 weeks without house guests, 3 parties, 13 dinners out and a very sociable regatta, (no refined carbs during all that time but far too much wine ) all of which have caused some upward blips on the scales, I am very pleased to announce that this morning I weighed in at 3.5lbs under target. That’s 1.5lbs increase from the start but still gives me a reasonable amount of wriggle room, so very happy with that.

The trick for me has been to throw in a few fast or 800 days as and when I’ve had the chance. Really thinking I can have a very enjoyable social life and still manage to maintain long term.

Hoping to hear some more positive results from everyone – in the meantime Hotel Theodora remains fully booked until late September. 😎

Final weigh in on this challenge and a hugely disappointing 0.6 lb loss over the month. Up and down, up and down! The lowest I got was 139.0 lbs which was fantastic. Then two days later I am 142 lb. Today I weighed in at 141.6 lb. Have fasted, not fasted, increased my food intake, decreased my food intake. My next step is to walk, walk, walk, walk, walk!!

See you for the next challenge and challenge being the operative word in my journey eight months in! Keep plodding everyone!

It seems that once again there is a slightly mixed bag of results being posted, both for the week and the challenge overall. I am ashamed (and frustrated) to have to report that I am 0.2lb up on this time last week and exactly the same weight I was at day one of this challenge! So, although there has been constant fluctuation over the month, in reality I have completely wasted a four week window of opportunity to get back to my initial target weight – still a pound over – and to push a little below that mark, to allow myself some wriggle room.

Now is the time for a complete refocus, so I am planning to do four things:
1) Get back to basics and return to weighing, measuring and recorded EVERYTHING I consume at home and be more stringent when eating out.
2) Continue to overnight fast by at least 16hrs and wherever possible longer.
3) Set myself a firm mini-goal with a target weight and a time frame. (Think being woolly about it, has been one of the reasons I haven’t pushed hard enough to succeed.)
4) To move around more and do some sort of exercise EVERYDAY, no matter how little.
Please wish me luck!

If people are happy for me to begin the next challenge let me know, but I kind of feel a fraud given the crappy results just posted. Hope others will be posting much more positive results and best of luck to you all going forward.

Not able to weigh in today as daughter and family were using the bathroom with the scales – but as I have been 100% BSD I know I have maintained or maybe even lost a bit.

SunnyB – you are not a fraud at all. You are keeping on keeping on – so a great role model for all of us.

HI all.I weigh in at 82.2kg which is roughly what i was a month ago.Im ok with that considering I had a holiday and ate a lot .Ive managed to lose almost a kilo this week. IM STILL FIGHTING THE CARB MONSTER. today was bad.I got very stressed and went to my favourite coffee shop for a latte and broke the world speed record for eating an almond croisant.So tonight Im back to weghing all food .recording every thing. Also more water and early to bed.My youngest son is home tomorrow. I havent seen him for a year so Im very excited.there will be a lot of eating this week but I will try to keep to the principles.good luck to you all on the next challenge

Hi all

Reporting a 1lb loss today. That’s 3.5 in total for this challenge. I am very pleased with that and hope that it’s the start of a good run of losses since I have another 9 to lose.

For those celebrating losses and maintains and those struggling a bit hang on in there. Summer is tough really tough. BBQ s holidays temptation at every turn. SunnyB feel free to start the next challenge !!

See you all there xxx 💋💋💋

Well done TC, good to see someone posting a loss. The new challenge thread has been started – SPRING or FALL, A Challenge For All (ending 5th September). Hope there will be lots of people joining up to support each other through the coming four weeks.

1lb removed for me this week. Which is some sort of miracle as I attacked the carb monster last week while freezing in the tent. So overall this challenge I removed 3lb, not as much as I wanted but I haven’t been in a great place this time around. Time for a new challenge methinks!!!!
Congrats to the losers, and for the rest of us!!